DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM END PORTUGUESE VISIT WITH A DAY OF TESTS The Ducati Marlboro Team ended a four-day spell at the Estoril circuit today with a testing session that took place in warm and sunny conditions, with track temperatures reaching 40ºC. Stoner worked hard all day and ended the session satisfied with his progress after setting a consistent pace in the 1’37s on race tyres and concluding an intense programme of development in positive fashion. The World Champion now returns home to Australia for a well-earned rest before heading on to China for the fourth Grand Prix of the season on May 4th. Melandri also spent a long time on track today, making the most of the time available to work on his GP8 and choosing not to try out any qualifying rubber as he focused exclusively on improving his race setting. Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team), fastest lap on race tyres: 1’37.613; fastest lap on qualifying tyres: 1’37.333 (77 laps) “I’m happy with the work we’ve done today. We modified a few things that made the bike a little less nervous over the bumps and allowed me to lap in 1’37s with more consistency than I managed yesterday. We also tried a few new tyres and found some interesting things. At the end of the day I tried two qualifiers but I preferred not to try a third one because it had been a long day and it was pointless taking risks when I was tired. I’m really happy with the work we’ve done and the pace we found. I’m sure the improvements will help us when we get to China but now I’m just looking forward to heading back to Australia and spend some time relaxing with the family.” Marco Melandri (Ducati Marlboro Team), fastest lap on race tyres: 1’39.725 (78 laps) “Today we tried a different weight distribution to try and improve the grip, braking and corner entry. Things have improved a little and I’m quite pleased. We need to continue and be positive, work together and I’m sure we’ll find the way forward.” Today lap times 1. Dani PEDROSA (Honda) 1:36.455 2. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha) 1:36.707 3. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda) 1:36.791 4. Nicky HAYDEN (Honda) 1:36.928 5. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha) 1:37.145 6. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda) 1:37.146 7. Casey STONER (Ducati) 1:37.330 8. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki) 1:37.617 9. Shinya NAKANO (Honda) 1:37.725 10. James TOSELAND (Yamaha) 1:37.767 11. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki) 1:37.781 12. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda) 1:37.782 13. John HOPKINS (Kawasaki) 1:38.023 14. Toni ELIAS (Ducati) 1:38.695 15. Anthony WEST (Kawasaki) 1:39.065 16. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Ducati) 1:39.223 17. Marco MELANDRI (Ducati) 1:39.725 More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: VALUABLE DAY’S WORK FOR ROSSI SETS HIM UP FOR CHINESE CHALLENGE After his hard fought third in yesterday’s Portuguese Grand Prix, Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi was back out on track today for a one-day test at Estoril. The team are anxious to take every chance to continue the crucial development process between the Yamaha M1 and the Bridgestone tyres and today’s test was focused on just this. Rossi tested a wide range of new rubber compounds with an eye to the next race in China, at which Bridgestone has a strong record, and the 29-year was very pleased with the day’s results. He tested new front and rear tyres as well as some qualifying tyres, and improved set-up and feeling in all areas. After 90 laps his best time of the day, 1’36.707, put him second behind Dani Pedrosa and he also bettered his fastest lap from yesterday on race tyres. Jorge Lorenzo, Valentino’s team-mate and the impressive winner of yesterday’s Grand Prix, did not test today as he flew to Barcelona to have an operation on his right arm after suffering pain due to Compartmental Syndrome in the last three races. The procedure is a common one amongst MotoGP riders and Lorenzo and his team of specialists decided to go ahead with it today as he will now have nearly three weeks of recovery time before the next race. Together with his surgeon, Dr Xavier Mir, Lorenzo will hold a press conference at 1500 hours tomorrow and further information will be available immediately afterwards. Davide Brivio Team manager “Today was all about tyres, set-up and our ongoing task of improving the Yamaha-Bridgestone package. We tried new front and rear race tyres and also some new qualifying tyres, and we found some good solutions to take with us to China. We were able to improve rear grip and durability especially and these are two key areas for us. Valentino worked very hard today and completed 90 laps, and he deserves to be happy with a job well done. Of course we are always working on the general setting and we hope that we’re going to be arriving in China now with an even better bike than we had this weekend. Thank you to everyone for another long weekend of hard work and now there’s some time to relax before we make the trip to China.” Test Times 1. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 1’36.455 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1’36.707 3. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP 1’36.791 4. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda 1’36.928 5. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 1’37.145 6. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1’37.146 7. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 1’37.330 8. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki 1’37.617 9. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’37.725 10. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 1’37.767 11. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’37.781 12. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’37.782 13. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing 1’38.023 14. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team 1’38.695 15. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing 1’39.065 16. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team 1’39.223 17. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 1’39.725 Estoril: Lap Record J. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2008, 1’37.404 Estoril: Best Lap J. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2008, 1’35.715 More, from a press release issued by Repsol Media Service: REPSOL HONDA TEAM MEN MAKE MORE PROGRESS Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden today concentrated their work on testing Michelin tyres, new parts for the chassis, and new setting options, with a view to the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden put in another day’s good work at sunny Estoril today, testing Michelin tyres, fine-tuning machine setup and evaluating new chassis parts. The main focus of the post-Portuguese Grand Prix session was tyre testing, both riders trying a variety of different compounds. Joint World Championship leader Pedrosa used qualifying tyres to clock the fastest lap of the day while Hayden preferred to concentrate on riding in race trim with race tyres, recording the fastest lap of the day on race tyres and improving on his best lap during yesterday’s race. The day also gave the RC212V riders the chance to experiment with different settings options, with a view to the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix, and evaluate new chassis parts which offered promising performance. The Chinese GP, round four of the 18-race 2008 MotoGP series, takes place at Shanghai on May 2/3/4. Quotes MotoGP Dani Pedrosa >> fastest lap: 1m 36.455s (68 laps) “It’s been another positive day of testing. We focused mostly on testing tyres with Michelin, both race tyres and qualifying tyres, because I needed to improve my performance on qualifiers. The day’s work has helped us prepare for the Chinese GP and further improve our base setup. We also did some work on the chassis and suspension to improve front-end feeling during hard braking, because this aspect of performance is particularly important at Shanghai, and we also worked on the electronics.” Nicky Hayden >> fastest lap: 1m 36.928s (111 laps) “Everything went pretty smooth today. We worked mainly on improving the race setup to get the bike more stable on the brakes, because there’s a lot of hard braking at Shanghai. We improved our race pace here, I think we were fastest on race tyres today, so we’re happy about that. In the afternoon we did some tyre testing with Michelin and that went pretty well. I’m feeling confident, the bike is working well and my team have done a great job here, doing a day-and-night shift to give me a good bike after I bent my race bike yesterday, so a big thank you to them. I’m looking forward to China and getting a positive result.” Results MotoGP 1. Dani PEDROSA (REPSOL HONDA) 1:36:455 2. Valentino ROSSI (YAMAHA) 1:36:707 3. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (HONDA) 1:36:791 4. Nicky HAYDEN (REPSOL HONDA) 1:36:928 5. Colin EDWARDS (YAMAHA) 1:37:145 More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS FOR KAWASAKI Following a superb fifth place finish for John Hopkins yesterday at Estoril, the Kawasaki Racing Team concluded today’s post-race test with more positive results. Both Hopkins and Anthony West improved on their race lap times, whilst making further set-up enhancements to their Ninja ZX-RR machines. Having achieved his best result so far for Kawasaki yesterday, Hopkins worked closely with Bridgestone to evaluate a series of rear tyre options. The 24-year-old improved his race pace around the 4.182km circuit using a new specification rear tyre, which he felt made a big difference to the handling of his machine. Hopkins also refined the set-up of the chassis that was introduced to the racetrack for the first time in Friday’s practice session, and concluded his test with a few practice starts. The Anglo-American is confident of a good result at the next round in China, where he achieved his first MotoGP podium last year. West returned to the track today determined to improve his pace after his disappointment with yesterday’s race result. The Australian rider and his crew made some alterations to his machine’s base setting and this was successful in helping the 26-year-old to regain his feeling for the bike. West also tested a new rear tyre option that somewhat improved the manoeuvrability of his Kawasaki, as it provided a much smoother corner entry and more rear traction, which boosted the Australian’s confidence in both himself and his Ninja ZX-RR after such a difficult weekend. After completing 96 laps of the Estoril circuit today West now heads to America to continue his training ahead of round four of the MotoGP championship, which takes place at the Shanghai circuit in just over two weeks time. John Hopkins #21: 62 Laps – 1:36.872 “Today has been useful as we’ve made another step forward with our race set-up. We worked closely with Bridgestone to test a lot of rear tyre options, one of which worked particularly well for us. I hope that they will be able to provide us with this specification for Shanghai as I really feel it will make a big difference to our race pace. We’ve also made some alterations to the chassis, which has improved the rear traction of the machine. Every time I get on board the Kawasaki it seems to get better and better, so I hope we can achieve another great result at the next round.” Anthony West #13: 96 Laps – 1:39.065 “Following yesterday’s result, I was keen to get out on the bike today to try and improve our lap times. We altered some of the machine’s base settings and this enabled me to lap more consistently than during the race weekend. Although the times weren’t a vast improvement, I felt that I could be much smoother through the turns and I had more confidence to push harder, even after 17 or so laps. Bridgestone gave us two tyre options to test, one of which felt particularly good and I hope we’ll be able to use this in Shanghai. The next round should be much more suited to the Kawasaki, and I really want to improve my results there.” Naoya Kaneko Kawasaki Technical Manager “In today’s test we ran through a lot of tyre options supplied by Bridgestone. This proved positive, with both riders finding improvements with a race tyre specification. With John’s machine we tested various chassis, clutch and electronic components. All of these items have shown good results, but some of the components need developing further before being used in a race situation. With Anthony we concentrated on his base set-up, as he never really felt comfortable on the bike during the race weekend. Our aim was to give him more confidence on the bike and we certainly made a step forward with this, with Anthony’s lap times improving today. We leave this event with some new parts for Shanghai and many plus points from the test, so I am happy overall.”