From a press release issued by Honda Racing Information:

HONDA RACING INFORMATION

Honda MotoGP riders back in action at Sepang.

The MotoGP winter testing programme resumed at the 5.548km Sepang circuit in Malaysia with the majority of world championship teams taking part in three-day test. Seven Honda riders, racing for four different teams took the opportunity to test the latest developments made to the five-cylinder 990cc RC211V.

For both the established Honda riders and the new to Honda for the 2005 season, Troy Bayliss (Camel Honda) and Marco Melandri the morning session was spent finding the best machine settings for fast circuit before getting down to serious work after lunch.

First Honda riders to take to the track Repsol Honda teammates Max Biaggi and Nicky Hayden, the two riders working under the supervision of legendary American race engineer Erv Kanemoto. For Biaggi the day began cautiously as the Italian has still not regained 100% movement in the right ankle he broke in a Supermotard accident in November. However, as the dare wore on Biaggi began to lower his lap time as he found his rhythm, eventually circulating just under the existing lap record.

Max concentrated his efforts on testing engine-braking systems and clutch parts while team- mate Hayden worked on refining suspension linkages and the steering of his RCV. The young American worked hard all day putting in an amazing 90 laps of the sun drenched circuit where temperatures rose to 35 with a track top temperature of 50.

Fastest Honda rider on the track was Brazilian Alex Barros who returns to the Camel Honda team from the Repsol Honda squad. Barros quickly assessed the changes made to the RCV the changes made to the RCV since the last test session, in November then put in a series of fast laps to end the session with a time of 2:02.71.

New boy to the Camel Honda team Troy Bayliss understandably took time to adjust to the Honda at Sepang but towards the end of the day the Australia former World Superbike Champion was lapping two seconds off lap record time.

Japanese star Makoto Tamada paraded his new Konica Minolta Honda. Tamada in now in his third year of GP racing his first with Michelin tyres. The ever-smiling Tamada has to rethink machine set up at each circuit having spent his career riding on Bridgestone rubber. Despite a slow crash Tamada was very happy with his days work.

Telefonica MoviStar teamsters Sete Gibernau, second in the 2004 MotoGP Championship, and Marco Melandri had very different experiences on the opening day. Melandri continued his adaptation to the characteristics of the RCV setting respectable lap times in the afternoon session. In contrast Gibernau suffered from a niggling electrical problem that held him back. The Spaniard managed just 37 laps over the day.


Honda Team Quotes:

Alex Barros, Camel Honda: 2:02.71 – 52 laps: “I’m happy, Things went better today than I had expected after two months spent a long way from the bike. I thought I’d have to spend more time getting used to it again but in fact I felt comfortable straight away. That meant I was able to work on a lot of different settings for my RCV, from engine braking to the clutch, acceleration and front brakes. We didn’t do any tyre work but we’ll do that tomorrow. I am really satisfied with the times that I set because I was consistently faster than I was at the GP here in October, right from the morning. It really is a good start to the test.”

Ramon Forcada, Camel Honda, (Chief technician for Alex Barros) : “I’m happy with the work we’ve done on the bike because we’ve completed the programme of set-up work we decided on yesterday, without any interruptions and improving step by step. So now we’re ready for the work we have to do tomorrow, which will be different tyre and suspension tests. Alex was particularly concentrated and determined, quick from the first lap and consistent from then on, continually improving. The time is very good, particularly because we didn’t use a qualifier or even a soft tyre, just race tyres.”

Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 2:03.17 – 90 laps: “Nice to be back on a bike again! I wish it was the first race of the year and not the first test of the year but I know that testing is so important. These are the hard yards when you get your legs under you and set yourself up for the next few months that are so important. Sometimes when you’ve been off the bike a while you have to knock off the rust but I really didn’t feel too bad today.”

Max Biaggi , Repsol Honda: 2:03.35 – 52 laps: “Today is a great day. I’m back on the bike and I can ride. This is the most important thing. The ankle still hurts, but I don’t want to complain anymore. The first test was this one on the foot. Soon I will throw the crutches away. We are already working on the bike. New components need intense work. We must build ‘The Winning Machine’. Being in HRC, with Erv Kanemoto, means great joy and honour but also a big responsibility.”

Erv Kanemoto, Repsol Honda: “It’s a real challenge and one I’m really looking forward to. I’ll be working hard looking at all aspects of the machine and how both riders can get the most performance from the bike and from themselves. It is very early days and we gather information. We come back to Sepang next month with the 2005 machine and move forward. I’ve worked successfully with Max in the past and we have a good relationship; I look forward to working with Nicky in the same productive way.”

