From a press release issued by Pramac Honda:

Pramac Honda Team Press Information
Valencia – (Spain) – 4/5 November 2003
PRIVATE TESTS

Makoto Tamada and Shinichi Itoh end two days of tests in Valencia after last race in World Championship

The curtain had just come down on the 2003 racing season, when the two standard-bearers of the Pramac Honda Team took just one day’s rest and then went back out on track for a tough session of tests. Together with official team rider Makoto, Shinichi Itoh, the official test rider, spent two days testing, in spite of the after-effects of a fractured collarbone he got in the Superbike contest in Japan – but the expert rider still managed to show he was on top form.

Makoto Tamada tried out the new frame for his RC211V – he had already received it during the season, but did not use it for the final race. Use of the frame was postponed until the post-championship tests so that all the development work could concentrate on the Bridgestone tyres during the closing races of the season.

So tests were made on different settings to let Makoto get a perfect feeling for the special features of the new frame. The results appear to show quite clearly how Makoto was able to make the very most of this new component after just two days’ work. Always and exclusively with race configuration, the official Pramac Honda Team rider managed to slice one second off the time he made during the race last Sunday. The 15-lap long-run endurance test showed how Makoto’s pace was extremely constant.

Shinichi Itoh, the official test rider, got a real insight into the evolution tyres being made for 2004: yesterday he concentrated on the rear tyres, today on the front.

In all, the two riders covered: Tamada 131 laps, and Itoh 145.

The next rendezvous on track for the Pramac Honda Team riders is scheduled for mid-November in France and for the first week of December in Spain.

MAKOTO TAMADA (PRAMAC HONDA TEAM) – best time in the two days: 1:33.0

SHINICHI ITOH (PRAMAC HONDA TEAM) – best time in the two days: 1:36.4