Hodgson ends test on a high.
On the fifth and final day of testing at the Kyalami circuit in South Africa, GSE Racing rider Neil Hodgson took his bright orange Ducati 996 around the 2.64-mile circuit in a staggering time of 1 minute 41.477 seconds, nearly a second under Troy Corser's Superpole record and almost two seconds under Carl Fogarty's race lap record.
On the fifth and final day of testing at the Kyalami circuit in South Africa, GSE Racing rider Neil Hodgson took his bright orange Ducati 996 around the 2.64-mile circuit in a staggering time of 1 minute 41.477 seconds, nearly a second under Troy Corser's Superpole record and almost two seconds under Carl Fogarty's race lap record.
It was Corser himself who was first to not only better his own Superpole mark but also beat Colin Edwards unofficial testing record of 1 minute 42.391 seconds, set here on Monday, but just a few laps after the factory Aprilia rider's 1 minute 42.067 second effort, Corser and bike parted company on the far side of the circuit and the Australian watched the final hours of running from the pitwall.
Fellow Aussie Troy Bayliss then lowered the standard even further when he took his factory Ducati Infostrada 996 round to a lap of 1 minute 41.904 seconds on qualifying rubber before Hodgson put the deal to bed with his late burst.
Despite being relegated to second on the final timesheets, Bayliss was still very pleased with his team's work during the five days. "I'm really pleased with the race simulation we did today which confirmed the excellent quality of the bike we tested. These results demonstrate that everyone has worked really well here and that Michelin gave us some excellent tyres, both for the race and qualifying."
American Ben Bostrom recorded the fourth quickest lap of the day, good enough for fourth overall with a best mark of 1 minute 42.290 seconds on the second factory Ducati while Spaniard Ruben Xaus only clocked a few slow laps in the morning before wisely deciding not to risk his bruised body any further.
Leading Team Alstare Corona Suzuki rider Frankie Chili also got in on the qualifying fun and recorded fifth fastest time overall with a 1 minute 42.347 second best and was the last rider to better Edwards' Monday standard.
Sixth and eighth on the final timesheets is a gross misrepresentation of just how quick Edwards and Tadayuki Okada are on the Team Castrol Honda VTR1000's and had the factory riders stayed on for a few more days then they would have surely been further up the list.
Factory Kawasaki riders Gregorio Lavilla and Akira Yanagawa completed a quiet test for the KRT outfit with the Spaniard ending the test ninth overall and the Japanese rider just over a tenth slower in tenth. Suzuki new boy Stephan Chambon was eleventh and Grand Prix convert Regis Laconi twelfth.
Kyalami Winter testing times.
1. Neil Hodgson GB GSE Ducati Racing 1 min 41.477secs.
2. Troy Bayliss AUS Ducati Infostrada 1 min 41.904secs.
3. Troy Corser AUS Axo Aprilia Team 1 min 42.067secs.
4. Ben Bostrom USA Ducati Infostrada 1 min 42.290secs.
5. Pierfrancesco Chili ITA Alstare Corona Suzuki 1 min 42.347secs.
6. Colin Edwards USA Castrol Honda 1 min 42.391secs.
7. Ruben Xaus SPA Ducati Infostrada 1 min 43.227secs.
8. Tadayuki Okada JAP Castrol Honda 1 min 43.244secs.
9 Gregorio Lavilla SPA Kawasaki Racing Team 1 min 43.404secs.
10. Akira Yanagawa JAP Kawasaki Racing Team 1 min 43.512secs.
11. Stephan Chambon FRA Alstare Corona Suzuki 1 min 43.689secs.
12. Regis Laconi FRA Axo Aprilia Team 1 min 43.727secs.
Times courtesy Ducati Infostrada.
