MELANDRI, HONDA FASTEST RIDER ON TRACK Marco scored the third fastest time, completing 133 laps Phillip Island (Australia), Thursday 2nd of February 2006 – After yesterday´s washout, that spoiled a whole day of work, the sunny sky and the dry track allowed a far more productive session today, third and last day of this Australian test session. Marco Melandri put the track to the most use: he completed 133 laps of the Australian circuit, signing the third fastest time of the day (1’30.60) and the fastest time among the Honda riders. Together with his team, Marco worked very hard to complete the whole schedule of work, interrupted yesterday by the rain. Toni Elias continued his adaptation to the new bike at his debut season on the RC211V. The Spaniard tried different set up solutions and completed 91 laps. MARCO MELANDRI (133 laps, 1’30″60): “Today the weather was fantastic and we worked without a break. He had a lot of work to carry out and after 133 laps I can say that I am satisfied. I found a good rhythm with race tyres and the bike worked very well. We also tested many tyres. I leave Phillip Island with optimism. I think we are working in the right direction and I look forward to the next test session.” TONI ELIAS (91 laps, 1’32″15): “I’m continuing my adaptation to new bike, Today we did a step forward, eliminating some solutions that I didn’t like and adopting some new ones. I also tested Marco’s setting. I got a good feeling and I could understand the direction in which we have to go. I still haven’t found the right set up for me and I need to improve the front feeling. I’m happy to have the opportunity to test again in Malaysia in a few days because on that track we have important reference data.” The Team Fortuna Honda will fly tomorrow back to Europe but the preparation of the coming season never stops. In eleven days a new test session is scheduled at Sepang, Malaysia. Unofficial lap times 1. Sete Gibernau (Ducati Marlboro) – 1’29.99 2. Loris Capirossi (Ducati Marlboro) – 1’30.20 3. Marco Melandri (Fortuna Honda) – 1’30.60 4. Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki Racing) – 1’30.65 5. Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda) – 1’30.95 6. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) – 1’31.10 7. Casey Stoner (LCR Honda) – 1’31.21 8. Kenny Roberts Jr (KR Honda) -1’31.64 9. Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki Racing) – 1’31.77 10. Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda) – 1’31.87 11. Toni Elias (Fortuna Honda) – 1’32.15 12. Alex Hofmann (D’Antin Ducati) – 1’32.52 13. Jose Luis Cardoso (D’Antin Ducati) More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: NAKANO CONFIDENT AFTER PHILLIP ISLAND TEST The Kawasaki Racing Team managed to complete their planned test schedule at Phillip Island, as the wet and windy weather of yesterday was replaced with almost perfect conditions for today’s third, and final, day of testing. After setting the fastest time in the wet yesterday, Shinya Nakano took advantage of today’s dry conditions to continue work on the base set-up of his all-new Ninja ZX-RR. The Japanese rider and his crew worked through a programme of rear suspension changes, which eliminated the chatter problems experienced during the first day of testing on Tuesday. Nakano also worked his way through an intense tyre-testing schedule for Bridgestone, with positive results. The Japanese tyre manufacturer supplied evaluation tyres with revised profiles and compounds for this test, designed to combat problems Nakano experienced during the race at Phillip Island three months ago. The Kawasaki rider spent the afternoon session trying different braking points and lines through the turns aboard his Ninja ZX-RR, ending the day by improving on his qualification time from the Australian Grand Prix in October. Nakano’s Kawasaki teammate, Randy de Puniet, also concentrated today on alleviating chatter from the rear of his Ninja ZX-RR, eventually finding an improvement after working through different rear suspension specifications and settings with his crew. After evaluating four new rear tyres for Bridgestone, the 24-year-old Frenchman then went on to complete a 20-lap race simulation, setting his fastest time of the test on lap 17. The Kawasaki Racing Team’s final overseas pre-season test will take place at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia, starting on Tuesday 14th February. Shinya Nakano: #56 – 1’30.59 (78 Laps) “The focus today has been on tyre testing with Bridgestone, and also continuing the work from Tuesday to find a good base setting on the new bike. I also spent a lot of time working on my riding today, trying different braking points and lines through the turns to see if I could improve