Thursday Nov 29 2007 Test Jerez – Spain – Day 3 EARLY END TO TEST FOR STONER WHO FLIES BACK TO AUSTRALIA Casey Stoner did not take part in the final day of testing at Jerez as a result of the crash yesterday afternoon in which he injured the ligaments in his left shoulder. The pain intensified during the night and Stoner, in agreement with the team, decided to return immediately to Australia for further medical checks and to begin treatment. The early return home means that Casey will not be able to attend the celebrations for Ducati’s World MotoGP title victory this weekend in Bologna, which however will go ahead as planned. “It’s never much fun when you get injured” said Stoner, “but I’d rather it happened when you’ve got a couple of months ahead of you to recover. I’m sorry to disappoint all the Ducati fans who have given me their support during the season and who had hoped to see me in Bologna on Sunday, but I am sure they would prefer to see me in perfect form again for the first tests on the Desmosedici next season. I’m sure it’ll be a great event for everyone at Ducati, they deserve it. We achieved our aim together and I am so sorry that we can’t celebrate it together. Unfortunately things are much worse than I thought yesterday after the crash, and this morning we decided that the best thing to do was to go back to Australia as soon as possible for further checks with the doctor who operated my right shoulder a couple of years ago. I’m sure he’ll get me back in shape again this time.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: MELANDRI COMPLETES 2007’S FINAL TEST SESSION AT JEREZ Today at Jerez the Ducati Marlboro Team completed the final day of the last test session of 2007. Casey Stoner, who injured his left shoulder when he fell yesterday, was unable to ride today and instead flew home to Australia. Marco Melandri did ride and worked hard throughout the day to further improve his feeling with his Desmosedici. The Italian doesn’t yet feel fully at ease on the machine but believes he has given his engineers some feedback that will enable them to make the bike feel more suitable for him when testing resumes in late January. Marco Melandri, 1m 41.619s (68 laps) “Once again, we didn’t spare ourselves today – we worked very hard until quite late. Anyway, so far I haven’t found my best riding position, so I don’t feel enough at ease to use the bike to its maximum potential. We made a lot of changes to the settings but when we made the bike behave better into the corner, it got worse on the exit, and vice versa. That’s why we didn’t do so many tyre tests, because I couldn’t get the right kind of feedback. I nevertheless think I have given my technicians some useful information which will help me to feel more in tune with the bike when we start again in January.” Today’s lap times 1. Pedrosa (Honda) 1m 38.562 2. Hayden (Honda) 1m 38.848 3. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1m 39.464 4. Dovizioso (Honda) 1m 39.747 5. Nakano (Honda) 1m 40.121 6. Edwards (Yamaha) 1m 40.184 7. De Angelis (Honda) 1m 40.185 8. Toseland (Yamaha) 1m 40.213 9. De Puniet (Honda) 1m 40.398 10. Hopkins (Kawasaki) 1m 40.984 11. Rossi (Yamaha) 1m 41.538 12. Melandri (Ducati Marlboro Team) 1m 41.619 13. Okada (Honda) 1m 41.715 14. Canepa (Ducati) 1m 41.793 15. West (Kawasaki) 1m 42.343 16. Guareschi (Ducati) 1m 42.850 17. Ito (Ducati) 1m 43.001 More, from a press release issued by Gresini Honda: NAKANO AND DE ANGELIS FINISH JEREZ TEST ON TOP OF THE RIDERS WHO USE BRIDGESTONE TYRES The final test session of 2007 drew to a close at Jerez de la Frontera, in southern Spain today after three days of intensive work yielded useful results for Gresini Honda riders ahead of the winter testing break The Gresini Honda riders made an impressive progress throughout the three days, improving both pace and lap time. Shinya Nakano and De Angelis were the fastest among the riders who use Bridgestone tyres and they finished 5th and 7yth. After a long racing season the Gresini Honda Team will now enjoy some well-earned time off over Christmas before the MotoGP winter test schedule begins again on January 22 at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia. SHINYA NAKANO (5th, 1′.40.121): “I’m very satisfied of these three days of testing, we have worked with method and the atmosphere in the garage with my new team is friendly and we are all very motivated. Today we completed the programme testing some new rear tyres and working on the clutch setting. I’m happy because we improved the race pace and I was the first among the riders who use Bridgestone tyres. After a long season, tomorrow I will fly to Japan to spend some time with my family and to relax”. ALEX DE ANGELIS (7th, 1’40.185): “I’m very happy, Today I was more confident. We tested some different electronic setting and improved a lot the feeling with the bike. In particular, we succeeded in reducing the chattering. Today we made a big step forward, I improved the rhythm lapping in low 40.9. I’m very motivated and the relation with my new mechanics helps me a lot”. LAP TIMES 1. Pedrosa (Honda) 1:38.562 2. Hayden (Honda) 1:38.848 3. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1:39.464 4. Dovizioso (Honda) 1:39.747 5. Nakano (Honda Gresini) 1:40.121 6. Edwards (Yamaha) 1:40.184 7. De Angelis (Honda Gresini) 1:40.185 8. Toseland (Yamaha) 1:40.213 9. De Puniet (Honda) 1:40.398 10. Hopkins (Kawasaki) 1:40.984 11. Rossi (Yamaha) 1:41.538 12. Melandri (Ducati) 1:41.619 13. Okada (Honda) 1:41.715 14 Canepa (Ducati) 1:41.793 15. West (Kawasaki) 1:42.343 16 Guareschi (Ducati) 1:42.850 17 Ito (Ducati) 1:43.001 More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: LORENZO IN TOP THREE ON FINAL DAY IN SPAIN 2008 Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo signed off for 2007 in impressive style in Jerez today, finishing third overall and recording a best time of 1’39.464 on qualifying tyres, just 0.062 seconds off the 2007 race pole position. Lorenzo completed 90 laps on the final day of testing in Spain, including a long run in which the MotoGP rookie recorded more impressive times. After eight days of testing since the end of the season, Lorenzo is looking increasingly comfortable on his new bike and he was also able to complete some tyre testing today with Michelin, finding some good rear-tyre rubber. Lorenzo’s 2008 team-mate Valentino Rossi was 11th today after stopping early due to some pain in his recovering hand, the Italian recording a best time of 1’41.538, whilst Dani Pedrosa was fastest with a lap of 1’38.562. The Fiat Yamaha Team will now enjoy a month-long winter break, before getting back to work at Sepang in Malaysia on 22nd, 23rd and 24th January 2007. Jorge Lorenzo (3rd, 1’39.464, 90 laps) “Today I felt even better than yesterday and I did a very good test session. Yesterday I had some pain because of the number of laps I had done the day before, but today I was fully recovered and everything went well. I felt very comfortable with the M1 and during the race simulation I had very positive impressions. The lap times are becoming faster and faster, and this means that we are working in the right direction. The traction on the rear is improving, thanks also to the new material from Michelin, so I am satisfied. Actually I didn’t expect to be so fast in the race simulation; I went beyond my expectations. At the end of the third day we can say that this has been a very good test session and my overall feeling is, of course, better than after the Sepang test. We still have a lot of work to do, but the atmosphere inside the garage is concentrated, relaxed and very professional, so I am sure we will achieve our goals before the season starts. I am looking forward to being in Sepang, in January, to test new engine specifications and to try to be even faster.” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “Today was a positive day. We continued to improve the set-up of Jorge’s bike and we found a good basis to work from. We also tested new tyres from Michelin and we found some good material, above all for the rear, that accepted the torque of the engine well and had good grip. Jorge keeps on improving his feeling with the bike and now we can say that he finally feels comfortable with it. Today we completed a long run that was definitely positive, especially since it’s the first one for Jorge riding the M1. He was very fast, even faster than the 2007 race pace. Finally he tested two qualifying tyres that enabled him to lower his best time by one second, and we consider this to be a very good result. I would like to thank the rider, who rode a huge amount of laps, and the team, who performed a great job throughout the entire test session. Now let’s take some well-deserved rest and then we will meet again in Sepang in January, to start the new challenge.” Masahiko Nakajima Fiat Yamaha Team Director “Today Jorge rode 90 laps, so first of all I would like to say that the amount of laps he did in three days has been very impressive, with an average of about 80 laps per day! There’s no need to say that we are very happy with his attitude in all the tests held so far. At the end of this test session, Jorge is third overall and this is quite impressive for us. It means we are on the way to achieving the final goal, which is to adapt the bike to his riding style. Jorge showed us his talent and potential, and demonstrated that he has the ability to give us very good data and information to help in the work for next season. We are still on the way to defining the base set-up of his bike, but it is quite evident that his riding is becoming closer to that of the other MotoGP top riders. He is braking better and has better and better corner speed, and we have not found the final set-up yet! Now we know how to improve his bike further; we know the right direction and now we need to analyze the data we collected here in Jerez and then fix the final set-up at the next Sepang test in January”. Lap Times 1. