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HRC Wraps up Barcelona Test Dec 8th, 2001 |
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HRC Wraps up Barcelona Test Dec 8th, 2001 |
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HRC completed their
European winter test programme at Barcelona today and pronounced
themselves more than pleased with the results of five days of testing in
Spain, first at Jerez followed by two days at Barcelona. On the final day of the test the engineers concentrated their efforts on testing new suspension parts, various ignition and fuel-injector settings. The results showed in the times with GP rider Tohru Ukawa and HRC test rider Shinichi Itoh around half a second faster than yesterday, in almost identical conditions. Tohru Ukawa: "The two days we spent here at Barcelona have been very good to understand the machine and its potential. The machine has more than enough power, now we have to concentrate on improving tyre performance. We go to Australia in two weeks to continue testing and we will run reliability tests, so I'm sure we will find a solution for the tyres. The most important thing about the tests in Spain was the fact that we did not have a single technical problem throughout the five days of testing." Shinichi Itoh: "I agree with Ukawa San, we have done everything we came here to do and the results have been very good. We will now await developments from these tests but I'm sure they will be positive again." Daijiro Katoh tested the Honda Gresini NSR500 for a second day at Barcelona and like his four-stroke counterparts Katoh also improved his lap times today. Daijiro Katoh: "I really enjoyed riding the bike today. I feel good on the bike, very comfortable now the team have found a good position and better chassis settings to suit my size and weight. The bike works particularly well here, Barcelona is a 500 track, and I like it. But there is one thing sure, I will need a lot of kilometres on the bike to be ready for the first race of next season." Katoh's Honda Gresini team-mate, Italian Roberto Rolfo, took his NSR250 out and improved on yesterday's performance as he prepared for the coming season, his first on a factory Honda. Roberto Rolfo: "Sure I was a little faster today but the important thing is I learned more about the bike testing it here at Barcelona. We tried many things here on settings, to engine and chassis, and I'm happy with what I learned. But I know I need much more experience on this bike before I can be really fast." Times
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