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Héctor Barberá 2.03.032 (53 laps):
“I am really happy because even though it rained so much at the start of the day and at the end we were able to work well. I have set similar lap times to yesterday but the really pleasing thing is that we have been able to work on aspects of the set-up of my Ducati. At the end of the day the session is for testing things and that is what we have done, just trying a bunch of different configurations. It was a shame it rained again just when I had put some new slicks in and I was going to try and improve my time. Anyway, I’m happy because the team has done an excellent job and I think that the whole package – the bike and the relationship with the Ducati engineers – is coming along nicely. These two days felt short but I leave Sepang knowing that we have a lot of room for improvement and I’m excited about coming back here for the next test soon.”
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Rizla Suzuki has completed the first Malaysian test of 2010 after two days of detailed testing, following a single day’s set-up work by test rider Nobuatsu Aoki, gave the team plenty of information.
Loris Capirossi had a good start to the test by recording the fourth fastest time on the timesheets on his Suzuki GSV-R during day one. His 2’02.102 from the 58 laps was also good enough to give him sixth place overall for the whole test. Capirossi spent day two running through a very detailed test programme and was unable to improve on his time during his 48 further laps, after the track had dried out from early morning rain.
New signing Álvaro Bautista equipped himself well at the 5,548m Sepang International Circuit during his first visit on an 800cc Grand Prix bike. He completed 88 laps during the two days and recorded a quickest time of 2’03.274. Bautista got into a good rhythm throughout the test and made many changes to his GSV-R to get the set-up right for his riding style, whilst improving steadily on his lap-time.
Capirossi and Bautista will now both head off to Suzuki’s headquarters in Hamamatsu, Japan before returning to Sepang for the second test later this month. The two will be in race action at the first event of the year at Losail in Qatar on Sunday 11th April.
Loris Capirossi:
“I was quite happy with the lap-time and the consistent rhythm on the first day, because we know there is still a lot to come from the Factory for this year’s bike. We were able to test two new chassis and we are now much clearer on our direction to improve more. I go to the Suzuki Factory before the next test, so I will be able to give some more direct feedback to the engineering group. I got quite frustrated today, because I always want to go quicker and the work today was really detailed stuff – but we have to improve the bike so I have to do it! I am excited for the next test to see what our guys can come up with, including the new engine spec, and I want to keep improving.”
Álvaro Bautista:
“It was a good test and I managed to learn a lot. This was my first time here on the MotoGP bike after a long time without riding, and it was amazing how much faster everything seemed to happen compared to the 250! Day one just felt like starting all over again! I made steps with my speed and it was a shame we lost some practice this morning due to the rain, but even with this the team improved the feeling of the bike a lot and now I think I can start to push more . I am now looking forward to the next test and we certainly have a good base, and I feel ready to work when we get back to Sepang later this month.”
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“This has been a good shake-down test and has answered some questions for us, but we still need to find the correct solutions in one or two areas. The engineers will take the information back to Japan and the race department guys will be working flat out to find the necessary improvements for the next two tests. At the moment, I have to really thank Loris because we rely on him to give us the direction, and this means he has a really detailed workload! It’s tough for him because he knows he can go so much quicker when the base is fixed, but he also knows that we have to improve the bike a lot to avoid the same problems as 2009. We would rather leave Sepang a bit further down the order than 2009 but have a better race bike come the first GP!
“Álvaro is working well, riding within himself and learning everything step by step. His riding style changed a little over the 2 days and he’s gradually becoming a MotoGP rider! At the moment he is doing everything we are asking of him, he improved steadily over the test and we are convinced that we will start to see big steps when he gets into the full rhythm of riding a MotoGP bike. Overall we are quite positive after this first test, but we all still know there is a lot more to do to achieve our targets.”
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Aleix Espargarò – Pramac Racing rider
“Yesterday we have tried to find a constant pace while today we focused looking for the fast lap. It wasn’t so bad; on the contrary, I am really pleased on how things have gone. This is only my first winter test in MotoGP and I can only improve in the future. The arm on which I had surgery on this past winter doesn’t hurt anymore and my physical condition, notwithstanding the heat of these days, seems to be in good conditions. I look forward to come back on track at the end of the month here in Malaysia.”
Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing rider
“Likely this was just a winter test. We tried many changes on the bike set up, but we had some difficulties to improve the situation and for this reason we lost a lot of time working on our bikes in the garage. We will have to give our best in the next test so that things can change. We are too far from the firsts and our goal is to remain consistently between top 10 riders in every single session.”
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The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team ended its first track action of 2010 in positive mood after a rain-hit final day of MotoGP testing at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia.
Colin Edwards and Ben Spies were unable to begin any meaningful testing until the track had completely dried this afternoon after heavy morning rain badly disrupting this morning’s session. Once damp patches had cleared though the Texan duo were able to make significant progress, taking full advantage of the valuable track time before further heavy rain brought an early end to proceedings at 5pm.
Texan Spies showed more of his true potential today when he clocked the fifth quickest time, despite the reigning World Superbike champion still feeling below his physical best.
Working closely with his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew, Spies focused his efforts on continuing to adapt his riding style to the YZR-M1 machine. The American made significant progress with his braking style and managed to slice close to a second off his best lap time set yesterday with a time of 2.02.266 in his 31-lap stint.
Edwards, who was third quickest yesterday, finished seventh fastest with a best time of 2.02.479. That was just 0.2s slower than Spies as the 35-year-old evaluated several different chassis and swingarm setting options.
The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 squad will be back on track at Sepang for another two-day test session later this month before winter testing concludes in Qatar in March.
Ben Spies – Position 5th Time: 2′02.266 Laps: 31
“I rode as good and as hard as I could considering how I’ve been feeling. I’m not wanting to make any excuses but I didn’t feel really good with the jetlag. It was still a good test because I learned a lot about improving my riding and adapting my style to suit the Yamaha MotoGP bike. It is hard to break some of my old superbike habits at the moment but I made some big improvements in a couple of places on the track where I was really struggling, particularly in the braking. It started to feel more natural today and I got down to some decent times on race tyres. I was a second faster than the first day, so we made some good progress but this is a really difficult track to learn. This track is really long and really wide, but I got to a respectable pace. I’ve said it a load of times but it’s a learning process and every lap I’m learning. My guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3 though have been brilliant again. We’re all putting in a lot of effort and I’m pleased with the steps I’ve made.”
Colin Edwards – Position:7th Time: 2′02.479 Laps: 42
“This has been a great test and I’m really happy. The big bonus of the test has been the performance of the engine. Putting it simply it seems they have made the engine with more power and more reliable.
Accelerating off the corner was a problem last season but with the new engine it is a strong point. I tried a few things with the chassis and at this stage of the year it is all about crossing off pieces that work and those that don’t. We found a couple of things that improved the bike and gave me more confidence and a couple of things we need to work on. It’s been a great first test and hopefully we can carry this momentum on for the rest of the pre-season and into the serious business of the racing.”
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