The Be Wiser Ducati team return to Spain for their latest test with the new Panigale and both four-time champion Shane 'Shakey' Byrne and his rookie team-mate Glenn Irwin are keen to build on their initial ground work earlier this year.

The team have already completed positive tests at the Portimao and Andalucia circuits and with further development work undergone back at the workshop ahead of their test at Cartagena on Friday, the team-mates are eager to continue their pre-season preparations.

Shakey said: 

"The first tests we have had already have been really positive, but I also think that we still have an awful lot to do. I have said a few times, you can buy a Ducati and the package now is so good that it feels like a race bike, however to make it into a BSB spec bike it needs to run the Motec ECU and various other things so we have been working from the ground up to get it right. We could have thrown some settings in that would have given us faster lap times but that wouldn't have helped us in the long run. The team have done a really good job so far but we know there is still so much more to come.

"The changes work in different ways, so you have a constant development circle where you make improvements to the electronics, you then make more changes to the chassis etc and it goes through a whole loop. It has been great that my new crew chief Giovanni has also been to the workshop and been working with Phil [Borley] and the boys and have some new maps to put in and generally chipping away with the feedback we had from the previous two tests.

"One of the main areas was the throttle feel, so they had a focus on that and I think that it should feel more relevant for me now compared to Portugal and the last Spanish test. We then have some new components to test too so we have a pretty busy schedule, because once we leave these two Spanish tests it is back home for the official tests and then we need to be ready to go straight out of the blocks at Silverstone."

Irwin said: 


"I am really looking forward to getting back out again, especially now that I have some knowledge of the Superbike. I have more understanding and I also have an idea of what I want to get out of these tests now I have completed those initial days on track. I have never been to Guadix before so that will be another new track for me, but I have been to Cartagena although it was a few years ago now.

"These tests are about me learning more about the Superbike and also from everyone on track around me; I did some laps behind Shakey at the last test and I was like a sponge, just trying to absorb everything. Those few laps were really, really helpful to me and I think this week could be a similar learning experience.

"We need to come away from these tests in a good position ready for the UK tests and the first round at Silverstone. I know with the other riders on track I won't be firing in all the fast lap times but I intend on capitalising where I am sharing the track with some of our rivals and I intend on learning as much as I possibly can at these two tests."