Day two of
the Pirelli SBK test saw a distinct improvement in the
weather after rain and low temperatures affected the Ricardo
Tormo circuit near Valencia in Spain yesterday. Winston Ten
Kate Honda's Karl Muggeridge took to the 4km circuit - his
first time back on the Honda CBR1000RR after his dramatic
crash in the final race of the 2005 World Superbike
championship at Magny-Cours in France.
After 30
laps yesterday, Muggeridge's new team-mate, James Toseland,
spent a more productive day familiarising himself with the
Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR in readiness for his debut
with the team at the first round of the 2006 series in Qatar
next February.
Ronald ten
Kate - team manager:
"I'm happy
that we've had a day in which we've been able to complete a
lot of laps with both riders. With Karl, we've tested quite
a few parts and tyres while James has simply been getting
used to his new machine. He's developed a good approach by
making longer runs and every time he goes out he's getting
to know the CBR1000RR's characteristics better. Of course,
he's not fully used to it yet but a positive sign for me is
that I see him with a constant smile on his face. We will
build on today's progress in our next outing at Qatar in
three weeks."
Karl
Muggeridge - best time 1m36.9s
"We haven't
really touched the bike at all today; just trying some new
braking components and lots of different front tyres,
although there doesn't seem to be a lot of difference
between them. Physically, I'm not in bad shape after the
crash in France. My foot and ribs seem to have healed pretty
well but my neck is sore. I twisted my back in the crash and
my spine is out of alignment so I'm going back to Australia
on Monday and I'll try to get myself straightened out before
Qatar. There's a positive mood in the team and it's good to
have James on board, so we're all looking forward to some
more good testing and the start of next season."
James
Toseland - best time 1m37.5s:
"It's gone
really well today. The bike's not doing anything it
shouldn't and I'm just gradually getting used to it. There's
plenty of time to get some more testing in and plenty more
to learn about the bike, which we haven't changed at all
really. I'm just getting more familiar with it and more
comfortable on it each time I go out. I'll do some more
training before we go to Qatar and make a lot more progress
there hopefully. The team structure is really sound and
we're working well together. But until I get more of a
genuine feeling for the bike there's not much useful
feedback I can give. The bike feels excellent so far though,
and I'm really looking forward to the start of the season."
