From a press release issued by Team Telefonica Movistar Honda:

LAST DAY AT JEREZ FOR THE TEAM TELEFONICA MOVISTAR HONDA

Sete Gibernau fastest Honda at Jerez, Marco Melandri more confident on the RC211V
Jerez de la Frontera, MotoGP test day 3

The riders of the team Telefonica MoviStar Honda MotoGP, Sete Gibernau and Marco Melandri have worked hard during the last day of testing at Jerez before moving to Valencia where, next week, the last test session of the 2004 season is scheduled for the 29th and 30th of November. The Spaniard Sete Gibernau has carried on the work on the bike testing many different particulars in order to find the best package of all the material he has, while his new team mate, Marco Melandri, continued his apprenticeship on Honda, riding more confidently.

SETE GIBERNAU (78 laps, 1:40.500)
“Today we have carried on testing all the material we have at disposal trying to define the best package. We are working with Michelin that is working us a lot. I’d like to thank Honda and Michelin, we are doing a hard work but it’s worth and absolutely necessary.”

MARCO MELANDRI (56 laps 1:42.240)
“After having completed 101 laps yesterday, today I started a little bit later. I’m happy because my feeling with the bike is improving and a have a good rythm. Unfortunately I still cannot used well the new tyres and I continue to have a better feeling with used tyres. we need to work on setting and I still have to do a lot of kilometres for getting confidence and I look forward to next test session scheduled at Valencia on the 29th and 30th of November.”

FAUSTO GRESINI, Team manager
“This was an important test session. I’m very happy of Marco Melnadri’s debut on a Honda, for him evrything was new: the bike, the team and also the way of working. I saw Marco happy and motivated and this is very important. At this moment it’s important to work with calm, Marco needs to make a lot of laps to understand and know the bike.

“With Sete we are doing a very important job, we are testing some different particulars such as suspensions, breaks and tyres. We are happy because he always lapped with a good rhythm . It’s a hard work but necessary.”

LAP TIMES
1. Sete Gibernau (Esp/Honda) 1:40.500
2. Troy Baylis (Aus/Honda) 1:40.739
3. Makoto Tamada (Jap/Honda) 1:41.528
4. Nicky Hayden (USA/Honda) 1:41.541
5. Marco Melandri (Ita/Honda) 1:42.240
6. Tohru Ukawa (Jap/Honda) 1:45.199
7. Kurtis Roberts (USA/Proton) 1:52.097



More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing:

MotoGP test Jerez, Spain November 26. The final day of the three-day test.

Honda riders successfully complete three-day Jerez test programme

Honda MotoGP teams and riders successfully completed the HRC three-day RC211V test programme at the Jerez circuit, Spain today. The teams tested a variety of chassis – suspension combinations based on the 2004 RCV, and the latest tyres developed for the RCV by GP tyre provider Michelin.

Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden played catch up today. The American crashed at high speed yesterday, the resulting machine damage restricting his track time. Hayden made up for it today with a 97-lap stint on his 5-cylinder, 990cc RC211V grand prix machine. Working with his new team crew he steadily worked his way through a series of tests with new chassis parts in conjunction with testing the new range of tyres Michelin developed for the RCV.

Telefonica MoviStar team leader Sete Gibernau was again the fastest Honda rider at Jerez. The Spaniard circulated the 4.423km circuit at 1:40.50, half a second faster than his best time of yesterday. Like Hayden Gibernau concentrated his day on chassis and tyre testing.

Marco Melandri, new man at Telefonica MoviStar, continued the steady progress he made over the first two days of the test. The young Italian quickly found a good rhythm to set consistent lap times using the base set up established with tried and trusted Michelin tyres over the first two days. However, he has yet to find the same feeling with the RCV when fitted with fresh tyres.

Makoto Tamada, riding for the newly launched Konica Minolta Honda team, ran race distance simulations on his RCV testing a range of Michelin tyres. The Japanese star, a double GP winner in 2004, grows in confidence with each test session. Tamada will race on Michelin rubber for the first time in 2005 and views the Jerez test, and the two day session at Valencia on Monday and Tuesday next, as vital in the build up to the new season.

The Honda teams and riders will go to Valencia in confident mood seeking to confirm the valuable data gleaned from three hard days work at Jerez. Valencia offers a different set of challenges. The tight and twisty circuit is more demanding of chassis and tyre performance in several areas.


Honda rider lap times and quotes:

Nicky Hayden: 1:41.50 – 97 laps.
“Was quite a tough test overall. I wasn’t able to run the sort of lap times that I had hoped to do but we learned a lot and have got a lot of useful information that we can take with us onto Valencia next week. After a lot of down time yesterday when the guys were rebuilding the bike after the crash we had a lot to pack into today and tried some new Michelins and tried a few different things with the chassis and the electronics. Some things worked pretty well – some not so well. The new team are working real hard and there is a great-spirit there already which is so important to me.”

Sete Gibernau: 1:40.50 – 78 laps.
“Today we have carried on testing all the material we have at disposal trying to define the best package. We are working with Michelin that is working us a lot. I’d like to thank Honda and Michelin, we are doing a hard work but it’s worth and absolutely necessary.”

Marco Melandri: 1:42.240 – 56 laps.
“After having completed 101 laps yesterday, today I started a little bit later. I’m happy because my feeling with the bike is improving and a have a good rhythm. Unfortunately I still cannot use well the new tyres and I continue to have a better feeling with used tyres. we need to work on setting and I still have to do a lot of kilometers for getting confidence and I look forward to next test session scheduled at Valencia on the 29th and 30th of November.”

Fausto Gresini: Telefonica MoviStar team manager
“This was an important test session. I’m very happy of Marco Melandri’s debut on a Honda, for him everything was new: the bike, the team and also the way of working. I saw Marco happy and motivated and this is very important. At this moment it’s important to work with calm, Marco needs to make a lot of laps to understand and know the bike. With Sete we are doing a very important job, we are testing some different particulars such as suspensions, breaks and tyres. We are happy because he always lapped with a good rhythm. It’s a hard work but necessary.”

Makoto Tamada: 1:41.528 – 60 laps (estimated).
“I am really pleased with the results of this test. The Michelin tyres have impressed me and my confidence is growing. Today we ran race distance simulations so I could improve my understanding of how the tyres work as the race progresses. Even so I set my best ever time here on partly used tyres, so I have to be pleased. “