Recovering Hodgson leaves Valencia test to Xaus.

Ducati Corse began their first test of 2003 at Valencia yesterday [Friday] and begun preparations for the WSK season opener, at the same circuit, on March 2.

However, only Ruben Xaus was present for the Italian squad with team-mate Neil Hodgson in the middle of a 6-8 week recovery period after undergoing delicate surgery on a left wrist bone before Christmas.

Nevertheless the British rider will be back on the track at Valencia for official WSBK testing, scheduled for 21-23 February.

In far from ideal conditions Xaus put in a notable amount of work, completing 100 laps. In collaboration with Michelin technicians, he focussed on the development of new front tyres for the Superbike championship and also rear suspension links for his new 999.

Promisingly for Xaus, he was able to lap consistently constantly lapped at a rapid pace throughout the afternoon, and ended up with a quickest time of 1min 35.3secs.

"I really needed this test here at Valencia to shake off some Christmas rust," declared Ruben with a smile. "We tested a load of new front tyres which were really good, and I'm pretty happy with the times.

"We are already more or less on the same pace as we did in the tests here at the start of December, despite the colder temperatures. We've still got a few things to try tomorrow to further improve the bike set-up, but I'm starting to feel much more at home now on the new Ducati 999," he added.