I know...its only a test, but...
 

Looking better and better...

"Right throughout the day the battle had been between Spies and Fabrizio, but they were joined at the end by a group of riders who also set impressive times. Next up was Britain's Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), just five-tenths down on the front man, while Ruben Xaus (BMW Motorrad) showed great progress for the German squad by powering through into an impressive fourth slot with his quickest time of the day in the closing stages. Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), fastest in the morning, maintained his good form in the afternoon, improving his time to end up fifth."

Wow, where did Ruben pull that out of. Even as just a test, it's the best BMW have done yet. Pretty cool. Now, how did Corser end up so far behind. Will be fun to watch this test and see if it was a step or a fluke. Ruben and BMW were ahead of some pretty fast company.
Maybe because the 3 years absence means no one has current data and BMW are operating at less of a setup data deficit here?

After speaking with a few folks at Laguna Seca that are "close to the source", I think that Corser may be suffering a bit more from the shoulder injury than he lets on. The effects are more than physical and are creating some form of hesitancy in application of throttle and associated dynamics of riding fast in fast company.
As to data, I also hear that things are changing rapidly in the BMW camp...not sure what that means but Ruben's result is definitely and eye opener.

Agree about Corser.
Not to take anything away from Xaus' performance, but he IS a bit of an Imola specialist if you look at his history. I bet no one was more glad than he to see it back on the sched. A chance to show what he can do. Can't wait to see the next day.