Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has completed the first day of a two-day night-time test held under the floodlights at Losail International Circuit in Qatar. Loris Capirossi recorded a best time of 1’57.100 from his 40 laps of the Losail track to give him 11th place overall. He worked through only a small amount of his scheduled test programme today because, unfortunately for Capirossi and the whole team, he had to finish the session early due to sickness. Alvaro Bautista (P17, 1’57.960, 56 laps), used the first day to acclimatise himself to riding a MotoGP bike at the 5,380m Qatari track under the strange atmosphere of artificial lighting. He started to find a rhythm with his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R as the test rolled on and is sure he can improve dramatically tomorrow. The cooler track conditions were exactly what the team wanted this evening, as it gave them a chance to evaluate the steps that have been taken this winter to improve the performance of the GSV-R in changeable conditions. Rizla Suzuki has one final day at Qatar on Friday, which will then signal the end of pre-season testing for the MotoGP class, before the season begins also at Qatar early next month. Loris Capirossi: “I think that the bike is a bit better compared to last year’s, but I didn’t make many laps today because I don’t feel so good. This will now make tomorrow very important because we have some big things to try and some other bits to fix. I am really optimistic and think that the new bike is a step in the right direction and we have an opportunity to make an improved performance in the championship.” Alvaro Bautista: “The first day here has not had the same feel for me as I had on the last day in Sepang, this is because it is a new track for me on a MotoGP bike with new reference points and I don’t feel 100% yet. The problem I have is in the exit of corners, I can keep a good line and go out through them, but it is difficult to get it right every time and enjoy it. We’ve tried different solutions, but I don’t have a good feeling. We decided to stop a bit early because it has been a long day and my body is not feeling the changes we are making to the bike. Tomorrow we have another day and I hope to be 100% and to enjoy riding the bike and to go much better.” Qatar Test Day One Classification: 1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1’55.836: 2. Casey Stoner (Ducati) +0.316: 3. Ben Spies (Yamaha) +0.552: 4. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +1.139: 5. Randy de Puniet (Honda) +1.185: 11. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.698: 17. ALVARO BAUTISTA (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +2558: More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Ben Spies and Colin Edwards light up Qatar night test Monster Yamaha Tech 3 duo Ben Spies and Colin Edwards produced dazzling performances under the Losail International Circuit floodlights in Qatar tonight. Spies was in sparkling form to post a best time of 1.55.954 that secured him a stunning third place on the timesheets. Earlier on a balmy night in Doha, Spies had topped the timesheets for a brief period in the six-hour session that ran from 6pm to midnight. What made the reigning World Superbike champion’s performance even more remarkable was he’d never ridden under the floodlights at the Losail International Circuit before. Yet Spies finished just over 0.2s behind circuit specialist and triple Qatar race winner C asey Stoner with Valentino Rossi once again quickest on his factory Yamaha YZR-M1 machine. The 25-year-old was forced to finish early after a crash at the second corner in the final hour while using a hard compound Bridgestone front tyre. But he declared himself delighted with progress in his 44-lap stint. Fellow Texan Colin Edwards was equally impressive in fourth position after he posted a best time of 1.57.541 in a 59-lap stint. Edwards continued to fine-tune the race-set-up of his YZR-M1 machine, working on Yamaha’s new swingarm and Bridgestone’s new hard compound front tyre. Ben Spies 3rd 1.55.954 44 laps “I know this track from last year but riding under the floodlights is definitely a bit different and nothing I’ve experienced before. The perception of speed is much faster with it being at night but I’m having a lot of fun. It’s really well lit up but there are a couple of darker spots on the track that you have to get used to but I’ve not done too bad in adjusting to the lights. I know the track but any track I go to on a MotoGP bike makes it definitely different because of the lines you take. Some of the lines I’d take on the superbike just don’t work but I felt like it was coming together good and following a couple of people it felt like I was doing more of the right things than I was in Malaysia. Obviously it is great for me to be high up the timesheets but I’m still taking baby steps to improve and not getting carried away. The crash was nothing too serious. I was running the hard front and I wasn’t getting a good feeling from it. We changed the pressure to try and help for my second