1. Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, Michelin, 1:38.394 2. Dani Pedrosa, Honda, Michelin, 1:38.527 3. Colin Edwards, Yamaha, Michelin, 1:39.300 4. Nicky Hayden, Honda, Michelin, 1:39.556 5. Randy de Puniet, Kawasaki, Bridgestone, 1:39.832 6. Casey Stoner, Ducati, Bridgestone, 1:39.873 7. Loris Capirossi, Ducati, Bridgestone, 1:39.887 8. Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, Bridgestone, 1:40.043 9. Kenny Roberts, KR212V, Michelin, 1:40.083 10. Carlos Checa, Honda, Michelin, 1:40.100 11. Toni Elias, Honda, Bridgestone, 1:40.202 12. Shinya Nakano, Honda, Michelin, 1:40.242 13. Makoto Tamada, Yamaha, Dunlop, 1:40.307 14. Marco Melandri, Honda, Bridgestone, 1:40.396 15. Oliver Jacque, Kawasaki, Bridgestone, 1:40.551 16. Alex Hofmann, Ducati, Bridgestone, 1:40.681 17. Alex Barros, Ducati, Bridgestone, 1:41.038 18. Kousuke Akiyoshi, Suzuki, Bridgestone, 1:41.805 19. Sylvain Guintoli, Yamaha, Dunlop, 1:42.215 20. Vittoriano Guareschi, Ducati, Bridgestone, 1:43.008 21. Andrew Pitt, Ilmor, Michelin, 1:43.026 22. Shinichi Ito, Ducati, Bridgestone, 1:43.073 23. Jeremy McWilliams, Ilmor, Michelin, 1:43.202 More, from a press release issued by Dorna Sports: Rossi wins BMW M Award shootout to conclude 2007 preseason Sunday 24th February – Jerez, Spain – MotoGP Official Test Valentino Rossi will leave Jerez tonight with a brand new BMW M car and, more importantly, a crucial psychological advantage over his title rivals after winning the 40 minute ‘qualifying session’ at Jerez this afternoon. The five time MotoGP World Champion took the 2007 BMW M Award at the MotoGP Official Test with scorching 1’38.394 lap, clocked with just five minutes to go in the session. It is the second time that Rossi has won the award, and an excellent end to a preseason where the 800cc Yamaha M1 has shone brightly. The Italian had to work for it though, and a vintage display was required to edge out early pacesetter Dani Pedrosa. Repsol Honda’s Spanish star had laid down the gauntlet early on by breaking first the 1’40 then the 1’39 barrier as he pushed for the top spot. After seeing Rossi clock his eventual winning time Pedrosa completed a perfect lap at the death, beating his best times at all four timed sections of the circuit. His final fastest lap was 1’38.527, under two tenths of a second slower than his World Championship rival. Last year’s BMW M Award winner, Colin Edwards was unable to repeat his 2006 triumph but continued to show the potential of the factory Yamaha as he joined team-mate Rossi in the top three. The Texan Tornado continued his testing almost immediately after the presentation of the award, as always fully dedicated to the improvement of his bike. World Champion Nicky Hayden was unable to push enough for the car, but did put in a series of fast laps whilst avoiding unnecessary risks. Retaining his hard-fought crown this year is the Kentucky Kid’s number one priority, and he has been taking things steady this week at Jerez. Hayden rounded off an all-Michelin top four, encouraging news for the tyre manufacturer after Bridgestone’s strong performances recently. Randy de Puniet, Casey Stoner, Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen made up a quartet of Bridgestone riders in the top ten, and further showing the even nature of the 800cc bikes as they added to the list of different manufacturers in the leading group. The BMW Z4 M Coupé was presented to Rossi by Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta and Axel Zimmermann, Sponsoring General Manager of BMW. Later on, most riders returned to the track to conclude their 2007 preseason. With most undertaking race simulations and final fine tuning, the Kawasaki duo of Randy de Puniet topped the timesheets to finish testing on a high note. They were closely followed by Toni Elias, Alex Hofmann, Pedrosa and Rossi. MotoGP Official Test Jerez Day 3 Overall Official Times 1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha Factory Racing) – 1’38.394 2. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) – 1’38.527 3. Colin Edwards (Yamaha Factory Racing) – 1’39.300 4. Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda) – 1’39.55 5. Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki Racing Team) – 1’39.832 6. Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team) – 1’39.873 7. Loris Capirossi (Ducati Marlboro Team) – 1’39.887 8. Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) – 1’40.043 9. Kenny Roberts Jr. (Team Roberts) – 1’40.083 10. Carlos Checa (Honda LCR) – 1’40.100 11. Toni Elias (Honda Gresini) – 1’40.202 12. Shinya Nakano (Konica Minolta Honda) – 1’40.242 13. Makoto Tamada (Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3) – 1’40.307 14. Marco Melandri (Honda Gresini) – 1’40.396 15. Olivier Jacque (Kawasaki Racing Team) – 1’40.551 16. Alex Hofmann (Pramac d’Antin) – 1’40.681 17. Alex Barros (Pramac d’Antin) – 1’41.038 18. Kousuke Akiyoshi (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) – 1’41.805 19. Sylvain Guintoli (Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3) – 1’42.215 20. Vittoriano Guareschi (Ducati Marlboro Team – Test) – 1’43.008 21. Andrew Pitt (Ilmor GP) – 1’43.026 22. Shinichi Ito (Ducati Bridgestone Team – Test) – 1’43.073 23. Jeremy McWilliams (Ilmor GP) – 1’43.202 More, from a press release issued by Ilmor: Official MotoGP Test Jerez Day Three Circuito de Jerez de la Frontera 25.02.07 The day started well for both Ilmor GP riders once the mist had lifted at the Jerez Circuit. McWilliams and Pitt continued to make progress with the new 2007 Ilmor GP engine specification with both riders clocking up good lap times however things didn’t quite go so smoothly