RAIN DISRUPTS PHILLIP ISLAND TEST Shinya Nakano and Randy de Puniet were limited to finding a good wet set-up on the new Ninja ZX-RR today, as rain disrupted the Kawasaki Racing Team’s second day of testing at the Phillip Island circuit. Nakano started the day with full wet tyres front and rear on his Ninja ZX-RR, using this morning’s session to get a feeling for the new bike in the difficult conditions. The Japanese rider worked with his crew to refine the wet set-up on the bike, making changes to the engine management system to improve traction and control around the slippery Phillip Island circuit. Conditions improved slightly during the afternoon, with dry patches appearing in places on the track, prompting Nakano to switch to a rear tyre with a lighter tread cut than the full wet rear tyre he used throughout the morning. For de Puniet, today provided him with his first opportunity to test the new Ninja ZX-RR in full wet conditions. The 24-year-old Frenchman concentrated this morning on finding a useable wet set-up, but he was forced to switch to his spare bike in the afternoon, after crashing without injury at the ultra-fast turn one. Having identified a set-up he was satisfied with, de Puniet continued testing after the crash, setting consistently fast lap times during the still wet afternoon session. The Kawasaki Racing Team will return to Phillip Island tomorrow for the third, and final, day of testing at the Australian circuit. Shinya Nakano: #56 – 1’42.6 (27 Laps) “It has rained all day today, so we’ve been restricted in what we could do in terms of testing. This morning, with the track completely wet, I did some laps to get a feeling for the new bike on wet weather tyres. We then made some small changes to the engine management system, with positive results. In the afternoon the track conditions were less consistent, and we were able to test a new rear tyre from Bridgestone. This tyre had a lighter tread cut than the full wet tyres, and it worked very well in the mixed conditions we had in the afternoon. I didn’t complete so many laps today, but we did end the day with a wet set-up on the new bike that I’m happy with, so it was a worthwhile test for me.” Randy de Puniet: #17 – 1’43.3 (49 Laps) “The conditions were good for me today, as the rain allowed me to complete my first real wet test aboard the new Ninja ZX-RR. Through the morning we worked to find a good wet set-up on the bike, making some changes to the power delivery and throttle response to suit my riding style. Unfortunately the morning ended with a crash; I got on the gas too hard on a new tyre and went down in turn one. In the afternoon we found a good solution with the set-up and I was able to put in some consistent lap times in the difficult conditions. We’re hoping for dry weather tomorrow, as we need to do some work on the set-up of the bike to eliminate the chatter we suffered on Monday, and we also have a lot of new tyres to test for Bridgestone.” Naoya Kaneko: Technical Manager “We were hoping for dry conditions today, as Bridgestone have a lot of new tyres for us to test here at Phillip Island. Unfortunately it rained all day, but at least it gave the riders a chance to work on finding a good wet set-up on the new bike. The track conditions were fairly consistent earlier in the day and that allowed us to look more closely at traction control settings in the wet, which is sometimes difficult to do during a race weekend because of the time constraints. Hopefully the weather will improve tomorrow, so that we can get on with the job of tyre testing with Bridgestone.” More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Honda: THE RAIN SPOILS THE SECOND DAY OF TESTING AT PHILLIP ISLAND. Phillip Island (Australia), Wednesday, 1st of February 2006 – A heavy rain spoiled the testing schedule of the Fortuna Honda Team during the second day of testing on the Australian track. Marco Melandri made only 19 laps. He went on track to check the feeling of the bike on wet conditions. He found immediately a good feeling and was satisfied of the sensations on the new RC211V with rain tyres. Positive day for Toni Elias that profited of the heavy rain to test the Rc211V on wet conditions. He found himself comfortable and his feeling with the bike improved lap by lap. According to the weather forecast, tomorrow the weather should improve in the afternoon. All MotoGP squads gathered at Phillip Island hope in good weather to carry on their work programme. MARCO MELANDRI (19 laps, 1’42″63 ): “It rained the whole day so I went on track just to get the feeling of the bike on wet conditions. The bike worked very well and I gathered positive information. I hope that tomorrow the weather improves so that we can carry on our work schedule.” TONI ELIAS ( 45 laps, 1’42″96 ): “I would have preferred to test on dry conditions because we still have a lot of work to do. Anyway, the rain gave me the opportunity to test my RC211V on wet. I’m happy because I found myself comfortable with the bike and my feeling improved lap by lap. It was a very useful testing day.” More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Information: Rainy day at Phillip Island MotoGP test The second day of the MotoGP test at Phillip Island, Australia hampered the progress made by the MotoGP teams on the opening day of the three-day test at the 4.448 km GP circuit. The rain restricted the teams and riders to general wet weather settings in conjunction with rain tyre testing with Michelin. The more experienced MotoGP riders took to the wet track in a bid to determine how winter chassis development had improved the handling of the RCV in wet conditions. Marco Melandri (Fortuna Honda) and Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda) both found the 2006 version superior to its predecessor on a wet track. Hayden will be partnered by MotoGP debutant Dani Pedrosa for the 2006 season and as the more experienced of the two he will take the lead in pre-season testing. He was first to take to the wet track and was pleased with the performance of the new RC211V in the