The riders of the Superbike World Championship were last weekend at Vallelunga, close to Roma, for two days of testing so they could know better this Italian track that is used for the first time this year in the WSBK.

Shinichi Nakatomi did some good testing and found an interesting set up for this circuit. While Ruben Xaus (Ducati) was the quickest overall, the Japanese Yamaha rider was 12th fastest on qualifying tyres with a time of 1’38.138. Using race tyres, the R1 man did a 1’38.5.

Martial Garcia (team manager): “The technical solutions chosen during these tests go in the right direction. This gives us some confidence for the remaining of the season. We are closer than ever to the leading riders and this shows our progression.”

FG Sport tests (July 7 and 8, 2007): 1-Xaus (Ducati) 1'36.382  2-Bayliss (Ducati) 1'36.556, 3-Corser (Yamaha) 1'36.731, 4-Toseland (Honda) 1'36.783, 5-Biaggi (Suzuki) 1'37.440, 6-Laconi (Kawasaki) 1'37.455,  7-Haga (Yamaha) 1'37.506, 8-Rolfo (Honda) 1'37.647, 9-Kagayama (Suzuki) 1'37.655, 10-Fabrizio (Honda)1'37.817… 12-Nakatomi (Yamaha) 1’38.138

Note: Ducati tests (February 2007): 1-Bayliss 1’38.5, 2-Lanzi 1’38.6

World Championship standings:
1-Toseland (Honda) 260 points,
2-Bayliss (Ducati) 239,
3-Haga (Yamaha) 234,
4-Biaggi (Suzuki) 217,
5-Corser (Yamaha) 182
...
17-Nakatomi (Yamaha) 24

Official Vallelunga stats
Practice record (June 8, 2007 / 3rd race of the Italian championship):
1’39.027 Marco Borciani (Ducati) 149.41 kph

Lap record (June 10, 2007 / 3rd race of the Italian championship):
1’39.837 Norino Brignola (Ducati) 148.202 kph

9th round of the Superbike World Championship: July 22nd at Brno (Czech Republic)