2007 FIM MotoGP World Championship Mugello, Italy June 1, 2007 Free Practice Two Results: 1. Casey STONER (Ducati), Bridgestone, 2:07.107 2. John HOPKINS (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 2:07.125 3. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 2:07.209 4. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), Michelin, 2:08.453 5. Kenny Lee ROBERTS (KR-Honda), Michelin, 2:08.802 6. Marco MELANDRI (Honda), Bridgestone, 2:09.195 7. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), Michelin, 2:10.039 8. Loris CAPIROSSI (Ducati), Bridgestone, 2:10.220 9. Olivier JACQUE (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 2:10.228 10. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), Michelin, 2:10.312 11. Toni ELIAS (Honda), Bridgestone, 2:10.413 12. Carlos CHECA (Honda), Michelin, 2:10.943 13. Randy DE PUNIET (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 2:12.279 14. Nicky HAYDEN (Honda), Michelin, 2:12.466 15. Shinya NAKANO (Honda), Michelin, 2:14.479 16. Makoto TAMADA (Yamaha), Dunlop, 2:16.857 17. Alex HOFMANN (Ducati), Bridgestone, 2:17.161 18. Alex BARROS (Ducati), Bridgestone, 2:19.873 19. Kurtis Lee ROBERTS (KR-Honda), Michelin, 2:23.432 20. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Yamaha), Dunlop, 2:36.112 Free Practice One & Two Combined Results: 1. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), Michelin, 1:50.743 2. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:50.901 3. John HOPKINS (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 1:51.022 4. Casey STONER (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:51.356 5. Carlos CHECA (Honda), Michelin, 1:51.414 6. Toni ELIAS (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:51.553 7. Alex BARROS (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:51.621 8. Nicky HAYDEN (Honda), Michelin, 1:51.720 9. Loris CAPIROSSI (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:51.803 10. Makoto TAMADA (Yamaha), Dunlop, 1:51.823 11. Alex HOFMANN (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:51.982 12. Marco MELANDRI (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:52.057 13. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 1:52.125 14. Shinya NAKANO (Honda), Michelin, 1:52.361 15. Randy DE PUNIET (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:52.396 16. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:52.630 17. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Yamaha), Dunlop, 1:52.726 18. Olivier JACQUE (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:53.411 19. Kenny Lee ROBERTS (KR-Honda), Michelin, 1:53.541 20. Kurtis ROBERTS (KR-Honda), Michelin, 1:55.286 More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Rain Rewrites Practice Programme in Mugello Round 06 – Italy – Free Practice Mugello, Italy Friday 1 June 2007 The Autodromo Internazionale di Mugello played host to a free practice day of two halves today as a torrential lunchtime downpour led to persistently heavy rain throughout the afternoon, limiting MotoGP’s twenty riders to just one hour of dry running in preparation for Sunday afternoon’s Italian Grand Prix. Following the rain-soaked race in Le Mans two weeks ago, riders were again confronted with treacherous conditions in the second practice session in Mugello this afternoon. At the end of a frantic wet session, Bridgestone-shod Ducati rider Casey Stoner led the Suzuki duo of John Hopkins and French GP race winner Chris Vermeulen. It was Hopkins who held the honours of being the top Bridgestone-shod rider in the dry morning session, taking third place ahead of current championship leader Stoner. Three other Bridgestone-equipped riders graced the top ten in the dry with Honda Gresini’s Toni Elias in sixth, Pramac d’Antin’s Alex Barros in seventh and local hero Loris Capirossi starting his home GP preparations in ninth place. Bridgestone’s five teams were able to make use of the cool but dry morning practice session to evaluate the medium tyre specifications available this weekend, while the wet afternoon session enabled further understanding of the wet tyre performance. With weather conditions remaining unpredictable for the duration of this Italian GP weekend, such an array of data in different condition could prove beneficial. Tyre Talk with Tohru Ubukata Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development How much meaningful running was Bridgestone able to conduct in this morning’s dry session? “This morning’s dry weather session was valuable for us to carry out initial runs with our medium specification slick tyres. The weather, although dry, was cooler than anticipated but we were still able to verify that the basic level of performance of the medium compounds was good. In spite of the cooler conditions the lap times were already quicker than at the corresponding time last year and the levels of degradation and warm-up performance were within our expectations.” Was the