The Jentin Doodson Motorsport and Moto Rapido teams gave the exotic new Ducati Panigale its first run out on circuit this morning (Wednesday) at Brands Hatch as the teams begin their preparation for the opening round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship this Easter weekend (6-9 April).

Tom Tunstall completed the first laps of the new machines under the watchful eye of Ernesto Marinelli, the Project Leader for Ducati Corse SBK, as they debuted the Panigale on circuit and on returning to the pits he was delighted with the initial performance.

Tunstall said:

"This morning we were literally running the Ducati for the first time and for me it was the first time I had been on a bike since Snetterton last year so I had to blow the cobwebs away! The Panigale exceeded my expectations; the chassis is really nimble and the engine has a really nice punch to it and it still kept pulling. It is just brilliant and I am so excited to be on it. It is still early days, we have Alex (Polita) joining us tomorrow at Snetterton so we can learn more then once we have completed this initial day today. We have had great support from Ducati and I also want to thank them."

Moto Rapido Ducati also headed out on circuit before lunchtime with Scott Smart completing their first laps on circuit as they work With Motec ahead of the Snetterton test tomorrow.

Team owner Steve Moore said:

"The whole team has done very well to have the new bike out and running today as we only received them a few weeks ago. This is an initial run out for us today and there has been a great reception from the fans wanting to have a look at the new Ducati. We have fantastic support here from Ducati and Motec and we are using the track as a big dyno today so we are ready for tomorrow at Snetterton."

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