THE DUCATI XEROX SQUAD CONCLUDES TWO DAYS OF WET TESTING AT VALENCIA Valencia (Spain), Thursday 28th January the Ducati Xerox Team and riders Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio travel home tomorrow having participated in a two-day test session at the Valencia circuit, back to back after last weekend’s Portimao testing. Yesterday, a combination of very low temperatures and pouring rain unfortunately prevented the Ducati Xerox riders from exiting on track; conditions were just not favourable enough to be of use to the team. Luckily the weather improved this morning and although the track was damp and the cold persisted, Nori and Michel were nevertheless able to get in half a day’s worth of riding, on track from midday to nearly 5pm. Today the factory riders and their technicians worked to refine the set-up of their Ducati 1198 machines and re-tested several rear tyre solutions that were also tested during Portimao’s recent tests. Even though the track conditions were not optimal for this type of tyre test (air temp. 11°C, track temp. 12°C), the times registered by the two riders were extremely encouraging. Nori recorded a fastest lap of 1m34.0s while Michel closed the testing with a fastest time of 1m34.3s. The team is now at home until mid-February when it departs for Phillip Island (Australia) for the final pre-championship tests, followed immediately by the opening round of the 2010 World Superbike season. Noriyuki Haga “Unfortunately yesterday was a total loss due to the wet, cold conditions but today we were able to ride all afternoon. We continued with the work started at Portimao, testing suspension settings and various tyre compounds. I also tried a new clutch which seemed to perform well, and my lap times were fairly fast seeing as it was extremely cold. I’d say we’re very happy, although we’ve seen that the privateer Ducatis of Checa and Byrne were also very fast so I guess the first race of the season will be very interesting; I can’t wait to race!” Michel Fabrizio “We haven’t been very lucky with the weather, with rain both here and in Portimao. But it’s all gone really well today, bearing in mind that it was for us the first, and last, day. We found a good pace and are pretty satisfied with the lap times. It was a bit difficult to evaluate the tyres well in these conditions but, all in all, it went a lot better for us than it did at Portimao and I feel like we’re back on track.” TIMES (unofficial) Haga (Ducati Xerox) 1m34.0s; Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 1m34.3s More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: POOR CONDITIONS HAMPER PROGRESS After the mixed conditions in Portimao last weekend, Troy was hoping for better weather in Valencia so that he and the team could make further progress with the 2010 bike. But it was not to be, the first day saw an almost total washout, due to the adverse conditions and, although the weather improved for day two, Troy was unable to take to the track until well after 11.00 am. With so much time lost, it was impossible to carry out the complete programme scheduled for the two days, but Troy and the team did the best they could in the time available. Troy (approx 80 laps, best lap, 1:35.3) One thing is for sure, these tests were not about lap times! It would have been good to have had two full days of testing and then maybe spend the last hour or so going for some quick times, but the bad weather changed everything. I don’t think I’ve known such cold conditions at a racetrack and when the team and I arrived to start on Wednesday morning, it was obvious that not much would be going on. Cold is one thing, but cold and wet is another, because when the conditions are so cold, the tyres just don’t work. I think Ruben and I did about five or six laps each, just to find out what the track was like, and then we were told that there was no point going put because a) we wouldn’t learn anything and b) it would be so easy to crash and maybe ruin the whole test. So, we all went off to lunch and then had the rest of the day off! There were some other teams testing also, but they felt the same way and nobody did any laps in the afternoon at all. Day two started off sunny, with an almost perfect blue sky, but very, very cold. When the technicians pointed the temperature gun at the track in front of the pit straight, it registered minus 4! The problem with Valencia in winter is that even if it doesn’t rain, moisture comes up through the track in some areas and it is so easy to get caught out and have a get-off. And for some reason, falling almost hurts more when it’s cold, so that was the last thing I or anybody else wanted. The team finally decided that we could go out just before 11.30, which meant we’d already lost two hours track time. We started off a bit cautiously and tried to work out where the problem parts of the track might be. Then, once that was done, it was down to the usual programme of going out for five or six laps, then coming back in and giving info the technicians. Because we had lost so much time, the team threw quite a lot of stuff at us and maybe there was a bit too much to try in the available time and it was quite easy to get a bit confused sometimes. The bike has improved quite a bit since the end of last season and it’s natural for the team to want to get as much info as possible, but sometimes that’s a bit hard on us riders because only so much can be done in a limited amount of time. Having said that, I feel we learnt quite a bit and found have some good ideas and directions to take the next time we go out. I feel very positive about our possibilities as long we can put together all the different elements. Ruben and I are both happy with how the bike is going now and we just need that last little bit extra to complete what is already a pretty good package. Hopefully the next tests (in Phillip Island) will be very productive and make up for the time lost in Portimao and Valencia. And hopefully the weather will be better also!