MotoGP bikes on track for first day of official tests Today saw the start of the MotoGP Official Test for the premier class of MotoGP. Following on from the 125cc and 250cc categories’ sessions at the Circuit de Catalunya which have been running since Monday, the MotoGP teams took to the track for the first of three days of testing. After John Hopkins and Colin Edwards had started promisingly in the morning, it was World Champion Valentino Rossi who led the table at 1pm local time. The Yamaha rider had only begun testing just after 12.30, and within six laps he was already heading the timesheets. The Italian later clocked an even faster time of 1’43.608 to confirm his dominance. The flamboyant Rossi did however suffer a crash during the eight-hour long session, which brought out the red flags, and the Italian decided to call an end to his testing for the day after the incident, which occurred just after 3.30pm. Nonetheless, his time stood strong for the remainder of the afternoon, and he headed up a Yamaha one-two-three, with team-mate Colin Edwards and home-rider Carlos Checa trailing him on board the M1. It was something of a special occasion for Checa, who after moving from Ducati to Honda last year lost his MotoGP ride in early January. However a last-minute package was put together by the Tech3 team and Dunlop to allow the Spaniard to continue this season, and their faith in one of the most experienced riders in the sport got at least some small reward today. Behind the Yamaha trio came the newly-liveried Rizla Suzuki of John Hopkins, with Nicky Hayden top Honda rider in fifth, and Shinya Nakano in sixth place on the Kawasaki. Ducati’s new rider Sete Gibernau was seventh fastest at his home track, with former team-mate and last year’s championship runner-up Marco Melandri just behind him. Toni Elias was ninth fastest after his move from Yamaha to Honda over winter, with Makoto Tamada finishing tenth. Earlier this week, Jorge Lorenzo was the fastest 250cc rider on Wednesday, and subsequently repeated his leaderboard-topping form in Thursday’s eight-hour session. Having set a fastest lap of 1’46.563 he was only three-tenths off Dani Pedrosa’s pole-winning time from last season at this track. Despite suffering a crash half an hour before the end of the session, Alex de Angelis came in second quickest with a time of 1’47.232, whilst 250cc’s surprise package was Czech rider Jakub Smrz, who continued his intriguing success at the Circuit de Catalunya finishing third fastest. The big news from 125cc was the crash suffered by Thomas Lüthi. Switzerland’s reigning World Champion fractured his left collarbone in the incident, and doctors have recommended that he misses the MotoGP Official Test in Jerez next week in order to recover without surgery. The Swiss rider is still expected to compete in the first race of the season, the Gran Premio betandwin.com de España on March 26th. His main rival from last year, Finland’s Mika Kallio, topped the leaderboard with a fastest lap of 1’50.849, three tenths of a second off Hector Barbera’s 2004 lap record. Lukas Pesek and Alvaro Bautista came in second and third, whilst the top five was completed by Sergio Gadea and Angel Rodriguez. The weekend’s fastest laps are likely to occur on Sunday, when the third annual BMW M Award takes place. A forty-minute televised session in which riders compete to earn the fastest lap starts at just after 2pm local time, with a brand new BMW Z4 M Roadster going up for grabs for the winner. The previous winners of the competition are Valentino Rossi and Sete Gibernau. Cloud is predicted for tomorrow, Saturday, with a forecasted drop in temperature and light rain for Sunday’s final MotoGP Official Test day at the Circuit de Catalunya. More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: Catalunya MotoGP test Day one, Friday March 3 2006 DUCATI MARLBORO MEN GIVE GP6 FIRST EUROPEAN OUTING Ducati Marlboro Team riders Sete Gibernau and Loris Capirossi gave the Desmosedici GP6 its first European outing at Catalunya today, continuing the good work so far completed in Australia and Malaysia. In pleasantly mild conditions, with track temperature reaching 27 degrees this afternoon, the pair focused on engine-braking set-up and evaluating Bridgestone’s latest tyres. Also on track here is test rider Vittoriano Guareschi and the Development Team. Gibernau, Capirossi and Guareschi continue testing here over the next two days and on Sunday take part in the officially timed practice session, the traditional hors d’oeuvre to the World Championship which commences at Jerez on March 26. FILIPPO PREZIOSI, Ducati Corse director “We’re happy because Bridgestone have made good progress at this track. Today we did a lot of work on the engine-braking system, working with software, that’s why Sete and Loris didn’t get to ride any really fast laps. We hope the good weather continues over the next two days because today’s conditions were better than we had expected for this time of year.” SETE GIBERNAU, 63 laps, 7th fastest, 1m 44.556s “We’ve gone through a lot of stuff today, so we are more or less where I thought we’d be. Bridgestone have done a good job here, they’ve brought a lot of different tyres and we’ve found a good direction with both the front and the rear. As far as the bike goes, we’re still working to create a good base set-up. Right now, we don’t have one. We want to create a base here, confirm it during next week’s Jerez tests, then