|
|
2008-08-18 Casey Stoner sets pace on day 1 of Brno test
 Be first to comment this story
Day after Brno MotoGP race, teams and rider stayed in Czech Republic in order to perform some more testing before next race. Casey Stoner put bad memories behind and set some fantastic laps on race tyres, about second faster than his race lap times. He mainly worked on set-up and tried new Bridgestone tyres. Valentino Rossi did not spend too much time on track (28 laps), evaluating new Bridgestone tyres and trying some new electronics and mapping, which he will evaluate in more details tomorrow. Toni Elias also significantly improved his time from race, showing that race result may not be just one-time miracle.
Shinya Nakano equaled his race position in test, in front of Chris Vermeulen. Colin Edwards was best Michelin rider in Brno test, but tyres which he used lasted only three decent laps, which was frustrating enough for Dani Pedrosa to abandon testing after just few laps. Jorge Lorenzo was another Michelin rider inside top 10 in test, also being last one to break under 1.58 mark. Lorenzo tried different suspension setting and different Michelin front tyres, finding slight improvement in performance. Sylvain Guintoli also found his way into top 10 fastest riders, showing overall improvement of the Alice Ducati team.
Casey Stoner - 1st:
It has been a really positive day. We didn't have too much to test - a couple of new tyres and that's about it - but we managed to find a new setting to improve on what was already a very good situation. I managed to drop my lap times by almost a second on yesterday and that's really positive. Unfortunately my physical condition on Friday and the rain on Saturday meant that we didn't head into the race in the best possible shape. In any case I'm happy because the things we've improved today will be useful for the upcoming races. Hopefully the weather's good to us again tomorrow so we can finish the job off with Bridgestone
Davide brivio - Valentino Rossi team manager:
It was a good day of testing today, after a great day of racing yesterday! We have tested many different Bridgestone tyres, both front and rear, and we have collected a lot of information which will help us for the rest of the season. Then we worked on some new electronics and mapping but we need to continue with this tomorrow because we haven't finished the whole programme. Tomorrow we also have some general set-up work to do, to try some things that we weren't able to check at the weekend, due to losing one day to rain. We hope that we will have another good day tomorrow, finish all of our planned work and then we will leave here in good shape for the final push.
Daniele Romagnoli - Jorge Lorenzo team manager:
Today we concentrated on front tyres with Michelin, who provided us with some different compounds and rubber to try. We found some improvement with regards to the wear of the tyre, which was one of the biggest problems during the weekend, but there is still a lot of work to do. Tomorrow we will shift focus to the rear tyre and we hope we can make the most of the day so that we can go to Misano in better shape and with more confidence.
Marco Melandri - 12th:
Today we worked mainly on trying to understand why I struggled so much at the start of the race yesterday. My pace hasn't been particularly fast but I'm happy that it was consistent on both new and used tyres. We've taken a step forward and we'll work hard tomorrow to take another one. We'll probably modify the weight distribution a little to improve the overall feeling. We're working well and I can say that today has been a good day of tests.
Dani Pedrosa - 14th:
We tried some different front tyres that Michelin brought here for this test, but we finished after some laps because we couldn't find any improvement. We tested the tyres with my current race bike, there was no point using the machine with the pneumatic-valve engine because the tyres weren’t working well enough. We have rescheduled this test at Misano, on the Monday after the San Marino GP.
Andrea Dovizioso – 16th:
Today was a day mainly focused on research for a better performance from our rubber. We have noted some progress but this is still not enough. We expect Michelin to work intensively to achieve the results we expect for the next race. Colin Edwards has got a good lap time, but only for three laps, which is not significant enough for us to draw any conclusions. We stayed out even longer to assess the durability of the tyres, in addition to grip. We were able also to do tests on electronics. The next Grand Prix at Misano I hope to take a good result in front of my home crowd.
Tadayuki Okada - 19th:
Today we tested some new steps in development concerning both engine and electronics. In Japan we are working on the development of both the spring-valve engine and the pneumatic-valve engine. Since my last appearance at the Italian MotoGP I can say that the bike with pneumatic-valve engine has improved a lot. I think that the bike has reached a satisfactory level of development, I hope that Dani will be able to test it soon.
Monday test times - Brno:
1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 1'56.261
2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'57.332
3. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team 1'57.457
4. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'57.652
5. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki 1'57.742
6. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 1'57.756
7. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'57.826
8. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team 1'57.859
9. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'57.979
10. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'58.177
11. Niccolò Canepa (ITA) Ducati Test 1'58.204
12. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 1'58.325
13. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1'58.568
14. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 1'59.067
15. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki Racing 1'59.130
16. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP 1'59.130
17. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 1'59.228
18. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing 2'00.414
19. Tadyuki Okada (JPN) Repsol Honda Team 2'00.735
|
Back to MotoGP news home
|
|
|
