DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM MEN AT WORK DOWN UNDER.
Loris Capirossi returns to the track where he had a spectacular
crash in 2005 while Sete Gibernau continues his familiarisation
with the new Desmosedici at Phillip Island.
Phillip Island (Australia), Tuesday 31 January 2006 - Five
days after the end of the first 2006 test session at the Sepang
circuit in Malaysia, the Ducati Marlboro Team has now moved
to the spectacular Phillip Island track in Australia for its
next test.
Sete Gibernau completed his first laps at the Australian circuit
with the new Desmosedici, while Loris Capirossi returned to
the track for the first time since last October, when his
spectacular crash in Australian GP free practice forced him
to miss the next two races. The weather was cloudy in the
morning but the skies cleared up in the afternoon and the
entire day was characterized by the typical blustery conditions
of the island circuit.
Gibernau focussed mainly on chassis and tyre set-up for his
Desmosedici and after reaching a satisfactory feeling the
Spanish rider is now searching for the right set-up to enable
him to lap constantly at a quick pace.
Sete Gibernau (71 laps), best time 1m31.27s
"Today was dedicated mainly to tyre and chassis settings.
On this track the engine braking is very important and it
has to have different characteristics for the long fast curves
and the Honda hairpin. We must make the most of the remaining
two days to find a good compromise that will allow us to put
in a continuous sequence of quick laps. Bridgestone also has
a full programme of work that includes testing new tyres tomorrow".
Loris Capirossi also put in a lot of laps on a circuit that
he particularly likes, despite the memories of his crash last
October.
Loris Capirossi (74 laps), best time 1m31.60s
"Today we did a lot of work on the set-up of my Desmosedici
GP6 and with the new tyres that Bridgestone brought along:
things are going quite well, but we're still missing something
that prevents me from going as quick as I would like. For
sure, this circuit has completely different characteristics
to Sepang, where we were last week and where we have always
been at the top of the timesheets. However we still have two
more days work ahead of us, and we'll use them to find the
best possible set-up".
The Ducati Marlboro Team will continue development work on
the new Desmosedici bike and the tyres at the Phillip Island
circuit for two more days.
Temperature: air 21° min./28° C max. - track 26°
min./36° C max.
Unofficial Times: 1) Marco Melandri (Honda),
1m30.79s; 2) Nicky Hayden (Honda), 1m30.99s; 3) Casey Stoner
(Honda), 1m31.07s; 4) Sete Gibernau (Ducati), 1m31.27s; 5)
Dani Pedrosa (Honda), 1m31.45s; 6) Kenny Roberts Jr. (KR),
1m31.50s ; 7) Loris Capirossi (Ducati), 1m31.60s ; 8) Shinya
Nakano (Kawasaki), 1m31.86s; 9) Toni Elias (Honda), 1m32.23s;
10) Makoto Tamada (Honda), 1m32.40s; 11) Randy De Puniet (Kawasaki)1m32.49s;
11) Josè Luis Cardoso (Ducati), 1m32.78s; 12) Alex
Hoffman (Ducati), 1m32.90s.
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