Jerez Testing session
POSITIVE TESTS FOR STONER AND MELANDRI AT JEREZ
The Ducati Marlboro Team concluded their visit to Jerez de
la Frontera on Monday with a day of tests that both Casey
Stoner and Marco Melandri rated as highly positive, despite
the Italian having ended the session early due to a crash.
Melandri was not seriously injured in the crash, escaping
with damage to a nail on his left hand, and was just disappointed
that he didn't get to complete an otherwise satisfactory day
of set-up work that had only just begun to bear fruit.
Casey Stoner was much happier, however, having improved his
feeling with the front and giving himself extra confidence
for the next round of the season, the Grand Prix of Portugal
on April 13th.
Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team), fastest lap
on race tyres - 1'40.588; with qualifying tyres - 1'39.218
(59 laps)
"We've done a few different tests on the setting and
with the tyres and I'm pretty happy with how it's gone. We
tried some different front tyres that gave me a better feeling
than I had in the race yesterday, especially under braking,
so I can say it was a really positive test. It's a bit of
a shame because with just a few small changes to the set-up
we had yesterday the situation has improved a lot and we could
have had a much better race if we'd gone with this in the
first place. The test on qualifying tyres didn't go quite
as well because on the best one I ran wide in one corner and
without that I would have knocked a few tenths off my best
time. It has been the best day we've had at Jerez and it's
left me with a good feeling going to Estoril!".
Marco Melandri (Ducati Marlboro Team), fastest lap
on race tyres - 1'41.396 (32 laps)
"The day started well and we were working with some
success on finding more rear grip when I lost the front and
crashed on the way into the final bend. It happened suddenly
and my hand got trapped underneath the handlebar. I was lucky
not to break any bones in my fingers but it's still really
painful because the nail on my middle finger has ripped in
half. I don't think it will be a problem for Estoril though.
Unfortunately we had to call time on a day that was proving
to be important and positive. We had a few things still to
try, including the tyre that Casey liked. The changes we've
had chance to test have been good and I'm sure we're on the
right track to improve my feeling with the Desmosedici"
31 March unofficial lap times
1. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1'38.679
2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1'39.117
3. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 1'39.218
4. Randy De Puniet (Honda) 1'39.484
5. John Hopkins (Kawasaki) 1'39.569
6. Loris Capirossi (Suzuki) 1'39.747
7. Shinya Nakano (Honda) 1'40.034
8. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1'40.166
9. Nicky Hayden (Honda) 1'40.389
10. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) 1'40.394
11. Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) 1'40.534
12. Alex De Angelis (Honda) 1'41.308
13. Marco Melandri (Ducati) 1'41.396
14. Anthony West (Kawasaki) 1'42.132
15. Toni Elias (Ducati) 1'42.240
16. Sylvain Guintoli (Ducati) 1'42.624
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