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Wednesday, 28 October 2009 22:16 |
 World Superbike report - Ducati concludeds two days of testing in preparation for 2010 and heads home to Italy.
Ducati Day 1 test report Tuesday 27th October 2009:
Just two days after the final round of the World Superbike Championship 2009 and the Ducati Xerox Team begins testing in preparation for the new season.
Noriyuki and Michel, second and third at the end of this year’s campaign, and both already confirmed with the Ducati Xerox Team for 2010, were back on track this morning with most of the other Superbike team for the first of two days of testing.
At ease on the Portuguese track after several days riding, both Ducati men were immediately fast and got a lot of work done throughout the day. Between 9am and 5pm, and with the continuation of the race weekend’s warm, sunny conditions (with a track temperature hovering around 30°C) the factory riders were able to test various new parts, including a new exhaust and modified clutch.
The Öhlins technicians also brought a new fork for the riders to use and Michel tested it this afternoon, with very positive results.
Italian rider Michel, as is often the case during winter testing, was the most consistently fast rider on track today, making numerous laps in under 1m43, with an (unofficial) best time of 1m42.3s while Nitro-Nori recorded a fastest lap time of 1m43.0s
Noriyuki Haga
“Today I’ve tried a harder rear suspension setting and I had a really good feeling with that, then we modified the front setting too but I’m not 100% happy with that yet so we’ll continue to work on it tomorrow. Tomorrow we’ll also try the new front fork and see how we go. For now I’m fairly happy; times have improved from those recorded over the weekend and I’m confident we can make further improvement tomorrow.”
Michel Fabrizio
“We’re all very tired after the weekend but it’s been a positive day. There are several new things to try, and me and Nori are dividing the work up; there’s quite a lot to do. Today I tried the new fork with the new clutch and both seem a lot better, we’ve seen big improvement. For the tyres, we’ve continued with the only one that worked for us over the weekend. I’m very satisfied, tired but happy.”
TIMES (UNOFFICIAL): Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 1m42.3s; Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) 1m43.0s
Ducati Day 2 test report Wednesday 28th October 2009:
A cooler, overcast day characterised day two of testing at the Portimao circuit as Ducati Xerox riders Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio and their technicians continued work where they had left off yesterday.
Over the two days Noriyuki has tested the new clutch and is happy with the initial results, citing it as a good starting point for 2010. He also used the new fork but declared at the end of testing that he prefers his usual one.
Michel meanwhile continued to ride with the new fork, testing too the new shock provided by Ohlins and he was very comfortable, able to record some ery fast lap times.
Average lap times were very similar to yesterday with Michel able to improve on his best time by a few tenths of a second, once again one of the fastest riders on track during the morning session, along with Noriyuki and Brits Jonathan Rea (Honda), Leon Haslam on board the Suzuki and Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow.
Both Ducati Xerox riders finished up at lunchtime, with the testing having been declared a success.
Noriyuki Haga
“Today we tried the new front fork and it felt quite similar to the one I use already but overall I prefer the one I have used up until now, the new one didn’t give me anything extra. I worked with the new clutch which is a bit of a different concept but it gave me a good feeling and it definitely has potential. I’m happy with how it’s gone here but to be honest I’m ready to go home as it’s been a long week.”
Michel Fabrizio
“I continued to test the fork that we used yesterday and I also tried the new shock. With the bike in its 2009 configuration but with the new shock mounted I was immediately half a second faster so it seems to be a big improvement. I’m very happy with the times as me and Jonathan were again the fastest out there and I’d say the testing has finished on a very positive note.”
TIMES (UNOFFICIAL): Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 1m41.9s; Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) 1m43.2s
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