Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Dennis Noyes

We now have Supersport times from a Solo Moto journalist present at the Pirelli tests in Valencia.

While the quickest Fila Ducati 999 was taken around Valencia in 1:36.5 by Regis Laconi, Jurgen Van den Goorbergh led the Supersport lists with a time of 1:39.00.

Here are the top Supersport times reported from the circuit after two of the three days of testing. Of interest was Lorenzo Lanzi on the works Ducati 749, marking a return by Ducati to the Supersport class.

Van den Goorbergh (Yamaha Belgarda): 1:39.00

Fabien Foret (Yamaha Belgarda): 1:39.05

Karl Muggeridge (Ten Kate Honda) 1:39.50

Stephane Chambon (Alstare Corona Suzuki) 1:39.50

Broc Parkes (Ten Kate Honda) 1:40.00

Michel Fabrizio (Alstare Corona Suzuki) 1:40.40

Lorenzo Lanzi (Fila Ducati 749) 1:40.70

Stefano Cruciani (Bertocchi Kawasaki) 1:42.00


As a reference, the fastest time set in the World Supersport race held at Valencia in March 2003 (won by Fujiwara on a Suzuki) was a 1:38.874 set by Allesio Corradi on a Yamaha.


More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Belgarda:

JURGEN AND FABIEN PUT IN THE LAPS.

After yesterday’s reduced time due to weather, it was all systems go today at Valencia and Jurgen and Fabien completed 118 laps between them in almost ideal conditions. Jurgen posted a lap of 1:38.3, which was the same as his best qualifying lap in the WSS round earlier in the year. That was on a soft tyre, whereas today’s lap was on normal rubber, so Jurgen was particularly please with today’s progress. Fabien rode steadily today and spent the day learning the bike, tyres, suspension and new Magneti Marelli electronic system. Although, he didn’t improve on his lap time, he left the circuit happy that he had learnt a lot about the R6.

Jurgen vd Goorbergh – 58 laps, best lap 1:38.3
I think we have made some good improvements today and I’m happy with the way this test is going. I feel I’m not in a ‘learning year’ anymore and now I’m enjoying just going out and riding hard – racing in fact! The new Magneti Marelli system seems to be giving us a bit more power but we’re at the early stage of working with it, so there’s still more to come and understand. At the moment, I’m happy because everything is going well and we’re making progress and that’s what this test is all about.

Fabien Foret – 60 laps, best lap 1:39.1
Today I did a lot of laps and I think I learnt a lot of things – which is good because there’s so many new things for me to learn! Everything – bike, suspension, tyres is new for me and I’m using this test to try and understand the R6 and ride it fast. Although, I didn’t improve so much, I’m happy because I’m learning all the time. I’m being a bit cautious and taking things a bit steady, but this is just a test and we’ve a long way to go yet. Already, I can see the potential of this bike and I’m really looking forward to racing it and getting good results.