during the official timed session Pitt suffered delays due to a malfunctioning fuel pump and McWilliams was hampered by a problem with his new faring. During the afternoon session the problems with Pitt’s fuel pump cut his testing time short but despite this and the delays both Ilmor GP riders noticed continued improvement with the new engine set-up. As the team prepares to head out to the Middle East for the World Championship opener in Qatar, the mood remains positive and focussed. Italian rider Valentino Rossi gave the media something to talk about as he celebrated winning a BMW Z4 in front of the 29,000 fans gathered at the Spanish circuit the seven time World Champion won the car after clocking up the fastest lap time during the official 40 minute timed session and shortly after being presented with it he jumped onto the roof in front of the cheering crowd. His winning lap time 1.38.394 beats his previous qualifying record of 1.39.064. Timings for the Official 40 minute Practice Session Andrew Pitt #88 Laps: 14 Fastest Lap: 1.43.026 Top Speed: 260.4 Jeremy McWilliams #99 Laps: 9 Fastest Lap: 1.43.202 Top Speed: 266.4 Andrew Pitt, Ilmor GP Rider: “We made good progress this morning we tried out the qualifying tyres and it felt good we are definitely continuing to make positive developments. We made some small steps forward with the throttle pick-up which has been an issue previously. It has been great to have Mario here he’s good for morale and we made some great progress on the electronics side of things, he and his team are able to quickly pinpoint any issues. To be honest, I think we were unlucky in the timed session, I did my best time today and we had a new front tyre which was performing well I’m sure we could have taken at least another half a second off our best time today.” Jeremy McWilliams, Ilmor GP Rider: “I was a little disappointed by the timed session today we had a minor technical issue but once that was sorted I managed to put in some good consistent laps. We have definitely made some steps in the right direction ahead of Qatar. Ideally I would like another test but unfortunately time won’t allow us that privilege. On the whole, things are looking positive.” Mario Illien, Team Principal: “I’m pleased with the developments we made this morning we made some strong steps forward however, everything went a little pear shaped during the official timed session we had problems with Andrew’s fuel pump and things didn’t go as smoothly as we expected. On the plus side, we did improve our lap time with the help of qualifying tyres.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Bridgestone MotoGP: Jerez Test Debrief Q+A with Hiroshi Yamada – Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager Motorcycle Sport Sunday 25 February 2007 This weekend’s three-day MotoGP session at the Jerez circuit in southern Spain provided the final opportunity to test before the season gets underway in earnest in Qatar in a fortnight. While work centred on general tyre development and more specific preparations for the Jerez GP in late March, Sunday afternoon’s forty minute official session highlighted some important areas for improvement in qualifying tyre performance. What was the test programme for this final pre-season test in Jerez? “Over the winter we have been working intensively on developing our tyres to best meet the requirements of the 800c machines. This week’s Jerez test has been used to carry out final evaluations of our 800cc-specification tyre. Naturally, we have also used the opportunity to test some new compounds in preparation for the Jerez GP in late March.” To what extent have tyres already been adapted to individual team and rider needs? “I think we have already started in a positive way to adapt our tyres to meet the demands of each bike and rider. Toni Elias, for example, has a unique riding style in that he relies a lot more on the front, so we developed a softer rear construction for him to try this week. His feedback has been initially positive and lap times seem to verify that we have found the right direction for him.” How much did the weather affect the overall results from the week? “Between the rain and the fog, the weather has played a big part this week. At Jerez, the track takes a long time to dry out fully after a rain shower. That wasted a lot of time on Friday, while the early morning fog on Saturday and again on Sunday rendered the morning session worthless. We have not covered the entire test programme, but we have still seen some positive and negative results which will help us move forward.” Do the results of the forty-minute official practice session indicate that Bridgestone needs to work on its qualifying tyres? “Based on the results we have witnessed this afternoon, it would appear that we have lost some of the qualifying advantage that we enjoyed last season. Although there were some strong performances from Randy, Chris, Casey and Loris, the leading two riders, Rossi and Pedrosa, both set exceptionally quick times. It is not evident how much of their advantage is down to the machine, the tyre, or the rider, but tyres play an integral role in the overall package, so clearly we have a lot of work to do in this area.” What importance will qualifying hold in races? Will there be any effect on the qualifying tyres given the new restrictions? “Even if front row starts are a major help, good qualifying results alone do not win races, so the priority will always be on the race tyres. Ultimately, it will be the teams’ decision which 31 tyres to choose for the weekend based on advice supplied by Bridgestone. However, I think it safe to assume that teams will always