SWINDON’S Fraser Rogers enjoyed a strong start in pre-season testing for his IN Competition team, briefly topping the leaderboard at Silverstone aboard his brand new RSV4.

The Aprilia IN Competition team arrived in Northamptonshire at the end of last month for the first of four official Bennetts British Superbike tests with the team’s two newly signed riders, Rogers and teammate Ben Luxton.

Luxton got a head start, going out in the first session where he was keen to achieve some good base settings on just his second time out on the larger bike.

He improved on his previous time on the national circuit by half a second, notching an overall best lap time of 56.992.

Rogers sat out the first session due to the damp conditions, but utilised his expertise and agility to lay down some impressive early laps - one of which saw him briefly top the time sheet.

The Swindon racer was unable to keep hold of his top spot but managed a fastest lap time of 55.274 while giving the garage some helpful feedback.

Reacting to a first run out on his new bike, Rogers said: “It was an extremely good test today, and I’m really happy with the progress of the bike.

“It took a little bit of time to adapt back from the Moto 2 bike to the RSV4, but the team is doing a fantastic job of getting me comfortable with the brand new bike.

“The electronics are new for me and new for the team, so we will keep working and keep chipping away to get the result that we want.”

Meanwhile, IN Competition team manager, Ian Newton said: “It was a great first day out on the new Aprilia RSV4 bike with both riders doing very well, and we have made progress and gained valuable information.

“I think this year will be an exciting one, and it will be good to pave the way for Aprilia’s on the UK circuit.”