IMPORTANT DAY OF TESTING SETS FIAT YAMAHA UP FOR THE FINAL PUSH The Fiat Yamaha team were hard at work in Brno today and topped the standings in a one-day test, the final chance they will have to test outside of a race weekend before the end of the season. Jorge Lorenzo shrugged off any effects of yesterday’s crash to put in some brilliantly quick times and finish the day fastest, whilst yesterday’s race winner Valentino Rossi was close behind him in second. A few hours were lost to rain during the afternoon but Lorenzo made the most of the time available, working to improve the setting of his M1 with an eye to getting back onto the podium in the remaining six races. He worked on a new clutch setting, different engine maps and also had the chance to try some new chassis parts for 2010. The 22-year-old was consistently fast all morning and set his best lap of 1’56.171 just before the lunch break, a time that was only a few tenths of Rossi’s pole time from Saturday. Championship leader Rossi also had a first chance to test some prototype developments for 2010, trying out a new chassis and a new engine specification. He set his best time of the day just before the end of play with a lap of 1’56.622, under the new lap record set by Lorenzo in yesterday’s race. The team now has a ten-day break before the next round at Indianapolis in the USA. Jorge Lorenzo Position: 1st Time: 1’56.171 Laps: 52 “Today was a profitable day and we worked on a lot of different things, especially electronics. I felt comfortable and I could ride in the 56.1’s, which was good after yesterday. In the last hour I worked on my starts because this is something I need to improve. After lunch it began to rain and so I didn’t go back on track until 1630, but I hope that everything we’ve done today will help us in Indianapolis. I’m not thinking about the championship now because it’s very difficult unless something strange happens, but I want to try to be back at the front and I’m looking forward to the next race.” Valentino Rossi Position: 2nd Time: 1’56.622 Laps: 38 “It’s always hard to go back to work after a great win like yesterday but it was an important chance to try some things for the future. Before lunch we did a run with the new chassis, it has some good points and some bad ones and we were able to collect some data. Unfortunately it rained in the lunch break and so we couldn’t ride for a lot of the afternoon because of the wet rack, but it dried enough for us to do some more work at the end. This time we could really concentrate on doing a proper job testing the chassis and the new engine specification, and I was quite fast. Now we have a short break and then it’s on to Indianapolis!” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “Today was quite a useful test for us despite an early afternoon rain shower that meant we had to change our plans a bit. We tested some chassis parts for 2010, a different clutch setting in order to find an improvement for the race start and various engine maps. We are satisfied about today’s job and right from the beginning of the test Jorge was able to ride fast and lap in the low 1’56s, showing that he was feeling okay after yesterday’s race crash. Thanks to all the team for a good job and now we’re looking forward to Indianapolis.” David Brivio Team Manager “It was a pity it rained today but nonetheless we got a lot done and we were able to collect a lot of data about the new chassis and engine spec, which will help the engineers back in Japan with their development for the future and next year’s bike. We also tried some electronic mapping and it was a very useful day for us. We’re now approaching the final stage of the championship and we can’t relax because our rivals are strong, so now everyone can have a well-deserved rest and then we’ll be ready for anything in Indianapolis!” Test Times 1. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1’56.171 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1’56.622 3. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 1’56.747 4. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’57.543 5. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Repsol Honda 1’57.764 6. Toni Elias (SPA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’57.841 7. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’57.891 8. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team 1’57.928 9. Marco Melandri (ITA) Hayate Racing Team 1’58.045 10. Mika Kallio (FIN) Ducati Marlboro Team 1’58.051 11. Niccolo Canepa (ITA) Pramac Racing 1’58.120 12. Gabor Talmacsi (HUN) Scot Racing Team MotoGP 1’59.008 13. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 1’59.614 Brno: Record Lap J. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2009, 1’56.670 Brno: Best Lap V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2009, 1’56.145 More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: REPSOL HONDA TEAM BENEFITS FROM BRNO TEST The Repsol Honda Team returned to the Brno circuit today to take part in the final MotoGP test day of the 2009 season. Fresh from their second and fourth places in yesterday’s Grand Prix of the Czech Republic, Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso were raring to go and ready to put in a full day’s work under the steady sunshine enjoyed over the GP weekend. The test went well, though the weather at the spectacular Brno circuit played its part today. After a clear morning during which both riders completed valuable laps testing machine set-up options and various components, two rain showers in the afternoon halted proceedings, with the MotoGP riders sitting in the garages from 2pm to 5pm. Despite the interruptions, Pedrosa set a time in the morning of 1m 56.747s – a half second improvement on his fastest lap from the race yesterday. It was good enough for third best today, behind Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi. His Repsol Honda team-mate was also able to complete some valuable analysis and improve on his speed from yesterday – Dovizioso setting a 1m 57.841s lap, which was one tenth inside his best time in the 22-lap race. With the team’s engineers now primed to analyse all the data gathered today, Repsol Honda packs its crates ready for shipping to the famous banking of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the US. Round 12 of the MotoGP series – the Indianapolis Grand Prix – takes place on 30 August. DANI PEDROSA 3rd 1m 56.747s “It was a useful test session today, even though the rain tried to mess with our plans, and I hope that what we’ve learnt can help us for the next races. In the morning we worked on some set-up improvements from the race weekend and we were able to find some more speed. After lunch we were set to try some new suspension components which we managed to do when the track dried after the rain. Of course it takes time to perfect the set-up when you try new things, but our pace was quite good and the feeling was promising. Overall, this was a worthwhile test.” ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 5th 1m 57.764s “It was good to get some testing time today because the new rules mean any extra track time is very valuable. It was an interesting day because we tried quite a few set-up options including some different suspension parts, and this was a first for me. Because of the limited time, we couldn’t evaluate their full potential, but the initial feedback was positive. We also continued to work with the set-up for the new swingarm we used this weekend and managed to improve our speed. Honda is working very hard for the remaining races and also for next year, and the team is fully committed.” 1 Jorge Lorenzo 1m 56.171 SPA YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team 2 Valentino Rossi 1m 56.622 ITA YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team 3 Dani Pedrosa 1m 56.747 SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team 4 Loris Capirossi 1m 57.543 ITA SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 5 Andrea Dovizioso 1m 57.764 ITA HONDA Repsol Honda Team 6 Toni Elias 1m 57.841 SPA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini 7 Chris Vermeulen 1m 57.891 AUS SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 8 Nicky Hayden 1m 57.928 USA DUCATI Ducati Marlboro Team 9 Marco Melandri 1m 58.045 ITA KAWASAKI Hayate Racing Team 10 Mika Kallio 1m 58.051 FIN DUCATI Pramac Racing 11 Niccolo Canepa 1m 58.120 ITA DUCATI Pramac Racing 12 Gabor Talmacsi 1m 59.008 HUN HONDA Scot Racing Team MotoGP 13 Mattia Pasini 1m 59.614 ITA DUCATI Pramac Racing More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: SUN AND RAIN ALTERNATE DURING THE POST RACE TEST IN BRNO The second of the two post race tests of the 2009 season was spoiled by a strong downpour that started during the lunch break after a sunny and hot morning at Brno today. The track remained damp until approximately an hour before the end of the session, which was extended by 15 minutes to allow the riders to complete some extra laps. Both Nicky Hayden and Mika Kallio worked on the settings of their GP9s and found some promising solutions in the final phase of the session. The next appointment for the Ducati Marlboro Team is round 12 of the championship at the legendary Indianapolis circuit on August 30th. Today’s unofficial lap times 1. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1’56.171 (52 laps) 2. Rossi (Yamaha) 1’56.622 (38) 3. Pedrosa (Honda) 1’56.747 (53) 4. Capirossi (Suzuki) 1’57.543 (43) 5. Dovizioso (Honda)1’57.764 (53) 6. Elias (Honda) 1’57.841(39) 7. Vermeulen (Suzuki) 1’57.891 (61) 8. Hayden (Ducati) 1’57.928 (64) 9. Melandri (Kawasaki) 1’58.045 (56) 10. Kallio (Ducati) 1’58.051 (65) 11. Canepa (Ducati) 1’58.120 (69) 12. Talmacsi (Honda)1’59.120 (58) 13. Pasini (Ducati) 1’59.614 (66) More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing Team: POSITIVE IMPRESSION FOR PASINI ON THE PRAMAC RACING DUCATI Good debut for Mattia Pasini on the Pramac Racing Desmosedici GP9 Sat on the Brno circuit in Czech Republic. The day of testing, started around 9am and concluded at 6pm, has been interrupted by heavy rain for a couple of hours around lunch time, but the Italian rider has made it to registered interesting lap times for a MotoGP debutant. Mattia has showed all his enthusiasm today riding for 66 laps today. Niccolò Canepa has sensibly improved his lap times from yesterday’s race and will try to confirm at Indianapolis in two weeks time in the twelfth MotoGP 2009 round. Paolo Campinoti – Pramac Racing Team Principal “A pity that rain has limited the time ad Mattia disposal otherwise I am convinced that he could have sensibly improved his fastest lap time of the day. Anyway we are satisfied on how things went, as we are not so fat from the other riders with much more experience in this category. We all know how hard it is to jump on a MotoGP bike and get used to it. Sincere compliments to Pasini: he is a guy who never gives up, tenacious and he deserved this opportunity even if we are sorry that he will not be able to ride with us in the next couple of races.” Niccolò Canepa – Best lap time in 1’58.120 “In these four days at Brno the only day that didn’t go well was the race day. Today things were back to normal and I was riding on good lap times really close to much more experienced riders than me. It’s a pity because if I would have maintained this rhythm also yesterday I could have fought for much better positions. Now we have some days of relaxation for be back in full shape at Indianapolis, a track that I like really much.” Mattia Pasini – Best lap time in 1’59.614 “First of all I have to thanks Pramac and his Team Principal Paolo Campinoti, Ducati and all the people that allowed me to compete with the best riders in the world today. Thanks so much ! It has been a sensational feeling to go so fast. I pass from going 255 km/h on my 250cc yesterday, to the over 300 km/h (305 km/h) of today on the Ducati Pramac Racing bike. During the morning I had to adjust to the bike, but from the afternoon, after the heavy rain that has unluckily limited our learning procedure, I felt at ease and I could push much more. It is a really spectacular bike to ride with an incredible power. It doesn’t seem so complicated to ride like I heard; on the contrary, it is really comfortable. The biggest different I found compare to my actual bike are the carbon brakes which have a totally different reaction compared to mine. Overall I am very satisfied on how things went today. Now I will have to concentrate to my 250cc championship as I still have the possibility to aim for the title.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: MotoGP one-day test session Brno, Czech Republic, August 17, 2009. Weather: Hot and sunny. Light rain showers after lunch. Temperature: 30 degrees. Honda HRC RC212V riders on the pace at rain interrupted Brno MotoGP test The final one-day test of the season for MotoGP teams and riders was held at the 5.403km Brno Circuit, venue for yesterday’s Czech Republic Grand Prix, round 11 of the 17 round 2009 World Championship. With the possibility of rain at some point during the day the riders took to the track as soon as the gate opened in an effort to assess the development parts they hope will improve performance and results over the remaining six grands prix. Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda, was the fastest of the Honda RC212V riders taking part in the test ending the day with third fastest time overall. He and his crew concentrated on overall machine set up options based upon feed-back from the yesterday’s 22 lap race. The changes enabled the Spaniard to better his best lap in the race by half a second. When the first rain showers finally arrived at 14.00. Pedrosa, and his fellow MotoGP riders, stayed in their pit boxes for three hours before returning to the track for the final hour of the test. The hour was spent evaluating completely new suspension parts but he did not have sufficient time to assess the full potential of the new package. Pedrosa’s Repsol Honda team mate, Andrea Dovizioso, was also faster today than he had been in the race but by just one tenth of a second. Dovi also tested the new suspension components today his comments on performance reflecting those of his team mate. The Italian contested the grand prix with a newly designed and developed swing-arm on his factory