From a press release issued by Fuchs Kawasaki:

FUCHS KAWASAKI UP THE PACE AT SEPANG

Fuchs Kawasaki riders, Shinya Nakano and Alex Hofmann, again toiled in the heat and humidity of Malaysia during day two of a three day test at the 5.5km Sepang circuit, which is situated on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.

As track temperatures soared to more than 55°C during the afternoon, both Fuchs Kawasaki riders managed to overcome the tropical conditions to improve upon their lap times from the opening day of the test yesterday.

Hofmann, now fully recovered from the jet-lag that affected him on his arrival in Malaysia, put an upgraded version of the 990cc, inline four-cylinder Ninja ZX-RR engine to good use, to finish today’s test a full second faster than yesterday. Nakano will test the new engine tomorrow.

Working together with their respective pit crews, the Fuchs Kawasaki pairing spent today evaluating carbon front brake components, swinging arms and rear link options. Nakano also tried revised engine mapping options aimed at improving bottom end response from the engine.

Both Hofmann and Nakano spent most of the afternoon session working closely with Bridgestone as they completed back-to-back runs on a variety of different compound and construction front and rear tyres. Both riders exclusively used Bridgestone’s latest 16.5″ front slick, which has been designed to provide a larger contact patch and improve steering response.

Alex Hofmann: 2:04.568 – 49 laps
“Today was incredibly hot, making it really hard out on the track, but I’m happy to have made some good progress and ended the day a second faster than yesterday. I’m pleased with the fact that I managed to find a good rhythm today, which meant I was lapping consistently in the 2:04 bracket. We’re definitely moving in the right direction with the engine, with the latest modifications making it feel both sharper and faster; it will be interesting to see Shinya’s reaction when he tests it for the first time tomorrow. One of the swing arm options we tried today improved traction under acceleration; an area in which any improvement is more than welcome. My tyre runs were mainly to back up data from the previous test here, although the new profile front felt good. Overall, while I’m happy with how things are going, there is still a lot of work to do if we are to find our optimum set up.”

Shinya Nakano: 2:04.318 – 52 laps
“We had everything under control today and we managed to get through our full test schedule, including trying out some new profile front tyres that showed good potential. My target is to go faster still on the final day of the test, with the aim being to dip into the 2:03 bracket tomorrow. On my final run the revised engine mapping made it easier for me to control rear end slides and wheelies; we’ve been missing some bottom end power. Tomorrow I’m looking forward to testing the latest engine specification and learning more about the characteristics of the Ninja ZX-RR.”

Harald Eckl – Team Manager
“Considering the difficult conditions we’ve been working under I’m reasonably satisfied with the results today, especially Alex’s lap times with the latest engine. Both Alex and Shinya have matched their lap times from the January test and, with a few more things to try on the final day of the test tomorrow, I think the potential to go even faster is definitely there. Tomorrow Shinya will run the latest engine, to back up the data we got from Alex today, and this will be important as we continue our development programme.”