From a press release issued by Camel Racing Information:

First session of tests in 2004 comes to an end in Sepang

Third and last day of tests on the Sepang circuit. The sweltering heat of Malaya again pushed the physical endurance of the riders to the limit: 36°C (97°F) air temperature, 55° (131°) on the ground, with relative humidity of 65%.

In the morning, Makoto Tamada completed his work on the chassis settings of his RC211V, posting a time of 2:03.5 right at the beginning of the session. The test went well, until he had to suspend the session due to unknown trouble of the tyre, from which the team decided to stop in order to locate the cause of the problem.

This meant that the work planned for the afternoon, with Makoto Tamada doing a simulation run of a Grand Prix, had to be cancelled. But the tests will start up again in about two weeks’ time, again in Sepang, where preparation work for the 2004 season will continue.

Makoto Tamada (# 6 – Camel Honda Team – Bridgestone Tyres)
“I’m pleased about this first sortie of the year here in Sepang. I’ve got a good feeling for the bike and we did some really interesting work on the chassis settings. It’s a pity about the glitch. We were quite right to stop, even though in the afternoon I know I’d have been able to improve my lap time. But we’ll have time in the February tests to work on improving lap speeds.”

Luca Montiron (Team Manager Makoto Tamada – Camel Honda Team)
“All things considered, these tests have been positive. After the highly effective work of these first three days, we were also planning to do a couple of race simulations. We would like to do in-depth research to find the cause of the trouble we had today jointly with Bridgestone so that we can find the solution in time for the next test scheduled in two weeks.

Times on third day of tests:

Makoto Tamada – 30 laps – 2:03.5
Shinichi Itoh – 49 laps – 2:05.5