Second day of testing for Ducati Althea Racing Team in Portimao- Portugal Second and last of the two-day test session for Ducati Althea Racing Team at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao. Under a gray and cloudy sky, Carlos Checa also spent his second day of testing on adapting his riding style to his new bike. On the second and final day Checa showed major improvements during the course of the day. He continued to make important progress on board his Ducati 1098 machine and was able to improve his pace and set his best lap time (1:43.423). Carlos Checa: “I’m thoroughly satisfied with the results of these last two days of testing. Today we also improved yesterday’s results. I was also able to terminate one long run and I established a good pace even though this will not be the bike we’ll use in the next 2010 World Superbike Championship. I still have to adapt my riding style to this new bike but I really enjoy riding the Ducati 1098. In any case, the most important aspect of the two-day test session is that I realized that we have the base and potential to reach very good results. The team has been great with me and we’re working really well together”. Genesio Bevilacqua General Manager: “This second day test was better compared with the first one (yesterday). Carlos now knows how to better ride our Ducati 1098. He was able to improve yesterday’s best lap time and to steadily reach very fast lap times (1:43.5 1:43.7). We are satisfied with the results reached today and know that if we continue to work in this manner we’ll reach important targets and we’ll compete for top positions”. More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: THE DUCATI XEROX TEAM CONCLUDES PORTIMAO TESTING AND HEADS HOME TO ITALY Portimao (Portugal) Wednesday 28th October 2009: a cooler, overcast day characterised day two of testing at the Portimao circuit as Ducati Xerox riders Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio and their technicians continued work where they had left off yesterday. Over the two days Noriyuki has tested the new clutch and is happy with the initial results, citing it as a good starting point for 2010. He also used the new fork but declared at the end of testing that he prefers his usual one. Michel meanwhile continued to ride with the new fork, testing too the new shock provided by Ohlins and he was very comfortable, able to record some ery fast lap times. Average lap times were very similar to yesterday with Michel able to improve on his best time by a few tenths of a second, once again one of the fastest riders on track during the morning session, along with Noriyuki and Brits Jonathan Rea (Honda), Leon Haslam on board the Suzuki and Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow. Both Ducati Xerox riders finished up at lunchtime, with the testing having been declared a success. Noriyuki Haga “Today we tried the new front fork and it felt quite similar to the one I use already but overall I prefer the one I have used up until now, the new one didn’t give me anything extra. I worked with the new clutch which is a bit of a different concept but it gave me a good feeling and it definitely has potential. I’m happy with how it’s gone here but to be honest I’m ready to go home as it’s been a long week.” Michel Fabrizio “I continued to test the fork that we used yesterday and I also tried the new shock. With the bike in its 2009 configuration but with the new shock mounted I was immediately half a second faster so it seems to be a big improvement. I’m very happy with the times as me and Jonathan were again the fastest out there and I’d say the testing has finished on a very positive note.” TIMES (UNOFFICIAL): Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 1m41.9s; Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) 1m43.2s More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: The Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team today completed a two-day end-of-season test at Portimao in Portugal where the 2009 World Superbike and Supersport championships were concluded last Sunday. Jonathan Rea was in scintillating form on his Honda CBR1000RR, setting on different Pirelli race rubber, not available for the final two races of the season a fastest time of 1’41.7s around the 4.59km Portimao circuit. The 22-year-old Northern Irishman’s lap was almost a second faster than his best qualifying time from the weekend and 0.5s up on the pole position time of 2009 champion Ben Spies, set on softer, qualifying tyres. Rea was joined at the test by the team’s new rider, Max Neukirchner. The 26-year-old German has spent most of the 2009 season recovering from injuries and has not ridden since crashing out of a test at Imola in Italy last July. However, despite Neukirchner spending the two days getting accustomed to the CBR1000RR and the workings of his new Ten Kate crew, he was able to set a fastest lap of 1’43.5s Also testing at Portimao was Hannspree Ten Kate Honda’s Kenan Sofuoglu, who finished in third place in the 2009 World Supersport championship. The Turkish rider set a best lap of 1’44.3s during the test, a second quicker than his best lap from Sunday’s race in which he finished second. Sofuoglu was joined by Michele Pirro who tested the team’s Honda CBR600RR for the first time. The team is yet to announce its second World