CAPIROSSI AND STONER ON THE PACE IN FINAL DAY OF TESTING
IN MALAYSIA
 The
third and final day of testing in Malaysia came to a close
today in stifling heat, with Loris Capirossi successfully
completing set-up work on his Desmosedici GP7, both on an
engine and suspension level and with the tyres. Loris in fact
completed an eleven-lap race simulation at an excellent pace,
similar to his record time set last year. The Italian ace
recorded his quickest time on race tyres, 2m02.146s, on the
final lap of his long run, a performance that gave great satisfaction
to himself, the Ducati team and to Bridgestone. Like most
of his colleagues, Loris then bolted on a qualifying tyre
to set the third quickest time of the day.
Casey Stoner opted not to fit the softer tyres but despite
still suffering slightly from arm cramp and taking more time
than his Italian team-mate to find the right set-up, he recorded
a good time on race tyres to positively conclude the three-day
session at Sepang. The young Australian is now looking forward
to the next tests at his home circuit where he expects to
make further progress.
The Ducati MotoGP Team will continue pre-season testing next
week in Australia at the Phillip Island circuit from January
30th to February 1st.
Loris Capirossi (61 laps – Qualifying tyre:
2m01.274s, Race tyre: 2m02.146s)
“I am really pleased with the work we’ve done
over the last three days. We have made a big improvement and
are now competitive. The fact that I set my best time on race
tyres at the end of a long-run of 11 laps means that both
the bike and the tyres also go well on this circuit. For the
first time we used qualifying tyres with the 800 and I am
quite satisfied with my time. We can see that the GP7 needs
different qualifying tyres than the 1000 because you are leaning
over longer in the corners and this puts more stress on the
soft tyre. Now the Bridgestone guys have got a lot of data
to work with and I am sure they will do a good job. We are
going to Australia in a confident mood and I can’t wait
to lap on one of my favourite tracks”.
Casey Stoner (53 laps - Race: 2m02.407s)
“It was a tough day today. We struggled a bit to find
the right set-up but got there in the end! We changed the
settings a lot and half-way through the day I was a bit confused
because we couldn’t find the right solution, but the
team was great and in the end we solved the problems and found
the right direction. Thanks again to the guys from the Clinica
Mobile: with their treatment I was able to lap without too
much discomfort in my arms. I just felt a bit of pain during
my last exit but without them I couldn’t have got through
the day! Now we’re off back home and I can’t wait
to test the GP7 at Phillip Island!”.
Livio Suppo (MotoGP Project Director)
"We are very pleased with the way these tests went.
Everyone did a great job and we are competitive. Special thanks
go to Shell, with whom we are working very closely to perfect
the fuels and lubricants and improve the efficiency of the
engine, which is fundamental in reducing fuel consumption.
Today we were able to maintain an excellent pace with the
bike always in race trim. It’s a great result for the
start of the 800cc’s development curve and it’s
all come about thanks to the work of our engineers and Shell’s
experience in racing. Bridgestone are also doing an excellent
job and we can only be happy with this start to the season”.
Sepang lap record : Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2006, 2m02.127s
Sepang pole record : Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2006, 2m00.605s
Temperature: air 34° / track 53° C
Day 3 – Unofficial times: Rossi 2m00.936s,
Hopkins 2m01.026s, Capirossi 2m01.274s, Pedrosa 2m01.664s,
Vermeulen 2m01.691s, De Puniet 2m01.878s, Hayden 2m01.884s,
Edwards 2m02.266s, Stoner 2m02.407s, Melandri 2m02.489s, Checa
2m02.583s, Barros 2m02.630s, Elias 2m02.927s, Hofmann 2m03.040s,
Nakano 2m03.077s, Tamada 2m03.308s, Roberts Jr 2m03.330s,
Jacque 2m03.592s, Ito 2m03.790s,
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