MotoGP Test at Valencia

NEWEST AT TOP – DAY 3

Pramac Racing

The MotoGP 2009 season ended after three days of testing on the circuit of Valencia, Spain. The riders of the Pramac Racing Team, Mika Kallio and Aleix Espargarò, have closed down with really interesting lap times that give positive hopes for next season. Mika has registered lap times by a second lower compared to Sunday’s race and so has done Espargarò significantly improving thanks to greater confidence gained in these three days of work. The Pramac Racing Team will be back on track after the winter break next 3rd and 4th February 2010.

Fabiano Sterlacchini – Pramac Racing Technical Director
“This year of intense work and emotions has ended. These three days of test made us understand that the next year we will be back on track even stronger. Lap times recorded by our riders today are significantly lower than those recorded only three days ago in the race and it is from here that we must begin next year. In addition to thanking all the riders who have ridden with us this year and our technical and managerial staff, I would like to thank all our partners that have always supported us during this agonistic season.”

Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing rider – 6th best lap time in 1′32.988 in 39 laps
” And so my first year in MotoGP is officially over. During these three days of work we could try different mix of technical solutions used during this year and we have reached a very high level of competitiveness. I have learnt a lot this season and this also thanks to the support that my staff has given me. Next year we will come back determined to improve our performances in the races.”

Aleix Espargarò – Pramac Racing rider – 7th best lap time in 1′33.275 in 55 laps
“I kept a very constant and good pace today but unfortunately, in contrast to other riders, I was unable to do the a single fast lap to reach better positions. But it’s ok, next year we will have many opportunities to improve. My confidence with the bike has increased a lot thanks to these hours of work in Valencia: we changed the set up of the swingarm and this has given me much more grip and consequently I felt more comfortable on the bike. I am sure that next year we will have a lot of fun.”

TODAY’S BEST LAP TIME
1.Stoner – Ducati – 1.31.899
2.Pedrosa – Honda – 1.31.944
3.Hayden – Ducati – 1.32.805
4.Dovizioso – Honda – 1.32.825
5.Melandri – Honda – 1.32.935
6.Kallio – Ducati – 1.32.988
7.Espargaro – Ducati – 1.33.275
8.Capirossi – Suzuki – 1.33.588
9.Barbera – Ducati – 1.33.786
10.Simoncelli – Honda – 1.33.857
11.Bautista – Suzuki – 1.34.163
12.Aoyama – Honda – 1.34.821

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Repsol Honda

The Repsol Honda Team wrapped up the 2009 season with a strong showing on the final morning of MotoGP testing in Valencia. Both Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso made further progress aboard the 2010-spec RC212V, significantly improving their lap times and completing a highly-valuable three days at the Ricardo Tormo circuit, scene of Pedrosa win in Sunday’s final Grand Prix of the year.

Today the track was available to the MotoGP teams from 10am until 1pm, and the factory Honda squad took advantage of the track time to gather further data from next year’s prototype RC212V. Dani Pedrosa was consistently quick and set the second fastest time of the day, fractionally behind today’s fastest rider, Casey Stoner. Andrea Dovizioso was also on promising form, dropping into the 1m 32s bracket for the first time on the new machine.

With positive results from the first test of the 2010 machine, the Repsol Honda squad now takes an extended break from the track in anticipation of the opening test of 2010, which takes place at Sepang in Malaysia from 3-5 February. In the meantime, HRC’s engineers will use the data gathered here to continue the detailed development programme for the RC212V in preparation for the Team’s assault on the 2010 World Championship.

The first race of next season takes place under the floodlights of the Losail circuit, Qatar, on Sunday 11 April, 2010. The Repsol Honda Team will be going all out to start the new campaign as the finished the last one – with victory.

Dani Pedrosa – Best lap 1m 31.944s
“We had a good day out there. The track conditions were very good and there was a lot of grip, so we were able to improve our speed quite a lot. My feeling with the new suspension really improved today and that was our main focus here. It’s a big change because I’ve been riding with Showa since 2003, so of course it takes a while to get used to something new. We didn’t spend a lot of time working specifically on adjustments with the new chassis because it was important to concentrate on one thing at a time. At the next test in Sepang in February it will be a good opportunity to concentrate on the chassis. My focus now is to take some rest and then prepare as best I can for 2010. We need to start the season at full strength – in terms of me physically and the machine package. That’s what the whole Team will be working on through the winter.”

