Rapido Sport Ducati's Matteo Baiocco bagged his and his team's best-ever MCE British Superbike grid slot at Silverstone and will start from seventh in today's opening race.
The Italian, who also doubles up as Ducati's Panigale test rider, has made some changes to the bike's geometry which ape the work done by Alstare Ducati on the world scene and put more weight over the rear tyre.
"All this weekend we have been fast, the big change is that we have moved my position on the bike to 25mM on the rear, and we moved the handlebars and footrest and altered my position. We tested this in Italy and it has made a big improvement," said Baiocco, speaking to bikesportnews.com.
"This weekend my engineer that I usually have in Italy when I do testing has come here today, and has helped me a lot too. It was the first time that I went through to Q3 and I was fourth in Q2 so that was great for me. For the race I am confident as I know I can be fast over many laps, and not just one. A podium is a huge ask and it is a big step.
"I will try and start well and see where I am after two or three laps. Usually we improve throughout the race and I hope that I have that this weekend. I think we are close to a top six position in the race but three or four riders are very fast, but for every other position anything is possible."
