Champion Hayden back on top at Australian test MotoGP Testing Day 3/3 – Phillip Island, Australia – Thursday 1st February MotoGP’s Australian preseason excursion drew to a close today, as the majority of the premier class teams concluded their three-day test at the Phillip Island circuit. Riders from Ducati, Honda, Team KR and Suzuki have been putting the new 800cc bikes through their paces since Tuesday, aiming to gather vital new data and experience before the 2007 season kicks off on March 10th in Qatar. World Champion Nicky Hayden was the outstanding rider of day three, topping the timesheets with the fastest lap of the test. Despite admitting earlier in the week that work would still need to be done to adapt the bike to his physical requirements, the Kentucky Kid didn’t seem to be too hindered on the RC212V’s final run-out of the week, clocking a 1’29.52 lap which signalled Repsol Honda’s first top spot of 2007. After yesterday’s Ducati dominance, today saw something of a turnaround, with Honda’s two factory riders leading the way. Hayden’s team-mate and 2006 Rookie Of The Year Dani Pedrosa was just two tenths of a second slower than the American, and the duo were the only riders to break the 1’30 barrier. Loris Capirossi and local rider Casey Stoner went round in similar times to their day two laps, undertaking work with their Bridgestone qualifying tyres. The Ducati Marlboro factory team and the Pramac d’Antin satellite outfit were tightly packed together on the timesheets, with Capirossi and Stoner only slightly quicker than Alex Hofmann and Alex Barros. Brazilian veteran Barros went quickest on the first two days of testing in Australia, and the fast times from all four Desmosedici GP7s show that the new Ducati will be a competitive ride in 2007. LCR Honda’s Carlos Checa cut four tenths of a second off his time from yesterday, and luckily was untroubled by seagulls today. The Spaniard was a victim of a low-flying attack on Wednesday, which contributed to the red flag being shown and a short delay to the session. He was just faster than Gresini Honda rider Toni Elias, with Rizla Suzuki’s local rider Chris Vermeulen still unable to find a way to push the GSV-R800 up the timesheets at a track which they traditionally don’t enjoy. The Australian finished ahead of Marco Melandri and team-mate John Hopkins over a second behind Hayden’s final day time, with Shinya Nakano and Kenny Roberts Jr rounding off the list of participants. Whilst the teams present at Phillip Island take a well deserved break before the MotoGP Official Test in Qatar on February 13th, the absentees from this week’s action undertake a test from Monday at Sepang in Malaysia. The factory Yamaha team, in addition to satellite outfit Tech 3, will be on track alongside Kawasaki Racing and the first appearance outside of Europe for the Ilmor Team. Phillip Island Test Day Three Unofficial Times 1. Nicky Hayden- Repsol Honda 1’29.52 2. Dani Pedrosa-Repsol Honda 1’29.72 3. Loris Capirossi-Ducati Marlboro 1’30.149 4. Casey Stoner-Ducati Marlboro 1’30.206 5. Alex Hofmann-Pramac d’Antin Ducati 1’30.21 6. Alex Barros-Pramac d’Antin Ducati 1’30.43 7. Carlos Checa-Honda LCR 1’30.46 8. Toni Elias-Gresini Honda 1’30.5 9. Chris Vermeulen- Rizla Suzuki 1’30.72 10. Marco Melandri-Gresini Honda 1’30.80 11. John Hopkins- Rizla Suzuki 1’30.80 12. Shinya Nakano-Konica Minolta Honda 1’30.97 13. Kenny Roberts JR-Team Roberts 1’31.10 More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Constructive test for Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has completed the second test of the 2007 season at Phillip Island in Australia, having accumulated large volumes of important data for the forthcoming season. Chris Vermeulen shaved nearly two seconds off his lap-times over the three days and completed his fastest ever lap of the circuit, with a 1’30.30, during his 79 laps today. The Australian star was returning to Phillip Island for the first time since last year’s wet race and set about the task of improving the new GSV-R800 to make it competitive in dry conditions at the 4.4km track. Vermeulen worked tirelessly with his crew throughout the test and completed a total of 207 laps. They tested many new chassis settings and refined the engine mapping to make the bike more rideable for the difficult and demanding Australian circuit. By the end of the third day Vermeulen and his Crew Chief Tom O’Kane were only making detailed changes to the bike and they are sure they will be in a much stronger position when the team return for round 16 of the MotoGP World Championship in October. The ever-improving Australian star also tested a brand new heart-rate monitor system supplied to the team by Garmin. This enables Team Physio Dean Miller to track