From a press release issued by FGSport:

SBK TEAMS GATHER FOR FINAL PRE-SEASON TEST

With the first round of the World Superbike Championship taking place at Valencia on Sunday 29 February, the top SBK entrants arrived in the Spanish circuit of Valencia eager to shine during the last official tests before the start of the 17th SBK season.

Bright and unbroken sunshine, with air and track temperatures of 23°C, offered the 24 Superbike machines on show the ideal start to their final preparations, and once more Regis Laconi (Ducati Fila) made the most of it, setting the fastest first day time of 1:36.608. The Frenchman was suffering the effects of a slight flu and had a crash in the middle of the afternoon session, but he fully expects to increase his advantage on day two of the three-day test.

For new SBK full-time rider Leon Haslam (Renegade Ducati 999RS) the first day of testing was a measurable success, his 50-lap total eventually leading to a second quickest time of 1:36.748. The Englishman’s pace was a boost for the Renegade team, setting out on its first year of full World Superbike competition.

A good day for most of the UK entry had James Toseland in third overall on his factory Ducati Fila machine, while local knowledge allowed Spaniard Sergio Fuertes the chance to secure fourth overall on his MIR Racing Suzuki.

A good start to a new SBK adventure for the Ten Kate Honda team saw Chris Vermeulen, the reigning World Supersport champion, finish his first true day of Superbike testing in fifth place, an excellent result for him and the all-new Honda Fireblade.

Multiple SBK race winner Noriyuki Haga returns to the championship which made him an international star, with the Japanese ending his first day at Valencia sixth on his Renegade Ducati 999R. Steve Martin (DFX Ducati 999RS) went seventh quickest, with top Foggy Petronas rider Troy Corser eighth overall.

The top ten was rounded out by the most experienced Superbiker of all, Pierfrancesco Chili (PSG-1 Ducati 999RS) and Marco Borciani (DFX Ducati 999RS).

Gary McCoy completed his first day of real tests among his peer group in 13th place overall, behind the best Kawasaki ZX-10 rider, Mauro Sanchini in 11th and Chris Walker (Foggy Petronas FP-1) in 12th.

More new entrants to the series, Zongshen Suzuki, fielded their two riders Piergiorgio Bontempi and Warwick Nowland with Bontempi 17th fastest and Nowland 20th.

In World Supersport the circuit best lap was beaten on the very first day by Karl Muggeridge (Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR), who set a new best of 1:37.655 while running on race tyres. In a superb first day for Australian riders Broc Parkes (also Ten Kate Honda) scored second quickest time, while returnee WSS rider Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany YZFR6) was third fastest, 0.6 seconds shy of Muggeridge.

2002 World Champion Fabien Foret (Yamaha Belgarda YZFR6) pushed into the top four, while the top Suzuki rider, Stephane Chambon, slotted the new GSX-R600 into fifth.

Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Fila 749RS) went 14th fastest of the 27 Supersport riders on show, and easily the top Ducati rider.

Testing continues for two further days, with good weather conditions predicted by most long-range forecasts.



More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Motor Italia:

FABIEN FOURTH ON OPENING DAY
Team Yamaha Motor Italia rider Fabien Foret ended the first day of the official Valencia tests with the fourth fastest time, without getting anywhere near the limit. The Frenchman continued his understanding of the 2004 Yamaha YZF-R6 and is happy at the progress he and the team are making.

He had to do all the work himself today as his team mate Jurgen van den Goorbergh is sitting out these tests so that he can be fully fit for the race at the end of the month. His left wrist is a little sore from the crash he suffered just over a week ago and he and the team decided that he would better off giving his injuries time to heal properly. The fastest time of the day was set by Aussie Karl Muggeridge (Honda) who posted a time of 1:37.655 in the morning session.

FABIEN FORET – 4th, 1:39.078
“I didn’t have such a good feeling with my bike today and so I didn’t want to push too hard and maybe crash. I made 54 laps today and I’m pretty happy about how it went. We need to work more on the bike’s set-up and once I am confident, I can push much harder. I’m not worried because it is only my fifth day on this bike and I’m learning more about it every time I go out. At the moment it is easy to lose the way a little, so we are concentrating on getting a good set-up first. Tomorrow will be better for sure.”

BAIOCCO CONTINUES HIS GOOD WORK
Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni rider Matteo Baiocco was the fastest Yamaha rider at the last tests one week ago and ended today with the seventh quickest time and was the only rider in the top ten to improve his time in the afternoon session. The 19-year old, former European Champion, has really got to grips with his Lorenzini by Leoni YZF-R6 and has surprised everybody with his performance last week and is definitely one to watch this season.

