Fluctuating fortunes for FPR in Brno
Foggy PETRONAS Racing riders Steve Martin and Craig Jones
experienced fluctuating fortunes on the first day of a three-day
test at the Czech Republic circuit of Brno.
Steve finished the day 10th of the top Superbike World Championship
riders taking part in the test, organised by series tyre manufacturer,
Pirelli.
But he was only able to complete 29 laps throughout the day
and was forced to sit out much of the afternoon session after
two engine failures.
However, the Australian was still able to better his fastest
race lap of last year by 1.2 seconds with a time of 2:04.70.
Craig, on his first outing at the undulating circuit on the
PETRONAS FP1 enjoyed a fruitful first day after solving early
set-up problems when trying one of the latest development
Pirelli tyres.
He said: "It's one of those circuits
where you can really enjoy doing lots of laps. I started slowly
but was consistently improving until I hit a bit of a brick
wall with the set-up. But then I tried a 2006 tyre which had
loads more grip - it was in a different league. Towards the
end of the session Chris Walker gave me a bit of a tow and
I was about a second up on my best time when the session was
red-flagged, so things are looking really promising for tomorrow."
Steve said: "It was a frustrating day
as I had to sit out most of the afternoon as engines needed
to be changed in both my bikes. So we haven't really had much
of a chance to work through the various tests we had planned.
Having said that I am already a lot faster on race tyres than
I was last year here so, with a smooth run tomorrow, I am
confident of making further progress."
First day times: 1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox)
2m01.50s; 2. Walker (Kawasaki) 2m02.20s; 3. Muggeridge (Honda)
2m02.70s; 4. Haga (Yamaha) 2m02.70s; 5. Pitt (Yamaha) 2m03.00s;
6. Toseland (Honda) 2m03.00s; 7. Nieto (Kawasaki) 2m03.00s;
8. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) 2m03.70s; 9. Kagayama (Suzuki) 2m04.50s;
10. Martin (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 2m04.70s. 15 Jones (Foggy
PETRONAS Racing) 2m06.59s
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