Yamaha Factory Racing Out In Front In Qatar Yamaha Factory Racing commenced the latest stage of their pre-season testing schedule today, joining the rest of their MotoGP counterparts on track at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar. This third test of the season is arguably the most important so far, as Losail will play host to the first race of the season in just over three week’s time. After two successive tests in Malaysia, the change of venue offers Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards the chance to gauge the performance of their 800cc Yamahas in different conditions, as well as to measure themselves alongside a full line-up of their rivals. Once again the new 800cc bikes were proven to be just as fast as their 990 predecessors, with five riders lapping under the current lap record, set by Rossi on route to victory here last year. Edwards and Rossi were out in front of the field, with the American posting the fastest lap of the day in a time of 1’56 774. Rossi was just over a tenth of a second behind him with a best time of 1’56.891, followed by Casey Stoner (Ducati) with a time of 1’56.960. Colin Edwards Position: 1st Time: 1’56.774 Laps: 67 “We’re coming here off the back of a fantastic test in Sepang and we’ve started on pretty good form again today. Things aren’t totally perfect; the first-choice front tyre that we found in Malaysia and which I was super-happy with isn’t available here at the moment and I felt I was lacking a bit of feeling in the morning, but we changed a few things on the setting and at the end of the day everything made sense. Despite the good time we’ve definitely got room for improvement, which we hope will come with a couple of different tyres tomorrow and some new things we want to try on the setting. Anyway, the really encouraging thing is that we’ve come to a new track and the bike has worked well straight out of the box; let’s hope that’s the case everywhere this year! We did a lot of work on the braking in Sepang and we don’t have any problems with that here, so it looks like we fixed those problems. It’s been a very productive first day in every aspect.” Valentino Rossi Position: 2nd Time: 1’56.891 Laps: 59 “This is a very important test because the first race is here in just a few weeks, so we’re working really hard in order to have the bike ready for that! Today was quite good and I am happy with the work we’ve done as a team; we were fast straight away and it’s good to see that our bike works well at a different track. We continued to develop some things with the setting and we also worked on tyres with Michelin. This is a hard track for them so it’s important we are ready with the tyres for the first race. The bike felt very good from the start and you can ride it well; we don’t have any chatter, or any particular problems at all, so we’re in a better position than last year. I am also happy because Colin is fast; in fact, he’s a little bit faster than me! This is a good sign though, because it shows how good our bike is. Of course we still have areas to improve and so we will continue to work hard for the next two days.” Davide Brivio Team Director “It was a good start to the test for us, because both riders are fast and the bike seems to work well here. For sure everybody else will also improve in the coming days, so we can’t afford to be complacent, but we will continue to work as hard as we can and hopefully we can keep going like this.” Unofficial Lap Times 1. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 1’56.774 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 1’56.891 3. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati 1’56.960 4. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team KR 1’57.064 5. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 1’57.070 6. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki 1’57.350 7. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati 1’57.360 8. Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda 1’57.370 9. Alex Barros (BRA) Ducati 1’57.690 10. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 1’57.700 11. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki 1’57.730 12. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda 1’57.760 13. Alex Hoffman (GER) Ducati 1’57.800 14. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda 1’57.850 15. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki 1’57.900 16. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Yamaha 1’58.408 17. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki 1’58.740 18. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda 1’59.400 19. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Yamaha 1’59.700 20. Shinichi Ito (JPN) Bridgestone Test 1’59.966 21. Andrew Pitt (AUS) Ilmor 2’01.667 22. Jeremy McWilliams (IRE) 2’10.341 Qatar Lap Record (990cc): Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2006 – 1’57.305 Qatar Best Lap (990cc): Casey Stoner (Honda) 2006 – 1’55.683 More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: SUZUKI MOTOGP PROGRESS IN QATAR Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has completed the first day of the Official MotoGP Test in Qatar as the team continues with the development of the GSV-R800 prototype motorcycle. John Hopkins ended the day with a time of 1’57.35 almost a second-and-a-half quicker than his best 2006 race lap – from his 63 laps. The Anglo-American spent the majority of the test getting the set-up correct for the new bike. Hopkins and his crew made many different geometry settings as they continually-developed the GSV-R throughout the day. Team-mate Chris Vermeulen carried out a similar test schedule to Hopkins today and consistently improved on his times as the day progressed. He recorded 61 laps of the 5.3km circuit and clocked a fastest time of 1’57.94, almost a second quicker than his best time during last year’s Qatar Grand Prix. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will carry out a full and comprehensive test of Bridgestone race tyres – that have been specially designed for this track over the remainder of the test: The Japanese tyre company will be working closely with the team to get the best grip and durability for the GSV-R around this desert circuit. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: QATAR WELCOMES THE FIRST OFFICIAL MOTOGP TEST OF 2007 The Kawasaki Racing Team resumed their intensive pre-season test schedule with the first of three days of testing at the Losail International Circuit on the outskirts of Doha in Qatar. This official test is the first at which all the MotoGP teams and riders have participated, providing everyone with the perfect opportunity to compare progress with their rivals. This is of particular importance for Kawasaki with their new Ninja ZX-RR, as the previous incarnation of their MotoGP racer was not well suited to the Qatar circuit. After two productive tests in Malaysia, Randy de Puniet and Olivier Jacque were quickly up to speed in Qatar today, as they continued to work on refining the set-up of their Ninja ZX-RR machines. The focus throughout the three-day test will be on identifying the best set-up and race tyre combination for when they return to Qatar for the opening race of the season in three weeks time. Randy de Puniet and his crew had to overcome minor chatter problems at the start of today’s test, but this was successfully dialled out with slight modifications to set-up. After the compulsory midday break, the 25-year-old Frenchman continued with his planned test schedule, finishing with a best time of 1’57.73s after completing 88 laps of the 5.380 km Losail circuit. Olivier Jacque also spent today working on refining the set-up of his Ninja ZX-RR. Unfortunately, the 33-year-old Frenchman was forced to cut short the opening day of testing after 67 laps, when he banged his head in a crash at turn two and was forced to go to hospital for observation. Apart from the sore head Jacque was uninjured, but a decision as to whether the Frenchman will continue testing tomorrow will be delayed until his condition has been fully assessed. Randy de Puniet: 88 Laps – Best Lap 1’57.73 “It was a good test. We focused on working on the set up this morning before doing some rear tyre testing for Bridgestone in the afternoon. The objective is to find a good tyre for the first race of the season, but for this moment we don’t know yet which tyre will we going to use neither for the race, nor for tomorrow’s race simulation. We still have some more tyres to try though. Tyre endurance is essential here and tomorrow we will check it. We also need to improve the setting as we have mainly focused on tyres today. We have to improve all the set up but mainly front suspension in order to gain more corner speed. I’m pretty fast at the fastest parts of the track but I need to improve on the first part. Today it’s been the first day and I’m sure tomorrow I will be able to improve my lap times.” Naoya Kaneko: Technical Manager “Overall, our objective was finding a good base set up for the