Xerox Ducati's Michel Fabrizio remained at the top of the World Superbike testing timesheets today and broke the Kyalami lap record in the process, making him the fastest rider ever to lap the South Africa track.
In the first half an hour of today's final session, Fabrizio used a qualifying tyre and banged in a 1'39.7 circuit, remain unchallenged all day with only two other riders dipping under the 1'40 mark.
“We tried qualifiers today and as I thought it allowed me to go just a little faster than I had so far. I was aiming to break the 1m40s barrier and succeeded, and even on the race tyre I managed 1m40 dead which wasn’t bad," said Fabrizio.
"This afternoon got more difficult as I was very tired after the non-stop riding but all things considered, I’m very happy with how the three days has gone. This winter I’m concentrating a lot on training and physical preparation so as to be as fit as possible in time for the opening round at Phillip Island.”
Yamaha's Ben Spies was second fastest today, just two tenths slower than the Ducati man, while Fabrizio's team-mate Noriyuki Haga registered the same 1'39.9 time as the three-times AMA Champion.
Britain's Jonathan Rea was fourth quickest on his Ten Kate Honda with team-mate Carlos Checa in fifth. Fellow Brit Tom Sykes, who is still suffering from illness, managed to lap in 1'41.5 on the new Yamaha R1.
An oil leak in the morning failed to prevent Max Biaggi from making a good impression on the Aprilia RSV4 in the new bike's first face-off against its Superbike rivals. The Italian finished the test with a positive eighth quickest time, one second exactly off the pace of the leading Ducati.
BMW's Troy Corser has a crash this morning but looked as fast on a race tyre as he was on qualifying rubber.
World Superbikes tests, Kyalami, day three
1. Michel Fabrizio (Ita-Ducati) 1'39"714
2. Ben Spies (Usa-Yamaha) 1'39"978
3. Noriyuki Haga (Jpn-Ducati) 1'39"984
4. Jonathan Rea (GB-Honda) 1'40"035
5. Carlos Checa (Spa-Honda) 1'40"170
6. Max Neukirchner (Ger-Suzuki) 1'40"394
7. Yukio Kagayama (Jpn-Suzuki) 1'40"675
8. Max Biaggi (Ita-Aprilia) 1'40"768
9. Shinya Nakano (Jpn-Aprilia) 1'40"968
10. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Jpn-Honda) 1'41"067
11. Troy Corser (Aus-Bmw) 1'41"102
12. Tom Sykes (GB-Yamaha) 1'41"562
13. Ruben Xaus (Spa-Bmw) 1'41"996.
