Max Biaggi (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) made an impressive first impact on his SBK peers, after setting the fastest time during the first off season Pirelli Development tests. His best of 1'33.9 was a clear indication of his intent in his first SBK season, and his fast time came thanks in part to the good track and weather conditions at Valencia, with temperatures of over 20 degrees centigrade evident on both days.
Lanzi Second And Back To Fine FormLorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) was a force to be reckoned with on both days, finishing the test with an equal time to Biaggi, albeit using qualifying tyres, while Biaggi only used race versions. A good last day of testing, on a hybrid 2006/2007 machine, was also experienced by Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), who got to know his new team-mate Biaggi at Valencia, Kagayama rode right to the very end of the test, evaluating new parts for the 2007 machine, and finishing third fastest.
Bayliss Fourth On The Time SheetsTroy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox), running the same spec of machine he used to score the world championship itself, and on a circuit he recently won a MotoGP race on, was fourth fastest, his 1'34.2 being set on race tyres.
Fastest man on day one, James Toseland (Ten Kate Honda) was using a new style of rear swingarm, updated software for his machine's PI traction control system, new front fork internals and wheel rims compared to his 2006 machine. He was marginally faster on day two than day one, and fifth quickest overall.
Nieto Fastest Of The Kawasakis On His Home TrackFonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki) was sixth fastest after trying out new front suspension on his ZX-10R, setting a 1'34.8 on race tyres, even faster than he could do on a qualifier. His team-mate Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) went eighth fastest.
Impressive Start For Corser And The New R1Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia) had his first taste of the 2007 R1 Yamaha on day two at Valencia, and was happy with its performance, running to seventh quickest at the first attempt. His team Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) was running the 2007 version of the R1 for long periods at Valencia and was marginally slower than Corser, as he made the transition from his well-known 2006 version. Roberto Rolfo (Ten Kate Honda) had a steady two days of testing on the machine he hopes he will be riding in 2007, finishing with a time of 1'36.7.
Supersport World Championship Sebastien Charpentier (Ten Kate Honda) scorched to a new best at Valencia, with a 1'36.4, bouncing back from an early morning crash on his 2006-spec CBR600RR. Second fastest was his team-mate Kenan Sofuoglu (Ten Kate Honda) on 1'36.8, with the amazing combination of Gianluca Nannelli and the SC Caracchi Ducati ending up third, only a tenth behind.
Running on his own in the Yamaha Motor Germany team, Broc Parkes was fourth fastest, concentrating on machine improvements and a new quickshifter system.
Fabien Foret (Gil Motorsport Kawasaki), running standard front forks on his brand new ZX-6RR, was immediately impressive, rating his machine as a great base to build on. His team-mate Pere Riba (Gil Motorsport Kawasaki) was not quite as fast, as he took some time to get used to the roadbike spec forks. He thus finished a little behind Barry Veneman (Hoegee Suzuki) who was sixth fastest.
SBK World Championship:Biaggi - Suzuki Alstare - 1'33.9 - nn
Lanzi - Ducati Xerox - 1'34.1 - 1'33.9
Kagayama - Suzuki Alstare - 1'34.2 - 1'34.7
Bayliss - Ducati Xerox - 1'34.2 - nn
Toseland - Honda Ten Kate - 1'34.6 - 1'34.2
Nieto - Kawasaki PSG-1 - 1'34.8 - 1'35.1
Corser - Yamaha Motor Italia - 1'34.9 - nn
Laconi - Kawasaki PSG-1 - 1'35.1 - 1'34.8
Haga - Yamaha Motor Italia - 1'35.3 - 1'35.1
Rolfo - Honda Ten Kate - 1'36.7 - nn
Race '06: best lap 1'35.37
Superpole: 1'34.9
Supersport World Championship:Charpentier - Honda Ten Kate - 1'36.4
Sofuoglu - Honda Ten Kate - 1'36.8
Nannelli - Ducati SC Caracchi - 1'36.9
Parkes - Yamaha Motor Germany - 1'37.0
Foret - Kawasaki Gil Motorsport - 1'37.7
Veneman - Suzuki Hoegee - 1'38.6
Riba - Kawasaki Gil Motorsport - 1'39.3
Race '06: Best lap 1'38.66
Pole '06: 1'36.91
Related Linkswww.worldsbk.com
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