DUCATI XEROX:

The Ducati Xerox squad headed to the Mugello circuit for two days of testing, yesterday and today, sharing the track with the Ducati MotoGP Test Team, before moving straight on to Imola for this weekend’s World Superbike event. Michel Fabrizio was out on track yesterday and in favourable conditions he was able to make 67 laps on board the Ducati 1198.

Today it was Noriyuki Haga’s turn and under sunny skies (with a track temperature around 35°C) the Japanese rider also had a constructive day. Over the two days, the squad concentrated on testing various set-ups, with the aim to improve turning on entry into the corners. Noriyuki completed 69 laps with a best time of 1m52.3s. At the end of today the Ducati Xerox technicians declared themselves satisfied with the work completed.

Both the factory riders, having just renewed their contracts with Ducati for the 2010 racing season, are feeling very confident ahead of this year’s final three races. Tomorrow the Ducati Xerox team arrives at Imola, ready for the twelfth World Superbike round, the third event to take place in Italy. In front of their “home crowd” Noriyuki and Michel will be fighting both for the race win and the world title.

Noriyuki Haga
“It’s been a useful day. We will try to implement some of what we have tested here today at Imola on Friday and see how we go there. Now I need to turn my concentration to this weekend’s racing…”

Michel Fabrizio
“It all went well yesterday. Luckily it didn’t rain and so we were able to get through all the work we had planned. During the afternoon we continued to work with the development bike and I was able to provide my technicians with a lot of useful data. Let’s say that we are satisfied with the progress made and with the times recorded.”

TIMES: Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) 1m52.3s; Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 1m53.5s