Event: Sepang Test Day Two
Date: Friday, 6th February 2009
Ambient temperature: 30 degrees
Track temperature: 45 degrees
Humidity: 75%
Test Times
1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 2’01.483
2. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2’01.555
3. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 2’01.626
4. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 2’01.860
5. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2’02.086
6. Toni Elias (SPA) Team San Carlo 2’02.232
7. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 2’02.241
8. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Repsol Honda 2’02.434
9. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team 2’03.034
10. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 2’03.056
11. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Grupo Francisco Hernando 2’03.308
12. Alex De Angelis (RSM) Team San Carlo 2’03.518
13. Mika Kallio (FIN) Alice Team 2’03.774
14. Niccolo Canepa (ITA) Alice Team 2’04.021
15. Yamaha Test Rider 1 (JPN) Yamaha Factory Racing 2’04.312
16. Yuki Takahashi (JPN) Scot Racing Team 2’04.332
17. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 2’04.507
18. Yamaha Test Rider 2 (JPN) Yamaha Factory Racing 2’04.536
19. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 2’04.597
Sepang: Record Lap – Casey Stoner (Ducati) 2007, 2’02.108
Sepang: Best Lap – V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2006, 2’00.605
— Yamaha Report –
Fiat Yamaha Riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo finished the second day of testing in Sepang in third and tenth places respectively, as they continued to adapt to the latest evolution of the 2009 prototype M1.
Reigning World Champion Rossi had a very positive day, trying out some new electronics and enjoying a light-hearted on-track battle with his old rival Loris Capirossi in the afternoon. He managed to complete 40 laps despite the stitches he has in his hand and foot, and set a best time of 2’01.626, inside the existing lap record.
Lorenzo had a slightly more difficult day as he struggled to find feeling with the new bike and to adapt to the new Bridgestone mono-tyres. The Spaniard set a best time of 2’03.056 but hopes to be able to improve enough tomorrow in order to have time for a long-run in the afternoon before the teams pack up to leave.
Rossi – Position: 3rd Time: 2’01.626 Laps: 40
“Today we tested some new electronic solutions in order to allow me to open the throttle earlier and they were not bad at all, but we still need to work to improve it even more. This afternoon the stitches hurt me a bit, but my pace was still very good so I am happy. At the end of the day I had some fun with Loris Capirossi; we did a couple of laps together and I think that he enjoyed it a lot, because he beat me! I had fun, a lot of fun; it was like the good old times! Today I did not do the long run; I will do it tomorrow if my physical condition allows it. I may have to do it in two parts, so that it won’t put too much stress on my stitches. It will be interesting to do the long run with the new tyres, but I am not expecting it to be so much slower than last year.”
Lorenzo – Position: 10th Time: 2’03.056 Laps: 51
“Today was still quite difficult, although I am improving slowly. On this second day we have worked on our braking, because we have seen that Valentino is braking sooner than me and so I need to adapt. I need to use the hours we have and the available tyres in the best way possible, but that’s the same for everybody! My main problems at the moment are the braking and the corner speed. Right now I don’t feel at one with the bike and this means I don’t have the confidence to ride fast. I know I can be faster than this because my bike isn’t much different to Valentino’s and he is quicker than me. Of course he was using Bridgestones last year as well and I am new to them, but Colin is also fast so this shows how competitive the bike is. Today we didn’t find the solution, but we still have tomorrow left! The aim will be for me to try to adapt, and not to change too many things on the bike. If I can improve a bit, then maybe we will try a long run.”
Rossi Team Manager
“We had a good second day, and made a good continuation of our testing programme here in Sepang. Valentino was able to ride very well and to finish the whole schedule we had planned for today. If tomorrow his physical condition allows him to make a long run, we will have a clearer idea of what our level is. Let’s see how things are tomorrow.”
Lorenzo Team Manager
“Jorge is still finding it difficult to find confidence in braking and into the turns. We have tried some different settings without finding the solution to our problems, so for tomorrow we will keep the best Yamaha base setting and give Jorge some more time to adapt to the bike and tyres.”
