Fabrizio still fastest as testing finishes

From the WSBK Press Office

KYALAMI, SOUTH AFRICA - Michel Fabrizio was the revelation of the Pirelli tire development tests at Kyalami, South Africa, in preparation for the 2009 FIM Superbike World Championship.

The 24-year-old Ducati Xerox rider headed the timesheets on every day of the three-day test and in Friday’s final session he was quickest on both race tires and qualifying rubber, on which he clocked the circuit’s unofficial fastest time of 1 minute 39.714 seconds.

Ben Spies also came on strong again on the final day, despite having only one ’09-spec Yamaha R1 available after his big crash on Thursday. The AMA Superbike champion powered back up to second place on soft Pirelli qualifiers towards the end. Third quickest time went to the other factory Ducati machine of Noriyuki Haga, making his debut on the 1098 F09 in place of Troy Bayliss, who retired at the end of this season.

The Hannspree Ten Kate Hondas were well up in the standings after three days of testing, with 22-year-old Jonathan Rea looking promising in fourth place ahead of 35-year-old Carlos Checa in fifth.

An oil leak in the morning failed to prevent Max Biaggi from making a good impression on the Aprilia RSV4 in the new bike’s first face-off against its Superbike rivals. The Italian finished the test with a positive eighth quickest time, one second exactly off the pace of the leading Ducati.

Troy Corser had a harmless crash in the morning on his BMW S1000RR machine, the other major new entry in the 2009 season. The German bike is still slightly off the development pace in comparison with the other manufacturers but the experienced Australian is convinced that the potential is high.

In each one of the 14 rounds of next year’s championship, Pirelli will provide three or four front and rear tire solutions. Regulations stipulate that each rider can use a maximum of nine fronts and 11 rears.

The next World Superbike pre-season tests will be from Jan. 23-25 at Portimao, Portugal, where the development teams (one for each of the seven manufacturers present in the championship) will be joined by all the other teams.

Final times
1. Fabrizio (Ita-Ducati) 1:39.714
2. Spies (USA-Yamaha) 1:39.978
3. Haga (Jpn-Ducati) 1:39.984
4. Rea (GB-Honda) 1:40.035
5. Checa (Spa-Honda) 1:40.170
6. Neukirchner (Ger-Suzuki) 1:40.394
7. Kagayama (Jpn-Suzuki) 1:40.657
8. Biaggi (Ita-Aprilia) 1:40.768
9. Nakano (Jpn-Aprilia) 1:40.968
10. Kiyonari (Jpn-Honda) 1:41.067
11. Corser (Aus-BMW) 1:41.102
12. Sykes (GB-Yamaha) 1:41.562
13. Xaus (Spa-BMW) 1:41.996