Sete Gibernau, Telefonica MoviStar Honda: 2:03.40 – 37 laps: “Our first day of testing here in Sepang focused on understaning the reasons of the problems we had here during the last GP. In order to record all the data, many transponders (sensori) were installed on the bike. This work took a lot of time, moroeover I had to stop frequently to check every single problem so I could make only a few laps. During my last exit on track, I coud make three laps on a row and it seemed that everything was working well. Now we need to analyse all the data and keep on working.”

Marco Melandri, Telefonica MoviStar Honda: 2:03.50 – 62 laps: “I’m very happy of the feeling I had with the bike. The engine was lighty different from the one I had tested in November, the engine I have tested today is the same of Sete and I got a good feeling. I had a good rythm during all the day , I lapped constantly on 2:03.5 and lap by lap my confidence with the bike improved. We decided to stop a little bit earlier because I had already made a lot of laps. Today we focused on working with the standard setting so that tomorrow we can start making small changes.”

Makoto Tamada, Konica Minolta Honda: 2:03.63 – 40 laps: “Now I have changed to Michelin tyres I have to rethink set up at every track so once I had found a good setting today I tried many big changes to the RCV. I worked mainly on the engine braking systems and suspension, and tyres of course. The crash was very slow. When I went out on new tyres I told my mechanics I would do 20 laps but the bike felt really good so I got up to speed to quickly and lost the front end. But I’m OK no problem.”

Troy Bayliss, Camel Honda: 2:04.81 – 80 laps: “I still haven’t found the feeling I had at the previous tests with the RC211V but I think that’s pretty normal considering how different the conditions are. At the moment I’m trying to find better traction and the data we gathered today will help us to continue working tomorrow, when we will also combine suspension and tyre tests.”

Santiago Mulero, Camel Honda (Chief technician for Troy Bayliss) : “We’ve worked a lot today, using all the time available in the session to get Troy in the best possible conditions to understand the bike at this circuit, which is very different to Jerez and Valencia in terms of both the track layout and the climatic conditions. We did a lot of work on the suspension to improve traction, the point that Troy wanted to concentrate most on. We’ve gathered a lot of data and over the next two days I’m sure we will find the perfect set-up”.


More, from a press release issued by Gauloises Yamaha:

GAULOISES YAMAHA TEAM SEPANG TEST
Sepang, Malaysia
Sunday, January 23rd, 2005

Ambient temperature: 34 degrees
Track temperature: 52 degrees
Humidity: 37%

GAULOISES YAMAHA TEAM RIDERS START 2005 WITH A BUSY DAY IN SEPANG

Reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi and his new Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards began their 2005 MotoGP campaign today with day one of a three-day test in Sepang, Malaysia. The two riders climbed on board their new 2005 specification YZR-M1s this morning for the first time this year, having enjoyed a seven-week winter holiday since the last test in November.

Sharing the track with the Fortuna Yamaha Team as well as teams from Honda, Ducati, Kawasaki and Suzuki, the Gauloises Yamaha Team quickly got back into the swing of things and spent the day working on setting-up the new bikes. Rossi completed a total of 47 laps and recorded a fastest time of 2:02.30, the second quickest lap of the day behind Ducati man Loris Capirossi (2:02.18). His Texan team-mate Edwards, who has already tested twice with the team despite not becoming an official Yamaha rider until 1st January this year, completed 55 laps with a best time of 2:03.08, fifth fastest overall of the 17 MotoGP riders testing in Sepang.

Valentino Rossi, (2:02.30)
Today was not too bad, for the first day back! We spent the day working on settings, and for sure we know that this new bike is a good bike. There is some improvement to the engine and now the aim is to make some more changes and to try to get the same feeling as we had with last year’s bike, so I can ride it in the same way. This bike is almost completely new, plus I haven’t ridden for two months, so there is a lot of work to do and we will continue tomorrow.

Colin Edwards (2:03.08)
I’m pretty happy after this first day and it’s awesome to be back. We spent all day changing settings and just working on various small things to try to improve the set-up. The Japanese need quite a lot of information to build their database, so we spent some time doing things for them, too. We didn’t test any tyres, as we wanted to just concentrate on set-up, but tomorrow we might spend some more time with different Michelin tyres. We’ve got a new engine, a new chassis and there’s a lot to work on; some areas have improved for me and some haven’t, but we just need to find the balance and we’ll be okay.

Davide Brivio, Gauloises Yamaha Team Director
In November we tested a prototype bike and we’ve come here today with the final 2005 machine. The work we did today was just normal work to fine-tune the settings. We’ve got 18 full days of testing planned before the start of the season, so we have plenty of time to work on all the issues and hopefully find a good solution for any difficulties. Today we have only just started.

