From a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM STAYS ON AT RIO FOR SUCCESSFUL DAY’S TESTING

Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Monday 5 July 2004 – Ducati Marlboro Team testing concluded successfully today at Rio de Janeiro’s Nelson Piquet Circuit, following on from yesterday’s fourth place for Loris Capirossi in the Rio GP, the Italian team’s best result of 2004.

Troy Bayliss today focussed on further back-to-back tests with the two different types of engine he used over the weekend. The Australian rider completed 45 laps of the track and carried out a long-run with the Four Pulse engine and one with the Twin Pulse. Troy was able to confirm that the Desmosedici GP4 with its Twin Pulse unit was easier to ride and allowed him to maintain a rapid pace with less physical effort. Troy’s best time today with the Twin Pulse engine was 1:50.2.

Loris Capirossi completed just nineteen laps and mainly concentrated on testing cycle parts and electronics. The Italian continued development work with the new irregular firing order Twin Pulse engine, with which he made an encouraging debut at Assen and with which he confirmed to be a further step forward here at Rio. Loris’s best time was 1:50.4.

Partially cloudy skies but warm weather, unusual for the Brazilian winter (air 26° C/track 33°C), characterised the one and only scheduled day’s testing at the Rio circuit and the Ducati Marlboro Team will return to Italy tomorrow.

As confirmation of the major commitment being made by Ducati Corse in MotoGP, while the Ducati Marlboro Team was hard at work in Brazil, the development team was down in Mugello today with tester Vittoriano Guareschi, who will also remain at the Tuscany circuit tomorrow to test new electronic components.

The next race for the Ducati Marlboro Team is at the Sachsenring (Germany) on July 16-18, round 8 of the 2004 MotoGP World Championship.