Good work but injury for Okubo in the first test of the MotoE 2022

Good work but injury for Okubo in the first test of the MotoE 2022
Hikari Okubo during the MotoE test in Jerez

In the first three days of official test of the MotoE which took place in Jerez de la Frontera, the Avant Ajo rider MotoE achieved positive results until the crash that caused his hand injury in the last session. The weather was very changeable, creating very different track conditions over the three days.

For the second consecutive season, the Avant Ajo MotoE team has chosen Hikari Okubo for the FIM Enel MotoE World Cup. Last week, the Japanese rider got back on track with the MotoE for the first time in 2022, for three days of pre-season testing.
The first three days of testing the MotoE in Jerez took place in highly changeable weather conditions. The sessions on the first day took place on a dry track while the second day was characterized by rain. In the morning session of the third day only a few riders were on track due to the cold and damp track. Only in the afternoon the track became dry and fast again to continue testing.

The mechanics of the Ajo team repairing Okubo's bike after the crash in Jerez

Okubo finished 9th in the combined times, putting in a total of 48 laps throughout Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. After finishing in sixth place on Monday, the Japanese rider confirmed his good feeling on Tuesday. On the second day of testing, Okubo was able to ride in the wet, due to the rain that fell on the Spanish track. The Japanese set a time of 1:59.233 which placed him third in the combined time table. The Avant Ajo MotoE rider completed 21 laps which helped him gain more confidence and feel more comfortable aboard his electric motorcycle.
On Wednesday, the last day of the Jerez official test, Okubo continued to work to fine-tune the details of the bike's setup, but was the author of a crash at turn 8 in the final session, reporting the injury of his left hand. The Japanese rider's prognosis is two weeks, in time to recover before the next test, again on the Andalusian track of Jerez de la Frontera, from April 11th to 13th, two weeks before the start of the Championship.

Hikari Okubo
“It was a while since I jumped into a MotoE bike, so today I was focused on getting back feelings on top of it. During the winter I practiced with other bikes, which helped me accumulate hours of riding, but the MotoE is different: bigger and with more electronics.
On the first day, I focused on improving my riding style and my body position when cornering. At the end of the day, we found a good pace which we tried to maintain for the remaining days of testing. We have established a good lap time.
The last day of testing, on the other hand, was a complicated day for us because we suffered an accident. However, we had a good feeling throughout the sessions and the test in general. Now is the time to analyze all the information we have extracted from the three days in Jerez and continue working to be prepared for the next practice session in about a month ”.

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