Friday Mar 17 2006
Testing - Infineon

Sonoma (California) 17 March 2006: The Parts Unlimited Ducati team saw weather problems derail their Infineon Raceway test on Thursday and Friday. Rain and cold kept riders Neil Hodgson and Ben Bostrom from getting much track time with their Ducati 999 Superbikes at the scenic track north of San Francisco and just thirty minutes from the famous Golden Gate Bridge. Thursday's action was completely rained out, with Friday's testing limited to some very cold laps of the 2.2-mile (3.54-kilometer) circuit that began just before noon. Some teams left the circuit early.

Neil Hodgson's lap time on a "green" track was 1:38.1, unofficially tied for the best lap at the test. Ben Bostrom, who worked on testing different parts on the Ducati 999 for the team on Friday, turned in a best lap of 1:39.8.



"I'm happy with this test, even though we only were able to complete part of one day," said Team Technical Manager Gabriele Raccio. "The lap times were not good compared to the lap records because of the rain, but we did manage to get some work in. Neil was as fast as anyone at the test with a time of 1:38.1, which tied him with Tommy Hayden for the quickest on Friday afternoon. Ben's main goal was a bit different today. He tested some components on the bike and we did not adjust the setup for a fast time. The conditions will be very different than when we race here."
"The track was really too green in the morning and too cold in the afternoon to get much done in the way of working on the chassis for the race," said Bostrom. "We were able to work on gearing and brakes and I got 'plugged in' to the circuit after being away for a year, though. It was good to get back on the track again."

The next AMA Superbike race is the Barber Motorsports Park round, April 21-23.