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-- Kawasaki --
Fuchs Kawasaki Racing Team riders,
Shinya Nakano and Alex Hofmann, continued their preparation for the
2004 MotoGP World Championship during the third and penultimate day
of testing at Malaysia's Sepang circuit.
After evaluating new engine components during the morning session,
Shinya Nakano moved onto tyre testing in the afternoon, working his
way through a selection of Bridgestone front slicks and identifying
a particular compound and construction that worked well in the hot
and windy conditions. The 26-year-old Japanese rider completed 51
laps of the 5.5km Sepang circuit aboard his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR
today, finishing with a fastest lap of 2'04.84s.
Also concentrating on testing Bridgestone's range of front slicks
was Nakano's Fuchs Kawasaki team-mate, Alex Hofmann. Identifying a
good tyre early on in the session, the 23-year-old German rider then
continued refining the set up of his Ninja ZX-RR, eventually posting
his fastest time of the day with a lap of 2'05.28s.
Tyre testing will again be the order of the day during tomorrow's
fourth and final day of testing. Having concentrated on evaluating
front tyres today, tomorrow the Fuchs Kawasaki pair will start
evaluating Bridgestone's range of rear slicks.
Shinya Nakano: best time - 2:04.84 (51 laps)
"We didn't manage to match yesterday's lap time, although we came
close, but overall I'm happy with the progress we've made today. We
tested a different crank in the bike this morning and it had a
positive effect on stability under braking, although it did make the
bike a little harder to control on the throttle and a little less
stable when changing direction. We also tested a lot of front tyres
and I found one that felt good on this circuit. Tomorrow we move on
to testing rear tyres, as well as continuing work on set up."
Alex Hofmann: best time - 2:05.28 (56 laps)
"Today was tyre testing day, and we managed to work our way through
a lot of tyres, especially fronts. We found one combination that
seemed to work really well around here, and that helped us to
progress even further with suspension settings and set up. Lap times
were slightly slower today as a result of the wind, which was really
strong for most of the day, before easing off a little in the late
afternoon. I'm happy with the progress we made today. Tomorrow we
will evaluate a slightly different chassis and then continue with
refining the set up of the bike."
Harald Eckl: Team Manager
"Today we didn't see the big reduction in lap times of the previous
two days, but this is always the way with racing; improvements come
quickly at first, but then the next few seconds you have to fight
very hard for. Hard work it may be, but I'm confident that, with the
support of their respective crews, Shinya and Alex will continue to
make progress during tomorrow's final day of testing here at Sepang.
Overall, I have to say I'm happy with the way this test has
progressed, and I think we've surprised a few people with just how
quickly we've made advances with the latest version of the Ninja
ZX-RR."
-- HRC
--
Honda completed their
third and final day of testing at the Malaysian Sepang circuit
today, with temperatures slightly cooler than the previous two days,
a bonus for the riders, many of whom set about riding endurance
sessions to finish off. There was a slight breeze around the circuit
throughout the day, and with it came a little bad luck for a couple
of the Honda set, with the most dramatic incident of the day
undoubtedly going to Camel Honda's Makoto Tamada who suffered a tyre
problem while travelling down the main straight, effectively ending
his day early.
Sete Gibernau of Telefonica MoviStar Honda also had an engine
problem which threatened to do the same for him, however the
Spaniard had his team put in his previous day's engine, to go on to
set some fast laps during a race simulation session. Max Biaggi
(Camel Honda Team) was quick once more, and began to look even more
at home on the RC211V as he did more endurance tests with Michelin
tyres like many of the Honda riders today. Colin Edwards (Telefonica
MoviStar Honda) perhaps had done too much, as he called it a day
early feeling the effects of the intensive work after a long winter
break.
HRC factory tester Tohru Ukawa did a full 21-lap race simulation on
the latest version of the RC211V, and lowered his time by over 15
seconds when compared to his race time in October, whereas Nicky
Hayden (Repsol Honda) set a similar lap-time on his version of the
machine after finally getting back some of the rhythm he found
towards the end of the 2003 season.
