The Ducati Xerox Team continued to make great progress on the second and final day of testing at the Vallelunga circuit. The morning's session saw four Ducati bikes top the time sheets, with Xaus (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Team) just ahead of the Ducati Xerox riders Canepa (1'36.4), Bayliss (1'36.4) and Fabrizio (1'36.6). In the afternoon, yet another very warm session for the teams meant that the fastest seven riders were unable to improve on the times they set during the cooler morning session, and so most concentrated instead on completing race simulations or "long-runs" to better assess the performance of the tyres over longer distances and in hot conditions.
All three Ducati Xerox riders have felt the benefit of these test days and head now to the next round of the championship at Brno with a renewed level of confidence.
Niccolo' Canepa 1m36.4s"This morning when it was cooler we were going really well and there was a good level of grip, so a lot of the riders, me included, recorded their fastest times during that session. This afternoon I hoped to do more kilometres, in a race simulation, but it was really too hot and so the results didn't tell us very much. But overall I'm really happy with the way things have gone here. I hadn't been on a superbike for several months so the results are pretty positive. The only thing that I'm missing now is competition so I can't wait to get to Brno next week and finally race there, it will be very interesting to see how I do!"
Troy Bayliss 1m36.4s "It's gone well again today. We've worked really hard and done two long-runs, which is important in ensuring we're ready to go race distance. We were quite happy with the results, and went faster than we did here last year, although Nori was also going well in his long-run, so we'll be looking to improve further before the race here! The track was a bit slower this afternoon but the results were promising nevertheless. As conditions might be similar to this in Brno, I'm feeling pretty confident for that race."
Michel Fabrizio 1m36.6s "It hasn't gone badly although I was a bit disappointed that this afternoon I didn't really have a great feeling with the rear tyres. We also did a long-run today and the lap times were quite consistent, although slower than those of this morning due to the heat of course. I'm feeling quietly confident for the next race at Brno as it's a track I like and where I've finished on the podium for the last three seasons running so fingers' crossed."
TIMES (overall after day 2): 1. Xaus (Ducati) 1m36.0s
2. Canepa (Ducati Xerox 1098 F09) 1m36.4s3. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox 1098 F08) 1m36.4s4. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox 1098 F08) 1m36.6s5. Corser (Yamaha) 1m36.7s
6. Kiyonari (Honda) 1m37.0s
7. Checa (Honda) 1m37.0s
8. Haga (Yamaha) 1m37.1s
