From a press release issued by Kawasaki:

CRASH FOR MCCOY ­ PROGRESS FOR PITT

Phillip Island/AUS ­ Tuesday, January 21st, 2003: Kawasaki Racing Team star Garry McCoy had completed two hours and 21 laps on the first of three days of testing in Australia, when he suffered a heavy crash in the notorious Siberia corner of the Phillip Island race track. Dazed and heavily shaken, the “King of Slide” was taken to the hospital in Cowes for a medical check, but was later released without any injuries apart from bruises and mild concussion. Team-mate Andrew Pitt and test riders Akira Yanagawa and Alex Hofmann rode on despite strong and gusty winds, to work on a suitable set-up for the fast and sweeping circuit, on refinements of the Fuchs Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR’s fuel injection system, and on tests of the latest generation Dunlop tyres.

Garry McCoy (21 laps ­ best time in 1:34.90):
“Normally, you just hold second gear from the exit of Honda corner to the braking point for Siberia, but I must have hit a bump, because I accidentally clicked into third with the throttle still wide open. Obviously, I got into that corner way too hot. I tried to brake and slow down as much as I could before letting the bike go, but there is not a lot of run-off there, so I hit the ground quite hard. Luckily, I didn’t break anything, but I was dizzy and bruised enough to get some rest and stay in the hotel for the remainder of the day!”

Andrew Pitt (61 laps ­ best time in 1:34.14):
“The day started with strong winds, and it was getting worse and worse and worse. But I’m still quite happy, because we made a good step forward, and I started to go quicker and quicker. Right at the end of the day, we got the bike in the best position it has been in. It doesn’t feel good when the front wheel comes up under acceleration and then the wind hits you with full force, so we are trying to keep the front wheel down with putting as much weight on it as possible without upsetting the rear too much. Right at the end, we got a pretty good compromise as far as the balance goes. We also went a bit softer with the suspension because of the bumps and the wind. It will be interesting to see how we can go with this setting without any wind!”

Alex Hofmann (49 laps ­ best time in 1:36.46):
“We just tested tyres again, in order to double-check with our data from Malaysia last week, because different conditions sometimes lead to different results. That was my main job today, and not to go for laps times at all, because this is not the best track for my older, carburetted version of the bike anyway. Whereas my bike starts to move and shake early on, quite like a Superbike, the new motorcycle offers superior stability, grip and a feeling of safety in fast sections, which is exactly what you need on Phillip Island!”

Akira Yanagawa (75 laps ­ best time in 1:34.48):
“It was sunny, but very windy, too. I haven’t been riding here for almost two years, but my lap time is not so bad, and therefore I’m happy. I now got the same chassis that Andrew and Garry are using, which is much stronger and makes me feel more comfortable. My riding style is very aggressive, so this stronger chassis suits me just fine!”

Harald Eckl (team manager):
“Garry arrived at his home circuit highly motivated, so it was especially unlucky for him to crash when the test had hardly started. Our computer data confirms a very unusual shift from second to third gear right at the braking point for the Siberia left-hand corner.

“Fortunately, Garry didn’t suffer any serious injuries, and we hope that he will be fit to ride tomorrow. Andrew, Alex and Akira rode on all day without any further incidents, but they struggled with strong winds and couldn’t accomplish as much as we hoped. Apart from that, we are still waiting for two of our new chassis – they got stuck in quarantine at Melbourne airport, and we hope they can be delivered before this three-day-session ends!”