Nakano 7eme aux premiers essais

[FracK]

The 2005 season opened at Jerez today with Kawasaki factory riders, Shinya Nakano and Alex Hofmann, both performing impressively in the two free practice sessions.

Sunday's Spanish Grand prix will be the first of 17 races in the 2005 MotoGP season.

Japanese ace Nakano set the seventh fastest time, just 0.6s off the quickest lap recorded by Sete Gibernau. In preparation for tomorrow's single, one hour qualifying session for grid positions, Nakano tried a soft qualifying tyre on his final lap.

Nakano's Ninja ZX-RR teammate Hofmann was 11th on the time sheets, and the 24 year-old German was delighted with his efforts after two hours of free practice.

Hofmann, now allocated two ZX-RR machines fitted with Kawasaki's big-bang firing order motor, concentrated solely on race set-up and was not tempted to try for a faster lap on a qualifying tyre.

Kawasaki's tyre partner Bridgestone has supplied three new race tyres for evaluation at Jerez, and today's tests indicated improved overall consistency and grip.

The tyres have the same compound as at the recent Jerez IRTA tests, but with slightly stiffer case construction.

The four ZX-RR machines allocated to Nakano and Hofmann are in the same mechanical trim as the recent IRTA tests at Barcelona and Jerez. Kawasaki technical director Ichiro Yoda said today that the next stage of development of the 990cc, in-line motor will be tested at Jerez on Monday, although no decision has been made on when it will be raced.

Conditions today were cool and heavily overcast, with a maximum track temperature of just 27 degrees, while the air temperature hovered at 19 degrees.

Under the new 2005 qualifying format the grid for the Spanish GP will be decided only in tomorrow afternoon's one hour qualifying session.

The weather forecast is for fine and sunny conditions, with a predicted maximum temperature of 20 degrees.

Shinya Nakano: #56 - 23 laps (1'41.424)
"On my final lap I tried a qualifying tyre to prepare for tomorrow's session, but there really wasn't much difference in time compared to the race tyre. But today was all about race set-up and trying the new Bridgestone tyres, which are an improvement, although I need to look at the set-up to improve traction at the rear. Overall I'm happy to be in the top ten."

Alex Hofmann: #66 - 25 laps (1'41.829)
"Today was a lot of fun and I feel much fresher now we are at the first race and being out on the track at the same time with all the other riders. Bridgestone have made a step forward with some new race tyres, I did a very consistent 12 lap run and I did not use a soft qualifier. We improved the overall chassis balance compared to the test here and, as both of today's sessions were free practice, I just worked on getting ready for the race."

Ichiro Yoda: Technical Director
"The new Bridgestone race tyres have a slightly stiffer construction and are an improvement from the Jerez test two weeks ago. With today's conditions the track had less grip than the test here two weeks ago, so we had a lot of set-up work to do, including adjustments to the engine control system. The engine braking system is performing better, but is still not perfect. However, we have some new parts that we will test at Jerez on Monday as part our next development stage."

FREE PRACTICE - FINAL TIMES
1. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Movistar Honda MotoGP 1'40.801;
2. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda +0.093;
3. John Hopkins (USA) Team Suzuki MotoGP +0.133;
4. Marco Melandri (ITA) Movistar Honda MotoGP +0.411; 5. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Gauloises Yamaha Team +0.417;
6. Max Biaggi (ITA) Repsol Honda +0.623;
7. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team +0.623;
8. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team +0.857;
9. Colin Edwards (USA) Gauloises Yamaha Team +0.899;
10. Alex Barros (BRA) Camel Honda +0.927;
11. Alex Hofmann (GER) Kawasaki Racing Team +1.028;
12. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda +1.122;
13. Troy Bayliss (AUS) Camel Honda +1.320