Andrea Dovizioso – Best lap 1m 32.825s
“Today we confirmed some of the setting improvements we found yesterday, and we also tested some solutions that we couldn’t get round to yesterday because of my crash. I improved my lap time and I was able to go faster than during the whole race weekend, so this is positive. All in all I’m very confident because I could lap at 1m 32.8 at the end of today’s session, and this lap time is as good as race pace. The stability while braking has improved and I think that we are working in the right direction, though we still need to take a step forward. For instance, we can still improve the drivability on the exit of corners and that’s something we’ll work on in February. Now, with the season over, we will have some rest. I have two charity events coming up and then I will spend the winter with my family and friends. We’ve been travelling a lot, so I like to stay at home during the winter break and get ready for 2010.”

Kazuhiko Yamano – Repsol Honda Team Manager
“This test has been satisfactory for us and we now have a good base on which to build for next year. Both Dani and Andrea have made significant progress with the new machine and we can go into the winter break with a decisive direction for development. For us, the end of the 2009 season does not mean we stop work. On the contrary, we will redouble our effort through the winter to create a machine with which our riders can fight for the MotoGP World Championship. This is our only goal – nothing else will suffice. Finally, I’d like to thank the Repsol Honda Team and our partners for their efforts this year. We have finished the season with a race victory, and we will come back stronger next year.”

Valencia Test lap times – Day 3
Casey Stoner Marlboro Ducati 1m 31.899
Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda 1m 31.944
Nicky Hayden Marlboro Ducati 1m 32.804
Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda 1m 32.825
Marco Melandri San Carlo Honda 1m 32.935
Mika Kallio Pramac Racing 1m 32.988
Aleix Espargaro Pramac Racing 1m 33.275
Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki 1m 33.588
Hector Barbera Aspar Team 1m 33.786
Marco Simoncelli San Carlo Honda 1m 33.857
Alvaro Bautista Rizla Suzuki 1m 34.163
Hiroshi Aoyama Interwetten Honda 1m 34.821

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MotoGP

The post-season test in Valencia this week provided the teams with a good foundation for further development of their 2010 prototypes over the winter, with the MotoGP riders reporting positively on the initial responses of their new machines.

Casey Stoner was consistently fast on his new Ducati Desmosedici prototype across the three days (Monday and Wednesday were half-day sessions), testing new forks and a new engine configuration as well as a new rear Bridgestone tyre which several MotoGP riders also tried out. Stoner’s lap of 1’31.900 on Wednesday morning was the fastest recorded during the test.

Working with a new chassis on his Yamaha M1, Jorge Lorenzo topped the timesheet in Tuesday’s session with a 1’31.939 lap, the second fastest time over the three days – and he left the Ricardo Tormo circuit pleased with how his bike had responded.

Dani Pedrosa experimented with Ohlins suspension as he rolled out the 2010 version of his RC212V, and at just 0.005s off Lorenzo’s best lap was the third and final rider to break the 1’32” barrier throughout the three days. Sunday’s race winner was followed in the order by World Champion Valentino Rossi, who was satisfied with the improvement made on the throttle control of his race machinery as both he and Lorenzo concluded their test a day early, having ridden both new versions of the M1 as well as their 2009 bikes for comparison.

Nicky Hayden was also fast throughout, going through a range of set-up options on his Desmosedici, with Andrea Dovizioso changing the engine position on his factory Honda to improve stability. The move paid off, with the Italian breaking the 1’33” marker on Wednesday morning.

On his return to the San Carlo Honda Gresini set-up, Marco Melandri appears to be settling back onto his RC212V well. The Italian improved his time in each session to rank seventh fastest overall, with Ben Spies eighth. The newly-integrated Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider – who tested only on Monday and Tuesday – concentrated on tyre and wheel set-ups for the most part. His team-mate Colin Edwards’ test ended after Monday’s ride, as the Texan was laid low with a virus on Tuesday.

2009 Rookie of the Year Mika Kallio felt the benefit of a new aluminium swing arm on his Pramac Ducati machine as he steadily made progress, and Randy de Puniet tested suspension and electronics modifications on his 2009 LCR Honda bike. Rizla Suzuki rider Loris Capirossi gathered information with laps completed in each session, and Aleix Espargaró’s best lap of 1’33.275 indicated he is advancing well ahead of his first full MotoGP season in 2010 with Pramac Racing.

Coming up from the 250cc category, Héctor Barberá was the fastest of the four riders making the leap to the premier class. Riding a Desmosedici GP9 to get used to power delivery, a best time of 1’33.787 from the Aspar rider left him just under a tenth of a second faster than Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini). Álvaro Bautista rode the Rizla Suzuki in a best time of just over 1’34”, with 250cc World Champion Hiroshi Aoyama of the Interwetten Honda MotoGP team also becoming accustomed with his MotoGP ride.

