WINTER TESTING GETS UNDERWAY FOR DUCATI XEROX TEAM WITH BAYLISS, NEW SIGNING FABRIZIO AND 1098 F08 Losail (Qatar), Wednesday 28 November: Almost two months after the end of the 2007 World Superbike season, winter testing got underway for the Ducati Xerox Team at the Losail circuit in Qatar. Australian Troy Bayliss and young Italian Michel Fabrizio, who made his factory team debut today, shared the testing duties on the new 1200cc machines that will represent Ducati in next season’s championship. Both riders were pleased with the progress made on the first of three days of testing with the Ducati 1098 F08. Troy Bayliss, 2m00.6s (48 laps) “It was good to get back on the bike after six or seven weeks, and we’re pretty happy with the first day” declared Troy. “The track is not bad but it’s a bit windy and dusty although things got better in the afternoon. We’re not really in a hurry with the new 1098 bike, we’re looking for a good base setting more than anything else and so far I’m pretty happy with the 2m00.6s I set on race tyres. The bike is quite similar to when I tested it at Vallelunga but we’ve got a lot of things to try out in the next couple of days and I’m sure we’ll improve.” Michel Fabrizio, 2m01.6s (37 laps) “My debut with the 1098 went quite well apart from a small crash!” said Michel. “I like the bike a lot and I immediately managed to find a good feeling. Every time I went out in the morning, I managed to improve, which is always a good sign. In the afternoon however my time stayed the same as the morning because we changed the rear shock. There are another couple of days left here and I hope to improve.” TIMES (provided by Pirelli): 1. Corser (Yamaha) 1m59.6s; 2. Haga (Yamaha) 2m00.1s; 3. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 2m00.6s; 4. Nieto (Suzuki) 2m01.0s; 5. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 2m01.6s; 6. Kagayama (Suzuki) 2m01.9s; 7. Sofuoglu (Honda) 2m02.2s. More, from a press release issued by Alstare Suzuki: FONSI AND YUKIO BEGIN THEIR PREPARATION FOR 2008. The 2007 season may have only finished just over seven weeks ago, but Team Alstare and most of the top WSBK teams were back in action in Qatar today. Conditions were far from ideal this morning when strong winds gusted across the track bringing sand and dirt from the nearby construction sites. The afternoon was better, but most of the riders used today to either reacquaint themselves with or get to know their bikes. Both Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra riders Fonsi Nieto and Yukio Kagayama did just that and only began to try some new material towards the end of the day. With no transponders on the bikes here, all the times are based on what each team put out. Max Neukirchner is not taking part at these tests. A ‘gentleman’s agreement’ between the Top Teams means that only two riders per team are allowed to test at such a test. Fonsi Nieto – 4th, 2:01.0 I’m pretty happy with how today went and really I spent the time learning about my bike and also getting to know my team properly. They are a great bunch and I’m really looking forward to working with them. We started the day with everything as the bike finished the 2007 season and we made good progress throughout the morning. In the afternoon we made some changes (exhaust and chassis) and I didn’t get on with the bike as well. So we will look at the data this evening and decided where to start tomorrow. One thing that did excite me today is that I was able to pass somebody (Haga) on the straight! It’s probably the first time in three years that I’ve been able to do such a thing and it made me very happy. It was very windy and dusty today, so I hope tomorrow will be a bit better and we can carry on the good work. Yukio Kagayama – 6th, 2:01.9 Today I am happy because it was as much a test of my body as the bike! And I’m happy to say that my body feels OK after 55 laps and I didn’t have any pain. It was very windy and that is a good test for the handling of the bike. It was also very dusty and dirty, so I took it steadily – I did not want to crash! When we tried a new exhaust this afternoon, the feeling of the bike changed and we will need to make some more adjustments