van den Goorbergh grabs Supersport test.

MotoGP star Jurgen van den Goorbergh, left off the official 2003 entry list, will test the Yamaha Belgarda YZF-R6 Supersport machine today and tomorrow [Thursday 19th and Friday 20th December] at Valencia.

The flying Dutchman made his GP debut in 1991 and has taken part in 164 races. He rode for Erv Kanemoto in the 2002 season using an often uncompetitive NSR500/Bridgestone tyres combination.

van den Goorbergh grabs Supersport test.

MotoGP star Jurgen van den Goorbergh, left off the official 2003 entry list, will test the Yamaha Belgarda YZF-R6 Supersport machine today and tomorrow [Thursday 19th and Friday 20th December] at Valencia.

The flying Dutchman made his GP debut in 1991 and has taken part in 164 races. He rode for Erv Kanemoto in the 2002 season using an often uncompetitive NSR500/Bridgestone tyres combination.

It was something of a shock that the highly rated Jurgen was left out of the 2003 line-up, the Honda/Bridgestone MotoGP ride having gone to WSBK wild card Makoto Tamada, and his only chance of remaining in the top class of GP racing is now with ambitious, but unproven, Harris WCM team, who are yet to announce either of their riders.

However, the Belgarda test is not seen as potentially leading to a race ride, instead the thirty-two year is temporarily substituting for Paolo Casoli who was injured while testing in the November.

"In the first Valencia test, we collected little data. Casoli was unfortunate because he did not even complete a lap on the new bike and Whitham wasn't even there. The start of the World Championship will soon be with us and we cannot afford to waste any more time, so we asked the very experienced Jurgen van den Goorbergh to work with us now and in the January tests," explained Belgarda Yamaha's Maio Meregalli. "By then we should have found a good base set up for the bike and hopefully we should have some idea of how Casoli's condition is coming along. These are our priorities."

The upcoming Valencia test will mark vd Goorbergh's Valencia Supersport debut, and will also be the first time Jamie Whitham will ride the new 2003 bike having missed the first tests in November as he was recovering from a knee operation.

"I missed the first test on advice by my specialist," said Whitham. "My knee would not have been fully healed and strong enough - and if I crashed, it might've caused big problems. Now, it's much stronger and I am looking forward to seeing how good the new Yamaha is."

In two days, Whitham and Van den Goorbergh will undertake extensive tyre testing for Pirelli tyres, whilst working with the team's technicians on the new bike's set-up.

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