on my lap time. Overall, I’m happy with what we’ve achieved here. Despite the rain yesterday we’ve managed to complete our test programme and we leave here with a good base set-up on the bike. We still have some work to do with a revised version of the new engine at the next test but, based on the two tests so far, I’m confident that we’ll arrive at Jerez for the first race with a very competitive bike in the new Ninja ZX-RR.” Randy de Puniet: #17 – 1’31.77 (100 Laps) “Overall this has been a good test for me, but I was hoping to make a bigger improvement to my lap time today. We were still struggling with chatter, although we did make some improvements towards the end of the day after working through different suspension settings on the rear of the bike. I learnt a lot during the wet testing yesterday, and my times during the race simulation today were consistent, but without the chatter problem I know I could have gone faster. We have a few days off now, but I’m looking forward to getting back on the bike in Sepang, where I’ll obviously be looking to improve on my lap time from the previous test there.” Ichiro Yoda: KHI Technical Manager “We had some chatter problems in the dry during the first day of the test, but today we found a suspension set-up for both riders that improved this situation. There is still some chatter, but it is now at an acceptable level. We also tested a number of new tyres from Bridgestone, featuring different profiles and compounds, and we discovered that some reduced the chatter, but also had reduced grip, while with others the grip was good, but they made the chatter problem worse. We also continued testing the new engine, with some changes to make the bike easier to ride, and we will continue with this direction for the next test at Sepang, where the riders have also asked for a little more top end power. Finally, we also evaluated a revised cowling on the bike, designed to increase airflow and improve cooling.” Harald Eckl: Team Manager “I’m quite satisfied with what we’ve achieved here and in Sepang, we have made a good step forward with the new bike. In the past we’ve had some tyre problems at Phillip Island, specifically with grip on the right hand side, but the new tyres that Bridgestone brought to this test work well here, and I think we can be confident in the performance when we return to Phillip Island to race. Shinya was the fastest rider in the wet yesterday, which also proves the performance of Bridgestone’s wet weather tyres. We leave here happy with the progress made with chassis and tyres. At the next Sepang test we will focus on the engine, to improve driveability and top end power, and the KHI engineers are already very busy preparing new engine components for us to test. Overall, the two tests at Sepang and Phillip Island have been very productive for us.” More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing: MotoGP test Phillip Island, Australia Final day of three-day test February2, 2006. Melandri again fastest Honda on final hard day of Phillip Island MotoGP test The final day of the three-day MotoGP pre-season test at Phillip Island was run at a frantic pace with the Honda RC211V riders present all putting in marathon sessions in a bid to make up the time lost to rain on the second day. Track conditions were not optimal following the heavy rain and the riders were confronted by slippery conditions but luckily the strong wind of yesterday had subsided. The conditions improved as the day went on with the riders laying more rubber on the racing line of the 4.448 km grand prix track. Fortuna Honda rider Marco Melandri left no stone unturned in his quest for data on the new RC211V. The young Italian covered 133 laps on the day not even stopping for lunch. Melandri is chasing a base setting for the RCV that he can work with at any circuit, tactics that served him well in 2005 on his way to runner up position in the world championship. Toni Elias was in much better form today than at previous tests. Spaniard Elias has struggled to find the optimum baseline he needs to work from but today, with a little help from Fortuna Honda team-mate Melandri he began to make positive steps towards finding the elusive base line for his RCV. Repsol Honda riders were pleased with the results delivered on the final day of the test. Nicky Hayden made progress with the chassis of his RCV and was delighted with the performance of the range of new rear tyres he was given to test by Michelin. Unfortunately Hayden crashed during the day and decided to stop at 4.00. pm having completed 95 very valuable laps. Hayden’s Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa had his best single day of testing since he moved up to the senior class of racing. Phillip