Recently-crowned 250GP World Champion Marco Simoncelli joined Shinya Nakano and Alex Hofmann to test the Aprila RS4 World Superbike at Valencia yesterday.

Simoncelli only clocked 37 laps on the bike with a best time of 1'36.3 which was only a second slower than Nakano but was a second quicker than former MotoGP man and test rider Hofmann.

he motorcycle is much bigger than I am used to, but I was able to lap quite quickly and therefore I am happy," said Simoncelli. "The RSV4 has a lot of power, which I could really feel during acceleration."