Good Friday for Hopkins in first day of Jerez test With menacing dark clouds circling the Jerez circuit throughout the whole day, Team Suzuki’s John Hopkins sent a warning shot down the pit lane as he set the fastest time in the first day of three at the Official MotoGP Test today. The Californian rider was constantly amongst the fastest riders during the whole day, and with the track somehow staying dry and avoiding the nearby showers, he took advantage of a late burst to steal top spot on the timesheets. “Suzuki has made some huge improvements to the machine; controllability and horsepower especially, and it’s showing up nicely at this track,” commented Hopkins. “It’s a track I particularly like anyway, and the important thing is we’re doing our times strictly on race tyres, no qualifiers. I personally think the race tyres are better at the moment, Bridgestone has made big improvements too. Everything’s looking good, and I’m definitely the hungriest guy in this paddock for a podium finish right now, so we’re doing everything possible to prepare for the race here in two weeks time.” Weather forecasts predict rain-showers for the entire day tomorrow, and if that is the case, it will be impossible to better Hopkins lap, which stopped the clock in a time of 1’40.893. Just 0.075 slower than the outright circuit record set by Valentino Rossi in qualifying last year, it is an impressive start to the weekend for the Ramona-born rider, who admitted, “If it rains tomorrow we will go out on track anyway, we need to work on the new wet tyres Bridgestone have. It rained here for the race last year, and we don’t want that to repeat itself in two weeks.” Hopkins’ compatriot Nicky Hayden also enjoyed a good start to the weekend, with the second fastest time, ahead of former team-mate Valentino Rossi, who appears to be shaking off the front-end issues which dogged his Yamaha in last week’s Official Test in Barcelona. Closely following the Italian on the timesheet was his great rival Sete Gibernau, who won the race here last year, with a further four riders within a second of Hopkins lap time including both Kawasaki machines. Further down the order Loris Capirossi continued to make headway with the Ducati Desmosedici’s modified engine braking system, which continued to baffle onlookers. The Italian tested the new machine in the morning, before concentrating on his more traditional sounding engine in the afternoon. His fellow countryman Max Biaggi was surprisingly only fifteenth fastest today as he battled to rectify issues with the Honda’s engine management system, but he will be confident the engineers can resolve his problems before the test finishes here on Sunday, and the countdown begins to the first race here in two weeks’ time. More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: DIFFICULT FIRST DAY OF TESTING FOR THE DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM AT JEREZ Capirossi concentrates on set-up work and only finds the right direction in the afternoon. Team-mate Checa absent due to dislocated left shoulder. Jerez de la Frontera (Spain), Friday 25 March 2005 – The MotoGP class took over from the 250 teams today at Jerez for the final pre-season test session. Conditions were ideal at the Spanish circuit with temperatures reaching 22°C (air) and 34°C (track). Back to full fitness after a bout of fever, Loris Capirossi soon set about getting the best out of the final IRTA test session at the circuit that will be the venue for the opening round of the season on April 10. The Ducati Marlboro Team rider, who made his debut on Bridgestone tyres last November at Jerez, concentrated on suspension set-up work with his Desmosedici GP5. “Today we got through a lot of work” commented the Italian rider. “This morning we tested a lot of things and maybe lost our way a bit. But then in the afternoon we concentrated on just one setting and the situation improved. We are still not quite right, but we appear to have found the right direction and for the next two days I reckon we will improve a lot. At the moment we don’t have any problems with the tyres: Jerez seems to be a suitable track for the Bridgestones”. Loris’s best time was 1:42.02 in his 79 laps. Team-mate Carlos Checa is absent from the Jerez tests after doctors advised him to rest for a couple of weeks following last Saturday’s crash, in which he sustained a dislocated left shoulder. Official test rider Vittoriano Guareschi continued development work on the Desmosedici GP5 alongside Loris. The Ducati Marlboro Team and the Development Team will continue testing at Jerez on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 March. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing: MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2005 IRTA PRE-SEASON TEST – CIRCUITO DE JEREZ, SPAIN 25 MARCH 2005 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BOTH KAWASAKI RIDERS IN TOP TEN ON OPENING DAY AT JEREZ The Kawasaki Racing Team began the final countdown to the 2005 MotoGP season at the opening day of the IRTA test session at Jerez in southern Spain today. Factory riders Alex Hofmann and Shinya Nakano finished 8th and 9th respectively, both within one second of the fastest time, after the first of three test days. The test opened in mild and sunny conditions, but the weather turned cloudy and cooler in the afternoon. Track temperatures varied between 21 and 32 degrees. The focus for this test will be preparations in advance of the opening race of the season, the Spanish Grand Prix, at Jerez on April 10. Tyre testing with technical partner Bridgestone will occupy much of the track time. A variety of compounds and constructions are on hand for evaluation, including three front tyres and seven rears. Nakano continues to exclusively ride his Ninja ZX-RR race machines fitted with Kawasaki’s new big-bang firing order 990cc, in-line four-cylinder motor. The motor running here in the same configuration as at last week’s Barcelona IRTA test. Nakano’s teammate, Alex Hofmann, rode the ‘screamer’ version of the ZX-RR motor in the morning, before switching to the big bang for the afternoon session. According to Kawasaki’s MotoGP Technical Director, Ichiro Yoda, this engine specification will also be used for the opening race of the season. The next generation of engine updates are not planned until after the opening two races at Jerez and Estoril. Alex Hofmann: #66 – 94 laps (1:41.702) “I tried to fit in as much work as possible today because the weather forecast is not so good for tomorrow, which may well limit our track time. This was only my second day on the big-bang engine, so I needed to collect a lot of data, but I’m very happy with my progress. I did some laps in the 1:41 bracket, which is inside one second of the fastest time; and this was on a Bridgestone race tyre. Like Shinya I’m not completely comfortable with the engine braking set-up with the big-bang motor, so we need to do more work on that over the next two days, weather permitting of course.” Shinya Nakano #56 – 89 laps (1:41.775) “I had a very good feeling from the tyres and bike today; Jerez is a good track for us and we have an excellent base set-up from our test here earlier this year. I have been able to do a lot of consistent lap times on race tyres, more so than Barcelona last week, which has helped as we work on our set-up and tyre combinations for the race here.” Ichiro Yoda – Technical Director “Jerez is different from Barcelona for tyre performance. Here the loads are more evenly distributed on the left and right hand side of the tyre and, so far, the new compounds and constructions are working very well. We also have to evaluate the different spring balance of the new constructions with the suspension set-up. This morning Alex Hofmann did some set-up checks using the screamer motor before switching to the big bang firing order, which is the engine spec both riders will have for the first Grand Prix.” More, from a press issued by Gauloises Yamaha: Jerez IRTA Tests Jerez, Spain Friday 25th March YAMAHA MAKE GOOD PROGRESS AS FINAL PRE-SEASON TEST GETS UNDERWAY Gauloises Yamaha team-mates Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards finished the first day of the Jerez IRTA Tests with the third and tenth fastest times, and both riders were happy with the work they completed over the eight hours of track time. With sunny conditions prevailing throughout most of the day, the two crews were able to continue with the work they had done during the three-day test in Catalunya last week. Rossi completed 67 laps and Edwards 87, both concentrating mainly on Michelin tyre testing, and they finally stopped an hour early with two days of the test still ahead. Of the 22 MotoGP riders testing, 15 lapped faster than the existing lap record of 1:42.788, which was set by Rossi during the Spanish Grand Prix in 2003. The quickest lap of the day was from Suzuki rider John Hopkins, who posted a time of 1:40.893, just a fraction shy of Rossi’s pole position from last year’s race. Hopkins was followed by Nicky Hayden (Honda) with a time of 1:41.045, while Rossi spent part of the day at the top of the time sheets before finishing third fastest with a best lap of 1:41.273. He was followed by Spanish Honda rider Sete Gibernau, fourth fastest with a time of 