From a press release issued by JiR Team Scot Honda: Excellent first test for Yuki Takahashi at night-ride in Qatar Despite effectively only having tested at Jerez recently thanks to his lay-off due to injury, Yuki Takahashi signed in at the first day of the night tests in Qatar with an excellent 4th best time. Yuki secured 4th place in the last hour of testing before the conditions began to deteriorate. Today the team worked hard to find the best settings with suspension and geometry for the JiR Team Scot Honda RS250RW. The team also worked on the delicate setting of the carburettors for the cooler night conditions. Tomorrow Yuki and the team will work on testing tyres to acquire as much data as possible before the race on March 9th. Gianni Berti Technical Coordinator, JiR Team Scot “It has been a very positive test today. We waited for a while before heading out on track as the climate conditions were hot and not like we will expect to see during the race at night. We know well Yuki’s potential, but it was still a nice surprise to see him post his fastest lap in the final part of the test when the track was getting damp and the temperature was going down to around 13 centigrade. This is a sign that his physical condition and also mental toughness is getting back to normal. Tomorrow we will work on tyres and improve on today’s time.” Yuki Takahashi Rider, JiR Team Scot 250GP HONDA RS250RW Best time: 4th – 2′ 01″950 “I’m very happy tonight because I was wondering how well I could see and ride on the track with the floodlights! I have been in some endurance races before, but this is different because we used headlights on our bikes! The strangest aspect of today is to see properly the exit of the corner, but it is easy to get on the pace after a few laps. I started out very steady and looked at the conditions because I wanted to know the track and try to get the best feeling with the floodlights before finding a consistent lap time. After making some chassis setting changes with the team technicians we made some carburettor changes also. Then, when I felt ready in the last hour, I pushed hard to make my best lap and take fourth position.” Yutaka Hirano Crew chief, JiR Team Scot 250GP “Today we preferred to work only with on the general settings of the bike and we looked at the best way for the carburettor to work in the low temperature and humidity that we find at night, which is different from other conditions we may find in the championship this year. Yuki was looking for a fast lap and we saw that when the temperature was going to go down, he pushed and got a good time but only when the settings were right for him. Tomorrow we will work on tyres and maybe make some alterations to the gearbox.” Test Doha 250GP Day 1 1) Marco Simoncelli Gilera 2’01″449 2) Roberto Locatelli Gilera 2’01″730 3) Mattia Pasini Aprilia 2’01″945 4) Yuki Takahashi Honda 2’01″950 5) Thomas Luthi Aprilia 2’02″016 More, from a press release issued by Repsol Media Service: FIRST ROUND OF NIGHT TRAINING SESSIONS FOR THE REPSOL KTM RIDERS Julián Simón and Esteve Rabat complete their first contact with the Losail Circuit under the floodlights. Marc Márquez continues with his recovery in Barcelona After two days of training for the MotoGP riders, today it was the 125cc and 250cc riders’ turn, who completed their first training session on the Losail Circuit under the floodlights. With Marc Márquez absent due to the injury he received a week ago to the ulna and radius in his right arm, Esteve Rabat and Julián Simón represented the Repsol KTM 125cc and 250cc teams. Tonight’s training sessions were divided into four rounds. The first of them was combined with the riders in the two categories sharing the track -, followed by a further two individual rounds the 125cc riders ran first, then the 250cc riders -, and finally, a last round which was combined again, with riders from the two categories sharing the track. Esteve Rabat suffered a light fall when the rear tyre of his KTM 125 FRR lost adherence. Fortunately the fall was not hard, as he was not thrown over his bike and the incident remained nothing more than a fright. Rabat completed today a total of 61 laps and his best time was 2’07.837. Julián Simón focused today on testing the setup of his new bike, adapting it to the special conditions of the Qatari track. The rider from Toledo completed a total of 56 laps on the Losail Circuit, and his best register was 2’02.606. Quotes 250cc Julián Simón “It has been an incredible experience and very positive; I think they have done a great job here with the lighting on the circuit. It will be an experience for us all to contest the first night Gran Prix in history. At the beginning I had a hard time getting used to these new conditions, the shadow from my own bike being particularly annoying, but after a few laps and with concentration you can forget about that and have the same feeling as if it were daytime. Maybe the main negative aspect was that when the temperature drops at night, the tarmac is colder. As night falls things get more difficult in that sense, because the tarmac is colder and there are more problems with the grip. Having seen this, it will be very important to bear in mind the conditions that we find when the time comes for the race on 9th March.” 125cc Esteve Rabat “Well, it’s not that different to riding during the day, except that the track shines and there are a few shadows, but if you focus on riding it doesn’t necessarily have to affect you. This first day was quite intense for us; we’ve been trying out different solutions on the bike in order to find the best setup and to get used to riding at night, because it’s colder and the tarmac isn’t in the same conditions. This track is very special because it is not used much during the year and the grip is not as good as it could be at the start. I had a light fall earlier that was nothing really; the rear tyre suddenly skidded, but fortunately it was a soft fall and I wasn’t tossed into the air.”