heavy rain disruptive to the practice programme? “The weather forecast for the weekend always carries a risk of rain, so it is something we were prepared for and wet tyres had been mounted for our teams yesterday just in case. It is usually preferable to have two completely dry sessions to gain as much data as possible for race preparations, but with the weather so unsettled, it could prove useful to have data from the bikes and tyres in a variety of dry and wet conditions. We used the same specification of wet tyre that we used successfully in Le Mans and we were again able to see a competitive performance.” Bridgestone Combined Free Practice Session Results Pos Rider Team Session 1 (pos) Session 2 (pos) Gap P3 John Hopkins Suzuki 1m51.022s (3) 2m07.125s (2) +0.279s P4 Casey Stoner Ducati 1m51.356s (4) 2m07.107s (Fastest) +0.613s P6 Toni Elias Honda Gresini 1m51.553s (6) 2m10.413s (11) +0.810s P7 Alex Barros Pramac d’Antin 1m51.621s (7) 2m19.873s (18) +0.878s P9 Loris Capirossi Ducati 1m51.803s (9) 2m10.220s (8) +1.060s P11 Alex Hofmann Pramac d’Antin 1m51.982s (11) 2m17.161s (17) +1.239s P12 Marco Melandri Honda Gresini 1m52.057s (12) 2m09.195s (6) +1.314s P13 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m52.125s (13) 2m07.209s (3) +1.382s P15 Randy de Puniet Kawasaki 1m52.396s (15) 2m12.279s (13) +1.653s P18 Olivier Jacque Kawasaki 1m53.411s (18) 2m10.228s (9) +2.668s Weather: Dry track – Air 16°C, Track 17°C, Humidity 59% (Session 1) Wet track Air 13°C, Track 12°C, Humidity 89% (Session 2) More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: RAIN AND PAIN FAIL TO DAMPEN SPIRITS AT MUGELLO Kawasaki’s Randy de Puniet and Olivier Jacque completed today’s two free practice sessions, on combined times, in 15th and 18th positions respectively, as the Italian MotoGP weekend kicked off at Tuscany’s Mugello circuit. A dry morning practice proved physically demanding on both Frenchmen. Randy crashed at Le Mans two weeks ago and Olivier at Shanghai in early May and both are still suffering the after effects: a predicament clearly reflected in their lap times. De Puniet continues to experience discomfort in his right shoulder, making riding his 800cc Ninja ZX-RR around this fast track particularly difficult. However, after a torrential downpour, the afternoon session was run in full wet conditions. This proved to be a blessing of sorts: riding in the wet lessening the physical demands on the upper body, and both riders were able to push themselves and their bikes without putting undue pressure on their injuries. Encouragingly, Randy completed a tough 23 laps in the morning session but still managed an impressive 12 in the afternoon. Many of the racers gathered for the Grand Premio d’Italia Alice failed to notch up even ten laps in the appalling conditions of the later practice. Jacque, meanwhile, still bears the painful scars of his crash in China and, like his teammate, found the morning session to be particularly demanding. His combined practice times fail to illustrate, however, his achievements in the afternoon, when he put in 11 laps of the circuit and finished within the top ten fastest riders. The team continue to work closely with Bridgestone, aiming to maximise improvements to the Ninja’s performance throughout the season. So far, both riders have expressed great satisfaction with the tyre manufacturer and, partnered with increasingly favourable set ups on the bikes and continued development of the their 800cc engines, look forward to progressively improving performance throughout the year. As for this weekend at Mugello, the weather forecast predicts further unsettled weather. For now, at least, it seems wetter is better for the Kawasaki men, neither of whom is on top physical form quite yet. But the team look forward to the third practice session tomorrow morning and perfecting the bikes, ready for qualifying practice in the afternoon. Randy De Puniet Kawasaki MotoGP Pilot #14 “Due to my shoulder injury, this morning’s session was hard, especially when changing direction and entering right hand corners. Because of that my lap times weren’t as good as I’d have liked and I couldn’t properly evaluate the improvements we’ve made to the Ninja ZX-RR. However, as I did more laps and my body warmed up, I felt better, making me feel more confident for the rest of the weekend. It rained like hell before the afternoon session but that gave us the opportunity to try the new engine in wet conditions and the first impression has been positive. It needs some adjustments, though, as it’s still quite aggressive. Because of that, I couldn’t get a good lap time in but I’m optimistic for tomorrow as we know the way we need to go.” Olivier Jacque Kawasaki MotoGP Pilot #19 “It was great to be back on the bike, although this morning was hard. After a few laps, I lost strength in my arm and tried to compensate for it with the shoulder. I lost precision in changing direction, and probably