Monday Apr 23 2007 Testing session after Turkish GP STONER AND CAPIROSSI BACK ON TRACK AFTER SUNDAY PODIUM CELEBRATIONS Just a few hours after the podium celebrations of the Grand Prix of Turkey, Casey Stoner and Loris Capirossi were out on the track again for a supplementary one-day testing session at the Istanbul Park circuit. After the poor weather encountered in Monday testing following the first two races, the Ducati Marlboro Team riders were finally able to enjoy sunny conditions for tyre and development tests with the Ducati Desmosedici GP7, which produced promising results for both riders. Half-way through the day Stoner had a harmless crash that failed to prevent him from resuming the test almost immediately and complete the work schedule. The Ducati Marlboro Team are now preparing for the next flyaway event in this year’s calendar, round 4 in Shanghai (China) on May 6. Casey Stoner (41 laps) Best lap on race tyres: 1m53.54s Best lap on qualifying tyres: 1m53.34s “It was hard to get out of bed this morning after yesterday’s race, but I knew I had to do some work because I want to do the same in China! We did some tyre testing on race and qualifying, and found some good solutions for both. We also worked on engine mapping and managed to get through a lot of work because we had good weather in the post-race test sessions for the first time. The only thing that went wrong was that I had a stupid crash. I was on my exit lap, I wasn’t pushing hard and I crashed in a slow corner. It wasn’t a big crash but I got a knock on the head which I’m sure will make me go quicker in China!” Loris Capirossi (51 laps) Best lap on race tyres: 1m54.04s Best lap on qualifying tyres: 1m53.61s “Today was a positive test session, with ideal weather conditions which were very similar to yesterday’s. We were hampered by a few minor technical problems, especially electronic, but I’d rather they happened today than yesterday! I tested a different front fork and liked it and I’ll probably try it again in China. We also tested some rear race tyres. Here they went really well, but in any case we found something that goes even better! I also tried some new qualifying tyres and they seemed to work better than the ones we had on Saturday. At this point I can’t wait to get back on the track at Shanghai!” Unofficial best lap time Vermeulen 1’53.1 Barros 1’53.2 Stoner 1’53.3 Elias 1’53.3 Melandri 1’53.4 Hopkins 1’53.5 Capirossi 1’53.6 De Puniet 1’53.6 Hayden 1’53.8 Rossi 1’54.0 Hoffmann 1’54.2 More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: Event: Istanbul Test Date: Monday, 23rd April 2007 Ambient temperature: 24 degrees C Track temperature: 40 degrees C Humidity: 14% BUSY DAY’S TESTING FOR ROSSI AT ISTANBUL PARK Valentino Rossi was back in the saddle in Turkey today, keen to erase the memory of a disappointing Turkish Grand Prix with an afternoon of hard work on his Yamaha YZR-M1. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards was forced to sit out today’s test and rest his swollen knee, which he hit hard when he was knocked off during the first lap of yesterday’s race. Rossi completed 66 laps and spent the entire time working on tyres with Michelin, both in order to gather more information about the tyre problem which forced him into tenth place yesterday and with a view to gathering information for the next race. Rossi’s best lap of the day was a 1’54.0 on race tyres, which put him 12th in the order according to the unofficial lap times. The MotoGP paddock now has a week’s rest before reconvening in Shanghai for the Grand Prix of China. Fiat Yamaha Team Davide Brivio Team Director “Today we decided it was better if Colin rested because he had some pain and a lot of swelling in his knee following yesterday’s unlucky crash. It’s not a serious injury but together we agreed it would be better for him to stay off the bike and save himself for China. As a result Valentino had a lot of work to do because he had to take on some of Colin’s workload. We tried some things in order to gather information to help Michelin to understand what happened yesterday, and then tested many tyres in order to find a way forward for China. We learnt a lot and we think we’ve found a good direction for the next race. Now Yamaha and Michelin will work on this information together and hopefully we can have a better race in Shanghai.” Test Times 1. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’53.1 2. Alex Barros (BRA) Pramac d’Antin 1’53.2 3. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda Gresini 1’53.3 4. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 1’53.3 5. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda Gresini 1’53.4 6. John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’53.5 7. Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda LCR 1’53.6 8. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team 1’53.6 9. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team 1’53.6 10. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team 1’53.8 11. Kenny Roberts Jr (USA) Team Roberts 1’53.9 12. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1’54.0 13. Alex Hofmann (GER) Pramac d’Antin 1’54.2 14. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 1’54.5 Istanbul: Lap Record D. Pedrosa (Honda) 2006, 1’59.318 Istanbul: Best Lap S. Gibernau (Honda) 2005, 1’52.334