Official Ducati pairing find tyres and times at Imola

Michel Fabrizio and Noriyuki Haga found real progress with some of the new Pirelli tyres that they tried in the recent Imola tests.

Nori, who has had an up and down season so far compared to some previous years, found increased rear traction with one of the new rear tyres, but pushed too hard on a new front and fell without injury in the first morning of the final day, Wednesday. Fabrizio meanwhile finished second overall with his time from Wednesday morning, but Haga found more time that afternoon to go fifth fastest.

Said Fabrizio after two hot days and 126 laps: "We continued with the tyre testing today and with one of the new rears I had a particularly good feeling and went half a second faster than yesterday which wasn't bad. We'll see how the tyres behave when we return for the race but on hot tarmac they have worked well, providing a good level of grip. Now I'll start to concentrate on the next event at Brno, a track a like very much."

Noriyuki Haga, who completed 123 laps at Imola, said of his experiences: "These two days of testing have gone very well. As usual we've tried various settings over the two days and I found a good feeling with the front; it's only a shame that I had a crash this morning - let's say that the new front tyre solution is not for me. With the new rears on the other hand I was able to get into a good rhythm, with a good pace. We will continue with the work during the September race weekend to see if we can further improve absorption levels, but I can say that I'm satisfied with what we've achieved here."