Nakano Fastest On Day Two Of MotoGP Testing At Jerez

Nakano Fastest On Day Two Of MotoGP Testing At Jerez

© 2006, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

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DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM: SUCCESSFUL RACE SIMULATIONS More spring weather for the second MotoGP Test day at Jerez de la Frontera. Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau were able to make the most of the warmest hours of the day and continue the development work on their Desmosedici GP6s and Bridgestone tyres. The Borgo Panigale manufacturer’s factory riders exclusively used race tyres today, with a view to preparing for the 2006 season opener. The Ducati Marlboro Team men have been very fast since the first sessions this morning, with Loris clocking his best lap time on race tyres in 1’40.544, which beats Valentino Rossi’s lap record set last year (1’40.596). Capirossi and Gibernau then used the afternoon to carry out a 27-lap race simulation which yielded important, positive information for the Ducati Corse and Bridgestone engineers. Loris CAPIROSSI (68 laps – Best lap time: 1’40.544) “I am really very happy. This morning we fine-tuned our settings even more and I managed to lap really, really fast, to the point that I broke the lap record! My bike and tyres were good, the weather conditions were also perfect and we succeeded in completing a race simulation. I am satisfied because I practically always lapped within the 41’s at a consistent pace throughout today’s simulation. Tomorrow, we’ll try and improve some more but I can say we’re in a good position for the first race.” Sete GIBERNAU (82 laps – Best lap time: 1’40.954) ” For the first time today we had the right conditions for a long-run test, and I can say now that we’re right where I expected to be. The work done by my Team and by Bridgestone so far has been very positive and we made substantial progress compared to when we were last here in November. However, there’s still some margin for improvement and we must stay concentrated and work as hard as we’ve always done so far. It felt good to do a full 27-lap race simulation without any problems: it’s a good starting point to try and improve even more tomorrow.” Temperatures: Air 21° – Track: 30° More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Honda: THE FORTUNA HONDA RIDERS KEEP ON WORKING Another hard day for the Fortuna Honda Team at the Jerez de la Frontera for the second day of the last pre-season test. Sunshine ruled throughout the day and the Fortuna Honda riders could profit of nice track conditions (19degrees the air temperature, 32 degrees the asphalt). Marco Melandri worked a lot on the bike and completed 84 laps but he didn’t reach the expected results, while his team mate Toni Elias worked first on the suspensions before testing Michelin tyres. Despite the hard work, the Fortuna Honda riders couldn’t improve their positions: the Spaniard finished 11th while his team mate finished 16th. TONI ELIAS ( 91 laps, 1’41″254, 11th): “This morning we continued working on the suspensions in order to improve my feeling in the corner entry. Starting from this base, which is the result of all our pre-season work, we did some tyre testing with Michelin technicians. I have improved my lap time but I still need to focus on my rhythm in order to be ready for the first race. Tomorrow we have one more day to test Michelin tyres and I hope to do another step forward.” MARCO MELANDRI ( 84 laps, 1’42″636, 16th): “We worked a lot on the bike, testing many different solutions. We have found some good things but I have to say at this moment this is my limit. I’m confident and tomorrow we will keep on our work schedule.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: NAKANO TOPS THE TIMESHEET AT JEREZ Kawasaki’s Shinya Nakano blitzed his way to the top of the timesheet at Jerez today, in front of Spanish race fans who’d turned out in their thousands to get a sneak preview of the MotoGP riders ahead of the opening race of the season at Jerez in three weeks time. With race conditions likely to be similar to those of today, Nakano started his test programme working with Bridgestone to identify potential race tyres, before running a race distance simulation to confirm their initial selection early in the afternoon. The 28-year-old Kawasaki rider also used the 27-lap endurance run to evaluate the latest revisions to the fuel injection system on his Ninja ZX-RR engine, designed to improve driveability around the technically demanding Jerez circuit. Late in the afternoon session Nakano returned to the track with a qualifying tyre fitted to his Ninja ZX-RR, lapping the 4.432 km Jerez circuit more than half-a-second faster than his fifth place qualifying time from the race here last year, and almost the same distance ahead of his nearest rival today, Loris Capirossi. Nakano declared himself happy with today’s performance, but still keen to see further improvements during tomorrow’s final day of testing. Hot on Nakano’s heels was his Kawasaki teammate, Randy de Puniet, who set the fourth fastest time today, despite still suffering with the toothache that caused him so many problems during the opening day at Jerez yesterday. De Puniet, who was running today on a slightly older specification engine than Nakano, started with tyre testing for Bridgestone, working his way through a number of different compounds and profiles on the rear of his Ninja ZX-RR. The 25-year-old Frenchman also evaluated different fuel injection and engine management settings, in a bid to better control the bike when hard on the throttle out of the turns. De Puniet will run a race simulation tomorrow afternoon, after his endurance run today was cut short after just 24 laps due to problems with rear traction on his Ninja ZX-RR. Shinya Nakano: 1st – 1’40.047 (70 Laps) “It’s been a hard day today, because we’ve been testing specifically for the race here in three weeks time, so it was good to finish with the fastest time. This morning we tested quite a few tyres from Bridgestone and then in the early part of the afternoon we ran a 27-lap race simulation to confirm tyre choice for the race, when we think conditions will be fairly similar. Late in the session we put