From a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: ROSSI COMPLETES MALAYSIAN TEST WITH IMPRESSIVE RACE SIMULATION Valentino Rossi rounded off a successful three days in Malaysia with another impressive day’s testing at the Sepang International Circuit today. The high point of the Italian’s day was his race simulation, when he lapped consistently under lap record pace and improved on his time from the January test, as well as on last year’s race time. Rossi was pleased both with the performance of his 2008-spec M1 and with his Bridgestone tyres, today’s results indicating that he and his team are on target with their pre-season development. His best time of 2’01.190 was set on a qualifying tyre on his 23rd of 48 laps, putting him second in the standings behind team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, who topped the time sheets today with an impressive time of 2’00.705. The Fiat Yamaha Team will reconvene closer to home at Jerez in Spain on Saturday, 16th February for the three-day Official MotoGP Test, the penultimate test before the season kicks off in March. Valentino Rossi Position: 2nd Time: 2’01.190 Laps: 48 “I’m really happy about today’s race simulation and about the overall balance of this test. Everything has gone well and the race-simulation was an improvement on the one from last time; this is the real test of where we are. We’ve worked on various different items in many different areas but we’ve had positive feedback throughout. It’s given me the chance to better understand the tyres and today’s simulation has given me even more information about how they behave. We’ve worked more at this test on the set-up of the bike to enable it to work as well as possible with the new tyres and we’ve also continued to work on the new engine, which will be the standard one for this season, and on the electronics. We’ve still got a lot to do but so far everything is progressing well. Now we’re looking forward to Jerez and seeing where we are at a new track alongside all of our competitors.” Davide Brivio Team manager “This test has been very positive; all the hard work that the Yamaha engineers have put in over the winter is now showing in our good results so I would like to say a big thank you to all of them. We’ve seen improvement in all the different areas in which we’ve worked in this week and so we hope that these results will help us to create a competitive package. Today’s race simulation was good and an improvement on January, plus the individual lap times within it were fast and consistent. This is a very important indication of our level. We’ve only done 50% of our pre-season testing, we have two more to go before the first race but we hope to continue improving like this and arrive at the first race in good shape and ready to commence our challenge.” Test Times 1. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 2’00.705 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 2’01.190 3. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda Gresini 2’02.135 4. Alex De Angelis (RSM) Honda Gresini 2’02.194 5. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki Racing 2’03.021 6. Tamaki Serizawa (JPN) Kawasaki Racing 2’03.623 7. Yamaha Test Rider (-) Yamaha Test Team 2’06.000 8. Yamaha Test Rider (-) Yamaha Test Team 2’06.040 Sepang: Lap Record Casey Stoner (Ducati) 2007, 2’02.108 Sepang: Best Lap V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2006, 2’00.605 More, from another press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: LORENZO ON TOP DESPITE STRUGGLES ON FINAL DAY IN SEPANG Jorge Lorenzo finished his second test of the year in positive fashion today with an impressive lap on qualifying tyres. The young Fiat Yamaha Team rider had a somewhat difficult test overall and was unhappy not to improve in the way he had expected to, but his performance on Michelin qualifying rubber at the end of the day gave him some cause for cheer. Like his team-mate Valentino Rossi, Lorenzo had planned to complete a race simulation today but he abandoned it after a few laps when he found he was lacking pace, deciding instead to spend the remainder of the day working on set-up and tyre testing with Michelin. His time of 2’00.705, set on the 72nd of 73 laps, was an improvement on his best qualifying time from the January test and good enough to leave him at the top of the day’s time sheets, with Rossi in second after a best lap of 2’01.190. Lorenzo and his team will now enjoy a short break before the Official MotoGP Tests commence at Jerez in southern Spain on 16th February. Jorge Lorenzo Position: 1st Time: 2’00.705 Laps: 73 “This has been a difficult test for us but not completely negative. The major problem is still the front end going into the corners; the bike is not stable and we also have a bit of vibration. We’ve tried many different settings but we haven’t been able to improve as much as we expected, so this means that I still need to adapt my riding style in some areas. Today I started to do a race simulation but I came in again because my pace was not good enough. At the end of the day we tried some qualifying tyres and I was able to improve on my time from the last test, so that’s positive. I’m not worried about what’s happened here; I’ve had bad days before and I have confidence that we will find the right way forward. I am looking forward to going to a different track now and seeing what happens there.” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “After the January test, when we had quite a good pace, we hoped to improve again this time but unfortunately this hasn’t been the case. We’ve tried many different things with the chassis and the suspension settings but we still have some problems going into the hard braking areas. It’s been a useful test despite this however because we’ve had the chance to refine some mapping, improve the cooling system with the new fairing and to find some new tyres with Michelin. Jorge has worked very hard this week; the hot weather makes his job more difficult and of course he’s not used to so much winter testing outside of Europe like this, so well done to him. Now everyone has a short rest and hopefully we’ll start in better shape in Jerez.” Test Times 1. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 2’00.705 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 2’01.190 3. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda Gresini 2’02.135 4. Alex De Angelis (RSM) Honda Gresini 2’02.194 5. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki Racing 2’03.021 6. Tamaki Serizawa (JPN) Kawasaki Racing 2’03.623 7. Yamaha Test Rider (-) Yamaha Test Team 2’06.000 8. Yamaha Test Rider (-) Yamaha Test Team 2’06.040 Sepang: Lap Record Casey Stoner (Ducati) 2007, 2’02.108 Sepang: Best Lap V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2006, 2’00.605 More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Bridgestone MotoGP: Sepang Test Debrief Thursday 7 February 2008 With barely time to regroup after last week’s test in Australia, Bridgestone Motorsport was back in action at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia this week with three of its teams completing useful work in anticipation of the forthcoming 2008 season, which gets underway in Qatar in precisely one month’s time. After opting to skip the previous test at Phillip Island, the Fiat Yamaha team returned with Valentino Rossi conducting only his third test using Bridgestone tyres. The Italian has quickly adapted to his new rubber and set a quick pace on all three days with impressive performances using race and qualifying tyres. His two quickest times of the week 2m00.3s on Tuesday and 2m00.472s on Wednesday set using qualifying tyres were quicker than the existing track record from 2006, 2m00.605s, which Rossi himself holds. The San Carlo Honda Gresini team continued their relentless pre-season testing campaign with rookie Alex de Angelis and new team rider Shinya Nakano both getting up to speed with their machines and latest specification Bridgestone tyres. The Kawasaki test team was also busy over the three days with Olivier Jacque and Tamaki Serizawa on machine testing duties. Ducati, who have shown strong pace at the previous two test sessions, Suzuki, Alice and Kawasaki Racing teams were not present in Malaysia this week, in accordance with their testing plans. Arguably the highest profile pre-season test of the year takes place at the Jerez Circuit in southern Spain next weekend where 2008 season development continues over three days, but with the added spectacle of the qualifying-style Official Practice shoot-out on Sunday 17 February. Q+A with Tohru Ubukata – Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager Motorcycle Race Tyre Development What has Bridgestone been evaluating with Yamaha, Kawasaki and Honda Gresini this week? “Several of our teams who tested in Phillip Island and Sepang over the last few weeks opted not to join this week’s second Sepang test, but we have continued to gather useful data with three GP riders Valentino Rossi, Alex de Angelis and Shinya Nakano. We have been able to gather more data for fundamental tyre development but we have also been able to confirm the results from the last Sepang test back in January and to make adjustments accordingly.” Have you been satisfied with the results? “It has been another trouble-free test with some encouraging times set using our race tyres. Track conditions were not optimum on the first day, but by the end of the test, the track was actually better than the last test in January, which allowed us to try some more meaningful race simulation runs.” Will Bridgestone have anything new to test at next week’s Jerez test? “Jerez test is always the most closely observed pre-season test and we will test with all six teams and eleven GP riders. We approach Jerez with a firm focus on our race trim performance, since it will be an invaluable opportunity to prepare for the Spanish GP at the end of March. We will also continue with our fundamental tyre development for the season, fine-tuning our Sepang and Phillip Island tyres to suit tracks with comparatively cooler track temperatures. In Jerez, all our riders will want to have a chance of winning the car in the Official Practice session, so we will do all we can with our qualifying tyres to help boost their chances.” More, from a press release issued by Gresini Honda Racing: SAN CARLO HONDA GRESINI TEAM CONCLUDED POSITIVILY THE FIRST PART OF THE WINTER TESTS BEFORE THE START OF THE 2008 CHAMPIONSHIP This week’s three day test on the Malaysian racetrack in Sepang concluded yesterday, 7th February, for both San Carlo Honda Gresini Team’s riders. During the third and last day of test, Japanese Shinya Nakano and San Marino’s Alex De Angelis have continued their work in the same direction as the previous days. Both are pleased with the bike’s performance during race simulation but are trying different set-ups in order to improve lap timings with Bridgestone qualifiers. Further improvements are expected next week in Jerez de La Frontera, where the traditional IRTA tests will take place starting from February 16th. Fausto Gresini – Team Manager “I believe these winter tests have produced some very positive results in preview of the 2008 Championship. Both our riders have been testing for a very long period, they have covered more than 3000km in the last couple of weeks and they are physically very tired, but this great effort was necessary in order to start the season in the best shape. On the last day of this week’s second 2008 Malaysian test, both Alex and Shinya have worked hard on qualifying tyres: we still have to improve a lot in this respect, but I am not worried at all. Starting form Jerez, during next week’s IRTA test, Bridgestone will provide us with new tyres, both race type and qualifiers, and I think this will represent a step forward for my team’s performance. As for the race pace, both my riders have obtained interesting results, although the bike’s engine was still the 2007 version. In Jerez, Honda will provide us with the new engine 2008 version and for sure we will be even more competitive.” Sepang – 7th February, best lap times: 1. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha-Fiat) 2.00.705 (73 laps) 2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha-Fiat) 2.01.190 (48) 3. Shinya Nakano (Honda-Gresini) 2.02.135 (23) 4. Alex De Angelis (Honda-Gresini) 2.02.193 (20) 5. Olivier Jacque (Kawasaki) 2.03.021 (50) 6. Tamaki Serizawa (Kawasaki) 2.03.623 (31) 7. Yamaha Test Team P 2.06.000 (27) 8. Yamaha Test Team T 2.06.040 (44) Records: Pole: Pedrosa (2007, Honda) 2.01.877 Fastest Lap: Stoner (2007, Ducati) 2.02.108 Record: Stoner (2007, Ducati) 2.02.108 Best Lap: Rossi (2006, Yamaha) 2.00.605