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2007-02-14 dAntin riders in trouble on day 2 in Qatar
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 The second official test day at the Losail International circuit has ended for the Pramac d’ Antin MotoGP Team. The two riders of the Spanitalo Squad were hampered by strong winds and the track’s poor adhesion qualities in setting up their Ducati Desmosedici GP7’s. The Brazilian rider, Alex Barros, concentrated on the set-up of his GP7, working on a better balance between the bike and the tires, and after recording 52 laps his best time was 1’58.314. Alex Hofmann, struggling for a higher grip level, completing 56 laps with a best time of 1’57.900. The final test day will take place tomorrow, Thursday, the 15th of February.
Alex Barros (1’58.314 – 52 laps):
Today wasn’t a positive day for us, and for this I’m not satisfied. The strong wind and the poor track’s low grip level did not allow us to run as we wanted to. We worked on the suspension and the set-up, but we didn’t find a very satisfactory compromise. The best balance of the bike and tires is what we are looking for. Tomorrow we’ll have another very important day’s test, where we’ll do further refinement to the chassis and we’ll work with race tires and qualifiers, as well. I’m sure that we’ll be faster, because in the previous test we have showed how much potential we’re capable of.
Alex Hofmann (1’57.900 – 56 laps):
Today we worked so much, making numerous changes to the chassis, but the end result wasn’t the one we hoped to obtain. I ended up going slightly faster, but the overall feeling with the bike wasn’t good and I had some difficulties with the grip. The weather conditions complicated the situation, too, but tomorrow we will be testing a bunch of tires. We’ll push even harder then, because we know that we can improve a lot.
Fabiano Sterlacchini – Track Engineer of Alex Barros:
We did a lot of changes to the bike to try and find the best feeling for Barros, but unfortunately, we just aren’t getting the feedback that we want.. Tomorrow we’ll continue to work on the tires, and I think we’ll be able to make up some ground.
Emanuele Martinelli – Track Engineer of Alex Hofmann:
We tried switching it up a little to get the results we were looking for, but when you don’t have enough grip, it’s difficult to push even more. Overall, it was a tough day but we hope that tomorrow we’ll be able to get it on and express our potential to everyone. We know that when we have the right Bridgestone, we can run with the best of them.
Unofficial Lap Times - Day 2 - Qatar:
1. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 1’56.296
2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 1’56.537
3. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 1’56.712
4. Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda 1’56.874
5. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati 1’57.040
6. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki 1’57.065
7. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda 1’57.274
8. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki 1’57.288
9. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team KR 1’57.504
10. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda 1’57.591
11. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 1’57.629
12. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati 1’57.698
13. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki 1’57.770
14. Alex Hoffman (GER) Ducati 1’57.999
15. Alex Barros (BRA) Ducati 1’58.513
16. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Yamaha 1’58.610
17. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda 1'58.990
18. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Yamaha 1’59.138
19. Shinichi Ito (JPN) Bridgestone Test 1’59.617
20. Andrew Pitt (AUS) Ilmor 2’02.453
Qatar Lap Record (990cc): Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2006 – 1’57.305
Qatar Best Lap (990cc): Casey Stoner (Honda) 2006 – 1’55.683
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