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1’38.562 2. Nicky Hayden (Honda) 1’38.848 3. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1’39.464 4. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) 1.39.747 5. Shinya Nakano (Honda) 1’40.121 6. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 1’40.184 7. Alex de Angelis (Honda) 1’40.185 8. James Toseland (Yamaha) 1’40.213 9. Randy de Puniet (Honda) 1’40.398 10. John Hopkins (Kawasaki) 1’40.984 11. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1’41.538 12. Marco Melandri (Ducati) 1’41.619 13. Tadayuki Okada (Honda) 1’41.715 14. Nicolo Canepa (Ducati) 1’41.793 15. Anthony West (Kawasaki) 1’42.343 16. Vittoriano Guareschi (Ducati) 1.42.850 17. Shinichi Ito (Bridgestone) 1’43.001 More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: ROSSI HAPPY WITH FIRST BRIDGESTONE TEST IN SPAIN Valentino Rossi rounded off his testing activity a little early in Jerez today after he began to feel an increased level of pain in his recovering right hand, which he broke at the final race of the season. Nonetheless the Italian managed to complete almost his entire schedule of testing activity and his first test on Bridgestone tyres was deemed to be a positive one by Yamaha and Bridgestone engineers alike. Rossi had planned to complete a long run today but decided to stop early rather than put more stress on his hand, and he also decided not to test any more qualifying tyres following his work on soft rubber yesterday. With most of the rest of the riders choosing to test qualifiers however, Rossi’s best lap on race tyres, a time of 1’41.538, put him 11th in the final standings, with the time sheets topped by Dani Pedrosa after a lap of 1’38.562. Rossi’s 2008 team-mate Jorge Lorenzo finished 3rd today, with a best time of 1’39.464. The Fiat Yamaha Team will now enjoy a well-earned winter break, reconvening at Sepang in Malaysia for the first test of 2008 on 22nd, 23rd and 24th January 2008. Valentino Rossi (11th, 1’41.538, 32 laps) “Today I tried to do my best but I wasn’t able to ride fast due to my hand; it started hurting a lot today and I had no power to ride with it in such conditions. The fracture is still hurting and furthermore I have not ridden or trained for almost one month, so it is to be expected that today my hand would be tired. I knew I was not in perfect shape, and I also expected to have some problems at this first test back. Anyway, we were able to finish our programme and despite today I think it’s been a positive first test with Bridgestone. Of course we still have work to do on the bike in general and with regards to adapting it to the new tyres but I can reconfirm my first feeling of two days ago, which was positive. Now we have a better idea where we need to work hard in order to improve further. I would like to take this chance to say a big thank you to all my team, my mechanics and to all the Yamaha staff for their great effort throughout the season. I know that I will find them again at the beginning of 2008 with the same motivation, if not even more than ever. Thanks to everyone!” Davide Brivio Team Manager “Today we decided to finish early because Valentino was not able to ride at 100% due to pain in his hand. Anyway, it is quite normal, since he had a bad crash in Valencia and he has not ridden since. It is not a big problem for us because we were able to finish our working schedule and test program, so we preferred to stop the test early in order not to put unnecessary stress on his hand. It’s been a very interesting test session here in Jerez; we had the chance to meet all the Bridgestone engineers and technicians who will work with us next season and we got very interesting information from them and from the new tyres. In return we were also able to give them important information to work on, and now we need to analyze all the data and work hard on it during the winter in order to be as ready as possible in January. Now Valentino and the team have some holiday time, which they deserve because they have worked hard all year, then we will be back at Sepang in January for the final preparation before the 2008 championship” Masahiko Nakajima Fiat Yamaha Team Director “Today Valentino’s physical condition did not allow him to ride as much or to be as fast as he wanted, so we decided to finish the session early. We expected this, because he rode quite hard for three days and we knew that he was not at 100%. This test session in Jerez has been very positive for us, for the team and for the rider, mainly because we have understood the performance of the new Bridgestone tyres. This test was enough to collect good data for the future that will also help us with the direction of our development for the next season. I do not want to go into details at this stage, because it is too early to do so at the very first test with Bridgestone, but let me say that this has been a very good test. As far as the bike is concerned, here in Jerez we tested some new improvements to our electronic control system and in this field too we collected some very interesting data. Now we will be able to implement this information at the first 2008 test”. Lap Times 1. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1’38.562 2. Nicky Hayden (Honda) 1’38.848 3. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1’39.464 4. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) 1.39.747 5. Shinya Nakano (Honda) 1’40.121 6. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 1’40.184 7. Alex de Angelis (Honda) 1’40.185 8. James Toseland (Yamaha) 1’40.213 9. Randy de Puniet (Honda) 1’40.398 10. John Hopkins (Kawasaki) 1’40.984 11. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1’41.538 12. Marco Melandri (Ducati) 1’41.619 13. Tadayuki Okada (Honda) 1’41.715 14. Nicolo Canepa (Ducati) 1’41.793 15. Anthony West (Kawasaki) 1’42.343 16. Vittoriano Guareschi (Ducati) 1.42.850 17. Shinichi Ito (Bridgestone) 1’43.001 More, from a press release issued by Honda: Repsol Honda riders top time sheet on final day of Jerez test The long arduous 2007 MotoGP season finally came to an end as the teams and riders completed the three-day test at the 4.428 km Jerez circuit in Southern Spain. Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden were the only two men to break into the 1m 38s bracket during the test with Pedrosa posting a fastest lap at 1m 38.562s with Hayden less than three-tenths of a second adrift. Pedrosa time almost a full second faster than his pole position lap for the GP at Jerez in March. Both riders rode the 2008 prototype RC212V 800cc four-stroke V-4 working to establish base line settings for engine electronics, chassis and suspension settings for characteristics of the new machine they will race in the 18-round 2008 MotoGP world championship. The initial impression gained by Hayden and Pedrosa about machine development has been positive with steady progress achieved with engine and chassis over the three days at Jerez. But as they head home for the winter break in buoyant mood both men know there is much hard work ahead before they are ready to race. JiR Scot Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso set fourth fastest time on his 2007 RC212V on what the young Italian MotoGP debutant described as. “A perfect day.” Dovizioso has improved every time he has taken the RCV out on track. His step by step analytical approach to testing has delivered a rich font of knowledge in a very short time. Randy De Puniet is another Honda man to impress in close season testing but he ended the Jerez test on a low note crashing the LCR Honda twice while struggling with traction problems. The team tried a range of tyre suspension combinations but was not comfortable with the results. Gresini Honda riders Shinya Nakano and Alex De Angelis have joined the team for the 2008 season and have both benefited from the three-day test. Nakano set fifth fastest time today as he completed his test programme, he is regaining confidence and his feeling for the Bridgestone tyres he will use next season. De Angelis is another 2008 MotoGP debutant who has found the move from the 250cc class to MotoGP not as daunting as first feared. Working with the experienced Gresini technicians Italian De Angelis has quickly adapted to the awesome power of the big four-stroke steadily improving his lap times as he learned more about RCV. The Honda teams and riders will now take a well earned winter break before testing resumes on January 22 at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia. Honda rider quotes and lap times. Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 1m 39.562s 72 laps.”Today we focused on tyre testing for Michelin and after three days I think we’ve learned some useful lessons for the winter. The HRC engineers have a lot of data to work with and can now prepare the machine for the next test sessions at the end of January. I think that we have quite a lot more work to do because we’re still some way from where we’d like to be, but the signs are quite encouraging. We have some time before the beginning of the 2008 season and there is plenty of scope for more improvements, so I hope we will use the time well. I have asked HRC for some similar things that I asked for in Valencia – plus many of the things from Valencia have been improved for this test. Now that there is some time we must focus on the areas that have not yet been improved. Today we only worked on tyre testing with the 2007 machine because we have the most reference data for this. We’ve got through a lot of work and this has been a profitable final test of the year.” Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 1m 38.848s 82 laps “Again it’s been positive today. We spent a big part of the day on the new RC212V and tried the machine with qualifying tyres for the first time. The lap time I did was pretty good and I really didn’t expect to go that much faster than race tyres, so I’m pretty happy. I also did a long run and, although that wasn’t on my favourite tyre, Michelin got some useful information from the run. We also found some good tyres over the three days of the test so it was positive on that front. The one slightly frustrating thing was that I rode the new machine for entire test except for the last hour today and I immediately went faster by about four tenths faster on race tyres which means we’ve got a bit of talking to do. There are still a few issues to iron out with the new engine but Honda knows how to make engines so I’m confident about it. Plus the chassis on this new machine is really good and a big improvement. I guess you could say it’s been a bad year, but it’s certainly not a bad life and so we’ll come back give it everything next season. A big thanks to all the team, sponsors and everyone who’s given me support this year. I’m really excited about coming back in good shape for when things fire up again in Qatar for the night race.” Shinya Nakano, Gresini Honda: 1m 40.121s 68 laps. “I’m very satisfied of these three days of testing, we have worked with method and the atmosphere in the garage with my new team is friendly and we are all very motivated. Today we completed the programme testing some new rear tyres and working on the clutch setting. I’m happy because we improved the race pace and I was the first among the riders who use Bridgestone tyres. After a long season, tomorrow I will fly to Japan to spend some time with my family and to relax”. Alex De Angelis, Gresini Honda: 1m 40.185s 58 laps. “I’m very happy, Today I was more confident. We tested some different electronic setting and improved a lot the feeling with the bike. In particular, we succeeded in reducing the chattering. Today we made a big step forward, I improved the rhythm lapping in low 40.9. I’m very motivated and the relation with my new mechanics helps me a lot”. Randy De Puniet, LCR Honda: 1m 40.398s 62 laps. “I am not very satisfied today. I crashed twice but fortunately I was unhurt. We still have the same rear traction problems and the bike is not rideable enough for me. We made many different adjustments with suspensions and tried different tyres solutions with Michelin but I do not feel comfortable yet. When I came out today I pushed a bit more on qualifiers and crashed because the rear was not stable. Overall these three days have been useful for me to understand this bike and the atmosphere inside the garage is good but there’s plenty of work still to do in the next tests”. Andrea Dovizioso, JiR Scot Honda: 1m 39.747s 59 laps. “Today was very good a perfect day! We improved by around one second on race tyres and my feeling on the bike has improved a lot by changing some key settings. My lap time of 1m 40.3 on race tyres I’m very happy with in fact I’m happy about this whole test. The main reason is that I don’t really like this circuit too much especially for testing so this is a good sign. I can go to the holidays happy that we have improved the bike. We have made it a little better stability-wise under braking, but we can still improve. The front-end stability in fast corners has been getting better and better today with the changes we’ve made.” More, from a press release issued by JiR Team Scot: JiR Team Scot and Dovizioso wrap-up the 2007 winter tests at Jerez JiR Team Scot and rider Andrea Dovizioso completed their successful 2007 winter test program with more progress at the Spanish circuit of Jerez today. The 21 year-old Italian improved once more on both race and qualifying tyres and declared today the ‘perfect end’ to his 2007 test schedule. The 2004 125cc champion improved his times on both race and qualifying rubber around the 2.748 mile (4.423km) track as he made setting changes to the chassis of his RC212V Honda as he becomes more accustomed to the four-stroke. He finished fourth overall in today’s times. The test ban now comes into effect between December 1st and January 20th after which Andrea will return to Sepang in time to try his new 2008 RC212V that he will campaign throughout the 2008 MotoGP season. Gianluca Montiron Team Director, JiR Team Scot “I am very happy. This has been once more a very positive test. We saw that Andrea was quick in Sepang and now at Jerez a track that he admits he doesn’t like so much! I think this shows the capability and potential that Andrea has in the MotoGP class. We are not putting too much pressure on him, as this is a new beginning for him and a big change. He has to understand the four-stroke and this takes time. We have a full diary of winter tests next year for him to make this transition so now we can all enjoy the winter break and look forward to Andrea riding the new bike in the New Year at Sepang. Hopefully we can carry on this positive beginning into the 2008 part of the winter test