1:41.397. New Yamaha recruit Edwards was tenth fastest with a time of 1:42.018. VALENTINO ROSSI (1:41.273, 67 laps) “I am happy with today because the bike worked well. It was the first time for us with the new bike at this circuit and I had a good feeling from the start. We continued working on settings; we found a good base setting in Barcelona, which we’ve continued with here. We’ve tested some good tyres from Michelin today, with improved traction. I think it will be possible to try to fix some other small problems tomorrow and make more progress, but we’re already in a good situation. It might rain tomorrow but this wouldn’t be a bad thing anyway, it’s important to try the bike in the rain at some point!” COLIN EDWARDS (1:42.018, 87 laps) “We spent all day focusing on testing tyres and we’ve made some good decisions to help us to move forwards in our preparation. We’ve been trying a new tyre, but we haven’t been able to find the right way forward with it and for now we’ve decided to discount it and go back to what we know works for us. I’m pleased as it’s good to make this decision and now we can continue working forwards. We’ll now concentrate throughout the next couple of days on improving setting and more tyre testing for Michelin. I feel quite good and I think we can make some final improvements here before we come back in two weeks for the first race!” DAVIDE BRIVIO – TEAM DIRECTOR “After Barcelona we looked forward to seeing how the bike goes at another new circuit, and it seems to go quite well. Today both crews and the riders have made a good job and we have cleared some doubts that we had. Overall today has been a step forward for everyone. Now we’ll continue to test more options over the next two days and hopefully finalise our preparation for the coming season.” TIMES: 1. John Hopkins (Team Suzuki MotoGP) 1:40.893 2. Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda Team) 1:41.045 3. VALENTINO ROSSI (GAULOISES YAMAHA TEAM) 1:41.273 4. Sete Gibernau (Team Movistar Honda) 1:41.397 5. Marco Melandri (Team Movistar Honda) 1:41.626 6. Alex Barros (Camel Honda) 1:41.637 7. Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda) 1:41.668 8. Alex Hofmann (Kawasaki Racing Team) 1:41.702 9. Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki Racing Team) 1:41.775 10. COLIN EDWARDS (GAULOISES YAMAHA TEAM) 1:42.018 More, from a press release issued by Suzuki Racing: Hopkins storms Suzuki to the top at Jerez test Team SUZUKI MotoGP racer John Hopkins stormed to the top of the time-sheets on the first day of the final pre-season test at a dry, windy and overcast Jerez circuit in Spain today. Onboard Suzuki’s GSV-R, Hopkins set a time of 1min40.893, using the latest generation of Bridgestone’s medium compound race tyres. He completed a total of 79 laps on the 4.4km circuit, just two-laps short of three full race distances and was regularly in the top-three positions throughout the test. Team SUZUKI MotoGP racer Kenny Roberts Jr concentrated on finding a comfortable set-up on his GSV-R. He used the whole day’s testing to maximise rear grip and stability on corner entry and to improve his chassis settings. His best time of 1:42.375 was just over a second off the top three positions. Team SUZUKI MotoGP has two more days testing at Jerez in readiness for the MotoGP season to begin there in two weeks time. John Hopkins (1:40.893): “I’m really excited after today’s test. We have learned a huge amount for the race here in two weeks time. The target now is to set-up the GSV-R to run consistently fast for the 27 laps of the race. To top the time-sheets today is a reflection of my confidence in the bike and all the hard work Suzuki has done over the winter. I’m having a great time!” Stuart Shenton-John Hopkins’ Chief Technician “John did a fantastic amount of laps today, his feedback and technical knowledge is getting stronger all the time. Today confirmed some positives and negatives from the test and was another good examination for the Bridgestone race tyres. “We worked on the engine control performance, which helped John to set the fastest time of the day. It is still clear we have plenty of work to do on all fronts, but at present we are very pleased with the GSV-R’s and John’s progress.” Tom O’Kane – Kenny Roberts Jr’s Chief Technician “We had a `testing’ day today, the focus was more on finding the right balance for the GSV-R and eliminating all the imperfections, rather than going for the ultimate lap. The bike improved throughout the day and we have a good basis for tomorrow. The target is to find the best base settings and then go for better times.” MotoGP Test-Free practice classification. 