Foggy PETRONAS Racing’s Steve Martin and Craig Jones showed good pre-season form today for the first of a four day test at Phillip Island in Australia.

With both riders’ performance at the team’s previous test in Qatar last December being affected by injury and illness - with Steve recovering from surgery and Craig struck with a viral bug - they were eager to return to their PETRONAS FP1 seats in full health and fitness.

With the day’s forecast rain not materialising, Craig’s first visit to the circuit saw him complete almost 50 laps as he familiarised himself with the track layout and its unique nature. Although hampered by a few technical difficulties, the young Brit was able to steadily improve his lap times to finish the day with a time of 1:37.83.

Steve was immediately on the pace around his native circuit, lapping consistently in the 1:34s. He worked solidly through his testing schedule, completing over 70 laps, to further evaluate development parts and suspension settings in preparation for testing new tyre compounds tomorrow.

Craig said, “I feel 75 per cent there with learning the track and I’ve really enjoyed today. It’s been a bit of an eye opener riding here for the first time as the circuit is like no other I’ve ever ridden at before. It’s fast, bumpy and undulating, with lots of blind corners and, it’s so windy! I’m happy with what I’ve achieved today although a few minor technical issues hindered my track time, so now I’m looking forward to tomorrow to start my testing programme now that I have a feel for the track.”

Steve commented, “I’m happy with how the day has gone and we’ve made positive steps forward each time I’ve gone out. My lap times have also been good and consistent from the outset, so it’s good to be on the pace and feeling back at full health and fitness to really ‘ride’ the bike.”

Strong Winds Hamper Testing for FPR at Phillip Island

Strong winds at Phillip Island’s costal circuit proved a force to be reckoned with for FPR’s Steve Martin and Craig Jones, on the second day of the team’s four day test.

Both riders made good progress on their PETRONAS FP1 bikes at the outset of the day, with Craig becoming increasingly confident in his familiarity of the circuit and improving on his lap time from yesterday by over a second, to 1:36.75.

Steve was straight back on the pace and able to consistently lap in the low 1:34s on standard race tyres, to finish the day with a time of 1:34.04 – over one and a half seconds faster than his quickest lap time during the race at Phillip Island last March.

Steve and Craig both completed forty one laps each but, were forced to sit out much of the afternoon’s track session, along with other riders present at the test, as strong winds that swept across the costal circuit greatly affected the handling and stability of their bikes.

Craig said, “I’m happy with my progress in learning the track today and it’s a shame the winds were so strong this afternoon that it limited the amount of laps we could do. Hopefully it will die down for tomorrow as it’s too dangerous to ride at high speed as the wind just pushes you off line. I tested some different rear shock settings and have found a direction I’m happy with, so we’ve got a good game plan for tomorrow.”

Steve commented, “From straight out this morning I was back in the 34s and lapping there comfortably until the terrible wind came in this afternoon. So that we didn’t waste testing time I was able to do a few slow runs in the afternoon in order to gather data for some system developments, but tomorrow I’m looking forward to testing three new specification rear tyres which should give me more speed.”

Unofficial Times

1. Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki) 1:32.81
2. Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki) 1:33.62
3. Steve Martin (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1.34.04
4. Norick Abe (Yamaha France) 1:34.88
5. Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha France) 1:35.20
6. Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha France) 1:35.8
7. Craig Jones (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:36.75

FPR Makes Solid Test Progress

FPR’s experienced and youthful pairing of Steve Martin and Craig Jones today made significant progress with the team’s pre-season testing programme, on the third of a four day test at Phillip Island.

Steve Martin was again straight on the pace with his PETRONAS FP1 and finished the day second in the timesheet, with a time of 1:33.40 – an improvement of over half a second from his best time yesterday.

A race simulation was planned for Steve during the afternoon, but a rising track temperature to in excess of fifty five degrees, resulted in his efforts being turned to further systems’ management evaluation.