select several qualifiers per weekend to get as high up the grid as possible.” How has Bridgestone planned for the introduction of the new tyre restrictions? “We have worked closely with FIM since the Qatar test to implement the new marking system for the new tyre rules this season. Once our teams have finalised the 31 tyres that each rider will use over the weekend, Bridgestone will scan all tyres into a handheld machine and compile a list of this information for FIM. This process must be done on the installation day of the GP weekend and is done using a barcode that has been cured onto each tyre at the factory. Each time the rider leaves the box, the tyre must again be scanned to register its use. No tyre that has not been barcoded and logged will be permitted for use. On the final day of the Jerez test, we conducted a simulation of this process together with FIM, which worked very well, so I think we are well prepared for its formal implementation in Qatar.” What is the next stage of tyre development before the season gets underway in Qatar? “We have finalised most tyres for Qatar, but some information has been gathered from Jerez that will be used to finalise the remaining specifications. I expect production of all Qatar tyres to be completed by the middle of next week at the latest before being packed and flown to Doha.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing: TOP FIVE FOR DE PUNIET AT THE FIRST MOTOGP OFFICIAL CHALLENGE Kawasaki’s Randy de Puniet brought to an end the final pre-season test in fine style this afternoon, as he took a hard-fought fifth place during the annual 40-minute televised qualifying shootout at Jerez. The 26-year-old Frenchman has been consistently in the top ten on the timesheet throughout the three-day IRTA test on race tyres, but despite finishing the timed qualifying session as the top Bridgestone rider today, de Puniet was convinced he could have gone faster had he not hit a false neutral on his final flying lap. The Kawasaki pilot had planned to run with a fourth qualifying tyre late in the session, but a light rain shower with just five minutes left to run meant that he was unable to improve upon his previous best time. After concentrating on refining the balance and set-up of his Ninja ZX-RR during the first two days of the final pre-season test, Olivier Jacque finally got to try a qualifying tyre on his 800cc Kawasaki during this afternoon’s timed practice. Surprised by the difference in available grip compared to the race tyres, Jacque was unable to use the first qualifier to maximum advantage, but with his second super sticky rear tyre fitted the Frenchman managed to reduce his lap time by a second. With a better understanding of the performance of the Bridgestone qualifying tyres, Jacque headed out on a third qualifier, but was forced to abandon his lap after seeing spots of rain on his visor and screen. First and second place on the timesheet for de Puniet and Jacque during this afternoon’s final free practice session confirmed the potential of Kawasaki’s Ninja ZX-RR, although both riders know that there is still some work to be done ahead of the opening race of the season, which will take place in Qatar on 10 March. Randy de Puniet: 5th – 16 Qualifying Laps – Best Lap 1’39.832 “I am a little bit upset, not with the position I got at the official practice, but with my lap time. I improved with every qualifying tyre I tried, but in my last lap I hit a false neutral in the gearbox and that lost me some time. It also started to rain, but I just closed my eyes and pushed hard until the end. I’m sure that without the mistake I would have been into the low 1’39s bracket. Overall I am satisfied with the job we did during the session and these three days of testing. We made some changes to suspension settings and my feeling was much better this morning. Today the engine was smoother and this is important for race distance. I can’t wait to arrive in Qatar for the first round.” Olivier Jacque: 15th – 12 Qualifying laps – Best Lap 1’40.551 “This afternoon’s timed session was the first time I’ve tested the qualifying tyres from Bridgestone. I was surprised at just how much more grip they offer compared to the race tyres, which meant I didn’t get the best from the rear qualifier first time out. On the second tyre my lap time was a second quicker and I’m confident I’d have been able to improve again with the third soft tyre, but then I noticed rain on my visor, so I abandoned the last flying lap and returned to the pits. Now I realise I could have carried on, but I wasn’t sure how heavy the rain was at different parts of the circuit and there was no reason to risk everything for a fast time so close to the start of the season. Anyway, overall I’m pretty satisfied because I’m not so far off the top five. The bike definitely felt better today and the extra grip of the qualifiers helped to overcome some of the set-up issues we’ve had. The balance is still not perfect, but most important is that we’ve seen an improvement day by day.” Ichiro Yoda: Racing Director “Our assessment of these tests is very positive, as we proved our potential. Randy and Olivier showed it in the first sessions and during the official timed practice this afternoon, even though they still don’t get on well with the qualifying tyres, and confirmed it in the afternoon. Compared with the last tests in Qatar we have done a step forward with the tyres, as we are sure now about the choice for the race. However, we need to improve the engine performance in order to gain some top speed and to get a friendlier power delivery. I’m satisfied with our riders’ job so far, but I have already let them know our