FIM MotoGP World Championship Jerez, Spain February 16, 2008 IRTA Test Free Practice One Results: 1. Nicky HAYDEN (Honda), Michelin, 1:39.200 2. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda), Michelin, 1:39.444 3. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:39.528 4. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:39.629 5. James TOSELAND (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:39.678 6. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:40.165 7. Shinya NAKANO (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:40.192 8. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), Bridgestone, 1:40.641 9. Casey STONER (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:40.651 10. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda), Michelin, 1:40.767 11. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 1:40.843 12. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), Michelin, 1:41.352 13. Marco MELANDRI (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:41.392 14. Toni ELIAS (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:41.703 15. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 1:41.763 16. Anthony WEST (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:41.821 17. John HOPKINS (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:41.901 18. Olivier JACQUE (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:42.557 19. Niccolo CANEPA (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:42.652 20. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:42.698 21. Vittoriano GUARESCHI (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:43.435 From a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP had a tough first day at the Official IRTA Test in Jerez Spain, but was left with a clear direction for improvements as the day drew to a close. Loris Capirossi (P11, 1’40.843, 64 laps) and Chris Vermeulen (P15, 1’41.763, 79 laps) tested many different settings on their new 2008 Rizla Suzuki GSV-Rs, as they tried to find those extra fractions of a second to put them in a more competitive position. Both riders made definite breakthroughs later in the day and now have a clear direction in the way to go to improve on their lap-times tomorrow weather permitting. Today’s testing was held in dry, sunny but windy conditions at the 4.4km Spanish circuit, with track temperatures reaching 26ºC. Nicky Hayden recorded the quickest time today on his factory Honda. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has two more days testing at Jerez including a timed 40-minute session tomorrow afternoon where the fastest rider will win a brand new BMW car. Loris Capirossi: “It was not an easy day for us. We worked a lot on setting up the bike and we found some good solutions at the end of the day. We will continue to work on things tomorrow and we are really hoping for good weather so we can continue with what we have found today. We have some ideas to modify the bike. It is harder than we expected here at the moment, but we think we have a way to go to get out of this situation as quick as possible.” Chris Vermeulen “As Loris says, it was a difficult day today with the new bike. We were one of the only teams not to come here in November and that showed. We’ve had some good points out of the new bike and also some tricky areas, and we have worked on those here. It seems that we are struggling most on the edge grip, we can’t really get the grip we want and then apply the power. We made some big steps this afternoon and halved the gap from where we were this morning, now we just need to find the other half on a race-tyre. Hopefully tomorrow will be dry and the forecast is wrong so we can get another day’s full testing in because we really need it!” Paul Denning Team Manager: “There is no hiding the fact that it has been a difficult and somewhat disappointing first day here at Jerez. Most of our competitors spent three days here in November, but that should really have only made a difference for the first hour or so this morning. We expected to be competitive here and that we would have made improvements on our 2007 pace which was quite competitive at this circuit last year. There is no question that there is more potential in this GSV-R than last season’s bike, but for now the guys have some fundamental restrictions that are stopping them riding to their full capability. “The one very positive point, however, is that the motivation and the spirit within the team is extremely upbeat and that we have a very talented group of people that will be applying themselves completely to taking big steps forward over the next couple of days.” IRTA Test Day One Classification: 1. Nicky Hayden (Honda) 1’39.200: 2. Randy de Puniet (Honda) +0.244: 3. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) +0.328: 4. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +0.429: 5. James Toseland (Yamaha) +0.478: 11. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.643: 15. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +2.563: More, from a press release issued by JiR Team Scot: Debut day for JiR Team Scot’s ‘Silver Arrow’ in Jerez Today marked the dramatic debut of the new 2008 silver livery on the JiR Team Scot Honda RC212V. Andrea Dovizioso took his 2008 800cc MotoGP machine out for the first time today in its new livery at the 2.748-mile Jerez circuit. After many paddock rumours and much interest, JiR Team Scot revealed ‘the jewel of HRC’ resplendent with its striking monochromatic graphics, finally showing to the world what the bike will look like this season. Today was first of three days of testing dedicated to the set up of the technical package, including a number of 2008-specification upgrades. For the whole day Andrea Dovizioso and the team worked on their busy schedule always running his RC212V in race configuration and with race tyres. Cirano Mularoni JiR Team Scot Team manager “This first day has been a new horizon for us. The new silver livery is personal to us all and elegant and it shows to everyone that we’re doing something very different this year. We also have on the bike the new engine for our technical upgrade and the results are just what we expected. Obviously we’re comparing information today from our previous tests including the one here in November, so everyone in the team has really appreciated the step forward that we are making here. This is just the beginning as the workload and schedule will become even more intense over the next few days.” Andrea Dovizioso Rider, JiR Team Scot MotoGP HONDA RC212V Time 10th: 1’40″767 “I’ve never had a good feeling with the Jerez circuit, but riding this RC212V I was almost immediately in a position to ride very fast and have a lot of fun. We didn’t want to run qualifying tyres, but instead we decided to concentrate on the setting to find a good balance between the new technical items we have now. I’m very satisfied with the engine it’s more powerful than the previous one for sure. We are also working on different tyre solutions with Michelin to allow me to be both fast and consistent. We have been trying different profiles and both the 16 and 16.5-inch rim sizes. We have been improving, even if we have some small problems and we’re quite close to the lap times you usually do here in Jerez in race trim, so that is very positive.” Pietro Caprara Crew chief JiR Team Scot MotoGP “Today is a new beginning and our evaluation of the whole day’s work ended with Andrea doing a very good lap time. The team has now worked with the new engine and this obviously has now given us a new direction in which to work in. We now have to fine-tune the whole package. A big part of the work has been done in the garage, where we spent time, sharing a lot of data with both the Showa and Michelin technicians. We were probably on track less than we should have been, but results so far have shown that the cautious methods we’re using are the right ones to reach the target.” MotoGP Jerez test Day 1 1) Nicky Hayden Honda 1′ 39″.200 2) Randy de Puniet Honda 1′ 39″444 3) Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1′ 39″528 4) Colin Edwards Yamaha 1′ 39″629 5) James Toseland Yamaha 1′ 39″678 10) Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1’40″767 More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: As the three-day MotoGP Official Test got underway at Spain’s Circuito de Jerez today, Repsol Honda’s Nicky Hayden was the fastest rider with an eye-catching 1’39.200 lap on his Michelin qualifiers in the final hour of the session of the day, onboard the rapidly-evolving RC212V. The popular American, who hopes to regain the World title this season, was also the man with the most laps to his name, as has become something of a trademark throughout his MotoGP career. Today he put in 107 turns of the Spanish circuit as he continued to work on preparing every variable of his updated 800cc machine. The result was a boost for Hayden ahead of the first real ‘head-to-head’ event of the year on Sunday, as all the confirmed 2008 MotoGP riders and their test rider counterparts compete for a BMW Z4 M Roadster in a 40-minute BMW M Award ‘qualifying session’. Commenting on his day’s work Hayden stated: “Everything went pretty smooth. I’d say it’s definitely the best first day of a test we have had this year and things were pretty good. The few changes made to the bike were positive and the Michelins work well at Jerez.” Meanwhile, continuing what has been a fine preseason, Honda satellite rider Randy de Puniet was also up amongst the business end of the timesheets. He saved his fastest run on Michelin qualifiers for his very last lap of the day, riding round just over two tenths of a second slower than Hayden. LCR Honda’s sole rider, like the rest of the Japanese factory’s satellite contingent, has been awaiting a new engine for this latest test after working with the 2007 model during much of