From a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

Everybody on track! Three MotoGP test days at Barcelona

DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM READY FOR THE CHALLENGE

Bologna, March 24th, 2004 – The countdown has begun. It’s less than one month to the first MotoGP world championship race (April 18th at Welkom, in South Africa), and the season this year promises to be even more of a challenge and even more hard-fought. On Friday 26th , Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th, riders and teams will all be on the track together, for the “traditional” MotoGP tests, the first real chance to compare progress. The first part of the tests will be held at the circuit of Catalunya, and then, the circus will move to Jerez de la Frontera, where the second part of the tests will be held on Wednesday, March 31st and Thursday, April 1st.

It is an important, decisive test and the Ducati Marlboro Team is ready for the “takeoff” of its second MotoGP season. Returning to the Catalunya circuit means a lot for the Borgo Panigale “Reds”. It was on this track, exactly one year ago (March 16th, 2003), that Capirossi set his record speed of 328.2 Km/h and recorded the fastest lap time of the test. Loris’s fast lap was only the beginning of an exciting season, which immediately saw the Ducati Marlboro Team among the protagonists: the season kicked off with a podium at the very first GP (with Capirossi third and Bayliss fifth), followed by the first, historic Ducati MotoGP win, again on the Catalunya track of Montmelò (June 15th, 2003), on a triumphant day for Capirossi and the Desmosedici.

After the winter tests in Malaysia (Sepang), Australia (Phillip Island) and Spain (Valencia), the Ducati Marlboro Team continued the development and set-up of the new Desmosedici GP4: Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss are ready for the direct challenge with their opponents, to demonstrate all the potential of the new Ducati Desmosedici. These tests will be useful to complete the final set-up, to check the new exhaust system, new mapping (studied to further improve the bike’s rideability), and a new, exclusive Shell Advance lubricant oil, developed with the support of Shell Research and Technology Centre of Hamburg: dyno tests have already shown that it is able to further improve the Ducati four-cylinder engine performance.

“I can’t wait to test at Barcellona – said Capirossi just before leaving for the Catalunya tests – We have especially good memories of that circuit. Last year we were the fastest in the winter tests, and I returned to the highest podium step there. The new bike feels promising, the tests we’ve done so far already showed the great potential of this project, and I can’t wait to test the new parts, the fruit of all the hard work that they’re doing at Borgo Panigale.”
Team mate Troy Bayliss is also ready for the first official challenge: “There are still two days to go but my mind is already in Spain,” said the Ducati Marlboro Team rider. “The GP4 has much improved with respect to last year, but we’re planning to test new modifications at Barcelona which will hopefully help us do even better. These tests and the Jerez tests are critically important, just before the beginning of the Championship. And at last, in Barcelona, we’ll all be on the track together, just like in a race!”

The Development team will also be taking part in the tests. For the three test days, the official tester Vittoriano Guareschi will continue his delicate and essentially important work on the Ducati Desmosedici.


More, from a press release issued by Camel Honda Racing Information:

MotoGP IRTA Tests,
Catalunya, 26/27/28 March 2004

Preview

The 2004 racing season is all set to begin this weekend. With the “winter” test sessions over, the time has come to raise the curtain on the World Championship season. In just a few hours’ time, the IRTA tests will get underway at Montmelò. This is the classic start of the season – a long-awaited rendezvous where, for the first time, all the MotoGP participants come together on the track for a contest, a challenge, that in terms of intensity and significance could well be considered as the first “race” of the season. Even so, we are still going to have to wait until 18 April for the first of the 16 World Championship rounds. This will be when the green light comes on in South Africa, on the home straight of the Welkom circuit.

JT International, the title partner with the Camel brand of the yellow-blue Camel Honda team, will be the official sponsor of these IRTA tests. This will certainly be a magisterial world preview that will reveal the potential of many of those taking part. And it will also be a big media-oriented event with a huge public that has been waiting all winter long. IRTA sponsorship will also involve a special promotion for the public, for Camel has distributed 35,000 invitations for the three days of tests, letting thousands take part in a lottery that has a Honda CRB 1000 RR and five Honda 100 cc scooters as prizes. All the machines will naturally bear the yellow-blue colours of the Camel Honda team.

After the “catwalk” in Milan, the Camel Honda team was officially presented in Italy last week: the whole team, with Team Principal Sito Pons and the riders, will have another meeting with the media at Montmelò. An informal encounter slated for Friday 26 March from 1.30 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. in the paddock.
In other words, another “showcase” for the yellow-blue Honda RC211Vs, before the bikes roar into action and the timekeepers pronounce their verdict.

The first comments as this important pre-championship test session drew close came from the riders:

Max Biaggi – Camel Honda (Michelin tyres)
“I love the Barcelona circuit but I must say that, after years of Formula One, the surface has been a bit ruined, especially in the braking areas. In any case, it’s a great track to start off a series of important tests. We should be receiving some new components from Honda for the chassis, but in any case we’ll be starting off with the basic settings we used last time we were here. We’ll also naturally be taking into consideration the results of the last tests, especially for the front tyres, and I believe Michelin has brought along some new stuff. We’ve got three days – all the time we need to do a good job, and we’ll draw our conclusions at the end.”

Makoto Tamada – Camel Honda (Bridgestone tyres)
“These tests in Catalunya are really important. They’re the last chance we’ve got to get the bike’s settings right before the World Championship starts up. We’ve got to make the absolute best of this series of tests to make the best possible decisions. I’m really pleased with the bike and its amazing power, and as far as the tyres are concerned, I know that Bridgestone is going to be coming here to Montmelò with some new materials and I can’t wait to try it all out over the weekend. I particularly like this track, so I’m expecting some pretty tough work over the next three days, but also plenty of satisfaction.”