Honda MotoGP Riders Post Similar Fast Times At Malaysian Test

Honda MotoGP Riders Post Similar Fast Times At Malaysian Test

© 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

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From a press release issued by Honda Racing Information:

MotoGP test Sepang, Malaysia. February12.

Non-stop progress for Honda riders in Sepang

There were mixed weather conditions for the Honda riders out in Sepang today. It was day two of three of the test session currently taking place at the impressive circuit just south of the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, and with bright sunshine ruling the morning hours, clouds took over during the middle part of the day. Temperatures remained high nevertheless, and this meant that all six riders could put in some good track time on the latest versions of the RC211Vs they will race in 2004.

Max Biaggi was fast once more concentrating much of his work, like Colin Edwards and Sete Gibernau, on the tyres supplied by Michelin and their durability. Makoto Tamada did much of the same with his Bridgestone rubbers, whilst Repsol Honda works pairing Nicky Hayden and Alex Barros concentrated more on the rear suspension linkage and new swingingarm which had been tested at Sepang a couple of weeks back by factory tester Tohru Ukawa to great effect. Barros circulating one and a half seconds than on the opening day, Hayden just over a second better than yesterday.

Max Biaggi – 2:02.7

“The second day is always a little harder, especially after the first day’s exertions. We changed some suspension settings today to see how they affected the bike, and maybe we lost a little time. Nevertheless, when you are working hard you always get better though. We worked a lot on race simulations and the bike’s configurations for these. So the results today were that we are getting the rewards for our hard work. Looking at the other riders and their times too I feel we’re going into an era where there’ll be a lot of surprises and a lot of things happening. It’s good.”

Colin Edwards – 2:02.845

“I’ve been working, training, and doing some motocrossing, but whenever you come back to the bike after two or three weeks off you get sore muscles all over. This morning I knew I’d ridden hard yesterday, but I felt good though. I’m just still plugging away and testing though. I had a plan to use the 17-inch front tyre and tell everyone how good it was and then use the 16.5 inch to my advantage, but that doesn’t seem to have worked! But seriously, the work we’re doing with the 16.5 is good now, I know it’s a good tyre because I helped develop it, and Michelin have brought new stuff here which is 90% new to me as well as the other riders. I know maybe a little how to make the difference or where the limits are a little more though, I know the warning signs better.”

Sete Gibernau – 2:02.85

“I still think that we can work on the clutch and the engine braking on the RC211V, but at the moment we don’t have anything new to test on the bike so we are focusing on tyres. I think races will be won in the mid- to three-quarter stage of a race, and that’s where I’m looking at. I’m happy, because we are consistent, and the things Michelin have brought to the table are good. We’ll continue working tomorrow on this, and hoping that soon we’ll have more things to try from Honda.”

Nicky Hayden – 2:02.855

“I felt like I was ridin’ a lot better today – especially in the mornin’. Yesterday we tried a lot of things to get a good base settin’. We tried a lot of front Michelins and that really helped with my confidence in the front end which is important for me. Immediately we got down to some pretty good lap times and what was good was that they were pretty consistently fast.”

“After a big step this morning I kinda’ got in a rut after lunch and wasn’t makin’ as much progress, as I’d have liked. The new swing arm is takin’ a lil’ getting’ used to – gives a lil’ more grip and we tried some new shocks today that helped a lil’ under braking. We’ve got some things to work on tomorrow but we’re definitely goin’ in the right direction. Much better today than yesterday”.

Makoto Tamada – 2:03.490

“I’m not so happy. I’m happy now, but I want to make another step forward. I can’t really be happy because I’m not too fast when compared to the other riders, they have a better fast lap. Anyway, my problem at the moment is consistency, and mainly in the tyres. They are just small problems though, and maybe with incidents like that I had in Sepang last time, and that of Kenny Roberts today, then I think we will begin to see Bridgestone move forward, it’s a possible big step for them.”

Alex Barros – 2:04.427

“Feel pretty sore today which is not surprising as yesterday was the first time I had ridden in three months. The shoulder is feeling OK and I have to keep putting ice on the keep it calm. It’s definitely feeling a lot better every day.”

“I’m tired now but have a lot more confidence in the bike than yesterday. I need to keep running – my feeling for the machine has improved in a day. Sometimes I think I’m pushing hard – it’ll come naturally. I need more time to understand the machine – more experience of the bike.”

“We spent most of the day riding one bike and making adjustments to it – different links, changing suspension units, the mapping and 16.5-inch tyre. I’ve improved my lap time from this morning and am quite happy really.”


More, from a press release issued by Camel Honda Racing Information:

Second day of tests at Sepang. Makoto Tamada finishes with seven quickest time

The technicians spent the second day of tests in the sultry heat of Sepang mainly analysing – together with the rider – all the possible high-precision settings the RC211V 2004 is capable of. The Honda 2004 that Makoto will be using for the season that is just about to start actually allows a number of crucial settings that are different from those of the 2003 version. So Makoto and the team investigated in depth the possibilities and methods that are required to perfect the set-up of the bike, in order to understand how and where to intervene.

Tamada put in a total of 46 laps, stopping the clock at 2:03.490 – seventh quickest time in the second day of tests. The Malaysian tests come to an end tomorrow and will continue in Australia on 17/18/19 February

Makoto Tamada (# 6 – Camel Honda – Bridgestone Tyres)

“The amount of work to be done is really enormous. But every lap gives a perfect opportunity to get to know the new RC211V that much better. I’m pleased with the fast lap time but I’m still not fully satisfied with the pace – in other words maintaining the same level of performance for a number of laps. We’re trying to fine-tune the settings as much as we can so we can make the very best of the potential of this bike. Today I concentrated on handling the clutch and engine brake, but also on details concerning the chassis. I still haven’t completed work on selecting the tyres, but I know that the official Bridgestone test rider Schinichi Itoh has been working precisely on the tyre front, and has been getting some good results.”

Luca Montiron (Team Manager Makoto Tamada – Camel Honda)

“We completed a very positive day of tests and really got to grips with the details of setting up the bike. So we made up some of the time we lost yesterday after Makoto’s slide, and the technicians and rider now have a better view of this important phase of getting to know the RC211V 2004. For the moment we haven’t started going for the fastest lap time, but we’ll be doing this when the important work of getting all the settings right is complete.”

Times on second day of tests:

Makoto Tamada: 2:03.49 – 46 laps
Max Biaggi: 2:02.70 – 61 laps



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