Haslam heads for the top

Renegade Ducati rider Leon Haslam has already put his stamp on the World Superbike series by finishing the opening day of the first major test of the season as the second fastest rider.

Fila Ducati rider Regis Laconi topped the time sheets with a best lap of 1:36.538 set during the morning session, but could not better his time in the afternoon after he fell victim of oil on the track and crashed his 2004 Ducati 999.

Haslam was just behind Laconi and also fell foul of the slick, closely followed down the tarmac by Bertocchi Kawasaki rider Ivan Clementi.

The incident didn’t stop Haslam putting in a good lap though and he finished his 50-lap session as the second fastest rider, just 0.21 seconds behind Laconi.

Laconi’s Fila teammate James Toseland took the third spot with a time of 1:36.860 followed closely by MIR Suzuki rider Sergio Fuertes.

Ten Kate Honda Rider Chris Vermeulen finally managed to put in some good times finishing the day with the fifth fastest time of 1:37.377. Vermeulen didn’t have the proper wheels for his last test two weeks ago and so had to ride on treaded superstock tyres, but the problem was solved for this session and he was out on slicks for the first time.

Chris Walker started the day well on the Foggy Petronas FP1 but in the afternoon the bike developed a severe chatter problem the team couldn’t overcome and he finished the day 12th fastest, two seconds down on Laconi.

Times: Laconi 1:36.538; Haslam 1:36.748; Toseland 1:36.860; Fuertes 1:37.274; Vermeulen 1:37.377; Haga 1:37.649; Martin 1:37.680; Corser 1:37.805; Chili 1:37.837; Walker 1:38.618; McCoy 1:38.756.