IRTA team tests Catalunya, Spain Saturday, March 19, 2005 DUCATI MARLBORO MEN TRY NEW ENGINE-BRAKING SYSTEM Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Carlos Checa tried the factory’s new engine-braking system for the first time at Catalunya today. Both men reckoned the new system, which has been extensively tested by test rider Vitto Guareschi, to be very promising. However, their progress was interrupted by two unrelated tumbles – Capirossi suffering a highside crash on the exit of turn three, Checa slipping off as he rode through the first chicane. Both riders will be able to continue testing tomorrow, the last day of this three-day teams test session. “The crashes were a shame because they interrupted our work and prevented us from completing today’s tyre testing programme with Bridgestone,” explained Ducati Marlboro Team Technical Director Corrado Cecchinelli. “On the other hand we are happy that both Loris and Carlos were able to test the new engine-braking system for the first time. Vitto has done a lot of debugging and set-up work with the system and both our Factory riders reckon it’s already good and neither of them had any problems with it. We may continue testing it at Jerez next week, because tomorrow we want to focus on testing tyres. I think the system is a very promising new development, though it’s too early to say when we will race with it. All I can say about the system at this stage is that it’s special software that manages both engine and clutch for improved stability during braking, whereas last year we used an idle-control system. Some people seem to think we are using a semi-automatic gearbox here but we have no such thing. We tested a semi-automatic gearbox on a Superbike some years ago but we’ve never tried one on our MotoGP bike.” CAPIROSSI: ‘NEW SYSTEM HAS GOOD POTENTIAL’ Loris Capirossi evaluated the new engine-braking system this morning, focusing more on development work than on lap times. This afternoon he was lucky to escape pretty much unscathed from a spectacular highside tumble. The Ducati Marlboro Team man fell as he powered out of turn three. “We started the day testing the new engine-braking system which seems to have good potential but, of course, needs more development work,” said Capirossi, 12th quickest today. “Because we were focusing on evaluating the system we weren’t able to really work on the rest of the bike. So we still haven’t found the perfect set-up for this track, which is what we will work on tomorrow.” CRASH STOPS CHECA EARLY Carlos Checa was baffled by his crash, which happened midway through turn two (the left-hander in the first chicane) with no brake or throttle input. The Ducati Marlboro Team rider suffered bruising to his left shoulder and calf and underwent treatment at the Clinica Mobile to ensure he’s in good shape for testing tomorrow. “The crash stopped me from doing more work on the new engine-braking system, which was a shame,” said the Spaniard who ended the day 14th quickest. “I only didi two runs with this system, so I didn’t have enough time to fully understand it but I’m sure we will keep working on it at the next tests”. Capirossi: 1’43.731 Checa: 1’43.882 More, from a press release issued by DORNA Communications: Biaggi remains in control as action intensifies at MotoGP Official Test Max Biaggi launched another late time attack on his rivals at the end of the second day of action at Catalunya on Saturday to continue his dominance of the MotoGP Official Test. Having waited until the final lap of the session to post the decisive lap on Friday, Biaggi struck slightly earlier today but still left it late as a host of Honda rivals battled for supremacy in the setting spring sunshine. “Other pieces of the puzzle are fitting into place,” reflected Biaggi. “The final picture is of an RC211V which works at every circuit. Today we confirmed different solutions we’ve been working on during the winter. We went out onto the track with new parts in the chassis and suspension geometry. I think it is important that we have clear ideas about the job we have to do, but we still have a lot of work ahead.” The day was dominated by the Japanese factory’s riders, with Sete Gibernau and Marco Melandri also making their presence felt for long spells at the top of the time sheets. In