Vermeulen by GPS and record his physical performance while out on circuit. John Hopkins was pleased with the test but frustrated with his end result, and believes he can find more from the GSV-R when the team return to race. He clocked up 55 laps today and recorded his quickest ever lap of the circuit with a time of 1’30.60. His team worked thoroughly throughout the test and managed to make many improvements that will assist the GSV-R to also perform at a higher level elsewhere. He conducted similar tests to Vermeulen, as he too set about the job of making the new bike fully competitive at all circuits. The Anglo-American racer completed 191 laps in total as he worked on getting the consistency and durability of both machine and Bridgestone tyres right for the track. His comprehensive testing schedule highlighted many issues that Hopkins and his team were able to work on and find solutions for. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP now travels to the Middle East for the first Official MotoGP Test at Doha in Qatar, between the 13th and 15th February. The first round of the 2007 MotoGP World Championship is also at Qatar on Saturday 10th March. Chris Vermeulen: “When we first got here on Tuesday we struggled quite a bit, but we did expect to really. We had a similar problem to that which we had at last year’s race weekend here and the bike was quite hard to ride without spinning the tyre that obviously affected the durability. We worked a lot on that, both with chassis settings and engine mapping over the week and it got a lot better as time went on. I improved my average lap time by about one and a half seconds over the three days and that is quite a big step! I also did my fastest ever lap around Phillip Island. I also tested a new heart monitor while I was out riding the bike, this will help me to see how I can improve on my fitness over a race and show me how my body is reacting to various situations on track. So all-in-all it was a pretty good test. We have still got quite a long way to go around here but the progress we have made at Phillip Island will hopefully help us at other circuits and make the bike work even better.” John Hopkins: “Basically we have done a lot of laps, and although we found a lot of positives we didn’t end up getting exactly what we wanted from here. We sorted out some of the engine mapping and power delivery issues, but this test has been a bit of a reality check. We did struggle over the three days and it showed we still have a bit of work to do on the bike before we come back here for the race in October. I still have some things to sort out with my own riding round here as well, and they can’t be fixed overnight I also have to improve at Phillip Island, not just the bike. I am now really looking forward to getting out in the desert in Qatar, we had a good 990 set-up for there and the bike usually feels good. I’m certainly looking forward to riding the new 800 there and getting back to the sharp end of the timesheets!” Paul Denning Team Manager: “This test was always going to be an interesting one for the team, with a clear objective of further developing and improving the new Rizla Suzuki GSV-R800. We have achieved a lot and gathered good information about the bike that we can work on over the coming months, to make us competitive for when we return here later in the year. “Chris and John have both worked extremely hard over the past three days and the team has certainly taken big steps forward in certain areas of chassis set-up and engine mapping to cope with this difficult circuit. Bridgestone has also collected a huge amount of data and I am sure that they will be able to give us a tyre that has the durability we are looking for to match the character of the bike. “Overall this has been a very important test much more so than Sepang because it has shown us where we need to concentrate our efforts and what has to be done to get the best out of the GSV-R800.” More, from a press release issued by Gresini Racing Honda: THE HONDA GRESINI RIDERS LEAVE PHILLIP ISLAND WITH POSITIVE IMPRESSIONS The fine weather allowed the Gresini Honda riders to continue the development of the bike in the third and last day of testing on the demanding track of Phillip Island, Australia. Both Marco Melandri and Toni Elias did a great job and completed an impressive 100 laps for the Italian rider, 93 for the Spaniard. In particular, Melandri tested some different set up solutions before making a race simulation in the afternoon. Although Marco didn’t improve his lap time, he collected many important data for further improvements and worked in preparation of the race. Positive day also for his team mate Toni Elias who worked on suspension and tyres and, in the end, tested also a