Ilmor GP Look Forward to Qatar Northampton: Following a productive test in Jerez at the end of February, Ilmor GP, MotoGP’s newest and only British team head out to Qatar this week full of what can only be described as nervous anticipation as the Losail International Circuit plays host to the first round of the MotoGP World Championship 2007. The race on Saturday (10th March) will be the first opportunity for the team to see how the Ilmor GP 2007 bike matches up to rival team’s bikes under race conditions. Both Ilmor GP riders Jeremy McWilliams and Andrew Pitt felt that progress was made with the bike’s engine development at the pre-season tests in Qatar and more recently Jerez. The official test at the Spanish circuit was the first time that McWilliams and Pitt got to put the new 2007 engine specification through its paces. The first race in Qatar will see the engine get a further performance upgrade following careful analysis of the data accumulated in Jerez over the test. Andrew Pitt, Ilmor GP Rider: “I’m looking forward to heading back to Qatar, we made good progress during testing out there in February and I like the track. Obviously I’m looking forward to trying out the new engine upgrade, we should have more peak power which should be interesting. After the test in Jerez, I feel more confident, on Saturday I had a good consistent run-out, I did around 22 laps consecutively and made reasonable lap times – consistency is the key during a race so I’m feeling hopeful for the race.” Jeremy McWilliams, Ilmor GP Rider: “I can’t wait for the first race it will be great once the lights go green there’s so much anticipation and nerves before the first race of any season so it’ll be good to get it out of the way! My only slight worry is that due to my accident in Jerez last November I haven’t had as much time on the bike as I would have liked. Physically I feel good, my leg is still a little weak but my upper body is really strong and once I’m on the bike I forget about my leg. Losail is a great circuit to ride, it’s really technical and quite complicated to ride well so I’m looking forward to the challenge. Let’s see what we can do.” Mario Illien, Ilmor GP Team Principal: “‘I’m hopeful that we have made some progress with all the data we collected in Jerez the electronics team have been working very hard since we got back. I’m really looking forward to the first race it’s going to be really exciting for us as a team to compete in a race situation again.” Mike Janes, Ilmor GP Team Manager: “We’ve made steady progress in the past few months and we are much clearer on the direction that we need to work towards now. The whole team has been working flat out at the Ilmor factory in Brixworth since Jerez and I know everyone is full of anticipation and waiting to see what we can do in Qatar. “We’ve come along way in a relatively short space of time, but there are still a number of areas in which we need to improve. Generally, I’m pleased with what we’ve achieved so far although it’s important we continue to make progress as the season gets underway.”