FIM MotoGP World Championship Sepang, Malaysia October 17, 2008 Free Practice Two Results: 1. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), Michelin, 2:02.667 2. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), Bridgestone, 2:02.838 3. Casey STONER (Ducati), Bridgestone, 2:02.970 4. Shinya NAKANO (Honda), Bridgestone, 2:03.050 5. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), Bridgestone, 2:03.232 6. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 2:03.346 7. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda), Michelin, 2:03.430 8. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda), Michelin, 2:03.474 9. Nicky HAYDEN (Honda), Michelin, 2:03.550 10. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha), Michelin, 2:03.598 11. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 2:03.723 12. Anthony WEST (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 2:03.925 13. Toni ELIAS (Ducati), Bridgestone, 2:04.183 14. James TOSELAND (Yamaha), Michelin, 2:04.190 15. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Ducati), Bridgestone, 2:04.204 16. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda), Bridgestone, 2:04.281 17. Marco MELANDRI (Ducati), Bridgestone, 2:04.391 18. John HOPKINS (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 2:04.568 19. Nobuatsu AOKI (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 2:05.998 Best Combined Practice Times: 1. Edwards, 2:02.667 2. Rossi, 2:02.693 3. Stoner, 2:02.970 4. Nakano, 2:03.050 5. Lorenzo, 2:03.179 6. Pedrosa, 2:03.232 7. Capirossi, 2:03.346 8. Dovizioso, 2:03.430 9. De Puniet, 2:03.474 10. Hayden, 2:03.550 11. Vermeulen, 2:03.723 12. West, 2:03.925 13. Toseland, 2:03.964 14. Melandri, 2:04.169 15. Elias, 2:04.183 16. Guintoli, 2:04.204 17. De Angelis, 2:04.256 18. Hopkins, 2:04.267 19. Aoki, 2:05.998 More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Bridgestone riders on form in Sepang practice Round 17: Malaysia Free Practice Sepang International Circuit, Friday 17 October 2008 Bridgestone has enjoyed a solid start to the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend with several of its riders setting competitive lap times after the opening two free practice sessions at the Sepang International Circuit today. A total of six Bridgestone-shod riders frequented the top ten of the combined standings with 2008 World Champion Valentino Rossi second fastest, setting his personal best in the one-hour morning session. That time was quickest of the session and it was not until the dying moments of the afternoon practice that his benchmark was beaten, albeit by a mere 0.026s, by Tech 3 Yamaha’s Colin Edwards, who was the fastest man of the day. Ducati’s Casey Stoner, winner of the Malaysian race last year and victor in Phillip Island two weeks’ ago, finished in third place three-tenths-of-a-second off Edwards’ pace, ahead of San Carlo Honda Gresini man Shinya Nakano. Nakano has been in competitive form throughout the day and set the standard for most of the afternoon session. Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa, taking part in his fourth race weekend using Bridgestone tyres, was sixth in the combined table marginally quicker than Loris Capirossi for Rizla Suzuki who took seventh. Some light rain curtailed running at the start of the afternoon session, but riders were soon back up to speed and most were able to beat their morning best. Tomorrow’s practice sessions will be important for Bridgestone to evaluate further the slick tyre selection for the weekend before qualifying tyres are used in the afternoon to determine the grid for Sunday’s 21-lap race. Tyre Talk with Tohru Ubukata – Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development How were the conditions on the first day of practice today? “At the start of the morning session, the track was still quite dirty and slippery but after about half of the session the conditions were getting better and better. Consequently most riders set their best time towards the end of the practice. We had some light rain at the top of the afternoon session and it took a large part of the session to get back into a reasonable condition. It has therefore been quite difficult to get any representative data from today, even if initial performance appears to be competitive. We have several riders near the front of the timesheets which is naturally encouraging but I hope there is more to come tomorrow.” What specifications did riders use today? “Basically most riders used medium and hard rear tyres today and the lap times would suggest that both specifications are working well. Because of the rain we were not really able to carry out a precise comparison of the tyres, so we have to work a bit more than usual on Saturday morning to look more deeply into the performance potential of the tyres, both in terms of outright lap time, but also durability.” Bridgestone-shod Riders’ Combined Practice Session Results Pos. Rider Team Session 1 (pos) Session 2 (pos) Gap P2 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 2m02.693s (P1) 2m02.838s (P2) +0.026s P3 Casey Stoner Ducati Corse 2m03.195s (P3) 2m02.970s (P3) +0.303s P4 Shinya Nakano San Carlo Honda Gresini 2m03.785s (P8) 2m03.050s (P4) +0.383s P6 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 2m04.460s (P17) 2m03.232s (P5) +0.565s P7 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2m03.735s (P7) 2m03.346s (P6) +0.679s P11 Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2m04.137s (P11) 2m03.723s (P11) +1.056s P12 Anthony West Kawasaki Racing Team 2m04.383s (P15) 2m03.925s (P12) +1.258s P14 Marco Melandri Ducati Corse 2m04.169s (P12) 2m04.391s (P17) +1.502s P15 Toni Elias Alice Team 2m04.399s (P16) 2m04.183s (P13) +1.516s P16 Sylvain Guintoli Alice Team 2m04.833s (P18) 2m04.204s (P15) +1.537s P17 Alex de Angelis San Carlo Honda Gresini 2m04.256s (P13) 2m04.281s (P16) +1.589s P18 John Hopkins Kawasaki Racing Team 2m04.267s (P14) 2m04.568s (P18) +1.600s P19 Nobuatsu Aoki Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2m07.530s (P19) 2m05.998s (P19) +3.331s Weather: Session 1 / Dry Air 33°C, Track 44°C Session 2 / Dry Air 32°C, Track 37°C More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: ROSSI LOOKING STRONG IN SEPANG Valentino Rossi, the recently-crowned 2008 MotoGP World Champion, got off to a strong start for the season’s second-last race in Sepang today, finishing second in the combined standings behind Tech 3 Yamaha colleague Colin Edwards. The Italian was one of just three riders to dip under the 2’02 mark and the only one to do so in both sessions, having topped the time sheets in the morning. After torrential downpours yesterday a few spots of rain at the start of second practice caused Rossi to delay his exit from the pits by a few minutes, but it did not worsen and the riders were able to use most of the session to continue with the dry set-up work they had begun in the morning. Rossi spent the day working on developing his base set-up to suit the demands of this track, which is the longest on the calendar, as well as working his way through his allocation of Bridgestone tyres. Rossi’s Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo also put in fast times today, finishing second in the morning and fifth in the combined standings. Valentino Rossi Position: 2nd Time: 2’02.693 Laps: 38 “This was a good day for us because we were fastest this morning and then second this afternoon behind Colin. I like this track a lot; it’s difficult, technical and wide and it’s possible to have a lot of fun riding a MotoGP bike here. It’s a different feeling compared to the tests here pre-season, because the bike has changed a lot since then and we’ve also learnt a lot more about the tyres; it’s good to see how much we have improved everything since then. Our pace today is already good so I think we have a good potential this weekend, but it’s definitely possible to improve some more and make our setting better. We need to work on one or two small things. I have a strong motivation for a good result here!” Davide Brivio Team Manager “Overall it’s been a good opening day for us. We had a good session this morning, when everything worked well from the start, and then this afternoon we were able to continue more or less in the same way despite losing a bit of time because of the light rain at the start. We’ve been fast all day and we’ve collected a lot of information to add to the data we have from testing here pre-season. It seems our bike is already at a good level for this track so tomorrow we will look to refine our setting and finalise our tyre choice to make sure we’re in the best shape.” More, from another press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: LORENZO FIFTH ON DAY ONE IN STEAMY SEPANG Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo made a promising start to the penultimate Grand Prix of his rookie season today, finishing fifth overall in the combined standings on the opening day in Sepang. Lorenzo got his weekend off to a flying start this morning, finishing second behind his team-mate Valentino Rossi. Light rain at the start of this afternoon’s session made the track conditions slightly less predictable and the Spaniard lacked a little grip in his final rear tyre, meaning he was unable to improve on his time from this morning. He is confident however that, with some more work on his set-up and Michelin tyres tomorrow, he will be in the right form to challenge for a front-row grid slot during qualifying. It was a strong opening day for Yamaha all-round meanwhile, with the combined time-sheets topped by Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards and Rossi, who is chasing his fifth victory at this circuit, close behind in second. Jorge Lorenzo Position: 5 Time: 2’03.179 Laps: 38 “I felt good here today! Unfortunately this afternoon we changed a lot of things and we didn’t have quite enough grip with the final tyre, so we weren’t able to improve on the time from this morning, but anyway we know what the problem is so we’re not so worried. I think I can be competitive here and that I can fight for the front row tomorrow. It’s very hot but it’s still great fun to ride the M1 here, you can slide the rear, which is a fantastic feeling on these bikes, and I really enjoyed myself today. I hope that this can continue for the rest of the weekend.” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “The morning session was quite good and also useful to help us to confirm the improvements we have made this season since the winter tests. This afternoon was a bit more difficult however because of the changeable track conditions after the little bit of rain we had. Unfortunately we didn’t select the best tyre for the right moment but we are confident that we can improve tomorrow and be competitive this weekend.