BAYLISS (DUCATI XEROX) SECOND IN FGSPORT OFFICIAL TWO-DAY TEST AT VALLELUNGA Sunday 8 July, Vallelunga (Italy): Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) was second quickest with a time of 1m36.556s, just a fraction behind Ruben Xaus (Ducati Sterilgarda), in two days of FGSport official testing action at a scorching Vallelunga circuit on the outskirts of Rome. This was the first time most of the WSBK teams had got to grips with the 4.110 km Vallelunga track in view of the penultimate round of the championship on September 30, although the Ducati Xerox Team had already tested here back in February, when conditions were much cooler. After almost ten hours of testing, Bayliss was satisfied with his time, set on the Sunday morning with a qualifying tyre. But also on race set-up, the Australian was pretty happy with the way the test had gone. “We’ve just done a lot of laps basically and didn’t really learn much here this afternoon because the track was hotter and not as fast and we didn’t try any more soft tyres” commented Troy. “But all in all the feeling’s reasonably good on the bike and now we’ve got a bit of a break until the next race in Brno, which is probably the most difficult race of the year for us. I did this morning’s time on a qualifier but we’re not too bad on race tyres either, even though we didn’t do a full long-run. When we come back here it’s going to be a bit cooler so it’s not really useful. The times are quite a bit quicker than in the February test but we didn’t have any other bikes here then and the other guys are all going pretty strong now”. Team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi, who set eleventh quickest time, was unable to complete the second afternoon of testing at Vallelunga as his right ankle was still swollen from the effects of a trial-bike accident earlier in the week. “Unfortunately these two days of testing were conditioned by a minor injury that I picked up during the week, which also prevented me from taking part in the final session” declared Lorenzo. “However we managed to find some good solutions for the race here in September. We also have a clear idea of what tyres to use seeing as the conditions in the race will probably be similar to those we have encountered over the last couple of days. Despite the fact that I wasn’t completely fit, I lapped just a few tenths of a second slower than Troy with race tyres. Unfortunately I was not able to get the best out of the qualifying tyres, but this result makes me optimistic for the race in September.” TIMES: 1. Xaus (Ducati) 1m36.382s; 2. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 1m36.556s; 3. Corser (Yamaha) 1m36.731s; 4. Toseland (Honda) 1m36.783s; 5. Biaggi (Suzuki) 1m37.440s; 6. Laconi (Kawasaki) 1m37.455s; 7. Haga (Yamaha) 1m37.506s; 8. Rolfo (Honda) 1m37.647s; … 11. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) 1m37.873s. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Yamaha Satisfied with Vallelunga Test Results Following on from a productive test session at Brno two weeks ago, the Yamaha Superbike and Supersport teams both headed to Italy this weekend for another test session, this time at Vallelunga. This circuit is new on the championship calendar for 2007 and is located just north of Rome. Built in 1959, the track was originally a sand mile oval. The most recent track alteration was in 2004 when it was extended by one kilometre to reach a total length of 4.11km. The main objective of this weekend’s test was for all riders to familiarise themselves with the circuit and, working with Pirelli, find the right tyres ahead of the race there in September. Both Haga and Corser put in a large number of laps over the two-day session in very hot conditions, laying down 120 and 106 laps respectively in order to get the most data and find the best set-up for the unknown circuit. Haga faired best on day one, taking third slot with a best time of 1’37.535 while Corser was only 0.2 seconds behind his team mate in fifth. The second day saw the best lap times of the day set in the cooler morning practice session before the track temperature soared towards 50°C. Corser took a second of his previous day’s best time and claimed third overall behind Xaus and Bayliss. Haga also managed to improve his best time but focused more on long runs than setting fast times. He ended the day in seventh with a 1’37.506 even though he is still suffering with some wrist pain since his race incident with Biaggi at Misano last month. The Yamaha World Supersport Team ran a two-man team during this weekend’s test, with the Australian Supersport rider Jason O’Halloran riding alongside