the preseason and made good use of his updated machine. Victorious in the past two 250cc races in Jerez, Jorge Lorenzo is proving equally at home at his home circuit onboard his 800cc Fiat Yamaha YZR-M1. The MotoGP rookie headed a trio of Michelin-shod Yamaha riders in the opening day’s top five, ahead of Tech 3 Yamaha satellite duo Colin Edwards and James Toseland. The Tech 3 Anglo-American partnership were debuting a new yellow and blue livery on Saturday, but would have stood out anyway with Edwards’ testing renaissance continuing unabated and Toseland’s upward progression in preparation for his rookie season in MotoGP. The top five were the only riders to go round with times under the 1’40 mark, although with discrepancies in the use of qualifiers or race tyres and focus of work there is not too much cause for concern for the trailing pack. Valentino Rossi set his quickest time on day one comparatively early in proceedings, on lap 32 of 92, to conclude the day in eighth position. The Italian was modelling a special edition look; a cake-themed helmet designed to celebrate his 29th birthday. He may be one of the hot tips to take home the BMW at the end of the test, but as of yet ‘The Doctor’ has not come close to his 1’38.394 time from last year and views Hayden as the man to watch on Sunday. Rossi commented: “Well, I have been working on track on my birthday and maybe tonight I will have a quiet meal with the team before another important day tomorrow. I think Nicky (Hayden) is favourite to win the BMW session, but Casey (Stoner) has shown how fast Bridgestone qualifying tyres can go, so I think it will be possible to fight for the car.” Indeed just below Rossi on the timesheet was 2007 MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner, who returned to the scene of a late November shoulder-damaging crash onboard his Ducati Desmosedici GP8, and ended the day in ninth place. Also riding injured in Jerez were testing returnees Dani Pedrosa and John Hopkins, two men still sore from respective hand and groin injuries picked up over the course of the preseason. Neither was able to crack the top ten, with Pedrosa 12th fastest and Hopkins 17th, although for both riders a return to race condition is the more immediate aim of this latest three day testing stint. Pedrosa clocked 37 laps with Hopkins only managing 28. Fans seemed to share the competitors’ enthusiasm for the first day of testing, with the paddock and grandstands welcoming a healthy turnout of MotoGP aficionados. The MotoGP Official Test 2008 continues tomorrow at Jerez, with the 40-minute timed session taking place at 2.05pm local time. More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: ROSSI CELEBRATES BIRTHDAY WITH PROMISING FIRST DAY IN JEREZ Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi, who celebrated his 29th birthday today, put in a strong showing on the first day of the Official MotoGP Test at Jerez de la Frontera in Southern Spain today. The seven-time World Champion spent the majority of the day atop the time sheets after lapping consistently fastest on race tyres throughout a long morning session, although he eventually finished the day further down the order in eighth position after several riders put in fast laps on qualifying tyres later on. Rossi continued to make good progress with his set-up on Bridgestone race tyres, making the most of the day’s good weather to put in a total of 92 laps on his YZR-M1. The birthday boy’s best time of 1’40.641 was only a fraction off the existing lap record, which he set on his way to a memorable victory over Sete Gibernau in the 2005 race here. His team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, who is riding on home soil for the first time since he officially joined the Fiat Yamaha Team in January, finished the day in third position with a time of 1’39.528, set on qualifying tyre on his 94th lap. Fastest man on track today was Nicky Hayden with a lap of 1’29.200. Tomorrow sees the traditional televised forty-minute timed session taking place between 1405 and 1445 local time. With a high possibility of rain the event, which Rossi ‘won’ here last year, looks like being an eventful battle for pre-season honours. Valentino Rossi Position: 8th Time: 1’40.641 Laps: 92 “It’s good to be here on my birthday because I love to ride my bike and I had fun today. I had a special helmet with the design of a birthday cake on it, so this was my way to celebrate today! For the first day it’s not so bad at all, I feel good with the tyres and the balance and power of the engine is also okay. Of course we’re not at 100% and we need to improve in some areas, especially in the entry to the corner where we’re not yet at the maximum. We tried a new generation of Bridgestone qualifying tyre today, whilst tomorrow we will have the more standard tyre, which we were very fast with in Sepang, so I think we will be able to fight with the others in the ‘qualifying’ session. Overall