qualifying tyre to collect important data for Bridgestone technicians. Now the Gresini Honda riders can enjoy some days of rest to dedicate to their training programme before next 3 days test session, scheduled in Qatar starting from the 13th of February. TONI ELIAS (93 laps, 1.30.56): “The balance of this 3 days test session is positive. We worked on chassis, suspensions and tyres in order to find a good compromise. In particular, tyre testing was very important to collect important data and impressions. I’m confident because, starting from next test in Qatar we should have some tyres that are more suitable to my characteristics. We also used the qualifying data to collect some further information for Bridgestone. I’m not happy with my lap time but, at the moment, we are working step by step to understand the bike and create a good base for further set-up improvements”. MARCO MELANDRI (100 laps, 1.30.80): “It was an important day because we understood many things as for the chassis, suspensions and tyres. The Rc212V is really a new bike, very different from the Rc211V 1000cc, so we needed to test some different set up solutions in order to understand the behaviour of the bike. We also made a race simulation to collect important data that will be useful for next test session. The balance is positive, my lap time cannot be take as point of reference because I didn’t use the qualifying tyre, in fact I preferred to work for the race pace”. UNOFFICIAL LAP TIMES 1. Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 1m 29.52s. 2. Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 1m 29.70s. 3. Loris Capirossi, Marlboro Ducati: 1m 30.14s. 4. Casey Stoner, MarlboroDucati: 1m 30.20s. 5. Alex Hofmann, D’Antin Ducati: 1m 30.21s. 6. Chris Vermeulen, Rizla Suzuki: 1m 30.34s. 7. Alex Barros, D’Antin Ducati 1m 30.43s 8. Carlos Checa, LCR Honda: 1m 30.46s. 9. Toni Elias, Gresini Honda: 1m 30.56s. 10. Marco Melandri, Gresini Honda: 1m 30.80s. 11. John Hopkins, Rizla Suzuki: 1m 30.80s 12. Shinya Nakano, Konica Minolta Honda: 1m 30.97s. 13. Kenny Roberts Jnr, KR212V: 1m 31.10s. More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing: MotoGP test Phillip Island, Australia. Final day of three-day test February 1, 2007. Repsol Honda riders shine on final day of Phillip Island test Champion Hayden tops times. The curtain came down on the three-day MotoGP test at Phillip Island with Repsol Honda factory riders, World Champion Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa, completing a successful test by posting the fastest lap times recorded over the three-days. The Repsol liveried riders were the only two men to dip into the 1m 29s bracket with Hayden fastest at 1m 29.52s. Pedrosa was just two-tenths behind his team mate with a best of 1m 29.72s. Both men set their best lap times on Michelin qualifying rubber. Hayden felt that the Phillip Island test had been most positive. The American had spent the day fine-tuning the overall balance of the machine before moving on to testing engine settings and working on tyre testing for Michelin. Pedrosa has improved every day and like Hayden spent a long time working on engine mapping today to find smoother power delivery. Once content the team were moving in the right direction Pedrosa worked on tyre testing for Michelin. The Gresini Honda team riders worked on identical test programmes on their RC212V 800cc four-cylinder Honda’s today. Team riders Marco Melandri and Toni Elias dedicating the final day of the test improving overall machine balance and feed back from the variations of chassis, suspension and tyres they tested. Both men full race distance simulations and both were satisfied with the results. LCR Honda rider Carlos Checa leaves Phillip Island content with the progress made over the three days of the test. The Spaniard feels that the team have found a better balance for the RC212V having completed successful rear end suspension testing today setting his best time of 1m 30.46s on race tyres. Checa is confident the team will provide him with a competitive machine for the opening grand prix of the season at Doha, Qatar on March 10. Despite not yet 100% fit following the stomach bug he contracted on the opening day of the test Shinya Nakano continued his acclimatisation to the RC212V Honda, Michelin tyres and his new team. Nakano has built up a good relationship with his team technicians in a very short time and the association is beginning to deliver results. The Japanese rider has worked mostly on the handling of his RCV and today completed successful rear end testing. He has the machine set up for fast corner entry and good mid-corner speed but still lacks traction off the corners, something Nakano is eager to address at the next MotoGP test, at Qatar on February. Team Roberts depart for home reasonably satisfied with the performance of the KR212V Honda powered Roberts machine at Phillip Island. The team made progress in all the areas they decided needed development following the Sepang tests of last week. KR212V rider Kenny Roberts Jnr lapped consistently in the 1m 31s bracket, a lot closer the front than at this stage last season with the KR211V. The MotoGP teams now move on to Doha, Qatar for a three-day test on February 13-15. Honda rider quotes and lap times. Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 1m 29.52s 101 laps “The last day here was definitely the most positive of this test and also of the year so far. We found a few settings on the bike that I liked and made some good progress. I also did a longer run and the times were pretty consistent in the 1m 30s bracket on race tyres, which is positive too. It’s not like we can call the dogs off yet though because we’ve still got some work to do! We were fastest today on the qualifying tyre and I really think that’s down to Michelin’s qualifying tyre working really well here. Also, a certain somebody wasn’t at this test, so just because we’re quickest today we can’t relax. I want to say thanks to my team because I’m really happy with how well we’re working together. Plus I’ve got a new Showa suspension technician and that’s already going well too. Now we’ll head to the next two tests and see where we stand then.” Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 1m 29.72s 86 laps. “We did a lot of work today on the engine and tyres, which is just what we planned from yesterday. I’m happy about the results and we improved a lot at this track over the course of the test which is important. We tested some aspects of the engine performance today and found some settings that have given us a good direction to work in. And we did quite of lot of tyre testing with Michelin that helped us too. The lap times on both race tyres and qualifying tyres were pretty good, so we have to keep on working at the next two tests to be ready for the season.” Toni Elias, Gresini Honda: 1m 30.50s 93 laps. “The balance of this 3 days test session is positive. We worked on chassis, suspensions and tyres in order to find a good compromise. In particular, tyre testing was very important to collect important data and impressions. I’m confident because, starting from next test in Qatar we should have some tyres that are more suitable to my characteristics. We also used the qualifying data to collect some further information for Bridgestone. I’m not happy with my lap time but, at the moment, we are working step by step to understand the bike and create a good base for further set-up improvements”. Marco Melandri, Gresini Honda: 1m 30.80s 100 laps. “It was an important day because we understood many things as for the chassis, suspensions and tyres. The RC212V is really a new bike, very different from the Rc211V 1000cc, so we needed to test some different set up solutions in order to understand the behaviour of the bike. We also made a race simulation to collect important data that will be useful for next test session. The balance is positive, my lap time cannot be taken as a point of reference because I didn’t use qualifying tyres, in fact I preferred to work for the race pace”. Shinya Nakano-Konica Minolta Honda 1m 30.97s 70 laps. “My physical condition is much better than Monday but I’m still not feeling 100%. At least today we finished the job of testing the Michelin tyres. Today we were looking at finding the different solutions of rear tyre and this allowed us to obtain a good balance with the bike and an overall good set-up, which we will use in two weeks in Qatar. I am happy about the results gained in these three days as I have better understood the working style of my Team and I am working well with them. Tomorrow I fly to Japan and I’m going to use the next six days to try and recover physically so I’m 100% fit for the next important test.” Carlos Checa, LCR Honda: 1m 30.46s 101 laps. “We are quite satisfied about these three-day of test. Today we worked especially on the rear suspensions aiming to find a better feeling on the bike. The solutions we found work good but we still have to fix the front suspensions in the next test sessions. We also worked on the engine torque gathering useful data. I did not lap on qualifying tyres today but then I rode with a good pace on race tyres improving also my lap time of yesterday. I feel more comfortable day by day and I look forward to testing again in Qatar and Jerez to settle the bike in the best way for the beginning of the season”. Kenny Roberts Jnr, KR212V: 1m 31.10s “It’s my sixth day of testing on the new machine and I think we’ve improved quite a bit