keep it through the year. We ran into a few engine-braking problems today but the team did a good job finding their way out of that. We have a way to go, we’ve got to keep our heads down, but both Bridgestone and the Team are doing a good job.” LORIS CAPIROSSI, 71 laps, 14th fastest, 1m 45.253s “Today we worked on a few things, we had to sort a small problem with the engine-braking, that’s why we didn’t go any quicker, because we were concentrating on fixing the engine-braking, rather than working on a bike set-up to that would give us faster lap times. It’s never easy to find a good set-up but we still have two more days here, so I’m happy with what we’ve done so far. Bridgestone have done some good work. Their latest front tyre is a big improvement over what we had here last year. The front is good now and the rear is not so bad, they’ve done well.” Temperatures: Ambient: 19 degrees C. Track: 27 degrees C More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing: SUPER SHINYA SIXTH FASTEST IN CATALUNYA Kawasaki’s Shinya Nakano ended the opening day of the Catalunya IRTA test sixth fastest, as the all-new Ninja ZX-RR made it’s European debut after a winter of development and testing overseas. With rain forecast for the weekend, Nakano started today’s test working with Bridgestone to evaluate another batch of new front and rear slicks from the Japanese tyre manufacturer. Still running with the same basic set-up on his Ninja ZX-RR from Malaysia, and cautious of the cold track conditions, Nakano quickly set about familiarising himself once again with the Catalunya circuit. The 28-year-old Japanese rider lapped consistently throughout the day, rarely dropping far from the top of the timesheet, and eventually finished sixth fastest overall. For Nakano’s Kawasaki teammate, Randy de Puniet, today’s test ended prematurely when the 25-year-old Frenchman was highsided from his Ninja ZX-RR early in the afternoon session. De Puniet was examined in the Clinica Mobile following the crash, but suffered only from bruising on his lower back and has been passed fit to continue testing tomorrow. The Kawasaki rider was disappointed to miss out on much of the afternoon session, after consistent improvements in his lap times had seen him inside the top ten fastest times for much of the morning. Although battered and bruised, de Puniet remains confident that further improvements are possible during the remaining two days of testing at Catalunya. Shinya Nakano: #56 – 1’44.399 (61 Laps) “It’s good to be back testing in Europe, because this is where most of our races are held and it’s important that we find a set-up that works on the European tracks, and in European weather conditions. Today we started on the same set-up we ran in Malaysia, because it was important to get tyre testing out of the way, as we’re not sure about the weather this weekend. Most forecasts seem to be predicting rain. The cold track temperature today meant we were unable to test as many tyres as we wanted, but we finished close to the top of the timesheet, so I’m happy with what we have achieved.” Randy de Puniet: #17 – 1’45.111 (59 Laps) “It was disappointing to have to end the test early because of the crash. We made good progress this morning and I was confident of improving further on my lap time, but the crash meant we were not able to continue with the two test runs we had planned for the afternoon. I don’t really know what caused the crash. I opened the gas in the same way as always, but this time the bike just highsided me. It was a big crash, and I came down quite hard on my back, but thankfully I’ve only suffered some bruising. For sure I’ll be sore in the morning, but it won’t stop me from continuing with the test, and I’m hopeful that I can continue to improve over the next two days.” More, from Camel Yamaha: MotoGP Official Test Circuit de Catalunya, Spain Friday 3rd March 2006 ROSSI AND EDWARDS TOP FIRST OFFICIAL TESTS AT CATALUNYA Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards made their first formal track appearances of the year today as the MotoGP Official Tests got underway at the Montmelo circuit in Catalunya. The traditional pre-season curtain raiser runs for three days, with a timed 40-minute session determining the winner of a new car in an exciting climax to the action on Sunday afternoon at 1405h. Sporting their new bright-yellow Camel livery, both Rossi and Edwards were in sparkling form throughout the day, dominating the time sheets and ending the session with the quickest times. With barely any changes made to the base set-up of their 2006 version YZR-M1 machines following recent tests, the Italian and the American were quickly on the pace despite brisk morning temperatures, backing up impressive results in contrasting conditions at Sepang and Qatar. A positive first day for Yamaha was completed by Carlos Checa (Tech 3 Yamaha), who sealed the third fastest time on only his third appearance for the team. VALENTINO ROSSI (1st, 1’43.608, 54 laps) “The first day here in Catalunya has been very positive. The weather has been better than we expected, especially in the afternoon, so the tyres were running at the right temperature to be enable us to understand the performance of the bike. The data we are gathering will not be much use for the race here in May because it will be so much warmer, but at least we are moving forward with the setting of the bike. I’m pleased because the lap times have been very