VERY POSITIVE START FOR MELANDRI AND ELIAS AT PHILLIP ISLAND The second three-day Motogp test session of the 2007 began well for the Honda Gresini riders at Phillip Island, a very technical and complete track that represents a real challenge both for bikes and riders. Very good start for Marco Melandri, who, for the first time, started to test the bike that he will use during the 2007 season. Marco found a good feeling with the bike and finished with the second fastest time, the fastest among the Honda riders. His team mate Toni Elias is also improving. The first day of testing, on a track that is complicated and difficult for the Spaniard, was good. MARCO MELANDRI (67 laps,1.30.75): “I’m very happy of this first day of testing. Today we focused on chassis and suspensions in order to create a base. We found the line quite soon starting from the setting of the last test in Malaysia. I have a good feeling with the front and I like the bike. We also worked on the electronic of the engine. Unfortunately, because of the rain, we couldn’t start working with Bridgestone, so we will focus more tomorrow on tyre testing. I feel very well and during this week I trained a lot with my bicycle here in Phillip Island, despite the cold temperatures and the heavy wind”. TONI ELIAS (76 laps, 1.32.0): “We still have a lot of work to do but I’m confident because we are improving and we keep on working with calm and method. I need to improve my feeling with the front, we are working on it. As for the tyres, Bridgestone is doing a great job. We haven’t at the moment the right tyre for my riding style but the tyre technicians have promised me that they will bring starting from the test in Qatar or, at latest, in Jerez. I’m confident, we are not too far from where we should be. Moreover, Phillip Island has always been a demanding track for me”. UNOFFICIAL LAP TIMES 1. Alex Barros D’Antin Ducati 1’30.60 2. Marco Melandri Gresini Honda 1’30.75 3. Loris Capirossi Ducati Marlboro Team 1’30.78 4. Nicky Hayden Repsol Honda Team 1’31.18 5. Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 1’31.29 6. Casey Stoner Ducati Marlboro Team 1’31.40 7. Alex Hofmann D’Antin Ducati 1’31.50 8. Carlos Checa LCR Honda 1’31.80 9. John Hopkins Rizla Suzuki 1’31.80 10. Kenny Roberts Jr Team Roberts Honda 1’31.90 11. Toni Elias Gresini Honda 1’32.00 12. Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki 1’32.00 13. Shinya Nakano Konica Minolta Honda 1’32.23 More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: POSITIVE PERFORMANCE BY THE DUCATI GP7 ON THE DIFFICULT PHILLIP ISLAND CIRCUIT A three-day test for Ducati at the Phillip Island circuit got underway today. The excellent work carried out by the Ducati Marlboro Team in the recent tests at Sepang allowed Loris Capirossi to rapidly find a good set-up on his Desmosedici GP7 and he ended the day just a few tenths of a second off the circuit record. The first day of testing on his home circuit for Casey Stoner was also positive. As well as starting the schedule for the three days, the young Australian has also completely resolved the problems with his forearms that had conditioned his testing in Malaysia and was able to put in a total of 60 laps before the session was cut short by rain. The early ideal conditions (sunny, 24°C) gradually gave way to strong winds and then rain at around 4pm in the afternoon. The forecasts however are positive for tomorrow and especially for Thursday’s final day. Loris Capirossi (46 laps, best time 1m30.78s): “I am satisfied, today we worked well and completed the entire schedule for today. The settings we found at Sepang allowed us to start from a good base which proved to be valid also for this track and the bike went well right from the early laps, even though we still have margin for improvement. As we are already at a good point with the set-up, tomorrow we’ll start working on the tyres seeing as today we only used 2006-spec rubber. I am feeling really confident and pleased with the way the bike’s development is going”. Casey Stoner (60 laps, best time 1m31.44s): “It’s great to be at home and feel good on the bike: the problems with my arms that I had at Sepang have completely cleared up and today I was able to concentrate on the bike. We are mainly working on the rear set-up to improve stability coming out of corners and we have a few things to try tomorrow when we