Hannspree Honda Althea started their pre-season tests at the Calafat circuit in Spain. Windy weather didn’t stop Roberto Rolfo, Gianluca Nannelli and Tommy Hill from completing several laps of the circuit, getting themselves used to the bikes and the team. Unfortunately Hill crashed and was taken to the local Tarragona hospital with a suspected broken right leg; the full extent of his injuries and his recovery time will be known tomorrow.

Gianluca Nannelli: “I am very happy because this first test has let me establish the professionalism of the new team and the abilities of the 2007 Honda CBR600RR. I turned in times averaging 1:29.0 but the team are convinced that tomorrow, if the weather stays good, I will be able to improve this time.”

Roberto Rolfo: “I am indeed happy with this first contact with my new team. We have worked a lot, always building, making continuous improvements. My best time as a 1:26.6 but tomorrow we will better this, without a doubt. The track is short but very technical so it’s a good test for the work we are doing.”

Salvatore Giorlandino: “The first day of testing has gone very well. There is a good feeling between the riders and technicians, and I see a focussed and enthusiastic team. We’re very sorry about Tommy’s accident and hope that the injuries he received aren’t too much of a setback. The crash happened in the first laps and we still don’t understand what caused it.”

Tomorrow the events at Qatar will begin, the 5.38 km Losail circuit hosts the first significant group test of the 2008 season, between November 28 and 30. Almost 2 months after the end of an exciting 2007 season, the 2008 season will begin at Qatar on Saturday 23 February, and this test will be a valuable early projection for all the competing teams and manufacturers. Expect new machines and rider line-ups for the 2008 season, with Qatar the first opportunity for most of the top teams to try out not just their new line-ups and machines against their main competitors, but the latest generation of Pirelli control tyres also.

The World Superbike Championship will embrace twin-cylinder machines of up to 1200cc from this point on. To ensure that no single format of machinery dominates any other, the new machines will run with air-intake restrictors and greater dry weight than the 1000cc fours, and by regulation the engines on the twins are now much closer to stock than any previous incarnation of Ducati race machinery.

Ducati Xerox riders Troy Bayliss and Michel Fabrizio will get their first chance to run their Ducati 1098F08 machinery against some of their competitors. Much is expected of the new machine, even in privateer form, but as always at these development tests, only one designated development team per manufacturer will be running. All three of Hannspree Ten Kate Honda’s 2008 riders will test at Qatar, but not all riders on all three days of the test.

The only SBK team with an unchanged rider line-up is the Yamaha Motor Italia squad of Noriyuki Haga and double World Champion Troy Corser. The Yamaha R1, which came within two points of the championship last year with Haga onboard, has proved potent, and even in its second model year is fully expected to be a force to be reckoned with again. The PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse team will not be at the Qatar tests, as they do not have their 2008 machinery ready for track action at present.

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