Lewis Hamilton had to be told to slow down such was his speed on a superbike during his two-day private test at Jerez.
During the first weekend of the Formula 1 off-season, the world champion took his passion for bikes to another level riding a Yamaha YZF-R1 at the Spanish circuit alongside seasoned motorcycle racers.
The Briton would suffer a minor crash emerging without injury and for Yamaha rider Michael van der Mark it vindicated what the team working with Hamilton had been feeling watching him out on track.
“Lewis already did two track days on his bike [before] and the people of his team were a little bit concerned because of his speed,” he told Motorsport.com.
“He was very fast but he didn’t have a riding style. He had lots of lean angle, so the initiative came a bit from his team that he’d get a few tips from professionals.
“During the first day I was alone with Lewis and on the second day, my teammate Alex Lowes joined us,” Van der Mark continued.
“On the first day, I’ve was only trying to make him go a bit slower. I had to stop him, he’s not afraid at all and he tried to take corners as fast as with his car.
“During the second day we worked a lot on his style.”
How’s my lean? ?? pic.twitter.com/pLjKmGrXUU
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) December 3, 2018
Despite the test being more about enjoyment, the Dutch rider admits Hamilton was taking the experience very seriously.
“Even if it’s just for fun, he was so motivated to learn,” Van der Mark added. “He asked loads of things and that was special to see.
“You see it’s fun for him, but he goes all the way. He wants to do it right and wanted to learn as much as possible.”
As for whether Lewis’ skill could match the ambition and potentially lead to a future on two wheels, Van der Mark couldn’t rule it out.
“He can ride a bike for sure – I don’t know how much faster he can go,” he stated.
“I know he can be much faster but it’s difficult to predict what he could do on a bike. He has only ridden four days now and he was about seven seconds slower than us. With that he’s faster than most other track day riders.
“You can see he has a special talent, but I don’t know if he wants to do that [full-time].”
