From a press release issued by Fuchs Kawasaki:

MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2004
PRESEASON TESTING – SEPANG, MALAYSIA
21ST JANUARY 2004

NAKANO AND HOFMANN ON THE PACE AT SEPANG

The second of four days of testing at Sepang in Malaysia ended on a high note for the Kawasaki Racing Team, as Shinya Nakano proved emphatically that he’s getting to grips with the Ninja ZX-RR by improving on his fastest lap in the Malaysian Grand Prix, held at the Sepang circuit just three months ago, by almost a second.

An intensive test programme today saw Nakano and Fuchs Kawasaki teammate, Alex Hofmann, working with their respective pit crews to evaluate different frame and swinging arm combinations, before continuing to refine the set up of suspension components and chassis geometry this afternoon.

Nakano, who made his Kawasaki debut just 24 hours ago, saw an improvement in his lap times in every session, before posting his fastest time of 2:04.38s late in the afternoon to finish more than two seconds faster than yesterday.

Switching to the latest version of the Ninja ZX-RR for today’s test programme, Alex Hofmann also saw a dramatic improvement in his lap times. The 23-year-old German rider was lapping consistently in the low 2:05 bracket during race distance runs designed to evaluate chassis changes, dropping to a time of 2:05.16 during the final afternoon session, to finish over a second faster than his previous best lap around the Sepang circuit.

For Team Manager Harald Eckl, the improvements made by Nakano and Hofmann exceeded his expectations, but the former Grand Prix rider has no intention of allowing his riders to rest on their laurels and is already pushing them to find another half a second before the four day test concludes on Friday afternoon.

Shinya Nakano: best time – 2:04.38 (62 laps)
“We’ve made some positive steps today with the set-up of the bike. I’m starting to get used to the Ninja ZX-RR and I definitely felt a lot more comfortable on the bike today. The team have worked really hard to set the bike up to suit me and we’ve managed to evaluate two different frames and a couple of changes to the geometry of the bike during today’s test session. I’m still getting a small amount of front end chatter, and we need to look at improving the stability of the bike under braking but, overall, the bike feels not so bad. I’m happy with my lap times today and I’m looking forward to further improvements tomorrow when we start engine and tyre testing.”

Alex Hofmann: best time – 2:05.16 (54 laps)
“It was good to park up the old bike and start testing the new one today. Our main focus has been on the chassis; evaluating different frames and swinging arms to find the best combination and then running them over race distance to allow an accurate comparison. I’m pretty happy with what we’ve achieved today. I was able to circulate in the low 2:05 bracket during the race distance runs and I’m confident that there’s still more to come. We’ve got a few more chassis tweaks we want to try tomorrow morning, before getting down to engine and tyre testing in the afternoon.”

Harald Eckl: Team Manager
“It’s been another day of positives for the team. Both riders are working well together with their respective crews and the result of this is apparent on the track. It’s enjoyable to see improvements in every area; the bike, the riders and the way that everyone is starting to gel as a team. If I’m honest, to have Shinya go faster than in the race here last year on only the second day of the test is more than we expected and, if both riders can find another half a second before we leave Sepang on Friday, then I’ll be more than satisfied with our first test of 2004.”