— Repsol Honda —
Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso continued their work at Sepang today, riding in typical tropical conditions (with asphalt temperature reaching 51°C degrees, 33° the air temperature).
Pedrosa spent most of the day working on bike set up and tyres in order to improve the balance of the machine and the matching with tyres. The Spaniard set the 4th fastest time, cutting 1 second and five tenths off his previous best time from yesterday.
At the end of the day, Dani together with the team decided to end the test session, having finished with success the testing programme with a very positive feeling. On the third day a race simulation was scheduled, but because of his physical condition, Dani was ready for a lung run that covered the race distance.
Dovizioso worked on the setting and evaluating the chassis for his RC212V bike. Andrea continued his adaptation to the bike, he completed 44 laps, cutting more than 6 tenths off his lap time from yesterday.
Dani Pedrosa, 2:01.860 (30 of 51 laps)
“I’m satisfied of the work done today, we focused on chassis and suspension and also worked with tyres in order to find the best compromise with our machine. Today I was much more comfortable on the bike, I could be faster from the first laps and we could work on the bike testing all the items we had to test for this test session. In fact I know this bike, which is an evolution of last year bike, and this gives me an advantage compared to last year, when the bike was completely new for me. We have pointed out the aspects we want to improve for Qatar. Tomorrow a race simulation was scheduled but at the end we decided to end the test session because today I could only do 5,6 laps in a row and tomorrow I won’t be able to cover the race distance. Last December, in fact, I underwent an intervention to the left knee for the consequences suffered when I slid off in Phillip Island during the last race in October. I only need some rest”.
Andrea Dovizioso, 2:02.434 (44 of 44 laps)
“Today we focused on bike set up and we continued evaluating the chassis. We found some very good points and some aspects that need to be improved. My lap times have improved today even if we haven’t found the best compromise at the moment, this is a good feeling because I could be fast today also without the best configuration. Tomorrrow we will continue testing and I’d like to define with the team the direction to follow for next test session scheduled at the beginning of March in Qatar”.
— Ducati Report —
Both Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden improved their performance on what proved to be a more demanding second day of testing at Sepang than either of them had expected. Stoner, still recovering from the effects of a wrist injury and operation, can still only ride as for a few laps at a time and he is not able to push himself after a three month absence. Hayden made an encouraging start to the day but then struggled to find the next step forward with the set-up and it was only towards the end of the session, when he went back towards his initial settings, that he felt comfortable again.
With the threat of rain looming but holding off for today, both riders are hoping for a dry final day tomorrow as they look to make some last-minute improvements before the end of the test.
Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team), fastest lap 2’01.483 (29 laps)
“The wrist is giving me a lot of problems and I can’t manage more than two or three laps at a time, so it’s difficult to work on set-up because I’m having to break off too often. We’ve still managed to do some work on improving the feeling on the GP9, with some changes to the rear set-up that have improved the bike in the area we were suffering the most. Now it is much easier to ride. I still can’t ride how I want though and we really need to string a run of consistent laps together, although I know that if I can get a little closer to 100% fitness that problem will be resolved. Hopefully the wrist will feel a bit better tomorrow so that I can try and do a longer run and confirm the positive feedback we’ve had from the bike today.”
Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro Team), fastest lap 2’03.034 (58 laps)
“We made a big improvement immediately this morning on used tyres and I was able knock a second off my best time from yesterday. We struggled a bit in the afternoon, though, and didn’t manage to improve any further. I can’t push it on the harder compound tyre because it makes the rear move around so much more and the bike becomes unstable. At the end of the session we made a little change that improved the situation and I was able to get back onto my better lap times. The Bridgestones are really consistent and that makes our job a lot easier. Today I did 35 laps on the same front tyre without any problems! We know and I know that there is a lot of work to be done. Everything is still very new to me – the engine characteristics, the chassis and the tyres, as well as the way the team works together. Obviously it’s not easy to put all that together straight away. We’re working hard though and the improvements will come.”
