From a press release issued by Fortuna Yamaha:

FORTUNA YAMAHA TEAM TESTS
Brno, Czech Republic
Thursday July 17 2003

FORTUNA YAMAHA TEAM COMPLETE TWO DAY MID-SEASON TEST IN BRNO

Fortuna Yamaha Team riders Carlos Checa and Marco Melandri finished a two-day test at the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic today. The team came to Brno directly from last weekend’s British Grand Prix in Donington, and continued hard work on general M1 set-up and Michelin tyre testing. Track temperatures reached as high as 51 degrees C at the eastern European circuit, and testing alongside Yamaha’s factory team in the sweltering conditions were the Honda, Ducati, Aprilia, Kawasaki and Proton MotoGP outfits.

Spanish rider Carlos Checa, who currently lies in seventh position in the MotoGP World Championship, rode consistently on both days, completing a total of 136 laps. Checa spent the two days working closely with Michelin on their race tyres, and today tested the basic race set-up of his Yamaha YZR-M1 machine, with a fastest overall lap time of 2:00.50. Checa finished last weekend’s British Grand Prix in sixth place, and is looking forward to having the chance to claim the podium finish he needs to increase his points in the championship standings.

Checa’s team-mate and MotoGP rookie Marco Melandri was pleased with the extra two days riding his M1, desperate to make up for so much time lost earlier in the season after his accident in the opening round of the championship in Suzuka. Melandri made his debut with his M1 at the Brno circuit, where he will race in exactly one month on August 17, and completed a total of 130 laps, with a best lap time of 2:00.70. Honda rider Max Biaggi broke his own fastest ever lap record of 1:59.64 in today’s session, claimed at the Czech Grand Prix last year when he qualified in pole position, setting an all new lap record of 1:58.8.

“Marco didn’t finish the race in Donington so he used this test as the chance to do a race simulation,” explained Fortuna Yamaha Team Manager, Geoff Crust. “He held a good pace and his physical condition was good after 24 laps. He did the race simulation in the middle of the day when the track was at its hottest, so that was also good experience for him to test in such hot conditions. Marco’s got a good feeling with the bike at the moment which is getting better each time he rides, and he is upbeat and confident that he can do well here when he returns in a month. After he qualified on the front row at Donington last weekend, he was as disappointed as we were when he slid off and out of the race. Carlos aimed for consistent laps today and yesterday, which he achieved, and he knows now that we still need to take a step up to beat our competitors. He really needs a podium finish at this stage and we should be in a position to do just that in Sachsenring, where he has showed great promise in previous years.”

Now the Fortuna Yamaha Team will travel to Sachsenring in the east of Germany where the German Grand Prix will take place on Sunday 27 July.

Lap times (from both days)
Carlos Checa 2:00.50
Marco Melandri 2:00.70



More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM DOUBLE TEST SESSION CONCLUDES AT BRNO AND MUGELLO

The Ducati Marlboro Team have wrapped up yesterday and today’s double test session held simultaneously at the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic and at Mugello, Italy.

The two sessions involved a large quantity of equipment, bikes, vehicles and staff, including mechanics, technicians and engineers, from the Italian manufacturer.

The Brno tests, which were part of a general pre-race session involving all the major MotoGP teams, were aimed at obtaining the right set-up for the Cezech Republic Grand Prix, scheduled for August 17.

Loris and Troy continued to work on the set-up of their Desmosedici, trying out a vast number of Michelin rear tyres. Loris completed 62 laps with a best time of 1:59.54, while Troy recorded a best time of 2:00.98 in his 75 laps.

“This is the first time we have been to the Brno circuit so the tests can be viewed as positive” declared Ducati Marlboro Team technical director, Corrado Cecchinelli. “We are very pleased to have come away with lap times on race tyres that are quicker than last year’s pole time. This gives us a lot of confidence for the Brno race”.

Testing at the Mugello circuit with official Ducati Corse test-rider Vittoriano Guareschi also concluded at the same time. The Italian mainly tested new software and suspension parts for the 2004 version of the Desmosedici.

Randy Mamola, who usually rides the Ducati Desmosedici Biposto twin-seater for promotional activity during the various European GPs, was also present at the spectacular Tuscan circuit. “We had to get through such a massive amount of work in these two days, which was too much for one rider” declared Ducati Corse Technical Director Filippo Preziosi, present at Mugello.

“It’s not easy to find someone capable of riding a bike of this type, so we thought of Randy, who in fact is the only one, together with Loris, Troy and Vittoriano, to have already ridden the Desmosedici. Sincere thanks therefore to Randy, it has been a great pleasure to work with an experienced rider of such calibre”.