first Grand Prix of the year, which will take place here in less than a month. Basically, we started with the best set up that we had from Sepang. First, we confirmed some of the basic set up and then did small modifications to adapt it to Losail, which is also a fast track. We worked as well on tyre choice, which will be very important as well. We worked really close with Bridgestone to find the best tyre to optimize our package. Tyre life is critical here. Apart from that, I’m not worried about lap times because they will come when we find the best set up. We understood from the last test that for us it is more important to focus on tyre life to be able to perform consistently for 22 laps, a race length. At the moment, a couple of the tyres we tried have potential but we need to confirm it tomorrow. First day is still too early to draw conclusions. Especially at this track which is not in perfect conditions yet.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Edwards and Rossi maintain Yamaha form at Official Test in Qatar MotoGP Official Test Day 1/3 – Losail Circuit, Qatar – Tuesday 13th February 125cc The entire 2007 MotoGP grid and the full quota of 800cc bikes were gathered together for the first time today, as all 21 riders participated in the first day of the MotoGP Official Test in Qatar. The three days of preparation will be crucial for the teams, as they prepare for their next visit to Losail for the season’s curtain-raiser on March 10th. Carrying on from where he left off at last week’s test at Sepang, Colin Edwards was the fastest rider on day one in Qatar. The factory Yamaha rider, who predicted the possibility of a one-two with team-mate Valentino Rossi this season after topping the timesheets in Malaysia, put in a lap of 1’56.774 during the afternoon run-out. Five times MotoGP World Champion Rossi was close behind the ‘Texan Tornado’, trailing his Yamaha colleague by just over a tenth of a second. Increasingly comfortable on the 800cc M1, the Italian has had a storming preseason so far, and continued to work hard on the bike at the track where he won his first race of the 2006 season. In his best performance so far in preseason, Casey Stoner was the fastest Ducati at Losail today. The Australian joined Edwards and Rossi as one of only three riders to break the 1’57 barrier as he revisited the scene of his first ever premier class pole. Heading an American trio that completed the top six, Kenny Roberts Jr was another rider to pick up the pace on the opening day in Qatar. After initial tests less than a month ago, the KR212V appears to have undergone a rapid development process as the team look to build on a resurgent final 990cc season. Reigning World Champion Nicky Hayden was on the pace despite placing outside the fastest four, just under half a second off Edwards’ fastest lap at a session where the top ten were all within a breath of each other. He continued work on the new Michelin 16″ front tyre which is to become the French manufacturer’s standard in 2007. Suzuki’s John Hopkins rounded off the top six, ahead of premier class veterans Loris Capirossi, Carlos Checa and Alex Barros, who suffered a light crash in the afternoon without consequences. A rider thankfully staying accident-free was the returning Jeremy McWilliams, making a brave comeback after the numerous injuries he suffered at his previous test at Jerez. The Ilmor GP rider had to use crutches to move around the paddock but, once on the bike, was able to continue development of the newest team on the MotoGP grid’s 800cc prototype. Temperatures at the track were a comfortable 23ºC, and rain was never a threat to the proceedings. The MotoGP Official Test continues in Qatar tomorrow from 9am local time. MotoGP Official Test: Qatar Day 1 Unofficial Times 1. Colin Edwards, Yamaha Factory – 1’56.774 2. Valentino Rossi, Yamaha Factory – 1’56.891 3. Casey Stoner, Ducati Marlboro 1´56.960 4. Kenny Roberts Jr, Team Roberts – 1’´57.064 5. Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda – 1’57.070 6. John Hopkins, Rizla Suzuki – 1’57.350 7. Loris Capirossi, Ducati Marlboro – 1’57.360 8. Carlos Checa, Honda LCR – 1’57.370 9. Alex Barros, Pramac d’Antin Ducati- 1’57.690 10.Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda 1´57.700 11. Randy de Puniet, Kawasaki Racing – 1’57.730 12. Marco Melandri, Honda Gresini 1´57.760 13. Alex Hofmann, Pramac d’Antin Ducati- 1’57.800 14. Shinya Nakano, Konica Minolta Honda – 1’57.850 15. Chris Vermeulen, Rizla Suzuki – 1’57.900 16. Makoto Tamada, Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 – 1’58.408 17. Olivier Jacque, Kawasaki Racing – 1’58.740 18. Toni Elias, Honda Gresini 1´59.400 19. Sylvain Guintoli, Dunlop Yamaha Tech3 – 1’59.700 20. Shinichi Ito, Ducati TTT 1´59.966 21. Andrew Pitt, Ilmor GP 2´01.667 22. Jeremy McWilliams, Ilmor GP – 2’10.341 More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: ANOTHER GOOD START FOR THE DESMOSEDICI IN QATAR The Ducati Marlboro Team today started the last of the non-European preseason test sessions with the first of three days at the Losail circuit in Qatar. This test holds extra significance given that the same circuit will play host to the opening round of the 2007 MotoGP World Championship on March 10th, with similarly fresh spring conditions expected. Another interesting factor is that all of the MotoGP teams are together on track again after going their separate ways in recent weeks, with Ducati, Honda and Suzuki having headed down to Australia whilst Yamaha and Kawasaki opted for a second test in Malaysia. Casey Stoner got off to an excellent start at a circuit where he has already shown a penchant for speed, the Australian youngster having set pole position here in 2006 with a lap of 1’55.683. Today he was only a second off that pace on race tyres as he circulated inside the track’s race lap record, held by Valentino Rossi (1’57.305). Just a few tenths behind Stoner was his team-mate Loris Capirossi, who suffered an innocuous crash in turn one just moments before the end of the session. However, like Casey, Loris also felt comfortable with the bike from the opening laps – another promising sign of the Desmosedici GP7’s adaptability to a variety of different circuits, as indicated in earlier tests. Casey Stoner (56 laps – best time: 1’56.964) “It has been a really positive day. I didn’t know what to expect from this test because even though we went so fast at Phillip Island I thought that was mainly because it is a track that is really suited to the Ducati. In fact, the setting worked well here from the first few laps and with just a few small set-up changes the bike is working really well. We’ve also done a good job with the tyres, which I am very satisfied about. I did have a little bit of chatter today but nothing to worry about too much. In the last three tests at Sepang, Phillip Island and now here we have taken big steps forward and now I’m able to get a good feeling with the Ducati straight away. I’ve got to say thanks to the team because they’re doing a great job!” Loris Capirossi (54 laps – best time: 1’57.360) “I am quite satisfied with how we have worked today. We’ve tried a lot of tyres and picked out a couple of things that work well although at the moment there is still a little room for improvement to reduce the rear chatter. Anyway, the bike has adapted well to this circuit and that is positive. I crashed in turn 1 just a few minutes from the end but luckily I wasn’t hurt. These things happen when you push to the limit and the important thing is not to injure yourself.” Losail Circuit Record: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2006, 1’57.305 Losail Pole Record: Casey Stoner (Honda) 2006, 1’55.683 Temperature: Ambient 21 ° – Track 33° Unofficial lap times, Tuesday 13th February: Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 1’56.774 Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1′ 56.891 Casey Stoner (Ducati) 1’56.964 Kenny Roberts (KR – Honda) 1’57.064 Nicky Hayden (Honda) 1’57.070 John Hopkins (Suzuki) 1’57.350 Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 1’57.360 Carlos Checa (Honda) 1’57.370 Alex Barros (Ducati) 1’57.69 Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1’57.700 Randy De Puniet (Kawasaki) 1’57.730 Marco Melandri (Honda) 1’57.760 Shinya Nakano (Honda) 1’57.850 Alex Hoffman (Ducati) 1’57.860 Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) 1’57.900 Makoto Tamada (Yamaha) 1’58.408 Olivier Jaques (Kawasaki) 1’58.740 Toni Elias (Honda) 1’59.400 Sylvain Guintoli (Yamaha) 1’59.700 Shinichi Ito (Ducati) 1’59.966 Andrew Pitt (Ilmor) 2’01.667 Jeremy McWilliams (Ilmor) 2’10.341 More, from a press release issued by Ilmor GP: Ilmor GP make progress in Qatar Losail, Qatar 13.02.07: As Jeremy McWilliams made his return to the race track today in Qatar, Ilmor GP enjoyed a good day at the Middle East circuit clocking up a total of 68 laps (Pitt 50, McWilliams 18) of the 5.38km track. McWilliams resumed testing duties on the Ilmor GP with Australian team mate Andrew Pitt, for both the main