The Be Wiser Ducati team have completed their opening pre-season test at Portimao with both four-time champion Shane 'Shakey' Byrne and team-mate Glenn Irwin feeling impressed by the initial feeling of the new Panigale.

The pair joined the official Ducati test at the Portuguese circuit and during the second day on track the team continued to work through some initial groundwork with fuelling and mapping in order to have a strong foundation for their following test at Almeria next week. Both Byrne, who returns to the Italian manufacturer he won the title with in 2003 and 2008, and MCE BSB rookie Irwin reported big steps forward on the opening two days of their 2016 campaign as they now move to Spain to continue their preparation for the first round of the season at Silverstone in April.

Byrne said:

"We ended yesterday not a million miles away and today has been another really, really good day and we are all feeling super positive. It would be easy to be ecstatic about what we have achieved and how fast we have been, but I am more keen to focus on where it can still go. I know we can still do much, much more and we haven't even scratched the surface yet. We have only worked on fuelling and mapping; we have had a constructive and logical programme to progress through and that give us a good foundation.

"The way this test has gone, considering that these bikes only started for the first time last week, is incredible. Now we need to keep working in the same way; we have improved dramatically since the first exit and we want to continue in that way. It has been a very, very good start for the whole of the Be Wiser Ducati team and I have started testing feeling happy."

Irwin said:

"It has been a great two days here in Portimao and it has been really beneficial. We have been able to work through a lot of changes already and some have been good and some not so much, but with each stint we have been moving forward. This test has really given me the opportunity to adapt to the Superbike as to begin with it felt like a real animal compared to what I have been used to - the speed is so impressive and it feels like a rocket ship! It has been a sweet two days and I am leaving here feeling more confident and ready for our next test at Almeria."


Photo copyright: Guilherme Correia/Autódromo Internacional do Algarve