YAMAHA TEAMS OUT IN FORCE Italy is the home nation for Andrew Pitt and Noriyuki Haga's Yamaha Motor Italia squad, and Misano will be home-from-home for each rider. With podiums already taken by each, every test is now seen as preparation for the first Yamaha 2006 season win. For the Yamaha Motor France IPONE squad, Misano will be another chance to work through their never-ending cycle of development, as Norick Abe, Sebastien Gimbert and Shinichi Nakatomi prepare themselves for two days of hard graft.

DUCATIS AT HOME AROUND MISANO A virtual kingdom of Ducati twin-cylinder machinery will back up the efforts of Bayliss and Lanzi at the Misano tests, with Valencia sensation Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Berik Ducati) proving to be fully competitive in the recent Valencia tests, on his 2005 spec machine. Ex MotoGP rider Roberto Rolfo (Ducati SC Caracchi) and Marco Borciani (Sterilgarda Berik Ducati) also lead the vanguard of almost ten Ducati riders in the series. Max Neukirchner (Pedercini Ducati) did not enjoy the recent Valencia tests, but hopes that Misano will see him get to grips with the change to Ducati machinery this season.

FOUR RIDERS ON KAWASAKI FOURS The quickest Kawasaki rider on show thus far is Fonsi Nieto (Team PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse), but in a three man team jam-packed with talent and ever-improving machinery, competition for supremacy is fierce in the PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse camp. 2004 season runner-up Regis Laconi and perennial Superbike threat Chris Walker expect to work through as much material for the ZX-10R as they did at Valencia. Franco Battaini will once more be in attendance in his rookie season in Superbike, riding another local variety of Kawasaki, from the Bertocchi team.

PETRONAS MUSKETEERS RELOAD ON THE ROAD TO ITALY Steve Martin blew away the onlookers at Valencia with a fifth fastest time in the Spanish tests, howling his unique Petronas triple above its 900cc envelope of performance. At another twisty track, Martin may once more fancy his chances of a strong top ten ride, while his new partner, Craig Jones, learns the ropes in his rookie SBK season. Other riders to take particular notice of include Fabien Foret, on a privately entered Alstare Engineering Suzuki GSX-R, and Pedercini Ducati rider Ivan Clementi, normally fast on home soil.