schedule.” Andrea Dovizioso Rider, JiR Team Scot MotoGP – Best time: 1′ 39.747″, total laps: 69 “Today was very good a perfect day! We improved by around one second on race tyres and my feeling on the bike has improved a lot by changing some key settings. My lap time of 1m 40.3 on race tyres I’m very happy with in fact I’m happy about this whole test. The main reason is that I don’t really like this circuit too much especially for testing so this is a good sign. I can go to the holidays happy that we have improved the bike. We have made it a little better stability-wise under braking, but we can still improve. The front-end stability in fast corners has been getting better and better today with the changes we’ve made.” Gianni Berti – Technical Coordinator, JiR Team Scot MotoGP “Today mainly was again a day for us to do more tyre testing for Michelin and then we began to make some chassis setting changes on the RC212V. These were small adjustments and from these changes we made some more improvements from our previous settings and Andrea did get more feeling from the bike as well as getting to ride the circuit better too. Thanks to this he improved his time both on race tyres from yesterday and qualifying tyres. Like yesterday Andrea found the qualifying tyre difficult to get used to, but he improved once more, so that is good. We have seen that he has made steps forward in all areas and this makes the last three days a very positive test for us. This test has also been good for Andrea’s confidence with the new four-stroke bike and the last few days has also helped the team improve. We will now enjoy the winter break and come back ready to make more step-by-step improvements before the first race of the season.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Bridgestone MotoGP: Post-Season Testing Debrief Q+A with Hiroshi Yamada – Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager Motorcycle Sport Unit Thursday 29 November 2007 The final test session of 2007 drew to a close at the Circuito de Jerez in southern Spain today after three days of intensive work yielded useful results for Bridgestone ahead of the winter testing break. Many riders have been busy acquainting themselves with new teams, new machinery and, in some cases, new rubber in preparation for next season with notable changes to the line-up of riders using Bridgestone tyres. Marco Melandri has joined Stoner at Ducati Corse, John Hopkins has moved to the Kawasaki Racing Team to partner Anthony West, Loris Capirossi has joined Chris Vermeulen at Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, Sylvain Guintoli and Toni Elias will be team-mates at Pramac d’Antin (to be known as the Alice Team), while Shinya Nakano and Alex de Angelis have joined forces at Honda Gresini. Bridgestone has also started working with the Fiat Yamaha Team for the first time this week, supplying tyres for its rider Valentino Rossi, in anticipation of a new technical collaboration in 2008. Keeping a watchful eye from Japan, Manager of Bridgestone’s Motorcycle Sport Unit, Hiroshi Yamada reviews the most recent test activities. Mr. Yamada, what is Bridgestone’s approach to post-season winter testing? “As usual the post-season tests are all about teams working with new bikes, often with new riders and occasionally new tyres. We have to structure our testing programme to allow new riders sufficient time to adapt to new surroundings, while at the same time giving our existing riders development items to carry out with old and new machines. This year, we have seen a real combination of movements within the paddock. On the one hand, we have riders, like Casey Stoner and Chris Vermeulen, who continue in the same team on the same tyres, but the other extreme is when riders move to a new bike-tyre combination, for example Alex de Angelis. We also welcome back Shinya Nakano to the Bridgestone family as he joins De Angelis at Honda Gresini.” How have you approached testing for riders that have never used Bridgestone tyres before? “We have two existing teams who welcome new riders with no previous experience of Bridgestone tyres; Honda Gresini with De Angelis and the Pramac d’Antin team with Sylvain Guintoli. Both have tested recently, Alex also this week in Jerez, and they seem to have adapted quickly to new circumstances. We have additionally started to work with the Yamaha factory team and Valentino Rossi, a new manufacturer and rider for us in MotoGP, so we have had a lot of important groundwork to cover in these last three days, the results of which have been promising.” How has Bridgestone started its work with Yamaha and Rossi? “We started to gather data related to the performance of the Bridgestone tyres together with the Yamaha machine and rider. In this way, we start to create an accurate baseline from which we can best understand the direction we need to develop the tyres in accordance with our 2008 development strategy. At the same time, the team