Winter Test- Ricardo Tormo Circuit, Valencia
17th November 2004

TROY LEADS THE WAY.

It's great to be riding a bike and having fun again! Yesterday, was basically
about me getting on the bike and making it comfortable to ride, so we spent a
lot of time playing with the position of the foot-pegs, seat and handlebars. We
also tried some different offsets and changed the head-angle to get a good base
setting. At the end of the day, I was a little surprised to find out that I had
been the fastest rider of the day! Especially because, I hadn't pushed hard at
all, I had just been riding the bike and getting used to it. I ended up with a
1:36.92 - and that was half a second quicker then anybody else! Today we altered
the shock a bit and tried different tyres, so once again we weren't chasing any
lap times. I was thinking that somewhere in the 1:35s might be possible and I
told a journalist that if I didn't get under 1:36, I'd buy him a beer. I was
pretty close at 1:36.11, so I guess I owe him that beer. But even though I
didn't get into the 1:35s, I was still over half a second faster then anybody
out there today and that gave us all a bit of a buzz.

Even though I am riding a 2003 (Iannuzzo) Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra GSX R1000,
I'm already very happy and excited about my future prospects. The bike feels so
much better then my last bike from mid-corner to the exit of the corner. The
engine responds in a very linear way to my hand on the throttle and I can feel
that it has a lot more torque. Also, I can go a bit wide in the corner or be on
a different line and can still run a good lap time. The bike is very
rider-friendly and the rpm or gear is not so critical.

It's also good for me that two of my old Aprilia mechanics (Giacomo and Massimo)
are with me, because I feel we know have the complete package for success. They
have slotted into the team as if they have always been there and we have a great
atmosphere in the garage - everybody is walking around smiling!

I cannot wait for the new bike when it comes, but I feel that I could race this
very bike right now and be a contender for sure - and that's a wonderful feeling
to have at this early stage. I'm looking forward to getting into the 1:35s
tomorrow - or I'll have to buy yet another beer!

TROY

 1 TROY CORSER (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:36.11
 2 Laconi (Ducati)    1:36.83
 3 Toseland (Ducati)  1:37.11
 4 Gimbert (Yamaha)   1:37.97
 5 Muggeridge (Honda) 1:38.21

TROY CORSER WEBSITE - http://www.troycorser.com