Essai motogp A jerez 28/29/30 novembre

[theophil]

impressions des pilotes :

Loris Capirossi completed 49 laps, setting a quickest time of 1m41.492s.

"It was quite a positive day today. We still need more time to develop the GP7 and adapt it better to my riding style. I still can't get it to do what I like but the base is good and I am sure that in the month and a half before the next test in Sepang they will get to work back in the factory on the basis of the indications from this test. Today we didn't use any qualifying tyres but instead concentrated on the new rubber that Bridgestone brought along, which proved to be suitable to the characteristics of the 800 and which I liked quite a lot. Now it's time for some hard-earned rest after a fantastic but extremely tough season!"

Casey Stoner did 52 laps of the Jerez track with a best time of 1m41.595s.

"Every day we are gaining more and more experience. There are still a few things to improve but considering the number of tests before the first race in 2007 I think that we will be competitive next year. Today we focussed on the engine to help smooth out the harsh power delivery under acceleration at the rear. We saw a lot of progress throughout the day and I am satisfied with the work that we got through".

Chris Vermeulen:
“Today was the best day weather-wise for us and we got through a lot of stuff. I did over 80 laps and we learnt a lot of things. I did some long tyre runs for Bridgestone and tried many different engine and chassis settings and got some positive outcomes. Personally it is the fastest I have ever been round Jerez and it was great to spend more time on this circuit. We gathered a lot of information here and the guys have a lot to work on during the test ban. They will hopefully be able to prepare an even better bike for us and we’ll come back even stronger in Sepang.”

John Hopkins:
“Once again I’d say it’s been a really good test for Suzuki. I’m pleased with the way things have gone this week. On the last day we’ve made some big improvements to the bike and got through a lot of stuff. We worked hard with Bridgestone and I think we got the maximum out of the tyres and the bike here. We‘ve tested strong at all three tests so far and I can happily say we are – like I’ve said before – in a better position than we ever have been since I’ve been at Suzuki. It looks like it could be a really competitive season for us next year! Now it’s time to go home and put in the hours on the bicycle and the treadmill and get myself ready to race next year!”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“It’s been another great test for Rizla Suzuki MotoGP and a positive end to a good season’s work. The GSV-R800 has performed as well as it did in Valencia and Sepang, and the durability was perfect. Today especially, both guys got through masses of work. Neither rider used qualifying tyres, but if they had I’m sure they would have been at the top of the timesheets. As it is, we were pleased to maintain consistent lap-times and speed and make sure that we have the best basis we could possibly have for when we arrive at Sepang in January to continue the development of the new bike.”


VALENTINO ROSSI (2nd - 1’41.254, 69 laps)

“We had a very good test today; it’s been very productive for us because we were able to check many different things for our new bike. We continued to test tyres with Michelin in order to find the correct direction for their development and we also kept working with the chassis and were able to try some different suspension settings. We’ve got some very good information for the Yamaha engineers and now they will work hard over the winter in order to have everything ready for the next test in January. The weather was good today, warm and sunny and in these conditions it was fun to ride on this track, which is one of my favourites. This has been an important test and I am really pleased with the level that we have got to in a short space of time. Of course we still have a lot of work to do, but now it’s finally the end for this year and it’s time to have a rest so we can come back ready to fight in January!”

COLIN EDWARDS (7th – 1’41.254, 41 Laps)

“I had a small technical problem near the end of the day so I had to stop a little bit early, but other than that it’s been another good day all round. We tested quite a lot more front tyres but honestly the best tyre package we found was what we tried first thing in the morning straight out of the box; that felt pretty good! Other than that we just kept on playing around with the general set-up, trying to learn as much as possible about the new bike. We tried a different chassis today, it’s one Valentino's been testing and it’s definitely the best one so far. We weren’t really looking for times but we ran pretty consistently in the low 41’s all day and I definitely felt like I could have found a bit more if I’d needed to push hard. Overall it’s been a really good test and I am pretty excited about the new bike; we’ve come on in leaps and bounds in just the six days I’ve ridden it. Now I am heading home and looking forward to a nice relaxing Christmas with the family before we get going again in January!”