1. JOHN HOPKINS (TEAM SUZUKI MOTOGP) 1’40.893: 2. Nicky Hayden (Honda) 1’41.045: 3.Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1’41.273: 4. Sete Gibernau (Honda) 1’41.357: 5. Marco Melandri (Honda) 1’41.626: 6. Alex Barros (Honda) 1’41.637: 7. Makoto Tamada (Honda) 1’41.658: 8. Alex Hoffman (Kawasaki) 1’41.702: 9. Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki) 1’41.775: 10. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 1’42.018. 14. KENNY ROBERTS JR (TEAM SUZUKI MOTOGP) 1’42.375 More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing: HONDA RACING INFORMATION IRTA MotoGP test Jerez, Spain. Day one of three day test March 25, 2005. Nicky Hayden fastest Honda RC211V rider on opening day of Jerez test The final three-day MotoGP pre-season test got underway today at the 4.423km Jerez circuit, Spain the venue for the opening race of the 17-round World Championship. With two weeks of the off season remaining the MotoGP teams are close to establishing optimum technical specifications in time for the curtain raiser. The day was warm and bright but with the threat of rain for tomorrow it was imperative for the engineers to get as much work done as possible today. The Repsol Honda factory team and the three satellite teams supported by HRC are all present at Jerez for their final shake down test. HRC engineers have reviewed all data gathered and recorded over the long series of winter tests and will use the three-days preparing the RC21V 990cc V-5 cylinder grand prix machines for the opening race. The day was warm and bright but with the threat of rain for tomorrow it was imperative for the engineers to get as much work done as possible today. Most riders worked on the base set up of their RCV’s to suit Jerez, a tight and more demanding track than Barcelona, and the electronic mapping systems. Once a base line had been found most riders moved on to test tyres for Michelin, some riders running race simulations towards the end of the day. Repsol Honda factory rider Nicky Hayden was in sparkling form shaking off the lethargy that hampered his performance at Barcelona last week. Hayden was consistently fast all day and pronounced himself “Pretty happy with the way the day has gone.” Teammate Max Biaggi was not as dominant today as he had been throughout the Barcelona test. The Italian and his technical crew started where they had left off but the optimum base setting for Jerez eluded them all day. Biaggi ended the session in 15th place but still inside the existing track record set in 2003. Sete Gibernau, victorious at Jerez in the 2004 GP, and his Telefonica MoviStar team took to the track with a combination of settings taken from their November test at Jerez and what they have learned in the meantime. Spaniard Gibernau ended his day with fourth fastest time and a good set up to work from over the next two days. Marco Melandri, the new man at Telefonica MoviStar Honda continues his impressive progression and was once again close to his more experienced teammate. Jerez is the only circuit that Melandri has ridden the Honda RCV for a second time and his development over the intervening five months has been exceptional. Melandri looks as one with the Honda putting in a string of 15 consecutive fast laps to prove it. Konica Minolta Honda rider Makoto Tamada is the championship dark horse for many experience race watchers and the Japanese rider did nothing to disappoint them. Since he switched to Michelin tyres Tamada has made steady progress at each test and today he set fifth fastest time. Alex Barros (Camel Honda) was not looking for a fast lap time the Brazilian preferring to run a race simulation while teammate Troy Bayliss worked on the electronics and base settings on his RCV. Australian Bayliss is another in his first MotoGP season with Honda and he has played catch up during most winter tests but has now established a good understanding off the RCV and is working well with his new technical crew. Honda rider laps times and quotes. Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 1:40.893 “I’m pretty happy with the way the whole day has gone. I was disappointed last week in Barcelona, it seemed to take me too long to get up to speed so that was the priority here at Jerez today and I’m happy that we achieved it. Today I went about half a second faster than I’ve ever gone around here so we’re definitely improving. I concentrated on trying to do a race distance on a couple of tyres today rather than trying lots of different things. I’m still looking to improve on getting into corners faster and getting a bit more stability under braking. I’ll be working harder tomorrow but overall, after day one, I’m happy. We’ve got a plan in mind for the weekend and I’d like to think we’ll keep improving the way we have today.” Max Biaggi, Repsol Honda: 1:42.393. “We arrived from Barcelona with a good set up, but here in Jerez the bike did not respond anymore. My experience let me tell that I know the set up differences between these two tracks. I did all a rider can do: I tried all the suspension and chassis solutions and I rode over the limit but it didn’t work. The lap time remains too slow for my standard. At this point it all depends on engine management, power output and electronic controls. It’s not up to me. I hope the answer will come soon.” Sete Gibernau, Telefonica MoviStar Honda: 1:41.397 – 56 laps. “We’re still very focused on ourselves and the work we are doing is very precise. We’ve done a lot of tests today – we started with the setting we found here in November and then worked from the base we had at Montmeló. From there we worked out the best setting for this circuit. The team have done a great job comparing everything and tomorrow we have to keep making progress. I hope it doesn’t rain, so that we can complete our programme and on Sunday do a race simulation, as we have done at the other circuits. If it rains, I still don’t think it’s time to compare. We’ll see how the day pans out.” Marco Melandri, Telefonica MoviStar Honda: 1:41.626 – 96 laps. “I’m really happy because I was keen to see how far I’d come since November, when I rode the Honda for the first time, and I’ve seen that we’ve made a lot of progress. My riding style has changed completely over these five months of preseason. We’ve tested a lot of different settings today with regard to the race set-up and I improved a lot from the morning to the afternoon. I did 96 laps and I was able to maintain a good pace over 15 laps. The forecast is for rain tomorrow and even though I don’t like riding in the wet I think it would be a good opportunity to gain some confidence with the bike in those conditions”. Makoto Tamada – Konica Minolta Honda: 1:41.668 – 78 laps. “To my point of view this has been a positive day as we have developed our bike a lot under every aspect. In addition at the end of the test we had the possibility to try a race simulation where the bike has performed well, giving me good hopes for the next two days of work.” Alex Barros Camel Honda 1:41.637 – 85 laps. “I’m quite satisfied, even though you can’t get the set-up one hundred percent after just the first day. Nevertheless I’m happy to have done a race simulation, the first of this year for me, and it allowed me to see how the bike behaved over long distance, something we will work on tomorrow if the weather allows us. The forecasts are for rain though, and that’s why we did the simulation today, but there is still work to do on the frame and the electronics to be at our top level.” Troy Bayliss, Camel Honda: 1:42.058 – 86 laps. “Over the last couple of days I’ve been a bit ill, and luckily I seem to be a little better today, although I didn’t sleep well last night. I’m quite tired, but together with the team I did all the work scheduled for today. It wasn’t too bad for a first day; we worked on the set-up and on specific settings for certain areas of the bike, mostly electronic ones, which have changed since we were here in December. The tyres are different now too, so in general I think we’ve done a good job today.” More, from a press release issued by Telefonica Movistar Honda: MOTOGP TEST JEREZ- Day One The first day of MotoGP Tests took place at Jerez today with the Telefónica MoviStar Honda MotoGP Team confirming the progress they have made since their last test here in November. Sete Gibernau and Marco Melandri started today’s test from scratch, comparing their data from the November test with the set-up they had found at the MotoGP Test at Catalunya last week. The first conclusions are very positive for both riders. Sete Gibernau didn’t complete as many laps as some of his rivals but his 56 circulations of the Spanish circuit were of high quality. His objective is still to prepare for the first race of the season and he again set a high rhythm. His best lap was a 1:41.397, almost a second and a half inside the circuit record set by Valentino Rossi last season (1:42.788). Marco Melandri completed as much work as possible today, with rain forecast for tomorrow. The Italian youngster completed 96 laps with a consistent pace, setting a best lap of 1:41.626, over a second inside the circuit record. Marco wouldn’t mind wet weather tomorrow as he looks to gather even more information for the Honda machine he is riding for the