FROM THE SNOWS OF CAMPIGLIO TO THE TORRID HEAT OF SEPANG,
THE DESMOSEDICI GP7 IS BACK ON TRACK
After the end of the obligatory winter testing ban and the
traditional presentation of the Ducati MotoGP Team on the
snows of Madonna di Campiglio, Loris Capirossi and his new
team-mate Casey Stoner took to the track today for the first
time in 2007, the first year of the new 800cc MotoGP technical
regulations, at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia.
The three-day test, which sees the participation of all the
top MotoGP teams, is one of the most interesting appointments
of the start of the season because it is the first time riders
and teams have taken to the track in almost two months and
because it allows them to test in similar conditions, albeit
with much higher temperatures and humidity, to what they will
encounter in the races.
The repeated showers over the last few days and the expected
rain for today led the Ducati MotoGP Team riders to test non-stop
from ten in the morning to around 4.30 pm in the afternoon.
In the end the rain failed to materialize but Capirossi and
Stoner concluded their first day of testing more than one
hour before the scheduled track closure as they had already
completed the required preparatory work in setting up the
Desmosedici for the next two testing days.
Loris Capirossi (41 laps – 2m03.537s)
”It was not bad for the first day of testing after
a break of over six weeks” commented Loris Capirossi
after his first contact with the track. “We’ve
still got a few problems in the general set-up of the bike
but it’s normal at this stage of the year. We are here
for this reason and for sure we’ve got a lot of margin
for improvement. Today we tested a few things that worked
and we put aside some other solutions as we have organised
the work for the next couple of days. We have opted to test
a few more things tomorrow and I think we can improve a lot.
I’m also very confident about the performance of the
tyres because even though we haven’t yet begun to test
with the new ones, the ones we have used today already perform
really well”.
Casey Stoner (55 laps – 2m03.940s)
”I am very pleased with the way things have gone today”
declared Casey Stoner, who tested the Italian machine for
the third time. “We have made a lot of progress since
the Jerez test even though we still have to improve some of
the characteristics of the engine. I am really pleased with
the tyres: the front is already perfect, the rear is good
and for sure we can improve. However my best time was set
with a rear that had already done an entire race distance
and that’s a good sign! The team is working really well
and I already feel part of the family!”.
Sepang lap record: Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2006, 2’02.127
Sepang pole record: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2006, 2’00.605
Temperatures: air 36° / track 50° C
DAY 1 – unofficial times: Hopkins
(Suzuki), 2'02.277, Vermeulen (Suzuki), 2'03.049, Rossi (Yamaha),
2'03.184, Edwards (Yamaha), 2'03.337, Hayden (Honda), 2'03.413,
Capirossi (Ducati), 2'03.537, De Puniet (Kawasaki), 2'03.542,
Pedrosa (Honda), 2'03.620, Tamada (Yamaha), 2'03.785, Stoner
(Ducati), 2'03.944, Hoffman (Ducati), 2'04.003, Barros (Ducati),
2'04.011, Roberts (KRV), 2'04.088, Checa (Honda), 2'04.101,
Nakano (Kawasaki), 2'04.138, Melandri (Honda), 2'04.270, Ito
(Ducati), 2'04.641, Elias (Honda), 2'04.710.
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