Team-mate Craig Jones completed almost eighty laps over the course of the day as he worked on the set-up of his FP1, to include geometry, suspension and chassis adjustments in preparation for the race at Phillip Island in six weeks. The young Brit was also able to knock a further one second off his lap time to achieve a respectable 1:35.6.

Steve commented, “It’s been a good day and we were able to take another half a second off my lap time by using the new 2006 race tyre compounds which we evaluated this morning. We’ve also done a fair bit of work with the suspension settings, on older tyres, which has been useful, and tomorrow I’m hopefully going to do two long runs to test the different tyres that Pirelli are bringing to the race here. I feel really good in myself physically this evening, and that I’ve got my ‘bike fitness’ back which is great.”

Craig said, “I’ve spent a lot of the day working on the straight line stability and set-up of my bikes to suit this circuit and made good progress in both areas. I’ve learnt the track even more today and am now very confident with my racing line and braking points. We’ve got a good direction for tomorrow and I’m confident that we can come away from this test with a set-up for the race that I’m very happy with.”

Unofficial Times (race tyres)

1. Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki) 1:32.79
2. Steve Martin (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:33.40
3. Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki) 1:33.68
4. Norick Abe (Yamaha France) 1:34.5 (1:34.0 qualifying tyre)
5. Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha France) 1:34.6 (1:34.2 qualifying tyre)
6. Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha France) 1:35.1
7. Craig Jones (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:35.6

FPR Completes Successful Phillip Island Test

Forceful winds across the Phillip Island circuit affected Foggy PETRONAS Racing’s testing efforts on the fourth and final day of its Australian test.

Despite track time being cut slightly short due to the wind, the team comes away from the test very satisfied with the progress made with the comprehensive pre-season testing schedule and, further development of the PETRONAS FP1.

Throughout his debut outing at the costal circuit, Craig Jones made strides forward with the set-up of his FP1 and familiarisation of the fast and flowing track, as experienced team-mate Steve Martin was able to consistently lap an impressive two seconds faster than at the race in Phillip Island last year, and finish second overall in the test timesheet.

A race simulation had been planned for Steve Martin today, with further bike set-up and fine-tuning work scheduled for Craig Jones, in preparation for the second round of the 2006 Superbike World Championship at the costal Australian circuit in six weeks.

But Steve and Craig, along with other riders present at the test, finished the day’s running at lunch time as the forceful winds significantly affected the handling of their bikes and created dangerous high speed riding conditions.

Steve commented, “As soon as I woke up this morning and saw the white caps of the waves breaking, I had a feeling our plans for the day would be scuppered. The plan was to do to a race simulation this morning, which I started, but the wind was so strong that I had a bit of a ‘moment’ on Lukey Heights and we thought it best not to continue. Overall it’s been a really good test and we’ve achieved a great deal and gathered a lot of very useful data.”

Craig said, “I would have liked to run a lot more laps today to continue with the good set-up direction we found yesterday, so it’s disappointing that the wind was so strong. But at least we’ve got a good base setting for this circuit now so have a good starting point at the race here in a few weeks. I’m feeling totally at home on the FP1 and around this circuit and have just really enjoyed testing these last four days.”

Team Manager, Jack Valentine, commented, “Overall this test has been very successful and we’ve achieved some very positive results with the different elements tested. Steve, Craig and the team have done a really great job all week, and we’re very pleased that Steve has been able to run such consistent and fast laps - highlighting the development progress already made over the year - and that Craig is now confident with the circuit and his bike set-up. Now it’s back to base in order to fully prepare for the start of the racing season next month.”

Unofficial Overall Test Times (race tyres)

1. Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki) 1:32.79
2. Steve Martin (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:33.40
3. Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki) 1:33.5
4. Norick Abe (Yamaha France) 1:34.5 (1:34.0 qualifying tyre)
5. Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha France) 1:34.6 (1:34.2 qualifying tyre)
6. Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha France) 1:35.1
7. Craig Jones (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:35.6