From a press release issued by Foggy Petronas Racing:

Foggy Feels His Age at Valencia Test

Carl Fogarty took to the saddle of the PETRONAS FP1 during Foggy PETRONAS Racing’s first day of a two day private test in Valencia, Spain for further development of the Malaysian superbike.

“I am officially old!” commented a surprised Carl. “It’s amazing how different it felt to be back out on track after three and a half year. I did a couple of runs of three or four laps but when I came back in to the garage my head was spinning. Going down the start finish straight I was finding it difficult to comprehend the speed and then found I was braking early and cruising round the corners really slowly!

“It would have been easier if I was at a circuit like Donington, which I know well, and also on a bike that I know as I’m obviously not familiar with the handling, characteristics and sounds of the FP1. I’ve only ever tested, not raced at Valencia which is a technical track and I didn’t find the seating position on the FP1 comfy, particularly given my injuries and dodgy knees!

“That said though, today’s ride round certainly put an end to any joking thoughts I may have had about racing again. It was hard work and every part of me was aching when I got off the bike. I managed to knock seconds off my lap time with every lap but I couldn’t, and didn’t want to, push to the limit. It was an experience for sure but that’s it – I can’t believe I have to say I’m now too old for this,” Carl concluded with a smile.

James Haydon was unable to ride having woken up with seized neck muscles, leaving team-mate Troy Corser to work through the testing programme, although joined by British rider Jamie Morley on a second FP1. He achieved promising lap times for his first outing on the bike and commented to be impressed with its chassis and handling.

Team Manager Nigel Bosworth commented, “We have a number of areas to test which wouldn’t necessarily be most productive for Troy and James to work on, so it was good to have the opportunity for Jamie to ride the bike and also obtain a third opinion and good feedback for the team and engine manufacturer.”

Troy Corser was happy with the day’s work having made valuable in-roads particularly with clutch settings. “It’s been great to have time to really test different areas today as we understandably never have enough time during a race weekend. We tried different combinations of spring and pre-load settings and found something I’m very happy with. I’m comfortable with my lap times, averaging around 1:37s, as that’s about the same as in the race here at the beginning of the season and I’ve not been trying as hard as I was then and, the track condition is also not as good. Being back at Valencia I’ve been able to benchmark just how much improvement we have made since the first race here 6 months ago, and there is no doubt that the bike package as a whole is stronger.”