Ducati’s View Of Tests At Phillip Island

Ducati’s View Of Tests At Phillip Island

© 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

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From a press release:

DUCATI CORSE PRESS INFORMATION

WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP

SBK Winter Testing – Phillip Island (Australia)

Wednesday 30 January 2002

BAYLISS AND XAUS (DUCATI INFOSTRADA) SET THE PACE IN PHILLIP ISLAND TEST

The Ducati Infostrada pair of Troy Bayliss and Ruben Xaus set the pace on the first day of Phillip Island testing in Australia, as the 2002 world championship contenders faced up to each other for the first time this year. Seventh quickest time for Ben Bostrom (Ducati L&M).

In cloudy conditions (track 31° C/ air 20° C), both Bayliss and Xaus were quick to find good settings around the 4.445 km circuit in the morning and then made very few modifications during the rest of the day. This allowed them to test the vast range of tyres brought along in view of the second round of the championship here on March 24.

World champion Bayliss, on his 2002-spec Ducati 998R Factory, was quickest on the first day after completing a total of 83 laps. His time of 1:32.944 on race tyres was one-tenth of a second under the Superbike lap record of 1:33.019, set by Corser in 1999.

“Today we did a lot of work with tyres after getting an excellent baseline setting in the morning”, said the 32-year-old Australian. “The bike continues to feel perfect and I’m confident I can get my times down even more over the next couple of days”.

Xaus was also on top form at Phillip Island and the Ducati Infostrada rider was just two-tenths of a second behind his team-mate after a total of 87 laps, his best being 1:33.180.

“I feel much more comfortable with the bike here at Phillip Island and I am really satisfied with the times I set today”, said Xaus. “In particular my time of 1:33.5 on the eighteenth lap of a long-run with race tyres shows that we are really competitive”.

Ben Bostrom (Ducati L&M) was slightly unhappy with the lack of rear-end grip on his 998R Factory throughout the day which prevented him from improving on seventh-quickest time.

“I didn’t have much rear-end grip today”, declared Bostrom. “In addition, Phillip Island is not one of my favourite circuits, so I was unable to get the bike set up the way I wanted it to be”.

The three-day SBK Winter Tests at Phillip Island continue tomorrow through Friday.

TIMES:
1. BAYLISS (DUCATI INFOSTRADA) 1:32.944
2. XAUS (DUCATI INFOSTRADA) 1:33.180
3. Edwards (Honda) 1:33.455
4. Haga (Aprilia) 1:34.439
5. Martin (Ducati DFX) 1:34.669
6. Izutsu (Kawasaki) 1:34.711
7. BOSTROM (DUCATI L&M) 1:35.005
8. Hodgson (HM Plant Ducati) 1:35.024
9. Toseland (HM Plant Ducati) 1:35.064
10. Walker (Kawasaki) 1:36.036
11. Antonello (Ducati DFX) 1:37.753.

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