Spies takes charge in Monza test

Ben Spies gave his rivals something to worry about ahead of the Monza round of the World Superbike Championship as he brought the two-day test around the Italian circuit to a close with the quickest time.

His first visit to the high-speed track, which will host races nine and ten of the championship next month, Spies pumped in a best lap time of 1min 45.3secs, two tenths quicker than second place Noriyuki Haga and four tenths up on Michel Fabrizio's leading effort from day one.

Fabrizio followed in third position, with Max Neukirchner and Tom Sykes fourth and fifth as the only other riders to slip under the 1min 46secs marker.

Having spent three rounds acclimatising to his Celani Suzuki GSX-R1000, Karl Muggeridge got some useful testing under his belt and was even able to come away with a better lap than Yukio Kagayama, Ruben Xaus and Troy Corser, the latter suffering a fall and choosing to sit out the remainder of the test.

Alex Hoffman and Steve Martin were also on track for Aprilia and BMW respectively, but their lap times were not recorded.

Monza WSBK testing - day two

1. Ben Spies Yamaha WSB 1min 45.3s
2. Noriyuki Haga Ducati Xerox 1min 45.5s
3. Michel Fabrizio Ducati Xerox 1min 45.6s
4. Max Neukirchner Suzuki Alstare 1min 45.8s
5. Tom Sykes Yamaha WSB 1min 45.8s
6. Karl Muggeridge Suzuki Celani 1min 46.0s
7. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki Alstare 1min 46.3s
8. Ruben Xaus BMW 1min 46.8s
9. Troy Corser BMW 1min 47.1s