fact, the top five times were set by Honda riders today, with Gibernau and Melandri third and fourth fastest respectively after Alex Barros had briefly held top spot before being demoted to second by Biaggi. Nicky Hayden completed the top five, with Yamaha’s Colin Edwards the fastest non-Honda in sixth place. Edwards’ team-mate Valentino Rossi, the reigning World Champion, continued to encounter problems today with the set-up of his YZR-M1 machine and could only finish with the ninth fastest time, over a second adrift of Biaggi, despite lapping right up until track closure at 6pm. Makoto Tamada made it six Hondas in the top seven whilst John Hopkins showed signs of improvement from Suzuki ahead of their official presentation tonight as he lapped eighth quickest. Hopkins’ team-mate Kenny Roberts completed the top ten ahead of Kawasaki rider Shinya Nakano and Ducati’s Loris Capirossi. The MotoGP Official Test reaches its climax tomorrow, when the fastest rider from a 40-minute televised session starting at 14.00h will drive away in a brand-new BMW Series 1 car as the prize for the BMW Award. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team Press Office: MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2005 PRE-SEASON IRTA TEST CATALUNYA, SPAIN 19 MARCH 2005 NAKANO FASTER AS BIG BANG DEVELOPMENT CONTINUES Glorious spring weather continued in Barcelona today, allowing the Kawasaki Racing Team to complete another intensive day of pre-season testing at the Circuit de Catalunya. Riders Shinya Nakano, Alex Hofmann and Kazuki Shimizu completed a total of 160 laps in the build-up to the opening race of the season at Jerez on April 10. The three-day IRTA test concludes tomorrow. Nakano continued to focus on Kawasaki’s new big bang Ninja ZX-RR engine, which only made its public track debut at the February Sepang test in Malaysia. The 27-year-old Japanese rider also evaluated new front and rear tyres from Kawasaki’s tyre partner Bridgestone. Hofmann’s main programme today was tyre testing with the latest generation of compounds and constructions aboard his Ninja ZX-RR fitted with the standard ‘screamer’ motor. Hofmann will switch to the big bang engine specification for tomorrow’s final day of testing at Catalunya. Hofmann also briefly evaluated a different stiffness swinging arm and plans to do further work on this set-up tomorrow. Test rider Shimizu, who is riding the Circuit de Catalunya for the first time, continued in his role of gathering engine and fuel injection data to support the big bang motor development programme. Kawasaki’s exhaust system sponsor Akrapovic supplied a range of different pipes for testing; including a four outlet system that Kawasaki technical director Ichiro Yoda said was the preferred option for the new revised firing order motor. Tomorrow’s track schedule features the annual 40-minute qualifying shoot-out, with a BMW 1 Series car going to the rider who sets the fastest time. Shinya Nakano: #56 – 60 laps (1’43.688) “This was a very hard day, with a lot of tyre testing and trying to sort out some problems with the engine braking system on the new big bang motor. The bike is unstable on corner entry, so I have to ride around that, and this makes it hard work on the bike. One of the new Bridgestone rear tyres I tried was very good, with excellent side grip, and this helped me do my fast lap. The 2005 ZX-RR has a lot of potential, but I’ll be happier when I’m going faster.” Alex Hofmann #66 – 55 laps (1’44.668) “I did a lot of tyre testing today, mainly rears, to try and confirm some direction for the opening races of the season with the new compounds. Bridgestone have obviously been working hard and there is an improvement in rear side grip at maximum lean angle. The plan is for me to switch to the big bang engine tomorrow, and I’m looking forward to finding out how much it has improved since I first tested it at Jerez last month.” Kazuki Shimizu: #40 – 45 laps (1’51.822) “I have been testing and learning the track at the same time today. This is a high-speed circuit, but I’m enjoying my first visit to Barcelona. My job is to support Shinya’s engine test programme, to collect as much data as possible, and to ride fast without crashing.” Ichiro Yoda – Technical Director “The big bang engine concept has a character that is