The Buildbase Ducati Team has just completed its first serious test of the year at the sun-baked Circuito Cartagena in south east Spain. The Team’s optimism, as they flew out last Tuesday, was duly rewarded by the performance of the new Ducati 1098s and the Team’s new riders Kieran Clarke and John Laverty. Neither John nor Kieran have ever ridden a V twin Ducati before and, as everyone knows, the characteristics are totally different to Japanese in-line-fours requiring a completely different riding style. The change in approach is a testament to John and Kieran’s professionalism and unquestioned ability so it is a credit to both riders that they adjusted so quickly. The Ducati 1098s performed impeccably, and did not miss a beat throughout the entire four day test, enabling the rider’s lap times to systematically improve as each test session came to a close. The Team still have a lot of performance enhancements to make to the bikes before the official MCRCB test at Snetterton later this month, so the performance results at Cartagena are all the more encouraging knowing that the bikes were pretty much in road trim. It was also the first time this year that whole the crew had met each other and worked together so again it was a great shake down for everyone involved in the Buildbase Ducati 1098 Team. Finally a big thank you must go out to all of our sponsors and team partners who are making this year possible and we look forward to seeing everyone at Snetterton in a few weeks time.