we’ve made a very good start and I feel confident that we can continue to be even faster tomorrow.” Davide Brivio Team Manager “We’ve made a good start today and done some very good work. At the end we tried a new type of qualifying tyre and on this we weren’t so fast but we will try what we know works tomorrow and hopefully we can be competitive alongside the others. It’s been a very positive day for Valentino and the whole team and we are looking forward to more of the same for the rest of the test.” More, from another press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: LORENZO MAKES IMPRESSIVE RETURN TO HOME SOIL IN JEREZ New Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo completed a promising first day of testing at the Official MotoGP tests in Jerez today. Although he rode the Yamaha here last November, today is the first time the 250cc World Champion has ridden on home soil in Fiat Yamaha colours as an official Yamaha rider, and the rookie marked an impressive day by finishing third fastest overall. Lorenzo started from the base setting he found here last November and spent the day developing his race set-up and testing both front and rear Michelin tyres, with positive results all round and some excellent times on race tyres. At the end of the day the 20-year-old put in an impressive lap on a qualifying tyre, setting a time of 1’39.528 on his 94th lap. His team-mate Valentino Rossi was eighth after setting his best lap on race tyres in a time of 1’40.641. Tomorrow afternoon will see the return of the traditional season curtain-raiser, a 40-minute timed and televised session with the riders fighting it out for pre-season honours and the prize of a new car. Jorge Lorenzo Position: 3rd Time: 1’39.528 Laps: 94 “This morning things didn’t start so well and I had a few problems, especially with the wind, but step-by-step we made some changes and I started to improve and feel better and better. We made some good changes to the bike and the chassis and finally we started to make improvements with the front end in the braking areas. We made a big step with the engine as well today, and we have some more power now. I have gained confidence today and I think in the end it’s been my best day so far. After the problems we had in Sepang, I can’t believe that we made such a good time on race tyres and the third best on qualifying tyres! Like I said, it was my best day despite the problems this morning but tomorrow I would like to have an even better one where everything is good right from the start!” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “Today was a positive day for us. We started the day with the same set-up as we used here in November and then gradually made changes to the setting and balance. We found more stability in the front for the rider going into the turns and also under acceleration, so this is encouraging for us. We also tested some Michelin tyres, both front and back, and found some promising new things to continue working with. Finally we tried a qualifying tyre, just to check the situation before tomorrow, and Jorge went very well with this. Now we hope for good weather for tomorrow so we can have another good day like this.” Test Times 1. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda 1’39.200 2. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1’39.444 3. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1’39.528 4. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 1’39.629 5. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 1’39.678 6. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’40.165 7. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’40.192 8. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1’40.641 9. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 1’40.651 10. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP ‘40.767 11. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’40.843 12. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 1’41.352 13. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 1’41.392 14. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team 1’41.703 15. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki 1’41.763 16. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing 1’41.821 17. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing 1’41.901 18. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki Racing 1’42.557 19. Niccolò Canepa (ITA) Ducati Test 1’42.652 20. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team 1’42.698 Jerez: Lap Record V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2005, 1’40.596 Jerez: Best Lap L. Capirossi (Ducati) 2006, 1’39.064 More, from a press release issued by Honda: Nicky Hayden and Repsol Honda top Jerez time sheets on opening day of three-day MotoGP test American Nicky Hayden Repsol Honda topped the times sheet at the end of day one of the three-day IRTA MotoGP test at Jerez today. In cool 18 degree temperatures and windy conditions Hayden, from Owensboro, Kentucky, put in an amazing 107 laps of the 4.423 km Spanish circuit. The 2006 MotoGP World Champion tested a variation of the latest RCV chassis which has a modified stiffness characteristic to the chassis he has run with in the previous two winter tests, while running with the 2008 version of the RC212V equipped with standard valve springs. Hayden also spent a large part of his day testing new tyres for Michelin. Hayden’s Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa returned to action at Jerez still nursing his hand injury sustained at the Sepang test in January. Today was about testing his physical condition and working his way back into action. The hand is quite tender and Pedrosa could manage no more than five consecutive laps before returning to the pits to ‘Ice’ his hand in a bid to reduce the swelling. The HRC satellite teams arrived on track at Jerez with their RC212V Hondas in complete 2008 technical specification. Until today the teams had been equipped with 2008 chassis’ powered by engines in 2007 spec. The new engine has delivered the promised improvements in every area. Better acceleration, improved mid-range power with a smoother delivery and an increase in top power has impressed the riders ad is reflected in the lap times they set today. Randy De Puniet took his LCR RC212V Honda to second fastest time. The Frenchman has been consistently fast all through winter testing and ran close to the top of the order all day today. De Puniet found the new engine more tractable than the old plot a great improvement as the team had struggled to find optimum rear end traction during the November 2007 test at Jerez. With the new engine and a solid base line set up for the rolling chassis De Puniet tested a variety of tyres for team supplier Michelin, again with positive results. San Carlo Gresini Honda riders Alex De Angelis and Shinya Nakano gave positive feedback about the latest engine developments the two men ending the day in sixth and seventh places respectively separated by a mere three-tenths of a second. Both men worked on finding a base set up for their RC212V’s then spent a large part of the day working with Bridgestone to evaluate a series of race and qualifying tyres brought to the track by the Japanese m,anufacturer, with very positive results. Andrea Dovizioso, JiR Scot Honda RC212V, spent his day on general machine set up and tyre testing ending the day in very buoyant mood, impressed by the step forward the machine has made. The young Italian is not a great fan of the Jerez circuit but the new RCV has given Dovizioso a fun day at Jerez for the first time and he ended day one more than satisfied with his performance. Honda rider lap times and quotes. Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 1m 39.200s on lap 84 of 107. “All in all, a pretty positive day. I would definitely say this was the best first day of tests we’ve had so far this year. And we knew it was important, because the weather experts are saying there’s a really good chance of rain the next two days. I tried a different chassis, it felt slightly better with a little more feel on the front, so we used that most of the day and it felt pretty good. We went through a few other things, not making big changes because we’re getting closer to the season now, just a few little settings changes, and when I thought things felt better the stopwatch normally went along with it, which is always good. At the end I did race distance and it didn’t feel too bad. We were able to get into the 40s on race tyres, though we still need to get in there a little deeper, we still need to improve a bit.” Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 1m 41.352s on lap 37 of 37. “The priority here is to check my physical condition. The hand still isn’t 100 per cent, today I couldn’t really do more than five laps at a time. The hand is very painful, especially during braking and direction changes. I am icing it after every ride in an attempt to keep the swelling to a minimum. I will continue icing it tonight and we will see how it is tomorrow morning. If the swelling is okay and I feel okay, we will continue riding. Today I was just trying to ride at a safe pace for my condition, so we weren’t really able to do any work on the bike or with tyres.” Randy De Puniet, LCR Honda: 1m 39.444s 82 of 82. “I am quite satisfied today. Since the first laps in the morning I felt that the bike was much better than the last test in November. I started to set good lap times on race tyres and my pace was very consistent. Once I came out with a new compound rear tyre I immediately cut six tenths of a second compared with the best lap time of last November and I felt surprised about it. Honestly my pace on race tyres has been impressive since the first run-out on this bike. Then, at the end of the session, I lapped on qualifiers clocking up some consistent and fast lap times. We got the new engine