From a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

DUCATI CORSE PRESS INFORMATION
Phillip Island (Australia)
14 January

DUCATI FILA TESTING CONTINUES IN AUSTRALIA FOR LACONI AND TOSELAND

Regis Laconi and James Toseland (Ducati Fila) both made substantial progress in lap times on the second day of pre-season testing at Phillip Island. The 28-year-old Frenchman completed a total of 74 laps on the Ducati 999, recording a time of 1:34.00 on softer Pirelli tyres and 1:34.28 on race rubber, which is not far off last year’s best race lap of 1:33.8, set on Michelins. Team-mate James Toseland also made considerable progress on yesterday’s time, improving to 1:34.50 in the morning before a crash brought his day to a premature end.

Out of the massive selection of compounds Pirelli have brought along for the tests, Laconi was able to find a selection of tyres that satisfied him in view of the race, and tomorrow’s final day will be devoted to two long-runs in the morning and the afternoon.

“The weather was much better today and it was easier to work” declared Regis. “We found a good solution for the front tyre and the settings, while the rear is quite good although we still need to find more side grip. My times are good, I did over half a race in the 1:34s. It’s difficult to know how much more improvement I can make because the conditions change all the time here, but I’m confident I can get into the 1:33 bracket tomorrow.”

Toseland arrived at Honda corner on his nineteenth lap of the morning before highsiding at low speed. The 23-year-old British rider cut his right knee and had to have three stitches put in. He stayed off the bike the rest of the day but will test again tomorrow.

“I opened up coming out of Honda curve” explained James, “and the bike suddenly lost grip at the rear. It was a low-speed crash, but I’m sure I’ll be OK for tomorrow.”

In two sessions, Ducati Fila engineers have succeeded in ironing out the problems of stability that emerged during Valencia testing in November and the 999 is now at a good competitive level in view of the start of the season in six weeks’ time.


LANZI MAKES FURTHER PROGRESS WITH THE DUCATI 749R SUPERSPORT

Lorenzo Lanzi also completed a total of 74 laps on the 749R he will race in this year’s World Supersport championship, improving to 1:37.46 on the second day. The Italian mainly concentrated on tyre testing and managed to obtain satisfactory grip levels at the rear.

“We did a lot of tyre testing work today” said Lanzi, “but unfortunately I’m still suffering from jet-lag and felt tired later in the afternoon. The bike feels good, the engine also, and the set-up is almost perfect, we just need to improve with the rear tyre.”

Tomorrow will see the third and final day of testing for the Ducati Superbike and Supersport teams at Phillip Island.