Laconi Sets Fastest Final SBK Testing Pace
13 February 2004
A frantic final day of testing at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit
in Valencia saw the morning session delayed twice because of two separate
oil spills. The afternoon session delivered the fastest lap of the test
to Regis Laconi (Ducati Fila), the Frenchman taking a best overall time
of 1:35.393. His hard work over the whole three days saw him set a total
of 156 laps as he installed himself in the position of first among equals,
after what is the last test before the laps start to count for real.
Laconi was the first rider into the 1:35 bracket but
he was not the last, as Steve Martin (DFX Ducati) improved on his previous
best personal performance to secure a lap time of 1:35.574, finishing
second overall. On a private Ducati compared to Laconi’s factory
machine, Martin was impressive throughout, even if he did experience
a couple of gremlins on the final day.
James Toseland (Ducati Fila) was third fastest overall
in the tests, his lap total also being one of the best, a massive 190.
He beat his own previous quickest mark from Thursday to take a time
of 1:36.162 on the final day, 0.8 seconds shy of his team-mate Laconi.
Finishing his final day with a rush to the airport and
home Leon Haslam (Renegade Ducati), joined his new SBK peer group in
more than respectable style, improving despite his finger injury and
setting a best time of 1:36.201; good enough for fourth quickest of
all sessions.
Marco Borciani (DFX Ducati 999RS) put in a massive leap
on the final day, stripping 1.2 seconds from his Thursday performance
to record a lap of 1:36.303 and edge out 1996 World Champion Troy Corser
(Foggy Petronas FP-1). Ending his weekend sixth fastest, Corser made
steady improvements each day on the unique three-cylinder 900cc machine,
which remains largely unchanged from last year’s spec.
Returning World Superbike hero Noriyuki Haga finished
his first official test on the Renegade 999 Ducati in seventh overall,
using only one of his two bikes. He set a better time on the second
day than the last, with a personal best of 1:36.676 his eventual top
reward.
The new Honda CBR1000RR FireBlade finished its first
proper SBK test in ninth place, after Chris Vermeulen (Ten Kate Honda)
gradually brought his times down to 1:36.907. His was nonetheless the
fastest four-cylinder machine on display, displacing Spaniard Sergio
Fuertes’ MIR GSX-R1000 Suzuki. Fuertes had to sit out the second
day after a crash on day one damaged his machine too much to continue
without replacement of some key parts.
Ivan Clementi and Mauro Sanchini (Kawasaki Bertocchi
ZX-10) rode their relatively stock fours into tenth and eleventh, with
Clementi overtaking his team-mate in the final standings on the very
last day.
Chris Walker gained more knowledge of his Petronas triple
to finish in the top 12, but one even more experienced rider found his
new Ducati a tricky machine to set-up to his liking. Swapping back to
his 998 Ducati for a period to make comparisons, Pierfrancesco Chili
(PSG-1 Ducati 999RS) eventually finished 13th overall, two seconds down
on Laconi’s quickest time.
Riding a single bike at the test Garry McCoy (Xerox Ducati
NCR 999) was disappointed with his 14th classification on the stopwatch,
never feeling comfortable on a bike which is a big change from the multi-cylinder
machines he has been used to.
SBK perennial fixture Lucio Pedercini was one of the
few 998RS riders on show and ended his test 15th out of 24 entrants.
Piergiorgio Bontempi was the fastest rider out of the two Zongshen Suzuki
pilots, in 18th, two places ahead of SBK new boy Miguel Praia (Xerox
Ducati 999RS).
In World Supersport Karl Muggeridge (Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR)
showed the fact that his team had tested twice before at Valencia by
setting his best time of all sessions, a 1:37.665, on the very first
day. His machine also topped the speeds with a 267kmph best.
Running out fastest by a narrow margin over Sebastien
Charpentier (Klaffi Honda CBR600RR) Muggeridge set only 82 laps in total,
in comparison to the 120 plus put in by most others. The Ten Kate riders
Muggeridge and Broc Parkes finished their tasks a session early and
packed up as most other teams continued to lap the 4.005km Spanish circuit.
Three Hondas were followed by three Yamahas, the fastest
of them Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany YZFR6) in overall fourth
classification. Christian Kellner (Yamaha Motor Germany) was fifth,
2002 World Champion Fabien Foret (Yamaha Belgarda) sixth. All three
Yamaha men improved their best times on the final day.
Suzuki’s best rider proved to be Katsuaki Fujiwara,
on the latest GSX-R600, in seventh quickest position on the timesheets.
Lorenzo Lanzi’s Ducati Fila 749RS went 15th overall.
The tests mark the end of the pre-season preparations
as the team return to Valencia for the first meeting of the 2004 season,
27-29 February.
See series calendar for SBK
World Superbike Championship 2004
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