looks at how the set-up of the bike changes using Bridgestone tyres. So far, after these three days, we are happy with the test results and have obtained very useful data although Valentino is still recovering from his recent injuries. The addition of a fifth manufacturer to our team line-up will certainly give our technical centre in Japan an extra challenge over the coming winter months, as we look at the same time to further enhance the tyre performance with our existing five teams.” What progress has been made at testing in Jerez this week? “Ducati, Kawasaki, Honda Gresini and Yamaha have all tested our tyres this weekwith encouraging results. The Spanish weather has given us valuable track time, although track temperatures were quite cool, especially in the morning. The opening day was focused mainly on the teams setting up their bikes for this Jerez track, but the final two days have allowed us to carry out development work on new constructions, shapes and compounds in preparation for next season. It is a real pleasure to work with the six teams and eleven riders that we expect to form the Bridgestone line-up in 2008, not forgetting the tremendous efforts of the Ducati test team and the test riders who play such an integral part in our tyre development.” What expectations do you have for 2008? “Although there are several weeks of testing break, I can assure all of our teams that we will keep pushing back at the factory in Japan over the winter. Once testing resumes at the end of January next year, the 2008 model bikes will have been further developed based on these recent tests and we will have to fine-tune our tyres to create the most competitive overall package with each of our teams. It will be a lot of work for the teams and for us but we are certainly up for the challenge.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: KAWASAKI CONCLUDES 2007 AFTER THREE DAYS AT JEREZ On-track MotoGP activity ended for 2007 today after the final test of the year drew to a close at Jerez. The Kawasaki Racing Team have been using the time at the Spanish track to test new parts and a variety of Bridgestone tyres whilst working to improve the overall package of the 800cc Ninja ZX-RR. Newcomer to the team, John Hopkins, has been giving plenty of feedback to his engineers and is making steady progress at perfecting the bike for his requirements. A new frame, clutch parts and engine components are amongst numerous changes which have assisted the 24-year-old in his task and he’s already feeling at home. Anthony West, similarly, has been using his first ever winter test season to really get to grips with the bike he first rode, mid season, earlier this year. Like Hopkins, he has been involved in an effort to improve corner stability in addition to trying out numerous settings and parts on his machine. Lap times have not been a concern for either rider as the objective at present is to ensure both bikes are working at the highest possible level and in such a way so that both Hopkins and West can take full advantage of them. Overall, the team are feeling hugely positive after their time at Jerez, and Valencia and Phillip Island before that, and are more than satisfied they are moving in the right direction. Enormous amounts of data have been collected and, along with the responses of riders and engineers, the feedback will head to Kawasaki in Japan for analysis and action during December’s test ban period. As the team depart Spain for the winter break, Hopkins is looking forward to his imminent marriage to his fiancee, Ashleigh, whilst West has a punishing fitness schedule lined up. They will be back in action at Sepang in late January 2008, ready to continue their preparations for next season. Anthony West Kawasaki MotoGP Pilot #13 “While the lap times haven’t been what I was hoping for, we’ve covered a lot of ground during the three days here at Jerez. We’ve tried a whole range of different settings, switching from one extreme to the other, to give us a better understanding of the effect these changes have on the bike. The result is that both my new crew chief, Juan Martinez, and myself will head to the next test in Sepang with a much better understanding of how the bike works and what combination of settings best suits my riding style. From here I go to Munich to have a plate and four screws removed from my left wrist, after which I’ll head back home to Australia for Christmas. After a hectic second half to the season I was intending to chill out for a while when I got home, but if I’ve learnt one thing this year it’s that you have to be fit to ride in MotoGP, so the plan now is to work on my fitness over the testing ban, with a few hundred laps on the motocross bike.” Michael Bartholemy Kawasaki Competition Manager “We finish the season happy with what we’ve achieved since the Valencia race. The new team members have been integrated into our existing structure with no problems, and already we’re