TEAM SBK DUCATI ALSTARE ALL SET TO START WORK THIS WEEKEND AT JEREZ The SBK Ducati Alstare team, which will participate in this year’s World Superbike Championship with riders Carlos Checa and Ayrton Badovini, readies itself to get started on the 2013 work programme that begins with a three-day test session this weekend at Jerez de la Frontera in Spain. This first test of the year, which gets underway on Saturday 19 January, will serve as a first shake-down of the new 1199R Panigale bikes in the Superbike configuration. There are still a series of technical solutions to put into practice and this test provides a last chance before official testing takes place in Phillip Island next month. These sessions are the first stage of preparation for the team and riders that will face an extensive work programme this season and it is for this reason that attention over the coming days will understandably focus on bike set-up in preparation for the next test sessions, scheduled for the 14 and 15 February in Australia. Both Checa and Badovini are very motivated and look forward to getting back on track after almost a winter break of almost two months. Under the watchful eye of team manager Francis Batta and Ducati’s SBK project director Ernesto Marinelli, the new team hopes to find favourable weather conditions in Spain, so as to be able to make the most of these three important days.