Corser and Haga complete their final preparations Private Test Session: Qatar Circuit: Losail, Doha Date: 11 – 12 February 2007 Temp: 23ºC Weather: Dry and sunny The all-new YZF-R1 was put through its final pre-season testing paces on 11 and 12 February by Yamaha Motor Italia riders Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga. The test at the Losail circuit in Qatar, venue of the first World Superbike race of the 2007 season on 24 February, was a useful exercise for both riders, as they worked through various machine set-up options and the latest suspension developments. Corser was the fastest rider on show (1’59.1) in a test where the Yamaha Motor Italia team shared track time with the official Suzuki team. Haga fell on the first day of the tests, but recovered to go third fastest, with a 1’59.9 best lap. The Japanese star set a total of 61 laps, with Corser completing 49 laps. With a limited tyre supply on hand, long runs to test tyre duration were not a priority at this test. Corser in particular worked through a list of optional settings and components to ensure ultimate competitiveness come race weekend. Troy Corser: “We did enough laps to let us try everything we needed to try and we got all the parts we asked for after the last test. It was a definite improvement. We were not so concerned with doing long runs as the tyres Pirelli sent here are not the tyres we will use for the race anyway. So there was not a lot of point doing very long runs on tyres. I was more interested in getting a feel for what we have been changing on the bikes. We just tried different things and weren’t worried about lap times. I’d say the bike feels even better than it did in our last test in Doha. The track surface can change here day to day but the track wasn’t too bad; we just needed a few more bikes going round to put more rubber down.” Noriyuki Haga: “We have already found a lot of improvements here from the last test and the new suspension is working very well. It was difficult in some ways because the tyre possibilities were limited, so we need to wait for the tyres we will get for the race weekend. But so far, so good. We are pleased to have done this test.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator – Yamaha Motor Italia): “We started this test with four completely new bikes and we had to spend some time to adjust everything on them. Noriyuki had a small crash yesterday morning so he lost a small amount of time. It went well from then on and today everything went pretty good. We didn’t do so many long runs, but Noriyuki did 12 laps on one set of tyres at the end. All in all a good test.” Circuit: Losail, Doha Circuit Length: 5.380km Race Lap Record: 2’00.061 (Noriyuki Haga, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever: 1′ 58.1 (Troy Bayliss, 2006) Temp: 23ºC Unofficial laptimes: 1. Corser Yamaha Motor Italia 1’59.1 2. Biaggi Suzuki Alstare 1’59.3 3. Haga Yamaha Motor Italia 1’59.9 4. Kagayama Suzuki Alstare 2’00.3 More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: READY! The two days of testing in Qatar finished with Troy in an upbeat mood and ready for the first race in twelve days time. Once again the main work during the two days revolved around getting the new 2007 R1 Yamaha Italia bike ready for the first race, so Troy and the team weren’t trying to chase any lap times. TROY We had a handful of things (including chassis and some engine parts) to try out from the tests at Phillip Island in January and I think we achieved what we set out to do pretty well to do, so we’re all pretty happy. Everything worked well and we’ve improved the bike. Also, the tests went well because we had no dramas or close ones, so that was pretty good. Yesterday the track was a bit dusty and slippery in the morning but it improved in the afternoon due to us all going round and around. If there had been more teams here, then I think the condition would’ve been even better and the grip would’ve improved. This afternoon it got a bit hot for a while and then the level of grip went down but, as we weren’t chasing lap times or trying any race distances, it didn’t matter really. I am happy enough with my lap times and although a little bit more time on the new bike would be good, I think we’ll be ready for the first race! I’m looking forward to it already! See ya, Troy