WSBK » Giugliano battles stomach virus at Phillip Island test

Althea Aprilia's Davide Giugliano battled a stomach virus at Phillip Island as he completed the official two-day test in ninth position overall on the timesheets.

Giugliano was treated at the Clinica Mobile prior to the afternoon session at the Australian circuit on Tuesday and went on to set the seventh quickest time in 1m 31.640s on the RSV4, which left the Italian rider ninth on the combined timing charts as the winter testing programme reached a conclusion.

The Althea Aprilia ace said he was dissatisfied with his time on Tuesday, but conceded that the team was more concerned with finding a positive set-up ahead of this weekend's opening round of the World Superbike Championship than achieving a fast lap.

“We worked hard and well, and I think I'm ready for the first round,” said Giugliano.

“There remains the uncertainty of the tyres that we can use this weekend as we do not know what temperatures we will find.

“I'm not happy with my seventh place today because it is not a position suited to the value of our team, but we thought [it would be better to complete] more work on the bike than to look for the lap time,” he added.

“We are satisfied with the level reached even if we still have some things that we think we can improve.”

Team manager, Genesio Bevilacqua, said confidence was high as the countdown to Sunday's opener begins in earnest.

“Our goal was to understand the behaviour of the tyres and it was not easy given the difference in temperature between yesterday and today.

“In these two days we have seen that the gap between the pilots of the first positions is very low but in light of our results we can feel satisfied,” he said.

“We have collected all the data that will allow us to start to the next race weekend. We are ready and confident.”

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