From a press release issued by Honda Racing:

MotoGP test Jerez, Spain November 24, 2004. Day 1

Hayden fastest Honda rider on opening day of Jerez test

On a bright and sunny day in Jerez, Spain many of the leading lights of grand prix racing tested the latest winter developments as they begin the long arduous preparations for the 2005 season. Day one of the three-day test was held in almost ideal conditions with the ambient temperatures reaching 22 degrees C.

Honda MotoGP riders were at Jerez to test all aspects of the rolling chassis seeking the ideal combination of suspension, tyres and the latest chassis developments based on data acquired at the Valencia test session earlier this month.

American Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda) set the pace putting in 91-laps of the 4.423km Jerez circuit finishing with a fastest lap time of 1m 41.377s, half a second faster than his qualifying time at the Spanish GP held at the circuit last May.

Hayden started the test with his new-look team under the guidance of New Zealander Pete Benson the team concentrating on finding a good base setting before an extensive tyre test with Michelin tomorrow.

The Telefonica MoviStar Honda Team are at Jerez and took the opportunity to parade new boy Marco Melandri. The 22-year old Italian, from Ravenna, 250cc World Champion in 2002, replaces the departed Colin Edwards.

Melandri made his debut on the 5-cylinder, 990cc 4-stroke Honda RCV211V for the team run by Fausto Gresini. Under the watchful eye of chief mechanic Fabrizio Cecchini the young Italian rider opted for a steady step by step day making his acquaintance with the RCV. Once he had found a set up he was comfortable with Melandri completed 66-laps setting a best time of 1m 42.468s.

Melandri’s experienced Honda teammate, world number two Sete Gibernau, quickly set about assessing the latest development parts in order to find the best base set up for his RCV in readiness for two further days of intense evaluation.

The all-new JiR Honda team took their first step into MotoGP racing at Jerez today. Running under the name of Konica Minolta Honda Team with Makoto Tamada riding their RC211V Honda the team made a confident start. The day was particularly revealing for Tamada who tested the RCV using Michelin tyres for the first time in his GP career. Tamada put in 69-laps and was delighted with the results setting his best ever lap time at Jerez at 1m 41.9s.

Jerez test times on day one.

Nicky Hayden: 1m 41.377s – 91 laps.
“Pretty solid first day really. It’s been a few weeks since we’ve been on a bike and it’s nice to get back. The weather has been great today, which has been positive. Almost every time I’ve been here in the past it seems to have rained. After the race last year was the first real time I have ridden here in the dry. We got through a lot today; some things we liked some not so much. We’ve got a lot of things to get through in three days here. The thing in testing is not to get too mixed up. We have to look at what’s going on and figure out what is working well and what is not working so well. The new team seems to be getting along just fine. Early days yet but a change was definitely needed.”

Sete Gibernau: 1m 41.685s – 57-laps.
“Today we have done a good job starting from the bike we have used during this season. We are analyzing all the material we have at our disposal in order to create a basis on which we can start to work for the next year.”

Marco Melandri: 1m 42.468s – 66-laps.
“I’m very happy, today everything was new but, from the beginning, I had very good feelings. The RC211V is completely different from the bike I was riding last year so I didn’t push hard. I just wanted to start to know the bike and adjust my usual way of riding to the new bike. I was particularly impressed by the power of the engine of the Honda, it is incredible! Fabrizio Cecchini, my new chief mechanic has helped me, we have worked a lot on my position of the seat. I’m very happy because every time we made some changes, my feeling with the bike improved. I have shared my first impressions also with my team mate, Sete Gibernau, I’m lucky because he is a very good point of reference.”

Makoto Tamada: 1m 41.9s – 69-laps.
“This first test is very important for our team and I will concentrate on testing the RCV with Michelin tyres. So far I’m very happy with tyre performance, I have a really good feeling on the bike. We have two more days testing and I’m confident we will improve even more.”



JiR the new 2005 MotoGP challenge

JiR announces the beginning of his activity in the MotoGP World Championship, the top class of the motorcycle racing. JiR (Japan Italy Racing) is the company managed by Tetsuo Iida, whom up until 2002 was the President of Honda Europe NV, and the Italian Managing Director Luca Montiron. The team will be geared up to compete at the top in the MotoGP category.

Makoto Tamada will be the rider for JiR in the 2005 season. This talented Japanese, who has achieved two victories and three pole positions, making his mark as a new star in the past season, will have at his disposal a Honda RC211V with Michelin tyres.

The prestigious worldwide Japanese company Konica Minolta Holdings, Inc. will join JiR as “title sponsor” of the team will be known as the “Konica Minolta Honda Team”.

Konica Minolta Holdings, Inc. was established in August 2003 through integration of Konica Corporation and Minolta Co., Ltd. The Group is a global company with 37,000 employees, providing a variety of products ranging from digital cameras and films for consumers, copy machines, medical instruments and printing products for businesses, to devices including optical pickup lenses.

Tetsuo Iida, JiR President: “The announcement of this time is very important for me, because it means the realisation of the challenging spirit I have learnt in Honda for a long time. I appreciate very much the support of the two important global companies Konica Minolta and Honda. I hope we will realise every time an excitement race for all the people loves motorcycle racing. Our objective in the creation of JiR is surly an important one and it will require a particular full dedication. The title of World Champion is our sincere goal”.

Luca Montiron, JiR Managing Director: “I am proud of what we have achieved in such a short time, all this is thanks to the support of Konica Minolta and Honda Racing. It is now the moment to do our best effort to create a good organisation and to produce the best results. I am sure that the direction taken are the right one and I strongly feel that Makoto has matured a lot in the past two seasons. He has to be considered now as ready to reach always the top positions. The technical direction of the team will be headed by the engineer Giulio Bernardelle. The team will consist of a mix of Japanese and Italian technicians”.

Makoto Tamada, Konica Minolta Honda rider: “I’m not able to wait any more to begin this new challenge. I feel very lucky to have this level of infrastructure exclusively dedicated to me. It will be a very demanding season for sure, but I have a great motivation and I’m sure we will be able to reach important results by the technical packet we have at our disposal