CARL Fogarty's Petronas team have plenty to look forward to after an excellent three-day test at the Losail desert circuit in Qatar.
Riders Steve Martin and Craig Jones used the Pirelli organised test - attended by a number of the factory World Superbike teams - to test their bikes for the new season.
Steve Martin only ran during a morning session, due to weakness and fitness limitations following surgery to his kidney just six weeks ago, but was extremely happy with what had been achieved during the trip.
And without pushing himself, Martin posted a best lap time of 2:01.80 - almost 1.5 seconds quicker than his fastest lap at Losail during the World Superbike race event there earlier in the year, when he was fully fit and riding to his potential.
Jones made even further progress with his bike set-up and was able to achieve over fifty laps and a slightly improved lap time of 2:02.50.
Martin said: "I'm really happy with the test, including the lap time I got down to. I'm exceptionally happy that we got through all the things we had to test, as this has given the team a really good direction to improve from yet again, in time for our test at Philip Island in January when I will be 100 per cent recovered and fit."
Jones added: "I am really pleased with what we've achieved at this test overall, in terms of evaluating development parts and also with how I've progressed and the experience I've gained in riding the FP1, especially with this being my first visit to the Losail circuit."
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