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Tech 3 Yamaha´s Colin Edwards laid down his cards early in Sepang, recording the fastest Friday time in practice for the Polini Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix. The American had to wait until the dying moments of the day´s two hours of practice in order to set his 2´02.667 lap, doing so in a second session that had been slightly slower than the morning run until the final quarter. Edwards´ lap relegated Yamaha factory rider Valentino Rossi to second place on the combined timesheet, although the Italian was unable to cut his time in the afternoon. Nonetheless, the 2008 World Champion was under three-hundredths of a second slower than his former teammate´s marker overall, and placed second in the later session. Third fastest and the only other rider to breach the 2´03 barrier, 2007 Sepang racewinner Casey Stoner was three-tenths down on Edwards´ fastest lap, once again riding with a speed that belied his less-than-perfect condition. Shinya Nakano was the first man to better his morning time, and was sitting pretty in the Free Practice 2 standings until his rivals´ late surge. The San Carlo Honda Gresini rider, still without a ride confirmed for 2009, eventually placed fourth. Like Fiat Yamaha teammate Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo was unable to best his early lap time, and concluded the day just over half a second slower than satellite rider Edwards. Dani Pedrosa made significant improvements to move up into sixth onboard his Repsol Honda RC212V, whilst Loris Capirossi, Pedrosa´s future teammate Andrea Dovizioso, LCR Honda man Randy de Puniet and 2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden also placed in the top ten. 250cc Last year’s race winner at Sepang, Hiroshi Aoyama took provisional pole position for the 250cc Polini Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix on board his KTM. The Japanese rider, in contention for the temporary top spot throughout the session, finally broke through to set the fastest quarter-litre lap of the day at the end of the first qualifying session. Aoyama´s 2´06.893 time was the only occasion in which a rider went round in under 2´07, with Alvaro Bautista previously on course for the provisional pole position courtesy of his 2´07.073 lap. Mapfre Aspar man Bautista is still in with a chance of the title this season, but could concede the crown to Marco Simoncelli on Sunday. Second KTM rider Mika Kallio separated Bautista and Simoncelli in a front row packed with racewinners, whilst there was a standout performance by Thai Honda PTT SAG´s Ratthapark Wilairot. The Thai rider headed the second row for his `home´ Grand Prix in a great ride onboard underpowered machinery. Aleix Espargaro, Yuki Takahashi and Alex Debon join Wilairot on the second row, with Debon the first rider to clock a time outside a second of that of Aoyama. 125cc Andrea Iannone placed on provisional pole for the 125cc Polini Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix in Friday afternoon´s first qualifying session, putting down a 2´14.676 lap on a dry track. The result could prove decisive for the first grid spot for the Sunday race, with any rain that should fall during the second timed run sure to affect the frontrunners’ times negatively. Iannone has never started a race from pole position in his Grand Prix career, but was far-and-away the quickest man on track in the category on day one. The I.C. rider was some six-tenths of a second faster than closest rival Gabor Talmacsi, and exactly a second quicker than fellow provisional front row starter Pol Espargaro. Sandwiched in between the latter duo was Danny Webb, returning to action after missing the Australian Grand Prix with a fractured collarbone. Sergio Gadea, Joan Olive, Tomoyoshi Koyama and Simone Corsi make up the Friday second row, whilst recently-crowned 125cc World Champion Mike di Meglio had to settle for ninth place and a spot on the third line. Having seen his Repsol KTM teammate Marc Marquez ruled out of action due to a morning crash, Esteve Rabat took a tumble in the afternoon run from which he escaped unharmed. More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: STONER THIRD FASTEST ON HUMID FIRST DAY IN MALAYSIA, MELANDRI 14TH It is not without good reason that the Malaysian Grand Prix is considered one of the most demanding on the calendar and the first day of free practice today demonstrated exactly why, with intense heat, humidity and mixed track conditions making life extremely difficult for the teams and riders. The gruelling heat and humidity of the opening practice session this morning gave way to a light rain shower in the afternoon denying the riders the opportunity to push their machines to the limit and obtain useable feedback for a good part of the second free practice. Both Casey Stoner and Marco Melandri are hoping for more consistent conditions tomorrow. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 3rd fastest: 2’02.970 “It has been a frustrating day to be honest because we don’t seem to have a tyre that works at this track and suits our bike. The weather didn’t help because this afternoon it was constantly spitting and we couldn’t really push hard enough to get any decent information back. Hopefully with the data we got from a couple of laps we can improve the bike a little bit for tomorrow. The Desmosedici puts less pressure on the rear than other bikes so we tend to run softer rear tyres, but this circuit requires a hard compound and it seems the tyre that works best here is giving us a bit too much rebound. The bike is moving around a lot and I’m getting a lot of vibration. The limited track time this afternoon leaves us with a lot of work to do tomorrow so hopefully the weather stays dry. We had similar issues in Phillip Island and we managed to get on top of them so I think by Sunday we can have a good solution”. MARCO MELANDRI (Ducati Marlboro Team) 14th: 2’04.169 “We worked hard with the tyres today but the conditions were constantly changing so we couldn’t find anything we felt happy with. We also have to work a lot on the bike because when I’m not pushing it feels okay but as soon as I try to pick the pace up the same old problems return. We always have problems opening the throttle and with front feeling. If I ride at a normal pace it’s fine but the harder I push the slower I go.” More, from a press release issued by Tech 3 Yamaha: Colin Edwards sets hot pace in Sepang sauna Colin Edwards made a stunning return to form in typically scorching hot Sepang conditions today, the Tech 3 Yamaha rider ending the opening free practice sessions for the penultimate race of 2008 with the fastest time. The American, who was fourth quickest in this morning’s opening session, didn’t let a brief interruption caused by a short rain shower this afternoon disturb his impressive speed. Spots of rain continued to fall for the remainder of the session, but Edwards maintained his focus to clock a best time of 2.02.667 that edged out newly crowned world champion and fellow Yamaha YZR-M1 rider Valentino Rossi by 0.171s. In air temperatures that peaked at 32 degrees, Edwards’ performance was helped by a decision to revert back to a front-end setting he used at the beginning of the season. The modification immediately improved Edwards’ confidence with the front-end of his YZR-M1, which also helped him drastically improve his corner speed at the long and technically challenging Sepang circuit. He was one of only three riders to dip under the 2.02 mark. James Toseland was 13th quickest, setting his best time of 2.03.964 this morning as he finished just over a second adrift of the leading pace. The British rider began his MotoGP career in Sepang last November when he made his YZR-M1 debut, and he made a positive start this morning by finishing 10th quickest. Colin Edwards 1st 2.02.667 36 laps “It feels really good to be back at the front because the last few races have been tough. We have gone back to a front-end setting that I started the year on and it has transformed the bike and I’ve got my confidence back. We made a change at the Le Mans test with the offset and I started to have the best results of my career on tracks where I’d struggled before. I was fifth in Mugello and Catalunya, fourth in Donington and then I got on the podium in Assen, so I thought it was definitely the direction to go. I thought we’d stumbled on the magic setting, but since then I’ve struggled with the front-end. I have not been able to carry the corner speed I’d like and I’ve been running wide a lot. But now I’ve changed the front back to what I’ve known for most of my Yamaha career, it feels fantastic. Now the bike isn’t pushing off line at maximum lean angle and the riding just feels natural. Before it felt like I had to really force the front down in the corner to get the bike steering. Now I know exactly what the front tyre is doing and for me that is crucial because my style means I rely on front-end feel so much. I’m running out of time to learn things at this stage of my career, but I’ve learned that I need to stick with what I know works. Michelin have got some good tyres here and my race pace is really consistent. Even when the grip was dropping off a bit I was still able to run the lap times. There were a few drops of rain around but I felt confident to push, and its been a long time since I’ve felt like that.” James Toseland 13th 2.03.964 38 laps “This track is so long and technical that it took a bit of time to get back into the swing of things and the test in January seemed like a long time ago. I felt pretty comfortable this morning but we never really moved forward with the setting this afternoon and that is a bit frustrating. We have got an idea on how to improve the bike for tomorrow because I’m struggling on corner exit. When I’m mid-corner and getting on the throttle, I’m struggling with some feel from the rear to get off the corner. At a track like this where there are a few bumps it is making it feel as twice as bad. There are also a lot of corners where you accelerate from slow speed, so rear feeling is crucial. I can do high 2.03s and I’m about three-quarters-of-a-second off the best race pace, so it has not been a disastrous day.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has had a positive first day at Sepang in Malaysia with all three riders confident of further advances in performance as the weekend progresses. Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen have been joined at Sepang by Team Test Rider Nobuatsu Aoki for his first Grand Prix outing of the season. Capirossi led the way today for the three-pronged attack by recording a best time of 2’03.346 from his 33 laps to give him seventh place on the timesheets. Vermeulen (2’03.723, 39 laps) clocked a time just over three-tenths-of-a-second behind his team-mate to give him 11th place on the leader-board, but with times so close Suzuki’s Australian star certainly believes he will be further up the timesheets throughout the weekend. Aoki (P19, 2’05.998, 39 laps) used both sessions to re-acquaint himself with the hectic pace of a GP weekend. He consistently improved on his times throughout the day and knocked over a second-and-a-half off his best time from the morning in this afternoon’s session. Today’s practice was held in very warm and humid conditions with the threat of heavy rain constantly in the air. Today’s fastest time was set by Colin Edwards on his satellite Yamaha. Rizla Suzuki’s three-man team has one more free practice session tomorrow morning, before an hour of qualifying in the afternoon. Sunday’s 21-lap race at the 5,548m long Malaysian circuit is the penultimate round of the year and the event gets underway at 14.00hrs local time (06.00hrs GMT). Loris Capirossi: “It was strange conditions during this afternoon’s practice because we had really slow rain, but I stayed out towards the end and tried a different engine setting and it certainly improved the bike a little bit. It is still not the best it can be, but we know we are working in the right direction. The bike seems to be working quite well and I am quite happy with the way the first day went and the modifications that Suzuki have given us for this weekend seem to be working better. We still need to work on tyre settings and getting the best grip for here but I think we can do a good job on Sunday.” Chris Vermeulen: “It’s good to be back at Sepang as it’s a track we know well and Suzuki has supplied us with some new parts that seem to be helping here with that bit of extra power that we were lacking at Phillip Island. We have tried quite a few different settings on the bike and have found a good direction. We haven’t done much tyre testing yet so I think there is certainly a bit to come with extra grip out of the bike. Overall I am quite confident and looking forward to the rest of the weekend.” Nobuatsu Aoki: “First of all I’d like to say thanks to all the guys in the crew, especially after I destroyed a bike in a big crash at the test at Motegi and they’ve worked hard today and at the factory to prepare a bike for me for this wildcard race. Unfortunately we couldn’t bring the new engine here, but I have been testing the new exhaust pipe with the silencer and this has worked very well and made a big improvement with bottom end performance. We still need to do some work and improve on the times, but we are confident the work we do this weekend will be good for the Grand Prix team to use at Valencia. As for myself it has been really hard getting up to racing speed and getting comfortable, but it is coming and for sure I will improve more tomorrow and I think I will be competitive by the afternoon.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “It has been quite a positive first day’s work at Sepang today. The circuit layout and grip available certainly suits the GSV-R a bit more than the last GP at Phillip Island and that has shown in how close we are to the front-running pace. There is definitely more to come, but I am sure that is the same for all our competitors. We feel that the bike is close enough that with some careful work and correct decisions this evening we can be quite competitive here this weekend. “For Nobu it has been his first day back in the office at a Grand Prix weekend and I am sure he will be looking to take a decent step forward tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by JiR Team Scot Honda: First practice positive for Andrea Dovizioso, 7th in Malaysia The first day of free practice for the Malaysian GP was held in typical climactic conditions in the Malaysian peninsula, with the temperature higher than 30 degrees and with high humidity. The grip offered by the Tarmac during the day was also not at its optimum, thanks to the daily rain showers. The afternoon practice was disturbed by a light shower, which thankfully did not halt the progress of Andrea Dovizioso. The JiR Team Scot rider closed the morning practice in the top ten, and improved in the afternoon, finishing in seventh position with a time not far from the best riders. The team did a good job concentrating on the set-up of the chassis and this will be finalised in the second day tomorrow. The feeling is good and Andrea is confident of an improvement in performance tomorrow. Cirano Mularoni Team Manager JiR Team Scot “The first day of practice was good for us, without the normal heavy rain and we finished the day with a good performance. We have concentrated on the chassis set-up especially on the new front forks, which Showa gave us during the last GP. It’s too early to say something of the true value of them at the moment, because the grip on track is not optimal yet, but