different from the even firing order of the ‘screamer’ and this produces the corner entry problems that Shinya is experiencing. This test has helped us to understand the problem and we are working on a solution, but this will not be available for testing until next month.” More, from a press release issued by Camel Honda: Camel Honda team amongst the fastest on second day of tests in Barcelona The Camel Honda team were amongst the front runners throughout the day, with Alex Barros at the top of the standings for the most time before finishing with an excellent second fastest time, well under the circuit’s pole record. Troy Bayliss rode at a good pace on race tyres, sliding down the order only once the other riders had put in their qualifying tyres, which he chose not to use. Sito Pons Camel Honda “For our team this has been a good day; as we expected really after yesterday’s promising start. Alex was quick throughout, and even ahead of the rest on race tyres meaning that he has definitely got a good rhythm going, but he was also quick with the softer tyres in. He is the rider to have improved most on yesterday’s performance. Troy didn’t use the soft tyre and with the racing tyre in he has ridden well. I think the pair of them are working well and tomorrow we can make more progress. These tests here in Barcelona are positive for us and also for the sport, not just because of the great weather that helps our work, but there were also a lot of fans here showing their support.” Alex Barros Camel Honda 1’42.506 (68 laps) 2nd fastest “I’m quite satisfied, but not completely, because I think we can go even better with both the qualification tyres and the race tyres. I lapped consistently around 1’43.0 whilst I think that the right pace is about a 1’42.8. I want to get there tomorrow and to do so we will work on the set-up during the morning. Tomorrow will be a strange day, we won’t be able to make use of a hundred percent of the time to test things. We will begin at 11.30 like today, because the asphalt is too cold before that. We will stop at 1.00pm to do the official MotoGP photo and then from 2pm to 2.40pm there will be the qualifying period. It is the first time I have tested with the qualifying tyres this year, but I “only” took half a second off my time, whilst I think they are worth more. I still have to improve there.” Troy Bayliss Camel Honda 1’43.810 (95 laps) 13th fastest “Despite what the lap times show, I’m happy with this second day of work. We made more progress compared to yesterday and always on the harder tyres. It isn’t a race tomorrow and what is important to me is improving my settings. If we manage to make a step forward again tomorrow, I will be happy with these first three days in Spain.” Official Lap Times 1. Biaggi (Honda) 1’42.260, 2. Alex Barros (Camel Honda) 1’42.506, 3. Gibernau (Honda) 1’42.796, 4. Melandri (Honda) 1’42.926, 5. Hayden (Honda) 1’42.953, 6. Edwards (Yamaha) 1’43.129, 7.Tamada (Honda) 1’43.207, 8. Hopkins (Suzuki) 1’43.250, 9. Rossi (Yamaha) 1’43.291, 10.Roberts (Suzuki) 1’43.563 , 11.Nakano (Kawasaki) 1’43.688, 12. Capirossi (Ducati) 1’43.731, 13.Bayliss (Camel Honda) 1’43.810, 14. Checa (Ducati) 1’43.882, 15. Elias (Yamaha) 1’44.343, 16.Itoh (Ducati) 1’44.621, 17.Hofmann (Kawasaki) 1’44.668, 18.Xaus (Yamaha) 1’44.928, 19. Rolfo (Ducati) 1’46.036, 20. Guareschi (Ducati) 1’46.129, 21. Aoki (Suzuki) 1’46.227, 22. Byrne (Proton) 1’46.368, 23 Ellison (Blata) 1’47.818, 24.Battaini (Blata) 1’48.613, 25. Shimitzu (Kawasaki) 1’51.822. More, from a press release issued by the Gauloises Yamaha Team: Catalunya IRTA Tests Catalunya, Spain Saturday 19th March Gauloises Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards enjoyed contrasting fortunes on the second day of the MotoGP Official Tests at the Catalunya circuit in Spain today. Both riders were well inside the circuit record of 1’44.641 but, on another day of bright sunshine and warm spring temperatures, the reigning World Champion Rossi continued to encounter difficulties with the set-up of his 2005 version YZR-M1 machine and ended the day with the ninth fastest time. However, his team-mate Edwards was the leading challenger to Honda’s factory squadron, lapping sixth quickest and making his way through a mountain of tyre testing work alongside Michelin’s