a qualifying tyre in the bike to test, and it was on this tyre that I set the fastest time of the day. In the new Ninja ZX-RR we have a very competitive package, and I’m confident that we will unlock more of the bike’s potential in the future, but for now we have found a combination of engine performance, chassis settings and tyres that, together, suit the characteristics of the Jerez circuit very well. We still have some decisions to make about our race tyre selection, so we will continue with tyre testing tomorrow.” Randy de Puniet: 4th – 1’40.839 (89 Laps) “If someone had told me back in October that I’d finish the second day of the Jerez IRTA test fourth fastest, I would not have believed them. I feel really comfortable on the bike and it’s working well here in Jerez, just as it has at all the pre-season tests. I still had some pain from my tooth, but it’s more of a dull ache today and it wasn’t such a distraction on the bike. We’ve covered a lot of ground today, made some more improvements to the bike, and I’m happy with my lap time. Tomorrow we hope to test the same specification engine as Shinya, but it depends on whether the parts get here in time; they are stuck in Madrid at the moment I understand. Either way, new parts or not, I hope we can continue to improve, both the bike and my lap time, during tomorrow’s final day of testing.” Harald Eckl: Team Manager “I’m sure that many people seeing Shinya’s name at the top of the timesheet, and Randy’s just three places further back, will think that it’s some kind of miracle given our results over the past three years. In reality, our performance today is a direct result of all the hard work put in by Kawasaki, the team, the riders and also Bridgestone during winter testing. I hope that we will be able to carry this momentum into the first race and come away with a good result, because there is no better way to start the season.” More, from a press release issued by Camel Yamaha: CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM POSITIVE DESPITE PROBLEMS IN JEREZ Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards both improved considerably on yesterday’s lap times in Jerez today, but are still hard working hard with Michelin to find a way to rid the M1 of the vibration problems that they are both experiencing here. A new batch of Michelin tyres and some set-up changes brought some improvements to the package today, but the riders are still not able to use the M1 at its full capacity and are still further down the time sheets than in Barcelona last weekend, when they were both consistently fast. Shinya Nakano showed his 2006 potential on the Kawasaki by topping the time sheets with a lap of 1’40.047, nearly half a second faster than second-placed Loris Capirossi (Ducati). Tomorrow’s final day of testing concludes the pre-season MotoGP programme, ahead of the first race here in two weeks time. VALENTINO ROSSI (6th, 1’40.915, 67 laps) “We still have quite a few problems with the vibration and this means that we can’t use the bike to its full potential and make fast lap times. We’ve tried lots of changes to the set-up today balance, suspension, but the problem remains. In some of the fast corners my speed is down by as much as 15 or 20kms. The good thing is that we’re much better than yesterday and we’ve done some really good work within the team to make these improvements, but it’s still not enough and some other riders are looking very strong. Luckily we still have tomorrow to try to find the solution and I am not so worried. If we still have this situation on the Saturday afternoon of the first race, then maybe we can worry but for now I have 100% confidence in Yamaha and Michelin. For tomorrow we will have some new tyres to try and then for sure Michelin will work very hard between now and the first race so that we’re in a better position when we come back here.” COLIN EDWARDS (9th, 1’41.105, 62 laps) “Yesterday we thought that the new tyres today would make all the difference. The situation is a bit better and I’m faster today, but the improvements really aren’t as big as we had hoped. Basically the chatter that both Valentino and I are experiencing is acting as a speed limit to our bike we can push so far but no more. We didn’t want to turn the bike upside-down yesterday before we’d tried the new stuff from Michelin, but after today it’s pretty clear that’s just what we’re going to need to do tomorrow. It’s frustrating after last weekend to have spent two days here without making any real steps forward, so we need to make the most of tomorrow! I am sure that Michelin are going to bring some more new stuff, we’ll fiddle with the settings and hopefully together we can figure it all out.” DAVIDE BRIVIO CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR “We still have tomorrow left to try to find some new solutions for our problem and we’re analysing all the information that we have to find a way forward. Our engineers will make some new plans for tomorrow and we will see how the situation is. Hopefully we can leave here having made some more improvements.” Lap Times: 1. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1’40.047 2. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1’40.544 3. John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1’40.791 4. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1’40.839 5. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team, 1’40.859 6. VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1’40.915 7. Carlos Checa (SPA) Tech 3 Yamaha, 1’40.943 8. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1’40.954 9. COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1’41.105 10. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1’41.110 11. Toni Elias (SPA) Fortuna Honda, 1’41.254 12. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda, 1’41.561 13. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team, 1’41.745 14. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team Roberts, 1’42.127 15. Jose Luis Cardoso (SPA) D’Antin Pramac, 1’42.593 16. Marco Melandri (ITA) Fortuna Honda, 1’42.636 17. Alex Hofmann (GER) D’Antin Pramac, 1’42.647 18. James Ellison (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha, 1’43.797 19. Vittoriano Guareschi (ITA) Ducati, 1’43.846 20. Tadayuki Okada (JPN) HRC, 1’45.622 Jerez Lap Record: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 1’40.596 Jerez Best Lap: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 1’39.419 More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Information: Pedrosa retains fastest Honda rider status on day two of Jerez IRTA test The second day of the IRTA three-day MotoGP test at Jerez was again run in bright sunshine giving the Honda riders a dry track to work with as they enter the final phase of pre-season testing before the grand prix season begins at Jerez in two weeks time. Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa was the fastest RC211V rider again today. The diminutive Spaniard set fifth fastest time working to refine the set up he will take into qualifying for the grand prix at Jerez on March 26. Pedrosa’s team-mate, American Nicky Hayden didn’t make the hoped for progress with the latest version of the RCV. Despite a hard days work with his team technicians and Michelin tyre engineers Hayden struggled to find traction on the demanding circuit. The Fortuna Honda team riders worked on suspension settings for their RCVs before working on Michelin tyre testing in the afternoon. Toni Elias was faster than team-mate Marco Melandri for the second day running. Makoto Tamada made progress with his RCV matching his best ever times at the 4.423 km Spanish circuit. The Konica Minolta Honda rider has improved his feeling with the 2006 RCV and spent his time working with Michelin to find the best combination of machine set up and tyre performance. Kenny Roberts Jnr continued working with the new Team Roberts built chassis that houses the five-cylinder RC211V engine. The team tested various base line settings on the KR working on machine balance and suspension before testing a range of Michelin tyres comparing handling performance with each set of front and rear tyres as they continue their search for the optimum base line to work from at each race track on the championship calendar. Honda rider Lap times and quotes. Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 1m 41.745s – 97 laps. “We tested some Michelin tyres which were a little bit better, yet overall our performance today was only slightly better than yesterday, so we’re not totally happy. I did some longer runs today to test the feel of the bike and we had some trouble getting the back of the bike to settle down ­ so this is what we’re working on. We’ll sit down with the boys tonight and definitely try to come up with something for tomorrow and make some big progress.” Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 1m 40.859s – 88 laps. “Today was good. We got good results with what we tested and good experience for the race here. The pace of the long run was not really fast – I could do better – but it was the first time we tried it and I’m happy. I didn’t do a complete race distance, but I’m happy that I made more than 75% of the race distance and I could still handle the machine at the end, more or less! But now I am very tired.” Makoto Tanaka – Repsol Honda Team Manager “Both our riders worked hard again and we had another busy day testing. At the end of day, Dani did a very consistent run of 11 laps, including three laps in the 1m 40s bracket. I think a lot of Dani’s supporters who came here enjoyed his progress. We could not achieve the fastest time today and Nicky needs more time to get the right set-up here. Clearly we must do some more work but our pace today with race tyres was quite strong, and again we got the top time of all the Michelin runners. I believe, working in partnership with Michelin, we can improve further. I’m looking forward to see what happens tomorrow.” Toni Elias, Fortuna Honda: 1m 41.254s – 91 laps. “This morning we continued working on the suspensions in order to improve my feeling in the corner entry. Starting from this base, which is the result of all our pre-season work, we did some tyre testing with Michelin technicians. I have improved my lap time but I still need to focus on my rhythm in order to be ready for the first race. Tomorrow we have one more day to test Michelin tyres and I hope to do another step forward. Marco Melandri, Fortuna Honda: 1m 42.636s – 84 laps. “We worked a lot on the bike, testing many different solutions. We have found some good things but I have to say at this moment this is my limit. I’m confident and tomorrow we will keep on our work schedule.” Makoto Tamada, Konica Minolta Honda: 1m 41.561s – 87 laps “In a moderate manner, I’m satisfied of the work I’ve done today. I have clearly improved the performance with a race set-up reaching the same levels of the IRTA tests made on this circuit last season. The problem is that we still have a wide gap from the fastest riders and we are already at the last day of test before coming here again for the first race of the 2006 Championship. Tomorrow, therefore, we will do our best to make a step ahead and especially to solve an annoying chattering problem at the rear tyre which does not allow me to be so effective in the final part of the breaking.” Giulio Bernardelle – Konica Minolta Honda Technical Director “Our Honda RC211V is evolving continuously and today we could make a massive work closely collaborating with the Michelin technicians. Makoto can only use the number one bike as the feeling with the second bike is completely different. This morning we asked to verify this impression of Makoto to the HRC test rider, Tadayuki Okada, who, after having tested our bikes for some laps, confirmed our rider’s version. Thus, we should carefully verify every bike 2 single component to understand the reason of this machine different feeling. Apart from this inconvenient we can say we have found the right way to follow in the search of the ideal setting for the Jerez G.P.” Kenny Roberts Jnr, KR Honda: 1m 42.7s -90 laps.”Not much to say today. We are basically looking for the base line we need to make progress. We have been playing with the suspension trying to find the best combination of suspension and tyres. We learn something every time we take the bike out, even if we only eliminate stuff that doesn’t work. We’re in good shape and moving forward.”

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