DesmoSouthwest

Nicky Hayden finished the Sepang MotoGP test in third place, behind second place Stoner and Rossi in the lead. Hayden had been mid pack for most of the test, but had made some changes which helped him dramatically improve his pace over 1.5 seconds to finish the test in third with a time of 2:00.703.

Stoner was almost 2 tenths faster at 2:00.512 on the other D16RR, and Rossi led with 2:00.271 on the Yamaha M-1.

This is the closest to the front Nicky Hayden has been in a while. Hopefully this is going to be a trend. He was actually faster than Stoner in a few places on some laps, but is apparently struggling with top speed compared to Stoner so he was losing time on the very long straights at Sepang.

The next test is in Qatar, which is a very different track. Here’s hoping that Nicky can keep up the pace!

Image courtesy of www.crash.net.
The first qualifying session of the 2010 season at Phillip Island ended with four Ducatis in the top five. Carlos Checa finished on top on his Althea Ducati 1198 with a time of 1:32.155. Michel Fabrizo was only a few thousandths behind at 1:31.162 on the factory Ducati 1198. Leon Haslam, who led the first free practice session, finished third without using a soft tire, which may mean he has more speed in store. Shane Byrne finished fourth on the Althea Ducati 1198, but crashed on a lap where he was in the lead on split times. The Althea Ducati team is showing good speed this early in the season.

Five of the six Ducatis in the field are in the top 9 so far.

It’s really looking like it could be a good year for Ducati racers in WSBK.

Let’s meet up at O’Malley’s on 4th this weekend to watch the first World Superbike races of the season from Phillip Island, Australia. The first race starts at 1PM and the second race starts at 2PM.

Practice is already under way since it’s already Friday in Australia

Info and directions on the Club Activities page.

O’Malley’s has a full menu so I might get there a bit earlier to eat lunch.

Also, bring a portable FM radio if you’d like to hear the audio better. O’Malley’s transmits the TV audio over FM radio.

Image from www.crash.net.
In the final WSBK test of 2010 at Phillip Island, Michel Fabrizio finished fastest on the factory Ducati 1198. He was only a few hundredths ahead of Shane Byrne on the private Althea Ducati 1198. Noriyuki Haga ended up 6th on the other factory Ducati 1198. There were five Ducatis in the top six. The only other Ducati in the field ended up in 14th. Look for strong results from Ducati this year.

Jonathan Rea finished 5th on the Ten Kate Honda.

The only American in the field, Roger Lee Hayden, finished last in 24th place just over 4 seconds behind Fabrizio.

More info at www.crash.net.

Let’s meet up at Nimbus on Tanque Verde this Wednesday night at 6:30PM.

More info and a map on the Club Activities page.

The forecast is for rain, so I probably won’t ride this time. Unless the weather people are wrong that is…

Hope to see you there!

-Andy