Ducati teams visit Silverstone for the first official British Superbike test of 2021

The VisionTrack Ducati and Oxford Racing Ducati teams were at Silverstone, the home of Ducati UK, for the first Bennetts British Superbikes test of 2021 this week.

Defending BSB champion Josh Brookes is running the No.1 plate this year, the first rider to do so since Tommy Hill attempted to defend his 9 years ago during the 2012 season. Brookes is joined in the VisionTrack Ducati team once more by Christian Iddon, who finished the 2020 season in third place.

It was the pair's second test in as many weeks, after the duo tested their Panigale V4 R machines around Knockhill last week.

Meanwhile Tommy Bridewell was in action for the Oxford Racing Ducati team once more, with time spent on Silverstone's National circuit evaluating a variety of parts for his Panigale V4 R.

The two days testing went well for both teams with the exception of a crash for Josh Brookes in the final session on Thursday, which saw him damage his finger and the need to get it checked out at hospital.

Riders will be back on track again next week when the second official British Superbike test takes place at Snetterton.

Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati #1)
Best lap 53.690 (Session 6/8)
"I’ve taken a lot of skin off the little finger and there is a risk of infection as it’s down to the bone but apart from that I’m OK and my finger is fine. There are no other injuries so it’s just a case of getting it cleaned up. I’m still working out what happened in the crash, but the track was cooling down and I perhaps carried a bit too much brake so maybe that’s what happened. The test was good to a point, but we did a lot of experimenting and didn’t really find a lot that improved our existing package. It’s now a case of working on what we know best and finding the consistency we need."

Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati #21)
Best lap 53.485 (Session 7/8)
"I’m really happy with the way the test has gone, everything is good. Silverstone is unique as everyone ends up with very similar lap times, it’s just one of those tracks. My aim over the two days was to experiment with a few ideas and to try some stuff we didn’t get round to trying last year, mainly to do with tyre life and some other settings. We achieved what we needed and in the last session, I just did a race run rather than chasing a lap time. It was unfortunate for Josh to crash and hope his finger injury is not too serious."