From a press release issued by Honda Racing:

HRC Winter test Phillip Island, February 26, 2003.

The second day of the three-day HRC winter test programme with the RC211V at Phillip Island, Victoria, saw all Honda MotoGP riders present improve their understanding of the new RCV, all four riders lowering the times they set on the opening day.

The Repsol Honda riders, Valentino Rossi, and Nicky Hayden concentrated on settings for the new RC2211V at Phillip Island and tyre testing work with Michelin. Rossi in particular was pleased with the development of the new RCV.

Valentino Rossi: “I’m happy because we had another good day and the 2003 bike is doing most things I want and it feels good at a circuit I like. The track conditions were good and the weather was fine. I was pleased with my performance. We tested many tyres today and are still looking for the best solution but we are not far off as the times show, but for me this is not the most important thing. I feel that the development from last years bike to this one is good and we have the potential of a really good package.”

Hayden improved on day two lowering his time by one full second. The young American survived a high-speed encounter with sea bird that wrecked the screen of his fairing.

Nicky Hayden: “That was a pretty good day I’d say. We progressed a little bit and I took a second off my time from yesterday. Today I worked on my style a little – tried to smooth out a bit – ride the bike not so ‘Superbike-ish’. There were a few areas of the track I wanted to work on and it seemed to come together pretty good. The bike for me feels good – I’m changin’ a few little things. Mostly suspension but really I’m just tryin’ to ride it and learn. The bike is well proven with Valentino and those guys so I’m not changin’ a lot. Just minor adjustments and little tweaks and get on and ride the bike and learn the circuits. I did a little bird hunt today. I killed a bird and the bike ran over one – one busted my windscreen and I got a few feathers on me. Other than that it wasn’t too eventful!

The Pramac Honda Team was hard at work at Phillip Island. In addition to machine preparation for the season team rider Makoto Tamada, and HRC MotoGP test rider Shinichi Itoh, are engaged in an extensive tyre-testing programme for Bridgestone.

Shinichi Itoh: “We have so many tyres to test over the three days it is difficult to set fast times. We have a very methodical test programme where I have to test a range of fronts, then rears, different compounds or constructions. We never have the perfect combination necessary for a fast lap time. Maybe we will look for a fast time tomorrow.”

Makoto Tamada: “We have so much to do here at this test, machine settings and tyres have taken a lot of time. Today we had some mixed weather, good sunny weather to start off, the sun went in and it was a little cold. The different temperatures were good for tyre testing. Naturally we didn’t look for a lap time we have not decided on the best combinations yet. Tomorrow we will have a better picture.”

Valentino Rossi, ITA Repsol Honda 1:31.6 (67 laps)

Nicky Hayden, USA Repsol Honda 1:33.5 (85 laps)

Shinichi Itoh, JPN Pramac Honda 1:33.0 (70 laps)

Makoto Tamada, JPN Pramac Honda 1:33.3 (65 laps)