Toni Elias still has no idea what he’ll be doing next year after a very dismal return to MotoGP, after winning the Moto2 championship in 2010. The Spaniard was invited by BMW Italia to take part in the World Superbike test at Misano, but it wasn’t exactly a stunning success, even if was the first time he rode a Superbike.

Elias ended up two seconds slower than his former Gresini team mate Marco Melandri who led the timesheets on both days and was even slower than Aprilia and BMW test riders and TV commentators, Alex Hofmann and Steve Martin.

The LCR Honda rider, who had to cut the test short because he had to return to Spain for the upcoming MotoGP round at Aragon, was interviewed by motosprint.it explained the problems he encountered on riding the BMW S1000RR.

“The tank is so big that I can’t reach the handlebars and levers with sufficient force and can’t control the bike. The first thing I’d need would be smaller gas tank and a different riding position: foot pegs, controls, handlebars.”

The BMW has a great engine but the power comes suddenly and isn’t easy to manage. The Superbike is more powerful than I imagined.”

According to Motosprint, it seems that BMW Italia after this test, is no longer interested in offering Elias a ride next season and that even Castrol Honda who was looking at the Spaniard to replace Ruben Xaus, has also changed their mind.

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The second and final day of World Superbike testing at Misano, before everyone heads to Imola for the double header on September 25th, once again saw Marco Melandri set the pace. The Yamaha rider’s fastest lap was 1.35.8 which was set on race tires and again faster than June’s race record lap (1′36.520) set by Carlos Checa.

Yamaha team worked on electronics, engine brake and geometry which also helped Eugene Laverty post the second best time alongside with points leader Carlos Checa.

Most of the riders spent considerable time doing tire testing for Pirelli’s new compound solutions for the 2012 season.

Ayrton Badovini ended up an impressive fourth for BMW Italia despite a small crash earlier in the day with Kawasaki’s Joan Lascorz posting the same 1.36.1 lap time. Chris Vermeulen’s physical condition did not allow him to take part in Wednesday’s testing.

Continue reading: Marco Melandri fastest on day 2 of Misano WSBK test

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Yesterday’s first day of World Superbike testing at Misano saw Marco Melandri head the top of the unofficial time sheets. The soon-to-be former Yamaha factory rider posted a 1.36.0 which was half a second faster than Carlos Checa’s who had set the race record lap at the Italian circuit when the championship hit the track in June for its 6th round.

Checa and Melandri’s team mate Eugene Laverty posted the exact same time to take the second spot.

The test also saw the return of Chris Vermeulen who had skipped Nurburgring due to his continuing elbow injury and he’s expected to take part in the upcoming round at Imola. Ruben Xaus, who also missed the German round due to a back injury, also returned to track, but Makoto Tamada who subbed for him also was on hand to help the Castrol Honda team.

Continue reading: WSBK Misano test day 1: Marco Melandri heads timesheets

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Several World Superbike teams are currently at the Misano for two days of testing ahead of the sixth round of the season that will be held at the Misano World circuit June 10th-12th and before heading to the US round at Miller Motorsports Park scheduled for the end of this month.

Open to the public, the test saw Aprilia, BMW Motorrad Motorsports, Althea Ducati and Pata Racing teams, (Yamaha and Kawasaki will be testing at the Motorland Aragon circuit tomorrow) line up their regular and test riders (Alex Hofmann and Steve Martin), with the news that Max Biaggi has broken the track record previously set by Cal Crutchlow on his Yamaha R1 with a best lap of 1′35″6. The Aprilia Alitalia rider won both races at Misano Adriatico last year.

The unofficial lap times see Carlos Checa four tenths slower than Biaggi, followed by Leon Camier with a 1′36”3 (and hopefully Aprilia can find out why Camier’s RSV4 is constantly plagued by technical issues), Troy Corser and Leon Haslam with best laps of 1′36”5 and 1′36”6 respectively, while Noriyuki Haga was the slowest rider, almost 2 seconds off pace with 1′37”4.

Source | romagnaoggi.it

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