Change in direction of results for the BMW Motorrad Italia Superbike team during the first day of the second round of the Superbike World Championship, with the race taking place on Sunday at the English circuit of Donington Park.

In the morning practice session Ayrton Badovini showed improvements to his S 1000 RR, achieving the eighth fastest time, and for some of the session sitting near the top of the list. In the afternoon, during qualifying, work continued but at the end of the session a fall prevented the rider and the team reaping the fruits of their labour. The team are happy with the steady improvement of the bike and tomorrow, weather permitting, Ayrton will try to improve on his current position.

James Toseland was at Donington Park today to say hello to his team. The Englishman has his right arm tightly bandaged and over the coming weeks will undergo a check-up to establish how quickly he can return to the track.

Ayrton Badovini said: "Today went very well. I missed the final lap because I made a mistake but I was able to confirm that we have made a remarkable step forward. We were constantly in the first fifteen although there are still things that need fixing. We have a good margin for improvement. Tonight the engineers have a lot of information to work with and we will try to do better tomorrow. "

Serafino Foti, sporting director of BMW Motorrad Italia Superbike team said: "Apart from the slip at the last minute the day has been positive. Without that problem we could have been around tenth, given that sixth to fifteenth places are separated by just seven tenths of a second. It is important to continue working as we are doing and continue to develop the bike. Tomorrow we'll certainly improve. We were pleased that James came to visit us here at Donington and we hope to see him back on track soon. "