run but I just lost the front at the second corner. But to be third is fantastic for my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3. They have been giving me great support.” Colin Edwards 4th 1.56.541 59 laps “It was a good night. It didn’t start off too great and it took me a while to get into the groove. We played around with the set-up using some of the new parts I’d liked in Sepang and also running some of last year’s pieces to get some good information. The lap time was about the same so around this track the new parts aren’t making the difference like they did in Malaysia. I did a long run on the hard front and I like it. I did race distance on it and it felt really good. I ended up doing 27-laps on it, which is five more than race distance, and it still felt really good. I’m getting the feedback I need at full lean angle and it holds the turn much better.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing Team: PENULTIMATE DAY OF WINTER TESTING CONCLUDED IN QATAR Good day of work at the Losail International Circuit in Doha, Qatar. Pramac Racing riders Mika Kallio and Aleix Espargarò are highly concentrated in finding the best set up possible of their Ducati Desmosedici Sat. The Finn has finished with the ninth best time while the Catalan rider managed to improve constantly concluding in sixteenth position. Tomorrow’s final day of testing is for sure a good opportunity for the white and green duo to find the best technical compromise for the opening race of the 2010 MotoGP World Championship which will be held at the Losail International Circuit on April 11th. Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing rider – 9th in 1’56.923 “We can feel satisfied with the work done today. Our lap times are very similar to those recorded last year and this gives us great confidence, as tomorrow we will have other hours to improve. For my opinion on this track I can ride my Ducati very well. I feel that we can improve and tomorrow we will do everything to find the best technical compromise.” Aleix Espargarò – Pramac Racing rider – 16th in 1’57.897 “In the first day of each test I always have some difficulties but I think is normal as this is my first year in MotoGP. Maybe I go on track too aggressive and I need to relax a bit. However in the final stage of this day I found a good set-up on my Ducati that allowed me to improve. Not enough, that’s clear: tomorrow we will have to take a major step forward.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: FINAL MOTOGP TEST BEGINS FOR REPSOL HONDA TEAM The final round of MotoGP testing ahead of the 2010 season commenced today under floodlights at the Losail International Circuit near Doha, the capital city of Qatar. The Repsol Honda Team was back in action at the venue which will host Round One of the World Championship in a little over three weeks’ time, with riders Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso running through a series of tests in preparation for the night race here on Sunday 11 April. As the sun set over the desert circuit, the factory Honda riders ventured out on track shortly after the pit-lane opened at 6pm to begin their first evening’s work. Dovizioso and his crew evaluated a series of settings adjustments to the new-for-2010 Honda RC212V including an updated swingarm and an altered riding position. He finished the day with a best lap time of 1m 56.811s which put the Italian in 6th place. After a steady start, Pedrosa made progress through the evening as he and his team continued their work in pursuit of the optimum settings for suspension and chassis. The Spaniard tested modified chassis components and reported an improvement during the six-hour test period, with further progress expected tomorrow. He finished the day in 10th place just a quarter of a second behind his team-mate with a best lap of 1m 57.047s. The Repsol Honda Team will complete another evening at Losail tomorrow, which will mark the end of winter testing and the beginning of the build-up for the eagerly anticipated first race of the season. Official lap times 1. Valentino Rossi 1:55.402 2. Casey Stoner 1:55.717 3. Ben Spies 1:55.954 4. Colin Edwards 1:56.540 5. Randy De Puniet 1:56.588 6. Andrea Dovizioso 1:56.811 7. Jorge Lorenzo 1:56.838 8. Nicky Hayden 1:56.855 9. Mika Kallio 1:56.923 10. Dani Pedrosa 1:57.047 11. Loris Capirossi 1:57.099 12. Marco Melandri 1:57.605 13. Hector Barbera 1:57.822 14. Hiro Aoyama 1:57.888 15. Marco Simoncelli 1:57.891 16. Aleix Espargaro 1:57.898 17. Alvaro Bautista 1:57.960 ANDREA DOVIZIOSO Best lap 1m 56.811s 65 laps “I’m quite satisfied because I could lap consistently tonight – which gives us a good base for tomorrow, when the target for us will be to lap in the low 1m 56s. Today we changed my riding position a little bit and the feeling was very good. We also tested a different swing arm which allows us to use some different set-up options. Compared to the Sepang test I’m more satisfied with where we are and we could lap well in the first part of the session, although after 10pm the grip changed each time we went out on track. We didn’t reach our full potential today, so I think that tomorrow we can improve further.” DANI PEDROSA Best lap 1m 57.047s 60 laps “We made some progress today and moved forward from where we were at the last test in Malaysia – this is positive. I’m confident that tomorrow we can take some further steps and get closer to the front, and we’ll be working hard to make sure that happens. Our issues are still with making the rear suspension work well for us and also with the bike feeling quite nervous under acceleration and going into the corners. So these are the areas we’ll be thinking about overnight and focusing on tomorrow. We’ve got one testing session to go so we’ll be looking to make the most of it.” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: SECOND AND EIGHTH FASTEST TIMES FOR STONER AND HAYDEN ON OPENING NIGHT OF QATAR TEST Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden ended the first of two nights of testing in Qatar with the second and eighth fastest times respectively, the Ducati Marlboro Team riders working throughout a sticky evening to get their GP10 machines to grips with a particularly slippery track surface. The high levels of humidity experienced tonight are also expected for the first race of the season, which takes place here on the 11th April. Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team) 2nd fastest: 1’55.717 (48 laps) “We tried a few different set-up solutions but the main focus tonight was the tyres. I used the same set for thirty laps and set some of my best lap times towards the end, so we are satisfied with that. We have also worked on the balance of the bike because the conditions here are very different to Malaysia and I prefer the bike to be more rigid. So far so good.” Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro Team) 8th fastest: 1’56.855 (77 laps) “Things went well for the first half of the session then we kind of got stuck. The general feeling of the bike is quite good but I would like to be a step closer to the top guys. The biggest problem is that we’re not able to get the most out of the soft tyre – we can’t seem to get it working at the right temperature so I have to keep using the harder compound. It happened in Malaysia and we’ve struggled with it again today at a circuit where the conditions are very different, so it is important we work out the reason.” Circuit Record: Casey Stoner (Ducati – 2008), 1’55.153, 168.193 Km/h Best Pole: Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha – 2008), 1’53.927, 170.003 Km/h Unofficial lap times – Thursday 18th March 1. V. Rossi (Yamaha) 1’55.402 2. C. Stoner (Ducati) 1’55.717 3. B. Spies (Yamaha) 1’55.954 4. C. Edwards (Yamaha) 1’56.540 5. R. De Puniet (Honda) 1,56.588 6. Dovizioso (Honda) 1’56.811 7. J. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1’56.838 8. N. Hayden (Honda) 1’56.855 9. M. Kallio (Ducati) 1’56.923 10. D. Pedrosa (Honda) 1’57.047 11. L. Capirossi (Suzuki) 1’57.099 12. M. Melandri (Honda) 1’57.605 13. H. Barbera (Ducati) 1’57.822 14. Y.Aoyama (Honda) 1’57.888 15. M. Simoncelli (Honda) 1’57.891 16. A. Espargaro (Ducati) 1’57898 17. A. Bautista (Suzuki) 1’57.960 More, from a press release issued by Honda: MotoGP test Losail, Qatar. Day one of two day test session. March 18, 2010. Weather: Temperature: Air 29 degrees at 18.00. 22 at 00.00, ground 30 degrees. Humidity: Maximum 83%. Randy de Puniet fastest RC212V Honda on first day of Qatar MotoGP test The final MotoGP pre-season test began tonight at the Losail circuit on the outskirts of Doha, Qatar, venue for the opening event of the 18 round 2010 world championship series, on April 11. The Qatar event is unique as it is run under a state of the art floodlighting system and the two day test will be run in accordance with the grand prix time schedule set for practice, qualifying and race. Losail has more to test the talents of the riders than the effect of the lighting system on the track surface. The 5.380km lay out features more turns than any other track on the calendar, six lefts and ten right-handers in all, and not one a chicane of any description. The top speed recorded on the 1068m front straight, 20m longer even than that of Catalunya, in 2009 under flood lights was 338.6km/h by the Repsol Honda RC212V of Dani Pedrosa. The riders and technicians have just six hours available on each of the two days to perfect each and every aspect of 2010 race machine performance before the action begins in earnest next month. Six Honda RC212V riders with upgraded parts to test. Weather conditions were close to perfect when the session opened at 18.00. but began to deteriorate as the, already high humidity, rose still further after 22.00. LCR Honda rider Randy de Puniet was not on the same pace of his fellow RCV riders at the last test session, in Sepang, Malaysia, in late February but the Frenchman was fast out of the traps at Losail tonight. Running with the same base set up the team established on the final day of the Sepang test De Puniet was able to concentrate on engine performance with new mapping options. He steadily improved while track conditions remained