Toni Elías was out on track testing a Gresini Moriwaki Moto2 prototype, with the Spanish rider still to confirm his plans for next year. Also working with Moto2 bikes were Ratthapark Wilairot, Héctor Faubel and Scott Redding (all Stop and Go – FTR), Shogo Moriwaki (Gresini Moto2 Team – Moriwaki), Axel Pons (Pons Racing Pepe World – Pons Kalex), Joan Olivé and Kenny Noyes (both Promoracing – Promo-Harris), as the pace of development gathers ahead of the introduction of the new category to the World Championship in 2010.

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Rizla Suzuki

Alvaro Bautista has completed his first test onboard the Suzuki GSV-R by continuing to improve on his lap-times at a sunny Valencia today.

Bautista recorded a best time of 1′34.163 from his 41 laps during the final morning session of the three-day test, almost half-of-a-second quicker than he managed yesterday. He finished his first experience of riding a MotoGP bike on a very positive level and was extremely pleased with what he had accomplished during such a short spell on the machine. Bautista will now travel with Team Test-Rider Nobuatsu Aoki to Estoril in Portugal for a further three-day test next week.

Loris Capirossi (1′33.588, 43 laps) completed his test schedule at Valencia today by doing a final evaluation of some new aerodynamics and electronics systems as well as assessing some more Akrapovic exhaust systems. Capirossi will now have a complete break from riding the Rizla Suzuki GSV-R until February 2010 when MotoGP begins the test calendar for next year at Sepang in Malaysia.

The first race of the 2010 season will be under the floodlights at Losail in Qatar on Sunday 11th April, when Capirossi will make his 300th start at a Grand Prix event and Bautista will make his competitive debut on a MotoGP bike.

Loris Capirossi:
“We worked hard again today even though we didn’t have much time available this morning. The new stuff that has come to the test has been pretty interesting and the improvements to the engine are not too bad. The new cowling and pipes have both made some steps and overall we have improved by a few tenths on the lap-time. We really need to find about a second though and it makes me very upset that the rules have changed so much that we now can’t test until February. For me this does not help the championship because we need more tests to a make the bike more competitive. We will have a new bike in February and I hope it works well straight away because I know Suzuki is working really hard—I know that because they have come here with many things. The good thing is that I believe 100% in Suzuki and 100% in myself and my team, I will make sure my condition is good throughout the winter so I am ready for next year and I think that if we have a good bike we can be near the front.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“These three days have been a good start towards the target of significantly improving Suzuki’s level in MotoGP in 2010. There haven’t been any fundamental changes to the bike here; those will come in February at Sepang, but the detailed work that Loris has completed, especially with the Akrapovic exhaust systems, new engine specifications and aerodynamics have made the bike easier and more consistent to ride. The lap-time isn’t spectacular, but it is a lot closer to the top group than it was during the race weekend so some progress has certainly been made.

“Alvaro’s transition to the four-stroke and to the team has been seamless; he looks very comfortable on the bike and appears to have ridden within his own abilities in this first test on the GSV-R. He has treated the three days not so much as a test, but as an extended track-day. He has certainly had some fun as well as beginning to understand the characteristics of the bike. Again today he didn’t run any of the updated parts, so to make consistent low 1’34s is a very positive start. He’s very focused and is an enthusiastic character to have in the pit and we are looking forward to having an enjoyable and hard-charging atmosphere with Loris and Alvaro for 2010.”

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NEWEST AT TOP – DAY 2

Monster Yamaha Tech3

Ben Spies played a starring role on the second day of MotoGP testing in Valencia today, the Texan producing another confident and assured performance on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine.

Making only his fifth appearance on board Yamaha’s YZR-M1 machine, the 25-year-old continued his seamless transition from World Superbikes to finish with the fourth quickest time.

Spies again resisted the temptation to experiment with different settings today, the reigning World Superbike champion taking full advantage of improved conditions to dedicate more time on adapting his riding style to suit the YZR-M1 machine.

His best la p time of 1.32.942 was 0.5s faster than his fastest pace yesterday and for the majority of today he occupied third position on the timesheets behind Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner.

At the end of a positive and fruitful day, Spies was only 0.414s away from reigning MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi in his 61-lap stint.

Fellow Texan Colin Edwards was unable to test today, the 35-year-old struck down by a virus overnight that forced him to undergo treatment in the Clinica Mobile for a high temperature and low blood pressure.

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team now starts a thoroughly deserved winter break before reconvening at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia in early February.

