Foggy PETRONAS Racing today completed a valuable three day test, with riders Garry McCoy and Steve Martin feeling very positive about initial set up progress made with their PETRONAS FP1s.

Garry’s track time was hampered during the afternoon however, following a crash which resulted in him being taken to hospital for assessment of his injuries.

The day’s efforts were spent on further necessary chassis and bike set up rather than the originally scheduled tyre test, although both riders did each use a few of the fifteen new rear tyres bought to the test by Pirelli.

The World Superbike sole tyre supplier also bought seven of their new fronts to the test, with all tyres having modifications to the tyre structure and also new material for the compounds, aiming for improved performance in thermal and mechanical stability.

Steve solidly built on his progress from the first two days, to end the test feeling very happy having found good base settings suited to him. Towards the end of the day he also achieved a very encouraging and competitive lap time in the 1:37s on one of the new qualifying tyres.

The 35 year old Aussie commented, “I said yesterday that you very often have to go round in circles to find where you want a bike’s set up to be, and from about lunch time today - when I felt we had done full circle - I really started to feel we were making some headway. I’m now feeling very comfortable on the bike and am happy with my times, considering the very different characteristics between the twin cylinder I’ve been used to riding for four year and the triple cylinder FP1.

“After riding flat out for three days without stopping for lunch I decided to stop an hour before the end of the day. We’ve been through so many things that I’d come to a point where I felt very comfortable, so thought it better to leave it there and on a high point. Now I’m just looking forward to getting back on the bike for further testing so that the bike and I can start to reach our combined potential.”

Having found chassis and rear suspension settings he was very comfortable with and setting consistent lap times in the low 1:39s, Garry planned to return to front suspension set up this afternoon. Unfortunately, his day ended a few hours prematurely following a crash caused by a missed gear change.

A trip to hospital confirmed that Garry has suffered a sprained right ankle and bad bruising to his left foot and right knee, with a week of rest advised for his recovery.

Garry said, “We were going really well today so it’s such a shame my day was cut short due to the crash. I feel battered and bruised but will be up and about again soon. We’ve made some good progress over the last few days but I just really want to get back on the bike and continue what we’ve started.”