Solid first day with no Shanghai surprises for Rizla Suzuki
MotoGP
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racers Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen
both made positive steps towards finding the best set-up for
their Suzuki GSV-R’s during the first day of free practice
today for this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai.
Capirossi recorded the eighth quickest time of the day with
a fastest lap of 2’00.964 from his 42 laps. The Italian’s
best time was just over a second off the fastest lap of the
day and Capirossi is confident that there is more to come
from him and his machine over the forthcoming weekend.
Vermeulen was just outside the top-10 with the 12th fastest
time. He set his best time during a long run on the same Bridgestone
race tyre this afternoon, but Suzuki’s Australian star
was concentrating more on getting the optimum set-up for his
GSV-R than out-and-out fast laps. Vermeulen is determined
to make some big improvements tomorrow when he tries one of
the new generation of Bridgestone tyres that he has available
to him.
Today’s track temperatures reached 52ºC around
the 5,281m Shanghai International Circuit and clear skies
and bright sunshine helped push air temperatures up to 28
ºC. Valentino Rossi on his Bridgestone-shod Factory Yamaha
set the quickest time of the day.
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP was joined at the track today by Mr Masahiro
Nishikawa, General Manager of Suzuki’s Motorcycle Engine
Design Department. He will stay with the team for the weekend
as it continues to prepare for the 22-lap race that gets underway
at 15.00hrs local time (07.00hrs GMT) on Sunday.
Loris Capirossi:
“It’s been quite a positive day for us because
we have tried many things and we have found a good setting
for the bike. We went a bit softer on the front set-up this
afternoon and although it is still not perfect we know what
needs changing on the bike tomorrow. We are not yet 100% certain
on the tyre for the race, but we have a good idea and we will
run it for a lot of laps tomorrow to make sure it will be
right for the race. I am close to the top-guy and I made a
couple of mistakes on my last two laps or I would have gone
even quicker. I think this could be a great weekend for us!”
Chris Vermeulen:
“We tried a lot of things with the bike set-up today
and definitely made some big steps forward this afternoon.
I used the same tyre for the whole afternoon session, which
was probably not the best option as I struggled to get as
much grip as I wanted when we were making so many changes
to the bike. The good news is that Loris used a tyre today
that I didn’t and it seemed to be a big step forward
for him, and as I have it in my allocation I will run that
tomorrow and I’m really looking forward to seeing the
difference it makes. We are confident for this weekend and
are looking forward to what should be a good race.”
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“It’s not been a bad day’s work at all
today. The Bridgestone tyres and the Suzuki GSV-R both seem
to be a good match to the Shanghai circuit. We’ve still
got a lot of detailed work to close the gap on the very fastest
riders, but both the guys have a clear plan and a good level
of confidence that we can take big steps tomorrow.
“It’s also been a pleasure to welcome Mr Nishikawa,
to his first MotoGP event outside of Japan and we hope that
we can put on a decent show for him this weekend, and make
sure that he returns to some more events in the future!”
Pramac Grand Prix of China Free Practice Classification:
1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1’59.906: 2. Casey Stoner
(Ducati) +0.257: 3. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) +0.455: 4. Shinya
Nakano (Honda) +0.647: 5. John Hopkins (Kawasaki) +0.685:
8. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.058: 12. CHRIS
VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.598:
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