WSB / WSS Valencia - official test

Noriyuki Haga set the fastest Yamaha lap at a three-day official SBK practice session in Valencia, finishing sixth overall on his Yamaha Motor Italia R1, with a time of 1'35.259. He worked his way through a full testing programme and undertook an extensive evaluation of new parts and modified machine settings, in preparation for the forthcoming Valencia race on 23 April. Troy Bayliss (Ducati) set a new Superbike track best in the morning session of the final day, with a 1'33.758. Haga, unlike most of his 27 rivals at Valencia, set his best time in the final session, held in hotter and winder conditions than the more favoured mornings, and he put it down to the incremental improvements in set-up he and his team had made from the first session on. Haga's team-mate, Andrew Pitt, took his Yamaha Motor Italia R1 to a more than respectable eighth overall, in what is arguably the most competitive field in World Superbike's relatively short history. Norick Abe, from the Yamaha Motor France Ipone squad, ended his test somewhat prematurely, as he had started to run a temperature, after contracting a 'flu virus. He was to post a time good enough for 19th place, as he concentrated on trying out new engine specifications and front suspension components. Japanese World Superbike rookie Shinichi Nakatomi improved on his testing times from previous Valencia winter outings, and in the absence of team regular Sebastien Gimbert, Lorenzo Alfonsi, the 2004 European Superstock Champion, substituted on the team's third bike. Nakatomi would finish the three days 23rd, with Alfonsi 24th. Noriyuki Haga - Yamaha Motor Italia "We are quite happy with the test and both bikes are working very well. The newer gas fork seems very good. Generally our settings are quite good already but to go full race distance is another thing. We tried to do a full race simulation, but we could not manage it this time. We also did not get so many laps in on qualifying tyres, but at this moment we are in good condition on race tyres. We were not that affected by the wind that builds up in the afternoon, and it was just a gradual improvement in the settings that allowed me to go faster in the final afternoon session."

Andrew Pitt - Yamaha Motor Italia "This is the first time we've really had the grip here that we wanted, at previous tests the grip has always been a problem, and that makes it a lot easier to open the throttle sooner. That's a really big thing. We made some improvements to the existing machine and we played around with the engine settings, taking out a bit of power here and a putting it back in there. Just trying to soften the curve a bit, and it seems to be working. I put a soft tyre in this morning and made a reasonable lap but we mostly worked on race tyre consistency, and also tried a lot of front tyres, to work out which one is going to go the distance when we come here to race." Norick Abe - Yamaha Motor France "I tried new suspension on the front today and it was a real improvement. The new forks are definitely much better. We tried many different engine specs but they gave us basically the same result. Despite my machine being the slowest of the three bikes in the team, I made my best lap time, 1'35.9 on the last day. I'm happy for that and we did a lot of laps. Unfortunately I now have a fever of 38 degrees, so I decided to finish early and go home to rest." Shinichi Nakatomi - Yamaha Motor France "I was riding to be ready for full race distance, and we made a quite good lap time compared to my previous best, which was a 1'37.4. Now I have set a 1'36.7, in race conditions. Things are much better compared to the first test, especially the chassis condition. I have more confidence on the bike now as well." Lorenzo Alfonsi - Yamaha Motor France "I could have gone faster near the end, but when I wanted to use my qualifying tyre something hit my front wheel and my brake calliper, damaging both. I think everything will be OK for the race." Massimo Meregalli - Yamaha Motor Italia Team Director "I think we had a good test because we came here with a plan, to test four or five different pieces, and we got through everything. We