From a press release issued by Yamaha Factory Racing: Yamaha Sign off for 2013 in Valencia Valencia (Spain), 12th November 2013 Yamaha Factory Racing wrapped up their final day of on-track work for 2013 today in the second of the three days of official testing at Valencia. Riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi will not continue to ride tomorrow having completed the testing schedule required by Yamaha. Both riders again tested an early version of the 2014 YZR-M1 along with working on a set up to reduce fuel consumption ahead of the rule changes for 2014 which will see a reduction in allowance of fuel for the MotoGP races. Lorenzo and Rossi will now take a well-earned break before returning to the track for the first official IRTA test of 2014 in Sepang, Malaysia. Jorge Lorenzo 2nd / 1’30.768 / 60 laps “We tested next year’s bike today and we found some positive things. We are trying some small details that will give us some small advantages. We will wait for Sepang to have bigger and more important modifications.” Valentino Rossi 7th / 1’31.414 / 57 laps “Today we focused on the new bike and it was a little bit more difficult than yesterday. We worked a lot to try to test some new systems for the fuel consumption and the settings; it has been a good test. At the end the performance wasn’t fantastic but we made an important job for winter to arrive competitive next year. During this season I wasn’t strong enough in braking so this is the target to improve.” Wilco Zeelenberg Team Manager “Again a lot of information from today. The weather has been great and the track was a bit better this morning than this afternoon. It was a bit difficult to keep the pace at the end of the day. Overall it’s been a positive test and we gained a lot of information so Yamaha can analyse for the preparations for the new season. We are satisfied with today.” Massimo Meregalli Team Director “At the end it has been a positive test and we were able to download some valuable information. We didn’t bring so many parts but it was important to gather the information the technicians were looking for. We finish the test one day early but the schedule has already been completed. We are now at the end of the season and we did so much work and put so much effort in, we gave our best. We achieved a lot of great results and we will now take some rest and then prepare for the first test next year in the best way possible.” Test Times 1. Marc Marquez (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1’30.536 2. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Yamaha Factory Racing 1’30.768 3. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1’30.948 4. Stefan Bradl (GER) LCR Honda MotoGP 1’30.990 5. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Go&Fun Honda Gresini 1’31.208 6. Bradley Smith (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech3 1’31.397 7. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha Factory Racing 1’31.414 8. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Ducati Team 1’31.661 9. Pol Espargarò (SPA) Monster Yamaha Tech3 1’31.836 10. Andrea Iannone (ITA) Pramac Racing 1’31.844 11. Cal Crutchlow (GBR) Ducati Team 1’32.114 12. Michele Pirro (ITA) Ducati Test Team 1’32.473 13. Nicky Hayden (USA) Power Electronics Aspar 1’32.576 14. Yonny Hernandez (COL) Pramac Racing 1’32.800 15. Aleix Espargaro (SPA) NGM Mobile Forward Racing 1’32.847 16. Colin Edwards (USA) NGM Mobile Forward Racing 1’33.149 17. Michael Laverty (GBR) Paul Bird Motorsport 1’33.672 18. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Power Electronics Aspar 1’33.833 19. Scott Redding (GBR) Go&Fun Honda Gresini 1’34.541 20. Mike Di Meglio (FRA) Avintia Blusens 1’34.618 More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: Testing continues for Ducati Team at Valencia Work continued for the Ducati Team on the second of three days of testing planned for this week at Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana, where Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow turned 62 and 53 laps, respectively. The Italian tried an updated chassis and put in more track time with a fairing that he had first tested briefly yesterday. He also worked with updated electronics settings to cope with the reduced fuel-capacity limit for 2014 (20 litres), and ended the day eighth-best. Crutchlow, meanwhile, continued familiarizing himself with his new bike and experimenting with setup. The Briton suffered a crash at Turn 8 near the end of the day, at which point he occupied the eleventh spot on the timesheets. Ducati Test Team rider Michele Pirro devoted his day to trying various frame configurations intended to improve corner entry and to confirming new electronic strategies. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) 8th, 1:31.661 (62 laps) “We tested a new frame today, but there isn’t really much difference so we didn’t improve a lot. We also tested a different fairing and some different settings, things we’ve already tested but this time to give feedback to Gigi [Dall’Igna]. The lap time is quite fast, but everyone was quite fast because the conditions were good. At the end it was difficult to make a lap time because the sun was very low. I’m happy about the lap time at the end but the bike is similar to during the weekend.” Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team) 11th, 1:32.114 (53 laps) “Obviously we’re just getting to grips with the Ducati, riding around doing as much as possible. We didn’t do a lot of laps, but made a lot of changes. The team’s working good, they’re listening to my comments a lot, and Gigi is here gathering information. It was a more challenging day for me today, but positive in the end. We didn’t go as fast as yesterday, but would’ve gone faster as we changed the bike really drastically at the end of the day and seemed to have found something, but it was a compromise, as I had rear grip but little front grip and crashed! I think we could’ve been in the mid-31s if we had pushed.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: World Champion Marquez fastest in Valencia Test The Repsol Honda Team were back on track in Valencia today in preparation for the 2014 season. Newly crowned World Champion, Marc Marquez, was fastest on this second day (the team did not test yesterday), with teammate Dani Pedrosa in third. HRC had two different prototypes for the riders to test side by side, one from mid-season and an evolution machine. Marc had a busy day testing, completing 77 laps in total with his fastest lap of 1’30.536 coming on lap 75. Dani also had a busy programme completing 72 laps and recording his fastest lap on lap 67 with 1’30.948. Marc Marquez, 1st, 1’30.536 “After the celebrations, we were back on the bike today and I felt comfortable from the beginning. Today’s testing was important, because we gathered a lot of data and tried out two different bikes: the prototype that we had already ridden at Misano, and a new one brought in especially for this test. They are fairly similar and we were able to make a few improvements, but we still have some changes to configure. We set good times with both bikes and were consistent with our pace. Tomorrow we will focus on just one machine and work on setting it up in more detail” Dani Pedrosa, 3rd, 1’30.948 “Today we mixed our testing between the 2013 and 2014 bikes. The track conditions were good and there was a lot of grip, so we were able to put in a lot of laps. In general it was a good day of testing and we pushed every part to the limit to try and see the pros and cons of each one. We found some references with the new bike, as there are already a few changes: For example, the ECU, which is the same for everyone. We have also worked on some other aspects of the bike and are trying to adapt to them. There is still a lot to be done and tomorrow we will continue working to carry on progressing” More, from a press release issued by Dorna: On a busy day at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia 20 riders took to the track on the second day of post-GP testing, with new World Champion Marc Marquez ending the session as the fastest rider. The Repsol Honda team had not tested on Monday, but Marquez and Dani Pedrosa both had full days on Tuesday comparing the new 2014 Honda with their existing machines and completing nearly 150 laps between them. Marquez topped the timesheet for almost the entirety of the seven hour practice, notching an early fast time and reducing it to 1’30.536 late in the afternoon on his 75th and penultimate lap. The youngest ever premier class title winner survived a remarkable moment early in the afternoon saving a crash with his left elbow and knee on turn 6. Monday’s fastest rider Jorge Lorenzo improved significantly on his best time from yesterday (1’31.257) to register a 1’30.768 fastest effort, with Tuesday’s top times comparing favorably to Sunday’s best race lap – Pedrosa’s 1’31.628. Of course this is testing, with new engines, fresh tyres available and potentially more grip on track, but Marquez and Lorenzo continue to set the standards. Pedrosa was third best overall, with his best time coming in at 0.4s off his young teammate’s pace setting marker. The top three riders all registered their sharpest times on the 2014 versions of their respective machines. LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl (+0.454) and GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista (+0.672) ensured there were four Hondas in the top five at the conclusion of the day’s activity. Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Bradley Smith had a solid end to the 2013 season and he was the second fastest Yamaha rider today, testing a 2014 M1 chassis with a 2013 engine and finishing 0.861s off Marquez. His team boss Herve Poncharal says his target in the coming year will be to match his departing colleague Cal Crutchlow’s 2013 form. Factory Yamaha Racing’s Valentino Rossi will look to improve things working with new Crew Chief Silvano Galbusera as winter testing continues, having ended the day seventh, 0.878s below the pace, not improving on his Monday time. The fastest Ducati rider on track was Andrea Dovizioso in eighth place, over a second off P1 with his new teammate Crutchlow in 11th, a further 0.3s behind – Dovizioso improving his Monday best, whilst Crutchlow was a fraction slower than yesterday. The Ducati Team will introduce their 2014 machines at Sepang in February. The performance of the new bike will also be of interest to Pramac Racing’s Andrea Iannone who was tenth best