SBK CORONA EXTRA SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP® PIRELLI TEST LOSAIL 19, 20 e 21 DECEMBER SECOND DAY Losail, Wednesday 20 December 2006 TIMES TUMBLE AS TRACK CONDITIONS IMPROVE A grippier and wider racing line around the 5.380km Losail circuit allowed the cream of the World Superbike paddock to scores some impressive times on the latest generation of Pirelli race rubber on the second day of testing. Fastest man today was Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) with a 1’58.9 on a race tyre – close to the 1’58.7 best he has previously set on a qualifier, in perfect conditions during a private test. TOSELAND THREE TENTHS FROM BAYLISS James Toseland (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) was close on Bayliss’ tail, and professed that the track conditions were immeasurably better than day one, albeit with a stiff wind still playing its part. His time of 1’59.1 was four tenths faster than third quickest rider, Fonsi Nieto (PSP-1 Kawasaki Corse) who had a morale-boosting day two. The top four places were completed by Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia), using 2007 suspension units on his all-new R1. LANZI THE FIRST RIDER OUTSIDE 1’59 Lorenzo Lanzi improved on his first day best time with a 2’00.3, only one tenth faster than rookie SBK rider Max Biaggi (Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki) who set a 2’00.4. In joint seventh place on the day two sheets Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) and Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki) shared a best of 2’00.6 time, with Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki) only a tenth behind that, in what was a close second day on the stopwatches. Robby Rolfo (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) improved on his first day time with a 2’02.2. One day of testing remains for all riders present in Qatar. SUPERSPORT RIDERS PICK UP THE PACE Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) continued his fast form from day one, setting the pace with a 2’03.3 lap. Gianluca Nannelli (SC Caracchi Ducati) was second by just over a tenth while Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) put in a day two time of 2’00.9. Fabien Foret (GIL Motorsports Kawasaki) found almost three second on the second day on his new model ZX-6RR, to set a 2.04.78. Pere Riba (Gil Motorsports Kawasaki) lost some time after a fast crash wrecked his bike in the early morning, leaving him on a 2’06.3. SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: 1.Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1’58″9; 2. Toseland (GB-Honda) 1’59″1; 3. Nieto (Spa-Kawasaki) 1’59″5; 4. Corser (Aus-Yamaha) 1’59″7; 5. Lanzi (Ita-Ducati) 2’00″3; 6. Biaggi (id-Suzuki) 2’00″4; 7. Laconi (Fra-Kawasaki) 2’00″6; 8. Haga (Gia-Yamaha) 2’00″6; 9. Kagayama (id-Suzuki) 2’00″7; 10. Rolfo (Ita-Honda) 2’02″2. SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: 1.Parkes (Aus-Yamaha) 2’03″3; 2. Nannelli (Ita-Ducati) 2’03″4; 3. Curtain (Aus-Yamaha) 2’03″9; 4. Foret (Fra-Kawasaki) 2’04″7; 5. Riba (Spa-id) 2’06″3. More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: Wednesday Dec 20 2006 Winter Test BAYLISS CONTINUES TO SET THE PACE IN QATAR TESTING Bologna (Italy), Wednesday 20th December 2006: Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox Team) continues to set the pace at the Losail circuit as the final Pirelli winter testing session of the year moves into its second day. The two-times World Superbike champion improved by almost two seconds to finish the session with a time of 1m58.9s. Even though the times are dropping rapidly, the main point of focus for all the five manufacturer development teams present in Qatar is to find a tyre that will last an entire race distance, not an easy aim given the relatively cool weather and windy, sandy track conditions. “Today went well again because the track was a little bit better” commented Troy. “We got through a lot of stuff and tested some rear tyres in the afternoon. I actually used the same settings as last year and we found a couple of tyres we could use for the race but they’re not lasting long in these conditions. My time today was a just a couple of tenths slower than my best ever time here on qualifying tyres. Tomorrow I don’t reckon we’ll go much faster but I’d like to find a bit more consistency and then we’ll be looking good”. Lorenzo Lanzi knocked one second off his time to end the day with the fifth quickest time of the day. “Today everything went quite well and towards the end of the day I managed to set some interesting times on race tyres” declared Lorenzo. “The conditions are more or less the same as yesterday but you can lap well. The only thing is that in these conditions this track totally destroys the rubber so we have to work a lot on the settings to find the right tyre. Now I feel much more at ease on this track and I have managed to lap in a good pace”. DAY 2 TIMES (provided by Pirelli): 1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 1m58.9s; 2. Toseland (Honda) 1m59.1s; 3. Nieto (Kawasaki) 1m59.5s; 4. Corser (Yamaha) 1m59.7s; 5. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) 2m00.3s; 6. Biaggi (Suzuki) 2m00.4s; 7. Haga (Yamaha) 2m00.6s; 8. Laconi (Kawasaki) 2m00.6s; 9. Kagayama (Suzuki) 2m00.7s; 10. Rolfo (Honda) 2m02.2s.