Vallelunga (Italy), Wednesday 9th July: The Ducati Xerox Team continued to make great progress on the second and final day of testing at the Vallelunga circuit. The morning’s session saw four Ducati bikes top the time sheets, with Xaus (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Team) just ahead of the Ducati Xerox riders Canepa (1’36.4), Bayliss (1’36.4) and Fabrizio (1’36.6). In the afternoon, yet another very warm session for the teams meant that the fastest seven riders were unable to improve on the times they set during the cooler morning session, and so most concentrated instead on completing race simulations or “long-runs” to better assess the performance of the tyres over longer distances and in hot conditions. All three Ducati Xerox riders have felt the benefit of these test days and head now to the next round of the championship at Brno with a renewed level of confidence. Niccolo’ Canepa 1m36.4s “This morning when it was cooler we were going really well and there was a good level of grip, so a lot of the riders, me included, recorded their fastest times during that session. This afternoon I hoped to do more kilometres, in a race simulation, but it was really too hot and so the results didn’t tell us very much. But overall I’m really happy with the way things have gone here. I hadn’t been on a superbike for several months so the results are pretty positive. The only thing that I’m missing now is competition so I can’t wait to get to Brno next week and finally race there, it will be very interesting to see how I do!” Troy Bayliss 1m36.4s “It’s gone well again today. We’ve worked really hard and done two long-runs, which is important in ensuring we’re ready to go race distance. We were quite happy with the results, and went faster than we did here last year, although Nori was also going well in his long-run, so we’ll be looking to improve further before the race here! The track was a bit slower this afternoon but the results were promising nevertheless. As conditions might be similar to this in Brno, I’m feeling pretty confident for that race.” Michel Fabrizio 1m36.6s “It hasn’t gone badly although I was a bit disappointed that this afternoon I didn’t really have a great feeling with the rear tyres. We also did a long-run today and the lap times were quite consistent, although slower than those of this morning due to the heat of course. I’m feeling quietly confident for the next race at Brno as it’s a track I like and where I’ve finished on the podium for the last three seasons running so fingers’ crossed.” TIMES (overall after day 2): 1. Xaus (Ducati) 1m36.0s; 2. Canepa (Ducati Xerox 1098 F09) 1m36.4s; 3. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox 1098 F08) 1m36.4s; 4. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox 1098 F08) 1m36.6s; 5. Corser (Yamaha) 1m36.7s; 6. Kiyonari (Honda) 1m37.0s; 7. Checa (Honda) 1m37.0s; 8. Haga (Yamaha) 1m37.1s More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: HANNspree Ten Kate Honda satisfied after Vallelunga SBK test The HANNSpree Ten Kate Honda Team has finished the official FG development test at the circuit of Vallelunga in Italy today. The two-day test has been organised by the Flamini Group in view of the second part of the season and in particular the Italian Round at the Rome circuit on September 21st. The three-men strong HANNspree Ten Kate Honda Superbike squad and their Supersport team mates experienced severely hot track conditions but have been able to make some important progress in the development of the Honda CBR1000RR and CBR600RR machines. Hardworking Kiyonari rounded off an impressive amount of laps and finished first Honda in 1’37.017s, just 0.006s clear of team mate Carlos Checa who recorded a best lap of 1’37.023 in today’s first session. Sofuoglu spent the first day of his test focusing on adapting his riding style to the CBR1000RR and was able to put his learning into practice on the second day and closely matched his team mates in a best of 1 minute 37.300. In the Supersport category, Jonathan Rea looked good on his first ever outing on the Vallelunga track. After a successful first day of testing, the young British rider further improved his pace and set the second quickest time in the first session on Wednesday in 1 minute 40.016 seconds and only left a 0.277s gap to fastest man Craig Jones. Championship leader Andrew Pitt was 0.480 of a second slower then his team mate and posted the sixth fastest time in 1 minute 40.496s on his first outing at the Rome track. Both riders had to cut the test short and have not participated in the second session on Wednesday afternoon. Results Superbikes; 1 R.XAUS 1’36.032 2 N.CANEPA 1’36.404 3 T. BAYLISS 1’36.448 6 R. KIYONARI 1’37.017 7 C.CHECA 1’37.023 10 K. SOFUOGLU 1’37.300 Results Supersport; (after 1st session, Wednesday) 1 C. JONES.739 2 J. REA 1’40.016 3 B. PARKES 1’40.226 4 F. FORET 1’40.409 6 A. PITT 1’40.496 Ronald ten Kate Team manager; “Both Supersport riders have successfully completed their first outing at the Vallelunga track during the two days of testing. We have tested several new parts on the machine and have been able to consistently set a good pace. I am confidently looking forward to the next races and especially the Vallelunga round in September.” “After the issues we faced in the last races this test was extremely important for our Superbike machines. We have taken the opportunity to make several changes and test different parts. It looks like we are heading in the right direction, even though we are still off the pace.” “Sofuoglu has made an important step forward today and will hopefully be able to continue doing so in the next rounds. Kiyonari has set a good result in today’s concluding session, while Checa spent his time on track testing different parts.” “The Brno track has a different layout that will better suit our bikes and the track temperature will be lot less then the 60 degrees we endured here in Rome, so I am confident we can put the results of this test into practice for the next round and be up front again.” Carlos Checa 1’37.023; “We have tested different tyres for Pirelli, but couldn’t improve the bike as much as we wanted. We