MORE RAIN INTERRUPTS CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM TEST ON ROSSI’S
BIRTHDAY
 Bad
weather again today meant that track time for Yamaha duo Valentino
Rossi and Colin Edwards was severely limited on their last
day of testing in Sepang. The riders were unable to complete
their planned long-runs but Rossi, who turned 27 today, made
the most of the inactivity and celebrated with a large birthday
cake in the team garage. Despite the rain the riders declared
the test valuable and now head back to Europe looking forward
to the final stages of preparation, before the first race
in Jerez on 26th March.
With track conditions patchy throughout the day, times were
slightly slower across the board than yesterday. Rossi and
Edwards only completed 34 and 28 laps respectively, Rossi
setting the second fastest time of 2’02.06 and Edwards
the fourth fastest with a lap of 2’02.33. Loris Capirossi
(Ducati) was quickest in a time of 2’01.92.
The Camel Yamaha Team now return home for a short holiday
before they reconvene at the Montmelo circuit, outside Barcelona,
for the Official MotoGP Tests on 3rd, 4th and 5th March.
VALENTINO ROSSI (2’02.06, 34 Laps)
“27 years is quite a lot and I am definitely getting
old, although most of the time I still feel like I am only
16! Today we couldn’t do much because of the weather
but overall it’s been a very interesting test. I am
especially happy because we have made some good progress to
solve the problem with the vibration. We have some new data
now and we understand better why it’s happening, and
how to finally fix it. We’re not yet at 100% and I think
we can go faster, but I am feeling confident. Before the Jerez
GP we might receive a small improvement for the engine, and
hopefully we will have a bit more power. The test in Barcelona
isn’t so important for us but the final one in Jerez
is very useful, as it’s just a week before the first
race and the conditions will be similar. Now we’re close
to the start of the season and it’s already becoming
clear who the main challengers will be; Melandri and Pedrosa
especially are looking very fast and it also seems like Ducati
are strong. I think it’s going to be a very exciting
year with some wonderful races!”
COLIN EDWARDS (2’02.33, 28 Laps)
“Today was a bit of a wash-out for me! This morning
we only tested a couple of tyres and then it looked like it
might rain, so we decided to get started on our long run.
Unfortunately I only had time for my warm-up and half a lap
before it rained, so that was kind of it for the day! Anyway
it’s been a good test, we’ve learned a lot more
about the bike and we’ve been able to try quite a lot
of new things which seem to make sense. We’re definitely
not chasing our tails anymore and the bike is better than
it was on Tuesday when we started; that’s the most important
thing. In general the new bike is great, pretty much everything
is better than last year and now I am just counting down the
days to the start of the season.”
DAVIDE BRIVIO – CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR
“We have concluded our overseas testing sessions and
now we’re going back to Europe for the final two tests.
The conditions in Barcelona won’t help us so much with
the bike development but anyway we will try to make the most
of it. The important test will be Jerez, which will be the
final opportunity for some key preparation before the first
race. At the moment we still have a small problem to solve
with vibration but apart from that everything is going well.
Now we have to work in cooperation with Michelin to find the
best combination between the new bike and the new tyres, because
both have great potential.”
Unofficial Lap Times:
Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati, 2’01.92
VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Yamaha, 2’02.06
Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki, 2’02.20
COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Yamaha, 2’02.33
John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki, 2’02.34
Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki, 2’02.47
Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati, 2’02.65
Carlos Checa (SPA) Yamaha, 2’02.66
Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda, 2’02.70
Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda, 2’02.86
Makoto Tamada (JPN) Honda, 2’02.87
Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda, 2’03.00
Toni Elias (SPA) Honda, 2’03.64
Alex Hofmann (GER) Ducati, 2’04.18
Kenny Roberts (USA) KR Honda, 2’04.30
Jose Luis Cardoso (SPA) Ducati, 2’04.82
James Ellison (GBR) Yamaha, 2’05.70
Sepang Lap Record: Nicky Hayden (Honda) 2005 – 2’02.993
Sepang Best Lap: Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2005 – 2’01.731
|
