DUCATI XEROX TEAM WRAPS UP TESTING AT BRNO Brno (Czech Republic), Thursday 16 June: Ducati Xerox Team riders James Toseland and Régis Laconi wrapped up their second two-day testing session in a week at the legendary Brno circuit in the Czech Republic. The four days of testing gave both riders a final opportunity to prepare for the forthcoming round of the World Superbike championship at Misano Adriatico (24-26 June), as well as the subsequent Brno event in mid-July. Conditions were much improved from last week’s cold and windy outing, and despite the occasional shower, the team was able to get down to some serious mid-season work at one of its two optioned testing circuits. As well as tyre testing for Pirelli, the sole supplier for the SBK championship, the Ducati Xerox Team riders also carried out development work on several new components for the 999, including a lower steering clamp and MotoGP-derived brake callipers. Both riders set their best times (Toseland 2m03.2s, Laconi 2m03.4s) on race tyres yesterday. Toseland, who had never even seen Brno before, summed up his first experience on the Czech track: “It’s really good, a bit like Mugello with long, fast, flowing corners. I’m quite pleased with the way the test went and the bike is working good. I missed a bit of time when I went off yesterday and today the conditions were not as good, but I feel sure that I could have knocked quite a bit off my best time without that crash”. Laconi, who lapped a couple of tenths off his team-mate’s pace, declared: “I found it a bit difficult to get into the rhythm of this track mainly due to the conditions, but I’m sure that in July, when it’ll be much hotter, things will be a lot easier. We’ve already got quite a good set-up for the race, but you’ve got to remember that conditions will be different when we come back here”. The Brno circuit, which extends over 5.4 kilometres, has not been a fixture of the World Superbike calendar since 1996. It has twice been the venue for a round of the championship; in 1993, when the two wins went to Carl Fogarty (Ducati) and Scott Russell (Kawasaki), while three years later it was the turn of 2005 points leader Troy Corser to notch up a double win on a Promotor Ducati 916, run by current Ducati Xerox team manager, Davide Tardozzi.