couldn’t find the grip, especially in the rear and didn’t find the improvement we expected to make. The tyres just didn’t seem to work for us here and we are off the pace we should be able run. We tried several things but nothing seemed to be constructive.” “This track will be difficult for us, specially when it comes to the handling of the bike in the slower sections. I’m confident with some more time we can put the information and ideas we gathered here into practice.” Ryuichi Kiyonari 1’37.017; “I am happy with the progress I made during this two-day test. I have been off the pace in the Germany and Misano, but have found the connection again today with the faster guys.” “The bike has been running well, but we will have to improve some things before the next race in Brno. I am eager to continue my progression and have set my goal on achieving some good results in Brno.” Kenan Sofuoglu 1’37.300; “We had a very bad start yesterday. I then sat down with my mechanics to make a plan on how to improve during the test. On the first day we focused on riding style and learning to better understand the machine rather then good lap times.” “Today we focused on putting yesterday’s experience into practice and get closer to the guys in front. I’ve changed a lot in my riding and have been able to come closer to the lap times of my team mates Ryuichi and Carlos.” “Our plan worked out well today, it has been a positive day for me and I hope I will be able to continue my progression throughout the next rounds and achieve some good results.” Andrew Pitt 1’40.496 ; “I suppose we got through everything we needed to test here fine, even though my lap time wasn’t as good as I wanted. I had some problems with one part of the track and lost a lot compared to Johnny. Hopefully come September we will sort it out.” “We tested some new parts for the bike and made some good progress with them. We also did some tyre testing and found one that should help us here in the race, although the temperature is going to be different in September.” “I am feeling confident for Brno. I have never ridden the 600 there, but like the circuit a lot. We had some good results in the last races so there’s no reason why it shouldn’t continue. We should have a good weekend.” Jonathan Rea 1’40.016; “Everyone has worked very hard these two days to get the best out of the test. Even though we cut the test short by one session, we are in the ball park. “Everything is been going very good, we got dialed in very fast and the pace was good throughout the session. We tested a lot of new components for the chassis with positive results.” “We leave this test in good shape in the lead up to Brno, I have never been on the circuit before but it should suit my style. I’m quite motivated to keep the bike on the podium and set a good result.” More, from a press release issued by Sterilgarda Go Eleven: Sterilgarda Go Eleven carries on his magic moment at FG Vallelunga Testing. Ruben Xaus and Max Biaggi did a lot of work, collecting meaningful data which are expected to be helpful for WSBK Vallelunga round scheduled for the next September. The Italian-Spanish duo, who worked both on the set-up and the electronics, recorded excellent times as shown by Ruben Xaus who took the first position after the two days of testing. The Spanish rider set the quickest time, just one tenth slower compared to Troy Bayliss 2007 pole-position, while Max Biaggi got the 11th best time never using qualifying tyres. Also Alex Polita spent the last two days testing but he did it on another track. The young rider lapped at Brno in order to get everything ready for the next STK1000 round. His got some more difficult than his team-mates due to the changeable weather conditions. However, the team was able to do a good work, allowing the rider to lap on the same times of the last season pole-position. MAX BIAGGI | Ducati 1098 RS | 1’37.333: “I spent both the day to test solutions for the September round, never using qualifying tyres. I’m satisfied with the result I reached and I was able to lap with a good pace. On the other hand I keep in mind that we will lap on a track with different conditions in September. Today there were 62 degrees centigrade on the track”. RUBEN XAUS | Ducati 1098 RS | 1’36.032: “We did a good job in the last two days and we collected helpful information on a track where data were missing. I was quick both with the qualifying tyres and the race tyres, that’s why I feel confident for the September round. Anyway, now we need to focus on Brno where we tested less than one month ago and where I aim to confirm my excellent moment”. ALEX POLITA @ BRNO | Ducati 1098R | 2’06″5: “The test was very useful, we began with a very different setting from the best one, but lap after lap we improved and we finally reached an excellent level. Missing the race simulations was a pity, but the rain came today too, and it forced us to leave the track prematurely”. More, from a press release issued by Triumph Italia Be1 Racing: Triumph Italia Be1 Racing spent the two days at Vallelunga testing the innovations for the second part of the season. On the Italian track Aitchison (1’40.569) and Clementi (1’41.330) worked cheek by jowl with Magneti Marelli technicians in order to set the last update of the Marvel software, version 4, which is scheduled to be used since the Brno round. That software will optimize the traction control and the starting stage. In addition the team collected helpful data about the balancing and the setting of the machine, although the tyres and the track conditions will be very different in September. GIULIANO ROVELLI: “We worked without focusing on times although we get a good result and we improved lap by lap. We worked a lot on the electronics, especially thanks to the experience of Clementi. We feel confident that this kind of work will yield benefits in the next rounds. Unfortunately we are not a Pirelli test team therefore we could not test the new tyres, unlike the Japanese teams did. We would have liked to did the same in order to give our opinion on the new material which is going to be proposed for the September race, together with the teams which are our competitors now”.