spec RC212V and today further refined overall machine set up with swing-arm and new suspension to improve upon his race pace and set the fifth fastest lap time of the test.. San Carlo Gresini Honda rider Toni Elias is a man riding at his very best. Following a fine third place finish in the GP Elias is highly motivated and was eager to get to work today determined to make improvements to his RCV to enable him to maintain the momentum he has built up in the last four races. Elias tried a different riding position and general set up options during the morning dry session. The final hour of the test was dedicated to testing new front forks brought to Brno by Showa, suspension supplier to Gresini Honda. Elias’ team mate, San Marinese Alex De Angelis, did not test today due to an acute pain in his back. Hungarian Gabor Talmacsi, Scot Honda RC212V, a MotoGP Rookie with just six races under his belt, continued to test the myriad of suspension and chassis combinations available to him as he slowly but surely masters the 300km/h plus 800cc four-cylinder Honda. The Hungarian ran virtually identical lap times to those he set in yesterday’s 22 lap race that saw him take 13th place. Randy De Puniet, Playboy LCR Honda, did not take part in the one-day test preferring to rest the ankle he broke in a pre-Brno MX training session. The tough Frenchman raced in yesterday’s 22-lap Czech GP despite suffering acute pain and no little discomfort. De Puniet put in a typically gritty performance to finish a heroic 10th at the flag. Honda MotoGP rider lap times and quotes. Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 3rd – 1m 56.747s “It was a useful test session today, even though the rain tried to mess with our plans, and I hope that what we’ve learnt can help us for the next races. In the morning we worked on some set-up improvements from the race weekend and we were able to find some more speed. After lunch we were set to try some new suspension components which we managed to do when the track dried after the rain. Of course it takes time to perfect the set-up when you try new things, but our pace was quite good and the feeling was promising. Overall, this was a worthwhile test.” Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda: 5th – 1m 57.764s “It was good to get some testing time today because the new rules mean any extra track time is very valuable. It was an interesting day because we tried quite a few set-up options including some different suspension parts, and this was a first for me. Because of the limited time, we couldn’t evaluate their full potential, but the initial feedback was positive. We also continued to work with the set-up for the new swing-arm we used this weekend and managed to improve our speed. Honda is working very hard for the remaining races and also for next year, and the team is fully committed.” Toni Elias, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 6th – 1m 57.841s “The show of affection I was given by so many people after the race last night was really nice and I appreciated it a lot. It is a result that gives me a lot of pleasure although at the same time it kind of makes me angry because even though I am scoring top results year after year I still don’t have a solution for next season. Anyway, I want to stay optimistic and I will be giving my absolute best until the end of the season and show everybody my true worth over these last six races. This morning we tried a new footrest position, which I liked, but then the rain came and set back our plans. Once it dried out again we were able to get back out and try a new modified fork that Showa brought here. Unfortunately we didn’t do enough laps with it to make a proper evaluation and we might need to do some more tests during free practice at Indianapolis.” Gabor Talmacsi, Scot Racing Team: 12th – 1m 59.008s Alex De Angelis, San Carlo Honda Gresini: Alex is still suffering from back pains that started immediately after yesterday’s race, Alex reluctantly withdrew from the test. Randy de Puniet, LCR Honda: Randy did not test preferring to rest and protect his broken ankle before jetting off to the U.S. for the Indianapolis GP on August 30. Brno MotoGP Test lap times: 1 Jorge Lorenzo, Fiat Yamaha, 1m 56.171s 2 Valentino Rossi, Fiat Yamaha, 1m 56.622s 3 Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda, 1m 56.747s 4 Loris Capirossi, Suzuki, 1m 57.543s 5 Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda, 1m 57.764s 6 Toni Elias, San Carlo Gresini Honda, 1m 57.841s 7 Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, 1m 57.891s 8 Nicky Hayden, Marlboro Ducati, 1m 57.928s 9 Marco Melandri, Hayate Racing, 1m 58.045s 10 Mika Kallio, Marlboro Ducati, 1m 58.051s 11 Niccolo Canepa, Ducati, 1m 58.120s 12 Gabor Talmacsi, Scot Honda, 1m 59.008s