KAWASAKI DEVELOPMENT CONTINUES AT BRNO The Kawasaki Racing Team brought to a conclusion a successful two-day test at the Brno circuit today, where perfect testing conditions allowed Anthony West and Olivier Jacque to work their way through an intensive evaluation programme aboard their Ninja ZX-RR machines. As Kawasaki’s test and development rider, it was Jacque who shouldered most of the testing duties over the course of the two days. The former 250cc world champion completed a total of 87 laps of the 5.403km Brno circuit, as he worked with his crew to further refine the same upgrades on his Ninja ZX-RR that helped West to a career best fifth place finish in Sunday’s Czech Republic Grand Prix. The two Kawasaki pilots also evaluated chassis settings which, when combined with a different front tyre option to that run by both West and Hopkins in Sunday’s race, gave both riders improved feeling from, and more confidence in, the front end of their Ninja ZX-RR machines. John Hopkins made a brief appearance on track during the first day of testing, but decided to sit out the remainder of the test after struggling with a minor, but painful, injury sustained in a practice crash on Friday. The 26-year-old Anglo-American displaced an intercostal muscle in his rib cage, which was affecting his breathing on the bike. With Misano just ten days away, it was decided that Hopkins would withdraw from the test in order to give him maximum recovery time ahead of the next race. Anthony West #13 – 65 Laps – 1’59.010 “I didn’t test yesterday because Olivier was evaluating various different parts on my machine, however we have managed to achieve quite a lot during today’s track time. We focused mainly on setting up the bike to suit a front tyre option that we’ve not used so much but has been put to good use by a few other Bridgestone riders recently. Previously we’ve not been able to make this tyre work effectively, but with the changes in chassis set-up we’ve made, it is now a viable option for us to use. In the race this weekend I had to push hard every lap to be fast, but with the advances we’ve made at this test, the bike feels much more rideable. I’m now really looking forward to furthering our improvements next time out.” Olivier Jacque #19 – 87 Laps – 1’58.483 “The last two days have been very useful to us and we’ve gathered a lot of data. We firstly worked with our base chassis setting to see where we could make adjustments to improve the stability and balance of the machine. We also had a new swing-arm and some electronic components to test today, which have both brought interesting results. This track is quite grippy so it’s difficult to see exactly where this puts us with regards to some of the other circuits, but I am confident that we’ve made many forward steps. We now need to spend time reviewing the data to assess fully everything we’ve evaluated in the last two days.” Naoya Kaneko Kawasaki Technical Manager “We have mainly evaluated different engine and chassis settings at this test, along with some new specification components for the Ninja ZX-RR. It was unfortunate that John was unable to ride because of the injury he is carrying, but we’ve gathered a lot of data from both Olivier and Anthony. We’ve definitely got a new direction with the machine and both riders have seen improvements with the set-up of their bikes throughout the time they were on track. Anthony made adjustments to his chassis set-up and adapted his riding style to suit a particular front tyre, which hopefully will now be an option for us to use in the future. We will now refer all of the information we have gathered back to the factory, so we can continue with our development.” 1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 1’55.855; 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha +0.758; 3. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +1.277; 4. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +1.628; 5. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini +1.704; 6. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha +1.745; 7. Niccolo Canepa (ITA) Ducati Test Team +1.784; 8. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha +2.152; 9. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team +2.628; 10. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team +3.072; 11. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing Team +3.155 More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: ROSSI CONFIDENT FOR FINAL PUSH AFTER POSTIVE BRNO TEST Valentino Rossi left the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic this evening after a busy but successful two days of testing, alongside most of his fellow MotoGP competitors. The Italian, who won Sunday’s race to go fifty points clear at the top of the championship, set the second fastest time once again today and looks in good shape as he heads to his home race at Misano in ten day’s time. Rossi continued with a programme of Bridgestone tyre testing today, as well as working on electronics and general set-up. He did try some qualifying tyres but his best time of the day, a lap of 1’56.613, was set on a race tyre and was well inside the best lap from Sunday’s race. The Italian’s Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo also enjoyed a positive day and finished sixth with a best time of 1’57.600. Valentino Rossi Position: 2nd Time: 1’56.613 Laps: 66 “It’s been a long day today but we’ve found some important improvements in a few different areas so it’s been worthwhile, and I am leaving here feeling very happy. We’ve worked on electronics and it seems we’ve found some improvements under accelleration, then of course we’ve worked a lot with Bridgestone on both front and rear tyres. We’ve definitely found some good things in this area as well, helping our agility and stability in the corners and we are faster with these new tyres. It’s been a good test and now we are looking forward to the final six battles!” Davide Brivio Team Manager “We’ve had a full couple of days testing and everyone has worked very hard, with great results. This is probably our last test of the