first time this season. SETE GIBERNAU (1:41.397, 56 laps): “We’re still very focused on ourselves and the work we are doing is very precise. We’ve done a lot of tests today we started with the setting we found here in November and then worked from the base we had at Montmeló. From there we worked out the best setting for this circuit. The team have done a great job comparing everything and tomorrow we have to keep making progress. I hope it doesn’t rain, so that we can complete our programme and on Sunday do a race simulation, as we have done at the other circuits. If it rains, I still don’t think it’s time to compare. We’ll see how the day pans out.” MARCO ! MELANDRI (1:41.626, 96 laps): “I’m really happy because I was keen to see how far I’d come since November, when I rode the Honda for the first time, and I’ve seen that we’ve made a lot of progress. My riding style has changed completely over these five months of preseason. We’ve tested a lot of different settings today with regard to the race set-up and I improved a lot from the morning to the afternoon. I did 96 laps and I was able to maintain a good pace over 15 laps. The forecast is for rain tomorrow and even though I don’t like riding in the wet I think it would be a good opportunity to gain some confidence with the bike in those conditions”. LAP TIMES 1. John Hopkins (USA/Suzuki) 1’40″893 2. Nicky Hayden (USA/Honda) 1’41″045 3. Valentino Rossi (Ita/Yamaha) 1’41″273 4. Sete Gibernau (Esp/Honda) 1’41″397 5. Marco Melandri (Ita/Honda) 1’41″626 6. Alex Barros! (Bra/Honda) 1’41″637 7. Makoto Tamada (Jap/Honda) 1’41″668 8. Alex Hoffman (Ale/Kawasaki) 1’41″702 9. Shinya Nakano (Jap/Kawasaki) 1’41″775 10. Colin Edwards (USA/Yamaha) 1’42″018 More, from a press release issued by Camel Honda: Camel Honda commence final tests before start of MotoGP 2005 The MotoGP paddock has made the journey down from Barcelona to Jerez, where the race atmosphere is beginning to set in. All the teams are present, with the first grand prix of the 2005 season beginning in less than two weeks time, and the three Irta test days which began today represent a perfect opportunity to prepare for the imminent race. Troy Bayliss, who rode well here in December, was suffering from a stomach bug which prevented him from sleeping properly last night, but nevertheless still showed his continued improvements on the RC211V. His teammate Alex Barros demonstrated his now customary pace and consistency, today completing a first race simulation of the year (27 laps) towards the end of the session. Ramon Forcada Camel Honda (Alex Barros’s crew chief) “Today we began by setting-up the bike, we’ve done a good job, but we’re only at the start of it. Doing a race simulation at the end, we realised that we need to improve the suspension settings, on the front and the rear from the tenth lap onwards. The overall time was satisfactory but we can do better, and we can only make comparisons to 2003 because it was a wet race last year, so the time really isn’t too significant.” Alex Barros Camel Honda 1:41.637 (85 laps) 6th position “I’m quite satisfied, even though you can’t get the set-up one hundred percent after just the first day. Nevertheless I’m happy to have done a race simulation, the first of this year for me, and it allowed me to see how the bike behaved over long distance, something we will work on tomorrow if the weather allows us. The forecasts are for rain though, and that’s why we did the simulation today, but there is still work to do on the frame and the electronics to be at our top level.” Santiago Mulero Camel Honda (Troy Bayliss’s crew chief) “With respect to the test that we did here last December, the bike has changed significantly since then, especially in the electronics, so today we worked on that and the set-up of the rest of the bike. Troy went really quick with the 2004 bike and the enormous quantity of work done since then allowed us to go well on this first day of tests too. At the end he was satisfied, and now we only hope that it doesn’t rain tomorrow, as the forecasts say, so we can continue working like this.” Troy Bayliss Camel Honda 1:42.058 (86 laps) 12th position “Over the last couple of days I’ve been a bit ill, and luckily I seem to be a little better today, although I didn’t sleep well last night. I’m quite tired, but together with the team I did all the work scheduled for today. It wasn’t too bad for a first day; we worked on the set-up and on specific settings for certain areas of the bike, mostly electronic ones, which have changed since we were here in December. The tyres are different now too, so in general I think we’ve done a good job today.”