The first of two mid-season Pirelli tests took place around the magnificent topography of Brno between Monday 12 and Wednesday 14th June, with records broken before the third day had even started. After his devastating recent form it came as no surprise that Troy Bayliss was the man out in front once more, eventually taking his Ducati Xerox machine to a best ever Superbike lap of 2’00.0s on the latest qualifying tyres, and 2’00.8s on race spec Pirelli rubber. For comparison, during the 2005 SBK race weekend the qualifying lap record was 2’02.694 (set by current Brno test absentee Troy Corser on a Suzuki) and the best race time 2’03.747 (from the Yamaha of Noriyuki Haga). Haga and Corser would go on to take one race win apiece at Brno in 2005. BAYLISS BUOYED BY HIS QUICK PACE Bayliss acknowledged that despite an early crash, he could draw little but positives from his latest outing on the 999F06 twin. “It’s been a good three days”, he stated. “I did some good times this morning both on qualifying and race tyres and my long-run was 39 seconds quicker than last year’s time, so I’m feeling pretty good about things. I’m in good spirits and looking forward to racing at Misano next week.” Bayliss’ race simulation was made on an exceptionally hot track surface, with maximum ground temperatures reaching 49°C. WALKER SECOND QUICKEST ON QUALIFIERS Chris Walker (PSG-1 Corse Kawasaki) continued his development work on the 2006 ZX-10R with a 2’01.0 best lap on qualifying rubber, while Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) scored third best time of all, with a 2’01.2. His team-mate, James Toseland set his best time on race tyres, as other riders hampered his qualifying lap in his lone outing on non-race tyres. Both Winston Ten Kate riders spent most of their time working with a new electronics package, which includes traction control, and are expected to use it in the forthcoming Misano race. SUPERSPORT In the Supersport Championship tests Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) scored the best time on race tyres (the only kind of tyres available in this class) with a 2’06.0, just ahead of his own team-mate Broc Parkes (2’06.1). Runaway leader Sebastien Charpentier fell on day one and broke his collarbone and hip, and is undergoing surgery to insert plates in the broken bones. The fracture in his pelvis is on the rear side, and has been deemed by his Winston Ten Kate Honda team as being not as serious as it could have been. In the championship race, Charpentier currently leads Curtain by 40 points. Times 1st day Monday 12 June Superbike World Championship Bayliss 2’01.5 Walker 2’02.2 Haga/Muggeridge 2’02.7 Nieto/Pitt/Toseland 2’03.0 Lanzi 2’03.7 Kagayama 2’04.7 Martin 2’04’7 Jones 2’06.7 Supersport World Championship Charpentier 2’06.4 Parkes 2’06.6 Curtain 2’07.1 Chambon 2’07.8 Soufouglu/Zeiser 2’08.1 Berger 2’09.1 2nd day Tuesday 13 June Bayliss: qualifying tyres 2’00.8 race tyres 2’01.6 Walker: 2’02.1 race tyres Muggeridge: 2’02.2 race tyres Lanzi/Toseland: 2’02.5 race tyres Haga/Pitt 2’02.5 race tyres Nieto 2’03.0 race tyres Martin 2’03.7 race tyres Kagayama 2’04.0 race tyres Foret 2’04.4 race tyres Jones 2’05.1 race tyres Supersport World Championship Curtain/Parkes 2’06.3 Zeiser/Soufoglou 2’07.3 Chambon 2’08 Berger 2’08.4 3rd day Tuesday 14 June Superbike World Championship Bayliss: qualifying tyres 2’00.0 race tyres 2’00.8 Walker: 2’010 qualifying tyres 2’02.7 race tyres Muggeridge: 2’01.2 qualifying tyres 2’02.1 race tyres Lanzi: 2’01’6 qualifying tyres 2’02.6 race tyres Toseland: 2’01.7 qualifying tyres 2’01.7 race tyres Haga : qualifying tyres 2’01.6 race tyres 2’01.5 Pitt: qualifying tyres 2’01.7 race tyres 2’01.2 Nieto 2’02.0 qualifying tyres 2’02.7 race tyres Martin 2’03.1 qualifying tyres 2’03.2 race tyres Kagayama 2’03.2 race tyres only Foret 2’02.6 qualifying tyres 2’03.2 race tyres Jones 2’04.0 qualifying tyres 2’03.8 race tyres Supersport World Championship Curtain 2’06.0 Parkes 2’06.1 Soufoglou 2’06.2 Zeiser 2’06.9 Chambon 2’07.8 Berger 2’07.9 More, from a press release issued by Suzuki Racing: ALSTARE WRAPS UP BRNO TESTS Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Yukio Kagayama and the team have concluded three days of World Superbike testing at Brno in the Czech Republic and left the track with masses of useful information. Throughout the three days, Kagayama concentrated on trying out a huge variety of development parts and settings instead of chasing any lap times, but he and the team were very happy with what they achieved and will now analyse all the information before making improvements to the bike. Team Alstare Engineering Corona Extra rider Fabien Foret was a late addition to the test, having been called up at the last minute when Troy Corser was forced to stay at home with chickenpox. Although he only had two days, Foret managed to put in a lot of laps and he too left Brno content with the work done. Yukio Kagayama: “Generally I am very happy with these three days because of all the work we have done. My focus here was to test all the material I had to test, not to set quick lap times. Many times in the past when I have ridden and pushed hard and made fast laps, I have not been able to give a lot of information to my team. This time I concentrated on getting lots of information and then letting my team know what was happening and how the feeling was. This afternoon the track temperature was nearly 50 C, and when it is this hot it is impossible to set a quick lap time anyway, so I only tried a qualifying tyre once. At the end of all three days – and especially today in the heat – my wrist was a little sore and my back also hurt a little. It was not so bad I couldn’t test properly, but it was another reason I didn’t push very hard for a lap time because I didn’t want to crash and do further damage. I know the team are happy with these three days so that means we did a good job!” Fabien Foret: “I only got the call to come here late on Sunday. I was lazing around when I the telephone rang asking me to come to Brno. Normally, only two riders from each of the top teams can test, but I got the call because Troy was not able to test. I missed the first day, but then we had two really good days and I found a really good front suspension setting which made me feel much more comfortable in the corners. There were lots of other things for me to test and we managed to do a lot of good work here in the two days. Also, it was good to be back on the bike after a long lay off. With Misano just one week away, I was so happy to be on the bike again and carry on my learning of the Superbike. Also, my time on the Superbike here will pay off when we race here in July, so all round it’s been good for me.”