I’m confident that we have the possibility to improve still further. With conditions as they are at the moment, it’s not easy to predict the eventual outcome.” Andrea Dovizioso Rider JiR Team Scot MotoGP HONDA RC212V 7th-best time: 2’03 “430 “Today was a good practice day that ended with a good result. We wanted to do a more intensive programme of testing but this morning the Tarmac was simply too slick and the condition of the track not the best, but we did try some tyre solutions as we concentrated on finishing our set-up for the race. The data from the set-up of the chassis has helped define our work and tells us the direction in which we need to improve. I’m satisfied because on this track speed and technical know-how are important and I did a good lap-time and tomorrow we could be more competitive and the conditions of the track will also be better if it rains tonight.” Gianni Berti Technical Co-ordinator JiR Team Scot “Work today focused on the set-up of the bike, looking of course towards the race on Sunday. The grip this morning was not perfect, but it was improving and the work done today will be useful for tomorrow. It was a positive day and we aim to improve once more on Saturday. We have chosen some tyre solutions to try tomorrow to help us complete our work.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: KAWASAKI RIDERS LOOKING FOR SET-UP AT SEPANG Kawasaki’s Anthony West and John Hopkins both remain confident of a strong performance in Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix, despite enduring a difficult opening day at Sepang. Less than ideal track conditions, unpredictable weather and set-up issues on their Ninja ZX-RR machines conspired against the two Kawasaki pilots today, leaving them short of the top ten positions both had targeted ahead of this weekend’s race. West spent both sessions today looking again for a solution to the rear grip problems than have plagued him all season, with the Australian continuing to complain that the rear tyre is too quick to spin up out of the turns and the bike is going sideways rather than forwards. Set-up changes to his Ninja ZX-RR resulted in a slight improvement during this afternoon’s practice, but the 27-year-old Kawasaki rider was unable to assess accurately just how much of an improvement had been made due to the frequent rain showers during the session. After Hopkins struggled this morning with front-end issues on his Ninja ZX-RR his crew made major changes to the set-up of the bike in an attempt to give the 25-year-old Anglo-American more confidence in the front tyre. Unfortunately, the changes didn’t have the desired effect, and Hopkins wasn’t able to push for a fast lap time in between the frequent showers this afternoon. Both riders will look closely at the data collected today in a bid to improve set-up ahead of tomorrow morning’s final free practice session. Although disappointed not to have finished higher up the timesheet today, the fact that they were both fast here during winter testing at the start of the year means that Hopkins and West are confident of a significant improvement in lap times tomorrow. Anthony West #13 – 12th – 2’03.925 “Conditions weren’t ideal this morning, as the track was really dirty and it took quite a long time to clean up before we had the level of grip needed to start pushing. As soon as we did start to get faster then I encountered the same problem that we’ve been having almost since the start of the season. On the gas coming out of the turns the bike just goes sideways instead of driving forward, and it’s costing me a lot of time. We made some improvements for this afternoon, but I don’t know exactly how much of an improvement because the showers that were working their way around the circuit didn’t do much for confidence. When you’re flat on the tank down the straight here, even a slight shower looks like torrential rain as it bounces off the screen! We will look closely at the data tonight and, hopefully, we can continue to make improvements tomorrow. On a positive note, I’m not last on the timesheet this week, so we’ve definitely made some improvement already!” John Hopkins #21 – 18th – 2’04.267 “We had to wait for the track to clean up before we could get down to evaluating tyres this morning, and then I had some problems with the front end of the bike. I was struggling to get the bike into the turns, because the front felt like it was going to tuck all the time. We made some major set-up changes this afternoon to counter the problem, but I think we maybe went in the wrong direction because we didn’t see the improvement we were expecting. We will look at our options tonight, ready for tomorrow. I’m not so worried about the situation, as we know we can go back to the set-up we ran here during winter testing, when our lap times were pretty good, if necessary. I’m pretty confident we can go faster tomorrow, but we could definitely do without the showers that made this afternoon’s session quite difficult.” Naoya Kaneko Kawasaki Technical Manager “Despite the issues with set-up today, both riders aren’t that far off the pace here in Sepang. Anthony is losing rear traction mid-corner, and this is pushing him wide at the apex and losing him time, which he then tries to make up by opening the throttle hard when the bike is still leant over. We will make some changes to the balance of the machine for tomorrow, which should give Anthony better rear traction at the critical point of the corner and allow him the time to sit the bike up before he opens the throttle. With John we tried a quite different set-up on his bike this afternoon than he’s used to. We can see from the data that this has given us some improvements, but the lack of feeling from the front-end means that John wasn’t able to take advantage of the changes today. We will also change slightly the balance of his bike for tomorrow, to improve feedback from the front and to allow him to regain the confidence he needs to push for a faster lap time.