WSBK Kyalami test - December 10,11,12

[Mach24]

Times from Day 1:
1. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) – 1’41”204
2. Ben Spies (Yamaha) – 1’41”599
3. Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) – 1’41”713
4. Noriyuki Haga (Ducati) – 1’41”730
5. Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) – 1’41”755
6. Shinya Nakano (Aprilia) – 1’41”846
7. Max Biaggi (Aprilia) – 1’42”446
8. Riuichi Kiyonari (Honda) – 1’42”744
9. Troy Corser (BMW) – 1’42”975
10. Ruben Xaus (BMW) – 1’43”274
11. Carlos Checa (Honda) – 1’43”418
12. Jonathan Rea (Honda) – 1’44”496
13. Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) – 1’44”500
14. Andrew Pitt (Honda) – 1’44”502
15. Tom Sykes (Yamaha) – 1’46”780

Michel is talking up his speed say he can go faster!
Nori threw his bright red machine away early and then can back.
Max B was having technical difficulties through the day (because Shinya was faster than him?)
Tommy Sykes was ill and was only able to complete 16 laps.

[ChrisS]

According to Ten Kate both Checa and Rea had problems with their electronic transponders that record the lap times and the correct times were a 1'41.5 for Checa and a 1'41.6 for Rea making them 2nd and 4th fastest

Pitt and Sofuoglu were on their Supersport bikes.

[leopard]

Max B was having technical difficulties through the day (because Shinya was faster than him?)

That's only pre season test mate.

[Mach24]

Day Two:
1. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) – 1’40”256
2. Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) – 1’40”688
3. Noriyuki Haga (Ducati) – 1’40”709
4. Carlos Checa (Honda) – 1’40”725
5. Jonathan Rea (Honda) – 1’40”842
6. Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) – 1’40”959
7. Shinya Nakano (Aprilia) – 1’40”968
8. Max Biaggi (Aprilia) – 1’41”041
9. Ben Spies (Yamaha) – 1’41”049
10. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) – 1’41”412
11. Troy Corser (BMW) – 1’41”986
12. Ruben Xaus (BMW) – 1’42”438
13. Tom Sykes (Yamaha) – 1’42”933
14. Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) – 1’43”755 (Supersport)
15. Andrew Pitt (Honda) – 1’44”101 (Supersport)

Track temperatures rose above 45 degree centigrade.
Spies tossed it away during the middle of the day and sat out the rest of proceedings.
Sykes was again suffering illness and complete just 18 laps to be last of the WSBK runners.
Two fastest Honda men also fell (Carlos Chucker and Johnny Rea).
Michel says he still has more up the sleeve!

[axxexs]

...
Max B was having technical difficulties through the day (because Shinya was faster than him?)
...

Max did miss his plane in Paris and did arive to the test in the afternoon around 14:30.

[Mach24]

It was reported that Max Biaggi was having technical difficulties with the RSV4.

Sorry if I have offended anyone with my wise crack, I actually support the Roman Emperor and wish him well in season 2009. Shinya will certainly keep him on his toes, maybe its just what he needs.

Seems Aprilia is not too far off the pace, straight out of the crate.

Yes. Good stuff by Aprilia but I'm more impressed by the performance of the BMWs at this early stage of their development.

[leopard]

It was reported that Max Biaggi was having technical difficulties with the RSV4.


I don't hope that he was having punctured tyres problem ;)

[Mach24]

Yes. Good stuff by Aprilia but I'm more impressed by the performance of the BMWs at this early stage of their development.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought Aprilia and BMW were at a similar stage of development with their new bikes. If anything BMW have been on-track developing longer?

I felt Aprilia had come out of the blocks harder than the boys from Bavaria.

[leopard]

Max did miss his plane in Paris and did arive to the test in the afternoon around 14:30.
lol ...

Originally posted by Mach 4........."Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought Aprilia and BMW were at a similar stage of development with their new bikes".

It appears that you are correct about the individual bikes being at approximately the same stage of development but given that Aprilia has far more racing experience than BMW in the modern era, I had expected BMW to be lagging way behind with their progress but it doesn't appear that way at all.

As far as I am concerned, despite their limited racing experience, the combination of BMW's mechanical expertise and input from Troy Corser, the best development rider of recent years makes their short-term results rather impressive.

It's great for the sport and I can't wait for the '09 season to fire up. I may even invest in a 12 volt battery for my pacemaker. :D

[NinjaMaster]

Originally posted by Mach 4........."Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought Aprilia and BMW were at a similar stage of development with their new bikes".

It appears that you are correct about the individual bikes being at approximately the same stage of development but given that Aprilia has far more racing experience than BMW in the modern era, I had expected BMW to be lagging way behind with their progress but it doesn't appear that way at all.

As far as I am concerned, despite their limited racing experience, the combination of BMW's mechanical expertise and input from Troy Corser, the best development rider of recent years makes their short-term results rather impressive.

It's great for the sport and I can't wait for the '09 season to fire up. I may even invest in a 12 volt battery for my pacemaker. :D
You're gonna need more than 12v, more like dual 24v batteries!

Aprilia and BMW are equally impressive in my eyes but both have a long way to go to be front runners. Still, a very positive start and still plenty of time to work hard before the season starts with teams more than capable of being competitive.

WSB really has returned to it's glory days.

[Mach24]

Day Three - Final:

1. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) – 1’39”714
2. Ben Spies (Yamaha) – 1’39”978
3. Noriyuki Haga (Ducati) – 1’39”984
4. Jonathan Rea (Honda) – 1’40”035
5. Carlos Checa (Honda) – 1’40”170
6. Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) – 1’40”394
7. Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) – 1’40”657
8. Max Biaggi (Aprilia) – 1’40”768
9. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) – 1’41”067
10. Troy Corser (BMW) – 1’41”102
11. Shinya Nakano (Aprilia) – 1’41”331
12. Tom Sykes (Yamaha) – 1’41”562
13. Ruben Xaus (BMW) – 1’41”996
14. Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) – 1’42”872
15. Andrew Pitt (Honda) – 1’43”908

[The Phantom]

Pretty awesome stuff from Fabrizio - I've been a supporter for a few years now and it just could be the year for him to shine... he's certainly on the top shelf equipment. Haga is looking good too.

Nice work from Aprilia and BMW, hopefully they see some podiums first year out.