expectations for Qatar.” More, from a press release issued by Gresini Honda: THE GRESINI HONDA RIDERS LOOK CONFIDENT TO THE BEGINNING OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP. The third and last day of testing at Jerez de la Frontera, Spain was extremely useful to collect important data in order to be ready for the first round of the 2007 Motogp World Championship, that will take place in Qatar on the 10th of March. The Gresini Honda riders worked on set up and tyre testing before focusing on qualifying tyres in the 40 minutes of Official practices in the early afternoon. TONI ELIAS (11°, 1’40″202, 44 laps in total): “We are struggling a bit because we need to adjust the bike to the new tyres so we need to work a lot on suspension and chassis. All in all, I’m confident because the Bridgestone technicians are working very hard and the team is doing a great job”. MARCO MELANDRI (14°, 1’40″396, 44 laps in total): “It was a difficult day but this 3 day testing session very important to collect data and understand many things about the bike. This afternoon I also made a race simulation and we improved the race rhythm. We need to make a step forward with the qualifying tyre but I’m confident that the Bridgestone technicians will do their best. I’m confident because I trust a lot my team and our partners”. More, from a press release issue by Konica Minolta Honda: KONICA MINOLTA Honda ends winter testing positively On an exciting day where lap records were unofficially smashed, Shinya Nakano made more improvements on-board his KONICA MINOLTA Honda. With the second event of the season taking place here in just one month’s time, it was important to find a good set-up and tyre combination for the race. Sandwiched between this important work came this afternoon’s televised BMW M Award for the fastest lap which was eventually won by Valentino Rossi, with a lap of 1’38.394″. Rossi now leaves Jerez with a brand-new BMW Z4 M sportscar. This lap time compares to Rossi’s official lap record of 1’40.596″ from 2005 with the larger-capacity 990cc MotoGP machines, while the previous best qualifying time belongs to Loris Capirossi with 1’39.064″ set last year. Despite wet weather and fog restricting useful track time over the three days, KONICA MINOLTA Honda are looking forward to the first race of the season which takes place on Saturday 10th March at the Losail track in Qatar. Gianluca Montiron Team Manager KONICA MINOLTA Honda “Obviously we would like to be faster in qualifying trim as it is important to be on the front row come the race here in a month’s time. However, at the end of the day we don’t want to risk Shinya to crash and hurt himself so near to the start of the season. The big positive is that at the end of today he used tyres similar to those Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa used yesterday and was setting consistently good lap times in race simulation. We haven’t tested all that we wanted to this weekend thanks to the poor weather on day one, but for the last two days Shinya has been in the top six or seven on race tyres so we’re not too far off. Overall, as we look towards the first race in a fortnight’s time I have been very pleased with the improvement of our rider!” Shinya Nakano Rider, KONICA MINOLTA Honda (83 laps 1′ 40.242″) “I’m quite disappointed about my performance on qualifying tyres, but I could never put a perfect lap together. Also with qualifying tyres fitted the balance of the bike wasn’t so good with a return of some chatter at the front-end of the bike. Thankfully in the afternoon we concentrated once more on race tyres and settings. With two tyres to test I did two series of 10 consistent laps and we learned a lot from that, so I’m quite happy and confident about our performance come the race here at the end of next month.” Giulio Bernardelle Technical Director, KONICA MINOLTA Honda “This afternoon on race tyres our performance was better and that was what we were concentrating on over the whole weekend. While some other Teams continued using soft tyres, we looked at two choices for the race here. With the qualifying tyres we need to improve as Shinya is unable to carry the corner speed that he wants, so we think we need to make some machine setting changes to enable him to use the softer tyres to best advantage during qualifying. Overall we are pleased with the Jerez tests as we can see a big improvement since our first 2007 tests in January.” MotoGP official practice times 1) Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1′ 38.394″ 2) Dani Pedrosa Honda 1′ 38.527″ 3) Colin Edwards Yamaha 1′ 39.300″ 4) Nicky Hayden Honda 1′ 39.556″ 5) Randy De Puniet Kawasaki 1′ 39.832″ 12) Shinya Nakano Honda 1′ 40.242″ More from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: DUCATI MARLBORO MEN WRAP UP WINTER TESTING Ducati Marlboro Team men Casey Stoner and Loris Capirossi completed their winter testing schedule at Jerez today, ending this final three-day session sixth and seventh quickest, separated by just 0.014 seconds. Both riders rode their fastest laps on qualifying tyres during this afternoon’s 40-minute session, watched by almost 30,000 fans who flocked to the Jerez circuit for a first glimpse of MotoGP’s new 800cc machines. During the rest of the day they focused on race set-up and race tyres. Stoner fell during the final few minutes, taking a knock on the head which left him with concussion and blurred vision in his left eye. Although MotoGP medic Dr Claudio Costa didn’t believe the injuries to be serious he recommended the team take Stoner to Cadiz hospital for a precautionary CAT scan which showed no signs of any problems. Casey Stoner, Laps 35- 