From a press release issued by FGSport Group:

Laconi Sets Fastest Final Testing Pace

A frantic final day of testing at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia saw the morning session delayed twice because of two separate oil spills. The afternoon session delivered the fastest lap of the test to Regis Laconi (Ducati Fila), the Frenchman taking a best overall time of 1:35.393. His hard work over the whole three days saw him set a total of 156 laps as he installed himself in the position of first among equals, after what is the last test before the laps start to count for real.

Laconi was the first rider into the 1:35 bracket but he was not the last, as Steve Martin (DFX Ducati) improved on his previous best personal performance to secure a lap time of 1:35.574, finishing second overall. On a private Ducati compared to Laconi’s factory machine, Martin was impressive throughout, even if he did experience a couple of gremlins on the final day.

James Toseland (Ducati Fila) was third fastest overall in the tests, his lap total also being one of the best, a massive 190. He beat his own previous quickest mark from Thursday to take a time of 1:36.162 on the final day, 0.8 seconds shy of his team-mate Laconi.

Finishing his final day with a rush to the airport and home Leon Haslam (Renegade Ducati), joined his new SBK peer group in more than respectable style, improving despite his finger injury and setting a best time of 1:36.201; good enough for fourth quickest of all sessions.

Marco Borciani (DFX Ducati 999RS) put in a massive leap on the final day, stripping 1.2 seconds from his Thursday performance to record a lap of 1:36.303 and edge out 1996 World Champion Troy Corser (Foggy Petronas FP-1). Ending his weekend sixth fastest, Corser made steady improvements each day on the unique three-cylinder 900cc machine, which remains largely unchanged from last year’s spec.

Returning World Superbike hero Noriyuki Haga finished his first official test on the Renegade 999 Ducati in seventh overall, using only one of his two bikes. He set a better time on the second day than the last, with a personal best of 1:36.676 his eventual top reward.

The new Honda CBR1000RR FireBlade finished its first proper SBK test in ninth place, after Chris Vermeulen (Ten Kate Honda) gradually brought his times down to 1:36.907. His was nonetheless the fastest four-cylinder machine on display, displacing Spaniard Sergio Fuertes’ MIR GSX-R1000 Suzuki. Fuertes had to sit out the second day after a crash on day one damaged his machine too much to continue without replacement of some key parts.

Ivan Clementi and Mauro Sanchini (Kawasaki Bertocchi ZX-10) rode their relatively stock fours into tenth and eleventh, with Clementi overtaking his team-mate in the final standings on the very last day.

Chris Walker gained more knowledge of his Petronas triple to finish in the top 12, but one even more experienced rider found his new Ducati a tricky machine to set-up to his liking. Swapping back to his 998 Ducati for a period to make comparisons, Pierfrancesco Chili (PSG-1 Ducati 999RS) eventually finished 13th overall, two seconds down on Laconi’s quickest time.

Riding a single bike at the test Garry McCoy (Xerox Ducati NCR 999) was disappointed with his 14th classification on the stopwatch, never feeling comfortable on a bike which is a big change from the multi-cylinder machines he has been used to.

SBK perennial fixture Lucio Pedercini was one of the few 998RS riders on show and ended his test 15th out of 24 entrants. Piergiorgio Bontempi was the fastest rider out of the two Zongshen Suzuki pilots, in 18th, two places ahead of SBK new boy Miguel Praia (Xerox Ducati 999RS).


Best Official Lap Times OF Test (as supplied by FGSport Group):

1. Regis Laconi, Ducati 999F04, 1:35.393, 156 laps
2. Steve Martin, Ducati 999RS, 1:35.574, 117 laps
3. James Toseland, Ducati 999F04, 1:36.162, 190 laps
4. Leon Haslam, Ducati 999RS, 1:36.201, 151 laps
5. Marco Borciani, Ducati 999RS, 1:36.303, 150 laps
6. Troy Corser, Foggy Petronas FP1, 1:36.310, 91 laps
7. Noriyuki Haga, Ducati 999RS, 1:36.676, 101 laps
8. Chris Vermeulen, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:36.907, 125 laps
9. Sergio Fuertes, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:37.023, 87 laps
10. Ivan Clementi, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:37.186, 124 laps
11. Mauro Sanchini, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:37.281, 129 laps
12. Chris Walker, Foggy Petronas FP1, 1:37.287, 114 laps
13. Pierfrancesco Chili, Ducati 999RS, 1:37.343, 96 laps
14. Garry McCoy, Ducati 999RS, 1:37.585, 128 laps
15. Lucio Pedercini, Ducati 998RS, 1:37.674, 146 laps
16. Michael Schulten, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:37.821, 82 laps
17. Gianluca Nannelli, Ducati 998RS, 1:37.840, 34 laps
18. Piergiorgio Bontempi, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:38.512, 135 laps
19. Giancarlo De Matteis, Ducati 998RS, 1:38.568, 98 laps
20. Miguel Praia, Ducati 999RS, 1:39.033, 145 laps
21. Jurgen Oelschläger, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:39.148, 100 laps
22. Alessio Velini, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:39.276, 137 laps
23. Warwick Nowland, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:39.303, 166 laps
24. Horst Saiger, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:39.867, 191 laps