Ben Spies 1.32.942 – 61 laps
“I’m really happy with this test. My performance in the race surpass ed my expectations and so did the test. I didn’t touch the set-up of the bike again and continued mainly working on adapting my style. I feel like I made a lot of progress. My data guy could see on the computer that I was riding with more of a MotoGP style and each day I’ve made steps and gained confidence with the tyres. At the end I put on some tyres that had half race distance on them, but I was still able to lap half-a-second faster than yesterday. And where I was running 34′1s in the race I could get into low 33s consistently today. I’ve been making small steps but I’m a lot closer to the front than the back, so that is a good sign. I’ve enjoyed working with my new guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3. It has been a tough year but a great year for me and I’m looking forward to the winter, training hard and being ready to go again in February.”

Colin Edwards
“I woke up this morn ing at 5am and felt horrendous. I felt completely drained of all my energy. I thought I’d got food poisoning and I knew then I wasn’t going to be able to ride today. But the Clinica Mobile guys said I’d got a virus and I’ve just been lying in bed all day. It obviously wasn’t the way I wanted to end the year but I’m looking forward to a long break now and coming back strong for 2010. I’ve had another great season with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team and would like to thank all my guys again for their hard work. They are an awesome bunch. And looking at the times today, Ben has done a great job. He’s not only showed what a fast learner he is, but how talented he is. There should be a good bit of friendly Texan rivalry in 2010 and I can’t wait.”

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Repsol Honda

The Repsol Honda Team today joined most of the MotoGP field at the Valencia circuit as the final test of the 2009 season continued. Staring at around 11am, both Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso ran through a useful testing programme today and declared themselves satisfied with progress.

Today’s mission for the factory Honda pair was not to pursue outright fastest laps, but instead to continue gathering data on the 2010-spec RC212V machine. While some of the riders who will not return for tomorrow morning’s test session went in search of ultimate lap times, Pedrosa and Dovizioso instead explored a diverse range of setting options.

Pedrosa shaved further time from his best from yesterday and set a lap of 1m 33.088s. Dovizioso also improved his pace from yesterday, setting his fastest time on only his eighth lap out of the pits this morning. At around lunchtime Dovi was unfortunate to have a highside fall on cold tyres, but the tough Italian was able to return to the track in the afternoon and continue lapping at a good pace, despite having suffered a strong impact on the left hip which caused a small fracture.

The Repsol Honda Team will return here tomorrow for a final morning of testing before finally wrapping up for the 2009 season.

Dani Pedrosa – Best lap 1m 33.025s
“We completed a useful day’s testing today, and although I didn’t do a huge number of laps, we covered quite a lot of ground. Some of the adjustments we were making with the machine and suspension were quite big to allow us to fully understand the new chassis, and with these kind of changes you inevitably spend quite a lot of time in the pits. Also, we weren’t going after ultimate lap times – just continuing to get familiar with the new parts and understand how settings changes affect the performance. That’s normal, and now is the time to do this work, step-by-step. Tomorrow we’ll come back here for the final session of the season.”

Andrea Dovizioso – Best lap 1m 33.546s
“This morning we started well. I went out with a soft tyre that I used from the day before and I did my best lap really early on – on lap eight – and I had a good feeling out there. The track conditions and temperature were better than yesterday and allowed us to get through some useful work. When we changed from soft to hard tyres, I was trying to bring them up to temperature by sliding a little bit when I highsided without warning. I’ve injured my hip a little and it’s painful – but I carried on riding and fortunately the pain is not so bad when I’m on the bike. Overall though, I was much more satisfied today – especially with the braking stability – and we’ll continue testing a few more things tomorrow, focusing on the chassis.”

Valencia Test lap times – Day 2
Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha 1m 31.939 62 laps
Casey Stoner Marlboro Ducati 1m 32.195 44
Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha 1m 32.528 55
Ben Spies Monster Yamaha 1m 32.942 61
Nicky Hayden Marlboro Ducati 1m 32.981 84
Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda 1m 33.025 46
Randy de Puniet LCR Honda 1m 33.111 76
Mika Kallio Pramac Racing 1m 33.125 84
Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki 1m 33.211 64
Marco Melandri San Carlo Honda 1m 33.326 85
Aleix Espargaro Pramac Racing 1m 33.345 74
Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda 1m 33.546 44
Hector Barbera Aspar Team 1m 34.206 100
Marco Simoncelli San Carlo Honda 1m 34.230 79
Alvaro Bautista Rizla Suzuki 1m 34.540 74
Hiroshi Aoyama Interwetten Honda 1m 35.261 88

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Rizla Suzuki

Loris Capirossi and Alvaro Bautista continued in a positive direction during the penultimate day of testing at Valencia, as the pair made use of the improved conditions in Spain today.

