BAYLISS AND FABRIZIO (DUCATI XEROX) BOTH IMPROVE ON THE
NEW 1098 F08
 Both
Ducati Xerox Team riders made substantial progress on the
second day of testing at the Losail circuit in Qatar as they
notched up more mileage on their new Ducati 1098 F08 machines.
Bayliss remained third quickest in the standings behind the
two Yamahas, but he was flanked by new arrival Carlos Checa
(Honda), who joined the test today. Troy's new team-mate Michel
Fabrizio also improved, the young Italian knocking one-and-a-half
seconds off yesterday's time to end up sixth quickest.
Troy Bayliss, 1m59.5s (65 laps)
"We tested a few tyres today, some front and some back,
but spent most of the day playing with the settings on the
bike and working to get more feeling at the back" declared
Troy. "It's still not feeling right and we're missing
a little bit of corner speed, but everything is going OK and
we've got some good ideas for tomorrow. With the 1098 it still
feels like I'm riding a Ducati and I feel at home with the
motor, but it certainly works differently and doesn't rev
as much as the 999. It's early stages yet and we can't expect
to be on top of everything immediately."
Michel Fabrizio, 2m00.1s (60 laps)
"Today went better than yesterday and I am pleased to
have improved my time, because what I wanted was to find the
right direction in the set-up" said Michel. "I knocked
a second and a half off yesterday's time, but more importantly
I was a second quicker than my best time set this year on
the Honda. I began to lap on race tyres forty minutes from
the end of the session, going out for a few laps at a time,
but tomorrow I'll test the tyres better and hopefully I can
drop my time by a few tenths more. The thing that has impressed
me the most about these tests with the 1098 ....is the Ducati
Xerox Team. These guys really know how to work well and they
give you everything!"
DAY 2 TIMES (provided by Pirelli): 1. Corser
(Yamaha) 1m58.6s; 2. Haga (Yamaha) 1m59.2s; 3. Bayliss (Ducati
Xerox) & Checa (Honda) 1m59.5s; 5. Nieto (Suzuki) 1m59.6s;
6. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 2m00.1s; 7. Sofuoglu (Honda) 2m00.3s;
8. Kagayama (Suzuki) 2m00.9s.
|