overloaded it, so I had to stop in the box a couple of times to get some rest. I’m not worried about that, though, as I know the strength will soon come back. Physically, the afternoon session was easier for me, as riding in the rain is less demanding, although the amount of water on the track was unbelievable and it was really difficult to control the bike. Things got better as the rain decreased, and I improved my lap times, but I wasn’t totally confident as I didn’t have much rear traction. We’ll need to improve that tomorrow if we’re to be ready for a wet race.” Naoya Kaneko Kawasaki Technical Manager “We expected the riders not to be in the best physical condition, and we already knew it was going to rain, so we haven’t been surprised by today’s results. We collected some important information in this morning’s session for dry conditions and we know we have to improve the balance of the bike, rear feeling in particular, to enhance the Ninja ZX-RR’s turning. The new engine specification looks like it’s working well, with a marked improvement in acceleration. However, we need to adjust it for rain conditions. Apparently, the weather will be the same tomorrow so this is what we will work on, as well as finding the best set up with the chassis.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Hopkins near the top in all weathers! Rizla Suzuki MotoGP’s John Hopkins recorded the second fastest time during today’s wet free practice and third in the dry, during preparations for this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix. This morning’s session was held in dry, but overcast conditions at the 5.2km Mugello circuit. Hopkins (1’51.022, 27 laps) was consistently competitive on his 800cc GSV-R and clocked the third quickest time, only 0.2 seconds behind the fastest rider Dani Pedrosa on a Honda. Chris Vermeulen (1’52.125) was just over a second behind Hopkins this morning, as the Le Mans race victor clocked the 13th quickest time during his 23 laps. The two Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racers had to endure totally different circumstances in the afternoon as the skies opened and torrential rain flooded the Tuscan circuit. The track had a river running through it and the session was delayed by 10 minutes to allow some of the standing water to clear. Hopkins and Vermeulen both got into a good rhythm in the tricky conditions and topped the leaderboard during the session. In the end Hopkins just got the better of his team-mate as the two Rizla Suzuki riders finished in second and third places respectively. Casey Stoner on a Ducati was quickest, as the Bridgestone rain tyres again showed their performance potential by filling the top three places. Today’s wet session gave the team some valuable time to test wet settings for the new 800cc Suzuki GSV-R and were very pleased with the direction and improvements that were made. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has one more free practice session tomorrow morning before an hour of qualifying in the afternoon to decide starting positions for Sunday’s race. Round six of the MotoGP World Championship will be raced over 23 laps and gets underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT). John Hopkins: “We got another wet one today! It was good to have a completely wet session where we could work in detail on the bikes, and we managed to get a really good rain set-up towards the end. The standing water started to subside a bit, I got behind Chris and was able to get into a good rhythm – it worked out pretty well. I tried both bikes in the rain with different settings and we got a really good feeling from them. I was also pleased with the direction that we went this morning. We were comfortable and the Bridgestone tyre that I used showed good consistency and grip. So whatever the weather is over the rest of the weekend wet or dry we’re going to be ready and I’ve got a really good feeling about Mugello!” Chris Vermeulen: “We got a bit of both today with the wet and dry. I thought I would struggle a bit here, but I went quite quickly in this morning’s dry session. It took me a few laps to get familiar with the track, but we learnt a lot about the bike and we have some ideas to try if it is dry tomorrow. This afternoon it was very wet, which was good because although the bike worked well in Le Mans it wasn’t perfect and we had a few things we needed to try. We tested a couple of rain parts and we certainly made some progress. I am pretty confident about the rest of the weekend, but we’ll have to wait and see what the weather does.