Day 1 results
1 Muggeridge (Honda) 1:37.655, 2 Parkes (Honda) 1:38.218, 3 Curtain (Yamaha) 1:38.333, 4 FABIEN FORET (TEAM YAMAHA MOTOR ITALIA) 1:389.078, 5 Chambon (Suzuki) 1:39.168, 6 Kellner (Yamaha) 1:39.283, 7 MATTEO BAIOCCO (Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) 1:39.298

From a press release issued by Ducati MotoGP Press:

RIDERS AND TEAM SATISFIED AFTER DAY 1 OF 2004 MOTOGP TESTING

THE 2004 DESMOSEDICI (D16GP4) DEBUTS AT SEPANG

Sepang (Malaysia), 11th February 2004 – After being presented to the international media last week, the 2004 Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici took to the track for the first time today on day 1 of a three-day session at the Sepang circuit, Malaysia.

Troy Bayliss and Loris Capirossi were in action today for the first time in two months in the first real test session of what promises to be a hard-fought and exciting season. The two Ducati Marlboro Team riders got to grips with the 2004-spec bikes at the circuit where the Italian machines had struggled slightly in last October’s Malaysian GP.

The first day of testing saw riders and engineers obtain a clear idea of the latest modifications made to the beautiful new Desmosedici D16GP4 in view of the first round of the MotoGP championship scheduled for 18 April at the Welkom Circuit in South Africa.

The day was characterized by the hot and sultry weather (air 28°-34° C/track 33°-58° C) typical of this area, but a light breeze made working conditions easier for riders and team staff, who were satisfied with the day’s work.

Bayliss completed a total of 44 laps, setting a best time of 2:04.208, well over half a second quicker than his last year’s race time (2:04.989). The Australian, who used a 16.5″ front tyre, was satisfied with his performance today: “I went quicker than last year’s race time” he declared, “and that’s a good sign. I’ve already got a good feeling with the bike, even though I’ve had to get used to the smaller 16.5″ tyre again after using a 17″ one for such a long time. Although I always used the smaller tyre in Superbike, the feeling is different. The Desmosedici however is very easy to ride and we’ve got two more days on this track to continue with the set-up work and get the best out of the bike.”

Loris Capirossi also had a positive day, setting a quickest time of 2:03.883 in his 38 laps. This was a good result for the Italian, who also used exclusively the smaller front, and who focussed on set-up work and without pushing hard. “I’m really happy with the bike, which now handles much better, although we’ve still got a lot of work to do” declared Capirossi. “The Desmosedici is still new and we are doing a lot of testing work with the 16.5″ front. To get a better idea of today’s performance, last year we could only manage this time on the final day of the tests, with a soft tyre. The bike now feels good, and is a lot easier to handle and manage than last year’s bike.”

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.”

From a press release issued by Parts Unlimited:

SBS Brakes Out with Road Racing Contingencies:

Scandinavian Brake Systems (SBS) is posting over $180,000 in prize certificates for riders who use SBS products and display SBS stickers in upcoming WERA, CCS and FUSA motorcycle racing series sanctioned races. The top placing racers who profit from SBS braking performance on the track can cash in at dealerships as well. With the SBS Road Racing Contingency Program for authorized events, top finishers will be able to redeem awarded certificates at any Parts Unlimited dealer.

Founded in 1964, Scandinavian Brake Systems is a premier manufacturer of motorcycle and auto components used both on the street and on the racetrack. SBS’s Dual Carbon (DC) and Racing Sintered (RS) brake pads brake pads are top choices in World Superbike, World Supersport and Grand Prix paddocks.

SBS pads have been racetrack tested by top-flight teams at every level, including Team Kawasaki’s MotoGP effort, the PSG-1 and DFX Ducati World Superbike efforts, and the Erion Honda team, Team Kawasaki, Graves Yamaha, and Valvoline Suzuki in American AMA Superbike racing. SBS brakes were used in World Supersport championship winning efforts in four years straight with three different teams-Ten Kate Honda (2002-03 champions), Team Kawasaki (2001 champion), and Team Yamaha Germany (2000 champion).

The SBS Dual Carbon pads feature high thermal stability, with a high coefficient of friction and excellent initial bite. The consistent performance of the pad materials and design requires no bedding-in, and is rotor friendly with low pad wear characteristics. The Sintered pads are suggested for all late-model high-performance sportbikes where stopping quickly is of utmost importance and feature maximum friction inducement and minimum rotor wear from “UCT” or Unified Composite Technology, a process that provides consistent friction fiber blend and composition.

