STONER ALSO QUICK IN THE WET WITH THE DESMOSEDICI GP7 Casey Stoner showed today that he is a quick rider in all conditions with the Ducati Desmosedici GP7, even in the cold and wet conditions that greeted the MotoGP riders the day after Sunday’s Spanish GP at Jerez. The young Australian, determined to make use of the conditions and time available to test tyres and wet-weather set-up, put on his leathers and helmet late in the morning to notch up a best time of 1m51.736s in his 21 laps. His Ducati Marlboro team-mate, Loris Capirossi, did not take part in the test as he returned to Monte Carlo on Sunday evening immediately after the race to be close to his wife Ingrid for the expected birth of their first child, Riccardo, in the next few days. Test-rider Vittoriano Guareschi lapped with Stoner and in the hope that conditions will improve, the Ducati Test Team will remain at Jerez for the next two days in order to continue development work on the Ducati. The MotoGP Championship now takes a three-week break before the Turkish GP race scheduled for April 22 at the Istanbul Park Circuit, the first track where there has been no winter testing and where as a result the new 2007 rules limiting the number of tyres will be put to the test. Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team), 1m51.736s (21 laps) “When I woke up this morning and saw that, like in Qatar, we were unable to test in normal conditions, I tried to look on the bright side of things: I’ve only tested the Bridgestone wets once and this was a good opportunity to do some more laps. For sure it would have been better to test in the dry but at least the day wasn’t wasted. We worked on the tyres and the electronics without trying to go for a quick time. I’m pleased with the way things went and I think it will be useful for races with similar conditions. Now I’m going back to Monte Carlo for a day or two and then back home to Australia, where I’ll start to train for the Turkish GP, a race that I like a lot”. Conditions: wet. Temperatures: air 13 Celsius / track 12 Celsius Times, Monday 26 March 2007 1. Olivier Jacque (Kawasaki) 1’51.422 (52 giri) 2. Randy De Puniet (Kawasaki) 1’51.502 (59) 3. Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) 1’51.536 (27) 4. Kenny Roberts Jr (Kr-Honda) 1’51.567 (30) 5. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 1’51.736 (21) 6. Carlos Checa (Honda) 1’51.827 (44) 7. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1’51.899 (41) 8. Alex Barros (Ducati) 1’52.129 (36) 9. Toni Elias (Honda) 1’52.198 (56) 10. Shinya Nakano (Honda) 1’52.212 (53) 11. Nicky Hayden (Honda) 1’52.637 (67) 12. Marco Melandri (Honda) 1’52.842 (45) 13. Alex Hofmann (Ducati) 1’52.904 (55) 14. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 1’53.104 (36) 15. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1’53.240 (51) 16. Silvayn Guintoli (Yamaha) 1’55.992 (44) 17. Makoto Tamada (Yamaha) 1’57.917 (38) 18. Akiyoshi Kousuke (Suzuki) 1’58.635 (36) 19. Vittoriano Guareschi (Ducati) 2’00.291 (33) More, from a press release issued by Gresini Racing Honda: WET TESTING FOR MELANDRI AND ELIAS AT JEREZ Wet birthday for Toni Elias at Jerez that todays celebrates his 24th anniversary. The rain, started to fall from early morning, spoiled today’s test session. The Gresini Honda riders worked on the set up of the bike on wet conditions, collecting positive sensations. Tomorrow Marco Melandri and Toni Elias will continue testing at Jerez. TONI ELIAS (1’52″198, 56 laps): “We would have preferred to test on dry conditions. Anyway it was a positive day because we could test on wet, working on the set up, compared to last time I tested here on wet, today the feeling was a lot better even if there is still room for improvements. Tomorrow we need dry conditions for an important tyre testing”. MARCO MELANDRI (1’52″842, 45 laps): “It was the first time that we tested with Bridgestone tyres on wet conditions. We worked on the set up and the feeling was good. Today we were supposed to work on the front of the bike and test qualifying tyres but we couldn’t because of the rain. I hope that the weather improves for tomorrow”. More, from a press release issued by Konica Minolta Honda: KONICA MINOLTA Honda enjoys productive wet Jerez test day The KONICA MINOLTA Honda Team and rider Shinya Nakano enjoyed a very productive wet test session at the Jerez circuit today. With the majority of teams present from yesterday’s Spanish Grand Prix, the rainy conditions allowed Shinya to try Michelin’s wet-weather tyres for the first time. Coming back to use the French tires in 2007, Team and rider were glad to adjust the test schedule with the different weather conditions. Nakano who led the wet Australian Grand Prix for a number of laps last year was sitting near the top of the standings during most of the day when the track was completely flooded. The former 250cc championship runner up completed a total of 54 laps setting a best time of 1’2.212″. Nakano qualified seventh for the weekend’s Spanish GP and eventually came home in 10th place. The next round of the 2007 MotoGP World Championship takes place in Istanbul, Turkey in just over three weeks time on April 22nd. Shinya Nakano Rider, KONICA MINOLTA Honda (Total laps 54 1′ 52.212″) “It has been a very interesting and positive test in these wet conditions. Rain tyres of different brands can have a completely different character and feel, so after many seasons on Bridgestones, it was good to try the Michelins. Although I prefer to ride and race in the dry, I enjoyed riding today in the wet very much and could feel the grip from both the front and rear. As a result, I could get some really good lap times in, which has been very good for my confidence. The feeling I had from the bike and the tyres in the wet was very good and that’s the sort of feeling we’re after from the bike in dry conditions, too. Once I have found a setting to give me the same feeling then I know we will go much faster. Today we compared both the 2006 and 2007 Michelin wet tyres so that was a very useful exercise in itself. Obviously for the conditions our settings at both the front and rear are much softer for the wet, but we did try many different settings and combinations to analyse and give us some ideas of what we could try for the dry. We still have a small chattering problem from the front-end, but I’m more confident thanks to being near the top of the timing sheets for most of the day.” Giulio Bernardelle Technical Director, KONICA MINOLTA Honda “This was a good first test in full wet conditions and the result was very good. We tested for around four hours in total, running continuously from 12.30pm. It was good that all the major teams were here, which gave us a good yardstick to measure ourselves against. We tried some 2006 specification Michelin wet tyres first and also made some setting adjustments for Shinya. This was the first time for Shinya on the new Honda RC212V in wet conditions. We also tested some settings, in particular, for gearbox and suspensions. It was a normal job but it allowed us to define a good base set up to be used when we will find these conditions during the season. We were pleased as Shinya had a particularly good feeling from the tyres, even with the front. So much so, that the problem we’ve had in the dry in the first part of the corner seems not to be present in the wet with wet settings. This meant that Shinya was at one point the quickest Michelin rider for a while. As the track began to dry at the end of the day we decided to stop while our rider was in 6th position overall.”