starting to see the benefits of their experience. We’re also benefiting from the arrival of John Hopkins. His feedback has been extremely accurate and we now have a clear direction for our development engineers. That he’s jumped on our Ninja ZX-RR and declared the bike only in need of some refinement, and no fundamental changes, means that Kawasaki’s race engineers will be able to focus completely on addressing the areas for improvement that he’s identified. The work that John has done over the last month will also pay dividends for Anthony, as he prepares for his first full winter test schedule aboard our MotoGP machine. Everyone in the team has shown outstanding commitment this year, and I hope that the six week break will provide them with an opportunity to recharge their batteries and come back next season more committed than ever. To everyone involved with the Kawasaki Racing Team this year, I’d like to say a big thank you.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: REPSOL HONDA RIDERS FINISH JEREZ TEST ON TOP The Repsol Honda pairing of Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden finished the final MotoGP test of the year in first and second positions as the Spanish sun finally faded on the 2007 season. Both riders improved their lap times again today and, with the latest Michelin qualifying tyres fitted, were well inside the pole position time set by Dani Pedrosa at the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez in March. Pedrosa rode exclusively on the 2007 RC212V as he conducted a full day’s tyre testing for Michelin. The 22-year-old Spaniard completed 72 laps gathering comparison data which the French manufacturer will use for development purposes during the winter break. The culmination of Pedrosa’s tyre test was two hot laps on qualifiers with which he set the two fastest times of the day, the fastest one a scorcher that stopped the clock at 1m 38.582s. Nicky Hayden also had a profitable final day and he too impressed on qualifiers, setting a time of 1m 38.848s on the 2008 RC212V, which was the quickest lap achieved on the new machine over the three-day test. The 2006 World Champion also completed a long run of 24 laps in order to test the durability of Michelin’s latest batch of race rubber. Hayden then clocked some quick laps with a final run on the 2007 machine and finished the test in positive mood as he heads home to America for the winter break. After a long 2007 season the Repsol Honda Team will now enjoy some well-earned time off over Christmas before the MotoGP winter test schedule begins again on January 22 at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia. Dani Pedrosa Fastest lap: 1m 39.562s 72 laps “Today we focused on tyre testing for Michelin and after three days I think we’ve learned some useful lessons for the winter. The HRC engineers have a lot of data to work with and can now prepare the machine for the next test sessions at the end of January. I think that we have quite a lot more work to do because we’re still some way from where we’d like to be, but the signs are quite encouraging. We have some time before the beginning of the 2008 season and there is plenty of scope for more improvements, so I hope we will use the time well. I have asked HRC for some similar things that I asked for in Valencia – plus many of the things from Valencia have been improved for this test. Now that there is some time we must focus on the areas that have not yet been improved. Today we only worked on tyre testing with the 2007 machine because we have the most reference data for this. We’ve got through a lot of work and this has been a profitable final test of the year.” Nicky Hayden Fastest lap: 1m 38.848s 82 laps “Again it’s been positive today. We spent a big part of the day on the new RC212V and tried the mahcine with qualifying tyres for the first time. The lap time I did was pretty good and I really didn’t expect to go that much faster than race tyres, so I’m pretty happy. I also did a long run and, although that wasn’t on my favourite tyre, Michelin got some useful information from the run. We also found some good tyres over the three days of the test so it was positive on that front. The one slightly frustrating thing was that I rode the new machine for entire test except for the last hour today and I immediately went faster by about four tenths faster on race tyres which means we’ve got a bit of talking to do. There are still a few issues to iron out with the new engine but Honda knows how to make engines so I’m confident about it. Plus the chassis on this new machine is really good and a big improvement. I guess you could say it’s been a bad year, but it’s certainly not a bad life and so we’ll come back give it everything next season. A big thanks to all the team, sponsors and everyone who’s given me support this year. I’m really excited about coming back in good shape for when things fire up again in Qatar for the night race.”