RAIN SPOILS THE LAST DAY OF TESTING AT SEPANG
 The
final day of the three-day MotoGP test held at Sepang, Malaysia
was characterized by rapidly changing weather conditions that
hindered the Honda MotoGP riders to carry out their programme
of work scheduled for today.
The morning session was virtually abandoned by most riders
due to the half wet - half dry track conditions but a heavy
down pour at lunchtime saw several riders take to the track
testing Michelin wet weather tyres.
The test was positive for Marco Melandri who tested some
wet tyres for Michelin.
The changing weather conditions hindered Tonis Elias to improve
his lap time but he was happy of his debut with the RC211V
on wet.
All in all, the test was very positive for him: he has grown
consistently, showing that he is adapting well to the new
bike.
MARCO MELANDRI (56 laps, 2’02”82):
"Not so bad, even if we could not test much in the wet,
or dry conditions either. I was supposed to run a race simulation
and try four different tyres but the rain prevented that.
It was the same with the wet tyres. I had two tyres to test
but only managed to test one because the track dried out too
quickly. These three days of testing were very important:
I found a good rhythm all week and I improved my performance
over that in the race here. The test was very positive for
me and the team and I will now wait for the new bike to arrive
in January."
TONI ELIAS ( 50 laps, 2’03”98):
"Not so bad with the wet tyres today but I need to have
more experience with this bike before I can be really fast
in the wet. I didn't try too hard when the track was drying.
The half wet - half dry track is not good for testing. Really
all we did was test tyres today but it was good because we
have found the direction we have to work in at the next tests.
The test was positive, the bike is very good and I'm gaining
confidence but I'm not where I need to be yet."
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