Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Loris Capirossi turned the fastest lap time on the final day of the two-day IRTA team test at Estoril in Portugal, Thursday. Capirossi turned a 1:40.126 on his West Honda Pons NSR500 in winds so strong that some teams ended their tests early. High winds were believed to have been a contributing factor in the crash that broke Red Bull Yamaha rider Garry McCoy’s leg Wednesday.

McCoy was flown by private plane to Austria where physicians are assessing the damage to the fractures in McCoy’s right tibia and fibula, about an inch above his ankle. It is unknown if McCoy will miss the opening round of the 2002 MotoGP season scheduled for April 5-7 at Suzuka in Japan.

McCoy’s Red Bull Yamaha teammate, American John Hopkins, reported that the winds at Estoril for the second day of testing, Thursday, “were pretty bad and were blowing me all over the place”. Hopkins compared the winds to those often encountered on windy days at his home track, Willow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond, California. The winds limited Hopkins and the Red Bull team to only three hours of track time on Thursday.

Hopkins said, “It was a pretty good day. We got a pretty good time despite the wind. I did a 1:42.3 today compared to the 1:42.2 I did yesterday. That’s two-and-a-half seconds faster than I went the last time we tested here!

“I’m really happy. I’m definitely getting used to the bike and having a lot of fun on it. It’s been good riding with all of the different riders here and hanging with them.

“I’m flying home tomorrow. I’ll be there for four or five days before I leave again for a test in Barcelona.”

Best Lap Times From Thursday At Estoril:

1. Loris Capirossi, West Honda Pons NSR500, 1:40.126
2. Daijiro Katoh, Team Fortuna Honda Gresini NSR500, 1:40.743
3. Shinya Nakano, Gauloises Yamaha Tech 3 YZR500, 1:40.831
4. Alex Barros, West Honda Pons NSR500, 1:41.040
5. Jurgen v.d. Goorbergh, Kanemoto Honda NSR500, 1:41.056
6. Jeremy McWilliams, Proton Team KR – KR3, 1:41.201
7. John Kocinski, Team Marlboro Yamaha YZR-M1, 1:41.274
8. Carlos Checa, Team Marlboro Yamaha YZR-M1, 1:41.345
9. Norick Abe, Antena 3 Yamaha d’Antin YZR500, 1:41.390
10. Olivier Jacque, Gauloises Yamaha Tech 3 YZR500, 1:41.757
11. Nobuatsu Aoki, Proton Team KR – KR3, 1:42.096
12. Max Biaggi, Team Marlboro Yamaha YZR-M1, 1:42.126
13. Sylvain Guintoli, Gauloises Yamaha Tech 3 YZR500, 1:42.265
14. John Hopkins, Red Bull Yamaha YZR500, 1:42.379