From a press release issued by Pramac Honda:

Valencia – (Spain)
Private Tests
10/11/12 December 2003
Thursday 11 December

Satisfactory second day of tests at Valencia for Pramac Honda Team

Better weather, even though the temperature stayed as low as ever, but in the end the sun came out in Valencia and the two Pramac Honda Team riders were able to complete a successful day of tests. They started out at 10:30 in the morning on a decidedly damp track, but the grip on the tarmac got much next to yesterday and this meant it was possible to complete almost the entire work programme.

Makoto Tamada managed to get much more to grips with the new step of the RC211V engine. He put in 50 laps and got down to a best time of 1:33.4. His programme included work on the electronic tuning of the engine and on the frame and suspension settings. The aim was not so much to achieve maximum performance as to let the rider achieve the ideal speed and rhythm for an actual race.

It looks as though Makoto has already got the right feeling for his 2004-configuration bike and the Pramac Honda Team rider will be testing the Bridgestone tyres that Shinichi Itoh has been trying out over the past two days.

Itoh, the team’s official test rider, worked non-stop trying out the new Bridgestone prototypes for 2004. The Japanese test rider put in 78 laps and stopped the clock at 1:35.1. Shinichi tried out no fewer than 15 different tyre combinations and provided an enormous amount of useful data for developing the forthcoming world championship material.

“We’ve made considerable improvement on the performance curve of my RC211V by working on the power delivery” said a happy Makoto Tamada, “I wasn’t going for the fastest lap time but I did want to get up to race speed so that I could get a better idea of the difference between the new engine configuration and the one we used during the championship this year. Tomorrow I’ll be trying out the new Bridgestone materials and in the afternoon we’ve got a race simulation planned. That’s going to be the best opportunity to give the most precise opinion about the bike I’m going to be using in the 2004 season.”