The three day SBK test session has just finished at Brno. The teams and riders involved included Team Honda Klaffi (Alex Barros), Honda DFX (Michel Fabrizio) and Yamaha France (Sebastien Gimbert and Shinichi Nakatomi). Brazilian Barros set a new semi-official lap time of 2 minutes 02.5 seconds, almost two tenths of a second faster than the 2m 02.694s time that Troy Corser achieved in the Superpole here last year. Barros, using qualifying tyres, was trying out new engine settings and working on chassis developments and fast starts, with much of the second day’s testing given over to practice starts.
Gimbert also achieved an impressive lap time of 2 minutes 02.6 seconds. The Frenchman was at Brno to test new brake and suspension settings while team mate Nakatomi (2 m 03.4 s) was working on overall setup and engine mapping. Norick Abe, still suffering from the effects of his fall at Monza, was unable to take part.
Michel Fabrizio, another test rider at Brno, set a best time of 2 m 03.2 s. The Team DFX rider completed a number of laps, trying out various setup solutions in preparation for the race in July.