Capirossi (1′33.211, 58 laps) produced his quickest ever lap on a Suzuki GSV-R around the 4,005m Ricardo Tormo circuit on race tyres, as he resumed from where he left off yesterday by trying the new parts that Suzuki has supplied for this test. Capirossi tested new-spec engine parts as well as continuing the evaluation of the Akrapovic exhaust systems and some new electronic strategies.

Bautista continued with his acclimatisation of the Suzuki GSV-R following his step-up in class to MotoGP. Using the same specification bike as was raced the previous weekend, without any on the new parts. he circulated the Spanish circuit a further 73 times today, eventually fishing with a best time of 1′34.540, over a second quicker than his fastest lap from Monday.

The Rizla Suzuki pair has a further half-of-a-day of testing tomorrow morning at Valencia, which will signal Capirossi’s final outing on the GSV-R for 2009, with only Bautista travelling to Estoril next week to join Nobuatsu Aoki for a further three-day test.

Loris Capirossi:
“It has been a positive day because we have continued to develop the bike and we tested many different things. We tested a new engine specification and a couple of sets of pipes, as well as a different electronics system on the bike. We have improved today and the whole team is quite happy and for sure the way to go quicker is now not so far away. We have a couple more important things to try tomorrow, especially on the electronics side. I think that the condition we had in the bike today was easily the best for the whole weekend and this is why we went much better. We still need to concentrate really hard and tomorrow will be an important day as will the test next week in Portugal for Alvaro and Nobu, because we need to understand as much about the bike in these tests as possible.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“We’ve got through a lot of work today and the conditions have been quite kind so that has helped us as well. The time difference from Loris to the front guys has reduced massively compared to race-day and this has been due to a number of modifications to the bike that the factory has introduced here. The most important one of those has without doubt been the change to the engine spec, which has helped a lot with the smoothness of power delivery and the way the bike exits the corners.

“Alvaro has been quietly impressive today. On every pit exit he has made 10 or 12 lap runs which have been ultra consistent and he has lifted his pace steadily all day. His bike is completely the same specification as was used in Sunday’s Grand Prix, without any of the test parts Loris has been running, so bearing that in mind his pace looks encouraging for the future. So far, in summary. it’s been a better test already than we expected and a little bit of light is on the horizon.”

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Fiat Yamaha

A year of hard work finally came to an end for the Fiat Yamaha Team today with the last day of testing in Valencia. Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi finished the day first and third, signing off for the winter in strong form.

Both riders continued to work on the new evolution YZR-M1, as well as doing some laps on their 2009 bikes in order to compare the new updates. Lorenzo set his best lap towards the end of the day’s work and was 0.256 seconds faster than Casey Stoner, with Rossi 0.333 seconds behind the Australian.

Having swept the board of trophies this season, the team will now enjoy a hard-earned break before reconvening at Sepang, Malaysia in early February for the next test.

Jorge Lorenzo, Position: 1st Time: 1′31.939 Laps: 62
“I am happy that we are so competitive here with this new version of the bike. I was able to do some very fast laps and it feels good to be the fastest on the last day of the season. There is a long time now until the next text and it is good for me mentally to know that I was fast today. We have worked on some electronics and the suspension, and we have compared the new chassis to the old one and taken a lot of important information for our engineers. I am so happy about my season, I’ve won three races, taken many podiums and finished second in the championship. I think this is a great achievement by us and now I would like to wish everyone a good holiday to recover so we all come back in February at the maximum ready to work again!”

Valentino Rossi, Position: 3rd Time: 1′32.528 Laps: 55
“I am happy about what we have so far with the new evolution of the bike, because it’s already faster and already feels better than the old one. The throttle is easier to open and I think that Yamaha has done a good job so far. We were quite fast today and I’m happy about the work we have done over these two days. I think that we have given our engineers plenty to work on over the winter and I am looking forward to the next updates in February. It’s good to finally finish work and now we have some months to relax and recharge the batteries ahead of next year, which for sure is going to be a big, big fight!”

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Pramac Racing

Fabiano Sterlacchini – Pramac Racing Technical Director
“It was a very positive day. Mika wanted to try many different technical solutions, including the aluminum swingarm, which gave positive feedbacks. It seems that Mika is better with this set-up and we will continue to work towards this tomorrow morning. Aleix is very close to Mika lap time and this shows that despite his young age he will be already competitive in his first year in the MotoGP World Championship. Tomorrow morning our riders will still have some time on this bike before switching to the new one in February at Sepang test.”

Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing rider – 8th best lap time in 1.33.125 in 83 laps
“We have tried aluminum swingarm and compared to yesterday we have improved by six tenths of a second. Not too bad I would say. Work with the team went ahead without any big complications, on the contrary, in addition to the swingarm we tried other small changes that lead me to feel more comfortable riding the bike. I hope that tomorrow morning I can improve more to end positively my first year in MotoGP.”

Aleix Espargarò – Pramac Racing rider – 11th best lap time in 1′33.345 in 74 laps
“I do not know why but despite the time recorded today is good I feel I can do better. I must be patience because I still have a lot to learn in this category. Certainly my feeling with the bike is improving lap after lap and this is the most important thing. Sincerely we are a little sad because I know this winter I will miss very much my bike, but we will return loads in February for the first test of the year.”

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NEWEST AT TOP – DAY 1

Repsol Honda

Following Dani Pedrosa’s emphatic win in yesterday’s Grand Prix of Valencia, the Repsol Honda Team returned to the scene of victory to begin testing in preparation for next season. Both Pedrosa and his factory Honda team-mate Andrea Dovizioso enjoyed their first taste of the 2010 RC212V, which features a brand new chassis and swing arm, and the latest evolution of the V4 engine which powered Pedrosa to success yesterday. The machine incorporates some subtle geometry changes and different stiffness characteristics designed to further enhance the RCV212’s agility and handling.

In order to provide enough time for the teams to regroup after the final race of the season, today’s MotoGP test began at 1pm and finished at 5pm. Pedrosa’s programme included further evaluation of the Ohlins suspension he sampled briefly in the single-day test that followed the Czech Grand Prix in August, and he was able to set an impressive lap time of 1m 33.088s. This was just three-tenths of a second outside his best time from yesterday, which was also the fastest lap of the race. Andrea Dovizioso, like Pedrosa, rode exclusively with the new machine, and was able to improve on his best lap from yesterday’s race by more than 0.3s with a time of 1m 33.675s.

Dani Pedrosa – Best lap 1m 33.088s
“We tested with the new 2010 bike today and also used Ohlins suspension. The key thing was to begin getting used to the new suspension because the feelings are quite different and we need some time to find the set-up for the new chassis. We didn’t do so many laps this afternoon because, with this kind of testing, you spend quite a lot of time in the box. The feeling from the chassis was quite similar today – it’s the suspension that really feels different, and I think this is normal when you make a change like this. The initial feeling is positive and we’ll come back tomorrow and get back down to work.”

Andrea Dovizioso – Best lap 1m 33.675s
“Today we tried the 2010 machine with the new chassis and swing arm. It’s very early days of course, but the first impression is positive and the feeling is that we are working in a good direction. The weight distribution is different in order to improve the stability of the machine under braking and to better suit the Bridgestone tyres. We have two more days of testing here, and tomorrow we have the whole day to continue evaluating the new machine.”

Valencia Test lap times
Casey Stoner          Marlboro Ducati                  1m 32.660     32 laps
Jorge Lorenzo         Fiat Yamaha                       1m 32.685     45
Valentino Rossi       Fiat Yamaha                      1m 32.826     37
Dani Pedrosa          Repsol Honda                    1m 33.088     31
Nicky Hayden          Marlboro Ducati                   1m 33.358     58
Ben Spies                Monster Yamaha Tech 3    1m 33.496     50
Andrea Dovizioso    Repsol Honda                    1m 33.675     51
Mika Kallio               Pramac Racing                   1m 33.726     52
Randy de Puniet      LCR Honda                        1m 33.775     61
Marco Melandri        San Carlo Honda               1m 33.839     59
Aleix Espargaro       Pramac Racing                   1m 33.878     63
Colin Edwards         Monster Yamaha                1m 33.929     35
Loris Capirossi        Rizla Suzuki                         1m 34.144     55
Marco Simoncelli     San Carlo Honda                1m 35.229     51
Alvaro Bautista        Rizla Suzuki                          1m 35.772     52
Hector Barbera        Aspar Team                          1m 36.204     63
Hiroshi Aoyama       Interwetten Honda MotoGP 1m 37.964     40

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Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Less than 24 hours after the conclusion to a successful 2009 MotoGP world championship campaign, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team was back in action at the Valencia circuit today to begin preparations for next season.

With track action not commencing until 1pm, this morning gave the team chance to welcome new rider Ben Spies, who will partner fellow Texan Colin Edwards in 2010. It was also an opportunity for his mechanics to acquaint themselves with new crew chief Tom Houseworth, who has been a fundamental part of Spies’ successful career to date.

Spies raced to a brilliant seventh place on his Yamaha debut yesterday and his impressive pace cont inued in sunny but blustery conditions today.

For Spies, this afternoon’s four-hour session was all about continuing to familiarise himself with Yamaha’s YZR-M1 machine. The World Superbike champion opted to work more on refining his own riding style than making alterations to the set-up of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine.

The 25-year-old completed 50 laps with a best time of 1.33.496 making it a positive and productive first day with Tech 3. His time was the sixth quickest today and only 0.8s away from fastest rider Casey Stoner and he knocked a massive 0.6s off his best time posted in yesterday’s race.

Fresh from a brilliant fourth place in yesterday’s 30-lap Valencia MotoGP race, which secured fifth overall in the final rankings, Edwards completed a short stint of 35 laps while experimenting with wheelbase and front-end settings on his YZR-M1.

Ben Spies 6th 1.33.496 – 50 laps
“I am really happy to finally make my debut for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team. They are a great team and it feels good to finally get to work with them. Today I was obviously on a different bike but with the same setting that I raced on and it felt good. I improved on my qualifying time so it was a positive and productive day. I really just focused on doing a couple of things different with my style and in the last two sessions I tried to do some things very different and it worked. I was slowly able to chip away at the lap times, so it is encouraging that I’m getting faster and more comfortable without even making any changes to the set-up of the bike. We’ll make some changes to the bike tomorrow, more for me to see what I can feel, than looking for big improvements.”

Colin Edwards 12th 1.33.929 – 35 laps
“First of all I want to welcome Ben to the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team, or should that be Team Texas. He’s joined a fantastic squad and we already love him here because his brilliant Yamaha debut in the race helped me get fifth in the world championship. Personally I’m really excited about working with him in 2010 because he’s a talented rider, and I’m sure we’ll be motivating each other a lot. I didn’t too many laps today and all I did was work on the wheelbase and some different front-end geometry. The bike felt good and we definitely learned a couple of things by making the bike longer. I’ve got a couple of other things to check on the bike tomorrow and then it will off for a hard earned winter break.”

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Fiat Yamaha

One day after sealing the Triple Crown of titles for 2009, the Fiat Yamaha Team was back at work in Valencia today looking towards the next season. World Champion Valentino Rossi and runner-up Jorge Lorenzo tested this afternoon and will continue tomorrow before finally getting the chance to take some time off. Lorenzo finished the day second fastest behind Casey Stoner and Rossi was just behind him in third.

Both riders had a new evolution of the 2010 prototype YZR-M1 to try alongside a 2009 bike, a step on from the first version they tried in August in Brno. They both reported back positively to the Yamaha engineers and were able to set some good times on the prototype bikes. Lorenzo’s best time was just 0.025 seconds off Stoner, with Rossi 0.141 seconds behind his team-mate.

Jorge Lorenzo, Position: 2nd Time: 1′32.685 Laps: 45
“I was really excited to try this new version of the M1 today and I had a lot of motivation to get back to work. The feeling out of the corner is much better and we have more grip already in the rear so it’s a big improvement for me. We still need to work on accelleration but I like what we have so far and I think we will continue to be competitive like this year. We have to wait and see the comparison between the old and new bike at a different track next year, but I am excited. I’m quite tired because this is already our fourth day riding here, but I am happy to have one more day of testing.”

Valentino Rossi, Position: 3rd Time: 1′32.826 Laps: 37
“It was quite hard work to get back on the bike today but it’s a very important test for us. The new prototype we have already feels better than what we tried in Brno, so this is positive. I was faster than with the old bike straight away so we know we’re working in the right way and hopefully we can improve some more tomorrow. Of course we still have a 2009 specification engine and we won’t have an update until the next test in February, but the bike already feels more stable and has more rear grip. Tomorrow we have quite a lot to get through and it will be an important day before we can finally relax.”

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Pramac Racing

Fabiano Sterlacchini – Pramac Racing Technical Director
“These tests are very useful for our new rider at Pramac Racing, Aleix Espargarò. He has already had the opportunity to run with us for four races, but with the little time available during the race weekend this year, test days will be very important for him. We are very satisfied with its first performances on our Ducati and we are confident that can improve a lot during this first winter as a MotoGP rider. Mika has stepped on the track today to understand where and how we perhaps lost a few seconds yesterday in the race: lap times were good and the eighth best final time confirms that yesterday we could perhaps do something more.”

Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing rider – 8th best lap time in 1′33.726
“Today we have worked hard to understand where we could improve yesterday in the race. It was a very good day with satisfactory timing feedback. There are no major new technical things to try at this time but it will be from the first test 2010 that we will have the new bike.”

Aleix Espargarò – Pramac Racing rider – 11th best lap time in 1′33.878
“It was a good day of work: I am trying to figure out where I can improve on the bike. I often try to hold different positions riding the bike to understand how the bike reacts. Indeed today’s work has paid off as we succeeded in lowering our best race lap time by more than half a second. We must continue to be more competitive at the beginning of next year.”

TODAY’S BEST LAP TIMES:
1. C. Stoner – Marlboro Ducati – 1:32.660
2. J.Lorenzo – Fiat Yamaha – 1:32.685
3. V.Rossi – Fiat Yamaha – 1:32.826
4. D.Pedorsa – Repsol Honda – 1:33.088
5. N.Hayden – Marlboro Ducati – 1:33.358
6. B.Speis – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – 1:33.496
7. A.Dovizioso – Repsol Honda – 1:33.675
8. M.Kallio – Pramac Racing – 1:33.726
9. R.dePuniet – LCR Honda – 1:33.775
10. M.Melandri – San Carlo Honda – 1:33.839
11. A.Espargaro – Pramac Racing – 1:33.878
12. C.Edwards – Monster Yamaha – 1:33.929
13. L.Capirossi – Rizla Suzuki – 1:34.144
14. M.Simoncelli – San Carlo Honda – 1:35.229
15. A.Bautista – Rizla Suzuki – 1:35.772
16. H.Barbera – Aspar Team – 1:36.204
17. H.Aoyama – Interwetten Honda MotoGP – 1:37.964

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Rizla Suzuki

lvaro Bautista made his MotoGP entrance onboard a Rizla Suzuki GSV-R at a cool and windy Valencia in Spain this afternoon.

Bautista has made the step-up from the 250cc class and performed well on his first ride on a four-stroke MotoGP machine He completed 52 laps of the 4,005 Ricardo Tormo circuit as he familiarised himself with the difference in performance between the 800cc bike and his previous ride in the quarter-litre class, finishing the day with a very impressive lap-time of 1′35.772.

Loris Capirossi used the short afternoon session to begin testing new components for the 2010 Suzuki GSV-R. He began by evaluating a new cowling designed to improve cornering confidence in windy conditions and also tested some new Akrapovic exhaust systems which will be a factor in Suzuki’s performance development for next year’s machine.

Rizla Suzuki has a full day of testing at Valencia tomorrow and another half-day on Wednesday morning, when both riders will continue with their respective test schedules to get the maximum preparation under their belts in readiness for the 2010 season.

Loris Capirossi:
“The test this afternoon has not been too bad for us, because the weather was so similar to yesterday we were able to do back-to-back comparisons on a couple of things without having to worry about outright lap-times. We will make some big changes tomorrow because we have a lot of time and also a lot of things to try. We got a better feeling today than we had all weekend and the new cowling and pipes certainly made a bit of difference. It will be really important to get a full day tomorrow and make sure we understand the direction we are going in. I think already that the direction for 2010 is clear and that we can improve a lot.”

Tom O’Kane – Crew Chief, Alvaro Bautista:
“I would firstly like to welcome Alvaro to the team and the whole crew is looking forward to working with him. I have been very impressed by the way he took to the bike today and his feedback has been excellent considering it is his first time on a MotoGP machine. His times are also very pleasing, but that is not the important thing right now. We need to get him familiarised with the bike and then we can start making adjustments and improvements that will help him to improve on his times. He has already gelled with the team and he looks like being a big asset to Suzuki.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“The conditions today have been very similar to yesterday’s Grand Prix, which was a good thing because it has helped us compare things in particular areas where we have struggled. The new cowling design that Loris tested was not a fundamental fix, but it has certainly helped his confidence. Although the ultimate lap-time isn’t important the biggest benefit has been that his consistency and rhythm has improved a great deal. Along with some other detailed test items it has been a productive afternoon for Loris and small first step towards improving our level in 2010.

“We have been delighted to see Alvaro riding the bike today – as well as him smiling a lot and basically enjoying himself. He has never ridden a four-stroke motorcycle before, let alone a MotoGP machine, so to make a lap-time in the 1’35s within 50 laps of riding the GSV-R is very encouraging. He is already starting to feel a part of the bike and the team. Overall from both sides it has been a good first day of the test, so let’s hope we can continue upwards tomorrow.

“A quick thank-you is also due to our new technical partner Akrapovic, who are working so hard to help us and already in the first test with their systems we have found a good step forward in power delivery.”