Ends

LAP TIMES:

1. Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2:02.18
2. VALENTINO ROSSI (YAMAHA) 2:02.30
3. Alex Barros (Honda) 2:02.71
4. Kenny Roberts (Suzuki) 2:03.00
5. COLIN EDWARDS (YAMAHA) 2:03.08


More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team:

KAWASAKI KICK OFF THE NEW YEAR AT SEPANG

After a lengthy two month break the Kawasaki Racing Team returned to the racetrack at Sepang today, for the first of three days of testing in preparation for the 2005 MotoGP World Championship season.

Kawasaki riders, Shinya Nakano and Alex Hofmann, had available to them the Ninja ZX-RR machines they campaigned last season, together with the very latest version of Kawasaki’s 990cc, inline four-cylinder MotoGP machine.

Both riders opted to start the test aboard the 2004 machines, to give themselves the chance to get back up to speed after such a long layoff, and to reacquaint themselves with the characteristics of the bike that took Nakano to tenth place in the 2004 MotoGP World Championship standings.

While Hofmann continued with the 2004 bike during the afternoon test session, Nakano took the opportunity to put the 2005 Ninja ZX-RR through its paces around the Sepang circuit, with favourable results.

Shinya Nakano: #56
“This morning it was a case of getting used to the bike again after the long winter break, and to meet the new members of my crew who joined the team over the winter. I started the test on the 2004 bike, but switched to the latest version of the Ninja ZX-RR for the afternoon session. This is a new bike, so we know there’s a lot of work to do on set-up and getting the chassis balance right, but already I can feel an improvement over the old bike in certain areas. The old bike was a bit nervous when the rear tyre started to slide, but the 2005 machine is a lot easier to control in the slide. Tomorrow we’ll continue to compare the 2004 and 2005 machines, as we work towards refining the set-up of the new bike.”

Alex Hofmann: #66
“We started today aboard the 2004 bike, to give me the chance to get my brain back up to speed after such a long break. I was quite surprised at how quickly I felt comfortable on the bike again, and it didn’t take long for me to start racking up some reasonable lap times. This afternoon we tested a new swinging arm on the 2004 bike, for comparison purposes, as well as testing some new rear tyres from Bridgestone. Tomorrow we’ll switch to the 2005 version of the ZX-RR and I’m looking forward to finding out how much of an improvement the new bike is, and where the improvements have been made.”

Naoya Kaneko: Technical Coordinator “We have both the 2004 and 2005 versions of the Ninja ZX-RR with us at this test, but both riders started today aboard the old bikes. This gave them the chance to get back into the swing of things after such a long break. While Alex spent most of the day on the 2004 bike, Shinya opted to try the latest version of the ZX-RR during the afternoon session, with promising results. Tomorrow both riders will run comparison tests between the new bike and the old, as we work to find the strengths of the new bike and how we can improve it further for both Shinya and Alex. Overall, I’m satisfied with the progress we’ve made today.”


More, from a press release issued by Camel Honda:

Alex Barros the fastest Honda on the first day of tests in Malaysia

Sepang Circuit, Malaysia, 23rd January. The 2005 season began today for the two Camel Honda riders Troy Bayliss and Alex Barros, who are preparing for their first and tenth seasons respectively with the Japanese factory in the premier class. Their approach therefore differed accordingly on the first of three days of tests at this first outing of the preseason. Alex Barros, who got straight down to the business of setting fast times on a bike he knows well, was the third quickest rider on the day and the fastest Honda, quickly finding a set-up for his RC211V and ending the session at the planned time of 1700h. Meanwhile, Troy Bayliss made use of an extra hour to understand and adapt to the bike in just his third test. The weather was warm and dry, without too much humidity.

Ramon Forcada – Camel Honda – (Chief technician for Alex Barros)
“I’m happy with the work we’ve done on the bike because we’ve completed the programme of set-up work we decided on yesterday, without any interruptions and improving step by step. So now we’re ready for the work we have to do tomorrow, which will be different tyre and suspension tests. Alex was particularly concentrated and determined, quick from the first lap and consistent from then on, continually improving. The time is very good, particularly because we didn’t use a qualifier or even a soft tyre, just race tyres.”

Alex Barros – Camel Honda – 2:02.71 (52 laps)
“I’m happy, Things went better today than I had expected after two months spent a long way from the bike. I thought I’d have to spend more time getting used to it again but in fact I felt comfortable straight away. That meant I was able to work on a lot of different settings for my RCV, from engine braking to the clutch, acceleration and front brakes. We didn’t do any tyre work but we’ll do that tomorrow. I am really satisfied with the times that I set because I was consistently faster than I was at the GP here in October, right from the morning. It really is a good start to the test.”

