Aprilia and BMW making solid progress in WSBK testing
Nakano humming on the RSV4December 12, 208
World Superbike's two new teams, Aprilia and BMW, have been making encouraging progress in a Pirelli tyre development test at Kyalami in South Africa.
With five of next year's six factory teams in attendance (Kawasaki is the only no-show), Aprilia's Shinya Nakano was the sixth fastest rider on the circuit on day two, less than a second slower than factory Ducati rider Michel Fabrizio, who has set the pace from the outset.
The all-new V-four machine, which marks Aprilia's return to WSBK after a six-year exile, also took Nakano's teammate Max Biaggi to ninth fastest, while development work is continuing on the BMW S1000RR machines of Aussie Troy Corser and Spaniard Ruben Xaus.
On day two, Corser and Xaus were 11th and 12th respectively, with Briton Tom Sykes (Yamaha) the only rider behind them. The first 11 riders were separated by just 1.7 seconds.
Corser wil be joined in the 2009 championship by compatriots Broc Parkes on a factory Kawasaki, Brendan Roberts on a customer-spec Ducati and Karl Muggeridge on a Suzuki.
Riders to crash on day two included American star Ben Spies (Yamaha) and Honda duo Carlos Checa and 23-year-old Jonathan Rea. Spies' 2009-spec Yamaha was badly damaged, forcing the Texan, America's best chance of winning the WSBK title since Colin Edwards in 2002, to call it a day early.
Day two times were as follows:
Michel Fabrizio (Ita-Ducati) 1:40.256
Max Neukirchner (Ger-Suzuki) 1'40.688
Noriyuki Haga (Jpn-Ducati) 1:40.709
Jonathan Rea (GB-Honda) 1:40.842
Yukio Kagayama (Jpn-Suzuki) 1:40.959
Shinya Nakano (Jpn-Aprilia) 1:40.968
Carlos Checa (Spa-Honda) 1:40.995
Ben Spies (USA-Yamaha) 1:41.049
Max Biaggi (Ita-Aprilia) 1:41.077
Ryuichi Kiyonari (Jpn-Honda) 1:41.412
Troy Corser (Aus-BMW) 1:41.986
Ruben Xaus (Spa-BMW) 1:42.438
Tom Sykes (GB-Yamaha) 1:42.933
Kyalami will host round six of next year's championship from May 15-17, while the opening round will be held at Victoria's Phillip Island from Februray 27 until March 1.
For more information on the local round, including ticketing, click here.
Pic: Nakano
Tags
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
