Valencia, Spain (15th March)- GSE Racing have today declared themselves
'ecstatic' with their progress following the completion of two days of
intense testing at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia. The team now head
to Albacete to complete the final leg of their Spanish test on Thursday and
Friday before returning to the UK for their highly anticipated return to
British Superbikes.
In Valencia, riders James Haydon and Leon Haslam completed 136 and 119 laps
respectively, using a variety of tyres for their Ducati 999F04s. It was
clear to all that the riders were pushing the bikes to the limit and beyond
when they suffered minor crashes on Tuesday afternoon within 15 minutes of
each other. This could not detract from the impressive performances from the pair however, with Haslam clocking a 1:35:2 and Haydon reaching 1:36:7 After two days in Valencia, the team were clearly pleased with the way things had gone and were eager to continue the progress in Albacete.
"I'm delighted with the excellent progress the team have made in the last
two days and am particularly pleased with the amount of effort the boys
showed out on the track", commented Team Manager, Colin Wright. "The
imminent start of the new season has got everyone excited and really focuses the mind. With two more days to come in Albacete, I'm confident we will be raring to go at Brands in 10 days time".
Haslam was equally pleased with his own performance: "I feel really great on the Ducati and can't wait for the season to start. It was fantastic to be back on the bike and I'm very happy with the lap times".
Haydon was happy with what he achieved: "We're really at the business end of testing now and it was good to complete two full days. With a couple more days at Albacete still to come, the first race can't arrive quick enough!".
The team travel to Albacete on Wednesday and will return to the UK at the weekend for the final countdown to the season opener at Brands Hatch on 28th March.
