DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM: SUCCESSFUL RACE SIMULATIONS
11 March 2006 - Ducati Marlboro Team

Saturday, March 11, 2006, day two

More spring weather for the second MotoGP Test day at Jerez de la Frontera.
Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau were able to make the most of the warmest hours of the day and continue the development work on their Desmosedici GP6s and Bridgestone tyres. The Borgo Panigale manufacturer''s factory riders exclusively used race tyres today, with a view to preparing for the 2006 season opener.

The Ducati Marlboro Team men have been very fast since the first sessions this morning, with Loris clocking his best lap time on race tyres in 1''40.544, which beats Valentino Rossi''s lap record set last year (1''40.596). Capirossi and Gibernau then used the afternoon to carry out a 27-lap race simulation which yielded important, positive information for the Ducati Corse and Bridgestone engineers.

Loris CAPIROSSI (68 laps - Best lap time: 1''40.544)
''I am really very happy. This morning we fine-tuned our settings even more and I managed to lap really, really fast, to the point that I broke the lap record! My bike and tyres were good, the weather conditions were also perfect and we succeeded in completing a race simulation. I am satisfied because I practically always lapped within the 41''s at a consistent pace throughout today''s simulation. Tomorrow, we''ll try and improve some more but I can say we''re in a good position for the first race.''

Sete GIBERNAU (82 laps - Best lap time: 1''40.954)
'' For the first time today we had the right conditions for a long-run test, and I can say now that we''re right where I expected to be. The work done by my Team and by Bridgestone so far has been very positive and we made substantial progress compared to when we were last here in November. However, there''s still some margin for improvement and we must stay concentrated and work as hard as we''ve always done so far. It felt good to do a full 27-lap race simulation without any problems: it''s a good starting point to try and improve even more tomorrow.''

Temperatures: Air 21° - Track: 30°

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