Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki’s Robertino Pietri set the fastest time Monday during the first day of a two-day Pirelli tire test at Daytona International Speedway, but the biggest story of the day might have been the instant success of Chaz Davies on the Attack Kawasaki. In spite of not racing at Daytona last March and never having ridden his GSX-R1000 on the current 2.89-mile configuration of the track before, Pietri lapped at a best pace of 1:39.55 Monday. The young Venezuelan rider’s first-day time would have put him second among the Superstock riders (behind Aaron Yates and ahead of Geoff May) after three days of testing Dunlops, November 30 December 2. “It went pretty good,” said Pietri. “We worked a lot. We worked a lot on the shock, because we weren’t here last March and this is my first time with this bike on this track. We tested three different rear tires. I think we have a good direction to go, which is good because this is only a two-day test. I’m feeling pretty positive.” Pietri’s teammate Chris Ulrich left his set-up essentially as it was and dove straight into testing Pirelli’s new Superstock tires in various compounds and did a best lap of 1:40.9. Davies, in his first ride on his new Formula Xtreme Attack Kawasaki ZX-6R and his first-ever ride on Pirelli tires, turned a best time of 1:40.03 Monday. To put that in perspective, the fastest unofficial time any FX rider turned during the three-day Dunlop test was the 1:40.2 that two-time and defending AMA Formula Xtreme Champion Josh Hayes recorded while using a qualifying tire. Davies did a string of low-1:40s, including his 1:40.03, on a 2007-spec Pirelli race tire. “It’s going good, at the moment,” Davies told Roadracingworld.com. “We’re working with the rear of the bike. We got lucky and the front was pretty close. We haven’t changed anything on it all day. But we changed some bits and bobs on the rear and then started testing rear tires.” Davies’ teammate Steve Rapp, the defending Daytona 200 Champion, went nearly as fast with a best of 1:40.6 while testing rear slicks on his FX Kawasaki. Team M4 EMGO Suzuki’s trio of riders Martin Cardenas, Blake Young and Cory West got straight to work Monday. Cardenas set the gearing on his 2008 GSX-R600 Formula Xtreme bike and started testing Pirelli’s new FX slicks. Young, who rode Dunlop-shod Suzukis in 2007, spent most of the day getting comfortable on his new GSX-R1000 Superstock bike. Young got his times down to 1:40.18 rather quickly, but the Wisconsin rider suffered a foot injury–running over his own foot after getting out of shape in the infield, without crashing–during the afternoon and shut down his program early. West, meanwhile, started setting up his close-to-stock 2008 GSX-R600 Supersport bike and tested a few new DOT-labeled tires at the end of the day. His best time was a 1:43.9. BMW’s Thomas Hinterreiter (1:45.5) and Nate Kern (1:47.5) worked on developing baseline set-ups on their very trick HP2 Sport endurance bikes. BMW plans to enter four of the bikes in the 2008 Daytona 200. Skunk Racing’s Lenny Hale turned a 1:44.7 while learning the Daytona circuit for the first time on his Yamaha YZF-R6. Richie Morris Racing borrowed a brand new 2008 Buell 1125R streetbike from the factory to do some MOTO-ST feasibility testing with Shawn Higbee and Michael Barnes. Barnes said the bike’s engine was “incredible, almost electric,” but he needed more time to get used to the handling of the machine. The 1125R was fitted with a throttle stop to comply with the 118-horsepower limit of MOTO-ST’s Super Sport Twins class. Weather conditions were relatively good, except for a rain sprinkle mid-afternoon that was so light bikes never came in off the track. Pirelli’s test concludes tomorrow. Pirelli Tire Test Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida December 3, 2007 Unofficial Lap Times (as provided by the teams): 1. Robertino Pietri (Suz GSX-R1000), Superstock, 1:39.55 2. Chaz Davies (Kaw ZX-6R), Formula Xtreme, 1:40.03 3. Blake Young (Suz GSX-R1000), Superstock, 1:40.18 4. Steve Rapp (Kaw ZX-6R), Formula Xtreme, 1:40.6 5. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000), Superstock, 1:40.9 6. Martin Cardenas (Suz GSX-R600), Formula Xtreme, 1:42.12 7. Cory West (Suz GSX-R600), Supersport, 1:43.91 8. Lenny Hale (Yam YZF-R6), Supersport, 1:44.7 9. Taylor Knapp (Kaw ZX-6R), Supersport, 1:44.8 10. David Loikits (Suz GSX-R1000), Superstock, 1:45.08 11. Nicky Moore (Kaw ZX-6R), Supersport, 1:45.4 12. Thomas Hinterreiter (BMW HP2 Sport), Formula Xtreme, 1:45.5 13. David Hudson (Suz GSX-R1000), Superstock, 1:45.80 14. Nate Kern (BMW HP2 Sport), Formula Xtreme, 1:47.5 15. Shawn Higbee (Buell 1125R), MOTO-ST SST, 1:47.9 16. Michael Barnes (Buell 1125R), MOTO-ST SST, 1:50.37 17. Clint Brotz (Buell XB12R), MOTO-ST GST, 1:56.9 More, from a press release issued by Daytona International Speedway: Pirelli Takes Their Turn At Tire Testing For Daytona 200 Week By Honda Attack Kawasaki’s Steve Rapp Looks Back On 2007 Daytona 200 By Honda Victory DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. After Dunlop tires completed a three-day tire test on Sunday, Pirelli tires got their opportunity to prepare for the Feb. 28 March 8 Daytona 200 Week By Honda on Monday as they kicked off a two-day test with their riders and teams. Among the many riders and teams in attendance include 2007 Daytona 200 By Honda winner Steve Rapp (Attack Kawasaki), Chaz Davies (Attack Kawasaki), Chris Ulrich (Roadracingworld.com Suzuki), Robertino Pietri (Roadracingworld.com), Cory West (M4 EMGO Suzuki), Martin Cardenas (M4 EMGO Suzuki) and Shawn Higbee (Richie Morris Racing). Rapp returned to DIS for the first time since winning the 2007 Daytona 200 By Honda one of the biggest upset wins in the history of the race. “It’s the first time I’ve been back,” Rapp said. “I did not (not) like Daytona but I didn’t have anything special about it. When I was driving in from Orlando, I was driving pass the Speedway and I got excited again. It was a pretty special feeling.” In the 2007 Daytona 200 By Honda, Rapp first took the lead on Lap 20, and with the exception of pit sequences, held onto the point for the rest of the 68-lap event and took the checkered flag with a 21.951-second margin of victory. Rapp’s victory was Kawasaki’s first win in the prestigious race since 1995 and it was also the first time a non-factory rider won the Daytona 200 By Honda since John Ashmead in 1989. “It was just a good feeling,” said Rapp, whose previous best result in the 200 was fifth in 1999. “To have set a goal and accomplish it, it just makes you feel good.” Rapp says the only way he could top his Daytona 200 By Honda victory is to repeat in 2008. “We’re doing the 200 again,” said Rapp, who will also compete in the Supersport class. “It’s going to be hard. It’s going to be a lot of competition. I feel good. I think we’re going to have a better setup and a better package. We came in last year, it was my first year on the Kawasaki, my first year on the Pirellis, my first race (with new team). It was a lot of new stuff. “Now we have a year together. The bike I think is set up better. I think I’m riding better and the tire should develop a little bit too. I think it has the potential to be a great Daytona again.” Pirelli motorcycle tire testing continues through Tuesday at Daytona International Speedway and is open to the public with free access to the Oldfield Grandstand through the lobby of The Daytona 500 Experience. Tickets for Daytona 200 Week By Honda are available at http:///www.racetickets.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.