Team Suzuki Alstare rider Michel Fabrizio ended the two-day tests at Phillip Island in Australia, in the lead-up to this weekend’s opening round of the 2011 World Superbike Championship, with the seventh quickest overall time and felt he could’ve gone quicker.
Throughout the two days, which took place in a variety of weather conditions, Fabrizio suffered from front-end chatter and was unable to push as hard as he would have liked.
Spaniard Carlos Checa (Ducati) topped the overall standings, with a lap of 1:30.578, well over second quicker than the official lap record of 1:31.826 set by local hero Troy Corser in 2007. Second quickest was Sylvain Guintoli (Ducati) with Jonathan Rea (Honda) third.
Michel Fabrizio – 7th, 1:32.113:
“Although the two days were generally good, I am a little disappointed that I didn’t go any faster. I had a lot of front end chatter and that was mainly due to the fact that the front tyre was too hard. I know if I had been able to use a softer front today I would’ve gone at least four-tenths-of a-second quicker. It was a bit frustrating because the rest was more or less ok. I had a little crash this afternoon and that was because the front end was too hard and I couldn’t feel exactly what it was doing and I couldn’t get enough feedback. Fortunately I only hurt two fingers of my right hand and even the bike wasn’t really damaged – just a broken footpeg and a few scrapes on the fairing.
“Every time I get on my GSX-R1000 and put in laps, I get used to the bike more and more. The team is working very hard and I am trying to get the utmost from the bike and be as competitive as possible. Now that we have seen how all the other bikes are performing, it gives a clearer picture of what we have to do. For sure the race this coming weekend is going to very hard but, if I can qualify well, there is no reason why I cannot get a good result and that’s what I’ll be chasing.
Overall test results: 1 Carlos Checa (ESP-Ducati) 116 laps, 1:30.578, 2 Sylvain Guintoli (FRA-Ducati) 110 laps, 1:31.196, 3 Jonathan Rea (GBR-Honda) 93 laps, 1:31.206, 4 Jakub Smrz (CZE-Ducati) 136 laps, 1:31.654, 5 Joan Lascorz (ESP-Kawasaki) 128 laps, 1:31.866, 6 Max Biaggi (ITA-Aprilia) 93 laps, 1:31.870, 7 Michel Fabrizio (ITA-Suzuki Alstare) 136 laps, 1:32.113.
