On the first day of the championship’s three-day official winter test at Valencia, both riders faced further difficulties in familiarisation with new Pirelli tyres. Having made progress with tyre construction at the team’s January test in Australia, a chatter problem re-emerged to become the focus of the team’s efforts throughout the day.

Troy finished the day with a best time of 1:37.805, the eighth fastest time of a full World Superbike field, while new team-mate Chris was 12th fastest during the day with a time of 1:38.618.

Regis Laconi on the factory Ducati set the pace with a best lap of 1:36.608.

Troy said: “The key for me today has been the suspension, and trying to cure the chatter problem. But we have worked with Ohlins to come up with a different internal rear shock setting and made progress. On my first lap with this setting I took a second off my best time. Tomorrow we want to do more work on the front forks.”

Chris said: “It has been frustrating for me, with chatter from the word ‘go’. We were not able to use the tyres that we found to work best in Australia so, to some extent, we have been reinventing the wheel today.”

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Regis Laconi (Ducati Fila) set the pace on the first day of the official pre-season World Superbike testing session at Valencia today. The 28-year-old Frenchman demonstrated his championship potential with a time of 1'36.53 around the Ricardo Tormo track on the 2004-spec version of the Ducati 999. His British team-mate James Toseland was three-tenths of a second off Laconi's pace with a time of 1'36.86 as the Ducati Fila riders sandwiched an impressive Leon Haslam on a Renegade Ducati 999RS.

Both Ducati Fila riders continued development work on the 999 Factory '04s that will make their debut at the Valencia opening round in two weeks time. Regis Laconi (40 laps) set his quickest time in the morning and then crashed out on oil late in the afternoon but was unhurt. "Apart from the crash, the day wasn't so bad" declared Laconi. "I set my best time early but in general the first day's times were slower than last time we were here because it was cold in the morning and then we didn't do that many laps in the afternoon. Tomorrow things will heat up for sure."

James Toseland (49 laps) bedded in new forks in the morning as he got to grips with his 999 but then improved to 1'36.86 in the afternoon. "We started off with different fork settings from the ones we used in Phillip Island and I had to get used to that at first, and then we tried a few other things during the day" he commented. "We're just checking that everything is going well with the new bike, but I feel confident because I know we're going in the right direction".

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With the first round of the World Superbike Championship taking place at Valencia on Sunday 29 February, the top SBK entrants arrived in the Spanish circuit of Valencia eager to shine during the last official tests before the start of the 17th SBK season.

Bright and unbroken sunshine, with air and track temperatures of 23°C, offered the 24 Superbike machines on show the ideal start to their final preparations, and once more Regis Laconi (Ducati Fila) made the most of it, setting the fastest first day time of 1:36.608. The Frenchman was suffering the effects of a slight flu and had a crash in the middle of the afternoon session, but he fully expects to increase his advantage on day two of the three-day test.

For new SBK full-time rider Leon Haslam (Renegade Ducati 999RS) the first day of testing was a measurable success, his 50-lap total eventually leading to a second quickest time of 1:36.748. The Englishman’s pace was a boost for the Renegade team, setting out on its first year of full World Superbike competition.

A good day for most of the UK entry had James Toseland in third overall on his factory Ducati Fila machine, while local knowledge allowed Spaniard Sergio Fuertes the chance to secure fourth overall on his MIR Racing Suzuki.

A good start to a new SBK adventure for the Ten Kate Honda team saw Chris Vermeulen, the reigning World Supersport champion, finish his first true day of Superbike testing in fifth place, an excellent result for him and the all-new Honda Fireblade.

Multiple SBK race winner Noriyuki Haga returns to the championship which made him an international star, with the Japanese ending his first day at Valencia sixth on his Renegade Ducati 999R. Steve Martin (DFX Ducati 999RS) went seventh quickest, with top Foggy Petronas rider Troy Corser eighth overall.

The top ten was rounded out by the most experienced Superbiker of all, Pierfrancesco Chili (PSG-1 Ducati 999RS) and Marco Borciani (DFX Ducati 999RS).

Gary McCoy completed his first day of real tests among his peer group in 13th place overall, behind the best Kawasaki ZX-10 rider, Mauro Sanchini in 11th and Chris Walker (Foggy Petronas FP-1) in 12th.

More new entrants to the series, Zongshen Suzuki, fielded their two riders Piergiorgio Bontempi and Warwick Nowland with Bontempi 17th fastest and Nowland 20th.

In World Supersport the circuit best lap was beaten on the very first day by Karl Muggeridge (Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR), who set a new best of 1:37.655 while running on race tyres. In a superb first day for Australian riders Broc Parkes (also Ten Kate Honda) scored second quickest time, while returnee WSS rider Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany YZFR6) was third fastest, 0.6 seconds shy of Muggeridge.

2002 World Champion Fabien Foret (Yamaha Belgarda YZFR6) pushed into the top four, while the top Suzuki rider, Stephane Chambon, slotted the new GSX-R600 into fifth.

Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Fila 749RS) went 14th fastest of the 27 Supersport riders on show, and easily the top Ducati rider.

Testing continues for two further days, with good weather conditions predicted by most long-range forecasts.

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Lorenzo Lanzi made further progress today on the Ducati 749R that he will race in this year's World Supersport Championship, notching up considerable development mileage on the brand-new Factory bike.

22-year-old Lanzi set fourteenth quickest time in 1'39.83, almost a second ahead of Ducati Corse tester Vittoriano Guareschi (1'40.70), who is also present at Valencia to help speed up the 749R's development curve.

Lanzi and Guareschi focussed on suspension and general set-up work in collaboration with Ohlins technicians and although they were not amongst the front-runners, both riders were able to give major feedback to Ducati Corse engineers that will be useful over the next two days of testing.

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Official WSBK championship test, Valencia, Spain – Day One

1. Laconi (Ducati Fila) 1:36.538
2. Haslam (Renegade Ducati) 1:36.748
3. Toseland (Ducati Fila) 1:36.860
4. Fuertes (MIR Racing) 1:37.274
5. Vermeulen (Ten Kate Honda) 1:37.377
6. Haga (Renegade Ducati) 1:37.649
7. Martin (DFX) 1:37.680
8. Corser (Foggy Petronas Racing) 1:37.805
9. Chili (PSG-1) 1:37.837
10. Borciani (DFX) 1:37.867
11. Sanchini (Kawasaki Bertocchi) 1:38.073
12. Walker (Foggy Petronas Racing) 1:38.618
13. McCoy (NCR) 1:38.756
14. Pedercini 1:38.764
15. Clementi 1:38.945
16. Schulten 1:39.404
17. Bontempi 1:39.453
18. De Matteis 1:39.551
19. Nannelli 1:40.079
20. Nowland 1:40.213
21. Velini 1:40.458
22. Oelschlager 1:40.573
23. Saiger 1:41.078
24. Praia 1:41.631