Island is not a circuit at which Pedrosa has excelled in the past. In fact the young Spaniard broke both his ankles at Philip Island in 2003. Today, however, Pedrosa worked steadily all day improving the balance of the RCV and at the end of the day ran a series of fast laps that will stand him in good stead as the season wears on. Casey Stoner continues to impress aboard the LCR Honda. Testing on home ground the Australian was in buoyant mood despite a trip into the gravel trap late in the day. Konica Minolta Honda rider Makoto Tamada was more than pleased with his first three-day test session of 2006. The Japanese Star is playing catch up having missed the opening test of the season. Tamada had a poor 2005 season by his own standards but he has returned to the fray fully fit and he feels the new RCV will definitely help him redress the poor results he recorded last season. The KR211V project makes progress with every track outing and today was no exception. Kenny Roberts Jnr set consistently fast laps times with the newly modified Roberts chassis that houses the Honda engine. The modified prototype frame is a definite improvement giving Team Roberts a clear indication that they have found the direction necessary to follow if they are to be competitive in time for the opening race of the new season to be at Jerez, Spain on March 26. Honda rider lap times and quotes. Marco Melandri, Fortuna Honda: 1m 30.60s -133 laps. “We had such a lot of work to and we didn’t stop all day. Most of the time testing race tyres, Michelin didn’t have any qualifying tyres to test. I didn’t make a race simulation with tyres but we did a few long runs. We continued working in the direction we found on the first day of the test and the bike worked well. Basically we are still working on a base set up that will be good for all tracks but we still have more to do on front end.” Toni Elias, Fortuna Honda: 1. 32.15s – 91 laps. “It was hard work today but we made progress even if we did struggle with the front end feeling in the morning. We tried some settings Marco (Melandri) used and I felt a lot more comfortable on the bike after that. The lap time is not so bad and it will be interesting to see the progress we have made when we compare our results at the next Sepang test with our first test there last month.” Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 1m 30.90s – 95 laps “We needed this dry day today. Actually everything went well even the crash this afternoon. This morning we spent some time on old tyres and this afternoon I tested some new tyres for Michelin and I really like some of the rears. When I was ready to do a long run I lost the front and crashed. Nothing big, but it was a fast place to crash and we decided to stop. I’m OK, we learned some stuff and all is going well. Yesterday in the wet I also felt quite good and it’s important because it’s not a secret that last year I had some problems in the wet, so we learned some stuff in the wet yesterday.” Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 1m 31.10s – 96 laps. “We had a very good day today, with a good temperature, and we could be able to test a lot of stuff. I’m really happy because this is a circuit very difficult for me having this experience is very important for the race. The GP will be at the end of the season, so we will have also more experience with the bike. We start working a lot this morning, testing Michelin tyres, and at the end we found a good balance on the bike. I’m pretty satisfied because we could test the bike without problems and we had a good experience for the race”. Makoto Tanaka – Repsol Honda Team Manager “Today we had a perfect day for testing and I’m pretty satisfied with these three days. We have a lot of information useful for next tests and for the race. Unfortunately Nicky crashed this morning and he couldn’t do the long run and test qualification tyres, but he did a very good job. Dani keeps improving with safety steps and it’s very positive for him and for the team. This circuit is very difficult for him and he did a very good job”. Casey Stoner, LCR Honda: 1m 31.13s “I made a lot of good laps and was very consistent today. I felt very happy because I was very fast on my home track. But when I the put a new tyre unfortunately I slid off into the gravel trap. But I have to say the whole day was quite positive for us.” Makoto Tamada, Konica Minolta Honda: 1.31.82s “I’m absolutely satisfied of the job we have done today. We found the perfect conditions to test and I’m convinced we could benefit of the data we gathered today even from the next Sepang test. I made so many laps; my feeling with the bike is getting constantly better and better, even if, obviously, lots of work has still to be