Phillip Island, 22 February 2010
A violent downpour of rain at dawn and the grey skies predict yet another day of tests to be discarded, but then the asphalt dries just a few minutes after the beginning of the turn, aided also by the mild temperatures, enough to allow the riders to run immediately and with excellent times. Sun, wind and heat are the conditions for the conclusion of the In Front Tests which precede the Australian round, the first one of the 2010 season. Michel Fabrizio has the best time on his Ducati with 1'31"650.
Eighth time for Biaggi with 1'32"474 at 0"824 behind his countryman. Max continued to work on developing his RSV4 in search of the best possible configuration to take on next weekend's races.
"I was hoping for better results - stated Biaggi - we are still having trouble on the disconnected asphalt where the bike doesn't behave as it should and it becomes difficult to tighten up on the berm. I'm not particularly happy, I was more confident, even the new tyres haven't given us any particular benefits. Now we will work toward the two races on Sunday, but it will certainly not be an easy competition".
"Today I was much better - Camier said - I felt more comfortable in Phillip Island's quick turns. We tried a lot of tyres and a lot of material, but we still need to improve the bike's configuration. There is still a lot of work to do before the race, partly on the bike, but a lot depends on me in that I still haven't learned the track well, I don't interpret it as well as I could and that means that I can't work efficiently".
SBK: FIRST DAY OF TESTS AT PHILLIP ISLAND
Phillip Island, 21 February 2010
A beautiful southern late summer day is the setting for the first day of In Front Tests on the Phillip Island track where Friday the 26th the first round of the 2010 SBK season will be held. The excellent weather conditions and the track allowed the riders and the teams to do their best work from the very start. At the end of the day Carlos Checa on Althea team's Ducati held the best time at 1'31"959.
Eighth for Biaggi with 1'32"832 at 0"832 behind the Spanish rider. Max concentrated his work on finding the best balance for his RSV4, also trying the new cam drive gear engine propulsion.
Twentieth place for Leon Camier with 1'33"852 at 1"893 off Checa's best time. The young English rider is making his debut here at Phillip Island, so he had to memorise the difficult Australian track whilst at the same time trying to find the best base setting to work on in anticipation of the race.
Compared to the races at the end of last year's season, the situation is a little bit different – stated Biaggi – this is a peculiar circuit where you have to be in good shape to stay up front. We are still suffering in the deceleration phase where we need to mitigate vibrations and skipping coming into the turns which hurts safety, and we need to do it with the materials which are available to us here. Tomorrow we will work on this, trying to resolve it as best as possible".
"It was a very intense day - Camier said - it was the first time for me here and I had to learn the track, which is not complicated to memorise, but it is really difficult to ride fast on straight away. I'm consistent enough, although the pace still needs to improve quite a bit, but I'm lacking in the single lap which is very important for the qualifiers since a good position on the grid will help me run a good race. Considering that this is the first day, I'm at a good starting point. I'm sure that there is still a lot of work to do but I'm very confident".