Supersport rider for the 2010 season, but team manager Ronald ten Kate was impressed by the 23-year-old Italian. Jonathan Rea, CBR1000RR best lap 1’41.8s I just want to say how really, really proud I am of the whole team, who have worked so hard over the last weeks. They’ve gone through this test positively and methodically and got the bike working better. The great thing is that there is still so much potential and that just fills me with confidence for next season. The lap times were coming quite easily and we did all our work on used tyres. Everyone deserves a good rest now before we get back to work in December. Max Neukirchner, CBR1000RR best lap 1’43.5s I did 70 laps on both days of the test, including runs of 16 laps so I’m quite tired after being off a bike for six months. I’ve been training hard at home, but riding a bike is quite different and I know I’ve got a lot more work to do! However, I am really happy with the way this test has gone and on the second day I could feel that the pace was definitely coming, lap by lap. I got a really good feeling with the bike and the team. Of course, there is a long way to go before I can really understand how the bike works but it is a very good start. Ronald ten Kate team manager Our compliments go to both Jonathan and Max who have both done a great job here. Jonathan has been testing mostly 2010 parts and software, all of which seem to be working well. The plan with Max was to quietly build him back up to speed, which we knew would take at least this test and one more. To be honest, he was on it after half a day and we tested a few things like different swingarms to give him a feeling for the bike. On the Supersport side, Kenan has been absolutely flying around here and went one second faster than his quickest race lap from Sunday. He’s done so many 1’44s laps that I think he must have worn a groove in the track. He’s tested electronics and suspension parts and everything has gone really well. The test with Pirro was positive. He ticked all the boxes to be consistently fast and was working nicely with the team to get a good set up. We leave this test feeling very positive because we’ve carried out some good development work, had no pressures and done a lot of quick laps. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Today saw the second and final day of the first test for the Yamaha World Superbike 2010 riders Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland. Both riders spent a second full day testing their new R1 machines as they worked to bring the settings in line with their riding styles. Having come from Supersport and MotoGP machines both riders have to learn a new bike. Regardless of this they both performed well and were consistently fast over the second day, again riding well below the pace of Sunday’s World Superbike race. The technical support and know-how which helped give the team it’s world title was clearly rubbing off on both Crutchlow and Toseland as they got down to business. As the team pack up to leave Portimao, they leave with heads held high as the 2009 World Superbike champions, having taken the title with rider Ben Spies dominating the championship from the start. This was the first Superbike title for the team, however with two top new riders on board and the taste of victory in their mouths, 2010 promises to deliver more success for Yamaha. Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Superbike Team (1’42.1) “A good enough second day for us again. I think we’ve worked hard looking at a few different things with the shocks. We haven’t changed that much yet so we’ve got some work to do. We’ve changed a couple of things and had a play around with the electronics which has been good. Hopefully we’ll keep working hard, the team has done a good job and I’m pleased with the first test.” James Toseland, Yamaha world Superbike Team (1’43.1) “I’ve been looking at Ben’s race time and in two days on the bike we are nearly a second a lap faster by the end which I’m quite pleased with. We’ve got some work to do but for my first test on the bike we’ve been getting to understand the suspension and a few things and getting to understand how the bike reacts to some changes. We’re working on some of the electronics and an area of engine work as well. We’ve had a good test and have a lot of information to work on for next year. I like the bike, it’s so much different to what I’m used to though so it’s taking some time to tame the beast! When you ride a heavier bike you have to take your time to find its limits. One thing I didn’t want to do was crash as I’ve got another GP to race next week. I’m really pleased with the team, and looking forward to testing again as soon as possible.” Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager “Cal’s side went very well, he improved quite a lot and was impressive. We are very satisfied. Now we will decide if we need another test before January which we’ll confirm when we go home to give the riders the possibility to have some more time on the bike. James needs some time after a two year run in Moto GP he’s in a different world and riding on a very difficult circuit. He made good improvements from yesterday so he’s keeping going in the right direction. The team has worked hard so I’m happy; it’s been a good test and an end to an amazing racing weekend before.”