6th fastest – 1m 39.873s “The day started out pretty good, we were making the right choices with set-up. After the dash for the car we tried a race simulation and that didn’t go too well, I had a little bit of a glitch in the engine so I had to pull in. After that we tried going out with a different rear tyre which we couldn’t get to work and I had a crash at the end. I don’t usually like to go out on the track after 5.30, but I wasn’t pushing hard, unfortunately it broke away on me quite quickly. Now we need to regroup and go in a different direction for the race here. This has been our worst test for a long time now which isn’t too bad because the past couple of days and this morning we had been going well. If this is the worst it’s going to be then I’m quite happy with that. I was reasonably happy with the qualifying session, I wasn’t aiming at the car. We were there to test some qualifying tyres and I had a really good feeling and sensation with them, so I think the more I ride on them and the better setting we get, the further we can push ourselves up the grid. Now I’m looking forward to going racing – we’ve been waiting for that for a long time.” Loris Capirossi, 41 laps – 7th fastest – 1m 39.887s “The important thing is that this morning we found the right direction to solve the set-up problems we experienced yesterday. Now we are happy enough with our race pace – we can lap in the low one minute 41s and that’s not so bad – so we have achieved a good target. We knew that the situation with qualifying tyres could be a bit more difficult and, even though we’ve made some progress, it’s clear that we need to continue working with Bridgestone in this area to be fully competitive, because at the moment we suffer a lot at tracks without a lot of grip. Another thing that will be difficult at the start of the season is dealing with the new tyre regulations which give us a limited number of tyres at each race, but that’s the same for everyone.” More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing: MotoGP test Jerez, Spain. Final day of three-day test. February 25, 2007. Dani Pedrosa fastest RC212V rider at successful Jerez MotoGP test for Honda MotoGP pre-season testing was brought to a close at the 4.423km Jerez circuit, Spain today as the grand prix teams completed their final three-day winter test session in preparation for the gruelling 18-round world championship series that opens at Doha, Qatar on March 10 – the first ever race under the new 800cc capacity regulations. The next time they meet the fruits of their labours will be tested to the full in one of the most eagerly awaited contests for several years. Winter testing has produced no clear indication of which man or machine starts the season as favourite to win the most coveted title in motorcycle racing. Honda teams and riders completed the winter test programme with solid performances from all RC212V powered machines with Repsol Honda factory team rider Dani Pedrosa setting second fastest time of the day, just 0.133s behind Valentino Rossi. Pedrosa’s team mate, MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden ended the test as fourth fastest man on the 20-rider grid. Pedrosa and Hayden both spent the majority of the final day fine tuning their chassis and suspension settings before under going extensive tyre testing for Michelin. The two men running fast consistent race simulations prior to setting up their RCVs to run with qualifying tyres in the 40-minute televised shoot out. Pedrosa came to Jerez determined to better his best lap time set at Jerez in November and did just that by an impressive 1.4s. The young Spaniard pushed his tyres to the limit and he leaves for Qatar in positive frame of mind. Hayden, who missed the same test due to under going corrective surgery, had limited time on qualifying tyres this winter preferring to devote his time to working on race rubber and consequently had no marker to aim at ending the day one second off Pedrosa’s best time. Gresini Honda rider Marco Melandri had set fastest lap times on the opening two-days of the test but failed to make a big impression on qualifying tyres today. The Italian performed consistently well on race tyres all winter and ran a race simulation today with encouraging results but feels he needs to take a big step forward on qualifying rubber. Toni Elias, on the second Gresini RC212V, was the most improved Honda rider at the Jerez test. In previous tests the diminutive Spaniard had been off the pace but his faith in tyre supplier Bridgestone was rewarded with a range of tyres more suited to his style. Elias feels he is making progress in his development of the RC212V. Shinya Nakano, Konica Minolta Honda, was disappointed with his performance today having failed to put together a perfect lap on qualifying tyres. He found the balance of the machine was not ideal and he suffered from front-end chatter. However, the popular Japanese rider was pleased with the performance of the RCV on race rubber. Seasoned campaigner Carlos Checa enjoyed a productive three-days at Jerez. The LCR Honda rider and chief mechanic Ramon Forcada have adopted a step-by-step strategy over the winter and Spaniard Checa is close to race ready. He has good race pace and is improving his performances on qualifying tyres. Checa feels the front end needs more fine-tuning but in general he leaves for Qatar with the feeling the team are on course for a good season. Team Roberts leave Jerez in great shape as they head for Qatar and the opening GP of the season. The team technicians have developed the Honda powered KR212V to a very competitive standard during the series of arduous winter tests. The prototype KR212V covered 4,500 km over the winter and the Jerez test saw the team technicians establish a close to optimum machine balance that has eradicated the niggling front-end grip problems that rider Kenny Roberts Jnr identified as his only real concern. This was achieved by modifying the trail and suspension settings, without losing rear end grip. At Jerez Kenny Jnr tested Michelin qualifying tyres for the first time with the latest version of the Team Roberts chassis and the results have confirmed the chassis engine combination can run a full race distance at a fast consistent pace and perform equally well on qualifying rubber. Honda rider quotes and lap times. Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 1m 39.556s 101 laps. “It was definitely fun to get out there again with the boys with something on the line the timed session gave it a bit of an edge today and was a little bit of a tease before the first race. The position is not too bad but my time is quite a long way from the front. I haven’t spent much time on qualifying tyres at the winter tests so it was good to get that time here and put in a few quick laps. Some of the other riders really put in some hot laps today so credit to them. The conditions towards the end of the session were dodgy because there was a fine mist of rain falling which made it interesting and riding on qualifiers is always exciting enough anyway. I feel like perhaps we’re still missing a little something to get the speed I want but I’m excited to go racing I’m really looking forward to it.” Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 1m 38.527s 97 laps. “I’m very happy with the 40-minute timed session because I really didn’t expect to be this fast. I improved the lap time on qualifying tyres by a lot from the last time I rode here. This was the goal for the session and I did it, so I’m happy. It’s been a really good test for me because we will only have limited time in which to test tyres this season. It was a good competition with Valentino today but I was not focused on his times, I just wanted to put these tyres on the limit and concentrate on myself, which is what I did. It’s been a valuable three days, we have made progress with the set-up of the bike for the race and also qualifying, so I’m hoping we’re ready for the first round at Qatar.” Marco Melandri, Gresini Honda: 1m 40.396s – 88 laps “It was a difficult day but this 3 day testing session very important to collect data and understand many things about the bike. This afternoon I also made a race simulation and we improved the race rhythm. We need to make a step forward with the qualifying tyre but I’m confident that the Bridgestone technicians will do their best. I’m confident because I trust a lot my team and our partners”. Toni Elias, Gresini Honda: 1m 40.202s 85 laps. “We are struggling a bit because we need to adjust the bike to the new tyres so we need to work a lot on suspension and chassis. All in all, I’m confident because the Bridgestone technicians are working very hard and the team is doing a great job”. Carlos Checa, LCR Honda: 1m 40.100s 85 laps. “Today we mainly worked on tyres testing with Michelin. We got some improvements in the front end but it’s not fixed yet. My pace on race tyres is pretty good but I still struggle on qualifiers. Anyway I feel satisfied because this time I upped my pace on qualifiers compared to the rest of the winter tests and this is positive. Now we must find a solution for the engine because I need more power especially on fast tracks such as Qatar, Istanbul and Shanghai. Honestly we did a great job during the winter to adapt to this new machine but I could go faster and hope that HRC can help me somehow”. Shinya Nakano, Konica Minolta Honda: 1m 40.242s – 83 laps. “I’m quite disappointed about my performance on qualifying tyres, but I could never put a perfect lap together. Also with qualifying tyres fitted the balance of the bike wasn’t so good with a return of some chatter at the front-end of the bike. Thankfully in the afternoon we concentrated once more on race tyres and settings. With two tyres to test I did two series of 10 consistent laps and we learned a lot from that, so I’m quite happy and confident about our performance come the race here at the end of next month.” Kenny Roberts Jnr, KR212V: 1m 40.083s 84 laps. “When we were satisfied with the chassis performance we basically spent the day tyre testing. I ran qualifying tyres for the first time and I’m happy with the results. We also put in a long run on development tyres and that was good too. Testing has been good for us and we are a long way ahead of where we were at this stage last year but you can have too much testing now its time to go racing and we’re ready. I’m really looking forward to Qatar.” Official lap times for 40-minute shoot out. Qualifying Practice Classification 1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha Factory Racing) – 1’38.394 2. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) – 1’38.527 3. Colin Edwards (Yamaha Factory Racing) – 1’39.300 4. Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda) – 1’39.55 5. Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki Racing Team) – 1’39.832 6. Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team) – 1’39.873 7. Loris Capirossi (Ducati Marlboro Team) – 1’39.887 8. Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) – 1’40.043 9. Kenny Roberts Jr. (Team Roberts) – 1’40.083 10. Carlos Checa (Honda LCR) – 1’40.100 11. Toni Elias (Honda Gresini) – 1’40.202 12. Shinya Nakano (Konica Minolta Honda) – 1’40.242 13. Makoto Tamada (Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3) – 1’40.307 14. Marco Melandri (Honda Gresini) – 1’40.396 15. Olivier Jacque (Kawasaki Racing Team) – 1’40.551 16. Alex Hofmann (Pramac d’Antin) – 1’40.681 17. Alex Barros (Pramac d’Antin) – 1’41.038 18. Kousuke Akiyoshi (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) – 1’41.805 19. Sylvain Guintoli (Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3) – 1’42.215 20. Vittoriano Guareschi (Ducati Marlboro Team – Test) – 1’43.008 More, from a press release issued by Michelin: Winter testing overview Jerez, 25 February 2007 MICHELIN DOMINATES JEREZ SESSION TO CONCLUDE WINTER TEST PROGRAM Michelin riders dominated today’s official preseason prologue event at Jerez, filling the first four positions in the special 40-minute timed session. Former World Champion Valentino Rossi (Yamaha Factory Racing Team YZR-M1-Michelin) rode the fastest-ever lap of Jerez to beat Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team RC212V-Michelin) by just 0.133 seconds. The Italian was 0.67 seconds quicker than the previous best lap at Jerez, proving once again that the new 800s are already faster than the 990s they have replaced. Colin Edwards (Yamaha Factory Racing Team YZR-M1-Michelin) was a close third, just ahead of reigning World Champion Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda Team RC212V-Michelin). “It’s nice to win the first battle of the year,” said Rossi. “This means the M1 is more competitive than last year and we are fast more or less everywhere. Here I have a good rhythm with race tires and I was able to do a fantastic lap with the qualifying tire, so my thanks to everyone.” Today’s final day of preseason testing at Jerez concludes an incredibly intense winter testing program. Since the final race of the 990 era last October, Michelin and its partners have crisscrossed the world developing tires for the new 800s: from Valencia to Sepang and Jerez, back to Sepang, onto Phillip Island, back to Sepang again, thence to Losail and Jerez. It’s been a unique experience, not only because Michelin has been developing a new 16-inch front tire and adapting its 16.5 rear for the 800s but because the company has been readying itself for MotoGP’s new tire regulations and implementing its new philosophy of creating tailor-made tires for each of its nine riders to ensure maximum performance within the rules. Michelin is happy with the work done so far, especially concerning development of the 16-inch front, which replaces the 16.5 that won the last three MotoGP World Championships. Michelin’s motorcycle racing director Jean-Philippe Weber believes that the new 800s need better front tire performance than the 990s because their nimbler handling characteristics allow riders to enter corners more aggressively. The 16-inch front, which has been under development since early 2006, is thus proving to be a great success. “The emphasis is changing,” says Weber. “Top speeds aren’t so high with the 800s but the lap times are very fast, because riders can enter corners faster, harder on the brakes, and use more corner speed, so they need a good front tire more than ever and they need high confidence in the front too. We realized this as soon as we talked to our riders after the first 800 tests at Motegi last September. That’s why we switched to the 16. It is slightly smaller and lighter than the 16.5, which gives better handling and allows riders to flick the bike very quickly, and it’s got a slightly bigger footprint for more grip and confidence. “Initial development didn’t go as quickly as we expected because not all our riders were available for testing in November (Hayden and Pedrosa both underwent surgery on old injuries at this time) and there weren’t enough wheel rims available. But all the riders who tried the 16 really enjoyed its performance and from that data we prepared new tires for the January tests at Sepang. That test was a very rich experience for us; the tires were better for everyone, so we found the right direction very quickly. “We are working on three main families of 16, all with the same profile but with three very different constructions. Each of our riders is more or less focusing on one family that suits their style. Guys like Valentino and Nicky brake very deep into turns so they need a stable tire that doesn’t move that much. Other riders like Shinya (Nakano) go into corners more smoothly, which requires a different construction and compound. In some cases the differences between our riders’ tires can be quite big. “Developing new front tires isn’t easy because riders need to really push the limit to understand a tire. But once they know a front tire and feel really confident in it then they have the confidence to be more aggressive in their riding. Knowing how difficult it is, it’s amazing that we’ve been able to make such quick progress. “The 800s also make different demands on the rear tire, so Michelin has adapted its 16.5 rear that dominated all five seasons of 990cc MotoGP. “The size and profile haven’t changed but corner speeds are higher now so the stress on the edge of the tire is even greater,” adds Weber. “Our work on the rear tire has therefore been focused on creating more stability on the edge of the tire and also good traction for the corner exits, adjusting stiffness of the tire casing and compounds, so it more or less continues the development work we had already done with the 990s. But it’s been a lot of work because there are some big differences between the rears we make for our different riders. Guys like Valentino and Nicky put a lot of load on the rear, they put a lot of stress into the tire.” Michelin is also looking forward to working with MotoGP’s new tire rules that restrict riders to 14 front slicks and 17 rear slicks per weekend. “It’s more challenging for us because we need to go even deeper into the details with our different riders to make sure we give each rider the best package of tires within the restrictions,” he says. “Overall I’m quite happy with the results we’ve had over the winter, especially with the big job of developing the 16. Now we are really looking forward to the first race.” MotoGP’s first 800cc campaign kicks off at Qatar on Saturday 10 March. Michelin has scored more than 350 victories in premier-class motorcycling racing since 1973 and has won 26 500/MotoGP World Championships over the past 31 years, including a clean sweep of the last 15 titles. Michelin Riders’ Qualifying Practice Classification 1. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha Factory Racing Team-Michelin) 1:38.394 2. Dani PEDROSA (Repsol Honda Team-Michelin) 1:38.527 3. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha Factory Racing Team-Michelin) 1:39.300 4. Nicky HAYDEN (Repsol Honda Team-Michelin) 1:39.556 9. Kenny ROBERTS JR (Team Roberts-Michelin) 1:40.083 10. Carlos CHECA (Honda LCR-Michelin) 1:40.100 12. Shinya NAKANO Konica Minolta Honda-Michelin) 1:40.242 21. Andrew PITT (Ilmor GP-Michelin) 1:43.026 23. Jeremy McWILLIAMS (Ilmor GP-Michelin) 1:43.202 More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Vermeulen eighth in timed shoot-out Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racer Chris Vermeulen recorded his fastest-ever lap around the Jerez circuit today during this afternoon’s 40-minute timed session. Suzuki’s Australian rider utilised the session to full extent as he tested Bridgestone’s qualifying tyres for the first time on the Suzuki GSV-R800. He consistently improved on his times throughout the 40-miutes and set a quickest time of 1’40.043, and compiled lots of important data on the latest generation of tyres. Vermeulen continued with his comprehensive test schedule during the rest of the day, which included a long run on Bridgestone race tyres, as the team gathered as much information as they could in preparation for next month’s race here in Jerez. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Team Test Rider Kousuke Akiyoshi didn’t have a very happy timed session as he was left sitting on the track after a high-side crash on his 10th lap. He was unhurt but unable to re-join the other riders and had to settle for 18th quickest. He also completed a detailed test day as he gets ready for his race debut at the Spanish circuit next month. John Hopkins was able to get on track today, but only for the MotoGP riders’ group photo. The Anglo-American star is making good progress with his rehabilitation following his high-speed crash at Qatar last week. He is well on course for a full recovery and will take his place on the grid for the season opener also in Qatar. Over 29,000 spectators came to Jerez to watch today’s final day of pre-season testing, and witnessed former World Champion Valentino Rossi set the fastest time on his factory Yamaha to win a BMW car. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will next be in action at the first round of the 2007 MotoGP World Championship at Losail in Qatar on Saturday 10th March. This is the first race of an 18 event series that will finish at Valencia, Spain in November. Chris Vermeulen: “I haven’t used qualifiers all winter on the 800 so it was a good session for me, as I got to learn a lot about them. I used five rear qualifying tyres in the whole 40 minutes so we made full use of it. We tried four different compounds and constructions, and we got a lot of information for Bridgestone. It was quite difficult during the session as there were some spots of rain and I actually pulled in on one of my laps as there was quite a bit of rain on one of the corners and I didn’t want to risk anything. It’s the quickest lap I’ve ever done at Jerez, quicker than my qualifying here last year, so it shows we are making progress and with a clear lap I am sure I could go even quicker! Although we have learned a lot from the qualifiers our main focus is still to get the best tyre we can to do 27 quick laps in the race!” Kousuke Akiyoshi: “I am very disappointed to crash. I was getting quicker all the time and I am sure I would have done better. I had a high-side on the second corner and wasn’t able to get back out again in the timed session. I have done lots of testing and learnt the track and I am looking forward to coming back here for the race.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “Today’s timed session was a great opportunity to see all the MotoGP riders riding at 100% and pushing their abilities to the maximum. More importantly for us it helped us verify a qualifying tyre choice, not only for here but the general direction for the season. Chris performed strongly and dependably today, lapping at just over 0.1 of a second away from the fastest Bridgestone rider and finishing in the top-eight is not a bad result at all. We also got through some good testing today with consistently good results. Everything we have done here this week will certainly help both Chris and John when the season starts at Qatar in two weeks time.” MotoGP Official Test Timed Practice Classification: 1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1’38.394: 2. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) +0.133: 3. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +0.906: 4. Nicky Hayden (Honda) +1.162: 5. Randy De Puniet (Kawasaki) +1.438: 8. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKII MOTOGP) +1.649: 18. KOUSUKE AKIYOSHI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +3.411: