BACK TO WORK FOR KAWASAKI IN SEPANG
The Kawasaki Racing Team's John Hopkins and Anthony West
finally got their 2008 MotoGP campaign underway today, during
the first of three days of testing at the Sepang circuit in
Malaysia.
After almost seven weeks off the bike, both Hopkins and West
used this opening day of testing to get themselves back up
to speed aboard their 2008 Ninja ZX-RR machines. Recalibrating
the brain to MotoGP speed is always a difficult process, but
an inconsistent track surface with varying degrees of grip
made the job even more challenging for both riders today.
Hopkins quickly mastered the tricky conditions, increasing
his pace with every run, but his teammate joined a list of
unfortunates, including Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi,
who were caught out by the inconsistencies in the track surface.
On his last run of the day West lost the front going into
the final hairpin, bringing his first day of testing to a
premature end after crashing without injury.
Despite this being an acclimatisation day for the riders,
both were able to start the evaluation process on new chassis
and clutch components on their Ninja ZX-RR machines. This
test and evaluation program will continue in earnest tomorrow,
when Hopkins and West return for an intensive second day of
testing, which will include a comprehensive tyre evaluation
in conjunction with Bridgestone.
But while the workload promises to be punishing, the two
regular race pilots will receive some welcome assistance from
Kawasaki test and development riders, Olivier Jacque and Tamaki
Serizawa, both of whom also completed a full schedule of testing
today.
John Hopkins
68 Laps - Best Lap 2'02.628
"Today was all about getting back up to speed on the
bike after such a long layoff, but still we managed to test
some new chassis and engine components, with positive results.
Overall the bike feels improved over the bike I last rode
in Jerez back in November, but we will only get to see the
full potential of the new parts once we start the fine-tuning
process over the next two days. Tomorrow we start tyre testing
with Bridgestone, but we'll also continue working to improve
the set-up of the bike, before switching back to focus on
this completely during the final day here in Sepang. It's
been a good start today, but tomorrow the real work begins."
Anthony West
56 Laps - Best Lap 2'03.387
"The first day back on the bike after a long break is
always a bit of an experience. You feel like you're really
motoring, only to come back to the pit box and find out that
you're way off race pace. But it all comes back quite quickly,
and I managed to improve my times with every run today. Unfortunately
my day ended slightly earlier than was planned, after I lost
the front at the hairpin. I turned in at the same speed as
on my previous laps, but I think my line was a little bit
different and I hit a bump as a result. Anyway, the front
tucked under and down I went, luckily without injury. Despite
the crash it's good to finally get the season underway, and
I'm looking forward to getting back on the bike tomorrow."
Naoya Kaneko
Kawasaki Technical Manager
"It was a steady start today, but already we've had positive
feedback from all four riders on the changes we've made to
the bike for 2008. The real work starts tomorrow when we start
the process of refining the set-up of the bike, and working
our way through a pretty heavy tyre testing schedule with
Bridgestone. Running four riders during a test like this puts
the team under some pressure, but the amount of data we collect
definitely makes it worthwhile, as it allows us to accelerate
our development process."
1. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Honda LCR 2'01.377; 2. Dani Pedrosa
(SPA) Repsol Honda Team +0.487; 3. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla
Suzuki MotoGP +0.697; 4. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki
MotoGP +1.039; 5. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team
+1.080; 6. Valentino Rossi (46) Fiat Yamaha +1.113; 7. Colin
Edwards (USA) Yamaha Tech 3 +1.172; 8. Nicky Hayden (USA)
Repsol Honda Team +1.181; 9. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha
+1.186; 10. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda Gresini +1.245; 11.
John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing Team +1.251; 12. Andrea
Dovizioso (ITA) JIR Team Scott +1.406; 15. Anthony West (AUS)
Kawasaki Racing Team +2.010
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