Carlos Checa on his way to the fastest lap at Phillip Island this week. Image: Andrew Gosling/TBG Sport.

Team SBK Ducati Alstare owner Francis Batta admits his team’s performance in its return to the Superbike World Championship is already ahead of expectations following a glowing two-day test at Phillip Island this week.

The 2013 series will commence in Australia this weekend, 22-24 February, with former world champion Carlos Checa certifying himself as the pre-race favourite by topping the official testing time sheets this afternoon.

During day one, in warm and sunny conditions, Checa finally enjoyed some solid track time and worked hard with his team to make technical adjustments to his 1199 Panigale, which will make its highly anticipated debut in the World Superbike category this coming weekend.

Yesterday the performances of several riders, Carlos included, picked up late in the afternoon. The Spaniard finished day one in sixth position, with a best of 1:31.5.

Day two saw further improvement on a much cooler track, with Carlos fastest in the morning’s damp conditions. Shortly before the end of the day, on a dry track, he improved on times set yesterday to close in overall first position with a time of 1:31.0, the fastest lap recorded during the two days. His pace augers well for the upcoming races.

“I’m extremely happy with the results,” Checa commented. “It was a nice surprise to make the fastest lap, with everybody riding in the same conditions. I honestly didn’t believe that we’d be at this level at this point, I thought I’d finish about seventh. We were already able to find a good base setting yesterday and then continued to work from there today.

“I like the fact that every change we make to this bike is positive and it seems that everything we do results in us going in the right direction. The team are working really well together and this is the first time this year that we’ve had good conditions that have allowed us to spend a lot of time on the bike.

“Working on this new project right now is one of the most satisfying moments of my life. It is an exciting challenge and today’s results show that the bike has great potential and that there is still room for improvement.”

Batta is understandably thrilled with the team’s early form, the test result coming as a serious confidence boost before this weekend’s opener.

“For me, it’s been a good test. Carlos is a good development rider and he has shown what’s possible with this bike,” Batta said. “This has been the first time this year that we’ve had decent weather and that has allowed us to work hard and try a lot of things.

“After today, I feel confident in this project and I now think we’ll be competitive sooner than we originally thought.”