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “All in all it’s been a constructive first day bearing in mind the changeable weather. John did a great job this morning and set his fastest lap on tyres that were well past race distance. Just as importantly, he took a big step forward with his wet weather settings and confidence this afternoon. “Chris, despite some setting issues that need to be improved, was as quick as we would expect out there this afternoon – he wasn’t too far away this morning either! In general, although nobody likes racing in the conditions like they were this afternoon, we are taking a positive attitude as we have two riders and a bike that seem capable of dealing with anything so we are looking forward to the rest of the weekend.” More, form a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: STONER FASTEST IN RAIN AT MUGELLO, CAPIROSSI HAPPY WITH NEW ENGINE SPEC Ducati Marlboro Team riders Casey Stoner and Loris Capirossi finished today’s first two practice sessions at Mugello fourth and ninth fastest overall. World Championship leader Stoner shone in this afternoon’s rain-lashed second session, lapping fastest aboard his Bridgestone-equipped Desmosedici GP7. Conditions this morning were cool and dry but thunder, lightning and torrential rain hit Mugello at lunchtime, flooding parts of the track, riders experiencing aquaplaning where the circuit was at its wettest. Stoner rode a few exploratory laps when heavy rain was still falling, then returned to the pits to wait until near the end of the hour when the rain had eased off. Capirossi meanwhile spent the day comparing and refining his new engine spec, which has been designed to offer smoother power delivery. CASEY STONER, 4th fastest, 1m 51.356s (rain: 2m 07.107s) “The wet is no real drama for me, at Le Mans we didn’t really have the perfect setting, we definitely gained experience from that, so we changed the wet setting a bit and definitely made improvements, so I feel a lot more comfortable now. I came in after three or four laps this afternoon because it kept raining and getting wetter, so I said that’s enough for now, it was getting too much. You can go around but it’s not safe and you’re not learning anything, so I thought it better to come in and wait for the right time to go out again. This morning we weren’t too bad in the dry – race pace was pretty good straight away. For sure we can improve the bike. We need to improve traction a little bit, which we did this morning, and we need to improve the turning a bit because I don’t have the same sensitivity I’ve had at other tracks. We pretty much know what settings we need to change to make it turn a bit harder and we should be all right, so it’s looking good wet or dry.” LORIS CAPIROSSI, 9th fastest, 1m 51.803s (rain: 2m 10.220s) “We learned a lot today. This morning we compared the new engine spec against the standard spec. I think the new stuff has potential, the power delivery is already smoother at low revs and we can improve it a lot more. This afternoon we worked on the new spec, making some improvements, but clearly the track conditions weren’t the best for this kind of work, even though the track wasn’t so bad considering how hard it was raining. There was so much water on the main straight that the rear tyre was spinning a lot even when I shifted into sixth. We still have a few things to fix but that’s normal when you have a lot of new ideas to test. I’m generally pretty happy with today but I really hope we get two dry sessions tomorrow so we can continue setting up the new spec. If not, we probably won’t race with it on Sunday.” More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: SOGGY START FOR FIAT YAMAHA TEAM AS RAIN HITS MUGELLO After a wet race in France, Fiat Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards had slightly better hopes for the weather in Italy this weekend but torrential rain throughout this afternoon put paid to that and the riders once again found themselves splashing around a soaking track doing their best to stay upright. Unfortunately this was a task Rossi could not quite manage today and the Italian slid off in the last seconds of the session when on his way to setting what looked like being the fastest lap of the afternoon, luckily emerging from the gravel trap unhurt. As a result of this afternoon’s downpour the fastest times of the day were set in this morning’s dry Free Practice, when Rossi was second fastest behind Dani Pedrosa. The home-favourite was pleased with the initial performance of his Yamaha and is confident of making further improvements tomorrow as he works towards a record sixth consecutive home-race victory on Sunday. Edwards meanwhile ran into a few unexpected issues this morning and could only manage 16th in the dry, although a solid performance in the wet saw him finish the second session seventh fastest. Despite the problems this morning he and his team are clear about the next step and the Texan is planning a dramatic improvement in the dry tomorrow before he bids to put his M1 on the front row for the fifth time this season. Valentino Rossi Position: 2nd Time: 1’50.901 Laps: 34 “This weather isn’t really what we expect in Mugello! I’m quite happy today however because this morning in the dry I was already fast, setting some good lap