1st Day, February 6th, 2006
Having completed only one day of
testing in warm and sunny conditions at Valencia all
elements of the Winston Ten Kate squad have declared
themselves happy with their early progress. Lap times
have already been trimmed when compared to 2005
qualifying performances, with both Superbike and
Supersport teams working through a host of possible
set-ups on the dry track. For 2004 World Champion James
Toseland, a break into the 1'35 bracket was a dream
start too his latest test session in his new team, and
he concentrated on getting to know the 2006 Honda
CBR1000RR Fireblade. His team-mate Karl Muggeridge
working through an extensive list of set-up options,
accumulating data on suspension and chassis settings.
Ronald Ten Kate - Team Manager
"The first
day has been great, especially after the weather wasn't
so good at our previous
Almeria three-day test. We tried out
some new parts there, which seemed to work well despite
the poor conditions, and we knew that those parts would
also work around here. That has certainly proved to be
the case. The bike is the same spec that James rode at
Almeria and from mid-morning onwards things have been
going very well. The times he has been clocking on race
tyres are particularly good, and he managed to get into
the 1'35s by three PM. With Karl we are doing a lot of
back-to-back tests, again on things we worked on in
Almeria, but now through the full range. Karl has put in
a lot of testing work for us, but as James in new to
both the team and the machine we kept him out for a lot
of laps. There will be more opportunities and more to
come from Karl tomorrow."
James Toseland - SBK Winston Ten Kate
Honda Rider
(82 Laps - Fastest lap time 1'35.8)
"I'm very satisfied with today.
We had a good setting at Almeria, and about the same
settings here - we have only had to make one or two
clicks on the suspension. I also tried different front
and rear tyres. I have never been in the 1'35s here, not
ever, and to be in the 1'35s already on race tyres is
great. The last time I was here I was in the 1'37s, so
to go into the 1'35s, and see so much progress, is
really good. We will try some different front forks and
shocks but at the moment everything seems to be going
really well."
Karl Muggeridge - SBK Winston Ten Kate
Honda Rider
(63 Laps - Fastest lap time 1'36.1)
"So far today we have been
successful in trying out new stuff on the bikes. I
tested out some new forks and shocks, finding better
suspension settings, things like that. As far as lap
times are concerned, we haven't really tried yet; we are
just concentrating on the bike. We're just using
standard tyres and working on the rest. Tomorrow we have
one more set of forks to try and then we can start
working with the new tyres, to get the whole thing to
mesh better. But today has been pretty successful."
2nd Day, 7th February 2006
In the last test before the start of the 2006 World
Superbike season the Winston Ten Kate Superbike and
Supersport squads, running in 2006 livery for the first
time, made their final on-track preparations for the
first round of the championship in Qatar. James Toseland
and Karl Muggeridge each improved their times from day
one gaining great confidence on their full 2006 spec
machines.
Ronald Ten Kate - Team Manager
"We are very happy with where we are at this moment. On
the Superbike side of things, when I look back to the
beginning of last season, we were around 70% ready to go
racing. At the moment we are now about 95% ready. In the
upcoming week we will fine-tune all the details but the
riders feel very well connected to the machines, and
have a good feeling with the throttle. Also, the
suspension is better and the tyres are working very
consistently over race distance. That will be the key
factor, I think, in the coming races. We are ready,
ready to rumble!"
Karl Muggeridge - SBK Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(Best lap time 1'35.4 - Total lap 71)
"We did a race simulation, and it was pretty good. The
only other thing we could have done is make the long run
at lunchtime, instead of a quarter past four, when the
track was colder and the grip level is not so hot. It
took two whole days to work through everything we had to
test here, but it was OK, and we put together the best
bike we could. I think we have really good info from
here and we can even improve the bike again before we
even start. We've had a good test."
James Toseland - SBK Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(Best lap time 1'35.2 - Total lap 82)
"For me this test has mostly been about time with the
bike. Getting to learn it even more, doing quite a few
laps and I tried the qualifying tyres for the first time
on a Honda. The first one I put in I was a bit tentative
with but on the second one I did a decent time. We went
round in circles a bit this morning, so we didn't really
improve until this afternoon. We worked on the tyres and
then right at the end we changed a bit of the set-up and
it gave us another improvement. I think we are nearly
there now, largely because of the tests at Almeria and
here. I'm looking forward to Qatar, especially with the
amount of improvements we have made since the last time
we were there."
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WINSTON TEN KATE HONDA MEDIA INFORMATION
For further information, please contact:
Mr. Matteo Vitello - Press Officer
