Vallelunga (Italy), (Day 1) Tuesday 8th July: just a week after the last round at Misano, most of the World Superbike teams arrived at Vallelunga circuit yesterday ready to participate in an official two-day test session, during which Pirelli development teams will test different tyre solutions prior to Round 12 of the championship, to be held at this very track in two months time. The session also provides the teams with valuable track time ahead of the upcoming rounds at Brno and Brands Hatch.

Troy Bayliss and Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) are joined here this week by Niccolo' Canepa, winner of last year's Superstock 1000 Cup, who this season will enter the Brno, Vallelunga and Magny-Cours Superbike rounds as a wildcard on board the Ducati 1098 F09.

Day one concluded positively for the Ducati Xerox Team who spent the sessions testing settings and different tyre combinations, Pirelli having brought several new front and rear tyres to the track. Faced with track temperatures that rose to nearly 50°C, Bayliss set the fastest time of the day and was the only rider to lap in under 1m37. Niccolo' Canepa concluded the day's testing with the second fastest time and Michel Fabrizio recording the fourth fastest time. Canepa spent the day on board the F09 development bike.

The Ducati Xerox Team continued to make great progress on the second and final day of testing at the Vallelunga circuit. The morning's session saw four Ducati bikes top the time sheets, with Xaus (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Team) just ahead of the Ducati Xerox riders Canepa (1'36.4), Bayliss (1'36.4) and Fabrizio (1'36.6). In the afternoon, yet another very warm session for the teams meant that the fastest seven riders were unable to improve on the times they set during the cooler morning session, and so most concentrated instead on completing race simulations or "long-runs" to better assess the performance of the tyres over longer distances and in hot conditions.

All three Ducati Xerox riders have felt the benefit of these test days and head now to the next round of the championship at Brno with a renewed level of confidence.

Troy Bayliss(Day 1)
"It's my second time back here on the F08 after a first visit last September and we've done a really good job here today I think. We've tried a couple of things that seem to have improved the bike since I rode it last week at Misano and so I'm feeling really happy. We've done a lot of laps and a couple of mini long-runs and everything went well - I can say that I'm feeling happier on the bike than I have in a while. Pirelli have brought several new front and rear tyres which we've been testing and we'll try a few more tomorrow. I'm feeling really positive."

Troy Bayliss(Day 2)
"It's gone well again today. We've worked really hard and done two long-runs, which is important in ensuring we're ready to go race distance. We were quite happy with the results, and went faster than we did here last year, although Nori was also going well in his long-run, so we'll be looking to improve further before the race here! The track was a bit slower this afternoon but the results were promising nevertheless. As conditions might be similar to this in Brno, I'm feeling pretty confident for that race."