DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM WRAPS UP TESTING IN QATAR
Capirossi and Checa prepare for forthcoming IRTA tests with
an improvement in lap times and satisfaction for the work
carried out in collaboration with Bridgestone.
 Doha
(Qatar), 3 March 2005 - The Ducati Marlboro Team concluded
the third and final day of testing at the Losail circuit in
Qatar, the fourth scheduled test for the development of the
Bridgestone-shod Ducati Desmosedici GP5.
Loris Capirossi and Carlos Checa made the best of today's
final session, which took place in perfect weather conditions
(28° air/33-50° track) on a surface that gradually
improved over the three days.
The Qatar circuit is particularly tough on the front tyre,
so both riders concentrated on getting the best performance
from the bike exclusively in a race configuration.
Ducati Marlboro Team engineers also managed to identify several
promising set-up and tyre solutions, which clearly have to
be developed in the next scheduled tests before the start
of the championship.
Loris Capirossi succeeded in improving on yesterday's performance,
and the Italian recorded a best time of 1m57.320s in his 54
laps.
"I am quite pleased with the work we have done over the
past three days. We're still not 100% right with the front
but we are on the right path" commented Capirossi. "The
GP5 is also going really well on this track and I am sure
that the tyres will show further improvement before we come
here to race in October. I didn't want to use a qualifying
tyre because we concentrated on development work that was
far too important to be distracted by the search for sensational
times: we are working calmly, there will be time for that
in the future".
Team-mate Carlos Checa was just a fraction of a second behind
Loris, the Spanish rider recording a best time of 1m57.350s
in his 60 laps.
"We got through a lot of work today: it wasn't easy and
I think that everyone should be pleased with the results obtained"
declared Checa. "We improved a lot since the first day
but what is really good is the constant progress that we made:
it means that we worked well on a track that last year didn't
give much satisfaction either to Bridgestone or to the Ducati
Marlboro Team. We are improving all the time and this test
puts me in a good frame of mind for the future".
With the start of the 2005 MotoGP championship just around
the corner, the development of the Desmosedici GP5 is continuing
in parallel with the promising partnership with the Japanese
tyre constructor.
The Ducati Marlboro Team's next testing appointments
are as follows:
March 18-20, Barcellona - IRTA Test
March 25-27, Jerez de la Frontera, IRTA Test
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