Yamaha Motor Germany Wednesday completed their final test before next month's opening round of the 2006 World Supersport Championship.

_{source: crash.net}

Yamaha's number one team spent three days at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia, with riders Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes both completing over 1000 trouble-free kilometres and lapping their home circuit at lap record pace.

Having given their machines a shakedown test in Valencia last month, the team travelled to Australia with updated machines fitted with a range of new Öhlins suspension parts.

Good weather greeted the riders present at the legendary circuit, with the strong winds that blighted Yamaha Motor France's test a few days earlier all but gone. Riding alongside Yamaha's Australian national superbike team, Curtain was the fastest of the Yamaha Motor Germany riders clocking a best of 1min 35.6secs, while Parkes was less than a second behind his experienced team-mate with a 1min 36.4secs.

Having found a good base setting at Valencia, the team worked on fine-tuning the R6 package, experimenting with the bike's electronics and slipper clutch in a bid to improve corner speed. Tyre supplier Pirelli also brought along a range of new rubber for the test, while the new suspension parts proved an improvement over the off-the-shelf components used at the Valencia test. Both riders declared themselves happy with developments and have found a satisfactory base setting for next month's opening race.

"I'm really, really happy with how it's gone," said Curtain. "The difference between this bike and the 2005 one is night and day. The energy it takes us to do the same lap times is just so much less and overall the package is far better. The weather has been good to us as well. There wasn't much wind and this morning (Wednesday) was the best I've ever seen Phillip Island. There was not a cloud in the sky and virtually no wind. The ocean looked beautiful and it was a magical experience riding around there."

"After hurting my ankle in Valencia it took me a day to get back into the swing of things but by the second day I felt comfortable again," revealed Parkes. "Luciano Zaza (suspension technician) brought over so much stuff and although we've found a pretty good base there's still a bit more to come from the suspension. I'm not at my best riding around on my own so on the last day Kevin and I did a race simulation together.