Essex diamond geezer and Nando’s loyalty club president Danny Buchan has impressed new team boss Steve Moore during his first outing on the Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati Panigale.

During a four-day test at the Spanish Almeria track, Buchan was kitted out with a stock 1199R which benefited from BSB-spec cycle and chassis parts, and although Moore said outright lap times were not the team’s concern, he was impressed by Buchan’s performance and his development feedback.

“Danny had his first taste of Italian at the Spanish Almeria track. Just a simple track event without the whole team, Danny rode four days on a bike we had prepared for him as a practice bike, essentially a stock street Panigale that we upgraded using Superbike forks, yokes, shock, brakes, linkage and swingarm,” said Moore, speaking to bikesportnews.com

“Although we were not using the latest generation components his chassis engineer Gio Piras was able to prepare a setup that would have a very similar feel to his actual Superbike albeit with the stock motor, gearbox and electronics package (with the traction control system disabled).

“First impressions were good and we used the stock bike’s datalogging system to help Danny understand the change from the screaming four cylinder bikes he has been riding to the twin cylinder Ducati. He was able to change his riding style remarkably quickly and by the second day he was understanding the Ducati characteristics and playing with sliding the rear, scraping his elbow and having fun.

“Lap times were not our concern but I wasn’t disappointed. We concentrated on long runs roughly equivalent to what BSB race distance would be so he could get the feel for new and worn tyres. All in we covered just under 1000 kms on track over four days.

“We have historically taken testing very seriously and only tested with a full team and race package, but this season we have added another level by preparing the practice bike completely separately to the racing machine allowing Danny to go and play on track. Danny is very keen to keep sharp and ride often, so this bike will be ideal for him putting in many laps over the winter before we start testing the superbike in January with an official test with Ducati Corse.”