Max Biaggi - 2m 02.585s. 50 laps - "It's been a quite good three
days here in Sepang. The temperature helps a lot, it means we can
play around with set-up and test many different tyres. I always felt
comfortable here, and have been consistently fast, that's the main
thing. I'm happy with what equipment I've got at the moment, it's
definitely an improvement on what we had before, but we have to look
to the future and we will hope for even more developments, because
that is what it is all about. I and the team will all be trying 100
percent to do our best, so we are looking forward to continuing our
work here in a couple of weeks time."
Sete Gibernau - 2m 02.7s. - "It was a very strange and difficult
day. I went out with a new engine this morning and it broke almost
immediately. I had the choice to put in yesterday's engine or stop,
so we decided to carry on but take things easy and maybe even limit
its performance slightly to not go through the same problem. I
wanted to do this to try and get some new information for Michelin
by doing an endurance session. The front tyres we used were a
completely new generation and initially we were in the 2'02, 2'03
level, but it dropped off. We had bad luck, but physically and
mentally this is good preparation for later on in the season when
things might not go so well."
Tohru Ukawa - 2m 03.2s. 76 laps - "Today we ended by doing a full
21-lap race simulation, and I would say that I was about 15 or 20
seconds faster than when I rode here in October. To say that we
haven't even got the bike set-up perfectly yet, that's good news. We
made a lot of changes to the bike to get grip levels up to where we
need them, changing suspension, chassis and many other settings, and
it's getting close but there is still work to do. The lap time could
be better I think, but I don't know if I will get another chance to
test this bike before the other riders get into it."
Colin Edwards - 2m 03.3s. 38 laps - "I was worried before coming
here because I knew I had to do lots of laps on the 17-inch front
for Michelin, which I haven't done for four years since I began
working on the 16.5 with the Superbike. I think I maybe felt a bit
of the fear of change from that today. I ran a 17" all day, and the
work the MotoGP guys have done on this means that it makes a big
difference. I'd say I'm now at 50-50 between the two. The 17 on the
Honda makes it feel balanced and more comfortable - it's not that
elsewhere it necessarily will, but I have to make my own decisions
and not think about other people's preferences."
Makoto Tamada - 2m 03.5s. 30 laps - "It had been a good couple of
days testing until today, but these sort of things happen. We have
worked well with the new engine we have been given, working in many
different areas to improve the all-round set-up of the bike. The
engine is smoother for the tyres now, but it can still get better,
so despite finishing early today, I look forward to our next test
session to test things further."
Nicky Hayden - 2m 03.2s. 68 laps - "It was great to get back on the
bike after the winter break. Over the three days we got faster and
faster and the bike felt better and better. Some of the new
Michelins we tested were very good and we tried both 17 inch and 16½
fronts. The new engine parts work well and I'm really lookin'
forward to ridin' the new 2004 bike back here in a month. Sepang
isn't one of my favourite tracks on the GP circuit but I'm feelin'
more comfortable and confident here than I have ever felt."
Trevor Morris, Hayden Crew Chief: "Very pleased with the first
outing of 2004 really. Nicky is going well and it's great to see he
went faster today on normal tyres than he did on qualifying tyres at
the GP last October. We did a simulated long run and he got into a
good fast rhythm so we're all very encouraged. We got a lot of
valuable data on various 2004 parts which will be very useful in
building the 2004 bikes back at the workshop which we'll be riding
next month."
Shoji Tachikawa, Repsol Honda Team Manager: "The times are very
similar to those of 2003 and to get to this pace straight after the
winter break is very good. The team got back on pace fast and we
gathered a lot of data that will be very important; especially when
we come back with the 2004 bike."
Carlo Fiorani, Repsol
Honda Team Sporting Manager: "It's good to be back in action with
half the team going so well. We now look forward very much to the
tests here on February 11-13 when we will be a full team again,
welcoming Alex Barros and his crew to the Repsol Honda Team on the
2004 bike." |
