GSE's Christmas cracker.

GSE Racing's Neil Hodgson and James Toseland completed a successful test on their factory 996 Ducatis at Valencia over the weekend.

The British riders completed over 500km on their debut at the Spanish circuit, which will be the venue for the first round of the Superbike World Championship on 11 March.

"It was important to have a run-out before the SBK test at Kyalami next month and Valencia seemed like a logical choice," team manager Colin Wright explained, "The weather conditions were good and we were able to achieve our working objectives at the start of our debut World Superbike season.

"From a technical viewpoint, we knew that the factory Ducatis would be excellent and we were keen to try them out with Dunlop tyres. Neil and James spent the early part of the test learning the circuit and getting the basic settings to their liking. It was a bonus that Neil was able to get on the pace so quickly."

Hodgson, the reigning British superbike champion, was over a second under Troy Corser's existing superbike lap record as he blitzed to a superb time of 1min 35.67secs on race tyres, a mark which was also half-a-second inside last season's Superpole time.

"It was a brilliant opportunity to get out on the factory Ducati and become accustomed with its power and handling characteristics," Hodgson explained.

"Being surrounded by the same team at GSE Racing is a huge bonus as I make my comeback in World Superbikes. I was delighted that everyone worked so hard to make this test possible and that I was able to build up the pace towards a fast time."

Twenty year-old Toseland was also positive after recording a time of 1min 38.9secs, despite a crash on the Sunday afternoon which could have aggravated the season-ending injury he suffered earlier this year.

"There was no pressure for me to record a fast time and it was a useful exercise for me to test the factory Ducati as early as possible. The bike felt great and I had no adverse reaction to the injuries that I suffered earlier in the year."

Having completed the Valencia test, the team will return home for Christmas, before restarting its preparations early in the New Year.