done before stating that we found the ideal 2006 RC211V setting. I’m convinced we are on the right way and satisfied of the top physical form I reached during this winter in Japan. I think a longer winter stop has been positive because now I feel totally regenerated.” Kenny Roberts Jnr, KR211V: 1m 31.64s Kenny Roberts Senior – KR Team Owner. “We have made some progress. The problems we had at Sepang are far less here at Phillip Island. We didn’t get as much track time as we needed because of the rain but we know what we have to do with the bike. We have problems with this prototype braking for the corners and turning in. The chassis needs to be stiffer and we are working on that for the next test, at Sepang in two-weeks. The lap time was good today, only half a second off, I think Kenny Junior was fifth fastest rider on race tyres. But we’re kind of disappointed in one way because we had hoped to get more work done. But Kenny is happy with the progress the bike has made. He was fast today. After just 15 laps he was setting good consistent lap times.” Motogp testing will resume at Sepang, Malaysia 14-15-16 Feb. More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM CONTINUES TO MAKE PROGRESS ON FINAL DAY OF AUSTRALIA TEST Sete Gibernau and Loris Capirossi confirm Desmosedici GP6’s potential on both qualifying and race tyres. Phillip Island (Australia), Thursday 2 February 2006 – The third and final day of Phillip Island testing was characterized by fine weather, enabling the MotoGP teams to complete their Australian preparations in view of the new season. On a dry but not particularly quick track (as demonstrated by the times recorded today and those in last October’s race), the two Ducati Marlboro Team riders notched up just over 885 kilometres to successfully complete the scheduled testing work. With new Bridgestone qualifying tyres, Sete Gibernau set the quickest time of the day in 1m30.06s and Loris Capirossi the second quickest time in 1m30.25s, while on race tyres the Spanish rider was second on the unofficial timesheets, and his team-mate fourth. Gibernau put in an enormous amount of laps today, 102 in total; he was satisfied with the progress made in the electronics area and with the rapport established with the Bridgestone technicians, and is now looking forward to the future with confidence. Sete Gibernau (102 laps) – best times 1m30.92 (race), 1m30.06s (qualifying) “Today was a positive day, the team is working hard and so are the guys back in the factory. We made a small step forward with the engine braking software. With Bridgestone we’re still trying to find what we need to improve and make the bike’s handling more predictable. There is still a lot of room for improvement and we will have to work hard in the next tests. I’d just like to thank everyone for the commitment and passion with which they have followed me so far: it’s a real pleasure to work in this way”. Loris Capirossi completed 97 laps of the track which included a 13-lap mini-long run. The Italian was confident that he would soon be able to count on tyres that will allow him to be even more competitive. Loris Capirossi (97 laps) – best times 1m31.07s (race), 1m30.25 (qualifying) “Today, thanks also to the favourable weather conditions, we were able to get through a lot of work and do a lot of laps. Every day that goes by I am more and more convinced of the potential of the GP6, even at this track, which is very fast and technical. I tested two chassis, one of which was stiffer than the other, and at the next tests in Sepang we will decide which one to use throughout the season. They both have pros and cons, but for the moment I prefer the less stiffer one. We have a big margin for improvement with the tyres. Bridgestone have got a lot of data to work with to make improvements in the next tests and, knowing them, I’m sure they will”. After travelling around the world and testing for the last fortnight, the entire Ducati Marlboro Team can now fly back home. The break will last just one week however as they will then return to the Far East for the final winter testing session outside of Europe at the Sepang circuit again from February 14-16. Temperature: air 26°-28° C / track 32°-43° C Unofficial times: 1. Marco Melandri (Honda), 1m30.60s; 2. Sete Gibernau (Ducati), 1m30.92s; 3. Nicky Hayden (Honda), 1m30.99s; 4. Loris Capirossi (Ducati), 1m31.07s; 5. Dani Pedrosa (Honda), 1m31.10s; 6. Casey Stoner (Honda), 1m31.13s; 7. Kenny Roberts Jr. (KR), 1m31.68s; 8. Randy De Puniet (Kawasaki), 1m31. 70s; 8. Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki), 1m31.72s; 9. Makoto Tamada (Honda), 1m31.81s; 10. Toni Elias (Honda), 1m32.14s; 11. Alex Hoffman (Ducati), 1m32.40s; 12. Jose Luis Cardoso (Ducati), 1m32.52s.