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Team Althea Test Report

Team Althea Test Report

TEAM ALTHEA RACING SATISFIED WITH THE RESULTS OF FIRST SBK TESTS OF 2012 SEASON AT PHILLIP ISLAND

From Team Althea:


Phillip Island (Australia), Wednesday 15th February 2012: the first of two February testing sessions concluded today at the Australian circuit of Phillip Island with extremely positive results for the Althea Racing team. Carlos Checa, 2011 World Champion, recorded the fastest overall times while ‘new-entry’ Davide Giugliano made consistent progress throughout the three-day test.


The Althea Racing team got back to work on Monday as these, the first tests of 2012, commenced at the Australian circuit of Phillip Island in warm, sunny conditions. On day one of testing, Carlos Checa immediately set the bar, recording some of the fastest times of the session. His new team-mate for the 2012 racing season, Davide Giugliano, was getting to grips with what is for him a new circuit when he unfortunately took a fall but was unhurt and able to continue with the work schedule.


Both riders continued to make good progress into the second day, although Carlos sat out the morning’s session as a result of illness. During the afternoon, the Spaniard and his technicians were able to complete a large part of the planned work and Checa was pleased to find a good solution as far as front suspension is concerned. The times of most riders dropped throughout the day but it was Carlos out in front once more, with a best time of 1m32.1. Davide continued to build up confidence with both his Ducati 1198 and the Australian track, recording a best of 1m33.7.


Today was the third and final day of testing and, on a track even hotter than yesterday, the Althea riders worked hard until the session’s close. Checa was pleased to be able to repeat yesterday’s performance, putting in a 1m31.8, the fastest lap of the whole session. Giugliano continued to improve; the young Italian worked together with his team to refine the set-up of his Ducati 1198, also finding time to test a new fork.


Carlos Checa:
“We lost time yesterday because I was unwell; I stayed in bed for most of the morning and only went out on track from about 2.30pm. Despite that setback, we still got most of the work done luckily. Today was even hotter and we tried different things but it seems hard to make further improvements when we already feel like we’re at the limit. We started the season well here last year so we’ve compared last year’s set-up to this year’s, considering the extra 6kg, and we understand the direction to take. We’ll continue with the work on Monday, concentrating mainly on the tyres and their behavior in these hot conditions but for now I can say I’m satisfied.”