VisionTrack Ducati’s Josh Brookes feels more even more ready for the Bennetts British Superbike season to begin after a successful test in mixed conditions at Knockhill today.

Brookes and team-mate Christian Iddon lapped in wet and dry at the Scottish track with the Australian saying development of the Panigale V4R has moved on since the tests in Spain earlier in the year.

“It felt good to be back out again. There wasn’t anything wrong with the bike when we finished last season because it finished one-two in the championship, but to have the track time to work on some areas is always beneficial because you always strive for perfection,” said Brookes.

“The VisionTrack Ducati felt good when we were testing in Spain in March and there wasn’t a problem in particular to work on, but we need to be riding bikes at speed. To have the ability to test in both the wet and dry conditions at Knockhill to clarify some areas we had been working on was a positive.

“The development with motorcycles never stops and we have moved on from where we finished last season and that gives me confidence. We made some changes to the front end of the bike in Spain and it felt like a better balance, so we needed to bring that to a track in the UK and see how it compared and it felt like it should, and that was a nice reward for the work.

“This then opened our minds to some other changes with the chassis position and it brought a union of all the different changes complementing each other.

“There were only small areas we were working on where I felt that it could make a difference because I am always looking for the next thing we can do as a team to improve, whether it is after a test, a session or a race. I was ready before we went to Knockhill for the test but I feel even more ready now to get racing again.”