Foggy PETRONAS Racing’s new signing Craig Jones made his debut on the PETRONAS FP1 during a trouble-free day of testing at Valencia, Spain, today. Any hopes of commencing the Pirelli-organised two day test as planned yesterday, were ruined as continuous heavy rainfall resulted in waterlogged and dangerous conditions. A handful of riders from the six other World Superbike teams present took to the track for a few laps each to ‘test the water’, but were unable to achieve anything valuable. So the team decided to wait for the expected improved weather conditions today in order for Craig to get the most from his first outing on the FP1. Drying and bright conditions enabled the young Brit to maximise his four hours of track time this afternoon and complete over fifty laps to familiarise himself with the circuit and bike, making minor adjustments to riding position comfort factors and basic bike set-up to suit his riding style. Craig said: “We’ve had a trouble-free day and it’s been great to get out there and familiarise myself with the track, the bike and how the team works. My first impression is amazement, to feel the power of a superbike after coming from a 600cc. “I’m very happy with what we’ve achieved today and I feel comfy on the bike. I’ve also found a good base setting so we’ve now got a direction to work towards to tune the bike to my preferences in areas such as the clutch, geometry and suspension. I could have done without my little ‘off’ towards the end of the day when the back end spun round on me, but me and the bike are okay and it was good that I was able to go back out and complete a few more laps after that. “Although getting a good lap time wasn’t part of my plan at all, I’m really pleased that each time I went out I was able to improve my times and know that there’s a lot more to come. Mostly, I’ve really enjoyed the day and had fun, so now I can’t wait to get to Qatar for our next test.” Team manager Jack Valentine commented: “Considering we lost the first day of the test due to the weather and that Craig only had four hours on track today, I’m very happy with the day’s work. We set each of his two bikes up with different settings so that he had two options to work from and compare directly, and he already has a clear preference for one of the bike set-ups. We wanted to come away from this test with Craig feeling comfortable and happy on the bike, and having a good direction to pursue at Qatar, and we’ve achieved both of those things. Other than a small crash towards the end of the day which only caused minor damage to the bike and fortunately no injury to Craig, it was a trouble-free day. He’s also been able to steadily reduce his lap times throughout the day and is nowhere near his limit, so we’re looking forward to what’s to come.” The team expect to be back to full complement for its next test at Doha, Qatar, in December, when Steve Martin returns to the FP1 seat following his recovery from surgery a few weeks ago.