For more information, contact your Parts Unlimited dealer. www.parts-unlimited.com

From a press release issued by Honda Racing Information.

HONDA RACING INFORMATION

Honda MotoGP test Sepang, Malaysia February 11, 2004

Biaggi fastest on opening day of Sepang MotoGP test

Back at the Sepang International Circuit not even a month after their last MotoGP test session at the track, Honda riders began the first of three days testing at what is a packed venue this week. Alexandre Barros was present to take his first ride of the 2004 Repsol Honda, but had to share the track with most of his other MotoGP rivals as he got back into the swing of things since undergoing a shoulder operation in the winter. Besides the factory and satellite teams from Ducati, Yamaha, Aprilia, Suzuki and Kawasaki, six official Honda MotoGP riders took to the track, with Max Biaggi finishing the fastest of all those out there.

As with most of the other Honda riders, Biaggi was riding with a brand new engine and was visibly satisfied with the results, which repeated the efforts he showed here just a couple of weeks ago. Behind him Colin Edwards looked much more comfortable on his RC211V than at the previous test, breaking the two minutes three seconds barrier for the first time. Edwards’ Telefonica MoviStar Honda team-mate Sete Gibernau rode consistently once more.

HRC factory team riders Nicky Hayden and Alex Barros were both happy with their first day on board their upgraded 2004 version of the World Championship winning machine, featuring increased engine power, revised swinging arm and suspension. Hayden working particularly hard grinding out 74 laps on the machine he will start the new season with. Finally, Makoto Tamada, riding in Camel Honda colours for the first time, had a slight crash during the morning which impeded his work for the rest of the day, however the Japanese rider was content with how he felt before the off, and will hope to improve tomorrow.

Max Biaggi – 2:02.693 53 laps

“I’m happy with the day, because we’ve really done some good work, as well as being able to get some good settings with the 16.5-inch front tyre. We had some good settings from before of course, but still have some more work to do on this new engine. The new engine’s much better, it’s new in that it has got no mileage on it, but we still don’t know if it’s enough to be number one yet, we’ll have to see how it develops.”

Colin Edwards – 2:02.939 58 laps

“I’m definitely happier today. The bike feels better with this engine in it, which is new to me. It feels stronger and that’s good for me. Michelin have brought some good stuff here, perhaps they didn’t have what we needed for the front at the last test. Now I’m testing the front for them, and it feels good and I’m getting more comfortable with it. Before the mid-3s were hard for me, now I can do it half-asleep. It was a productive last test for this reason though, the bike and the team is awesome, it’s all a perfect unit.”

Sete Gibernau – 2:03.121 33 laps

“Things went well today again, and I’m happy that we’ve got this new bike going and the engine feels good. I’m doing lots of work for Michelin here, and the good thing is that my consistency is still there. That’s the important thing, I’ve still got rhythm and I’m keeping the race pace. Physically I feel good, and we’ll continue to look at settings for the 16.5 inch front tomorrow.”

Nicky Hayden – 2:03.915 74 laps
“A pretty productive day really. We got through what we wanted to test today – a lotta’ laps in this heat. Engine-wise we’re basically the same as we were last month but chassis-wise we’ve definitely had a couple of things to try.

“The rear end is takin’ some time to get used to – a lil’ bit different feel. We’re sort of startin’ from zero – we need to find some base settings and work out which way to go. It took a lil’ time to get sorted and we’ve definitely made some progress in the right direction. Obviously I’d like the lap time to be better – more of the same tomorrow but faster. Just gotta’ keep grindin’ away.”

Alex Barros – 2:05.980 52 laps
“I was so excited about today I really didn’t sleep much last night. The target is to be 100% ready for the first race in April. At the moment I am still recovering from the shoulder operation and am not fully fit. It was good today because I keep telling myself not to go mad. There are many top Honda people here today and they tell me to take it easy. Don’t panic!

“I haven’t ridden a machine for three months; I really need to make a good ‘warm-up’. All the feelings I have on the bike with reference points are completely different to last year. Even though I rode the RCV in 2002 I can make no real comparison. The whole package seems to have increased. The power – the grip – the turning. Everything is a little bit better.

“I have a great feeling about this season – I have ridden for Honda for eight years – this is my ninth and this is the first time in the number one team. I am working with many people I have known for a long time but we have to build this new team to make a really strong package. It won’t happen overnight but I am very confident we make a good foundation.”

