BMW Motorrad riders Marco Melandri and Leon Haslam have been continuing their preparation for the season ahead with two days of testing at Valencia in Spain. Melandri and Haslam completed a total of 950 kilometres of testing on the 2012 race version of the RR in good conditions.

The team focused on verifying the latest developments it has made in recent weeks. The bikes were equipped with the latest version of the engine, as well as updated software for the BMW electronics and the riders tried new parts on several areas of the bike.

"It was good to be back on the bike after the winter," said Melandri. "The testing of the updated electronics was very encouraging. We checked if everything is working well before we go to Australia, and the result was good. Of course we still need to improve in some areas. In entering corners, I still need some more confidence on the bike in order so I am to push properly, but we are all working very hard and I am sure that we will find a solution at the next test in Australia. Phillip Island is not an easy track, so it is important to be confident with the bike to be able to go into the corners very fast. In the next two weeks I will keep in contact with the team and we will analyse the data from the test to prepare for Australia. In addition, I will do a lot of training."

Haslam was also happy with the testing work: "It was a long winter back home and I am definitely happy to be back on the bike. We were lucky with the conditions. It was a bit cold in the morning, but we were able to get most out of the two days. We got through everything that we needed to go through, so I am very positive. These two days were important. We have a lot of new things for this year and it was good to test before we go to Phillip Island. In addition, it was good to get a few laps under our belts and get up to speed again. We definitely made big steps and are much further ahead compared to last year. It really is a stronger package and we still have five more days to test in Australia to dial it all in. Next week I will go to Germany to meet the team there. Then I will fly back home, do some PR-Events and continue my training programme, and then we will be already heading to Australia."

The DeltaFin Lorenzini Kawasaki Team is currently taking part in two days of testing at the Valencia circuit in Spain, with riders Kenan Sofuoglu and Sheridan Morais both putting in as many laps as possible to get an idea of the set-up and electronics package of their official ZX-6R machines.

The new World Superbike team run by Andrea Petricca is set to line up in the 2012 championship with a new name as Ducati Roma has now changed to the Red Devils Roma Team. The change was made because of the Rome manager's fondness for a name that was important at the start of his career and his debut on the bike racing scene.

South Australian David Johnson will make a one-off wildcard appearance in the opening round of the 2012 FIM Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island, this February 24-26. The 28-year-old will compete on a BMW S 1000 RR under the Rossair AEP Racing Team banner. The S 1000 RR is a full blown ex-British Superbike machine, which Johnson (photo 2Snap) will ride for the first time at a Phillip Island test session on January 30.

Crescent Suzuki has received its first shipment of performance parts from tuning partner Yoshimura as the World Superbike Championship team continues its preparations for the official tests and first race at Phillip Island in Australia at the end of next month. The team's first two Yoshimura developed engines and prototype "R-11″ exhaust systems that will be used by John Hopkins and Leon Camier arrived from Japan and the team has lost no time building the bikes and getting them ready for shipment early next month.

The Almeria circuit in southern Spain was the venue for a couple of days of testing last week involving several teams that will be taking part in this year's Supersport World Championship. The main focus at Almeria revolved around the Performance Technical Racing PTR structure, with a full turn-out of its own directly-operated and customer team bikes, and the presence of all six riders signed for the upcoming season.

The Pata Racing Team, which will take part in the 2012 Superbike World Championship with Lorenzo Zanetti, was given its launch at the Motor Bike Expo show in Verona, Italy over the weekend. The team was represented by Marco Gobbi, Sporting Director and Pata Snack company owner.

Pre-season testing for the Yakhnich Motorsport team has gotten off to an encouraging start with the completion of one of two test sessions planned in Spain for the end of January. The first took place from January 20-22 at Jerez de la Frontera with the second scheduled for tomorrow 24 January thru 27 at the Almeria circuit. In these two sessions the team will be aiming to complete set-up work on Vladimir Leonov's Yamaha R6 before the start of the FIM Supersport World Championship season at Phillip Island.

At the conclusion of a three-year project, Pro Ride Motorsports will now be taking part in the 2012 Superbike World Championship with ambitious aims. The structure headed by Marco Nicotari has been developing a Honda CBR 1000RR Fireblade at its Pro Ride Performance Center Headquarters in Lucca, Italy for the talented young rider Raffaele De Rosa. The 24-year-old Italian, who formerly raced in 250 and Moto2, is gearing up for his first season in World Superbike.