fast corners. Melandri believes the feed-back he gets from the new chassis in wet conditions is better and he has a much better feeling with the machine than he did with the 2005 version. The real beneficiaries of the wet conditions were two of the Honda ‘Young Guns’ Pedrosa and LCR Honda rider Casey Stoner. The two 20 year olds have come to grips with the 250 PS plus 990cc four-stroke RCV on a dry track. However, the RCV is a completely different animal in wet conditions. The smooth linear power delivery of the user-friendly engine is a bonus but on a wet track 250 PS can be more of a liability than an asset. Racing a MotoGP machine on a wet track is a wheel spinning sideways on flag to flag experience. Wet weather riding skills are vital for any rider dreaming of winning world titles and the young riders need all the wet track time they can get in before the season begins on March 26. Despite a brief wet session at Sepang last week Pedrosa and Stoner both fell at Phillip Island today. Spaniard Pedrosa lasting 11 laps before crashing exiting turn one Stoner a few laps later at Lucky Heights. Both riders escaped unscathed and both continued testing. Konica Minolta Honda rider Makoto Tamada was quite satisfied with his day, despite the ever-changing track conditions. The popular Japanese rider retained the good feeling he had with his RCV on the opening day of the test, his first of the new season. Kenny Roberts Jnr did not test the prototype KR211V on the wet track top. Team Roberts preferring to prepare the machine for the final day of testing when they will use an updated chassis. Honda rider lap times and quotes. Marco Melandri, Fortuna Honda: 1m 42.60s – 19 laps. “I did two sessions in the wet today and managed 19 laps. I wanted to test on wet tyres with the new bike. The feeling was good but we didn’t have new wets to test so we stopped early. I hear it will be wet tomorrow morning but dry after lunch so we will continue our dry test when the rain stops.” Toni Elias, Fortuna Honda: 1m 42.96s – 45 laps. “I’m very happy. I already tried the bike in the wet at Sepang but it was quite slippery then. I have a better feeling with the bike in the wet here at Phillip Island. I am quite satisfied with the sensations I feel from the bike.” Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 1m 42.62s – 47 laps. “We haven’t made too much changes on the bike today, we’ve tested just general suspensions and settings for the wet allowed the bike to be better on the fast corners. These laps in wet are useful, for sure, but would be nice tomorrow get a dry day because we have some work to do. Basically we felt well with the rain all the day, I just try to get some settings on the rain, with the set up I used last year with the wet. The sensations have been good, even we don’t have a lot of wet tyres, but to make laps is good to get comfortable”. Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda: 1m44.87s – 32 laps. “Today it has been raining all day. We started calm at the beginning and I felt pretty good when suddenly I crash at the exit of the first corner. Fortunately I’m OK. We could start again, and I didn’t make so many laps, but al least we could improve and get experience with the crash and rain setting. Our lap time isn’t really fast, but it’s quite good for today after the crash and with just 32 laps. Tomorrow if it rains we’ll concentrate to get a better feeling and lap time on the bike.” Makoto Tanaka – Repsol Honda Team Manager “Dani crashed today at the middle of the session, but fortunately he didn’t hurt himself. With MotoGP machine, with much power, it’s difficult to control the bike in wet conditions and Dani has no experience yet. But for him today has been a good experience. I hope a dry day for tomorrow to keep working with the RC211V. Nicky did a good job today also; the last two years he didn’t like wet condition, but now he feels more and more comfortable with the rain.” Casey Stoner, LCR Honda: “I need to get in as many laps as possible to learn all I can about the RCV but with it raining the whole day we didn’t get too much done. Still we got to try a couple of Michelin wet tyres and learned a little. Then I crashed at Lucky Heights. I’m OK and will test again tomorrow.” Makoto Tamada, Konica Minolta Honda: 1m 43.74s – 15 laps. “I really get bored today, as most of the other riders present in Phillip Island, waiting for the rain stopping to fall. When I decided to make some laps the flooding level of the track seemed to be stabilized. Half an hour later, rain had decreased, and I decided to stop. It had no sense to continue, the never-ending change of the track conditions did not allow me to have a valid reference to elaborate any comments for my technicians. Anyway, I’m really satisfied because I have found the same good feeling of yesterday when I rode the new RC211V for the first time.” Kenny Roberts Jnr, KR. Did not test. More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: RAIN BRINGS A HALT TO SECOND DAY OF TESTING AT PHILLIP ISLAND. The Ducati Marlboro Team riders spent most of the day in the pit garage due to heavy rain at the Australian circuit. Final day of testing tomorrow. Phillip Island (Australia), Wednesday 1 February 2006 – Heavy rain fell on the second day of testing at the Phillip Island circuit today, seriously hampering track activities for the MotoGP riders. Loris Capirossi only completed ten laps of the island circuit, taking advantage of a gap between the rain showers to make a couple of runs, one with standard tyres and the other with a new type of tyre brought by Bridgestone. He was still lapping out on a drying track when a further downpour forced him back into the garage. Sete Gibernau, on the other hand, preferred not to take any risks on the wet track and remained in his pit garage all day. The weather forecast for the final day of testing tomorrow does not look particularly promising, but the Ducati Marlboro Team riders and engineers are hoping that they will be able to get some dry track time to continue development work on the Desmosedici GP6.