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2010 MotoGP - Valencia Test |
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2010 MotoGP - Valencia Test |
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Valencia Test - Day Two Weather: sunny and cool Ambient temperature: + - 20 degrees Track temperature: + - 30 degrees -- Ducati Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden ended the second day of testing at Valencia inside the top five fastest riders on track. Both riders began lapping at around midday because even though the sun was out and the wind had dropped this morning compared to yesterday the track surface was still cold. Stoner finished shortly after 4pm, having set the second fastest lap of the day. As well as continuing to work on new forks and a revised engine configuration, the Australian also tested a new soft rear tyre brought to the circuit by Bridgestone for use by all of the MotoGP riders. Hayden also continued with a variety of set-up and tyre experiments, completing no fewer than 84 laps and clocking the fifth fastest time. Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team) 2nd fastest; 1’32.195 (44 laps) “We weren’t able to make much use of the day yesterday because of the high winds but today the conditions were much better. The new engine setting, which I am preferring so far, changes the performance of the bike in different ways, for example in corner exit, so we have to modify the set-up in order to get the most out of it. I also have to get used to it and adapt my riding style accordingly. It probably means I can’t get on the gas as hard and fast out of the corners but can keep it open more further in the corners. We also tried out the new Bridgestone, which seem to work well. In general I’m very pleased with how things are going.” Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro Team), 5th fastest; 1’32. 981: (84 laps) “Today we worked mainly on confirming our impressions from yesterday, running some more tests on the new forks and a bunch of other things on the bike set-up and with the new tyres. We have improved a few tenths here and there – the gap to the really fast group is still there but it has been a positive day, we have done a lot of laps and gathered a lot of data. We’ll do some more tests tomorrow on the engine settings and other set-up alterations. We also need to push hard to get the lap times down and close that gap to the lead group.” -- HRC Pedrosa and Dovizioso take a ‘Step by Step’ approach to testing the 2010 RC212V When the MotoGP riders arrived at the track for the second day of the planned three-day test they were pleased to find track and weather conditions were much improved on yesterdays cool and blustery experience at the 4.005 km grand prix venue. The warmer track top temperatures was reflected by the lap times with all six Honda RC212V riders improving their pace, albeit to varying degrees. The Repsol Honda factory team riders, Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso, put in a day of step by step evaluation of the 2010 RC212V both men content with the progress made. Pedrosa concentrated on basic machine set up and working with the Ohlins suspension he is testing for the first time in combination with Bridgestone tyres. The young Spaniard did not chase fast lap times preferring to establish a good feeling with the new machine. Dovizioso was up to pace quickly and set his fastest time of the day on his eighth lap using soft compound Bridgestone tyres. When he went out on the harder compound rubber the Italian was high-sided from the RCV injuring his left hip. Despite a small fracture Dovi continued testing ending the day satisfied overall with the efforts he and the team put in today. He was particularly pleased with the improved machine stability under braking, one of the difficulties he had wrestled with during the 2009 campaign. San Carlo Gresini Honda new boys Marco Melandri and Marco Simoncelli both announced themselves satisfied with the progress made. Melandri spent the majority of his day improving traction and general feedback from the Bridgestone tyres. Simoncelli grew in confidence as the day wore on making it easier for him to master the 800cc four-stroke. The young Italian was riding with Bridgestone tyres for the first time and his burgeoning confidence was obvious from his body language and his improved his lap times. LCR Honda teamster Randy De Puniet continued working with the Ohlins suspension today in combination with the latest development tyres from Bridgestone. The Frenchman was satisfied with the test results and decided against testing tomorrow. De Puniet was also confident that the team technicians had gleaned sufficient data from the two days of testing that will benefit them when they test the 2010 version of RC212V for the first time at Sepang, Malaysia, in February next year. Hiro Aoyama (Interwetten Honda) put in a marathon stint today the 2009 250cc World Champion completing 88-laps of the tortuous Valencia circuit. With no previous MotoGP experience, and little time aboard a four-stroke race machine Aoyama is aware that he has a long hard task ahead of him if he is to e ready for the start of the 2010 season. Laps, laps and more laps is the only way to learn and he has learned a lot during today’s session and slashed 2.5s off his best lap time of yesterday! The three-day test ends tomorrow with the teams reconvening at Sepang in February for the first test session of 2010. Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 6th – 1m 33.025s, 46 laps. “We completed a useful day’s testing today, and although I didn’t do a huge number of laps, we covered quite a lot of ground. Some of the adjustments we were making with the machine and suspension were quite big to allow us to fully understand the new chassis, and with these kind of changes you inevitably spend quite a lot of time in the pits. Also, we weren’t going after ultimate lap times - just continuing to get familiar with the new parts and understand how settings changes affect the performance. That’s normal, and now is the time to do this work, step-by-step. Tomorrow we’ll come back here for the final session of the season.” Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda: 12th – 1m 33.546s, 44 laps. “This morning we started well. I went out with a soft tyre that I used from the day before and I did my best lap really early on - on lap eight - and I had a good feeling out there. The track conditions and temperature were better than yesterday and allowed us to get through some useful work. When we changed from soft to hard tyres, I was trying to bring them up to temperature by sliding a little bit when I high-sided without warning. I’ve injured my hip a little and it’s painful - but I carried on riding and fortunately the pain is not so bad when I’m on the bike. Overall though, I was much more satisfied today - especially with the braking stability - and we’ll continue testing a few more things tomorrow, focusing on the chassis.” Marco Melandri, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 10th – 1m 33.326s, 85 laps. “I’m satisfied of today’s work even if we are still not so fast on the single lap time. For me this is a complete new machine to the one I used in 2007 and it is important to understand it. Today I could improve my pace and I did my best lap time with a tyre that had many laps, this makes me confident. Today we tested some solutions to improve the traction and the feeling with the tyres. We are working in the right direction. Tomorrow we have in mind some solutions also to use better the soft tyre as today I used one but I kind of spoiled it because at that moment I didn’t have the best set up.” Marco Simoncelli, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 14th – 1m 34.230s, 79 laps. “Today the confidence with the bike improved as yesterday everything was new for me and I was riding more carefully. For sure we have a lot of work to do ahead us but today I could lap faster and things came easier. Yesterday I struggled to feel the front while today I had more confidence thanks to the set up modifications and my improved confidence in the tyres. Today I also tried a start without the launch control and my feeling that it was a good start, my feeling was good, I don’t know from outside.” Randy de Puniet, LCR Honda: 7th – 1m 33.111s, 76 laps. “Yesterday we have tried to understand what happened on Sunday’s race when I struggled with rear grip issues and today we have found a good solution to that problem. We worked on Öhlins suspension new link and on the chassis geometry to make the bike more stable in the corners. I am pretty satisfied about the things we have fixed in the last two days as those data will be helpful for the 2010 machine which we are going to test in February. In two weeks time I will remove the screws from my left ankle and will keep on training to be in a good form at Sepang”. Hiroshi Aoyama, Interwetten Honda MotoGP: 16th – 1m 35.261s, 88 laps. “Today I continue testing mainly without electronics control because the priority at the moment for me is to understand the character of the bike and to adapt my riding style to the bike. I still have to get used to the carbon brakes but compared to yesterday my feeling improved. Today the track conditions were better but and I also felt more comfortable.” -- Yamaha A year of hard work finally came to an end for the Fiat Yamaha Team today with the last day of testing in Valencia. Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi finished the day first and third, signing off for the winter in strong form. Both riders continued to work on the new evolution YZR-M1, as well as doing some laps on their 2009 bikes in order to compare the new updates. Lorenzo set his best lap towards the end of the day's work and was 0.256 seconds faster than Casey Stoner, with Rossi 0.333 seconds behind the Australian. Having swept the board of trophies this season, the team will now enjoy a hard-earned break before reconvening at Sepang, Malaysia in early February for the next test. Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 1st Time: 1'31.939 Laps: 62 "I am happy that we are so competitive here with this new version of the bike. I was able to do some very fast laps and it feels good to be the fastest on the last day of the season. There is a long time now until the next text and it is good for me mentally to know that I was fast today. We have worked on some electronics and the suspension, and we have compared the new chassis to the old one and taken a lot of important information for our engineers. I am so happy about my season, I've won three races, taken many podiums and finished second in the championship. I think this is a great achievement by us and now I would like to wish everyone a good holiday to recover so we all come back in February at the maximum ready to work again!" Valentino Rossi - Position: 3rd Time: 1'32.528 Laps: 55 "I am happy about what we have so far with the new evolution of the bike, because it's already faster and already feels better than the old one. The throttle is easier to open and I think that Yamaha has done a good job so far. We were quite fast today and I'm happy about the work we have done over these two days. I think that we have given our engineers plenty to work on over the winter and I am looking forward to the next updates in February. It's good to finally finish work and now we have some months to relax and recharge the batteries ahead of next year, which for sure is going to be a big, big fight!" Ben Spies played a starring role on the second day of MotoGP testing in Valencia today, the Texan producing another confident and assured performance on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine. Making only his fifth appearance on board Yamaha's YZR-M1 machine, the 25-year-old continued his seamless transition from World Superbikes to finish