start using the new tyres. Today I did 60 laps and I would have continued had it not started to rain. Let’s hope that the weather is good tomorrow because I’m anxious to continue working with the Desmosedici”. Phillip Island lap record: Marco Melandri (Honda) 2005, 1m30.332s Phillip Island pole record: Nicky Hayden (Honda) 2006, 1m29.020s Temperature: air 24° / track from 20° to 30°C Unofficial times, Tuesday 30 January: Barros (Ducati) 1m30.60s (51 laps) Melandri (Honda) 1m30.70s (67) Capirossi (Ducati) 1m30.78s (46) Hayden (Honda) 1m31.18s (45) Pedrosa (Honda) 1m31.29s (78) Stoner (Ducati) 1m31.44s (60) Hofmann (Ducati) 1m31.55s (74) Hopkins (Suzuki) 1m31.80s (55) Checa (Honda) 1m31.80s (-) Roberts Jr. (KR) 1m31.90s (80) Elias 1m32.00s (Honda) (-) Vermeulen (Suzuki) 1m32.00s (54) Nakano (Honda) 1m32.23s (48) More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Barros tops the timesheets at second MotoGP test of 2007 MotoGP Testing Day 1/3 – Phillip Island, Australia – Tuesday 30th January Only ten days after the lifting of the six-week testing ban, the majority of the MotoGP teams are already well underway with their 2007 preseason preparations. After last week’s near full house of premier class outfits testing at the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia, the 800cc machines were put through their paces once again at Australia’s Phillip Island Circuit. On the first of three days of intensive testing ‘down under’, absentees from the proceedings were the Yamaha factory and Tech 3 teams, including Rossi, Edwards, Tamada and Guintoli, and Kawasaki’s French duo of de Puniet and Jacque. Also electing to skip the Antipodean date were the Ilmor team, who tested this weekend in Almeria with rider Andrew Pitt. One only had to look at the timesheets from day one to note the competitiveness of the new 800cc bikes, with the fastest three riders almost inseparable. Echoing his speedy performance last week at Sepang, Alex Barros topped the standings on the Pramac d’Antin Desmosedici GP7. The Brazilian put in a time of 1’30.60 at the Australian track, traditionally a strong circuit for Ducati. Only a tenth of a second slower, the Italian duo of Gresini Honda’s Marco Melandri and Ducati Marlboro’s Loris Capirossi were hot on Barros’ tail, completing an all-Bridgestone top three. Pramac d’Antin and Gresini Honda switch tyre manufacturers this season, whilst the official Ducati team have a long-standing partnership with Bridgestone. Reigning premier class World Champion Nicky Hayden continued to put miles on the clock of the Honda RC212V, focusing his day’s work mainly on bike settings. As always, the ‘Kentucky Kid’ put in the hard graft despite some discomfort after his shoulder operation, with his 81 laps the highest number undertaken by any rider on day one. He was just ahead of team-mate Dani Pedrosa on the timesheets, with Ducati factory and satellite riders Casey Stoner and Alex Hofmann completing a top seven all within a second of Barros’ fastest lap. For the first time in pre-season Rizla Suzuki dropped down the standings, but this at a circuit they have had problems with in the past. The team had been leading the way during last week’s Malaysian visit, but ninth-placed John Hopkins was their fastest rider on day one in Australia, just behind Carlos Checa and ahead of Kenny Roberts Jr. All riders were able to go about their business relatively untroubled by the weather in the morning session, although the sky clouded over in the early afternoon and the arrival of rain at 4pm drew the day’s events to a slightly early conclusion. The teams will be back on track tomorrow for the second of three days at Phillip Island. Phillip Island MotoGP Test: Day One Unofficial Times 1. Alex Barros – Pramac d’Antin Ducati-1’30.60s 2. Marco Melandri – Gresini Honda 1’30.70s 3. Loris Capirossi – Ducati Marlboro Team 1’30.70 4. Nicky Hayden – Repsol Honda Team 1’31.18 5. Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda 1’31.29 6. Casey Stoner – Ducati Marlboro Team 1’31.40 7. Alex Hofmann – D’Antin Ducati 1’31.50 8. Carlos Checa – LCR Honda 1’31.80 9. John Hopkins – Rizla Suzuki 1’31.80 10. Kenny Roberts Jr – Team Roberts Honda 1’31.90 11. Toni Elias – Gresini Honda 1’32.00 12. Chris Vermeulen – Rizla Suzuki 1’32.00 13. Shinya Nakano – Konica Minolta Honda 1’32.23 More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing: MotoGP test Phillip Island, Australia. Opening day of three-day test January 30, 2007. Honda riders in confident mood on opening day of Phillip Island MotoGP test The second three-day MotoGP test of 2007 got underway at the superb Phillip Island grand prix circuit in Australia today with the Honda RC212V riders prominent on the rain curtailed first of the scheduled three-days. The fast and flowing Australian track is a much different proposition for the Honda riders than the Sepang circuit, Malaysia venue for the previous test, and they were eager to get to grips with the 4.448 km island venue as they strive to set up their RC212V 800cc four-cylinder machines for the track following a positive test in Malaysia. The Repsol Honda Team made a good start to the three-day test with both riders improving on the lap-times they set in the race here in September. Reigning MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden got good feed back from the chosen chassis settings and the range of Michelin tyres he tried today in a bid to confirm the consistency of performance after successful tyre tests at Sepang, Malaysia last week. Hayden, 25 from Owensboro Kentucky, confirmed the rapid progress of the RC212V on its first outing at the Australian track by setting a time of 1m 31.18s.This was 0.25s faster than his 2006 best race lap of 1m 31.42s. Pedrosa was also quickly up to speed, the 21-year-old Spaniard shaving 0.14s from his fastest race lap to set a time of 1m 31.29s today. The riders calling it a day when the rain arrived at 15.00. Gresini Honda rider Marco Melandri put in a fine days work. The Italian tested the machine he will use in the championship for the first time and was the fastest RCV rider at Phillip Island today. Melandri quickly established a good base line setting before testing tyres for Michelin and working on the engine electronic mapping. The five-times MotoGP race winner, who won the 2006 Australian GP at Phillip Island set a lap time of 1m 30.75s, well inside his fastest lap of 1m 31.363s on the way to victory last October. Melandri’s team-mate, Spaniard Toni Elias chose the calm methodical approach to his day in pursuit of improved front end feed back. Elias also worked hard with the Bridgestone engineers trying to establish exactly which type of tyres the Spaniard needs to suit his riding style aboard the RC212V. Carlos Checa spent the majority of his rain-curtailed day chasing improved chassis settings for his LCR Honda before moving on to testing front tyres for Michelin. At the end of the day the Spaniard was, ‘reasonably pleased with the way things were going.’ Team Roberts spent the day going through the basic chassis set-up of the KR212V for the Phillip Island track, working especially on front geometry and linkage options. The team ran both bikes today, which is something they were not able to do in Sepang because they only had enough of certain parts to run one bike in Malaysia. They will continue set-up work tomorrow before starting tyre testing with Michelin in the afternoon, weather permitting. Konica Minolta rider Shinya Nakano was forced to call a halt to his days work at 14.30. The popular Japanese rider was laid low by a fever and stomach pains. While he was running Nakano tested variations to the geometry of his RCV in a bid to find better feed back from the front wheel. The team also experimented with the electronic engine mapping of the RCV Honda rider quotes and lap times. Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 1m 31.18s – 81 laps. “We got in a pretty full day of testing today, working mainly on settings and trying to improve the bike geometry-wise. We were also confirming some of the things I liked from the test in Malaysia last week and checking they work on a totally different track under totally different conditions. The new 800cc bike is pretty fun to ride here – in a few of these corners you carry some serious speed. We realise we’ve got some work still to do but the bike feels a bit better here. We were cut short by the rain but we dodged a bullet because it looked like it could have rained a lot earlier. And we got a lot of data today for the boys to analyse – so we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.” Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 1m 31.29s – 78 laps. “We had a good first day here with this bike and the first impression is good. The day started sunny so we were able to complete plenty of laps, although it clouded over and the rain stopped us towards the end of the afternoon. The track here is very different to Sepang so we were able compare the things we found at the test last week and also work on the set-up for here because lap-time is shorter and the circuit is more flowing – it’s less of a power circuit. Today was useful and hopefully the weather will be good for the next two days.” Marco Melandri, Gresini Honda: 1m.30.75s – 67 laps. “I’m very happy of this first day of testing. Today we focused on chassis and suspensions in order to create a base. We found the line quite soon starting from the setting of the last test in Malaysia. I have a good feeling with the front and I like the bike. We also worked on the electronic of the engine. Unfortunately, because of the rain, we couldn’t start working with Bridgestone, so we will focus more tomorrow on tyre testing. I feel very well and during this week I trained a lot with my bicycle here in Phillip Island, despite the cold temperatures and the heavy wind.” Toni Elias, Gresini Honda: 1m 32.0s – 76 laps. “We still have a lot of work to do but I’m confident because we are improving and we keep on working with calm and method. I need to improve my feeling with the front, we are working on it. As for the tyres, Bridgestone is doing a great job. We haven’t at the moment the right tyre for my riding style but the tyre technicians have promised me that they will bring starting from the test in Qatar or, at latest, in Jerez. I’m confident, we are not too far from where we should be. Moreover, Phillip Island has always been a demanding track for me.” Carlos Checa, LCR Honda: 1m 31.80s – 73 laps. “Basically today we’ve been adjusting the chassis and suspension settings for this track. We also started some front tyre testing with Michelin but that was cut short by the rain so we’ll continue it tomorrow. This is a completely different track to Sepang last week and the conditions are very different too so we’re getting used to this and trying to understand the best way to go faster safely. From today we have made some plans for the next two days. It’s the normal testing procedure and we’re reasonably please about how it’s going. I think we have plenty of potential we just have to discover the best ways to unlock it, and that’s what we started here today.” Kenny Roberts Jnr, KR212V: 1m 31.90s. “We made quite a big step by changing the machine after lunch. We kinda put it upside down to try to get the suspension working better with the bike and we’re starting to get on our way now. The changes from the last day in Malaysia seemed to carry over to here in terms of stability, though the way in which the bike goes into the corners and through the middle of the corners needs to be improved. We used standard Michelins all day and we have few more things to try tomorrow morning then we’ll get into some tyre testing. We’re looking ok – there’s nothing too dramatic we need to concentrate on – just getting the bike a little bit better.” Shinya Nakano, Konica Minolta Honda: 1m 32.23s – 48 laps. “I started to run a slight fever the night before the test and also began to get a little bit of a stomach ache. Unfortunately both of these symptoms carried on through to today and worsened. Because of my condition, it was decided with the team to reduce our programme of testing for the day and let me recover and aim to be in much better health for tomorrow. I think this was best choice as we tested up to 2.30pm in afternoon just 30 minutes before the rain hit, so hopefully we’ve not lost much time. I’m going to rest now for the rest of the day and hopefully I’ll be much better by tomorrow.” Unofficial lap times. 1. Alex Barros, D’Antin Ducati 1m 30.60s 2. Marco Melandri, Gresini Honda: 1m 30.75s. 3. Loris Capirossi, Ducati: 1m 30.78s. 4. Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 1m 31.18s. 5. Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 1m 31.29s. 6. Casey Stoner, Ducati: 1m 31.40s. 7. Alex Hofmann, D’Antin Ducati: 1m 31.50s. 8. Carlos Checa, LCR Honda: 1m 31.80s. 9. John Hopkins, Rizla Suzuki: 1m 31.80s. 10. Kenny Roberts Jnr, KR212V: 1m 31.90s. 11. Toni Elias, Gresini Honda: 1m 32.00s. 12. Chris Vermeulen, Rizla Suzuki: 1m 32.00s. 13. Shinya Nakano, Konica Minolta Honda: 1m 32.23s.