Makoto Tamada – 2:04.072 16 laps

“When I crashed the front tyre pushed a little bit too much, I was going a little quicker than I’d thought really. The new engine feels much better, it has more horsepower and I’m much happier with it. I couldn’t test too much after the crash, but if I’d continued to test I’m sure I could find some more settings to ride this new machine the way I want, to ride it easier and without losing it.”


More, from a press release issued by Camel Honda Racing Information:

Second session of “winter” tests in hot Malaysia.

The second session of private tests in 2004 again took place on the Sepang circuit, in the great Malaysian heat. In terms of the line-up of riders and teams, it was a sort of first Grand Prix of the year. Certainly it was a perfect opportunity for those who had taken part in the January tests in Sepang to confirm the data acquired just short of three weeks ago. Three days of intense work are planned for the Malaysian track and this will be followed, as from 17 February, by another three days of tests at Phillip Island in Australia.

This morning Makoto Tamada got to grips with the RC211V he will be using in the season that is about to begin, though he did go for an innocuous slide that caused him no harm. Getting off to a fast start, Makoto posted his best time right in the early stages of the tests. This second session of pre-championship tests will again be crucial for finding the basic settings with which to start the season. Makoto is indeed concentrating on many details that will enable him to set up the suspension, chassis and engine handling settings.

Makoto Tamada (# 6 – Camel Honda – Bridgestone Tyres)

“I went for my slide on corner 14, the 180° bend that leads into the back straight. The steering closed and I went sliding. My mistake. No harm – except to the bike, unfortunately. I got off to a fast start in the very first laps and I’ve got a great feeling for this increasingly advanced RC211V. Compared with the January tests, I just noted that the power delivery really is immediate, so you need to handle this extraordinary power a bit more delicately. I didn’t do that many laps but we’ll make up for lost time over the next few days.”

Luca Montiron (Team Manager Makoto Tamada – Camel Honda)

“Makoto Tamada is highly motivated and he’s really determined to make a good start this season. He was immediately fast in the opening laps and “christened” the RC211V that had just come in from Japan with a slide. Tamada’s second bike has been made available to Schinichi Itoh so he can carry on developing the new Bridgestone materials. This meant Makoto had to wait a while after his slide before he could get back onto the track, so he ended the day of tests having clocked up only 16 laps. We’ve still got a number of days ahead for testing so we’ll be able to complete the work we’re planning to do.”


Times on first day of tests:
Makoto Tamada: 2:04.072 – 16 Laps
Max Biaggi: 2:02.693 – 52 Laps

From a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

LACONI (DUCATI FILA) LEADS THE WAY IN OFFICIAL WSBK TESTING AT VALENCIA

Valencia (Spain), 11 February 2004: Regis Laconi (Ducati Fila) set the pace on the first day of the official pre-season World Superbike testing session at Valencia today. The 28-year-old Frenchman demonstrated his championship potential with a time of 1:36.53 around the Ricardo Tormo track on the 2004-spec version of the Ducati 999. His British team-mate James Toseland was three-tenths of a second off Laconi’s pace with a time of 1:36.86 as the Ducati Fila riders sandwiched an impressive Leon Haslem on a Renegade Ducati
999RS.

Both Ducati Fila riders continued development work on the 999 Factory ‘04s that will make their debut at the Valencia opening round in two weeks time. Regis Laconi (40 laps) set his quickest time in the morning and then crashed out on oil late in the afternoon but was unhurt. “Apart from the crash, the day wasn’t so bad” declared Laconi. “I set my best time early but in general the first day’s times were slower than last time we were here because it was cold in the morning and then we didn’t do that many laps in the afternoon. Tomorrow things will heat up for sure.”

James Toseland (49 laps) bedded in new forks in the morning as he got to grips with his 999 but then improved to 1:36.86 in the afternoon. “We started off with different fork settings from the ones we used in Phillip Island and I had to get used to that at first, and then we tried a few other things during the day” he commented. “We’re just checking that everything is going well with the new bike, but I feel confident because I know we’re going in the right direction”.


TIMES: 1. Laconi (Ducati Fila) 1:36.53; 2. Haslem (Ducati Renegade) 1:36.74; 3. Toseland (Ducati Fila) 1:36.86; 4. Fuertes (Suzuki) 1:37.27; 5. Vermeulen (Honda) 1:37.37 ; 6. Haga (Ducati Renegade) 1:37.64 ; 7. Martin (DFX Ducati)
1:37.68; 8. Corser (Petronas) 1:37.83; etc.