Santiago Mulero – Camel Honda (Chief technician for Troy Bayliss)
“We’ve worked a lot today, using all the time available in the session to get Troy in the best possible conditions to understand the bike at this circuit, which is very different to Jerez and Valencia in terms of both the track layout and the climatic conditions. We did a lot of work on the suspension to improve traction, the point that Troy wanted to concentrate most on. We’ve gathered a lot of data and over the next two days I’m sure we will find the perfect set-up”.

Troy Bayliss – Camel Honda – 2:04.8 (80 laps)
“I still haven’t found the feeling I had at the previous tests with the RC211V but I think that’s pretty normal considering how different the conditions are. At the moment I’m trying to find better traction and the data we gathered today will help us to continue working tomorrow, when we will also combine suspension and tyre tests.”


More, from a press release issued by Telefonica Movistar Honda:

TELEFONICA MOVISTAR HONDA TEAM BACK IN ACTION
First day of testing for Sete Gibernau and Marco Melandri at Sepang

Sepang (Malesia) 23rd of January 2005

After the long winter break the riders of the team Telefonica MoviStra Honda were back on track today to start working for the 2005 season that will start in Jerez de la Frontera on April the 10th. Sete Gibernau, second in the 2004 MotoGP Championship, and Marco Melandri had very different experiences on the opening day. Sete Gibernau worked on the problems encountered during the last Grand Prix here in Sepang. Many transponders were installed on the bike to record all the data and he had to stop frequently in the box to check the data. He managed to make only 37 laps because of technical problems.

Marco Melandri continued his adaptation to the characteristics of the RCV setting respectable lap times in the afternoon session. Totally he made 62 laps and run constantly on a pace of 2:03.5.


Sete Gibernau, 2:03.40 – 37 laps:
“Our first day of testing here in Sepang focused on understanding the reasons of the problems we had here during the last GP. In order to record all the data, many transponders were installed on the bike. This work took a lot of time, moreover I had to stop frequently to check every single problem so I could make only a few laps . During my last exit on track, I could make three laps on a row and it seemed that everything was working well. Now we need to analyse all the data and keep on working.”


Marco Melandri, 2:03.50 – 62 laps:
“I’m very happy of the feeling I had with the bike. The engine was slightly different from the one I had tested in November, the engine I have tested today is the same of Sete and I got a good feeling. I had a good rhythm during all the day, I lapped constantly on 2:03.5 and lap by lap my confidence with the bike improved. We decided to stop a little bit earlier because I had already made a lot of laps! Today we focused on working with the standard setting so that tomorrow we can start making small changes.”


More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

POSITIVE DEBUT FOR THE DESMOSEDICI GP5

Sepang (Malaysia) 23 January 2005 – Ducati Marlboro Team engineers spent much of the first day of testing at the Sepang circuit setting up the Desmosedici GP5 machine for its first track appearance of 2005, while Loris Capirossi and Carlos Checa were able to get back into the swing of testing after the winter break. In the sweltering Malaysian heat (temperatures of up to 35°C but with bearable humidity levels of 38%), Loris and Carlos began the Desmosedici GP5 three-day test schedule, completing 46 and 39 laps respectively. At the end of the day Capirossi had notched up an extraordinary time of 2:02.18 while Checa, despite still suffering from the injury he picked up at Madonna di Campiglio, set an encouraging time of 2:03.57.

“We spent the first part of the day checking on the reliability of the bike to get it ready for the rest of the test” declared Ducati Marlboro Team Technical Director Corrado Cecchinelli. “This was the first chance for us to see that the new design philosophy behind the Desmosedici GP5, ‘evolution not revolution’, works. The fact that an electrical component for example, can be interchanged with another meant that today we could temporarily go back to something we had used before. This enabled us to finish the day without any problems and allow Loris to set an excellent time.”

“It felt great to get back on the bike again after more than a month’s inactivity” declared Loris Capirossi. “At the end of this first day of testing I’m really satisfied and convinced that we are going in the right direction with the GP5. In addition I have to admit that the Bridgestone tyres have also given me positive indications here at Sepang, especially the front tyre. At the end of the day I even set a great time, but we have to keep our feet firmly on the ground and continue to work with passion and enthusiasm.”

“I couldn’t wait to get back on the track again”, declared Carlos Checa, “but I was still in a bit of difficulty after the banal incident at Madonna di Campiglio. Yesterday the circuit doctor removed the stitches in my left hand, but unfortunately the wound has not completely healed. I was able to lap anyway with help from the special glove brought here by Alpinestars and I could see that we were working well.”

Loris Capirossi 2:02.18
Carlos Checa 2:03.57