Official Test IRTA – Day 2 Jerez
FOURTH POSITION FOR HOFMANN AT JEREZ, DIFFICULT DAY
FOR BARROS
Alex Barros and Alex Hofmann pushed through a difficult second
day of testing at the Official IRTA test in Jerez, two weeks
before the season opener in Qatar.
The day began with thick fog, and it wasn’t until lunchtime
that it began to burn off and under strong sunshine, the riders
took to the track for the remainder of the afternoon. The
PRAMAC D’ANTIN MotoGP team continued to work on the
general set-up of the Ducati GP7, and by the end of the day
had begun to resolve some of the bike’s issues. Alex
Barros worked steadily on engine controls and suspension work,
and made his fastest lap at 1’41.842, while Alex Hofmann,
solved his problems with a qualifying tires, and had a great
lap good enough for fourth place with a time of 1’40.748.
Alex Barros (1’41.842– 61 Laps): “The
beginning of the day was difficult. I wanted to go faster
so we worked on various engine mapping and tried different
tires looking for the best overall balance of the bike.I didn’t
have such a good feeling today with the tires, because while
the front felt good, we are still looking for solutions for
the rear. Tomorrow we will have a lot of time to work on the
problems of today, and I’m confident that we will have
the same success as in Qatar. For the last day of the test,
I know I will have a good day ”.
 Alex
Hofmann (1’40.748 - 51 Laps): “ Today
we worked well. The race pace was good, and I’m looking
forward to getting it on tomorrow. I should be at 100% and
I know that my team is behind me all the way. This is our
last test before the first race, and I want to show everyone
that we’re ready”.
Fabiano Sterlacchini – Track Engineer for Alex
Barros: “, We concentrated our energy on finding
the optimum balance for the racepace of the bike. We tested
different engine settings in preparation for the first race,
which is our real target ”.
Emanuele Martinelli – Track Engineer for Alex
Hofmann: “Today the weather started out with
really low visibility, but then it got better after we had
lunch at Cerverino’s. We worked a lot to find the right
solution and at the end of the day we tried a soft compound
pre-qualifying tire. Hofmann was able to get a feel for the
different tire right away and he got a good time as a result.
We’re satified with the time, but we must push harder
and continue to work on the bike if we are to find the best
possible set-up for tomorrow.”
Official Times
1° Marco Melandri: 1’40.383
2° Valentino Rossi: 1’40.408
3° Dani Pedrosa: 1’40.581
4° Alex Hofmann: 1’40.748
5° Toni Elias: 1’40.952
17° Alex Barros: 1’41.842
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