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: PEDROSA FINDS HIS RHYTHM AT SEPANG Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang First day of practice, Friday October 17 2008 Repsol Honda RC212V rider Dani Pedrosa steadily improved his pace at Sepang today, completing the first two Malaysian GP practice sessions in fifth place, despite light rainfall which affected this afternoon’s session. The drizzle fell throughout the session, becoming heavy enough at one point to bring riders in the pits, but most of the time it wasn’t quite damp enough to have riders switching to treaded tyres. The best lap time of the session was half a second slower than the current circuit lap record. Afternoon rainfall is the norm here at the moment, which makes a wet race or a wet-and-dry race a real possibility on Sunday. Pedrosa found a good rhythm this afternoon, his best lap time just half a second off the best lap of the day. Dani Pedrosa, 5th fastest, 2m 03.232s “This morning we struggled because we lacked a bit of rhythm, but during the afternoon session I was able to improve both my feeling with the bike and my race pace. We worked on set-up, we tested some tyres and we have some more tyres to test tomorrow. Tyre choice is especially crucial here, so we will concentrate on that. Then tomorrow afternoon we will try to get a good grid position, which is also very important here. I hope we have two dry sessions tomorrow so we can keep on preparing for the race. Everybody is fast at Sepang because we all test here during the winter, so everyone’s got a lot of data at their disposal. This winter I only tested one day here and the package I have now is completely different to what I had then. As for the Bridgestone tyres, they are different to what I am used to here, so I have been trying to adapt my riding style.” Kazuhiko Yamano – Team Manager “Dani is happy with the performance of the bike and of the tyres here, so I think he can have a good weekend. He improved his pace gradually today, working step by step, despite the difficult conditions. We expect some more improvement tomorrow as he gets further accustomed to his new tyres around this track.” More, from another press release issued by Repsol Honda: HAYDEN NINTH FASTEST IN SEPANG DRIZZLE Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang First day of practice, Friday October 17 2008 Repsol Honda RC212V rider Nicky Hayden ended an unusual first day of practice ninth fastest at Sepang today. Track conditions were tricky in both sessions, riders dealing with a dusty track surface this morning, when Hayden was sixth quickest, then light rain this afternoon. At one point during the second session the rain was heavy enough to bring riders into the pits, but during most of the hour only a light drizzle fell, not enough to force riders to switch to treaded tyres but enough to prevent them from fully exploiting their slick tyres. Lap times hardly improved throughout the day, FP2 only a few hundredths faster than FP1 and Hayden just a tenth faster second time out. The MotoGP pack was impressively close today, considering this is MotoGP longest racetrack with a two minutes-plus lap time, Hayden just eight tenths off the best lap of the day. Nicky Hayden, 9th fastest, 2m 03.550s “Obviously I don’t like to be down in ninth, but we have made a little bit of progress today. The track was quite dirty this morning, there was a lot of sand around, but it seemed to clean up all right. This afternoon’s session was quite tricky, there was a light rain pretty much the whole session, but it’s so hot here that the rain is pretty much gone before it even touches the ground. The bike feels pretty decent and the tyres seem okay, so I’m confident that we can improve, that’s the plan. It was quite strange this afternoon. If that had been the race it would have been interesting it was raining pretty heavy at one point, everybody came into the pits at one point. It’s been doing that the last couple of afternoons, so maybe it’ll be like that on Sunday. We haven’t had a half-and-half race for a while, so maybe that would be quite cool. Now my foot’s better I can switch bikes and they’ve got a big wide pit road here, so it might be fun, but I’d better be careful what I wish for.” Kazuhiko Yamano – Team Manager “The weather conditions could be a very important factor here over the next few days. We have had some rain over the last two afternoons, so it would be useful if we could have a fully wet session in case it rains on Sunday. Nicky seems to be getting on okay, he is working on set-up as usual, but he has no big settings issues to work on.”