here but I was expecting something different. The power delivery is very smooth and like it but the maximum power has to be improved. We will work on it.” Alex De Angelis, San Carlo, Honda Gresini: 1m 40.165s on lap 72 of 75. “It has been a positive but difficult day because of the strong wind that was present throughout the session. It was really interesting to try out the new Honda engine, which as we expected is better than the previous version in every aspect. However, we still need some more kilometres on it and some different circuits to confirm the results from this test. We also had some really positive feedback from the new material from Bridgestone.” Shinya Nakano, San Carlo, Honda Gresini: 1m 40.192s on lap 76 of 82. “I’m really happy to be here in the new colours of Team San Carlo Honda Gresini. Today we completed a lot of laps because the weather forecast for tomorrow is not so good. I’m happy with the new Honda engine because it is easier to make the most of the power. We also tested the latest batch of tyres from Bridgestone qualifying and race rubber – and the results were positive in both cases.” Andrea Dovizioso, JiR Scot Honda: 1m 40.767s on lap 43 of 58. “I’ve never had a good feeling with the Jerez circuit, but riding this RC212V I was almost immediately in a position to ride very fast and have a lot of fun. We didn’t want to run qualifying tyres, but instead we decided to concentrate on the setting to find a good balance between the new technical items we have now. I’m very satisfied with the engine it’s more powerful than the previous one for sure. We are also working on different tyre solutions with Michelin to allow me to be both fast and consistent. We have been trying different profiles and both the 16 and 16.5-inch rim sizes. We have been improving, even if we have some small problems and we’re quite close to the lap times you usually do here in Jerez in race trim, so that is very positive.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Media Service: NICKY HAYDEN TAKES THE INITIATIVE THE FIRST DAY IN JEREZ The Repsol rider was the fastest on the first day of the MotoGP Tests. Teammate Dani Pegrosa was back in action today after the injury sustained in Sepang less than a month ago This morning the MotoGP Tests kicked off the first of three planned for the riders in the top category at the Jerez Circuit, in the south of Spain. The American rider from the Repsol Honda Team , Nicky Hayden, is ready to return to the top positions of the category, and after completing over one hundred laps on the Andalusian track, has finished the day with the best time. For teammate Dani Pedrosa, this was his second time wearing the Repsol Honda Team colours so far this year, due to the injury he sustained during the 2008 pre-season training sessions disputed in Sepang three and a half weeks ago. The American from the Repsol Honda Team demonstrated once again that he was untiring, completing more laps than anyone else on the Andalusian track, a total of 107, over 470 kilometres. Throughout the whole day he has achieved times that maintained him at the top of the category, and at the end, Hayden went on to head the classification. He stopped the chronometer at a stunning 1’39.200 secs, a register very close to the best lap ever accomplished by a motorcycle rider on the track at Jerez 1’39.064 secs by Italian Loris Capirossi in 2006. The day was not so easy for Spanish Repsol Honda Team rider Dani Pedrosa. Last January 23rd Pedrosa was operated on by Doctor Xavier Mir for a fracture to the second metacarpal bone of his right hand. Less than a month later, the repsol rider has got on a MotoGP again, with a scar still not fully healed. It was a day for adaptation, to check the state of his right hand and to recover little by little the sensations on his Honda RC212V. Pedrosa has been doing short runs, five laps at a time, as though recovery is going well, he still feels tension and discomfort that do not let him ride 100%. Today the first of three days of tests has been completed for the pre-season training sessions; the big moment will be tomorrow at midday, when a timed 40 minute session will take place, where the fastest rider in the category will win a car. Quotes MotoGP Dani Pedrosa, 1’41.352 secs, 37 laps, 164 Km. “The priority here is to check my physical condition. The hand still isn’t 100 per cent, today I couldn’t really do more than five laps at a time. The hand is very painful, especially during braking and direction changes. I am icing it after every ride in an attempt to keep the swelling to a minimum. I will continuing icing it tonight a nd we will see how it is tomorrow morning. If the swelling is okay and I feel okay, we will continue riding. Today I was just trying to ride at a safe pace for my condition, so we weren’t really able to do any work on the bike or with tyres.” Nicky Hayden, 1’39.200 secs, 107 laps, 473 Km. “All in all, a pretty positive day. I would