fast this is the third track we have ridden at with the 2006 machine and we have been very competitive at all of them. Since 20th January we have been thinking exclusively about race one on 26th March and we will continue with this attitude for the rest of the test.” COLIN EDWARDS (2nd, 1’44.063, 66 laps) “We didn’t change too much with the bike today just rolled out what we had at Sepang to see how it worked. It was freezing this morning but we did some tests for Michelin and things just got better and better for the rest of the day. I’m happy with the bike, I’m happy with everything really, but as good as it looks and feels we still have a lot of work to do. It’s nice to be running up at the top from the start and I must admit it’s hard not to have one eye on the car on Sunday! I don’t know what I would do with it if I won but we’ll figure that out when it comes!” DAVIDE BRIVIO CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR “It is a positive surprise to see three Yamahas at the top of the time sheets and of course we are all very pleased. It’s only the first day of a long test but we hope it is a good sign of things to come. Things ran very smoothly today, we continued working to our testing programme, on the setting and on the tyres. The base setting seems to work well this is the third circuit with this bike and it’s encouraging that it has worked so well in so many different conditions. Both riders look relaxed and concentrated on the job at hand so let’s just keep working this way!” Lap Times: 1. VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1’43.608 2. COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1’44.063 3. Carlos Checa (SPA) Tech 3 Yamaha, 1’44.070 4. John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1’44.197 5. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team, 1’44.209 6. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1’44.399 7. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1’44.556 8. Marco Melandri (ITA) Fortuna Honda, 1’44.672 9. Toni Elias (SPA) Fortuna Honda, 1’44.702 10. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda, 1’44.721 11. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team Roberts, 1’44.868 12. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team, 1’45.011 13. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1’45.111 14. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team,1’45.253 15. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1’45.968 16. James Ellison (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha, 1’46.217 17. Jose Luis Cardoso (SPA) D’Antin Pramac, 1’46.603 18. Alex Hoffman (GER) D’Antin Pramac, 1’46.606 19. Vittoriano Guareschi (ITA) Ducati, 1’47.379 Catalunya Lap Record: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 1’43.195 Catalunya Best Lap: Sete Gibernau (Honda) 2005 1’42.337 More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Honda: MELANDRI AND ELIAS BACK ON TRACK First day of testing for the Fortuna Honda riders at Barcelona The Fortuna Honda Team is back on track for the first official appointment of the 2006 season: the Irta test on the Spanish track of Montmelò. After the hard winter pre-season test at Sepang and Phillip Island, Marco Melandri and Toni Elias face the new challenge with enthusiasm and motivation. Marco Melandri worked on the setting and tyre testing while his team mate Toni Elias worked on weight distribution in order to improve his feeling with the bike. MARCO MELANDRI (76 laps, 1’44.672, 8th best time): “We worked a lot and we still have a lot of work to do to find the pace we’d like to have. All in all I’m confident, this is only the first day of testing. ” TONI ELIAS ( 71 laps, 1’44.702, 9th best time ): “I’m quite satisfied of today’s testing on this track that is particularly dear to me because it’s my home circuit. Thanks to the work done on weight distribution and tyre testing, my feeling with the bike improved and my rhythm too. I’m confident to continue improving thanks to the work with my team and Michelin techs.” More, from Honda Racing: MotoGP test Catalunya. Day one March 3, 2006. The MotoGP teams returned to Europe this week for the closing stages of winter testing. The teams began a three-day test at the Catalunya circuit, close to Barcelona today with final testing taking place at the Jerez circuit in, Andalusia scene of the opening race of the 17-round world championship series. Cold weather and strong wind made for a difficult early morning but as soon as the track surface warmed the teams set about finding machine base settings the riders will need to get the best out of the three-day test. Fastest Honda rider on the opening day of test was American Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda). The former AMA Superbike Champion ran the whole day with the latest version of the all-new 2006 Honda RC211V five-cylinder 990cc GP machine he will campaign in the championship. Hayden spent his day finding a good base setting and machine balance for the RCV before working on a range of tyres for Michelin in a bid to find the optimum package before moving on to fine tuning and chasing fast lap times tomorrow. Hayden’s young teammate, Spaniard Dani Pedrosa was pleased with his day’s work, in fact surprised by his turn of speed on the latest development of the standard RC211V he will begin the season with. At the end of his 88-lap stint the reigning double 250cc World Champion admitted he has some work to do