Motorland Aragon WSBK Testing
The third and final day of World Superbike testing at Motorland Aragon in Spain ended Friday, and the fastest time out of all three days went to this year’s WSBK Champion, Max Biaggi.
The Italian piloted his Aprilia RSV4 superbike to a 1:58.0, which was 0.3 of a second faster than the fastest time set on Wednesday by Althea Racing Ducati rider Carlos Checa. The Spaniard only tested on Wednesday due to his MotoGP commitments.
Checa is currently at Estoril for the Portuguese Grand Prix substituting for Mika Kallio. The World Superbike rider will finish the MotoGP season out with Pramac, racing in this weekend’s event and then the final MotoGP round in Valencia. At Friday’s MotoGP free practice sessions, Checa was 17th fastest.
Second fastest at Aragon was Tom Sykes on the 2011 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R. The Brit posted a 1:58.6, showing much improvement on the Kawasaki superbike since Wednesday’s test.
The final superbike rider to post within a second of Biaggi was the other Brit, Leon Haslam aboard the BMW Motorrad S1000RR. Haslam posted a 1:59.0, and was 0.2 of a second faster than Michel Fabrizio on the Suzuki Alstare GSX-R1000.
Michel Fabrizio says: “This track is quite technical and there are many ups and downs, but I like it a lot. It’s a demanding track and although it’s not that hard to learn, it is quite hard to shave off those last fractions of a second when you are chasing lap times.”
“The (Aragon) surface is very abrasive and none of our tires have lasted more than about eight or so laps. It’s the same for everybody here – not just us. We are using a different layout to the MotoGP boys and have one really slow corner after a long, fast straight; and this interrupts the flow a lot. It’s a shame that we cannot use the same layout as MotoGP because it might have been fun looking at our different lap times.
“There have been no big problems or dramas during the tests and I’m pretty satisfied about how everything has gone. Now I’m looking forward to the next tests, getting to know the superbike better; and improving all round.”
Fabrizio rode strong, considering he is also suffering from the flu. The man who matched Fabrizio’s time was Biaggi’s teammate, Leon Camier.
Noriyuki Haga couldn’t improve his Thursday superbike times at Aragon on the new Aprilia Pata Racing RSV4. Nitro Nori posted a 1:59.6, and was the final superbike rider to post under the 2:00 mark.
Katsuaki Fuijwara (Kawasaki Racing Team) continued to carry out sterling testing work for the team, under the watchful eyes of Chris Vermeulen, in the pit garage but still on crutches.
The quickest of the three Supersport riders at Aragon on Friday were again Luca Scassa (Triumph ParkinGO) at 2:00.9, ahead of Chaz Davies (Triumph ParkinGO) and Broc Parkes (Kawasaki Motocard.com).
World Superbike: Motorland Aragon Day 2 Test Times (unofficial): 1. Biaggi (Aprilia) 1’58.0; 2. Sykes (Kawasaki) 1’58.6; 3. Haslam (BMW) 1’59.0; 4. Fabrizio (Suzuki) 1’59.2; 5. Camier (Aprilia) 1’59.2; 6. Corser (BMW) 1’59.3; 7. Haga (Aprilia) 1’59.6; 8. Fuijwara (Kawasaki) 2’00.2.