on Tuesday overall. Moto2 champion Pol Espargaro brings talent and enthusiasm to the Tech 3 project. He was delighted to try the YZR-M1 on Monday and on Tuesday he got more accustomed to the bike, improving his pace by 1.351s and getting 66 more laps under his belt. Further down the timesheet in 13th was Nicky Hayden, riding for the first time with his new team Power Electronics Aspar on the RCV1000R, lapping 2.04s off P1 pace, but 0.444s quicker than new colleague Hiroshi Aoyama went yesterday. Aleix Espargaro (15th) worked with his new team NGM Mobile Forward Racing and new teammate Colin Edwards (17th), as they both lapped just over two seconds off Marquez’ pace, a decent effort for their first day on the new Yamaha FTR package. Scott Redding’s left wrist is still healing from his devastating Australia crash and he also took heavy knocks in the pile-up in Japan, so he was only able to lap 22 times on the GO&FUN Honda Gresini RCV1000R. An additional novelty was Randy de Puniet on the PBM ART machine, also lapping 22 times towards the bottom of the timesheet in a guest appearance for the British based outfit as they look to complete their plans for 2014. Wednesday’s third and final day of testing at Valencia is another seven hour session from 10am-5pm local time. More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing: The second IRTA test day for the 2014 season took place at the ‘Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana’ under a bright sun and in temperatures of 23º C (73° F) that contributed to the success of today’s session. The engine on Andrea Iannone’s Desmosedici GP13 was started at 11:00 a.m., and the Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team rider and his team continued the scheduled work program. The track closed at 5:00 p.m., at which point Andrea had completed a total of 68 laps, setting a best lap time of 1’31.844 that put him in tenth place. Meanwhile, Yonny Hernandez started the morning with a visit to the Clinica Mobile. After taking into consideration the MRI performed yesterday on the Colombian, the medical staff confirmed the fracture previously diagnosed and excluded any other damage apart from normal inflammation of the tendon. Therefore, at 11:30 a.m., Yonny climbed aboard his Ducati and eventually set his personal best time of 1’32.800 on the 26th of his 27 laps. He and his team decided to end the day early in order to rest his hand ahead of a test to be held at Jerez November 27-29. Andrea Iannone – Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team “Today, we continued with our program. We’re basically trying some components that we already had, but with different settings, to see if anything changes, where they improve and where they’re worse. This morning with the same tyre that I used yesterday for about 18 laps, I was able to be pretty fast. I had a good feeling and I matched yesterday’s pace. It isn’t easy to improve our lap times but that’s why we’re trying different things compared to what we do during the season. I have the same bike that I used during the championship, but before lunch we tried the new fairing and tomorrow I’ll try the frame used by Dovi this year. I want to try to gather as much data as possible so that Ducati can process it in the coming months in order to go to Sepang with a bike that allows us to do something more.” Yonny Hernandez – Pramac Racing Team “This morning I went out and I was pretty good, but then my right little finger began hurting again. We still tried the soft tyre, which had given me a good feeling yesterday. During the first two laps, we improved more than with the tyre used in the last race. I think it’s interesting to understand how to work with this new soft tyre because I think we can still improve a bit. Unfortunately, I still have pain in my finger and I couldn’t do more laps. I hope to be fit for the next test so that I’ll be able to try the new electronics.” More, from a press release issued by NGM Mobile Forward Racing: Edwards and Espargaro test the Yamaha – FTR After a first day in the pits working on the Yamaha – FTR Colin Edward and Aleix Espargaro have finally tested the Yamaha – FTR early this morning. The Spanish rider was the first one to exit with the bike at 11am this morning to do the first test of the bike, he completed 18 laps and gave his first impressions of the bike. Espargaro is very happy with this first outing with the bike, he says the bike has exceeded his expectations at this early stage of its development. Colin Edwards was able to complete 34 laps of to test the Yamaha – FTR. The American rider is happy to be back on a bike with a Yamaha engine and is very positive in his first impressions of the collaboration between Yamaha and FTR. Edwards and the team know that there is a work to be done before the first race of the season in Qatar but look forward to the winter testing period. Colin Edwards – 5 “I am happy to be back on a Yamaha, it feels good, the bike is good. We are still building the bike with FTR, we have some initial comments from today: seating position, handlebar position these are some of the things that when you are building a bike you have to work on but feeling pretty good about it. The geometry of the bikes feels good, maybe a couple of tweaks here and