definitely say this was the best first day of tests we’ve had so far this year. And we knew it was important, because the weather experts are saying there’s a really good chanced of rain the next two days. I tried a different chassis, it felt slightly better with a little more feel on the front, so we used that most of the day and it felt pretty good. We went through a few other things, not making big changes because we’re getting closer to the season now, just a few little settings changes, and when I thought things felt better the stopwatch normally went along with it, which is always good. At the end I did race distance and it didn’t feel too bad. We were able to get into the 40s on race tyres, though we still need to get in there a little deeper, we still need to improve a bit.” Official results MotoGP 1. Nicky HAYDEN (REPSOL HONDA) 1:39:200 2. Randy DEPUNIET(HONDA) 1:39:444 3. Jorge LORENZO (YAMAHA) 1:39:528 4. Colin EDWARDS(YAMAHA) 1:39:629 5. James TOSELAND (YAMAHA) 1:39:629 12. Dani PEDROSA (REPSOL HONDA) 1:41:352 More, from a press release issued by Monster Kawasaki: HOPKINS RIDES THROUGH THE PAIN BARRIER AT JEREZ After a successful team launch yesterday evening, the Kawasaki Racing Team got down to work proper today, during the first of three days of testing at the Jerez circuit in southern Spain. For John Hopkins today marked his first outing on Kawasaki’s Ninja ZX-RR since the turn one highside that prematurely ended his pre-season test at Phillip Island less than three weeks ago. The crash left the Anglo-American with a badly torn abductor muscle in his groin, which continued to cause Hopkins discomfort on the bike during today’s test. Hopkins managed to work his way through a short test programme to evaluate new components on his Ninja ZX-RR, but called it a day after riding through the pain barrier to complete 29 laps of the 4.423km Jerez circuit. The 24-year-old Kawasaki rider will continue testing tomorrow, but with his focus now on regaining full fitness in time for the opening race in Qatar, will stop should the injury continue to cause him problems on the bike. With his teammate still suffering with the effects of his injury, Anthony West shouldered the tyre testing duties for the Kawasaki Racing Team today. The 26-year-old Australian completed a total of 84 laps, as he worked to evaluate a range of new tyres brought to the test by Kawasaki’s tyre partner, Bridgestone. West will focus tomorrow on refining the set-up of his Ninja ZX-RR further, working with his crew to improve both the braking stability and agility of his machine. Kawasaki’s Technical Manager, Naoya Kaneko, is positive that, despite Hopkins’s injury, the Kawasaki Racing team has made big steps forward with the machine set-up today but the aim remains to strengthen the overall package prior to the season opener. Anthony West 15th – 84 Laps – 1:41.821 “This morning we managed to make some small improvements to the set-up of the bike here at Jerez, before switching our attention to tyre testing for Bridgestone. We tested a number of new tyre combinations, with positive results, and I’m sure the data we collected will prove useful to Bridgestone’s development process. Tomorrow we will return to fine-tuning the bike for the characteristics of the Jerez circuit, which is very different in character to Sepang and Phillip Island. With John being injured we have many settings to try and we want to make the best use of the track time so we can be in contention right from the first race.” John Hopkins 16th – 29 Laps – 1:41.901 “The injury has caused me a few more problems than I was expecting today and it’s still quite painful. My main aim has to be to regain full fitness for the first race, so although I will definitely continue testing tomorrow, it may be that we call it a day early if the injury continues to be a problem. It’s definitely been a case of riding through the pain barrier today, but I don’t want to jeopardise the recovery process by pushing too hard too soon. On a more positive note we did manage to test some parts today, we’ll just have to see how the injury feels before we make a decision on what to do next.” Naoya Kaneko Kawasaki Technical Manager “Today Anthony completed a tyre evaluation and we collected some good development data for Bridgestone. We have done a lot of work with the balance of the machine, mainly working with the suspension and, although we still have some work to do to make machine more stable, we are making good progress. We are not 100% where we’d like to be yet, but we also have some new components to test for improving engine performance of the machine. Our target at the moment is to have better turning and to have a better overall package for the first race. With John’s injury it’s difficult to see where we’re at, but sometimes we face these problems in racing; for us it’s important that he is fit for the first race and I am not worried about machine set-up so much for him.”