optimal his fastest lap at 1m 56.588s was more than a full second inside his best lap time in the 2009 GP. Repsol Honda factory team rider Andrea Dovizioso has been fast and consistent in testing this winter, the fastest RCV rider at the two test sessions before Qatar. The Italian tested a new type swinging arm before moving on to working on engine performance. Dovizioso was pleased with the results on the opening day and is confident of improvement tomorrow. Dani Pedrosa has, to date, not displayed the pace he expected aboard the latest version of the RC212V. The Spaniard has taken time to adjust to the new machine, particularly the newly adopted Ohlins suspension system. Testing a new chassis swinging arm combination Pedrosa made progress but admits there is still work to be done on stability before he can extract the full potential from the RCV. Marco Melandri, San Carlo Honda Gresini , was not unhappy at the end of the first day at Losail despite a lowly 12th fastest time. The former 250cc world champion has yet to establish a satisfactory base line chassis set up for his RCV but with De Puniet and Dovizioso setting consistently fast times he retains his positive mood. Melandris team mate, Marco Simoncelli, the second MotoGP debutant in the Honda ranks, endured a chastening experience on his last outing aboard the San Carlo liveried RCV. He was high-sided at Sepang, a crash that robbed the Italian youngster of a full day of testing leaving him with a huge work load and playing catch-up at Losail. Simoncelli concentrated on base line set up but, like Melandri, did not make the desired improvement. He did, however, improve his lap times as the evening wore on to end the opening day closer to his team mate than at previous tests. Reigning 250cc World Champion Hiro Ayoama, Interwetten Honda RC212V, a 2010 MotoGP debutant, has improved each time he tests the RCV and today the popular Japanese star ran for 75 laps setting a best time of 1m 57.88s. But at Losail Aoyama struggled to come to terms with his RCV despite putting in a marathon 75 lap stint. Honda rider quotes and lap times. Randy de Puniet, LCR Honda: 5th. 1m 56.588s – 54 laps “We started from a similar set up to the one we finished with at Sepang and tonight we worked mainly on engine mapping, engine breaking and traction control. The feeling with the bike was good from the beginning and I’m happy with this improvement. We also compared two different set up solutions and started to think about the tyre allocation for the first round.” Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda: 6th. 1m 56.811s – 62 laps “I’m quite satisfied because I could lap consistently tonight – which gives us a good base for tomorrow, when the target for us will be to lap in the low 1m 56s. Today we changed my riding position a little bit and the feeling was very good. We also tested a different swing arm which allows us to use some different set-up options. Compared to the Sepang test I’m more satisfied with where we are and we could lap well in the first part of the session, although after 10pm the grip changed each time we went out on track. We didn’t reach our full potential today, so I think that tomorrow we can improve further.” Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 11th. 1m 57.402s – 57 laps “We made some progress today and moved forward from where we were at the last test in Malaysia – this is positive. I’m confident that tomorrow we can take some further steps and get closer to the front, and well be working hard to make sure that happens. Our issues are still with making the rear suspension work well for us and also with the bike feeling quite nervous under acceleration and going into the corners. So these are the areas well be thinking about overnight and focusing on tomorrow. We’ve got one testing session to go so well be looking to make the most of it.” Marco Melandri, San Carlo Gresini Honda: 12th. 1m 57.605s – 60 laps “We changed many things but without the results we wanted, we still have to work a lot to be ready for the first race. We worked mainly on chassis set up to improve my feeling and find more stability. Tomorrow we will analyse the data gathered today and we will try different set up solutions.” Hiro Aoyama, Interwetten Honda: 14th. 1m 57.888s – 75 laps “Today we did many laps (75), so I can understand the track better. We tried to find a good set up for Qatar. I have to get used to this track. All is new for me and it is difficult here. If you lose the line of the track it can be very dangerous as it is so slippery because of the sand.” Marco Simoncelli, San Carlo Gresini Honda: 15th. 1m 57.891s – 63 laps “We worked mainly on the chassis, trying different set up solutions but without seeing any improvements. I’m happy because I could improve my lap time and reduce the gap to Melandri to 6 tenths. We still have a lot of work to do as I don’t have the feeling that Id like. Its important for me to test and do many kilometres as I couldn’t do it in Sepang.” Practice times. Pos / Rider / Team / Fastest lap / Prev. Gap / Lead. Gap / Laps 1 / Valentino Rossi / Fiat