CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM TEST – QATAR 06-08/02/06 –
LOSAIL, DAY 3
ANOTHER TEST COMPLETED FOR CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM IN QATAR
The Camel Yamaha Team finished their third day of testing
at the Losail International Circuit with the track to themselves
today, all other teams having begun testing one day earlier
and finished yesterday. Alone on the track, Valentino Rossi
and Colin Edwards were quickly able to complete the remaining
Michelin tyre work they needed to do, before concluding the
test with long runs in the afternoon.
Neither Rossi nor Edwards improved on their times from yesterday
of 1’56.53 and 1’56.81 respectively, and these
remain the fastest times from the three days of testing. However
both riders still lapped under lap record pace today, Rossi
setting a best time of 1’56.78 after 49 laps and Edwards
1’57.07 from 57 laps.
The Yamaha riders and team members now have a five day break
before they rejoin the rest of the MotoGP paddock for the
final ‘winter’ test in Sepang, Malaysia on 14th,
15th and 16th February.
VALENTINO ROSSI (1’56.78, 49 Laps)
“Today was not quite as good as the last two days,
mainly because the condition of the track was slightly worse
and we didn’t have such good grip. I think that last
night there was a lot of wind and with only two bikes on the
track today it wasn’t enough to clean the surface properly.
Anyway we continued to work, did our long run and found out
some more information about the new M1 in different conditions.
We have some vibrations and our top priority now is to find
a way to fix this; I hope we can do that in Sepang. Anyway,
in general this has been a good test and we have made some
more improvements. The times have been quite good and we’ve
done some important work with Michelin. Now I go home for
a few days to rest before we start again in Sepang next week.”
COLIN EDWARDS (1’57.07, 57 Laps)
“Overall I am really happy with this test and I am
looking forward to the season ahead. I am especially pleased
with the setting of the bike, which we seem to be improving
all the time. Both Yamaha and Michelin have worked really
hard over the winter and, together with the new tyres, we’ve
got a really good package. My long run was not bad this afternoon
and the encouraging thing was that my times were consistent,
even later on as the tyres started to go off slightly in the
heat. It’s difficult to compare to last year’s
race since the conditions are so different, but this year’s
Qatar race is only two months away now, so we hope that the
work we’ve done at this test will put us in a good starting
position for that weekend. The general progress of the bike
has been great over just two tests this year so now we will
hopefully be able to keep working like this in Sepang next
week.” DAVIDE BRIVIO – CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR
“It was interesting to come here in very good conditions
and we got some good information which we can work on for
the start of the season. It’s good to now go immediately
to Sepang to check again the settings that we found there
at the first test in January. Sepang is the last really important
test for us before the start of the season.”
Unofficial Lap Times: VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA)
Yamaha, 1’56.78 COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Yamaha, 1’57.07
Qatar Lap Record: 1’57.903 (Nicky
Hayden, Honda, 2005) Qatar Best Lap: 1’56.917 (Loris
Capirossi, Ducati, 2005)
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