Picotte fastest in Florida

From cdnsuperbike.com

JENNINGS, FL -- Pascal Picotte topped the first day of official pre-season testing for the Parts Canada Superbike Championship Monday at Jennings GP in North Florida after setting the fastest lap during the afternoon's session.

Picotte lapped his Picotte Performance 2005 Yamaha YZF-R6 at one minute, 17.483 seconds around the smooth 2.0-mile circuit. Picotte concentrated on his pair of 600cc Hindle Sport Bike class machines and plans to work on his R1 Superbikes on Tuesday during the second day of the Jennings test session.

Second fastest On Monday was Frank Trombino with a best lap of 1:17.929. Trombino set his top time during the afternoon while also riding his Yamaha R6; during the morning sessions, Trombino was quickest.

DXS Diablo Performance rider Francis Martin, 1999 Parts Canada Superbike champion was third quickest after setting a 1:18.293 on his 2005 Suzuki GSX-R1000. The Jennings GP test marked Martin's first run on the all-new Gixxer.

Martin's Diablo teammate Steve Crevier picked up fourth quickest on a street stock Honda CBR1000RR with a 1:18.778 lap. Recently signed to return to Honda, the manufacturer he took the 2000 and 2001 Superbike crowns with, Crevier was still using the stock exhaust system. During the afternoon, the Diablo squad swapped the stock shock on the big CBR for an Elka aftermarket item.

With track temperature at 118 degrees F, the testing conditions represented the upper end of the extremes associated with Canadian venues.

Canadian Kawasaki's returning Tom Kipp and team veteran Matt McBride worked through chassis set-up with the new ZX-6RR, earning third and fourth quickest 600 class times.

Monday times from Jennings GP testing:
Pos Name Bike Time
1 Pascal Picotte Yamaha YZF-R6 1:17.483
2 Frank Trombino Yamaha YZF-R6 1:17.929
3 Francis Martin Suzuki GSX-R1000 1:18.293
4 Steve Crevier Honda CBR1000RR 1:18.778
5 Tom Kipp Kawasaki ZX-6RR 1:18.862
6 Matt McBride Kawasaki ZX-6RR 1:18.939
7 Tom Kipp Kawasaki ZX-10R 1:19.468
8 Frank Trombino Yamaha YZF-R1 1:19.608
9 Matt McBride Kawasaki ZX-10R 1:19.936
10 Andrew Nelson Honda CBR600RR 1:20.404
11 Rudy Raposo Kawasaki ZX-10R 1:21.655