2011 World Superbike Test
Official testing concluded Friday for World Superbike teams on track at Portimao and Althea Racing’s Carlos Checa declared himself satisfied with the work completed over the three-day session.
Light rain throughout Friday conditioned proceedings and left the track in an intermediate state for almost the entire day, limiting the amount of track time riders could get in.
Checa was out on track with his Ducati 1198 towards the middle of the session and put in a run of laps, finding good rhythm on the wet, with a best time of 1’56.2, practically identical to that set yesterday afternoon in similar conditions.
A glimpse of sunshine augured well for the afternoon session but a further shower meant that the track remained wet/damp for the rest of the day. Carlos, together with his technicians, opted out of riding in the afternoon, aware that the conditions would not provide them with any more useful data. Carlos’ best time over the three days was therefore set on Wednesday when he recorded a series of fast laps in the dry, the best a 1’43.7.
Carols Checa says: "We’ve worked well over the three days, it’s just been a shame about the weather. It’s also a pity for Pirelli as I know they had brought us a selection of new tire solutions and we weren’t able to test barely any of them.
"It was a useful track time after the long winter break but a great deal of the work that we had planned unfortunately didn’t get done due to the weather. It helps that my 1198 is very similar to the bike I was riding at the end of 2010 but there are a few things, like the electronics, that require more track time for me to be able to be truly confident. So we’re hoping for a positive and productive test at Phillip Island, a great track that I like a lot."
Genesio Bevilaqua (General Manager of Althea Racing Ducati) says: "This test has left us with a lot of work to do because, to tell the truth, we’d planned a lot of work and were only able to get part of it done here.
"The positive thing is that the new elements in the team have had time to integrate and we’ve been able to ensure that everything is working well mechanically speaking. The team has worked really well and I’m very satisfied with that side of things.
"Considering that Carlos has had very little riding time over the winter, he understandably preferred to start a little cautiously. He needs to build confidence with the bike, but he nevertheless gave very positive feedback and this gives us confidence as he is an expert rider who has always provided us with very honest opinions. Even though we only got a little done, we’ve gained in confidence as a team, and this is important ahead of the opening round in Australia."