to get the bike working the way we want. We also tested quite a few tyres today – some that we did not have time to try or use during the season – and some were good and some not so. Tomorrow we will carry on our work and see what we can do. Wednesday 28 November 1 Corser (Aus-Yamaha ) 1’59.6, 2 Haga (J-Yamaha ) 2’00, 3 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati ) 2’00.6, 4 Fonsi Nieto (E- Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 2’01.0, 5 Fabrizio (I-Ducati) 2’01.6, 6 Yukio Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 2’01.9, 7 Sofuoglu (TUR- Honda) 2’02.2 More, from a press release issued by Pirelli: PIRELLI DEVELOPMENT WINTER TEST DOHA, QATAR 28/30 NOVEMBER 2007 28th November 2007, Doha (Qatar) In the middle of the desert and the sand of Qatar, Losail racetrack is once again the first arena of the SBK winter test. This is an important event, also because it represents the first official appointment for the new bikes and the new riders on the Pirelli development stuff. 2008 season is starting today for the development teams, called to test many new solutions brought to Qatar by Pirelli. After the last race in Magny Cours Pirelli engineers never stopped to work and for the SBK in this first test brought more than 20 different kinds of rubber. Riders have started as usual with tyres they know and already have proved to perform well on this racetrack, even if some time is needed before Losail circuit can offer the best grip because of the sand. From the 2007 material Pirelli technicians have chosen 3 front and 2 rear tyres to be used. The new stuff is represented by 7 front tyres and 9 rear tyres which count on many innovative solutions. Riders will test different compounds but also different sizes and thus profiles, and different carcasses as well. Only 2007 tyres went to Kenan Sofuoglu, as he is not a development rider even if racing with a development team. Development teams are asked to define two test riders, and the third one cannot use the evolution materials. First day didn’t offer the best conditions, due to winds pushing sand into the racetrack, but still with the new tyres riders could set very good times. DAY 1: Superbike: 1 Corser Yamaha YZF R1 Yamaha Motor Italia WSB 1’59.6 2 Haga Yamaha YZF R1 Yamaha Motor Italia WSB 2’00.1 3 Bayliss Ducati 1098R F08 Ducati Xerox 2’00.6 4 Nieto Suzuki GSXR1000K7 Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra 2’01.0 5 Fabrizio Ducati 1098R F08 Ducati Xerox 2’01.6 6 Kagayama Suzuki GSXR1000K7 Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra 2’01.9 7 Sofuoglu Honda CBR1000RR Hannspree Ten Kate Honda 2’02.2 Supersport: 1 Parkes Yamaha YZF R6 Yamaha Motor Italia WSB 2’03.5 3 Pitt Honda CBR600RR Hannspree Ten Kate Honda 2’03.9 4 Foret Yamaha YZF R6 Yamaha Motor Italia WSB 2’04.2 5 Mc Coy Triumph 675 Triumph – SC 2’07.2 6 Paul Young Triumph 675 Triumph – SC 2’12.0 More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: TROY HAPPY ON DAY ONE. After a seven week layoff, Troy got back on his R1 Yamaha and ended quickest overall at the end of the first day of the Qatar Top Teams test. He was the only rider to go under two minutes today – and that was on his 2007 bike! Strong winds buffeted the riders this morning and sand and dirt was blown across the track, making like difficult for all concerned. Troy I wasn’t pushing hard at all today, just trying to get familiar with my bike and putting in the laps after some time off the bike. It was very windy this morning and a lot of sand and dirt was blown across the track, so I took it fairly easy. We tried some tyres today that we didn’t have time to try during the season and some worked pretty well and some didn’t. I went out on the 2008 bike for just a few laps at the end of the day, just to run the engine really and the only thing I can say about it at the moment is that it felt a bit higher and that affected the weight transfer. The chassis felt a bit different also, but until we paut in more laps and start looking at the data, it’s difficult to say much about it. We’ll carry on more testing tomorrow and the day after, but considering this is the first day on the bike after seven weeks or so, I’m pretty happy.