season so it’s been very important for us to have this chance to check many small things, especially tyres, electronics and setting. We have had a long week here in Brno but both the race and the test have been very successful and now we’re looking forward to Misano.” More, from another press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: BRNO IMPROVEMENTS BUILD LORENZO’S CONFIDENCE FOR FINAL RUN Jorge Lorenzo left the Czech Republic in a somewhat better frame of mind today, having found some improvements on the last day of testing following his difficult Grand Prix weekend. The 21-year-old finished the day sixth in the standings, having improved on his best lap from Sunday’s race by more than a second. The Fiat Yamaha rider and his crew concentrated entirely on rear tyres today, testing a variety of Michelin rubber in an attempt to find more grip. They were able to improve the performance under acceleration and will hope that this can translate to a better weekend at the next race in Misano, in ten day’s time. Lorenzo completed 32 laps and set a best time of 1’57.600, whilst his team-mate Valentino Rossi was second fastest with a lap of 1’56.613. Jorge Lorenzo Position: 6th Time: 1’57.600 Laps: 32 “These have been two positive days, because we’ve improved our performance a lot in comparison to the race at the weekend. However we can not forget that we are still far from where we want to be, so we can not give up. We have tried a lot of new things but mainly tyres with Michelin, and we have been able to find some tenths. Now we have to work with San Marino in mind, because we really need to change our situation there and have a good race, finally!” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “As planned yesterday, we have concentrated on testing rear tyres today following our work on the front yesterday. From all of the Michelin material we tested today, we have been able to find some improvements and now we hope that they can provide us with these tyres for Misano. We still have work to do but motivation in the team is still high for the final six races and everyone still has the same goal – to finish with some good races. We know that Jorge and the team deserve much better results than we had here in Brno, so we hope that we can turn things around in Misano.” Test Times 1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 1’55.855 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1’56.613 3. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’57.132 4. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki 1’57.483 5. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’57.559 6. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1’57.600 7. Niccolò Canepa (ITA) Ducati Test 1’57.639 8. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 1’58.007 9. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki Racing 1’58.483 10. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 1’58.927 11. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing 1’59.010 Brno: Record Lap C. Stoner (Ducati) 2008, 1’57.199 Brno: Best Lap V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2006, 1’56.191 More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM END POSITIVE BRNO TEST The Ducati Marlboro Team completed a two-day test at the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic in impressive style today, with Casey Stoner setting a sensational pace and declaring himself happy with development of the GP8 and the Bridgestone tyres. On another hot and sunny day, with track and ambient temperatures reaching 29 and 54 degrees respectively, Stoner lapped until 16:00h and completed 40 laps in the low 1’56s – eventually clocking a 1’55.9 on a new race tyre. The Australian also tested a new qualifying tyre, posting the best time of the day with a 1’55.855, more than a second inside his own pole position record. Marco Melandri lapped until lunchtime and was also satisfied with the set-up work completed, especially with the solutions found by his crew on the first day. The next appointment for the Ducati Marlboro Team is the San Marino Grand Prix on 31st August. Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team): 1’55.904 (race tyres) 1’55.855 (qualifying tyre) “I’m really happy with how these two days have gone. The changes we made to the setting yesterday have proven to be very positive today too. They allowed me to repeat my time from yesterday on a new experimental tyre and on the same tyre I used on Sunday, and then take another couple of tenths off on a new tyre again. Bridgestone are doing a great job but more than anything I’m pleased with this new set-up, which has improved all areas of bike performance and will be useful for the next race. I tried two new qualifiers as well but to be honest I wasn’t pushing them that hard because at the moment I’m not concerned by our qualifying performances – I just want to concentrate on how to improve in the races and try to do the best possible job from now to the end of the championship. ” Marco Melandri (Ducati Marlboro Team) 1’58.927 (race tyre) “Today we started out well on the first run, then we made a few changes that didn’t really improve the setting that we had for the race, so we decided to end the test early. We did a good job yesterday and found the right path to follow, which should allow us to use a softer tyre in future and seems to be more suited to my riding style. I did well at Misano last year and I can’t wait to race there again.” Circuit Record: Casey Stoner (Ducati – 2008) 1’57.199 Pole position: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha – 2006), 1’56.191 Unofficial lap times: Tuesday 19th August 1. Casey STONER (Ducati) 1:55.855 2. Valentino ROSSI(Yamaha) 1:56.613 3. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki) 1:57.132 4. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki) 1:57.483 5. Shinya NAKANO(Honda) 1:57.559 6. Jorge LORENZO(Yamaha) 1:57.600 7. Niccolo CANEPA (Ducati) 1:57.639 8. James TOSELAND (Yamaha) 1:58.007 9. Olivier JACQUE (Kawasaki) 1:58.483 10. Marco MELANDRI (Ducati) 1:58.927 11. Anthony WEST (Kawasaki) 1:59.010