REPSOL HONDA TEAM LEAVES SEPANG WITH POSITIVE FEELINGS ANDREA DOZIOSO IS CONFIDENT WITH THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE BIKE MotoGP tests, Sepang, Malaysia February 7 2009. Day three of three Andrea Dovizioso completed the first MotoGP tests of 2009 with positive feelings. The Repsol Honda man continued his adaptation to the new bike, evaluating the chassis of his RC212V and working on machine-tyres matching in typical tropical conditions (with asphalt temperatures reaching 52°C degrees, 32°C the air temperature). The Italian rider, who last year scored his first MotoGP podium on this track, was Repsol Honda’s lone rider today. Andrea improved his race pace, cutting more than 4 tenths off his lap time from yesterday. His team-mate Dani Pedrosa ended the test session yesterday after completing the test programme with confidence and good feelings. Repsol Honda riders resume testing at Losail, Qatar in three weeks, next 1st, 2nd and 3rd of March. Andrea Dovizioso, 2:01.955 (33 of 54 laps) “We focused on bike set up and decided the way to follow concerning the chassis. We understood a lot of things during these three days and I’m very confident. We need more work to adapt the machine to the tyres, this is a very important point. Concerning the engine, my feeling is that we need a smoother power delivery. Today it was really hot and it was very demanding out there from a physical point of view, especially after a break of more than two months. I did a long run of eleven laps to understand better the machine and the tyres and collect data. All in all, we have done a very good job and everybody in the team is very motivated.” Kazuhiko Yamano – Team Manager “I’m satisfied of the work done during these three days of testing, both riders and team worked very well and we have fixed the line to follow for the season. We did an important step forward. Dani finished his programme yesterday, he understood the bike and the way to follow and Andrea concluded the job today with a long run. The motivation in the team in very high and we look forward to the next test session in Qatar at the beginning of March.” OFFICIAL LAP TIMES 1. C.Stoner (Ducati) 2:01.043 2. V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2:01.137 3. L. Capirossi (Suzuki) 2:01.262 4.C.Edwards (Yamaha Tech3 ) 2:01.413 5. T.Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini) 2:01.560 6. C. Vermeulen (Suzuki) 2:01.666 7. J. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2:01.907 8. ANDREA DOVIZIOSO (REPSOL HONDA TEAM) 2:01.955 9. M.Kallio (Pramac Ducati) 2:02.386 10. N.Hayden (Ducati) 2:02.497 11. A.De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) 2:02.523 12. S.Gibernau (Ducati guinea ecuatorial) 2:02.727 13 R.De Puniet (LCR Honda) 2:03.418 14. Yuki Takahashi (Scot honda) 2:03.474 15. N.Canepa (Pramac Ducati) 2:03.901 16. J.Toseland (Yamaha Tech 3) 2:03.953 More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: ROSSI SECOND QUICKEST AND LORENZO IMPROVES ON FINAL DAY IN SEPANG Fiat Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo rounded off the first test of the 2009 season in strong style today, with the Italian finishing second, less than one tenth off Casey Stoner. His Spanish team-mate was seventh and inside the lap record pace for the first time this week. Rossi continued to focus mainly on electronics today as he looks to fine-tune the 2009 M1 step-by-step. With the stitches in his hand and foot he decided not to attempt a long-run, but was able to improve on his time from yesterday by half a second and recorded a best lap of 2’01.137. Lorenzo had struggled to find confidence on the first two days of tests but for the first time today found his rhythm with the new Bridgestone tyres. He was delighted to complete a long-run of 22 laps and his best lap of the day, in a time of 2’01.907, was over a second quicker than yesterday. The next stop for the team is a night test at Doha in Qatar on 1st, 2nd and 3rd February. Valentino Rossi Position: 2nd Time: 2’01.137 Laps: 43 I am leaving this place feeling happy, because we’ve made a good start. Everything went well: my pain is less, the bike is good and I am feeling better and better. We finished everything we wanted to do on the bike and the setting and the rhythm is quite good. The lap time is fast so we have made a good start. We didn’t do the long run, but actually we didn’t need to. Without my injury maybe it would have been possible, but in this situation we decided to leave it. My injuries are getting better each day because they’re only cuts and they’re healing fast. I don’t think that they made much difference to my speed here and by the Qatar test I will be back in perfect shape. I did the fastest lap today with the hard Bridgestone tyre, so it means that the bike is good. For sure we need to improve some more but since this year we have less testing, this performance has been very important. The first test of the year is always difficult, even if you trained a lot in the winter, so I am happy! Qatar will be interesting, because last year we weren’t strong there, but then last year the bike was not yet ready when we went to the first race in Doha. I am really looking forward to the next text there.” Jorge Lorenzo Position: 7th Time: 2’01.907 Laps: 61 “I am very happy because today I’ve seen how fast I can ride with the Bridgestone tyres. Today has definitely been the best day for me at this opening test of the year. Also, we have been able to do a long run in hot conditions with 32 degrees (36 in the afternoon!), and I was able to finish 22 laps without stopping. I was tired when I finished but it was incredible; the rhythm was good and my best lap was right at the end, when I did a 2’01.9. This means that I have improved over a second since yesterday and we have made a big step forward. We need kilometres under our belt and we’ve got some week! All the team worked hard up until the last minute and now they will keep going so we can try to go even better in Qatar next month. We have to continue in the same way as today, improving all the time, because we don’t have that much time until the first race!” Davide Brivio Team Manager “The bike is going well and we have made a good start. We are just working hard, mainly on electronics, and the set-up process is going well. This bike was created to run with Bridgestone tyres, after the experience Valentino had with Bridgestone last year, so it should be better than the 2008 bike. Today we made a short run with both the hard and the soft tyres, in order to understand how they work. It is very important because you need to understand what tyre you need to make the best qualifying times, harder or softer. At the Qatar GP last year we had the most problems of the season, so I am looking forward to going there for the next test and seeing how much we have improved in the last year! It will be very interesting to see what level we have achieved.” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “Today Jorge made a big improvement compared to the first two days. He mainly concentrated on adapting his riding style to the Bridgestone tyres and finally found more confidence going into the turns. Then the team tried some little changes to the chassis set-up and found some improvement and Jorge did a race simulation during which he showed a very good pace. He set the best time of the simulation, a 2.01.917, on the last lap. Now we are waiting to test in Qatar where last year we had a fantastic race; hopefully we will find ourselves in good shape there again!” Test Times 1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 2’01.043 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 2’01.137 3. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2’01.262 4. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 2’01.413 5. Toni Elias (SPA) Team San Carlo 2’01.560 6. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2’01.666 7. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 2’01.907 8. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Repsol Honda 2’01.955 9. Mika Kallio (FIN) Alice Team 2’02.386 10. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team 2’02.497 11. Alex De Angelis (RSM) Team San Carlo 2’02.523 12. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Grupo Francisco Hernando 2’02.727 13. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 2’03.418 14. Yuki Takahashi (JPN) Scot Racing Team 2’03.474 15. Niccolo Canepa (ITA) Alice Team 2’03.901 16. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 2’03.953 17. Yamaha Test Rider 1 (JPN) Yamaha Factory Racing 2’04.328 18. Yamaha Test Rider 2 (JPN) Yamaha Factory Racing 2’04.614 Sepang: Record Lap Casey Stoner (Ducati) 2007, 2’02.108 Sepang: Best Lap V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2006, 2’00.605 More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Bridgestone completes successful first test of 2009 Sepang, Malaysia Official Test Thursday 5 – Saturday 7 February 2009 The first test of the 2009 MotoGP season was successfully concluded today with all 17 riders in attendance using Bridgestone tyres under the single tyre ruling that has come into effect for this season. After three days of uninterrupted running in the Malaysian heat, Ducati Team’s Casey Stoner finished fastest, followed closely by Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi and Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi. With every machine equipped with the same tyres, the top five riders were separated by just 0.5seconds. As per the new single tyre supplier regulations, Bridgestone brought two compounds of its slick tyre to the test – medium and hard. Each rider was supplied with a total of ten sets of tyres during the course of the three days, as well as an additional three tyres (one front and two rears) for Bridgestone’s testing purposes. On the opening day of the test every rider was allocated two medium sets and two hard sets of tyres. A further three sets of tyres were provided per additional day with each rider selecting his combination of compounds. The test gave Bridgestone an excellent opportunity to continue working closely with all this year’s teams and riders and also to introduce two different specifications of extra hard compound rear tyre, under development for races later in the season such as the Sachsenring and Phillip Island. Each rider was offered one of each specification, along with an additional hard compound front tyre for the testing runs, and the performance of each closely monitored. Tohru Ubukata Bridgestone Motorsport Manager Motorcycle Race Tyre Development “The test has been very successful for us as all the teamsresponded positively to the performance and durability of our tyres, and we have gathered some valuable data relating to our extra hard compound rear tyres. This will allow us to determine the best way to develop these for races later in the season. The test has also given us a lot of information that will allow us to ensure we select the correct tyre compound choices for future hot races.” Hiroshi Yamada Bridgestone Motorsport Manager Motorcycle Sport Unit “We are very pleased with the performance of our tyres following the first test of this season. Of course we have good relationships with many teams from previous years, but there are also new teams that we have recently started working with and the test has allowed us to continue to build these relationships. I’d like to thank all the teams and riders for their cooperation in this first test of the year as we look forward to the first race in Qatar. We have had very positive feedback from all the teams over the last three days and the times at the front are very close which is exciting for competition this year.” Overall top ten (all three days) Pos Rider Team Practice Time Gap 1 Casey Stoner Ducati Team 2m01.043s 2 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha 2m01.137s +0.094s 3 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki 2m01.262s +0.219s 4 Colin Edwards Tech3 Yamaha 2m01.413s +0.370s 5 Toni Elias Honda Gresini 2m01.560s +0.517s 6 Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki 2m01.666s +0.623s 7 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda 2m01.860s (Friday time) +0.817s 8 Lorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha 2m01.907s +0.864s 9 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda 2m01.955s +0.912s 10 Mikka Kallio Pramac 2m02.386s +1.343s Note: Dani Pedrosa did not participate on Saturday to rest his knee injury from last year Weather: Dry – Peak Air 32°C, Peak Track 54°C More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: FINAL DAY OF TESTING AT SEPANG TRACK FOR DE PUNIET Three days of testing at the Malaysian circuit of Sepang concluded today with Casey Stoner on the top of the standing with the best time of 2’01.043. Riders from Honda, Ducati, Yamaha and Suzuki have been putting their new bikes through their paces since Thursday before the next night test session in Qatar on the 1, 2 and 3 of March. LCR Honda MotoGP Team racer Randy De Puniet completed 50-laps today aboard the Bridgestone-shod LCR Honda RC212V 2009 spec. clocking his fastest lap time of 2’03.418 (13th position). The Frenchman proceeded with his tyres testing and setting set-up throughout the whole day thanks to the favourably warm conditions at the Malaysian track. De Puniet: 13th 2’03.418 De Puniet: “We improved the lap time but it’s not enough for me: last year I was 4th here in the same test session. There’s a lot of things to adjust but this first outing gathered us important data for next test session in Qatar. This morning we took a step forward and I knew I could improve more in the afternoon but we suffered some brake problems and we skipped the session for more than one hour. Today I feel more positive than yesterday but I need more time to adjust the bike”.