News

The 2009 WSB calendar includes a round at the Imola circuit on September 27, and as for many of the riders present, the two-day test gave Ben Spies and Tom Sykes an opportunity to familiarize themselves with a never before seen track. Both Yamaha World Superbike men immediately felt at ease with the Santerno circuit, and recorded impressive lap times.

The first day saw Spies at the top before Fabrizio managed to improve on his time with new tyres. On the second day the Texan ace mainly focused on the search for the best possible set-up, and carefully study the track in view of the September race.

"It's been a really good couple of days testing for me" said Spies, "we've not been out there trying to be the fastest guys, but have been focused on working through the set up of the bike to make sure we have everything ready for when we race here and also just to shake it down. It's been really hot so I'm looking forward to getting away from the track now and relaxing before we go to Brno next week."

Team-mate Sykes was also impressively quick around Imola, finishing day 1 with seventh quickest time behind fellow-Brit Shane Byrne, but he then made a major improvement in the morning session of day 2, moving up to fifth; performances that gave him a boost in confidence for the forthcoming round at Brno.

"I started off by having a good chat with the team here and then moved into testing with a good plan in mind. We worked through quite a lot on the bike including suspension and brakes and tried some new tyres too and it all came good. I ended up fifth overall which was good, where we should be nearer the top. It's certainly where I want to be and closing the gap on the front now. Hopefully we're heading to Brno with more information from the test and we'll be strong there."