Pain -because the ankle he injured at the Kyalami tests prevented him from riding on the first two days and pleasure - because when he did ride, he and the team made a significant breakthrough.

Before that, things hadn't looked good. On the first two days of the tests, Troy's injured left ankle prevented him from throwing a leg over the Aprilia and for a moment it looked as if the whole tests was going to be a wash-out. 

On Wednesday, Troy managed nearly twenty laps but was in discomfort and really couldn't push himself or the bike. Something had to be done, so Troy called a personal trainer friend in Sydney and got him to come down to Phillip Island to see if he could get Troy in a better condition to ride the bike. After extensive massage the foot was strapped and Troy went out and managed to complete a full day of testing. 

Despite scorchingly hot conditions and a slippery track, Troy was able to circulate in the 1:35s on regular rubber. More important though was a breakthrough which may prove significant for the season ahead.

Troy: "It was very frustrating sitting out the first two days of the tests and yesterday was not much better. I managed a handful of laps, but the foot was very sore and I wasn't comfortable on the bike. So, I flew in a friend, who is a personal trainer/nutritionist and got him to work on my foot. He made it possible for me to put in a full day and the only time I was in any pain was when I got off the bike! The track felt slippery -because they've being doing a lot of work to the gravel traps and so there's a lot of dust flying around - so I didn't push it at all. Also it's very hot - the air temperature is around the 40 C mark, which means that the actual track temperature is probably 50-55 C! it is so hot that yesterday, Laconi's tyres started blistering after only fourteen laps!

"We've been trying a few things, moving the engine's position around in the chassis and I think we may have found something really good. The bike feels much more stable. Tomorrow, we'll try and confirm that and maybe improve it a bit also. But, I'm happy and the team are happy. Having a hurt foot means that I've been able to try things , rather then chase lap times and if what we found proves to be right then we're all really looking forward to the next tests in Valencia and the start of the season. It's always good when something good comes out of a misfortune.