NO REST FOR ROSSI AS TEST COMMENCES IN BRNO Fresh from his fifth victory of the season yesterday, which took him fifty points clear at the top of the standings, Valentino Rossi was back in action today on the first day of a two-day test at Brno. The Fiat Yamaha Team rider finished the day second fastest, behind Casey Stoner, with a best lap of 1’57.332 after 28 laps. The main focus of the day was on testing new Bridgestone tyres and the Fiat Yamaha crew worked through a range of both front and rear rubber, with an eye on finding new material for the final six races of the season. Rossi also tried some new electronics and mapping, which he will continue working on tomorrow. Rossi’s Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo was also testing today and finished ninth fastest, with a best lap of 1’57.979. Davide Brivio Team manager “It was a good day of testing today, after a great day of racing yesterday! We have tested many different Bridgestone tyres, both front and rear, and we have collected a lot of information which will help us for the rest of the season. Then we worked on some new electronics and mapping but we need to continue with this tomorrow because we haven’t finished the whole programme. Tomorrow we also have some general set-up work to do, to try some things that we weren’t able to check at the weekend, due to losing one day to rain. We hope that we will have another good day tomorrow, finish all of our planned work and then we will leave here in good shape for the final push.” More, from another press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: LORENZO WORKING HARD TO IMPROVE GRIP ISSUES IN BRNO Jorge Lorenzo started an important two days of testing at Brno in the Czech Republic today, following a difficult weekend during which he struggled for grip throughout. The Fiat Yamaha youngster, who finished tenth yesterday, was keen to put the weekend’s disappointment behind him and completed 65 laps today with a best time of 1’57.979, which put him ninth. As expected, the day’s focus was almost entirely on testing new rubber compounds with Michelin and today Lorenzo and his crew concentrated on front tyres. They also took some time to try out some different suspension settings, and found some improvements. Lorenzo’s Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi was second fastest today, with a best lap of 1’57.332. Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “Today we concentrated on front tyres with Michelin, who provided us with some different compounds and rubber to try. We found some improvement with regards to the wear of the tyre, which was one of the biggest problems during the weekend, but there is still a lot of work to do. Tomorrow we will shift focus to the rear tyre and we hope we can make the most of the day so that we can go to Misano in better shape and with more confidence.” Test Times: 1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 1’56.261 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1’57.332 3. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team 1’57.457 4. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’57.652 5. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki 1’57.742 6. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 1’57.756 7. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’57.826 8. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team 1’57.859 9. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1’57.979 10. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’58.177 11. Niccolò Canepa (ITA) Ducati Test 1’58.204 12. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 1’58.325 13. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1’58.568 14. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 1’59.067 15. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki Racing 1’59.130 16. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP 1’59.130 17. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 1’59.228 18. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing 2’00.414 19. Tadyuki Okada (JPN) Repsol Honda Team 2’00.735 Brno: Record Lap L. Capirossi (Ducati) 2006, 1’58.157 Brno: Best Lap V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2006, 1’56.191 More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM STAY AT BRNO FOR FIRST DAY OF TESTS The Ducati Marlboro Team completed the first of two days of post-race testing today at the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic, with the warm sunshine returning to make for much higher temperatures than during the Grand Prix weekend. Casey Stoner completed 55 laps on race tyres, carrying out a variety of positive set-up and tyre tests and maintaining a consistently quick pace – well inside the circuit record he set in Sunday’s race. Marco Melandri also worked on his set-up, completing 71 laps as he looked to continue improving the feeling with his machine as he has done over the past few races. Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team): 1’56.261 (race tyres) “It has been a really positive day. We didn’t have too much to test – a couple of new tyres and that’s about it – but we managed to find a new setting to improve on what was already a very good situation. I managed to drop my lap times by almost a second on yesterday and that’s really positive. Unfortunately my physical condition on Friday and the rain on Saturday meant that we didn’t head into the race in the best possible shape. In any case I’m happy because the things we’ve improved today will be useful for the upcoming races. Hopefully the weather’s good to us again tomorrow so we can finish the job off with Bridgestone” Marco Melandri (Ducati Marlboro Team) 1’58.325: (race tyres) “Today we worked mainly on trying to understand why I struggled so much at the start of the race yesterday. My pace hasn’t been particularly fast but I’m happy that it was consistent on both new and used tyres. We’ve taken a step forward and we’ll work hard tomorrow to take another one. We’ll probably modify the weight distribution a little to improve the overall feeling. We’re working well and I can say that today has been a good day of tests.” Circuit Record: Casey Stoner (Ducati – 2008) 1’57.199 Pole position: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha – 2006), 1’56.191 Unofficial lap times 18th August 1. Casey STONER (Ducati) 1’56.261 2. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha) 1’57.332 3. Toni ELIAS (Ducati) 1’57.457 4. Shinya NAKANO (Honda) 1’57.652 5. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki) 1’57.742 6. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha) 1’57.756 7. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda) 1’57.826 8. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Ducati) 1’57.859 9. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha) 1’57.979 10. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki) 1’58.177 11. Niccolo CANEPA (Ducati) ) 1’58.204 12. Marco MELANDRI (Ducati) 1’58.325 13. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda) 1’58.568 14. Dani PEDROSA (Honda) 1’59.067 15. Olivier JACQUE( Kawasaki) 1’59.130 16. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda) 1’59.172 17. James TOSELAND (Yamaha) 1’59.228 18. John HOPKINS (Kawasaki) 2’00.414 19. Tady OKADA (Honda) 2’00.735 More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: PEDROSA AND OKADA TEST AT BRNO MotoGP tests, Brno, Czech Republic Monday, August 18 2008 Repsol Honda RC212V rider Dani Pedrosa and HRC test rider Tadayuki Okada took to the track at Brno today, following the Repsol Honda team’s difficult Czech GP weekend. Weather conditions today were perfect, allowing both riders to start testing at 10.30am, with Pedrosa riding his RC212V with spring valves while Okada rode the pneumatic-valve machine usually ridden by Nicky Hayden, who missed Brno due to a foot injury. Pedrosa stopped testing at 12.30pm, while Okada continued for the rest of the day. The Japanese rider, who gave the pneumatic-valve RC212V its race debut at June’s Italian GP, tested updated engine parts and electronics. The Repsol Honda team will not test tomorrow, its next outing is at Misano for the San Marino GP on August 29/30/31. Dani Pedrosa, fastest lap: 1m 59.067s (11 laps) “We tried some different front tyres that Michelin brought here for this test, but we finished after some laps because we couldn’t find any improvement. We tested the tyres with my current race bike, there was no point using the machine with the pneumatic-valve engine because the tyres weren’t working well enough. We have rescheduled this test at Misano, on the Monday after the San Marino GP.” Tadayuki Okada, fastest lap: 2m 00.735s (67 laps) “Today we tested some new steps in development concerning both engine and electronics. In Japan we are working on the development of both the spring-valve engine and the pneumatic-valve engine. Since my last appearance at the Italian MotoGP I can say that the bike with pneumatic-valve engine has improved a lot. I think that the bike has reached a satisfactory level of development, I hope that Dani will be able to test it soon.” LAP TIMES 1. C. STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 1:56.261 2. V. ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 1:57.332 3. T. ELIAS SPA Alice Team 1:57.457 4. S. NAKANO JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini 1:57.652 5. C. VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1:57.742 … 14 D. PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team 1:59.067 19 T. OKADA JP Repsol Honda 2:00.735 More, from a press release issued by Team Scot Honda: Andrea Dovizioso’s work continues at the Brno tests After the Grand Prix of the Czech Republic, Andrea Dovizioso and JiR Team Scot stayed on at the circuit of Brno for a day of tests focusing on the material made available by tyre suppliers Michelin. The goal, achieved without looking for the ultimate lap time, was to analyse the behaviour of the French tyres in the same configuration as the race yesterday, as well as looking at new solutions in anticipation of the next Grand Prix of San Marino. Gianni Berti Technical Coordinator JiR Team Scot “The programme of the day test, in the light of developments which occurred at the weekend, was focused on the front rubber. We have tried to collect the greatest amount of information possible to share with Michelin. The comparison with our technical partner should help us prepare for the next Grand Prix. The weather conditions have helped us today, and with a total of 40 laps, with short and medium stints, we managed to play-out the full testing programme.” Andrea Dovizioso Pilot JiR Team Scot MotoGP HONDA RC212V “Today was a day mainly focused on research for a better performance from our rubber. We have noted some progress but this is still not enough. We expect Michelin to work intensively to achieve the results we expect for the next race. Colin Edwards has got a good lap time, but only for three laps, which is not significant enough for us to draw any conclusions. We stayed out even longer to assess the durability of the tyres, in addition to grip. We were able also to do tests on electronics. The next Grand Prix at Misano I hope to take a good result in front of my home crowd.” Pietro Caprara Chief Technical JiR Team Scot “With Andrea and Michelin we have tried different solutions front tyres, replicating the technical conditions for racing, to analyse in depth the results of yesterday, and other proposals with different compounds, profiles and carcasses. The programme was carried out completely, gathering information for work in anticipation of the Grand Prix of Misano. We have focussed on improving the feedback from the front tyre which is what we need to improve performance.”