Italian Lorenzo Lanzi has concluded the latest test for the factory Ducati 749R, the bike that will mark Ducati Corse's return to the World Supersport arena in the 2004 championship, with a significant improvement in lap time.

The 22 year-old from Cesena, who was out on track for three days in MotoGP company, improved his quickest time to 1in 38.9secs at the end of the day, after fitting a softer tyre. This was not far off the times recorded by the best Supersport riders in the Valencia championship opener earlier in the year.

Lanzi used the Valencia outing to make a major step forward in the 749R's development curve as he notched up a total of 194 laps in the three days, the equivalent of over 750 kms of track time.

The engine mapping made on the Ducati Corse dyno after November's test at Valencia proved to be extremely useful as Lanzi knocked four-tenths of a second off his previous best time around the 4.005 km circuit in perfect conditions.

"I'm pleased with the progress we have made since the last test," he declared. "There has been a lot of development, we know where we have to work on and the direction we have to take."

The Ducati 749R's next test will be at Phillip Island, Australia from 13-15 January 2004.