World Superbike - day 2 Qatar test

Posted by StickyAdmin, Monday, December 5th 2005

The second day of World Superbike testing at the desert circuit of Losail in Qatar is primarily to test the Pirelli rubber for the 2006 race season, which starts here at the end of February. Both Ducati Xerox Team riders Troy Bayliss and Lorenzo Lanzi make substantial progress on their Ducati 999 motorcycles, shaving time off the Superpole lap set by Regis Laconi (Ducati) 2’01.593 earlier this year.

In this three-day test, from 4 to 6 December, the Ducati Xerox Team is concentrating exclusively on tyre testing for the championship's one-make supplier Pirelli and suspension set-up work in collaboration with Öhlins on new front forks and rear shocks.

Both riders, who set their times on race tyres, improved on yesterday, in particular Troy Bayliss, who is starting to really get to grips with his new bike. The Australian was one of just two riders who managed to get under the two-minute mark, the other being 2005 champion and fellow countryman, Troy Corser (Suzuki). Bayliss knocked almost two seconds off his lap time to end up second quickest, despite a harmless crash on the last lap of his final run of the day. Troy set a particularly good pace, considering the condition of his left wrist, and the time of 1m59.60s he recorded towards the end of the day is also significant seeing as the track was slower in the afternoon.

"I'm really happy with today, the track was perfect and we made a lot of progress" declared Troy. "The 999 still feels similar to the Ducati Superbikes I rode a few years back, although the tyres are different. Pirelli have made a big step forward and I'm really getting used to them now. I tested a lot of fronts today and we've managed to get a lot of good information for the opening race here in February. Tomorrow I'll continue working with the tyres and then I'll do a long-run after lunch to finish off the test".

Lorenzo Lanzi concluded today's session one hour before the end after suffering the effects of yesterday's crash. Even though he was unable to get under the two-minute mark, Lanzi shaved a few tenths off his time to end up third quickest rider of the day.

"Yesterday was much better than today but all things considered I'm quite pleased with my performance today" said Lorenzo. "I'm still in a bit of pain after yesterday's crash, in which I scraped my right arm and bruised my back and right shoulder. Today we made a major change to the bike however and I hope to improve tomorrow".

FPR’s riders Steve Martin and Craig Jones had a day of mixed fortunes. Craig was unable to ride for the first half of the day due to illness with a fever and stomach bug, although following a trip to the medical centre for treatment and a good sleep in the morning, was able to return to the FP1 seat for the afternoon’s running and completed over thirty laps.

Steve was also feeling a little weak after his first day back on a bike following surgery just six weeks ago. He completed almost forty laps but had a steady day of running for development purposes rather than pushing himself to his full potential.

Despite both Steve's and Craig’s day being slightly hampered by ailments, they were both able to progress positively with testing of development parts and also, both improved on their lap times from yesterday, with times of 2:03.10 and 2:02.84 respectively.

Steve commented, “I’ve felt pretty weak today so have just concentrated on steadily evaluating the development parts. Despite not pushing to anywhere close to my limit I was still able to improve my lap time and so I’m looking forward to more of the same progress all round, on day three.”

Craig said, “It’s annoying I was ill this morning as I wanted to have another good and full day, but I felt much better after lunch and I’m pleased to be continuing to make good progress. I was able to further evaluate tyres and found a good combination to help me put in the quickest lap of the test so far. I’m really enjoying this test and can’t wait to get back out there tomorrow to hopefully put in even more laps, test more development elements and also try for an even quicker lap time.”

tomorrow is the final day of testing at Qatar

top unofficial times
1. Troy Corser (Suzuki GSXR1000) 1'59.17
2. Troy Bayliss (Ducati 999 F06) 1'59.40
3. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati 999 FO6) 2'00.48
4. Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki GSXR1000) 2'00.64
5. Karl Muggeridge (Honda CBR1000RR) 2'00.68
6. James Toseland (Honda CBR10000RR) 2'00.90
7. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha YZFR1) 2'01.50
8. Andrew Pitt (Yamaha YZFR1) 2'01.80
9. Craig Jones (Petronas FP1) 2'02.84
10. Steve Martin (Petronas FP1) 2'03.10

WSBK - World Superbike 2006 race calendar
round 1. February 23-25 Losail, Doha - Qatar
round 2. March 3-5 Phillip Island - Australia
round 3. April 21-23 Valencia - Spain
round 4. May 5-7 Monza - Italy
round 5. May 26-28 Silverstone - Great Britain
round 6. June 23-25 Misano - San Marino
round 7. July 21-23 Brno - Czech Republic
round 8. August 4-6 Brands Hatch - Great Britain
round 9. September 1-3 Assen - Netherlands
round 10. September 8-10 Lausitzring - Germany
round 11. September 30-October 1 Imola - Italy
round 12. October 6-8 Magny-Cours - France
round 13. October 20-22 TBA - South Africa


2006 Superbike, Supersport & Superstock riders


You can refresh yourself on any of the 2005 race action by visiting each race below

round 1. Doha - Qatar
round 2. Phillip Island - Australia
round 3. Spain - Valencia
round 4. Italy - Monza
round 5. Great Britain - Silverstone
round 6. San Marino - Misano
round 7. Czech Republic - Brno
round 8. Great Britain - Brands Hatch
round 9. Netherlands - Assen
round 10. Germany - Lausitzring
round 11. Italy - Imola
round 12. France - Magny-Cours