Pramac Honda continue at Sepang

The third and last day of tests at Sepang ended with Makoto Tamada posting sixth best time in spite of a vexing flu that stretched his physical resistance to the limit. Technicians and rider completed the work of adjusting the settings on the bike, making the potential of the remarkable and significant new adjustment possibilities on the RC211V 2004 quite evident.

Makoto rode constantly in racing configuration on hard tyres and, in the afternoon, he waited until the over 50°C (122°F) ground temperature had gone down a bit before upping the ante. The brief wait towards the end of the afternoon also let Makoto recover some of his energy, for his terrible cold and flu-like state that struck him particularly today naturally had no little influence on his performance.

This second series of tests at the beginning of the year proved to be very positive, letting the technicians and rider appreciate all the excellent new features of this year’s RC211V. Three days of tests will start up again in Phillip Island, Australia, as from next Tuesday.

Makoto Tamada (# 6 – Camel Honda – Bridgestone Tyres)
“The cold that got me when I arrived here from Japan did indeed hit its peak today. It was really a struggle, especially this morning. When you’re riding it’s no problem because you’re concentrating so hard, but when I stopped it hit me hard. Even so, I gave it all I’d got. The more we go round on the bike, the better the feeling I get for it. I waited until the end of the afternoon before aiming for a good time and, considering I was on racing tyres, I must say that, all things considered, I’m pretty pleased.”

Luca Montiron (Team Manager Makoto Tamada – Camel Honda)
“This year’s second series of tests has given some good results. Even though Tamada was considerably handicapped by his precarious physical condition, I could see he was really concentrating hard. After the three days investigating the ideal set-up for the bike, and after the forthcoming tests in Australia, I’m hoping that by the time we get to the Catalunya tests we’ll be able to bring our full potential to bear.”

Times on third day of tests:

Makoto Tamada: 2’02.962
Max Biaggi: 2’02.108