Phillip Island tests, Australia: January 13-15
YUKIO AND MAX POSITIVE AFTER PHILLIP ISLAND.
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra riders Yukio Kagayama and
Max Biaggi carried on the development programme of the new
2007 GSX-R1000K7 at Phillip Island and left the Australian
circuit with a lot of data for the team to evaluate. The team
had two different engine specifications to try out and each
had different characteristics, so a lot of analytical work
had to be carried out so that progress can be made next time
out. Max had a very low speed tip-off at MG corner on day
two, but apart from that there were no other falls. At the
end of the three-day test, according to the Pirelli time-keeping,
Yukio finished sixth quickest overall, with Max eighth.
Reigning champion Troy Bayliss (Ducati) surprised everybody
by posting a lap of 1:30.67, smashing the lap record in the
process, on the new Pirelli development tyres.
YUKIO, 97 laps, best lap1’32’’3
“In the three days here, I didn’t crash so I
am very happy about that! This test has been a lot of hard
work and we have had many things to try on the new 2007 bike.
But we have done a lot of very useful work, even if the lap
times were not as good as maybe we were expecting. I cannot
stress how much work we have all done during these three days
and we have gathered a lot of very useful information. We
will analyse this back in the workshop and then work on the
next stage at the next test. Phillip Island is always a good
track for testing because of the variety and I hope the next
test will move us forward some more and we can be ready for
the first race in Qatar.
MAX, 108 laps, best lap 1’32’’4
Phillip Island has been very interesting and we have had
to do a lot of work here to understand this new bike. We did
a couple of long runs, but the results were not so good because
the bike was vibrating a bit and that affected the overall
times. Also the track was quite a bit hotter on the final
day and when that happens normally we don’t go so quick.
I tried two different engine specifications and got on better
with the Japanese spec one. For me it just felt more comfortable
to ride and it was a good engine package. The team now has
a lot of information and data to work with and the results
of this we’ll try at our next test. Hopefully, the good
work we have done in Australia will pay dividends next time
out.
Overall (Pirelli) best times (3-day)
1 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1’30’’7, 2 Lanzi
(I-Ducati) 1:31”2, 3 Toseland (GB-Honda) 1’31’’7,
4 Corser (Aus-Yamaha) 1’32”2, 5 Laconi (F-Kawasaki)
1’32’’2, 6 YUKIO KAGAYAMA (J-Alstare Suzuki
Corona Extra) 1’32’’3, 7 Nieto (E-Kawasaki)
1’32’’3, 8 MAX BIAGGI (I-Alstare Suzuki
Corona Extra) 1’32’’4. 9 Haga (J-Yamaha)
1’32’’8,10 Rolfo (I-Honda) 1’33’’7
Best 2006 Race lap time: Bayliss 1’32’’402
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