permanent rider Broc Parkes. Jason O’Halloran is only 19 and is riding an R6 in the Australian Supersport Championship where he is currently lying in second place, six points behind the leader, with only one round to go. The objective for Jason and the team was to get an understanding of his set-up and riding skills as well as gather quality feedback on the YZF-R6. Parkes put a strong performance over the weekend to take third overall with 109 laps. His best time of the whole test came in the final fourth session when he put in a 1’40.032, showing the improvement the team had made over the duration of the weekend. O’Halloran showed determination, putting in 118 laps during the weekend to finish 13th overall, although his ideal times showed that he would have been higher up the board if he hadn’t been held up on one of his fastest laps. Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “We tried everything we wanted to and have found a good set-up for here as well as some extra things like better wheelie control to help us at Brno later this month. I’m reasonably happy with my lap times. The high track temperature this afternoon made it interesting it was about 50 degrees – and the sunshine made the track quite blistering for the tyres but I feel we found a good set-up for both cool and warm conditions. The layout of Vallelunga is quite technical, which I like though it is a bit bumpy in places. It’s actually a bit of a strange layout with the first half being quite fast, while the second half is slow. It takes some getting used to and is quite challenging for the right set-up. I’m happy with what we’ve achieved here, though.” Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “Today’s result was not as good as I would’ve liked, but I’m happy with the set-up information we got from the test. I did a few long runs and we started with the Brno setting, which we didn’t change much over the period of the test. I quite like the circuit; it is very tricky because of the combination of banking and blind corners but that makes it good fun! I am still suffering with a bit of pain in my wrist, which is annoying and I’m keen to let it rest now before the Brno race in a couple of weeks.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “Both Troy and Nori have put in a lot of laps this weekend. Nori did several long runs and focused more on finding the right race tyre. He seems to be happy with his set-up now despite having some pain in his wrist towards the end of the day. We still managed to test everything we wanted. Troy did his best time on race rubber and was very happy with result. This weekend he has focused on trying different set-ups and is happy overall. We are almost there now and the whole team is very positive and confident; we are now full of enthusiasm and ready to fight at Brno.” Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport Team) “It has been a couple of good days testing. On the first day we found some speed quickly but today it was harder to make as much improvement, but I think we did well in the end. The Honda’s good here but we just kept at it and got some useful data on chassis side. We just now need to put it all together for the next race at Brno. The conditions were hot and pretty much what we wanted as it’s given us a good indication of what it’ll be like for the race. The circuit is technical, that’s for sure but I think we’ll go well here, come the race.” Jason O’Halloran (Yamaha World Supersport) “This weekend has been tough; I had a track, a bike and different tyres to learn but I think I came to terms with it all very quickly and am pleased with my progress. The team is very professional and everyone has been great at helping me find my feet this weekend. Over the course of the weekend we’ve made steps forward; I put in a long run today and it felt good, even though I still am not fully used to the tyres. In the Australian Supersport series there are only two or three guys consistently fast but in this championship everyone is fast. You need to be fast and good at every turn every lap which is tough. The circuit was enjoyable to ride with some fast sections. It’s very technical though; one small mistake could cost a lot of lap time.” Terrell Thien (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team) “We’ve had a couple of good days here. We tested with Jason who proved to have lots of talent and is very professional despite his youthful age. He is keen to learn, which is always good, and I think he found it a valuable experience working in a world level team. He put in a good number of laps on the first day and provided us with some good data. He