Fiat Yamaha Team Press Release Thursday 15th November, 2007 Sepang, Malaysia RAIN INTERRUPTS TESTING FOR FIAT YAMAHA TEAM IN SEPANG Heavy rain in Sepang drastically limited track time for the Fiat Yamaha Team today, as they began three days of testing in Malaysia alongside several other MotoGP teams. With Valentino Rossi still at home recuperating from a broken hand, it is just Jorge Lorenzo taking part in the team’s testing programme this week, the 20-year old Spaniard riding the M1 for the second time since the end of the season as he prepares to officially join the team in January. After rain early in the morning it took some time for the track to dry out and Lorenzo did not get started until just after 11am. The MotoGP rookie completed 26 laps as he continued to develop his understanding of his new bike and tyres and was looking forward to continuing his work in the afternoon, but another heavy rainstorm after lunch meant the track did not dry out sufficiently again and the team abandoned testing for the day. Lorenzo posted the 9th fastest time of the day with a lap of 2’04.433, with the unofficial time sheets topped by Randy de Puniet, in a time of 2’03.033. Jorge Lorenzo (9th, 2’04.433, 26 Laps) “It’s a pity about the weather but overall the first day has been quite positive, even if I haven’t been so fast. We managed to do 26 laps before lunch and then the rain came and we weren’t able to do anymore, so hopefully it will be better tomorrow because we have a lot to do! All the time I’m feeling more natural on the bike and I can feel the difference from Valencia, but I need to make a few changes to my riding style in order to fully adapt and we’re working on this. It’s hard for me to use all the power at the moment and I need to learn to be slower and smoother in the corners and to open the throttle a bit earlier. I’m struggling a bit to find the fast lap times but this is normal because there is still so much about the bike that I don’t understand. Tomorrow we have some new things to try, including a new fork, and I will just keep on working steadily.” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “Today we started with Jorge at what is a very different track to Valencia, so we began with a base set-up from Yamaha while he got a feel for the bike on this track. He is starting to learn and understand more all the time about the MotoGP bike but he needs to improve some things and one of the things he’s concentrating on is braking deeper into the corner. He doesn’t have the best feeling going into the corner at the moment; he’s got some lack of grip and he’s not 100% comfortable and so we’ve been trying some different engine braking settings to try to improve this. We already have some plans about how to improve the package for him but unfortunately the rain stopped us today and so tomorrow we will start again and see where we get to.” Masahiko Nakajima Fiat Yamaha Team Director “Unfortunately we were only able to test for three hours today so we couldn’t do very much. There are two main aims for this test; the first is to help Jorge become fully accustomed to a four-stroke bike, especially in relation to the engine braking character, which is very different to what he’s used to on a two-stroke. The second thing he has to get used to and understand quickly is the carbon brakes, which are very different to the steel discs he has been using in 250. These are two major factors for the rider to understand and they also influence the entry into the corner, so he has a lot to learn in these two areas. Once he has overcome these factors then we are confident he will quickly be able to develop in other areas so this is where we’re focused for these three days.” Unofficial Lap Times 1. Randy de Puniet (Honda) 2’03.033 2. Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) 2’03.357 3. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 2’03.406 4. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) 2’03.607 5. Loris Capirossi (Suzuki) 2’03.748 6. Anthony West (Kawasaki) 2’04.068 7. Nicky Hayden (Honda) 2’04.164 8. John Hopkins (Kawasaki) 2’04.316 9. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2’04.433 10. James Toseland (Yamaha) 2’05.438 More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing: MotoGP test Sepang Malaysia, first day of three-day test November 15, 2007. De Puniet fastest Honda on opening day of Sepang MotoGP test The opening day of the three-day MotoGP test at Sepang saw three Honda RC212V riders take to the 5.542 km track as they step up preparations for 2008 a season rich with promise of spectacular two-wheel motorcycle racing of the highest level. The 2006 MotoGP world champion Nicky Hayden to run with both the first version of the 2008 prototype Repsol Honda RC212V factory machine and the bike he raced in the 2007 series but the weather saw the American rider spend all his time aboard the 2007 model. MotoGP debutants Randy De Puniet (LCR Honda) and Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Scot Honda) both rode RC212Vs in 2007 specifications. Hayden’s team-mate, Spaniard Dani Pedrosa elected not to attend the Sepang test as he completed all the testing he needed on the new bike during the first test at Valencia last week. He feels he would learn nothing new and better to wait until the latest version of the machine is ready to test at Jerez on November 27 – 29. When the day opened the track surface still had some damp patches and Hayden was one of three riders to crash at the first corner within a few laps of the start, John Hopkins (Suzuki) and James Toseland (Yamaha) joining Hayden as victims of the conditions. Frenchman Randy De Puniet has adapted well to the RC212V Honda and was the fastest Honda man on track today, despite crashing the LCR machine mid