focus of the test is to increase the steady progress being made on the bikes overall development. Pitt focussed heavily on the electronics whilst McWilliams readjusted himself back onto the bike after his two month absence. The team are pleased with the overall progress made today having worked hard during the short break after the test in Sepang last week. Hopes remain high that the team will continue to make improvements for the remainder of the three day test. Jeremy McWilliams, Ilmor GP Rider: “I feel good but I feel like my performance could definitely have been better. It was great to be back out on the bike though, it felt fantastic. As I’ve said before there is an enormous amount of work ahead of us but I’m confident that we’re making real progress. The circuit here is good, it’s a technical track and physically demanding but when you’re on form, it’s great fun to ride.” Andrew Pitt, Ilmor GP Rider: “We’re certainly making progress, I feel much happier than I did in Sepang last week. I spent most of today working with the electronics team and we’re really starting to chip away at the teething problems we have been experiencing. I’m looking forward to doing more over the next couple of days.” Mike Janes, Ilmor GP Team Manager: “I’m pleased, we made some progress today and we’re inching heading in the right direction, albeit a bit slower than we would like. The team worked tremendously hard to get the bikes as ready as possible after Sepang, where we amassed analysed a lot of data acquired there, and I think this, teamed coupled with the strong feedback that we’re now getting from both riders has helped us today. Let’s see what we can make of the next two days.” Steve Miller, Ilmor GP Managing Director: “The team put in a solid performance today, I’ve seen an improvement to the engine control and characteristics. We were a little concerned after the test in Sepang that we might not be progressing as fast as we had hoped but today has lifted a few spirits. We have two more days here and then the test in Jerez next week not as much time as we would like but now we have both riders out on track and a very focussed and determined team, I’m feeling positive about coming back here for the start of the season.” More, from a press release issued by Gresini Racing Honda: MELANDRI AND ELIAS BACK ON TRACK IN QATAR The entire 2007 MotoGP grid gathered together for the first time today, as all 21 riders participated in the first day of the MotoGP Official Test in Qatar. The three days of preparation will be crucial for the teams as Losail will play host to the first race of the season on March the 10th. On the first day of testing, the Honda Gresini riders worked on chassis and tyre testing in order to create a base for the losail track. Marco Meandri completed 64 laps , 1’57” 76 his best time, lapping only 4 tenths slower than the track record set last year by Valentino Rossi. Marco’s team mate Toni Elias worked on the bike setting and tyre testing. He completed 54 laps (1’59″04). MARCO MELANDRI (64 laps, 1.57.76): “Today we worked on chassis, suspensions and tyre testing in order to find the best base on this track. I’m very happy with my bike, I feel confortable and I have a good feeling. We lapped always with race tyres, focusing on the distance in preparation of the race. At the moment we are not 100 per cent but I’m confident. We are working with Bridgestone technicians to decide the line to follow in preparation of the race”. TONI ELIAS (54 laps, 1.59.04): “We started with the base of the previous test sessions and we worked on the bike setting and made some tyre testing. We tested several tyres but for the moment we haven’t found one for my characteristics, but I’m confident because the Bridgestone technicians are working hard”. UNOFFIAL LAP TIMES 1. Colin Edwards, Yamaha Factory – 1’56.774 2. Valentino Rossi, Yamaha Factory – 1’56.891 3. Casey Stoner, Ducati Marlboro – 1´56.960 4. Kenny Roberts Jr, Team Roberts – 1’´57.064 5. Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda – 1’57.070 6. John Hopkins, Rizla Suzuki – 1’57.350 7. Loris Capirossi, Ducati Marlboro – 1’57.360 8. Carlos Checa, Honda LCR – 1’57.370 9. Alex Barros, Pramac d’Antin Ducati- 1’57.690 10.Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda – 1´57.700 11. Randy de Puniet, Kawasaki Racing – 1’57.730 12. Marco Melandri, Honda Gresini – 1´57.760 13. Alex Hofmann, Pramac d’Antin Ducati- 1’57.800 14. Shinya Nakano, Konica Minolta Honda – 1’57.850 15. Chris Vermeulen, Rizla Suzuki – 1’57.900 16. Makoto Tamada, Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 – 1’58.408 17. Olivier Jacque, Kawasaki Racing – 1’58.740 18. Toni Elias, Honda Gresini – 1´59.040 19. Sylvain Guintoli, Dunlop Yamaha Tech3 – 1’59.700 20. Shinichi Ito, Ducati TTT – 1´59.966 21. Andrew Pitt, Ilmor GP – 2´01.667 22. Jeremy McWilliams, Ilmor GP – 2’10.341 More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing: MotoGP test Losail, Qatar. Opening day of three-day test, February 13, 2007. Honda riders on the pace at Qatar MotoGP test The final ‘Fly away’ MotoGP pre-season test session got underway at the 5.380 km Losail circuit Qatar today, the opening day of a three-day test. All 21 riders contesting the 18-round World Championship series are testing at the same venue for the first time this year. The six Honda RC212V riders, plus Kenny Roberts Jnr aboard the Honda powered Team Roberts KR212V put in a hard but fruitful day in near perfect conditions with temperatures of 23′ and very little wind. World Champion Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda) was fast from the off holding fastest lap time until just after lunch and eventually ending the day with fifth fastest time as he worked his way through the test programme laid out by the HRC engineers. Hayden refined the settings he used at Phillip Island during the last RC212V test. Working on the chassis, suspension and engine settings the World Champion felt real progress has been made declaring that; “This is the best I’ve felt on the new bike straight out of the gate.” His best lap time of 1m 57.07s was just 0.296s off the best lap time of the day. Hayden’s team-mate, Dani Pedrosa, a former three-times world champion in the smaller capacity classes, adopted his typical step-by-step approach to testing. The young Spaniard spent a very positive opening day running through a series of refinements to the base set up of his RC212V setting his best time of the day on the very last lap of his 79 lap stint. The Gresini Honda squad enjoyed mixed fortunes on the opening day of the test. Marco Melandri spent his day chasing a competitive base line setting for his RCV. The Italian tested a range of chassis, suspension and tyre combinations. Melandri ran on race tyres all day focusing on race distance runs. Melandri’s team-mate, Spaniard Toni Elias had a less productive day. Elias refined the base set up of his RCV and spent time testing for Bridgestone working hard with the tyre technicians to find tyres to suit his unique riding style. However, Elias is confident that Bridgestone will develop the tyres he needs to be fast in time for the first grand prix. Kenny Roberts Jnr was the fastest Honda powered rider on track today. Riding the Team Roberts KR212V the American former 500cc world champion shaded Champion Hayden by just 0.006s on the time sheets. Working on the new chassis and suspension Team Roberts managed to eradicate the mid-corner handling problems they had experienced at recent test sessions and Robert Jnr goes into tomorrow in confident mood tyre testing for Michelin. Carlos Checa worked on perfecting the base line set up the LCR team established at Phillip Island with Checa putting in 88 laps at consistent times. The Spaniard will concentrate on tyre testing tomorrow. Konica Minolta Honda rider Shinya Nakano feels the team have taken a big step in the right direction. Nakano retained the same basic set up he ran with at the recent Phillip Island test and this allowed the team to concentrate on the overall geometry of the RCV in a bid to further improve the handling characteristics. The three-day test at Qatar is crucial for the teams and riders preparing for the season as the Losail circuit hosts the opening round of the 18 round series, on March 10. Honda rider quotes and lap times. Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 1m 57.07s – 82 laps. “This is the best I’ve felt on the new bike straight out of the gate and I definitely think we’re getting the base settings right for me – we didn’t have to change too much at all for this track to be semi-close. For most of the day we were going forward which is good because it was nice to see that progress. We’re not quite down in those 1m 56s laps where we need to be but we’ve learned some things that we can build on. There are a lot of good guys in my corner, a lot of good engineers from Honda and a good team around me and I’ve got to use that to my advantage with getting the bike dialled in. This is an important test because the opening race of the season is right here in Qatar so we’ve got to be ready to go. Conditions were good, though the day went fast so we’ll be looking for two more good days to make a lot more progress.” Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 1m 57.73s – 79 laps “We had a good first practice and that’s positive because it’s important here to be in good shape for the first round of the season. The weather is perfect at this stage – neither hot nor windy – and we will see over the course of the test how much we can improve the bike. Today we were trying to find the limits on the bike and I think it’s interesting to ride the 800cc bike here. You can feel that there’s less power on the long straight but not into the corners. We also still have two days to test Michelin tyres and choose the best ones for the race”. Marco Melandri, Gresini Honda: 1m 57.760s – 64 laps. “Today we worked on chassis, suspension and tyre testing in order to find the best base on this track. I’m very happy with my bike, I feel comfortable and I have a good feeling. We lapped always with race tyres, focusing on the distance in preparation of the race. At the moment we are not 100 per cent but I’m confident. We are working with Bridgestone technicians to decide the line to follow in preparation of the race”. Toni Elias, Gresini Honda: 1m 59.400s – 54 laps. “We started with the base of the previous test sessions and we worked on the bike setting and made some tyre testing. We tested several tyres but for the moment we haven’t found one for my characteristics, but I’m confident because the Bridgestone technicians are working hard”. Carlos Checa, LCR Honda: 1m 57.370s – 88 laps “This first day has been quite positive. We are still working to develop the new machine gathering useful data for the season’s “kick off”. I lapped on the base set-up we used in Australia and I feel satisfied because it worked very well even if this track is completely different from Phillip Island. This means that we found the right direction to go. However there are still a couple of things to fix up. Tomorrow we will focus on the front end testing different tyres”. Shinya Nakano, Konica Minolta Honda: 1m 57.850s. “At this time of year in Qatar the temperature is just perfect for testing. Furthermore, we need to thank the Superbike riders who were here up until yesterday for the condition of the track, as it was very good and clean from sand. Thank you! We started today using the settings we found in Phillip Island as a base and continued testing small adjustments to the bike many of the changes made the new Honda RC212V feel better and better. We concentrated on the overall geometry of the bike to try and improve handling still further. Tomorrow we will spend our time testing different Michelin tyres and at the end of the test we will go for that fast lap!” Kenny Roberts Jnr, KR212V: “Not too bad today, much better. We made a step forward since the Phillip Island test. We worked on a lot of suspension and chassis stuff and got the bike to work better in the middle of the corner. We refined the general set up on the latest chassis and we are pretty pleased with things so far. We were fast and set consistent lap times all day. At the end of the day we started testing with Michelin and the stuff they gave us looks pretty promising. We will do more work on tyres tomorrow in combination with various chassis – suspension setting options.” MotoGP Official Test: Qatar Day 1 Unofficial Times 1. Colin Edwards, Yamaha – 1m 56.774s. 2. Valentino Rossi, Yamaha – 1m 56.891s. 3. Casey Stoner, Ducati – 1m 56.960s. 4. Kenny Roberts Jnr, Team Roberts KR212V – 1m 57.064s. 5. Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda – 1m 57.070s. 6. John Hopkins, Suzuki – 1m 57.350s. 7. Loris Capirossi, Ducati – 1m 57.360s. 8. Carlos Checa, Honda LCR – 1m 57.370s. 9. Alex Barros, Pramac d’Antin Ducati- 1m 57.690s. 10.Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda – 1´57.700s. 11. Randy de Puniet, Kawasaki Racing – 1m 57.730 12. Marco Melandri, Gresini Honda – 1m 57.760s. 13. Alex Hofmann, Pramac d’Antin Ducati – 1m 57.800s. 14. Shinya Nakano, Konica Minolta Honda – 1m 57.850s. 15. Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki – 1m 57.900s. 16. Makoto Tamada, Yamaha Tech 3 – 1m 58.408s. 17. Olivier Jacque, Kawasaki Racing – 1m 58.740s. 18. Toni Elias, Gresini Honda – 1m 59.400s. 19. Sylvain Guintoli, Yamaha Tech3 – 1m 59.700s. 20. Shinichi Ito, Ducati TTT – 1m 59.966s. 21. Andrew Pitt, Ilmor GP – 2m 01.667s. 22. Jeremy McWilliams, Ilmor GP – 2m 10.341s.