MotoGP returnee Toni Elias said flu was the main reason why he was off the pace in the opening test of 2011 at Sepang. The Moto2 champion has rejoined the top class with LCR Honda this year, but was slowest in the combined times at the end of this week's three days of running in Malaysia.
Elias admitted that it had not been a good test, saying he had started to feel unwell just before it got under way on Tuesday.
"It was a difficult three days of testing for me," he said. "I flew to Malaysia one week earlier to train in this typical heat and to avoid the jet-lag consequences, but three days ago I started to feel sick. At the end, I had to take antibiotics for the flu, so physically I was not OK and this bike requires [the rider] to be in good form."
He still felt he had managed to learn more about the MotoGP Honda and is confident he can easily improve on his best lap of the week, a 2m02.9sec – but conceded that he was not fully comfortable on the bike yet.
"Despite the flu, I think we had three productive days trying different adjustments to get more confidence and more stability on track," said Elias. "However, we still have a lot of work to do because I am struggling to find the right setting for me but this is normal as I am continuing my adaptation to the RCV.
"I lapped in 2m01sec in 2009 on a MotoGP bike, so I am sure we will find the way to reduce the gap."