DAVIDE BRIVIO – CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR

“We’ve been able to do a great job throughout these November tests and everyone has worked very hard. All three tests have been very important for us in order to get as much information as possible for Yamaha to work with over the winter, the engineers have done a good job with the bike and now they will put everything together over the break. In January we will have our final 2007 bikes and then we can start our real preparation for the long season ahead.”

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 1m 39.910s – 94 laps "Today we worked on just about everything again – chassis, engine, suspension and tyres. We began with chassis and engine testing in the morning and then concentrated on testing tyres for Michelin. I used a qualifying tyre to set my fastest lap time and this is good because it’s important to see how a new bike like the RC212V behaves on qualifiers too. Of course there’s still plenty of work to do before the season starts but this was a positive test for us. Now I will relax a little over the winter break, before getting ready for the January tests."

Marco Melandri, Gresini Honda: 1m 40.530s – 76 laps. “The team did a great job today I think they made five changes to the geometry during the day - they hardly stopped to take a snack! For me it was very important to find the base geometry we will use this season once we found a setting I was comfortable with we moved on to suspension testing and then tyres. In the morning OI as not so happy but after lunch we really saw an improvement and we made a big step forward. This is not the bike I will use so I’m looking forward to riding my own RC212V at the Sepang test in January. The HRC engineer and the Bridgestone staff are very close to my team they make me feel important – they want to help me any way they can and this gives me great confidence for the season.”

Shinya Nakano, Konica Minolta Honda: 1m 41.142s – 75 laps. “I am much more confident on the bike today than I was yesterday. Today I spent time working with various gearbox ratio changes to find the best base to work from. When we found that we moved on to suspension work and tyre testing. We had a little front-end chatter early on but fixed that with suspension settings. Overall I must say this test has been very positive. I know we can improve and I have to improve myself. But I go back to Japan for a holiday with my family very pleased that we had a test within this year. The team now have time to work on the machine before we test at Sepang in January.”

Julian Simon, Repsol Honda 250: 1m 44.153s – 68 laps. “My overall impression of the 250 Honda at this test has been very good. I am working with a very experienced team and this gives me motivation. The bike has great potential I rode the 2006 machine to gain experience and it was OK, I like the way the chassis behaves. After I was happy with the 2006 bike I tried the new chassis for a few laps and liked that also. The engine power is so much stronger than the 125 but the only difficulty I had with the increased power was trying to get the bike to hold the fast line in the corners, you have to be more physical with the bike. In general my feeling about the 250 is positive, I like the tyres and my lap time was not so bad. No crashes so everything was good. Now I am looking forward to the next test when I will get more time on the new chassis and test the 2007 engine parts.”

Shuhei Aoyama, Repsol Honda 250: 1m 44.502s – 45 laps. “The new chassis is better than the 2006 model the big difference is the mid-corner performance it feels so much better. Corner entry is slightly better but we are working in the right direction. Now we can move on to testing engine parts at the next test.”

Andrea Dovizioso, Humangest Honda 250: 1m 44.723s - 75 laps. "We worked a lot on the chassis and engine today and I am quite pleased. The new chassis is better in some ways, corner entry and exit but the front feels very light on the exit from the corner. We have to improve my mid-corner speed but I'm sure we can. The other Honda (Aoyama) was better in the middle of the corner. I am not so comfortable on this chassis as I was with the old one so I have to find a better feeling with the bike. I like some of he engine parts we tested here. No big difference in the power but the engine has a lot more revs, it doesn't run into a wall now I can over rev and this helps with the new quick gear shifter we had the whole process is so much smoother. But for me the most important thing was the engine carburetion, this engine is so much better. Last year we had to be very precise on carburetion or we had problems I'm very pleased with the new set up."