Bayliss ... pushing the Ducati 1098R on a hot lap
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THE SECOND and final day of the Vallelunga World Superbike test turned into something of a Ducati benefit yesterday with four 1098s in the top four positions.
Misano winner Ruben Xaus clocked a best time of 1m 36.032s to claim the quickest time of the test, just a couple of tenths off the circuit's lap record held by Troy Bayliss.
Xaus, who was signed up for 2009 by BMW last week, was only on track for the morning session, sitting out the afternoon track time completely.
He said: “We set the bike up well this morning and I was happy with what we had tested. We didn't have any particular tyres to test in the afternoon and so we decided to save our engine for the Brno race. I lapped in 36.6 in race trim and 36.0 on qualifiers so I'm pretty happy about that".
Three more 1098 machines were behind Xaus in the standings, all three in factory Xerox livery, and they were headed by the 20-year-old Italian sensation Niccolò Canepa, 2007 Superstock 1000 champion. Canepa, testing at the Rome circuit in preparation for the Brno race, where he will line up as a wild-card, impressed on his debut in Superbike, and he finished slightly ahead of the regular factory team pairing of Troy Bayliss and Michel Fabrizio.
Canepa said: "It went well, to be honest I didn't expect to be competitive right away, because there's a big difference between bikes and this is the first time this year that I've been on a Superbike. In amongst all this, yesterday morning I crashed right away and took a big bang on my neck and shoulders, which are still hurting, so these two days of testing have been a real effort for me".
Bayliss added: "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."
Fifth place went to Troy Corser with a Yamaha Motor Italia WSB R1, the first four-cylinder machine in the standings, while team-mate Noriyuki Haga, second behind Bayliss on day 1, lapped in a good race pace but was no higher than eleventh at the end of the two days.
Day Two Test Times:
1. Xaus R. (ESP) Ducati 1098 RS 08 1'36.032
2. Canepa N. (ITA) Ducati 1098 F08 1'36.404
3. Bayliss T. (AUS) Ducati 1098 F08 1'36.448
4. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 F08 1'36.678
5. Corser T. (AUS) Yamaha YZF-R1 1'36.770
6. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'37.017
7. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'37.023
8. Haga N. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 1'37.115
9. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098 RS 08 1'37.243
10. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'37.300
11. Biaggi M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 1'37.333
12. Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'37.547
13. Nakatomi S. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 1'37.628
14. Muggeridge K. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR 1'37.899
15. Aoyama S. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'37.927
16. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 1'38.869
17. Pridmore J. (USA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'39.547
18. Morelli L. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'41.320.