with our understanding of the bike. We’ve got quite a lot of stuff still to try, though we’re pretty much tested-out here with what we’ve had time to do. I did my best lap time on race tyres and felt somewhat comfortable in the low 1m 31s. We’re going to need to pick up time obviously to be fighting for the front positions when we come back here – but that’s a long time from now and we’re just looking forward to Qatar where hopefully we can get the stuff that we need for testing there that’ll help our situation. We’re ok for where we’re at – the team did a good job here.” Unofficial Times Phillip Island Test – Day Three 1. Nicky Hayden- Repsol Honda 1m 29.52s 2. Dani Pedrosa-Repsol Honda 1m 29.72s 3. Loris Capirossi-Ducati Marlboro 1m 30.149s 4. Casey Stoner-Ducati Marlboro 1m 30.206s 5. Alex Hofmann-Pramac D’Antin Ducati 1m 30.21s 6. Alex Barros-Pramac D’Antin Ducati 1m 30.43s 7. Carlos Checa-Honda LCR 1m 30.46s 8. Toni Elias-Gresini Honda 1m 30.50s 9. Chris Vermeulen- Rizla Suzuki 1m 30.72s 10. Marco Melandri-Gresini Honda 1m 30.80s 11. John Hopkins- Rizla Suzuki 1m 30.80s 12. Shinya Nakano-Konica Minolta Honda 1m 30.97s 13. Kenny Roberts JR-Team Roberts 1m 31.10s More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: Thursday Feb 1 2007 Winter Testing Session Phillip Island, Australia DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM CONCLUDES THREE DAYS TESTING IN AUSTRALIA The Ducati Marlboro Team has concluded the third and final day of the double overseas testing session in Malaysia and Australia. Loris Capirossi and Casey Stoner did not complete as many laps today as the set-up of the Desmosedici was already at a good point, so both riders concentrated on testing the new Bridgestone race tyres and successfully concluded a 20 lap race simulation. The new qualifying tyres on the other hand did not resolve all the problems on the difficult Australian track but the data accumulated today will be fundamental for Bridgestone for development work. The next test is scheduled for Qatar from 13-15 February, where all the MotoGP teams and riders will be present. Loris Capirossi (34 laps, best time, with race tyre, 1m30.14s) “These have been three positive days of testing. Since last week in Malaysia we have improved the set-up of the bike a lot and now we know that we are in good shape both here at Phillip Island and at Sepang. If we confirm these good sensations in the next test in Qatar and Jerez we will be satisfied and could be competitive throughout the entire championship. Today we did a successful race simulation. I really liked the new tyres brought by Bridgestone and I am already in good shape with them even though it was the first time we used them. The information accumulated in the long-run will be useful for their development but I am really pleased with the work done. With the qualifying tyres on the other hand we haven’t yet resolved the problems that we had here last year, but we are on the right track and I am sure that we will resolve these as well. A big thanks to the guys in Ducati Corse who have done a great job this winter and to my team who as always have been fantastic!” Casey Stoner (40 laps, best time, with race tyre, 1m30.21s) “Yesterday we were satisfied with the bike, so today we didn’t do any more work on the set-up and concentrated on the race simulation which went well. I was able to lap at a good pace and I set some good times without pushing that hard, so I’m really satisfied! It was very useful to do a simulation to really get an idea of how the new Bridgestone tyres perform and I think that with the information we accumulated today the Japanese technicians will have enough data to continue the development of the new race tyres, which have great potential. I like the bike more and more and it’s great working with this team! The qualifying tyres didn’t perform as well as we expected but at this time of the year it’s right to focus on the race set-up, and I’m really pleased with that. Now I’ll be staying a few days in Australia before leaving for Qatar, a track that I really like and where I can’t wait to test with the GP7”. Phillip Island lap record : Marco Melandri (Honda) 2005, 1m30.332s Phillip Island pole record : Nicky Hayden (Honda) 2006, 1m29.020s Temperature: air 19° – 25° C/ track 32° – 47° C Unofficial times – Thursday 1 February: Hayden (Honda), 1m29.52s (101 laps) Pedrosa (Honda), 1m29.72s (86) Capirossi (Ducati), R T, 1m30.14s (34) Stoner (Ducati), R T, 1m30.20s (40) Hofmann (Ducati), 1m30.21s (53) Barros (Ducati), 1m30.43s (47) Checa (Honda), 1m30.46s (100) Elias (Honda), 1m30.50s (93) Vermeulen (Suzuki), 1m30.72s (79) Melandri (Honda), 1m30.80s (100) Hopkins (Suzuki), 1m30.80s (47) Nakano (Honda), 1m30.97s (72) Roberts Jr. (KR), 1m31.10s (83)