times and finishing second. We still need to improve the setting a little bit but I think we’re going in the right way. We tried some new tyres that we found during the Le Mans test and they weren’t so bad, so hopefully we can improve things more tomorrow. I’m happy about this afternoon’s session in the wet too because I was also very fast! I think if I hadn’t crashed it would have been possible to have finished on top, so I’m sorry about that. It was my mistake! I arrived a little bit too fast at the braking and went down but I was lucky; I didn’t hurt myself and the bike is not so bad. Anyway it was a good session because now we understand that we can fight with our tyre rivals also in the wet, if we choose the right tyre. Now let’s hope for some sunshine tomorrow!” Colin Edwards Position: 16th Time: 1’52.630 Laps: 35 “We found something new with Michelin during the Le Mans test which we thought would work here and we basically dedicated the entire morning to it, but unfortunately it didn’t work quite how we were hoping! In a way it was lucky for us that it rained this afternoon because it meant that we didn’t have to start digging into our dry tyre allocation and we won’t be in too much trouble tomorrow. We know what we’ve got to do so I think we’ll be okay. This afternoon was quite simply unbelievable, especially when I first went out. I was hydroplaning at 180mph coming over the top of the hill down the main straight which was quite scary! Anyway it was useful, especially after the problems we had in Le Mans and it gave us the chance to check the rain setting of the bike and try to work on a few issues. I think we made some improvements and now we just need to keep on working in that way each time we get a chance in the wet.” Davide Brivio Fiat Yamaha Team Director “Unfortunately the rain this afternoon called a halt to the work we had started this morning, but we can’t do anything about that! Valentino was quite fast this morning and he made a good start, although we still have some more work to do on the setting and tyres. With Colin we really needed more time this afternoon to check the bike and tyres after things didn’t go exactly to plan this morning, but we should be able to improve things tomorrow. Today was meant to be the worst day for the weather so hopefully it will get better from now on and tomorrow will be more like the Mugello we know!” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Pedrosa takes early advantage before downpour motogp The opening practice sessions for the Gran Premio d’Italia Alice got underway in a day of two halves in Mugello. The early part of the day was a dry affair, albeit with a slightly damp track courtesy of overnight showers. However, after a break from lunch the weather became somewhat more restricting, with a torrential downpour just after 1pm local time all but cancelling the first 125cc qualifying session and leaving wet conditions for the MotoGP and 250cc riders. With a difference of nearly 20 seconds between some riders’ morning times and their afternoon laps, none of the MotoGP field were able to improve on their first run-out with the 800cc. Dani Pedrosa clocked the fastest lap of the day, with a time of 1’50.743 putting him on top of the timesheets. The Spaniard headed a top seven made up of seven different teams, with only one Italian amongst them. Said Italian representative was second placed rider Valentino Rossi, who has won the last five Grands Prix at Mugello and is something of a master of his home track. Even a rider with the pedigree of the five time MotoGP World Champion had difficulties with the treacherous conditions, with Rossi sliding off track due to a low side at the end of his afternoon outing. John Hopkins was unable to break the 1’51 barrier, less than three tenths off Pedrosa’s flying lap. He was in turn faster than World Championship leader and the morning session’s fastest man, Casey Stoner. Both Ducati riders made up the top two for last year’s race, with the Italian race one of the most important for the team owing to the location of their factory just a stone’s throw away from the Mugello circuit. Carlos Checa and Toni Elias completed the overall top six, ahead of Alex Barros, who won a rain soaked race in Mugello back in 2001, World Champion Nicky Hayden, former Italian Grand Prix winner Loris Capirossi and Yamaha satellite rider Makoto Tamada. 250cc Alex de Angelis took provisional pole for Sunday’s 250cc showdown in the first quarter litre qualifying session. The Aspar team rider from San Marino put in a time of 2’07.137 at a track he knows well, negotiating the slippery track to give himself an early qualifying advantage. Anthony West, a rider with a near-amphibious knack for getting the best out of his bike in the wet, took his chance to shine with both hands as he put himself in a provisional front row position. Half a second off De Angelis’ time, Andrea Dovizioso completed the fastest three, ahead of World Champion and current leader of the classification Jorge Lorenzo. Hector Barbera, Thomas Luthi, Alvaro Bautista and Eugene Laverty rounded off the provisional second row, with the latter putting in his best performance of his rookie season so far onboard the LCR Honda. 