Camel Yamaha Team Test Sepang, Malaysia Wednesday 15th November 2006 EDWARDS’ 800 DEBUT INTERRUPTED BY RAIN AT SEPANG Colin Edwards got his first chance to try out Yamaha’s brand-new 800cc MotoGP bike today, but his debut on the bike was cut short due to bad weather at Sepang. Torrential rain fell on the Malaysian circuit from 1pm, flooding parts of the track and bringing about scenes reminiscent of September’s Grand Prix, when a similar storm led to the cancellation of Qualifying. The rain did begin to ease up as the afternoon wore on but parts of the track remained underwater and Edwards, along with all other MotoGP riders present, chose to stay in his garage. Nonetheless Edwards and his crew made the most of a dry morning and the American was able to complete 32 laps before it began to rain, forming a positive initial opinion of the new bike in the process and setting the fastest time of the day with a lap of 2’03.56. Second fastest was Suzuki rider Chris Vermeulen with a time of 2’03.90. COLIN EDWARDS (1st 2’03.56, 32 Laps) “The weather has been a pain but actually we’d already accomplished more or less everything we wanted for the first day. The aim of today was to get on the new bike, do a few laps and just generally get a feel for it. I went out on one tyre for about 15 laps and then on another for 12 and my initial impression was pretty good; in fact the bike feels great for this stage of its development. Obviously power-wise it feels different, but other than that it just feels like it’s rounded-off a bit; not such a knife-edge and a little bit more forgiving. We didn’t change anything drastic from the set-up that Valentino’s been running, but just made a few tweaks here and there through the morning to get things working better for me. Hopefully we’ll be a bit luckier with the weather tomorrow and then we can start to really work on it and see where we get to.” DAVIDE BRIVIO CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR “Today the weather didn’t allow us to use the day to our full advantage, but anyway we completed quite a few laps and this was very important to get Colin’s initial comment on our new bike. This is the first taste for him and his information is going to be very important for our engineers. Unfortunately the weather this afternoon was just too bad and it was impossible to carry on, but now we hope for better conditions tomorrow so we can continue what we began today.” Unofficial Lap Times (800cc Bikes) COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Yamaha, 2’03.56 Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki, 2’03.90 John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki, 2’04.06 Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda, 2’04.69 Toni Elias (SPA) Honda, 2’04.98 Makoto Tamada (JPN) Yamaha, 2’05.11 Tadayuki Okada (JPN) Honda Test Rider, 2’05.90 Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda, 2’11.05 Sepang Lap Record: Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2006, 2’02.127 Sepang Best Lap: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2006, 2’00.605 More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing: MotoGP test Sepang November 15, 2006. Day one of three-day test. Torrential rain curtails action on opening day of Sepang MotoGP test MotoGP winter testing resumed at the 5.548 km Sepang circuit in Malaysia today, the opening session of the scheduled three-day test. Three Honda riders tested the RC212V 800cc V-four four-stroke over the three days under the guidance of the RC212V project team. Nicky Hayden, Hondas newly crowned 2006 MotoGP World Champion plus Toni Elias and Carlos Checa put the new generation Honda MotoGP machine through its paces round the Malaysian GP circuit.. However, only Hayden managed to complete a serious test session today as any meaningful testing was impossible after lunch due to a tropical downpour that flooded the track. The American rider put in 30-laps on his RCV and was relatively happy with the new machine recording a best lap time of 2m 04.60s. Gresini Honda rider Toni Elias rode the RC212V for the first time and immediately felt at home on the new machine. The RC212V is a more compact package than its predecessor with a riding position closer to a 250cc machine than the 990cc V5 RC211V he raced in the 2006 MotoGP world championship. Elias made two runs on the bike before the rain set in, a five-lap shake down stint to get a feel for the bike and make positional adjustments then a seven-lap outing with a best lap time at a respectable 2m 05.020s. In addition to unravelling the intricacies of the new machine the Spanish youngster has to evaluate the performance of the Bridgestone rubber Gresini Hondas new tyre supplier for 2007. Spaniard Carlos Checa has signed for the LCR Honda Team and will race their RC212V in the 18-round championship in 2007. Checa took the 800cc V-four four-stroke out on track for the first time today at Sepang today. The 34-year old made a late start to his first day with LCR and was almost immediately sidelined by the weather, completing just five laps before the heavens opened. Honda rider lap times and quotes. Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 2m 04.60s – 30 dry laps. “Today was not as productive as we hoped it would be. We started running but had a small problem with the electronics but once we changed the mapping it was OK and we were rollin again. But then the rain came and that was it for the day. I hung on hoping to get in some wet tyre testing but it didn’t happen there was just too much water in turn three. Still we are set up for tomorrow ready to try out a few things based on what we did today. I just hope the next two days are dry.” Toni Elias, Gresini Honda: 2m 05.020s – 12 dry laps. “It has not been a perfect day for us the weather didn’t help at all we lost over three hours to the wet track. Everything is new for me I only got in 12-laps before the rain came so I need time before I can really say anything definite about the new generation MotoGP machine. But the first impression is that it feels good. The bike is slower than the 990cc RCV but it is more agile than the old bike – it changes direction very fast and I also like the riding position, its more like the riding position of a 250cc bike. We are also working with Bridgestone tyres for the first time so we start with a clear mind on machine and set up for this test. Both the team and I are very motivated this is a completely new start for us. All I can say is that I need to get as many laps practice on the bike as possible at this test to see the direction we need to take.” Carlos Checa, LCR Honda: 2m 10.88s – 5 dry laps. “We started late because Tady (Tadayuki Okada – HRC test rider) had to take the bike out for a shake down test before I could ride it. When I got on the bike I only managed five full laps before the rain started and was in and out of the pits setting the machine to suit my riding style. Nothing is really clear, we didn’t get any useful information because we did so few laps we also had a small problem with power delivery, something to do with the electronics but HRC fixed that.” Overall lap times: Colin Edwards, Yamaha: 2m 03.50s. Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki: 2m 04.03s. John Hopkins, Suzuki: 2m 04.06s. Olivier Jacque, 990cc Kawasaki: 2m 04.08s. Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 2m 04.60s. Toni Elias, Gresini Honda: 2m 05.020s. Makoto Tamada, 990cc Yamaha: 2m 05.110s. Nobuatsu Aoki, Suzuki: 2m 06.60s. Carlos Checa, LCR Honda: 2m 10.88s. More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Honda: TONI ELIAS’ DEBUT ON THE RC212V SPOILED BY RAIN AT SEPANG Toni Elias got his first chance to ride the new Honda RC212V today at Sepang but the test session was interrupted by heavy rain that fell on the Malaysian circuit from 1.00 p.m. Despite the torrential rain, the Spanish rider of the Gresini Honda team felt at home on the new machine. His team mate, Marco Melandri is not attending the test session as he is still recovering from the surgery at the left arm he had on November the 7th. Marco will be fit for next test session scheduled at Jerez (Spain) at the end of the month. TONI ELIAS (2’05″02, 12 laps): “I’m happy of this first day even if I could make only a few laps because of the heavy rain. Everything is new for me, the bike, the set up and also tyres. In fact, for the first time today, we started working with Bridgestone tyres. I only got 12 laps on the bike but the first impression is very good: the RC212V is small, more agile than the old bike. In particular I like the riding position that is more like a 250 position on the bike than Motogp. It’s too early to say anything definite about the new machine, I need to get as many laps practice on the bike as possible to see the direction we need to take. Both the team and I are very motivated, this a completely new start for us.”