Flu bug keeps Byrne out of Valencia test
Added on Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Flu bug keeps Byrne out of Valencia test
Shane Byrne will miss this week’s World Superbike test in Valencia after opting to stay at home to recover from a flu virus that has affected him and his young son.
Byrne was due to get his first outing on the Althea Ducati after signing with the ambitious team from the Sterilgarda team in the off-season but the two-time BSB champion has opted to sit out the test in Valencia on Wednesday and Thursday but has confirmed that he has resumed pre-season training.
“I was out of it for a couple of weeks,” Byrne said. “My family caught the flu, then I got it. My son Zack celebrated his first birthday by going to see the doctor!
“I had been working really hard on training since I got the confirmation of the Althea Ducati ride, but I knew something was wrong when I went out for some training on my bicycle. I had to stop early and head home, and I thought maybe I had just been overdoing it a bit. But it was the flu, and I was so ill for a couple of weeks after. But I am much better now and have started training again properly.”
Byrne’s new Althea Ducati teammate Carlos Checa will also miss this week’s test, which will feature most of the World Superbikes paddock, including Yamaha’s James Toseland and Cal Crutchlow, Ten Kate Honda’s Jonathan Rea and Max Neukirchner, Aprilia’s Max Biaggi and Leon Camier as well as new Suzuki pair Leon Haslam and Sylvain Guintoli. Xerox Ducati pair Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio will not be present however.
Aprilia will also bring a third RSV-4 to Valencia, with Czech rider Jakub Smrz putting that through its paces. It’s believed that the newly combined Guandalini and Borciani WSB team is considering running an Aprilia machine in the 2010 championship.
