Draper duo testing at the Circuit de Calafat

The shakedown test, prior to the official British Superbike test later in the month, saw the two Lincolnshire riders, their mechanics and team manager Bill Philp head to Circuit de Calafat, situated an hour south of Barcelona, for a three-day test.

Philp, from East Kirkby, was soon on the pace and flying around the track on his Yamaha R6 Supersport spec machine.

He was keeping pace with all the top 600cc British Supersport riders and ended the three days in a strong position.

Teammate Clarke, from Kirton, was out on his Yamaha R6 Superstock 600 bike and was going well in his first two sessions on day one.

But in his third session he suffered a high side and crashed.

He was unhurt apart from some nasty bruises and the bike escaped with just some cosmetic damage.

The bike was returned to the pit garage where it was repaired and he was sent back out to continue his testing.

Changes were made to the gearing and shock absorbers, plus the mapping, and he completed the remainder of the testing with no further incident and recorded some much faster lap times.

Team manager Bill Philp said: “Tommy is happy with the way the bike handled and is happy with his lap times.

“Aaron lost a bit of confidence after his off, but did make some significant improvement.

“With this in mind we are going to Brands Hatch next weekend and will take part in the Bemsee club races and using the track time as a test session.

“Prior to that the bikes are going on the dyno to get the set up spot on.”

The new campaign begins in earnest at Donington Park over the Easter weekend.

There Tommy will be riding in the British Supersport championship and Aaron the National Superstock 600 series.