BAYLISS BREAKS NEW GROUND WITH A 1’33.758 LAP
The current championship leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) once more proved his unadulterated pace against the entire World Superbike field, setting a new all time Superbike best at the 4.005km Valencia circuit. He is the first rider to official break into the 1’33s, and he simply smashed his way to an eventual 1’33.758. On a superb final day for Ducati 999 riders, Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Berik Ducati) was second fastest, with a 1’434.659, which, like most of his peers, he set in the cooler morning session. Xaus’s impressive return to action in SBK is made all the more noteworthy as the tough Spaniard is still relying on crutches to get around off the bike, after an of-season training accident. In third place overall, Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) made it a top three sweep for the big desmo twins, outpacing reigning World Champion Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) who was over a second from his Aussie rival Bayliss.

MARTIN DAZZLES US WITH PACE THEN FALLS IN FINAL SESSION
Aussie rider Steve Martin (Petronas Racing) ignored the handicap of having 100cc less engine displacement at his disposal than most of his competitors to put the unique Petronas FP-1 fifth - out of 28 competitors. His brilliant display in the morning continued in the afternoon, and even a late fall failed to dampen his team’s ebullient spirits. His team-mate Craig Jones made great improvements across the three sessions, despite finishing 28th overall. Unlike almost every other rider, Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) beat his previous personal best in the final afternoon session, despite the track grip degrading as the day went on. He was sixth overall.


NIETO THE TOP KAWASAKI RUNNER Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) scored seventh in the overall classification, with his team-mate’s Chris Walker and Regis Laconi 12th and 17th respectively. The entire Kawasaki crew tested a significant amount of new materials and components, and early season struggler Laconi declared himself particularly pleased with progress in his side of the garage at this particular test. Andrew Pitt, Haga’s team-mate, secured eighth fastest time overall, but spent most of his time working to ensure that he will have a fast and consistent set-up for the Valencia race itself. Top Honda rider on show was a pleasant surprise to some, as young Italian Michel Fabrizio (DFX Honda) overturned Klaffi Honda rider Alex Barros’s good first day start, to take a top nine classification. Barros was to finish 11th, and the top ten was rounded out by Corser’s team-mate, Yukio Kagayama.

MUGGERIDGE INJURED AS TOSELAND STRUGGLES Winston Ten Kate Honda rider Karl Muggeridge suffered a fracture of his fifth vertebrae in a crash during a slow-down lap in the morning session, and was immediately taken to hospital. Preliminary checks showed that he is in no danger of further injury, but he is expected to spend two months immobile while the bone heals. James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) expected a tougher then normal test at Valencia, to some degree, and he had to battle to set a 1’35.879, good enough for 16th place. A very positive testing outcome for SBK rookie and former World Supersport champion Fabien Foret (Alstare Corona Engineering Corona Extra) saw him 13th out of 28, one place ahead of the experienced Marco Borciani (Sterilgarda Berik Ducati) and two ahead of former Superstock king Vittorio Iannuzzo (Celani Suzuki). Despite a strong start to his rookie SBK season thus far, Roberto Rolfo (Ducati SC Caracchi) scored only 21st on the Valencia testing timesheets.

SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) could not improve on his day two best after only riding in the morning session of the final day at Valencia, but nonetheless won the battle of the transponders, with the fastest Supersport lap of 1’37.437 a truly impressive achievement.
Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) was fastest in the final session, which was interrupted near the end before a frantic final five minutes of track time was completed. Curtain finished the tests second overall. Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Honda Ten Kate) was third fastest, despite a late fall which brought out the red flags. Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany), added a second Yamaha to the top four, Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia) a fifth, with top Ducati rider proving to be Christian Zaiser (LBR Ducati). Josh Brookes was a disappointed 23rd out of 29 on his Ducati SC Caracchi 749.

SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP Alessandro Polita (Team Celani Suzuki Italia) left the Valencia tests secure in the knowledge that he is the fastest Superstock rider at the present time, after setting a 1’39.018 on the morning of the final day. Almost 0.6 seconds behind, Claudio Corti (Team Lorenzini by Leoni Yamaha) was the testing runner-up, and Ayrton Badovini (Biassono Unionbike MV Agusta) raised another Italian tricolore in third place. Continuing the machinery variety, Matej Smrz (MS Racing Honda) was fourth. US rider Jason Perez (HP Racing Suzuki) finished 12th out of 23 entrants.

MISANO TEST NEXT APPOINTMENT FOR SBK After the Valencia tests, Misano is the next testing venue, on 12 and 13 April, before the series returns to Valencia on 23rd April for Round One of Superstock, and round three of World Superbike and World Supersport.