Image: Supplied.

British ace Leon Haslam admits Team HRC isn’t at the stage of fine-tuning the all-new Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade as they continue to develop fundamental components.

Haslam has already been impressive aboard the Honda in its early stages, finishing strongly at the Jerez WorldSBK test before going 9-6 on the timesheets during both days of testing at Portimao this week.

The number 91 has seemingly adapted to the Honda at a faster pace than his teammate Alvaro Bautista, who is making somewhat of a more challenging transition from the Ducati Panigale V4 R.

“We’ve made some good steps today and have got through a lot of the things we had down to test,” Haslam commented. “We didn’t perhaps make the step that others did with the soft qualifying tyre, but all in all the lap times aren’t too bad and I was pretty happy with the race tyres.

“We have a lot of work ahead of us of course and we’re not yet at the stage where we’re fine-tuning the bike, as we’re still testing fundamental components. I can’t wait to get to Phillip Island now, it’s one of my favourite circuits. The test there will be very important too, and then the aim for the race weekend is to try to be competitive right from the outset.”

Haslam hits the track next at the Phillip Island test on 24-25 February, which takes place just a day before the WorldSBK season-opener at the seaside circuit.