Before the Brno round on August 17, the MotoGP championship heads to Germany for the race at the Sachsenring on July 27.



More, from a press release issued by Fuchs Kawasaki:

MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2003
BRNO MOTOGP TEST
17TH JULY 2003 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SUCCESSFUL TWO DAY TEST FOR FUCHS KAWASAKI AT BRNO

The Fuchs Kawasaki Racing Team concluded a successful two-day test at Brno in the Czech Republic this afternoon, prior to next weekend’s German Grand Prix at the historic Sachsenring circuit.

While development rider Alex Hofmann continued with the tyre testing programme in conjunction with Dunlop, regular riders Andrew Pitt and Garry McCoy spent the two days evaluating a revised crankshaft, chassis modifications and a selection of new front and rear development tyres on their Ninja ZX-RR MotoGP machines.

Although disappointed with his overall progress over the two days, McCoy was happy with the level of grip and consistency provided by the new rear slicks, with one tyre in particular allowing him to lap consistently in a time of 2:02.4s to finish the test as the fastest of the three Kawasaki riders.

Making his debut at Brno, Pitt spent the first of the two days learning his way around the ultra-fast Czech circuit, before taking advantage of the revised crankshaft and development tyres to up the pace on the second day, eventually finishing less than a second behind his more experienced team-mates.

Garry McCoy – Fastest Lap 2:02.4
“We haven’t made as much progress as we’d hoped for over the past two days, mainly due to a front end chatter problem that we just haven’t been able to dial out. However, despite the problems, we have definitely seen some improvement today; mainly in the area of the tyres. Dunlop arrived at the track with a new batch of development tyres for us to test and one rear tyre in particular felt real good around here; offering good levels of grip and consistency. No two circuits are the same, but hopefully the new rear will work as well at Sachsenring next weekend as it has here at Brno over the past two days.”

Alex Hofmann – Fastest Lap 2:03.1
“The tyre testing has gone well and we’ve been able to identify a number of front tyres that all three of us feel more confident with. The same is also true of one of the new rear tyres, which was reflected in improved lap times this afternoon. We also tried a number of different settings on the front end of the bike and progress has been made in this area also. Unfortunately none of the testing I’ve been involved here was aimed at finding a set-up for the German Grand Prix at Sachsenring, but we should be able to refine the settings I ran at Mugello and Assen during practice and qualifying next weekend.”

Andrew Pitt – Fastest Lap 2:03.3
“Overall I’m pretty happy with the progress we’ve made over the past two days. The revised crankshaft not only made it easier to get the bike stopped for the turns, but also made it steer quicker under acceleration, which is important around the Brno circuit with it’s fast changes of direction. The new front tyres seemed to offer an improved level of feel and that has increased my confidence in the front end of the bike, which has been something of a problem in the past. The improvements we’ve made over the past two days should stand us in good stead at Sachsenring next weekend; although my first priority will be to spend some time learning my way around what is another new circuit for me during free practice and qualifying on the Friday.”

Harald Eckl – Team Manager
“This has been a valuable test, and one during which we’ve made progress in a number of different areas. What we have to do know is take what we’ve learned over the past two days and ensure that we have the revised parts available in time for the race here in four weeks time. In the interim we have the German GP at Sachsenring – when once again we’ll be fielding three riders as Alex joins Andrew and Garry in the team for his fourth wild card ride of the season – and that is where we must concentrate our efforts over the next week or so.”



More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing:

HRC MotoGP test, Brno Czech Republic
July 17, 2003

Biaggi the Fastest RC211V rider at Brno MotoGP test

The two-day MotoGP test held at the 5.403km Brno circuit, in the Czech Republic ended with Max Biaggi the fastest Honda rider over the two days. Biaggi was again in blistering form today taking full advantage of the new Michelin tyres developed for the Brno circuit, which arrived overnight. The circuit specialist set a best lap time of 1:58.8, well inside his 2002 pole position time of 1:59.646.

Repsol Honda riders Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden both bettered their times of yesterday. Hayden spent his day tyre testing and banking invaluable information for the Czech Republic GP at the circuit next month. MotoGP Champion Rossi was tyre testing and trying out the shorter, and much louder exhaust system on his RCV.

Sete Gibernau and his Telefonica MoviStar Honda team-mate, Ryuichi Kiyonari, got in a lot of track time. Gibernau concentrating on the new Michelin tyres developed for Brno, and the new exhaust system first tested by Valentino Rossi.

