FB Corse’s FB01 MotoGP bike will finally see a race track. FB Corse has confirmed that they will be testing at Valencia’s Ricardo Torno circuit March 15-17 with Garry McCoy, who will have to prove the competitiveness of the new three-cylinder 800cc bike.

After two days of private testing, an IRTA delegate and Dorna’s Safety Commission delegate Franco Uncini will then officially “time test” McCoy’s lap times to see if he can get the FB01 within 3 seconds of the last qualifying rider from last year’s Valencia QP practice (Chris Vermeulen - 1′34.537) and therefore receive permission for the team to compete in this year’s MotoGP season.

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Improved weather conditions at Valencia allowed the remaining WSBK teams to get in five hours of testing with Carlos Checa on the Althea Ducati who came out on top of the unofficial time charts. Checa put in 50 laps with a best time of 1.33”8 despite a track temperature of only 12°.

Xerox Ducati riders Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio did 1.34”0 and 1.34”3 respectively, while Shane Byrne put in the same time as Haga on standard tires.

Jakub Smrz finally got some lap time and was just four tenths of second from Fabrizio, despite the fact that his Ducati doesn’t have ride-by-wire electronics as the Xerox Ducati and Althea Ducati’s have.

Davide Tardozzi hasn’t worked his black magic yet, because BMW had the highest test times on this last day of testing. Ruben Xaus and Troy Corser up in the 1’35s, with Xaus, who is unhappy with the Nissin brakes he’s been using and wants to go back to Brembo, doing the same lap time as test rider Alex Hofmann on the Aprilia who did a total of 75 laps.

Continue reading: WSBK Valencia Test: Carlos Checa Comes Out on Top

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While WSBK was testing in Valencia, six Moto2 teams were also on track, however their test times are more difficult to interpret as all the teams had different kitted and tuned Honda engines.

Anthony West posted the fastest times on both days of testing, but even if the bike was branded MZ, West was riding the same Honda SS that he used during 2009 season because MZ bought the bike directly from Stiggy Racing.

Italtrans’ Robert Rolfo was second fastest also on both days, taking advantage of the fact he has already used the Suter bike, but with a Yamaha engine in the Spanish CEV.

Julian Simon rode the Spanish BQR with a best time this morning of 1’37”8, while this afternoon he tried the Pons Kalex with lap time of 1’38”2 which will probably give Aspar Martinez, who is still hoping of getting Aprilia to give him their abandoned chassis, a better idea of what chassis he could eventually use.

Continue reading: Moto2 Valencia Test

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