definitely has a promising future. Broc also had a very good test this weekend. He focused on tyre testing and put in a few long runs. He wasn’t worried so much about setting the fastest lap; he was more concerned about finding the right set-up, which he did. The fast lap came with it, which is a very good sign. Broc was very consistent over the two days and I’m very pleased with his test. Overall, I am very pleased with how the weekend has gone. The track itself is tricky but that makes it a good challenge for us. It has been a good proving ground for the run up to the race.” WSB Fastest Times 1. Xaus: 1’36.382 2. Bayliss: 1’36.556 3. Corser: 1’36.731 4. Toseland: 1’36.783 5. Biaggi: 1’37.440 6. Laconi: 1’37.455 7. Haga: 1’37.506 8. Rolfo: 1’37.647 9. Kagayama: 1’37.655 10. Fabrizio: 1’37.817 WSS Fastest Times 1. Brookes: 1’39.550 2. Sofuoglu: 1’39.818 3. Parkes: 1’40.032 4. Alfonsi: 1’40.262 5. Charpentier: 1’40.262 6. Fujiwara: 1’40.275 7. Roccoli: 1’40.610 8. Jones: 1’40.714 9. Foret: 1’40.837 10. Riba: 1’40.951 11. Fores: 1’41.010 12. Vizziello: 1’41.041 13. O’Halloran: 1’41.283 More, from a press release issued by Team Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki: Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra riders Max Biaggi and Yukio Kagayama finished the two-day test at Vallelunga in Italy with the fifth and ninth fastest times respectively. For Biaggi, Vallelunga is like a ‘home’ event, so he was keen to do well in these two days in preparation for the race towards the end of the season. Yesterday and today’s afternoon sessions were both very hot, with the track temperature in the 50’s today and nobody was able to lap any quicker than the morning. Max Biaggi: “Generally these tests were not so bad, though I am always after something better and I know we still have work to do. We only used race tyres and put in many laps so I think that our fifth position is not so bad. Probably, if we only consider the times on race rubber, I would’ve been second quickest. At the end of these two days our package is not so bad and during the tests we tried many different things including mapping, suspension and engine-braking. We did a lot of work for sure!” Yukio Kagayama: “I am a bit disappointed because I lost some time because of some problems. This is my first time at this track and although the layout is not so bad, I feel it is a bit narrow in places and maybe not as safe as other tracks.” Overall best laps: 1 Xaus (E-Ducati) 1’36.382 2 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1’36.556, 3 Corser (Aus-Yamaha) 1’36.731, 4 Toseland (GB-Honda) 1’36.783, 5 Max Biaggi (I-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1’37.440, 6 Laconi (F-Kawasaki) 1’37.455, 7 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1’37.506, 8 Rolfo (I-Honda) 1’37.647, 9 Yukio Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1’37.655, 10 Fabrizio (I-Honda)1’37.817. More, from a press release issued by Team Yamaha YZF: Good tests for Nakatomi The riders of the Superbike World Championship were last weekend at Vallelunga, close to Roma, for two days of testing so they could know better this Italian track that is used for the first time this year in the WSBK. Shinichi Nakatomi did some good testing and found an interesting set up for this circuit. While Ruben Xaus (Ducati) was the quickest overall, the Japanese Yamaha rider was 12th fastest on qualifying tyres with a time of 1:38.138. Using race tyres, the R1 man did a 1:38.5. Martial Garcia (team manager): “The technical solutions chosen during these tests go in the right direction. This gives us some confidence for the remaining of the season. We are closer than ever to the leading riders and this shows our progression.” FG Sport tests (July 7 and 8, 2007): 1-Xaus (Ducati) 1’36.382 2-Bayliss (Ducati) 1’36.556, 3-Corser (Yamaha) 1’36.731, 4-Toseland (Honda) 1’36.783, 5-Biaggi (Suzuki) 1’37.440, 6-Laconi (Kawasaki) 1’37.455, 7-Haga (Yamaha) 1’37.506, 8-Rolfo (Honda) 1’37.647, 9-Kagayama (Suzuki) 1’37.655, 10-Fabrizio (Honda)1’37.817–¦ 12-Nakatomi (Yamaha) 1:38.138 Note: Ducati tests (February 2007): 1-Bayliss 1:38.5, 2-Lanzi 1:38.6 World Championship standings: 1-Toseland (Honda) 260 points, 2-Bayliss (Ducati) 239, 3-Haga (Yamaha) 234, 4-Biaggi (Suzuki) 217, 5-Corser (Yamaha) 182 –¦ 17-Nakatomi (Yamaha) 24 Official Vallelunga stats Practice record (June 8, 2007 / 3rd race of the Italian championship): 1:39.027 Marco Borciani (Ducati) 149.41 kph Lap record (June 10, 2007 / 3rd race of the Italian championship): 1:39.837 Norino Brignola (Ducati) 148.202 kph 9th round of the Superbike World Championship: July 22nd at Brno (Czech Republic)