Kiyonari covered an amazing 87 laps in his continuing learning process on the 990cc five-cylinder RCV211V four-stroke while unravelling the mysteries of the fast, technical circuit and gathering crucial data at the same time.

Pramac Honda rider Makoto Tamada, and Bridgestone test rider Shinichi Itoh concentrated on tyre testing but with a less hectic programme programme today. The two-men testing only 15 different tyre combinations as against 30 yesterday. Itoh departed for Japan at lunchtime to prepare for a national Superbike race on Sunday.

That gave Tamada the opportunity to make a back-to-back test of the old and new RC211V chassis’ fitted with the same tyres. He covered a total of 86 laps putting in over 40 laps on each machine in a bid to determine which performed better at Brno. His verdict was honours even on the day but with more testing he thinks the new chassis has more potential.

Honda rider quotes:
Valentino Rossi, Repsol Honda: “Today was another good day at the circuit where we tested different compound Michelin tyres to find the best solution for the race in August. We also had the loud and shortened exhaust on one bike and we are pleased with the results. We had no new or special parts and just concentrated on getting the whole package feeling good on this circuit that is always so difficult for set up. I’m not 100% I have a cold and I will rest before the German GP next week.”

Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: “Pretty good really. I knocked off some time from yesterday and overall enjoyed the test and learned a lot. Not just good for coming back here in August but for the whole experience on the bike. We tried some things with the Showa guys on the suspension that seemed to work and at one stage hooked up behind Loris (Capirossi), which was good for experience. I’m real glad we tested here because this is definitely the type of circuit that I could have struggled on if I hadn’t had some experience at.”

Max Biaggi, Camel Pramac Honda: “We only had a tyre test today and I finished at 3.30pm as I have to get to Nice tonight. I’m pretty happy with the work we did over the two days. We worked on the chassis and found a good set up for the track, even if I did struggle on the bumpy parts. I set my fastest time (1:58.8) on soft tyres, I wanted to try them round here. Now I need to relax for a while the last seven days have been quite hectic, from many points of view. I’m now concentrating my attention on the Sachsenring.”

Sete Gibernau, Telefonica MoviStar, Honda: “I’m happy with the new tyres from Michelin. We concentrated our time on finding the best combination with my standard machine set up. We tried the new exhaust system but we need another test at a different track to measure the performance because I ran the same lap time with both bikes.”

Ryuichi Kiyonari, Telefonica MoviStar Honda: “I ran a lot of laps today, 87. I felt like I was racing in the Suzuka 8 Hours! The test has been good for me, I learned a lot about the bike, things you don’t have time for at a GP. The best part of the test was that I will return to Brno with confidence, as I know the circuit. “

Makoto Tamada, Pramac Honda: “Today I got the chance to do a comparison test with the old and new chassis’ which we couldn’t do at Donington Park. Both bikes had identical set ups, and were on the same tyres. But it’s too early to say which is better. I put in 86 laps today and got a lot done. One thing for sure it was good to have some help from Itoh San with the testing. We found two really good front tyres and I will use them at the next two races.”

Lap times:

Valentino Rossi, Repsol Honda, 1:59.64

Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda, 2:00.03

Max Biaggi, Camel Pramac Honda, 1:58.8

Sete Gibernau, Telefonica MoviStar, Honda, 1:59.64

Ryuichi Kiyonari, Telefonica MoviStar, Honda, 2:02.21

Makoto Tamada, Pramac Honda, 2:00.2

Shinichi Itoh, Bridgestone test rider, 2:01.2


More, from a press release issued by Alice Aprilia Racing Press Information:

SECOND DAY OF PRACTICES

Last day of tests for the Alice Aprilia Racing Team at Brno track where will take place the 10th round of the world championship next August. Three RS Cube bikes on track with Edwards riding 62 laps with a lap time of 2:00.23, Haga (2:01.34 and 50 laps) and the test rider Marcellino Lucchi. Many engagements during the whole day: Edwards concentrated his efforts on the test of the tyres using the chassis already used in the beginning of the season whilst Haga used the new chassis even if he had to stop his session at 15:30. The Japanese rider flew with his family to Japan for a short vacation. This was the first time ever for Haga with the “evolution” setting.

Project Leader Gigi dall’Igna: “These two days have been very important for us and for the development of our bikes. We tested different tyres with Michelin finding an interesting solution for the future and the development of the RS Cube will continue. We feel satisfied about the results we had here but we still need to check this performance during the races”.