afternoon, just before the rain started to fall. The LCR Honda team tested with their 2007 RC212V and new rider Randy De Puniet, allowing the Frenchman to continue the process adapting his riding style to the characteristics of the Honda. De Puniet put in 45 laps around the Malaysian circuit while testing to find a base line set up, engine maps and a selection of Michelin tyres. The Frenchman recorded a best lap time of 2m 03.033s, the fastest rider of the day despite a crash. The second Honda MotoGP debutante testing at Sepang is Italian Andrea Dovizioso riding for the JiR Scot Honda team, an amalgamation of the Japan Italia Racing team and Kopron Scot Honda squad. Dovizioso, 125cc world champion in 2005 and consequently twice runner-up in the 250cc world championship, spent his day testing to find an ideal base set up to work from at Sepang then worked on the engine braking system of his RCV. Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 2m 04.164s – 56 laps. “Everything didn’t get off to a good start today crashing on the fifth lap of a three-day test isn’t so smart. I was just about to get off the brakes when I went down it was very bright and I didn’t notice the damp patches, I was going pretty slow and I’m OK. It’s the oldest excuse there is to say ‘There must have been something on the track’ but three guys gong down in the same place? That kinda put us on the back foot but the boys fixed the bike an we got in some decent laps but with the track being damp in the morning and the rain coming after lunch we didn’t get a whole lot done. We planned to take the new bike out after lunch but the rain prevented that. The new bike is the same as at Valencia but we planned to run some different power curves on the engine.” Randy De Puniet, LCR Honda: 2m 03.033s – 45 laps. “Not so bad today. We started with the old set up for 20 laps then I came in to make changes to the front and rear suspension to suit my riding style. We found a good balance inside 40 laps then we worked a little on the engine mapping. I had a small crash just before the rain started, the front end turned in on me at the fast right hand corner at the back of the grandstand. I am satisfied with the first day pity about the rain because we need to get as many laps as possible to help me understand the bike better but I think we are working in a good direction, taking things step by step.” Andrea Dovizioso, JiR Scot Honda: 2m 03.607s – 22 laps “I am very much more at home on this circuit than at Valencia and I am very happy with the bike – it’s big, fast and a lot of fun to ride. My lap times are very good and that surprised me because I do not yet have a really good feel for the bike in the way I want there are so many things for me to understand about the bike before I can go fast. I am not yet confident with the engine braking because the back end slides a lot and I cannot use the front brake as I need to if I had less engine braking I could focus more on the front brake. We have two-more days and I’m confident we will improve.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: MotoGP World Championship. MotoGP test in Sepang REPSOL HONDA TEAM RESUMES TESTING IN MALAYSIA Less than two weeks after the 2007 season ended at the Grand Prix of Valencia, the Repsol Honda Team resumed work today as a three-day MotoGP test session began at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia. Nicky Hayden initially took to the track on his 2007-spec RC212V to carry out engine evaluation work, with the intention of riding the new-for-2008 RC212V in the afternoon. However, rain shortly after lunch gave Hayden the chance to continue analysis of the engine settings in wet conditions, with the tests on the 2008 machine postponed until tomorrow. The 2006 World Champion had a slow-speed fall in slippery conditions at the start of the day but was unhurt and completed 56 laps at the 5.548km (3.447-mile) circuit. The test continues at Sepang for two more days. With further developments to the new machine in the pipeline before the final test of the year in Jerez at the end of November, Dani Pedrosa and his crew elected not to ride in Sepang, having completed the first stages of testing during two days following the Grand Prix of Valencia. The Spaniard will rejoin the factory Honda squad at the Jerez test beginning on November 27. Quotes MotoGP Nicky Hayden: Fastest lap: 2m 04.164s 56 laps “We planned to take the new machine out after lunch until the rain prevented that. The new bike is the same as at Valencia except we planned to run some different engine settings to modify the power curve. Everything didn’t exactly get off to a good start today and crashing on the fifth lap of a three-day test isn’t so smart. I was going pretty slow and I’m OK but it was very bright and I didn’t notice the damp patches on the track. I was just about to get off the brakes when I went down. It’s the oldest excuse in the book to say, ‘There must have been something on the track’, but with three guys going down in the same place so early”¦ That kinda put us on the back foot but the boys fixed the bike and we got in some decent laps. With the track being damp in the morning and the rain coming after lunch we didn’t get a whole lot done, but we’ll come back ready for a full day’s work tomorrow.” Official results MotoGP 1. Randy DE PUNIET (HONDA) 2’03.033 2. Chris VERMEULEN (SUZUKI) 2’03.357 3. Colin EDWARDS (YAMAHA) 2’03.406 4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (HONDA) 2’03.607 5. Loris CAPIROSSI (SUZUKI) 2’03.748 6. Anthony WEST (KAWASAKI) 2’04.068 7. Nicky HAYDEN (REPSOL HONDA) 2’04.164 8. John Hopkins (Kawasaki Racing Team) 2’04.316 9. Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha Team) 2’04.433 10. James Toseland (Tech 3 Yamaha) 2’05.438