Island Testing finishes with Ducati’s Michel Fabrizio leading a gaggle of twins
Ducati continued to dominate at the official world superbike test at Phillip Island today, setting the four best times of the two days; while the Australians struggled somewhat – focusing on getting their set ups right for this weekend’s round one, rather than making the top ten.
Cooler conditions and a drying track after light early rain, provided the perfect conditions for speed in the morning session, while the wind picked up a little this afternoon to hold back most of the top riders from improving their previous best.
After four tests sessions over two days, Michel Fabrizio posted the quickest time of all, a 1’31.650, set this morning on his Ducati Xerox machine.
Althea Ducati rider Shane Byrne was second quickest, on a 1’31.662; while Jakub Smrz was one of the riders to improve in the final session, taking his Ducati to third best time with a 1m31.680s.
Fastest rider on day one, Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati), was fourth overall (1m31.959), while the first of the four-cylinder riders, Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Honda), was fifth in the combined rankings (1m32.175s), having set his personal best time this afternoon.
The top ten on combined times was rounded out by Noriyuki Haga (Ducati), Leon Haslam (Suzuki), Max Biaggi (Aprilia), Leon Camier (Aprilia) and Max Neukirchner (Suzuki).
Ruben Xaus was top BMW rider, 11th, and the fastest Yamaha man was James Toseland, 12th.
The Australians followed – with Wollongong’s Troy Corser (BMW) a best time of 1m32.819 s from today’s morning session; the Sunshine Coast’s Chris Vermeulen, returning to world superbikes, managing 16th fastest on the Kawasaki (1m32.870s); Kempsey’s Andrew Pitt was (BMW) 19th fastest with a 1m33.699s time and Sydney’s Josh Brookes (Honda) in 20th place with a 1m33.710s time.
The riders now have a four day break before round one of the 2010 Superbike World Championship kicks off this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Phillip Island.
World Superbike Times from Test – final best times from the four sessions
1 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’31.650
2 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1’31.662
3 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1’31.680
4 Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1’31.959
5 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1’32.175
6 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1’32.247
7 Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’32.279
8 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 1’32.474
9 Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 1’32.621
10 Neukirchner M. (GER) Honda CBR1000RR 1’32.691
11 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1’32.714
12 Toseland J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1’32.781
13 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1’32.819
14 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’32.830
15 Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’32.869
16 Vermeulen C. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’32.870
17 Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1’32.880
18 Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’33.202
19 Pitt A. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1’33.699
20 Brookes J. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR 1’33.710
21 Resch R. (AUT) BMW S1000 RR 1’33.943
22 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1’34.945
23 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’35.663
24 Hayden R. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’35.763
Quotes
Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) – fastest overall (1m31.650)
“I’m satisfied with the lap times because we were consistently fast. I found good race pace with one of the tyre compounds in particular and this bodes well for the weekend but the result will very much depend on the weather. There are several fast guys here, so it will undoubtedly be a tough race weekend, as well as a hard-fought championship. It’s a difficult challenge but I’m ready to face it.”
Troy Corser (BMW) – 12th fastest overall (1m32.819)
Chris Vermeulen (Kawasaki) – 16th fastest overall (1m33.032)
“The day went pretty well and we made some significant improvements. We concentrated mainly on the chassis set-up and tyre life and found a good base setting for the race. The conditions this morning meant we lost a bit of track time but hopefully we’ll make up for that on Friday during free practice. We still have some work to do but I’m looking forward to the weekend and challenging for the top five.”
Troy Corser (BMW) – 12th fastest overall (1m32.819)
“We tested many things today. Some things went well, some things not. For me, the bike still is a little nervous on bumps – both on acceleration and deceleration. In the afternoon we worked on making the bike more comfortable and controllable on bumps. We have got lots of information about many, many things. We now have to analyze the data and see what we can do. The fact that the bike is quite different to last year makes a proper comparison a little difficult.”
— Yamaha Report
Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike riders James Toseland and Cal Crutchlow have wrapped up the final day of the two day test in Phillip Island. Both British riders spent the two days working on the chassis set-up of the new 2010 Yamaha YZF-R1 in what was its first outing of the year. The riders now take a few days of rest before heading back out onto the Australian circuit for the first race of the 2010 season this weekend.