found something to help the increased durability of the tyre, and maybe that was also down to the track conditions. We have been making progress race-by-race, and test-by-test in terms of the engine characteristic. Every time we have new mapping which works well on the development dyno it works well on the bike when we get to the track. I think Andrew and Nori, and all the team, worked very well on all three days." Circuit: Valencia Circuit Length: 4005km Lap Record: 1' 35.007 (Neil Hodgson, 2003) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 33.758 (Troy Bayliss, 2006) Date: 27-29 March 2006 Temp: 24ºC Classification: 1 Bayliss T. Ducati AUS 1'33.758 2 Xaus R. Ducati SPA F05 1'34.659 3 Lanzi L. Ducati ITA 1'34.848 4 Corser T. Suzuki AUS 1'34.933 5 Martin S. Petronas AUS 1'35.178 6 Haga N. Yamaha JPN 1'35.295 7 Nieto F. Kawasaki SPA 1'35.377 8 Pitt A. Yamaha AUS 1'35.423 9 Fabrizio M. Honda ITA 1'35.437 10 Kagayama Y. Suzuki JPN 1'35.538 11 Barros A. Honda BRA 1'35.663 12 Walker C. Kawasaki GBR 1'35.758 13 Foret F. Suzuki FRA 1'35.771 14 Borciani M. Ducati ITA 1'35.834 15 Iannuzzo V. Suzuki ITA 1'35.873 19 Abe N. Yamaha JPN 1'35.967 23 Nakatomi S. Yamaha JPN 1'36.737 24 Alfonsi L. Yamaha ITA 1'36.900 Curtain and Parkes in the vanguard again Curtain and Parkes in the vanguard again Valencia, Spain 29/3/2006 Yamaha Motor Germany riders Broc Parkes and Kevin Curtain spent three fruitful days on track at Valencia, in what was a well-attended official SBK test. Of the 29 riders present, Curtain set the second best time, with Parkes's 1'38.443 putting him fourth overall. Quickest rider was Sebastien Charpentier (Honda). The Yamaha Motor Germany squad had one new front and one new rear control tyre to test on their new-for-2006 R6s, and an updated specification of engine management settings, each of which was deemed to be a real improvement. The team will receive another new batch of tyres for the forthcoming Misano official test, on 12 and 13 April. Massimo Roccoli finished the three days fifth fastest, with Gianluca Vizziello 11th. Reigning FIM Superstock 1000 champion Didier van Keymeulen was 17th on his R6. Kevin Curtain - Yamaha Motor Germany "I'm glad we managed to squeeze in those last five minutes, because we had just to make one more small test to decide what tyres we should have for the Valencia race. We have to work on a few little things, because I am still scraping the fairing sides at full lean, especially on the right hand side. I'm even touching the engine down sometimes. I'm sure we can sort something out, and otherwise we're pretty happy. Testing is always a never-ending struggle to get everything just right, but we're getting there." Broc Parkes - Yamaha Motor Germany "We made this a worthwhile test. We tried a lot of things, and in the afternoon session we found something better with the set-up. The bike is so new and we're finding that there is still a fine line to walk to find a good set-up. Maybe later in the year we can predict how the bike is going to react from track to track, but at the moment we started this Valencia test with the settings from Phillip Island and had to change them quite a lot." Official Valencia Test WSS Circuit: Valencia Circuit Length: 4005km Lap Record: 1' 38.874 (Alessio Corradi, 2003) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 34.1 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2006) Date: 27 - 29 March 2006 Temp: 26ºC Classification: 1 Charpentier S. Honda FRA 1'37.437 2 Curtain K. Yamaha AUS 1'37.897 3 Sofuoglu K. Honda TUR 1'37.989 4 Parkes B. Yamaha AUS 1'38.443 5 Roccoli M. Yamaha ITA 1'38.572 6 Zaiser C. Ducati AUT 1'38.756 7 Harms R. Honda DNK 1'38.916 8 De Angelis W. Honda ITA 1'38.970 9 Veneman B. Suzuki NED 1'39.137 10 Tiberio Y. Honda FRA 1'39.144 11 Vizziello G. Yamaha ITA 1'39.264 12 Andersen K. Suzuki NOR 1'39.277 13 Stigefelt J. Honda SWE 1'39.354 14 Tunstall T. Honda GBR 1'39.524 15 Fores J. Yamaha SPA 1'39.628 17 Van Keymeulen D. Yamaha BEL 1'39.716 20 Peris C. Yamaha CAN 1'40.584 22 Enjolras J. Yamaha FRA 1'40.738 24 Velini A. Yamaha ITA 1'40.780 26 Forner Garcia D. Yamaha SPA 1'41.261 27 Ivanov V. Yamaha RUS 1'41.461 29 Berta A. Yamaha ITA 1'42.026