Laconi close to Xaus, Toseland injured.

Factory Ducati riders' Regis Laconi and James Toseland both made substantial progress on the second day of pre-season testing at Phillip Island today (Wednesday) - although Toseland was left needing stiches after a highside.

28-year-old Laconi completed a total of 74 laps on his 999, recording a best time of 1min 34.00secs on softer Pirelli tyres and 1min 34.28secs on race rubber, which is not far off the fastest race lap, set by Ruben Xaus, at the 2003 event (a 1min 33.8secs, with Michelins).

"The weather was much better today and it was easier to work," declared Regis. "We found a good solution for the front tyre and the settings, while the rear is quite good although we still need to find more side grip."

Out of the massive selection of compounds Pirelli have brought along for the tests, Laconi was able to find a selection of tyres that he liked in race spec and tomorrow's final day will be devoted to two long-runs in the morning and the afternoon.

"My times are good, I did over half a race in the 1min 34s. It's difficult to know how much more improvement I can make because the conditions change all the time here, but I'm confident I can get into the 1min 33 bracket tomorrow," stated the Frenchman.

Team-mate Toseland also made considerable progress on yesterday's time with a 1min 34.5secs best... before a crash brought his day to a premature end. The Brit arrived at Honda corner on his nineteenth lap of the morning before highsiding at low speed.

The 23-year-old cut his right knee and had to have three stitches put in. He stayed off the bike the rest of the day but will test again tomorrow.

"I opened up coming out of Honda curve," confirmed James, "and the bike suddenly lost grip at the rear. It was a low-speed crash, but I'm sure I'll be OK for tomorrow."

In two sessions, Ducati Fila engineers claimed to have succeeded in ironing out the problems of stability that emerged during Valencia testing in November and are confident that the 999 is ready for the start of the season, in six weeks' time.

Tomorrow will see the third and final day of testing for the Ducati and Foggy Petronas teams at Phillip Island.

Phillip Island test - day two:

1.Regis Laconi FRA Ducati Fila 1min 34.0secs
2.James Toseland GBR Ducati Fila 1min 34.50secs
3.Troy Corser AUS Foggy Petronas 1min 35.4secs
4.Chris Walker GBR Foggy Petronas 1mim 35.9secs

Comparative lap times - 2003 WSBK round:Fastest lap: Ruben Xaus SPA Ducati Fila 1min 33.813secs