Rizla Suzuki MotoGP makes forward steps on the final day
in Spain
 Rizla
Suzuki MotoGP has completed the first ‘official’
test of the year by making some important improvements to
the performance of its 2008 machine.
Loris Capirossi (54 laps) and Chris Vermeulen (62 laps) both
recorded their best times whilst conducting a thorough evaluation
of the latest Bridgestone qualifying tyres. Capirossi’s
1’40.442 was good enough to give the Italian 10th place
and team-mate Vermeulen was just behind in 11th with a quickest
time of 1’40.576.
Capirossi and Vermeulen also improved their times throughout
the day on race tyres as the two both worked tirelessly with
their crews to find the best package for the Suzuki GSV-R.
They are still looking for the optimum set-up to get the best
out of their machines, but hope that they have a clear direction
to go in during the next test.
Today’s test was held in windy and overcast conditions
and more than two hours of the test was lost this morning
as the track took time to dry out from earlier rain showers.
The fastest time of the day was set by former World Champion
Nicky Hayden on his factory Honda.
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP now travels to Losail in Qatar for the
next Official IRTA test, a test that will have added interest
because it will be held at night under floodlights as the
MotoGP paddock prepares itself for the first-ever race at
night, also at Qatar, next month.
Loris Capirossi:
“I think we were lucky with the weather today, even
though we weren’t able to start till after lunchtime.
We tried lots of things today and we found a better solution
than we did on the first day. I think we are in a better shape
now and we can go with a good feeling to Qatar and try and
do the last few things at the last test so we will be ready
for the first race. We are still struggling in a few places
and we know we have to work on those, but we are quite confident
for the first race.”
Chris Vermeulen:
“It was a difficult morning as we didn’t get
any track-time, but the wind got up and dried the track out
and we had reasonable conditions this afternoon – apart
from the wind! We made some progress with the bike to solve
some of the problems we have had here this weekend and we
now have a direction to go in. We tested some tyres for Bridgestone
and I finally got the chance to test some qualifiers. They
seemed to work quite well and suit our bike and although I
only used two qualifying tyres I am happy with the lap-time
that I did. There is still more to come out of both me and
the bike, bit this was the most positive day we have had at
this test.”
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“We got a break today in that the rain cleared and
allowed us to do some much needed dry testing. The conditions
weren’t the best but at least we were able to get through
some of the programme. It was encouraging to see that when
some rear grip was dialled into the bike using the qualifying
tyres we were able to achieve a promising lap-time. It gave
a better level of confidence to both riders and they also
improved their times on race tyres as well. But there is no
getting away from the fact that we aren’t where we hoped
to be at the end of this test and we will be looking to put
this behind us and make big steps in Qatar next week.”
IRTA Test Jerez Day Three Classification:
1. Nicky Hayden (Honda) 1’38.848: 2. Jorge Lorenzo
(Yamaha) +0.404: 3. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) +0.465: 5. Randy
de Puniet (Honda) +0.503: 5. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +0.720:
10. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.594: 11. CHRIS
VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.728:
|
