SPRING-LIKE temperatures of 21 degrees allowed Carl Fogarty to get to grips with the new Valencia circuit, scene of the opening round of next year's World Superbike championship.

The world champion set a best time of 1minute 37.05 seconds on the Spanish track, while new partner Ben Bostrom, got down to 1min 37.1 seconds after two days of testing.

Foggy said: "The good track and weather conditions meant that I got to know the

Factory 2000 bike better after the Imola test, where it was very impressive in the wet. "I tried to gain confidence with the track because usually in December I have a hard time trying to get back on the bike - I usually emerge from 'hibernation' towards the end of January.

"There are several curves you take in first gear and so you have to work

hard to get good acceleration coming out."

Bostrum added: "I'm not pushing hard yet because I'm still trying to gain confidence

with the Michelin tyres.

"This is only the second time that I've used them. But they are precise and give you the sensation that you can feel every detail of the track perfectly.

"I still have to work on the bike set-up but I'm very satisfied with the 'strength' of the Factory 2000 engine which I didn't test at Imola."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.