125cc Hector Faubel was fastest in the abbreviated 125cc session, in which only ten riders had a chance to meet the qualification limit owing to the clouds above the Tuscan hills opening up and leaving the track practically non-negotiable for the lower cylinder class field. Faubel put in a time of 2’15.309 on the second of only six laps, ahead of Mike di Meglio and World Championship leading duo Lukas Pesek and Gabor Talmacsi. Joey Litjens, Pol Espargaro, Simone Corsi, Michael Ranseder, Dino Lombardi and Italian wild card Simone Sancioni were the only other riders to take part in the session. In the qualifying session for the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, an initiative which gives young riders the opportunity to learn their craft at select European dates of the World Championship, Johann Zarco set the pole position earning time of 2’11.119 to line up alongside Cameron Beaubier, Luis Salom and Lorenzo Savadori for the young guns showdown at the historic Italian circuit. The quartet and the rest of the Red Bull Rookies Cup participants, may have the added challenge of their first wet weather race tomorrow afternoon. The second in what will be an annual selection process was also announced at Mugello, with Harold Bartol confirming that the same procedure as last year would be followed in the search for rising stars. Applicants will have until August 12th to post their entry forms. More, from a press release issued by Konica Minolta Honda: Rain halts progress for the KONICA MINOLTA Honda Team Heavy rain at the legendary circuit of Mugello this afternoon has meant that the KONICA MINOLTA Honda team and their fellow competitors in the MotoGP class could not improve on their Friday morning times. Rain began to fall on the 3.2 mile circuit during the 125cc timed session, just 30 minutes before the MotoGP riders were due to be on track. In the combined morning/afternoon times Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa took top spot, with Carlos Checa the next Honda home in fifth. KONICA MINOLTA Honda’s Shinya Nakano ended up in 14th place, just behind French GP winner Chris Vermeulen and two places ahead of Le Mans pole-sitter Colin Edwards. Gianluca Montiron Team Manager KONICA MINOLTA Honda “This morning our start was not so bad but later the changeable weather conditions finally had a big influence on the day. This morning we started to test new tyres and Shinya’s feeling with the new material has been very positive. Today’s conditions were not ideal so we are not putting too much importance on the final times from today. As the weather conditions were not suitable to evaluate fully our settings and tyres, this work must continue tomorrow. In the coming days the weather is expected to improve, so tomorrow we will have to work hard and do our best to find a good qualifying position for Sunday’s race.” Shinya Nakano Rider, KONICA MINOLTA Honda (35 laps 1′ 52.361″) “This morning we made some changes to the suspension balance and the feeling was pretty good. We had made some adjustments for this afternoon then it rained and we had a minor problem, so I had to wait in the pits while the team worked hard to correct it, then at the end we decided to adjust the set up of the second bike to run it on rain tyres. We need to check the best settings for dry and wet weather if we can, so we all have a busy day ahead tomorrow whatever the weather!” Giulio Bernardelle Technical Director, KONICA MINOLTA Honda “This morning we ran in dry conditions and this afternoon it was full wet with a lot of standing water on the track. This morning was productive, as we used a new rear tyre and the feeling was pretty good. This afternoon with an eye on the weather we decided to prepare one bike for dry and one for wet conditions. Despite Shinya starting with the wet setting bike, the quantity of water on the track meant that we had to make further changes in the pits, so Shinya was forced to stay in the pitbox longer than expected. At the end of the session we tried to adjust the setting of the second bike to the changed conditions of the track as the rain was less intense. Shinya only had time to go out for a few minutes before the chequered flag, but he was able to obtain a remarkable improvement in his performance. Shinya’s feeling with the bike seems to be in an improving phase and this makes us hope for the best for tomorrow when we will have to improve our performance whatever the track conditions are. We will not have problems to race on a wet track but at this time, our main target is to give Michelin as much information as possible to continue improving the performance of their slick tyres.”