on his physical strength if he is to get the best out of the RCV when the season starts. Fortuna Honda rider Marco Melandri, the fastest Honda rider for much of the winter, did not find the pace at Catalunya that he had hoped for. The team worked hard on machine balance and suspension settings improving as the opening day wore. Sufficient progress was made to allow Marco to take on tyre testing for Michelin late in the afternoon. Team-mate Toni Elias concentrated on finding a good balance for his RCV before working on the suspension. Elias is in his second season of MotoGP racing. He lives within sight of the Catalan circuit but has no MotoGP experience of the circuit having missed the GP race at the track in 2005. Konica Minolta Honda man Makoto Tamada was a late starter on the opening day preferring to wait for the track to reach high temperatures before venturing out on his RCV. Tamada concentrated on finding a good enough set up to test a range of Michelin front tyres, the front end of his RCV was a particular problem for the popular Japanese rider in 2005. Tamada had made the switch to Michelin from a rival manufacturer and it has taken him some time to adjust to the feel of the Michelin shod front end of the RCV. Team Roberts arrived at Sepang with the third development version of their chassis that will house the RC211V engine. The British based team have worked wonders in producing a very competitive chassis is such a short time. To reach the third stage of development in little over 10 weeks is nothing short of astonishing. Kenny Roberts Jnr was delighted with progress and will spend day two of the three-day test fine-tuning the new chassis before looking for fast lap times. LCR Honda rider Casey Stoner has decided to wait until the opening GP of the season, at Jerez on March 26, before returning to the track. Stoner aggravated an old injury while physically training in February and has been advised by LCR team owner-manager Lucio Cecchinello to make sure he is 100% ready to cope with the physical demands required to handle the 240 hp plus RC211V. Honda rider lap times and quotes. Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 1m 44.209s – 103 laps “It’s always really good to get back to Europe. The whole team’s working hard towards the beginning of the season, and the conditions and track temperature are so different to the last few tests. This morning it was really cold and we struggled a little to get good traction coming out of corners. But we tried some new stuff and this afternoon and it felt a lot better. We tried some different Michelins too which helped a lot – so a big thanks to the Michelin guys.” Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 1m 45.001s – 88 laps. “It’s really nice to come here to my home circuit riding for the Repsol Honda team, I’ve had a great welcome from the fans. I’ve ridden the RC211V before at Valencia, Sepang and Phillip Island but today was the first time I’ve ridden it in really cold conditions, and it was windy too, so it actually wasn’t easy. My lap time is not really so important today and I’m looking forward to improving over the next two days.” Makoto Tanaka, Team Manager Repsol Honda. “Today we made some good progress with the new machine. This morning the weather meant that the times weren’t so fast but this afternoon it was fine “¦with new developments. Dani made some good progress too, improving on his time from November. We’re happy with the progress so far. We’re working step by step. The level is very high this year and with the new generation of riders it will be an exciting. I expect the racing to be very close at Jerez.” Marco Melandri, Repsol Honda: 1m 44.672s 76 laps. “We worked a lot and we still have a lot of work to do to find the pace we’d like to have. All in all I’m confident, this is only the first day of testing. “ Toni Elias, Repsol Honda: 1m 44. 700s 71 laps. “I’m quite satisfied of today’s testing on this track that is particularly dear to me because it’s my home circuit. Thanks to the work done on weight distribution and tyre testing, my feeling with the bike improved and my rhythm too. I’m confident to continue improving thanks to the work with my team and Michelin technicians.” Makoto Tamada, Konica Minolta Honda: 1m 44.721s 78 laps. “The track conditions only permitted me to get on my RC211V around midday. Today we have made some steps ahead towards the research of the best setting even if we cannot say that we have finished our work yet. During the afternoon I have been able to try some 2006 Michelin front tyres and I can state that the situation seems to be better than last year. I still have some problems to solve to be efficient at the exit of the corner when I start using the throttle again; for this I do hope tomorrow I’ll be able to test the new rear Michelin tyres which should guarantee a better performance” Kenny Roberts Junior, KR Honda: 1m 44.868s 80 laps. “I’m tired, we really did a lot of laps today, 80 I think. We have a lot of stuff to test here. We only went out on the third development of the chassis for the last run at the end of the day but it felt as if it has a higher potential. Tomorrow we will try back-to-back runs with the second version of the chassis and the new one. Basically we will refine the new chassis. So far everything has been positive and I could not find a negative point. We also did some tyre testing for Michelin running about five laps with each of six tyres. “