with the fourth quickest time. Spies again resisted the temptation to experiment with different settings today, the reigning World Superbike champion taking full advantage of improved conditions to dedicate more time on adapting his riding style to suit the YZR-M1 machine. His best la p time of 1.32.942 was 0.5s faster than his fastest pace yesterday and for the majority of today he occupied third position on the timesheets behind Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner. At the end of a positive and fruitful day, Spies was only 0.414s away from reigning MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi in his 61-lap stint. Fellow Texan Colin Edwards was unable to test today, the 35-year-old struck down by a virus overnight that forced him to undergo treatment in the Clinica Mobile for a high temperature and low blood pressure. The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team now starts a thoroughly deserved winter break before reconvening at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia in early February. Ben Spies - Position: 4th Time: 1.32.942 Laps: 61 “I'm really happy with this test. My performance in the race surpass ed my expectations and so did the test. I didn't touch the set-up of the bike again and continued mainly working on adapting my style. I feel like I made a lot of progress. My data guy could see on the computer that I was riding with more of a MotoGP style and each day I've made steps and gained confidence with the tyres. At the end I put on some tyres that had half race distance on them, but I was still able to lap half-a-second faster than yesterday. And where I was running 34'1s in the race I could get into low 33s consistently today. I've been making small steps but I'm a lot closer to the front than the back, so that is a good sign. I've enjoyed working with my new guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3. It has been a tough year but a great year for me and I'm looking forward to the winter, training hard and being ready to go again in February.” Colin Edwards “I woke up this morn ing at 5am and felt horrendous. I felt completely drained of all my energy. I thought I'd got food poisoning and I knew then I wasn't going to be able to ride today. But the Clinica Mobile guys said I'd got a virus and I've just been lying in bed all day. It obviously wasn't the way I wanted to end the year but I'm looking forward to a long break now and coming back strong for 2010. I've had another great season with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team and would like to thank all my guys again for their hard work. They are an awesome bunch. And looking at the times today, Ben has done a great job. He's not only showed what a fast learner he is, but how talented he is. There should be a good bit of friendly Texan rivalry in 2010 and I can't wait.” -- Suzuki Loris Capirossi and Álvaro Bautista continued in a positive direction during the penultimate day of testing at Valencia, as the pair made use of the improved conditions in Spain today. Capirossi (1’33.211, 58 laps) produced his quickest ever lap on a Suzuki GSV-R around the 4,005m Ricardo Tormo circuit on race tyres, as he resumed from where he left off yesterday by trying the new parts that Suzuki has supplied for this test. Capirossi tested new-spec engine parts as well as continuing the evaluation of the Akrapovic exhaust systems and some new electronic strategies. Bautista continued with his acclimatisation of the Suzuki GSV-R following his step-up in class to MotoGP. Using the same specification bike as was raced the previous weekend – without any on the new parts – he circulated the Spanish circuit a further 73 times today, eventually fishing with a best time of 1’34.540, over a second quicker than his fastest lap from Monday. The Rizla Suzuki pair has a further half-of-a-day of testing tomorrow morning at Valencia, which will signal Capirossi’s final outing on the GSV-R for 2009, with only Bautista travelling to Estoril next week to join Nobuatsu Aoki for a further three-day test. Loris Capirossi: “It has been a positive day because we have continued to develop the bike and we tested many different things. We tested a new engine specification and a couple of sets of pipes, as well as a different electronics system on the bike. We have improved today and the whole team is quite happy and for sure the way to go quicker is now not so far away. We have a couple more important things to try tomorrow, especially on the electronics side. I think that the condition we had in the bike today was easily the best for the whole weekend and this is why we went much better. We still need to concentrate really hard and tomorrow will be an important day as will the test next week in Portugal for Álvaro and Nobu, because we need to understand as much about the bike in these tests as possible.” Paul Denning – Team Manager: “We’ve got through a lot of work today and the conditions have been quite kind so that has helped us as well. The time difference from Loris to the front guys has reduced massively compared to race-day and this has been due to a number of modifications to the bike that the factory has introduced here. The most important one of those has without doubt been the change to the engine spec, which has helped a lot with the smoothness of power delivery and the way the bike exits the corners. “Alvaro has been quietly impressive today. On every pit exit he has made 10 or 12 lap runs which have been ultra consistent and he has lifted his pace steadily all day. His bike is completely the same specification as was used in Sunday’s Grand Prix – without any of the test parts Loris has been running – so bearing that in mind his pace looks encouraging for the future. So far – in summary – it’s been a better test already than we expected and a little bit of light is on the horizon.” Valencia Test - Day Two Times |
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