James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World superbike Team (11th, 1’32.7)
“It’s been a solid two days of testing working on the new bike. I still have some chatter problems as does Cal. The guys are going to go through the data and see what they can come up with for us over the next couple of days.”
Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (14th, 1’32.8)
“We worked through a lot of stuff, unfortunately it’s not all worked yet. If we can get going in the right direction over the next couple of days for both of us then we can move forward. I’m looking forward to race weekend as always and will do the best job I can.”
Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda world Superbike Team Manager
“We have had a problem with chatter so we will spend the next few days before the race weekend studying the data to find a solution. We are confident that we will find the right one and give both James and Cal the best possible bike to race with.”
— Ten Kate Report
Jonathan Rea and Max Neukirchner have declared themselves ready for the opening of the 2010 World Superbike championship next weekend after completing a successful test at Phillip Island in Australia.
The Hannspree Ten Kate Honda pair spent two days preparing their Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade machines for the first of 13 rounds at the 4.45km circuit near Melbourne.
Rea, who topped the timing sheets in the last pre-season test at Portimao in Portugal heads into his second World Superbike championship year in buoyant form, having taken two wins in his debut season. The youngster from Northern Ireland, who celebrated his 23rd birthday earlier this month, set the fifth fastest time over the two days with a lap of 1’32.175s.
Neukirchner, meanwhile, has enjoyed his return to full fitness after an injury-plagued 2009. The 26-year-old German – already a World Superbike race winner – is looking forward to getting back to winning ways during 2010 with his new Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team.
Jonathan Rea – best time 1’32.175s
It’s been a really good test and we’ve been able to work toward a good race setting for next weekend, which I’m really looking forward to. We’ve also been trying to get the bike to work as conservatively with the tyres as we can, but I was third quickest in this afternoon’s final session, which isn’t so bad. The main issue here has been me, and getting myself re-acquainted with this circuit – it’s getting there, but it’s taken the full two days and I’m still working on the last sector. There’s still a lot of work to do, both for me and the team, but we’ve got a couple of days to relax and think about it, and we’ll come back on Friday refreshed and ready to go.
Max Neukirchner – best time 1’32.691s
I have to admit that I was happier yesterday than I am today. There was some rain this morning and it was a bit windier, but the temperature was similar and grip levels were OK this morning. In the second session, I had a small crash; the bike wasn’t too bad and I was OK, but there was not much time after that and, when I went out again, the grip level had dropped. We tested a lot of things today to try and find a good set-up for next weekend, but we didn’t find it yet. Still we have some more things to try on Friday. I am feeling really fit and well – probably fitter than I have ever been – and I’ve enjoyed some surfing and training since arriving here in Australia. Everything is working well with my new team and it’s good to be back on a Honda in this championship. I cannot wait now for the season to start – it’s not long to go.
Ronald ten Kate – team manager
We’ve been working quite hard during these two days. Our base setting has been working pretty well at previous tests, but we’ve to change quite a bit to get the bike going properly here. On day one we went around in circles a bit, but we’ve made some more progress today. It’s certainly not perfect, but we’ve still got next weekend to go after that. Tyre life has been not so bad and although we haven’t quite got the maximum out of the softer tyre, we are getting more consistency at race pace.
Sofuoglu fit for season opener
Kenan Sofuoglu has proved his fitness ahead of next weekend’s (26-28 February) opening round of the 2010 World Supersport championship after a two-day test at Phillip Island in Australia.
The 2007 champion from Turkey, who finished third in last season’s series, sustained a broken leg in a pre-season training accident last month and was forced to miss the following test at Portimao in Portugal.
Sofuoglu, however, completed two days of testing at Phillip Island with no ill-effects from the fracture, setting the fastest time yesterday and finishing second overall with a time of 1’34.691s around the 4.45km circuit that lies two hours south of Melbourne.
His team-mate, Michele Pirro, who joins the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda squad for the 2010 season, also put the team’s Honda CBR600RR machines through their paces in preparation for the opening round. The 23-year-old Italian has impressed during earlier pre-season testing and finished this final rehearsal just a tenth of a second slower than Sofuoglu with the fourth fastest time.
Kenan Sofuoglu – best lap 1’34.691s
I have a good feeling with the bike and my leg is not causing me to have any problems with riding. I found it quite easy to go fast yesterday and got into a good rhythm very quickly. However, we found out that we couldn’t make the tyre last, so we have spent today searching for a set-up that will work in the race. It looks like we made some progress in that direction this afternoon with a very different setting, but I was not able to set a fast time. Still, we will come back on Friday and continue this work to be ready for the first race next Sunday which I am looking forward to very much and feel confident that we can get a good result to start the season.
Michele Pirro – best lap 1’34.793
Everything feels OK and I am really enjoying riding the CBR and working with my new team. I like the circuit very much but it is quite difficult to learn and I am here with a completely different bike this year. Yesterday was not so easy but I had a much better feeling today and I look forward to continuing the improvements next weekend. I am happy with the work we have done during this test and with the result that we achieved. Now I am ready to race and I am very excited about next weekend.
Ronald ten Kate – team manager
We managed to go fast immediately on the first day of this test and the only headache we have is trying to make the tyre last for the whole race distance. We spent all of the second day trying to resolve the problem and I am pretty sure we have found the solution we were looking for. We’ll check it again during practice on Friday when we plan to make a lot of longer runs.
— Ducati Report
After rain showers during the night the Ducati Xerox riders Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio waited for an hour this morning before exiting on track to continue with yesterday’s work. The two team-mates made the remaining part of the session count, clocking up some consistently fast times.
In the final minutes of the session, Michel was able to improve on the best time he set yesterday by seven tenths of a second, to register the fastest time of the morning (1m31.650), an extremely impressive lap time for a Superbike at Phillip Island. Only Fabrizio and Byrne, he too on the Ducati 1198 with team Althea Racing, ducked under the 1m32 barrier this morning, followed by Checa, team-mate to Byrne, and Haga in fourth.
In the final session this afternoon Michel was once again very fast but did not manage to improve on the flying lap made this morning.
Progress was however made and both Michel and Noriyuki deemed the test a success. At the end of the two-day test, it was Ducati Xerox’s Italian rider who topped the timesheets, followed by the Ducati 1198s of privateers Byrne, Smrz and Checa; Haga closed in overall sixth position.
The Ducati Xerox Team can now enjoy two days of relaxation before returning to the track on Thursday to make final preparations before the first round of the World Superbike Championship kicks off on Friday.
Michel Fabrizio
“I’m satisfied with the lap times because we were consistently fast. I found good race pace with one of the tyre compounds in particular and this bodes well for the weekend but the result will very much depend on the weather. There are several fast guys here, so it will undoubtedly be a tough race weekend, as well as a hard-fought championship. It’s a difficult challenge but I’m ready to face it.”
Noriyuki Haga
“Today we concentrated on suspension settings, making various changes during the day, but for some reason I didn’t find the same good feeling that I had yesterday. Having said that the lap times were fairly fast. With regard to tyres the difficulties are caused by temperature because an increase of just one or two degrees can make a difference. I can’t really predict how the races will go on Sunday; I’m going to relax for two days and then we’ll start work again on Friday.”
Ernesto Marinelli – Team Manager
“We can be nothing but extremely satisfied with today’s testing. The team and the riders have worked very hard and Michel in particular was very fast. The potential of the 1198 bikes is demonstrated by the fact that there are five Ducatis in the top six. The race weekend will nonetheless be a tough one but we have a good baseline from which to start.”
— BMW Report
A wet track, in the morning only, allowed for limited track time in the beginning of the first session. With the tarmac drying up, both Ruben Xaus (ESP) and Troy Corser (AUS) completed a lot of laps and made good progress with the set-up of the BMW S 1000 RR. Their respective crews compared the different tyre compounds and worked on the chassis and suspension set-up.
Ruben Xaus: Bike: BMW S 1000 RR Test kilometres today: 338 (76 laps)
Fastest lap free practice 1: 1:33.095 min / Fastest lap free practice 2: 1:32.714 min
“I am quite satisfied with today’s test. Especially our lap time in the afternoon makes me confident. The rideability of the bike has improved a lot. I have the feeling that we took the right decisions over the course of the test. My crew did a good job and I am confident that we can score quite good results during the race weekend.”
Troy Corser: Bike: BMW S 1000 RR Test kilometres today: 249 (56 laps)
Fastest lap free practice 1: 1:32.819 min / Fastest lap free practice 2: 1:33.885 min
“We tested many things today. Some things felt well, some things not. For me, the bike still is a little nervous on bumps – both on acceleration and deceleration. In the afternoon we worked on making the bike more comfortable and controllable on bumps. We have got lots of information about many, many things. We now have to analyze the data and see what we can do. The fact that the bike is quite different to last year makes a proper comparison a little difficult.”
What comes next: While the team will stay at Phillip Island for the next couple of days, Troy will be at the official Infront Motor Sports pre-event press conference on Wednesday morning at Melbourne’s Eureka Skydeck 88. It is the highest public vantage point in the Southern Hemisphere (300 metres in height) and the only observation deck in the world that can thrill visitors with ‘The Edge’, a glass cube which projects three metres out of the building.
— Reitwagen BMW Report
Team Reitwagen BMW ended the two day tests in Phillip Island content what all the work they had done, but also more than happy with their performance considering that the bikes are virtually standard. Apart from Ohlins suspension and a bit of work on the mapping, the rest of the bike is completely standard, so riders Andrew Pitt and Roland Resch are more than happy with the start they made and the prospects ahead. At the end of the day, Ducatis filled the top four places, with Michel Fabrizio the fastest, with a time of 1:31.650. Second was Shane Byrne, with Jakub Smrz third and Carlos Checa fourth.
Andrew Pitt – 141 laps (two days), best lap 1:33.699
Considering the level of the bike at the moment, I am happy about we we did these two days and am really looking forward to developing the bike further and getting it into a real race machine. I am a little surprised at how good the base level is and that bodes well for the future. Considering the bike is new for us and that we don’t have any telemetry or experience with it from before, I feel very positive that we can get some good results. This has been a learning experience for all of us, but we’ve got a great team and I am sure that before too long we will surprise people with our competitiveness. Before that, there’s still lots of work to do, but we are all very encouraged so far and are all looking forward to our next track time with the bike.
Roland Resch – 105 laps (two days), best lap 1:33.943
I am surprised how good the bike is straight out of the box and this is a good sign for the future. The base is good and all we’ve done so far is put on some good suspension, a good exhaust system and done a little work on the mapping. Apart from that, the bike is very standard and even has the original dashboard! I think the bike has good power and the top speed was fantastic, so once we can control this, I think we will be able to get into the top fifteen for sure. There’s much work to do though, but I am confident in our team and happy to work with somebody as experienced as Andrew.
— Althea Ducati Report
Today was the last day of two-day test session for Althea racing team at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia. A wet track was present in the Superbike morning sessions due to showers in the early morning. The asphalt had completely dried out by mid-morning so Checa and Byrne started their first session an hour later than scheduled.
In today’s first session both Althea team riders confirmed yesterday’s excellent results. Byrne improved yesterday’s best lap time scoring a remarkable 1,31,662 reaching the first position. Only a few minutes before the end of the session Michel Fabrizio scored a better lap time (for only 12 hundredths) and so Shakey ended in second position. Checa followed his teammate in third place with a time of 1,32,195.
During the last session, due strong winds, Althea team riders did not improve their lap time and in the combined results of the last two test days, Byrne came in second while Checa ended up in fourth position. The second day was mainly focused on extensive testing of the electronic settings. Both riders were able to continue working on what they had planned to do in addition to concentrating on testing tires in view of the first two races of the championship.
Carlos Checa :”I’m pretty satisfied with this second day of testing. This morning I worked hard with my technicians thinking about the subsequent races. In the afternoon, we tested some new components and I was not able to improve my best lap time also because to the strong wind. We used two types of tire, but for the race next week we’ll also use some other different tires already tested by official riders. I’m happy because we almost terminated our planned work schedule and I’m feeling quiet confident for the next two races of the championship”.
Shane Byrne :”In general, I’m very happy with this second day of testing even though unfortunately, this afternoon we had some small problems with the bike, and I was forced to use the second one. During the second session we lost time trying to fix the problems and I was able to run only few laps. The guys did a very good job this morning and I’m really satisfied with my first bike. I completed a very fast lap time in the first session, finding a very good pace. The only thing we can do now is rest and wait for the races next weekend“.
Genesio Bevilacqua – General Manager :” We are quite pleased with the final results of these two test days. Both our riders were consistently fast, they worked very hard and the results speak for themselves. I want to thank all our technical staff for the great job done during these two days and also Ducati who put our team in the condition to reach these excellent results. Following these tests we now know we have a very competitive package and we’re definitely looking forward to the season”.
— Suzuki Report
Team Suzuki Alstare riders Leon Haslam and Sylvain Guintoli continued to work on finding the best set-up for their GSX-R1000 K10 Suzukis instead of chasing lap times today and ended the two-day World Superbike test at Phillip Island in Australia in 7th and 15th respectively.
Strong winds buffeted the 4.445 kilometre circuit and most riders took things cautiously, especially in the afternoon. Ducatis filled the top four places at the finish with Michel Fabrizio the fastest, with a time of 1:31.650. Second was Shane Byrne, with Jakub Smrz third and Carlos Checa fourth.
Leon Haslam: 142 laps (two days) 7th – 1:32.279:
“I am not so happy with the final result, regarding lap times, but overall I am happy with all the work we’ve done and the things we found out and this will help us go in the right direction.
“Today we started with the two bikes set up differently and I preferred some things on one bike and some things on the other bike, so the mechanics will now try and put the best bits of both on one bike and that’s what I will start with during first practice next Friday. We spent quite a lot of time today trying out race tyres, so that we will be in a good position next week, but that meant that we didn’t really go for a very quick lap time.
“I am not worried about the guys ahead of me today, because I know that things will be very different come the race next weekend. That’s more important than lap times today. I feel good about our prospects – and that’s the main thing.”
Sylvain Guintoli: 147 laps (two days) 15th – 1:32.869:
“Today we did a lot of work on getting the bike working well with race rubber and didn’t concentrate of chasing lap times. I had a small get-off at the tight hairpin after Lukey Heights, but there was no damage to me or the bike. It happened when I lost the front end when I pushed a bit too hard on a tyre that I didn’t really like – and now I like it less!
“I have had no problems with jet-lag or tiredness today, but I felt that I just couldn’t find my good rhythm. This sometimes happens to me when we test for a lot of time, like today when the two sessions lasted two and a half hours each. In a normal race weekend, practice lasts an hour and race is about 45 minutes and I always manage to find a good rhythm without a problem, so maybe the sessions today were a bit too long for me. But, we’ve done a lot of good work and now I am looking forward to next Friday and the start of the race weekend.”
— World Supersport
Spanish rider Joan Lascorz (Provec Motocard.com Kawasaki) headed the field in the middleweight division at Phillip Island, securing the fastest lap of the tests in this morning’s session with a 1’34.374.
Only one rider improved his best time in the afternoon sector, as track conditions deteriorated due to high winds and a drop in temperature right at the end of the day.
Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) was second in the rankings, 2009 Championship runner-up Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) was third and Sofuoglu’s team-mate Michele Pirro fourth.
Sebastien Charpentier (Triumph BE-1) proved to be in fine form in his championship return, going eighth from 17 riders after two days of testing. He was the fastest Triumph rider at the tests.
World Supersport times – Best times from aggregate results of four sessions
POS NO. RIDER BIKE TIME
1 Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’34.374
2 Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 1’34.691
3 Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 1’34.753
4 Pirro M. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1’34.793
5 Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’34.994
6 Foret F. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’35.060
7 Roccoli M. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1’35.379
8 Charpentier S. (FRA) Triumph Daytona 675 1’35.735
9 Harms R. (DEN) Honda CBR600RR 1’35.758
10 Salom D. (ESP) Triumph Daytona 675 1’35.764
11 Davies C. (GBR) Triumph Daytona 675 1’35.906
12 Praia M. (POR) Honda CBR600RR 1’36.039
13 DiSalvo J. (USA) Triumph Daytona 675 1’36.074
14 Rea G. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 1’36.624
15 Dell’Omo D. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1’38.001
16 Lundh A. (SWE) Honda CBR600RR 1’38.340
17 Cazzola P. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1’39.108
