Fabrizio looks ahead after 'weekend to forget'

Michel Fabrizio's hopes of challengig for the 2010 World Superbike title were dealt a major blow in Valencia after he failed to finish either race.

The Italian came to the Spanish circuit, where he finished on the podium in 2009, eager to put a disappointing weekend in Portugal behind him, but instead found himself struggling to get comfortable on the Ducati Xerox.

Qualifying on the third row in tenth position, Fabrizio was running just off the leading group in race one when he crashed out, before brake issues in the second forced him to retire.

With three DNFs in six races now, Fabrizio, one of the favourites for this season's title, has tumbled to eighth in the overall standings and is now 77 points off leader Leon Haslam.

"It was a weekend to forget, but we'll turn the page and concentrate on the next race. Today in race one I had good pace and was able to make up a couple of positions very quickly, but then I unexpectedly lost the front and found myself on the ground.

"We made some changes for the second race but the front brake was not consistent and I came back to the garage."