Les essais reprennent a Sepang

[theophil]

MOTOGP News Thursday, 16th February 2006

New Kawasaki 'very competitive' - Nakano second.

Rain may have disrupted the final overseas test at Malaysia's Sepang circuit, but that didn't stop Kawasaki's Shinya Nakano topping the day two timesheets on his way to an excellent second overall.

Nakano spent day one working on the set-up of the all-new Ninja ZX-RR, before starting the evaluation process on a number of different engine settings and components, developed by Kawasaki engineers in Japan to improve both top end power and driveability of the 990cc, inline four-cylinder motor.

The set-up work paid off on day two, when Nakano set the fastest time of the day - a 2mins 1.8secs - using settings that allowed more over rev from his engine. That lap time would also place the Japanese second on the overall test timesheets - just 0.14secs from Fortuna Honda's Marco Melandri - after the third and final day.

That final day was severely disrupted by rain, limiting Nakano to only 31 dry laps, but he was still able to complete his planned Bridgestone tyre tests, with more positive results: Shinya was third fastest, 0.28secs from day three pace setter Loris Capirossi and just 0.14secs from world champion Valentino Rossi, with a 2mins 2.2secs lap.

"The first day was all about setting the bike up with the new engine components, so we didn't really get a chance to put in any fast laps," confirmed Nakano. "On the second day we switched to an engine setting that allowed more over rev and this made the bike a lot easier to ride, allowing me to set the fastest time of the day.

"The rain during the last two days of the test limited the number of laps we've been able to complete, but despite this we still managed to complete our engine and tyre test programme. The three overseas tests have been very positive for Kawasaki, and now I'm looking forward to travelling to Europe for the IRTA tests at Catalunya and Jerez," he added.

Team manager Harald Eckl was also impressed - hailing the new ZX-RR as "very competitive" and a major boost to the morale of team green.

"I'm happy with what Shinya and Randy (de Puniet) have achieved during this test, especially Shinya posting the fastest time of the day yesterday," said the German. "What this year's overseas tests have proved is that the new Ninja ZX-RR is a very competitive package. We have closed the gap on the front-runners compared to previous years, and this is a big motivation factor for the Kawasaki development engineers, the riders and our team."


Nakano's rookie team-mate de Puniet had also spent the first day refining the set-up of his machine, as well as testing a number of new rear tyres. The French rider, who celebrated his 25th birthday on Tuesday, also managed to improve significantly on his lap time from the previous Sepang test - ending the outing with the ninth fastest time - and now heads for the IRTA tests at Catalunya and Jerez confident of further improvements.

"Again, this was a very good test for both me and the team," declared de Puniet, whose best lap was a 2mins 2.37secs. "We have worked through a number of different set-ups, as well as testing a lot of new tyres from Bridgestone, and I feel a lot more comfortable on the bike now. But the real measure is lap times, and I'm happy to say that I managed to improve my lap time compared to the last test here in January. So, this test has been very positive for us, and we head to Europe and the IRTA tests with a good feeling about the bike and the tyres."

The annual IRTA tests will take place at Catalunya from 3 to 5 March, and at Jerez from 10 to 12 March, with the first race of the 2006 season scheduled for 26 March, again at Jerez.

[FuryShoei]

Ce sont des chronos qui me plaisent beaucoup !!!
Ducat', Yam', Kawa et Suzuk' devant les Honda !!! On croit rêver !!!!
Par contre Ellison ne décolle pas !!!

[ddjedje]

cool, il est sur la bonne voix

[toons]

Je suis la première etonné du chrono de checa,
Mais c’est sans compter que quand même dunlop s’est pas Kleber,
Jeremy ferguson (manager compétition ) a tenu des propos intéressant dans mj en soulevant que quand même on n’as pas le recul pour savoir comment irait les dunlop avec un top pilote, la question a laquelle il n’ont pas de réponse s’est comment se comporterait les dunlop aux mains de rossi ou de melandri, ils ont jamais en motogp travaillé avec des pilotes de pointe (ils sont donc heureux déjà de bosser avec checa et hoffman deux pilotes rapides et expérimentés.
Il a rappelé aussi qu’ils était champion sbk angleterre devant les honda hrc en michelin,
Je pense que leurs interrogations sont surtout sur la distance à tenir un gp, comme bridg a un moment donné,
Ils a sont d’accord aussi avec michelin que les courses sur une marque unique rapporte rien, a part acheter un titre mondial.

Voilà a part nous il ne sont peut être pas surpris d’être a ce rythme au mains de carlos.

toons

[chrisgaz]

c est vrai que dunlop font de bons pneu en SBK (angleterre), et pour les machines de routes, perso, je les prefere a tous les autres... mais en motoGP, ils n ont pas eu de top pilote coome tu le dis toons... et de voir checa qui se mele au top 10, ils doivent etre content de voir que leur pneus leurs permet ca, c est vraiment cool pour checa, et c est super pour le team tech3, s ils peuvent etre dans le top 10 regulierement, ils pourront envisager l année 2007 beucoup plus serenement....

[theophil]

Résumé des meilleurs temps mixés des 3 jours :

Unofficial compilation of best MotoGP testing times from Sepang Feb. 14-16, 2006:

1. Marco Melandri (Honda) 2:01.65 (Day One) Michelin
2. Shinya Nakano (Kawsaki) 2:01.80 (Day Two) Bridgestone
3. Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2:01.87 (Day Two) Bridgestone
4. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 2:01.89 (Day One) Michelin
4. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2:01.89 (Day Two) Michelin
6. John Hopkins (Suzuki) 2:01.90 (Day Two) Bridgestone
7. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 2:02.00 (Day One) Michelin
8. Carlos Checa (Yamaha) 2:02.06 (Day Two) Dunlop
9. Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki) 2:02.37 (Day Two) Bridgestone
10. Makoto Tamada (Honda) 2:02.56 (Day Two) Michelin
11. Toni Elias (Honda) 2:02.62 (Day Two) Michelin
12. Sete Gibernau (Ducati) 2:02.65 (Day Three) Bridgestone
13. Nicky Hayden (Honda) 2:02.86 (Day One and Day Three) Michelin
14. Kenny Lee Roberts (KR-Honda) 2:02.95 (Day Two) Michelin
15. Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) 2:03.10 (Day Three) Bridgestone
16. Casey Stoner (Honda) 2:03.40 (Day One) Michelin
17. Alex Hofmann (Ducati) 2:04.18 (Day Three) Dunlop
18. Jose Luis Cardoso (Ducati) 2:04.65 (Day Two) Dunlop
19. James Ellison (Yamaha) 2:05.08 (Day Two) Dunlop

[FuryShoei]

Merci theophil.