From a press release issued by Ducati Corse Press:
The second day of Superbike testing at the Valencia circuit in Spain saw both Ducati’s 2003 Superbike riders, Neil Hodgson and Ruben Xaus, start to set some interesting times on the new Ducati 999 Factory ’03.
Today’s weather conditions were slightly worse than Saturday’s, as the temperature dropped and clouds set in for most of the day. Hodgson, who only did a few laps yesterday, today put in a considerable amount of mileage to complete the day’s schedule of general set-up work and testing new tyres developed by Michelin. At the end of the day the 29-year-old from Burnley had completed a total of 92 laps, with a quickest time of 1:35.4.
Neil Hodgson
“The bike feels much nicer than the last time I tested with it at Valencia in October,” commented Neil. “Now it is doing everything I want it to do and that’s important. The 999 Testastretta engine is really smooth and strong, and revs a bit more than the engine on the bike I used this year.”
Ruben Xaus also lowered his Saturday time and, despite some technical problems on his 999, the 24-year-old from Barcelona was satisfied with his 1:35.5 mark, two-tenths quicker than yesterday’s time.
Ruben Xaus
“Today it was my turn to stay in the garage,” declared Ruben. “The day didn’t get off to the best possible start when I had to stay in the pits early in the morning, but as soon as we solved the technical problem, I got out on the track and did 58 laps, and my time of 1:35.5 was quite good. Tomorrow, if all goes well and the weather doesn’t get worse, I’m sure I can get down under 1:35.”
The three-day Superbike test session at Valencia concludes tomorrow.