FOGGY FP1 riders Craig Jones and Steve Martin have made big strides during their four-day test in Australia.

The duo were at the Phillip Island track as they began their preparations ahead of the new World Superbike Series And despite track time being cut slightly short due to the wind, the team comes away from the test very satisfied with the progress made with the comprehensive pre-season testing schedule and, further development of the bike.

Throughout his debut outing at the costal circuit, Craig Jones made strides forward with the set-up of his FP1 and familiarisation of the fast and flowing track.

Experienced team-mate Steve Martin was able to consistently lap an impressive two seconds faster than at the race in Phillip Island last year, and finish second overall in the test timesheet.

A race simulation had been planned for Martin yesterday, with further bike set-up and fine-tuning work scheduled for Craig Jones, in preparation for the second round of the 2006 Superbike World Championship at the costal Australian circuit in six weeks.

But Steve and Craig, along with other riders present at the test, finished the day's running at lunch time as the forceful winds significantly affected the handling of their bikes and created dangerous high speed riding conditions.

Martin said: "As soon as I woke up and saw the white caps of the waves breaking, I had a feeling our plans for the day would be scuppered.

"The plan was to do to a race simulation this morning, which I started, but the wind was so strong that I had a bit of a moment' on Lukey Heights and we thought it best not to continue. Overall it's been a really good test and we've achieved a great deal and gathered a lot of very useful data."

Jones added: "I would have liked to run a lot more laps to continue with the good set-up direction we found, so it's disappointing that the wind was so strong.

"But at least we've got a good base setting for this circuit now so to have a good starting point at the race here in a few weeks.

"I'm feeling totally at home on the FP1 and around this circuit and have just really enjoyed testing these last four days."