Yamaha Team / 1:55.402 / – / – / 64 2 / Casey Stoner / Ducati Marlboro Team / 1:55.717 / +0.315 / +0.315 / 48 3 / Ben Spies / Monster Yamaha Tech 3 / 1:55.954 / +0.237 / +0.552 / 44 4 / Colin Edwards / Monster Yamaha Tech 3 / 1:56.540 / +0.586 / 1.138 / 59 5 / Randy De Puniet / LCR Honda MotoGP / 1:56.588 / +0.048 / 1.186 / 54 6 / Andrea Dovizioso / Repsol Honda Team / 1:56.811 / +0.223 / 1.409 / 65 7 / Jorge Lorenzo / Fiat Yamaha Team / 1:56.838 / +0.027 / 1.436 / 45 8 / Nicky Hayden / Ducati Marlboro Team / 1:56.855 / +0.017 / 1.453 / 77 9 / Mika Kallio / Pramac Racing Team / 1:56.923 / +0.068 / 1.521 / 72 10 / Dani Pedrosa / Repsol Honda Team / 1:57.047 / +0.124 / 1.645 / 60 11 / Loris Capirossi / Rizla Suzuki MotoGP / 1:57.099 / +0.052 / 1.697 / 40 12 / Marco Melandri / San Carlo Honda Gresini / 1:57.605 / +0.506 / 2.203 / 63 13 / Hector Barbera / Aspar Team / 1:57.822 / +0.217 / 2.420 / 62 14 / Hiroshi Aoyama / Interwetten-Honda MotoGP / 1:57.888 / +0.066 / 2.486 / 75 15 / Marco Simoncelli / San Carlo Honda Gresini / 1:57.891 / +0.003 / 2.489 / More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: ROSSI CONTINUES PRE-SEASON DOMINATION AS LORENZO MAKES HIS RETURN Reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi continued his domination of the pre-season testing programme in Qatar today, finishing the opening day of the final test 0.3 seconds ahead of Casey Stoner. His team-mate Jorge Lorenzo made a welcome return from injury to finish the day a creditable seventh and with Ben Spies third and Colin Edwards fourth, it was four Yamahas in the top seven. Testing began at 6pm under the floodlights at the desert track and Rossi was in command from the word go, finding yet more improvement in the 2010 M1 at what is not generally one of his best tracks. A break for dinner saw both Stoner and Spies better his time but the Italian was determined to finish the day on top and improved again on his last run to regain first place. Lorenzo missed the last test after breaking his hand and he was unsure how much strength he would have today, but the 23-year-old Spaniard was happy to find himself in better shape than expected and he steadily improved all night. He found the hard braking areas the most difficult but he was able to ride well enough to continue with his interrupted testing regime, and he is hopeful of further improvement tomorrow. Valentino Rossi Position: 1st Time: 1’55.402 Laps: 64 “I am so happy today because this isn’t one of our best tracks and to come here and be fastest shows what a great job Yamaha has done with this new M1. To start with the track was quite slippery but anyway we were still fast, and as the track started to improve I felt better and better. We are quite competitive and this gives me a good feeling, and I was happy to make this quick lap right at the end. We still have to decide the right tyre and the best setting for it, and we will keep working on the electronics but the most important thing is that we’re faster than last year! Tomorrow we will continue with our work and try to finalise everything before the race.” Jorge Lorenzo Position: 7th Time: 1’56.838 Laps: 45 “It’s really good to be back on my bike and actually when I went out on track the first time today my hand felt better than I had expected. The pain has decreased a lot in the last few days and I’ve been doing a lot of physio to make sure I’m in the best possible shape for this test. I was able to do quite a lot of laps today and my time is not so bad in the end, it’s definitely interesting and important to be here and see our level after missing the last test. Dainese have made me a bigger glove and I have some protection on the hand; changing direction is okay, it’s just the hard braking areas where I have some problems. I need more practice but I think we have made a good start.” Test Times 1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1’55.402 2. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 1’55.717 3. Ben Spies (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’55.954 4. Colin Edwards (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’56.540 5. Randy de Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1’56.588 6. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Repsol Honda Team 1’56.811 7. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1’56.838 8. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team 1’56.855 9. Mika Kallio (FIN) Pramac Green Team 1’56.923 10. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1’57.047 11. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’57.099 12. Marco Melandri (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’57.605 13. Hector Barbera (SPA) Aspar Team 1’57.822 14. Hiroshi Aoyama (JAP) Interwetten-Honda MotoGP 1’57.888 15. Marco Simoncelli (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’57.891 16. Aleix Espargaro (SPA) Pramac Green Team 1’57.898 17. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’57.960 Losail: Record Lap C. Stoner (Ducati) 2008, 1’55.153 Losail: Best Lap J. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2008, 1’53.927