engineers. Edwards has adapted swiftly to the M1 after switching from Honda at the end of last season and today lapped 2.5 seconds quicker than he had done on the RC211V machine during the race at this circuit in the Catalunya Grand Prix last June. The quickest lap of the day was set by yesterday’s top man Max Biaggi, who again stunned his rivals with a late charge just minutes from the end of the marathon eight-hour session. The Italian’s lap of 1’42.260 was some three tenths quicker than the pole position record at this circuit, set by Sete Gibernau with a time of 1’42.596 last season. Gibernau and his team-mate Marco Melandri had enjoyed long spells at the top of the time sheets throughout most of the day. However, as the sun set and the track cooled, Biaggi and Alex Barros both mounted late rallies which would see them take the top two places and relegate Gibernau and Melandri to third and fourth respectively. Nicky Hayden completed the all-Honda top five. VALENTINO ROSSI (1’43.291, 69 laps) “We’ve had a few problems and worked on the setting to try and get a better feeling but we didn’t manage to fix things today. We honestly don’t know why we are not able to work at 100%. We’ve tried a few different ways but we’ve made some mistakes. Tomorrow I’ll try to win the BMW but today we weren’t fast even on qualifying tyres. We’ve got a lot of work to do. Hopefully the weather stays nice so that we can continue working and prepare for the next test at Jerez.” COLIN EDWARDS (1’43.129, 73 laps) “To be honest I’m really happy with today. As far as the bike set-up is concerned, it’s barely been touched since the Sepang and Phillip Island tests. We tried a couple of things out but more or less ended up going back to where we started, and I feel comfortable with that. It’s a good sign because it means we’ve got a good base setting for the bike which should work at most of the circuits. We’ll make some small changes tomorrow to see if we can refine things but we won’t be straying too far from what we have. This morning I tested a whole bunch of front tyres and in the afternoon we moved on to the rears, so it was a solid day’s work for me.” JEREMY BURGESS – ROSSI’S CHIEF ENGINEER “Racing wouldn’t be any fun if there wasn’t some hard work involved. I suppose we were too good last year so we’ve decided to make things interesting by creating a few problems for ourselves! We’ll keep working tomorrow and see what we can come up with – there is still a long way to go before the start of the season.” TIMES: 1. Max Biaggi (Repsol Honda Team) 1’42.260 2. Alex Barros (Camel Honda) 1’42.506 3. Sete Gibernau (Team Movistar Honda) 1’42.796 4. Marco Melandri (Team Movistar Honda) 1’42.926 5. Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda Team) 1’42.953 6. COLIN EDWARDS (GAULOISES YAMAHA TEAM) 1’43.129 7. Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda) 1’43.207 8. John Hopkins (Team Suzuki MotoGP) 1’43.250 9. VALENTINO ROSSI (GAULOISES YAMAHA TEAM) 1’43.291 10. Kenny Roberts (Team Suzuki MotoGP) 1’43.563 More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki MotoGP: Team SUZUKI MotoGP finds more speed Team SUZUKI MotoGP racers John Hopkins and Kenny Roberts Jr found extra pace from their GSV-Rs in today’s second day of official testing at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain, helping them both to move into the top 10 fastest lap times. The Suzuki GSV-R was over 10kmh faster along the start finish straight compared to the race in 2004, marking significant progress in the performance and development of Suzuki’s Grand Prix prototype. John Hopkins took more than 1.5seconds off his lap time from yesterday, recording an impressive 1min43.250 on Bridgestone development race tyres. He completed 77-laps in the eight-hour long test session, setting consecutively fast times before finishing under a second behind the day’s quickest lap – attained with the use of a qualifying tyre – set by Max Biaggi. Kenny Roberts Jr improved his time from yesterday with a 1min43.563 lap, which was three-quarters of a second faster than yesterday. He spent most of his 55-laps on track testing new front and rear compound Bridgestone tyres. Team SUZUKI MotoGP will continue with its testing programme during Sunday morning’s practice before the officially timed test