WSB: Xerox Ducati starts testing in Qatar

Bayliss...taking his time settling in on the new 1098R

ALMOST TWO months after the end of the 2007 World Superbike season, winter testing got underway for the Ducati Xerox Team at the Losail circuit in Qatar.

Australian Troy Bayliss and young Italian Michel Fabrizio, who made his factory team debut today, shared the testing duties on the new 1200cc machines that will represent Ducati in next season's championship. Both riders were pleased with the progress made on the first of three days of testing with the Ducati 1098 F08.

Troy Bayliss, 2m00.6s (48 laps) "It was good to get back on the bike after six or seven weeks, and we're pretty happy with the first day" declared Troy. "We're looking for a good base setting more than anything else and so far I'm pretty happy with the 2m00.6s I set on race tyres. The bike is quite similar to when I tested it at Vallelunga but we've got a lot of things to try out in the next couple of days and I'm sure we'll improve."

TIMES (provided by Pirelli): 1. Corser (Yamaha) 1m59.6s; 2. Haga (Yamaha) 2m00.1s; 3. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 2m00.6s; 4. Nieto (Suzuki) 2m01.0s; 5. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 2m01.6s; 6. Kagayama (Suzuki) 2m01.9s; 7. Sofuoglu (Honda) 2m02.2s.