WORLD Superbike title rivals Colin Edwards and Carl Fogarty recorded identical lap times after two days of pre-season testing at Misano.

Honda's Edwards powered the new VTR Honda to a best lap of 1m 33.7s yesterday afternoon only for his time to be equalled straight away by Ducati's defending champion Fogarty.

Edwards said: "I suppose this test wasn't about who was quickest, but it helps if you can set a fast time. We're still heading the right way with the set-up of the new VTR - I'm ready to go."

British Superbike championship rider Neil Hodgson, from Burnley, was third quickest aboard his Ducati.

Fogarty's new team-mate Ben Bostrum had another frustrating day which included two minor falls.

"I'm very satisfied with the work we've done the past couple of days," said Carl Fogarty.

"Since the tests in Australia, the bike has improved in power delivery. I managed to find some answers for the tyres, but the temperatures we will encounter in the racing in June will be different and so we will still need some more reference points.

"I think that Michelin know exactly in which direction to work and so I'm not too concerned about it."

Test times: 1 Colin Edwards, USA (Castrol Honda) and Carl Fogarty, GB (Ducati) 1m 33.7s, 3 Neil Hodgson, GB (Ducati) 1m 34.3s, 4 Stefano Perugini, Italy Castrol Honda 1m 34.8s, 5 Niall Mackenzie, GB, (Ducati) 1m 34.8s, 6 Troy Corser, Australia (Aprilia) 1m 35.3s, 7 Alessandro Antonello, Italy (Aprilia) 1m 35.6s, 8 Ben Bostrom, USA (Ducati) 1m 35.6s, 9 Haruchika Aoki, Japan (Ducati) 1m 35.6s, 10 Robert Ulm, Austria (Ducati) 1m 35.8s.

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