session in the afternoon when the fastest rider will win a new car. John Hopkins: “I’m ecstatic with today’s test, this is the best I’ve felt since qualifying second at Motegi last year. The GSV-R is coming good and although we spent time going in the wrong direction with our settings, we changed that and everything worked out for the best. “I did five consecutive laps in the 43’s and the best bit is I know that I can go quicker.” Kenny Roberts Jr: “My team worked really hard today to find me the grip and durability I wanted from my race tyres. We now have an idea of what is available and will use tomorrow’s testing to further improve on the overall set-up of the GSV-R.” Paul Denning, Team Manager: “I was impressed to see John going so well during today’s test – he did a great job with 77 laps completed – and to have both riders move up into the top-10 is also very pleasing. Kenny was consistently on a good pace and found a better balance at the end of the session. This has been yet another positive day for us and we have made more steps forward. “Bridgestone has worked really well with us on a circuit that isn’t particularly favouring our tyres at this point. We are all working hard and progressing together.” MotoGP Test-Free Practice classification: 1.Max Biaggi (Honda) 1’42.260: 2.Alex Barros (Honda) 1’42.506: 3.Sete Gibernau (Honda) 1’42.796: 4.Marco Melandri (Honda) 1’42.926: 5.Nicky Hayden (Honda) 1’42.953: 6.Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 1’43.129: 7.Makoto Tamada (Honda) 1’43.207: 8.JOHN HOPKINS (TEAM SUZUKI MOTOGP) 1’43.250: 9.Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1’43.291: 10. KENNY ROBERTS JR (TEAM SUZUKI MOTOGP) 1’43.563: More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing: IRTA MotoGP test Barcelona, Spain. Day two of three-day test. March 19, 2005. Biaggi retains fastest time on second day of the IRTA MotoGP test Italian Max Biaggi continued his pre-season testing in the best possible way setting the fastest time of the day at the IRTA MotoGP test at Barcelona, for the second day running. Repsol Honda factory rider Biaggi worked non-stop on Michelin tyre testing before trying for a fast lap. Biaggi had set his time in the very last minute of testing making it almost impossible for another rider to better his time. Nicky Hayden, on the second factory Repsol Honda, was back at his best today. The young American worked hard with the Michelin engineers and quickly regained his confidence in the front-end of his RCV to run consistently fast times. The former AMA Superbike Champion was up to second fastest by mid-afternoon, eventually ending the session in fifth place. Like Biaggi the majority of the Honda RC211V riders dedicated much of their day to rolling chassis testing, mainly in conjunction with Michelin tyre testing. Alex Barros (Camel Honda) was fast all day. The Brazilian found the optimum front fork setting yesterday and set about tyre testing in earnest from the start of the todays session. He worked his way through a selection of tyre combination eventually finding the optimum set for the conditions an ended the day with second fastest. Barros’ teammate, Troy Bayliss, was 6/110ths of a second faster than his best time of yesterday. The Australian had found a very good balance for his Camel Honda on the opening day and worked to establish the best possible suspension setting to get the best out of the Michelin’s. Telefonica MoviStar Honda riders Sete Gibernau and Marco Melandri had dominated the day’s testing. The two riders topped the time sheet for most of the day only to be passed by Biaggi and Barros in the last two minutes of the final session. Spaniard Gibernau eventually claimed third fastest on the day with Melandri just behind him. Melandri was the first rider at the test to set a time at under 1m 43 seconds and did it again late in the afternoon only to see his time bettered by his three more experienced RCV riders. Konica Minolta teamster Makoto Tamada, third fastest on the opening day only managed to better his time by a tenth of a second but ran tyre simulation tests. The Japanese star, a double GP winner in 2004, striving to find the optimum chassis tyre and suspension settings ready for the ‘Official timed practice session’ tomorrow afternoon. Honda rider lap times