LANZI AND GUARESCHI HARD AT WORK FOR DUCATI BREIL SUPERSPORT TEAM

Lorenzo Lanzi made further progress today on the Ducati 749R that he will race in this year’s World Supersport Championship, notching up considerable development mileage on the brand-new Factory bike.

22-year-old Lanzi set fourteenth quickest time in 1:39.83, almost a second ahead of Ducati Corse tester Vittoriano Guareschi (1:40.70), who is also present at Valencia to help speed up the 749R’s development curve.

Lanzi and Guareschi focussed on suspension and general set-up work in collaboration with Ohlins technicians and although they were not amongst the front-runners, both riders were able to give major feedback to Ducati Corse engineers that will be useful over the next two days of testing.


More, from a press release issued by Foggy Petronas Racing:

Foggy PETRONAS Racing riders focus on set-up in Spain

Foggy PETRONAS Racing riders Troy Corser and Chris Walker were today provided with an
indication of the task ahead for the new World Superbike championship season.

On the first day of the championship’s three-day official winter test at Valencia, both riders
faced further difficulties in familiarisation with new Pirelli tyres.

Having made progress with tyre construction at the team’s January test in Australia, a chatter
problem re-emerged to become the focus of the team’s efforts throughout the day.

Troy finished the day with a best time of 1:37.805, the eighth fastest time of a full World
Superbike field, while new team-mate Chris was 12th fastest during the day with a time of
1:38.618. Regis Laconi on the factory Ducati set the pace with a best lap of 1:36.608.

Troy said: “The key for me today has been the suspension, and trying to cure the chatter
problem. But we have worked with Ohlins to come up with a different internal rear shock
setting and made progress. On my first lap with this setting I took a second off my best time.
Tomorrow we want to do more work on the front forks.”

Chris said: “It has been frustrating for me, with chatter from the word ‘go’. We were not able
to use the tyres that we found to work best in Australia so, to some extent, we have been
reinventing the wheel today.”

Official WSBK championship test, Valencia, Spain – Day One

1. Regis Laconi (Ducati Fila) 1:36.538
2. Leon Haslam (Renegade Ducati) 1:36.748
3. James Toseland (Ducati Fila) 1:36.860
4. Fuertes (MIR Racing) 1:37.274
5. Chris Vermeulen (Ten Kate Honda) 1:37.377
6. Noriyuki Haga (Renegade Ducati) 1:37.649
7. Steve Martin (DFX Ducati) 1:37.680
8. Troy Corser (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:37.805
9. Pierfranceso Chili (PSG-1 Ducati) 1:37.837
10. Marco Borciani (DFX Ducati) 1:37.867
11. Mauro Sanchini (Kawasaki Bertocchi) 1:38.073
12. Chris Walker (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:38.618
13. Garry McCoy (NCR Ducati) 1:38.756

From a press release issued by Yamaha Factory Racing:

YAMAHA FACTORY RACING TESTS
Sepang, Malaysia

Wednesday, February 11, 2004

Ambient temperature: 33 degrees C
Track temperature: 54 degrees C
Humidity: 70%

YAMAHA MOTOGP TEAMS TEST ALONGSIDE THE COMPETITION IN HUMID MALAYSIA

Yamaha’s MotoGP teams, Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha and Fortuna Gauloises Tech 3, were back in action at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia today for their second pre-season test of 2004. The three-day test sees Yamaha’s new line-up, which includes five-time World Champion Valentino Rossi, sharing the track with a number of other MotoGP squads. With humidity at the Kuala Lumpur circuit as high as 70% it was hard work for all the riders and lap times were generally lower than the previous round of tests at the venue last month.

The fastest man today was Max Biaggi (Honda) who recorded a 2:02.693. Colin Edwards (Honda) just dipped under the 2:03 mark with Sete Gibernau (Honda) and Rossi recording laps of 2:03.1.

The Yamaha riders had a busy day on their respective YZR-M1 machines. Rossi tested a different engine specification and did some chassis and suspension set-up work while team-mate Checa concentrated on suspension settings and also tried some engine changes. In the Tech 3 squad Marco Melandri worked on the electronic systems and fuel injection of his M1 while Norick Abe spent the day fine-tuning his rear suspension.

Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha) 58 laps, 2:03.1
“It’s so hot here! All is quite good but, for sure, we have plenty of work still to do. It has been interesting to get a direct comparison on track with the Hondas and I spent some time out there with Colin Edwards and Max Biaggi. The main points we need to work on are engine characteristics and the front feeling.

“We had an important day today and did many things, mostly on the engine side, and made some good progress. But we are just taking things slowly and not looking at the full limits at this stage. Tomorrow we’ll try another engine spec and some different settings and new tyres.”


Jerry Burgess, Rossi’s Crew Chief (Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha)
“We’re going a bit slower today but we were trying two different engine specs and we’ve had a few teething problems with the settings. We knew this would be the case. We made a lot of progress very quickly in our first test and it’s inevitably going to be a little slower now. We’re very positive about tyres and suspension and I think we’ve got enough time to build and improve on other elements before the start of the season.”

Carlos Checa (Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha) 53 laps, 2:04.5
“It’s been difficult to improve on the lap time I did last time here but I’m not really focused on that. I’m just trying to find a better feeling and reduce the limitations I’ve got with this current set-up. I’ve been using the same tyres from Michelin that we had last time but I’ve got some new ones to test tomorrow. We’ve made a few small engine changes today as well that I’ve had to dial-in.”

Marco Melandri (Fortuna Gauloises Tech 3) 53 laps, 2:05.6
“Today was quite hard work with the heat and jet lag. Physically my shoulder is getting much better but it still gives me some stabbing pains and it’s hard to get right down. We lost a bit of time with settings this morning but were back on track this afternoon and I spent time working with Magneti Marelli on our electronics. We found some real improvement in my last four runs. The handling felt good and the power delivery was good. I’m looking forward to continuing the work tomorrow.”

Norick Abe (Fortuna Gauloises Tech 3) 68 laps, 2:06.03
“I haven’t had a great day. I just concentrated on rear suspension and I really thought I had found something good at the end of the session so I’m disappointed with my lap time. Hopefully we can sort things out tomorrow.”

From a press release:

WERA West Roadracing Announcement

San Juan Capistrano, CA. — WERA West Roadracing series inaugural event on March 13th & 14th at California Speedway will include classes for Supermotard and Mini GP Sportbikes.

David Pyles, WERA West Race Director, says “The great thing about California Speedway is we can easily switch from the 2.3 mile AMA Track configuration to a 1.7 mile Infield Road Course layout that is perfect for Supermotard and Mini GP racers. If the interest is there for these two classes, we will run them at all of our WERA West Roadracing events in 2004. Larry Pointer my partner and myself attended WERA’s first event of the season at Talladega Gran Prix Raceway and came back enthused by the interest in these two classes.”

Larry Pointer added, “In addition to the above two classes, we will host an event for the USGPRU 125 and 250 riders in March as well. Between the WERA riders and USGPRU riders the grids should be full for the spectators to see some very close and exciting racing. The USGPRU events will be 14 lap races for each class. There will be practice and qualifying on Saturday and races on Sunday.

WERA West Roadracing events will all be timed using AMB timing and scoring equipment which will require all riders to have a transponder on their bikes. They are currently for sale at WERA’s cost or can be rented at the track for the weekend. Limited number of rental units are available.

“So far, we are pleased with the number of applications for membership and interest in the series, states David Pyles. We will have key WERA staff members at our first event assuring it will go well. I encourage all interested riders to download the application form from WERA’s web site and get them submitted in advance of our first event.”

All information any rider might need is available at www.wera.com

From a press release:

Super Dave’s Race with Vintage Bikes

Dave Rosno will bring his racing program, Super Dave’s Race Against Childhood Cancer, to the AHRMA Vintage Motorcycle Road Races on March 1st & 2nd at Daytona International Speedway.

Rosno will be riding a Team Hansen Honda 1967 CB450 in 500 Premier and a Jeff Moyer owned Kawasaki H1 triple in Formula Vintage, AHRMA’s open class.

Following several years racing the AMA circuit from 1989 to 1994, “Super” Dave raced vintage motorcycles for various builders, winning three championships and several races. In 2002, riding a Worldmotorcycles.com Honda CR750, Dave convincingly won Formula 750 and Formula Vintage with unofficial lap times in the 2:06 range. That time was apparently the fastest “vintage” times recorded at the Speedway.

Super Dave’s Race Against Childhood Cancer will focus their program on the Formula USA series. The program’s aim is to raise awareness about pediatric cancer and to raise funds for Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer, the MACC Fund.

More information is available at http://www.team-visionsports.com or at (262)594-3883