From a press release issued by Fuchs Kawasaki:

MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2004
PRESEASON TESTING – SEPANG, MALAYSIA
12TH FEBRUARY 2004

THE BUILD UP CONTINUES FOR FUCHS KAWASAKI

The Fuchs Kawasaki Racing Team kicked off day one of a three day test at Malaysia’s Sepang Circuit by establishing a base set up on their Ninja ZX-RR MotoGP machines, ready to start evaluating a range of chassis, suspension and engine options over the course of the next two days.

After a brief holiday spent on a motocross bike in Japan, Shinya Nakano returned to Sepang ready to continue the process of improving the Ninja ZX-RR he started back in January. The 26-year-old Japanese rider finished the opening day of the test as the faster of the two Fuchs Kawasaki pilots, just edging out his jet-lagged teammate, 23-year-old Alex Hofmann.

Both Fuchs Kawasaki riders ended the afternoon test session earlier than planned, in order to give their respective crews an opportunity to address some minor technical issues and prepare the all-new Fuchs Kawasaki ZX-RR machines for an intense programme of development during the remainder of the test.

Shinya Nakano: 2:04.906 – 30 laps
“My main target today was to confirm the settings from my first test on the ZX-RR at Sepang just a couple of weeks ago and to evaluate settings and chassis stiffness options to improve the rear end control on acceleration; the bike now feels more stable exiting the turns. I’m now at my second test with Kawasaki and I feel more relaxed on the bike. I am also learning to understand the machine and the way the team works and, over the course of the next two days, this should help me improve my lap times.”

Alex Hofmann: 2:05.506 – 46 laps
“I was happy to stop a little early as I was in trouble with jet lag with the time change from Europe. I didn’t have a lot of energy but I’m sure I’ll be okay tomorrow. I mainly worked on getting a base setting with the new chassis so that we have a direction to go in over the next two days, to find a set-up that suits my style. I tried a different swinging arm and rear linkage set-up to improve the balance of the bike so that I can feel more comfortable; we’re definitely heading in the right direction.”

Harald Eckl – Team Manager
“Today’s test programme was aimed at confirming the data from the previous test and establishing the base settings for each rider. Now we’ve done this we can move forward over the next two days as we start testing chassis and engine options, as well as evaluating more tyres from Bridgestone. Considering that the track temperature was extremely hot, and the surface really slippery, today our lap times were encouraging. Shinya made a good step forward with some chassis settings for the rear end and I’m confident that there is more to come from both riders as the test progresses.”