and quotes. Max Biaggi, Repsol Honda: 1m 42.260s “Other pieces of the puzzle are taking the right spot. The final drawing is the one of a RC211V respectable on every circuit. Today we confirmed different solutions we’ve been working on during the winter. We went in the track with some new parts about chassis and suspension geometry. I consider very important that we have clear ideas about the job to do, but still theres a lot to work on. It means that we can grow much stronger and also that Honda potential is very high. The feeling with my team is getting stronger day by day, I’m happy about it. Even the lap times are not that bad, but, once again, I’m here for my new bike, I’m not looking for a new car.” Nicky Hayden Repsol Honda: 1m 42.953s “Things went a lot more smoothly after lunch. I honestly got a little frustrated this morning, as things just weren’t coming. We just got in a rut. When it don’t come it just wasn’t happening. I was just hitting my head against a brick wall. We chilled out a bit and had a break and got on some better Michelin’s and things just started clicking. We ended up being a lot faster than we’ve been here all weekend. Were not constant enough yet but I’m feeling a lot more confident on the bike. Especially in T4 downhill fast corners. Were making up a lot of time there. I’m looking forward to tomorrow a lot more than I was at lunch.” Makoto Tamada, Konica Minolta Honda: 1m43.207s “In the first part of the day I have began to work by testing some changes, while after a short break I went back on the track to continue the work started yesterday by the team. The bike reacts well to my commands and the more we work on it the more I take my Honda RC211V to the limit in every part of the circuit. I think tomorrow I will have a good opportunity to be one of the fastest riders of the official test session.” Sete Gibernau, Telefonica MoviStar Honda: 1m 42.796s “I am very satisfied with the level we are working at this preseason. They’ve been two very intense days with a lot of testing and they have confirmed that every small step we take is very important. I am very focused on my job, following my own line and I appreciate the interest being shown by Honda. We haven’t used qualifying tyres at all today and we were consistently at the top. I want to do a race simulation tomorrow and get the bike as ready as possible for the first Grand Prix, which is only days away. The ‘superpole’ tomorrow would be good for all the people who have come here to support us but it’s not the most important thing.” Marco Melandri, Telefonica MoviStar Honda: 1m 42.926s “Yesterday we started working on the base we found in Qatar and today we made a few changes to the setting to try and analyse the data from this circuit and get ready for a full race simulation tomorrow. I’m not interested in using qualifying tyres – I tried them once in Qatar but I wasn’t at the level I am now and I’d prefer to get ready for the season. We’ll keep working on that tomorrow but I’ll do everything I can in the timed session to set a fast lap, which I haven’t done up to now”. Alex Barros, Camel Honda: 1m 42.506s “I’m quite satisfied, but not completely, because I think we can go even better with both the qualification tyres and the race tyres. I lapped consistently around 1’43.0 whilst I think that the right pace is about a 1’42.8. I want to get there tomorrow and to do so we will work on the set-up during the morning. Tomorrow will be a strange day, we won’t be able to make use of a hundred percent of the time to test things. We will begin at 11.30 like today, because the asphalt is too cold before that. We will stop at 1.00pm to do the official MotoGP photo and then from 2pm to 2.40pm there will be the qualifying period. It is the first time I have tested with the qualifying tyres this year, but I “only” took half a second off my time, whilst I think they are worth more. I still have to improve there.” Troy Bayliss, Camel Honda: 1m 43.810s “Despite what the lap times show, I’m happy with this second day of work. We made more progress compared to yesterday and always on the harder tyres. It isn’t a race tomorrow and what is important to me is improving my settings. If we manage to make a step forward again tomorrow, I will be happy with these first three days in Spain.”