there but I am happy with it. I definitely had issues with the electronics today, it is something that we spent all this year developing and didn’t get to use, you might ask yourself why. Obviously with Yamaha we have to take it one step at a time and they have a program that they want to put in, get some initial feedback into it, they know the bikes works good on that program, so we had to run that. I’m looking forward to getting back on the bike and keep testing.” Aleix Espargaro – 41 “I am happy; I did not expect the bike to be this good right from the start. I just did 17 laps today because we only have one bike and Colin used it in the afternoon, I will continue working tomorrow. The first impression is really good, the bike is working well, FTR did a really good job in just four weeks time so I am really happy. We have a lot to do in terms of the electronics and in other little things but it being the first day today out on the bike. To be the first day, I was able to push a few laps and it means we are doing things well.” Sergio Verbena – MotoGP Technical Director “Today we finally got the bike out on track and can say that the new project is well on its way. We focused on making verifications and checks of every single part of the bike to make sure that in terms of the engine and electronics the bike was as they should. The bike has responded really well, we still have to work on some areas and make improvements but the riders are very happy even if they were not focusing on the lap times. Both riders have very different riding styles, they have a different feeling with the way the electronics work but we are just getting started. We have to work and we have a few test before the season begins and we have to take full advantage of it to get to Qatar with the best possible performance.” More, from a press release issued by Tech 3 Racing: Smith thrilled with Yamaha upgrades in Valencia After taking a thoroughly deserved rest day at the end of an impressive but long debut MotoGP season yesterday, Bradley Smith made a brilliant return to action for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team on day two of the traditional Valencia MotoGP test in Spain earlier today. With a hectic testing schedule in front of him, Smith went quickly down to work when the track opened in perfect weather conditions at 10am this morning. The young British rider, who finished 10th in an encouraging rookie MotoGP campaign, got his first chance to evaluate a factory-spec chassis, seat unit and fuel tank package raced by Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi last season. The 22-year-old was immediately fast on the updated YZR-M1 machine and he made excellent progress in warm and sunny conditions to set a best time of 1.31.397. That secured Smith the sixth fastest time and he was just ahead of nine-times World Champion Rossi. New teammate Pol Espargaro delivered yet another eye-catching performance to follow up from his confident and assured first ride on the YZR-M1 machine yesterday. The reigning Moto2 World Champion lowered his lap time by well over a second in a 72-lap stint today and a best time of 1.31.836 was less than 0.5s behind Smith’s pace and less than a second outside of Lorenzo’s speed. Further proof of how quickly Espargaro is adapting to the new MotoGP challenge came when he was able to reduce the gap to the top of the time of the timesheets from almost two seconds yesterday to just 1.3s this afternoon. Bradley Smith 6th 1.31.397 – 78 laps: “It was definitely worth taking a rest yesterday because I had to do a lot of laps today and now my brain is full of information after a very positive day. It was important for me to ride a lot to really assess the new parts in such ideal conditions. Immediately the updates gave a great feeling. I did a few laps on the bike I raced on Sunday to start with but on my first run on the new bike I was instantly faster and felt more comfortable in the areas where I have been struggling all season. I got a lot of feedback from the bike and I was clearly faster on the harder tyre, which was not easy for me during the race weekend. My feelings with the rear improved and the bike stops better on a full fuel tank, so I am really satisfied. I am closer to the top position too, which is another big plus for me. We will try some different settings tomorrow but already this new package makes me very excited and optimistic for 2014.” Pol Espargaro 9th 1.31.836 – 72 laps: “I’m really happy with the progress we made today and enthusiastic because I thought my first impressions on the bike would be worse, as it was the case when I changed from 125cc to Moto2. Fortunately I truly enjoy riding my new Yamaha YZR-M1. I know that the difficulties of improving my lap time will start soon but I think we have done a pretty good job so far. I was 1.3s faster than yesterday and that is just one second behind Jorge, who is my reference point as fastest Yamaha. Today I started to use different Bridgestone front and rear tyres to understand the behaviour of them and I used the full carbon brakes, which are so different from what I have used before. I hope it will not rain tomorrow, as I really would like to collect some more information with the bike before going into the winter break.”