Estoril test times and impressions

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2008-04-14 Estoril test times and impressions
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Day after MotoGP race in Estoril, most of the riders, with exception of race winner Jorge Lorenzo, who decided to undergo surgery which should solve his arm pump problem. Dani Pedrosa clocked fastest time of the day, still far slower than pole position time set by Lorenzo. Pedrosa and Hayden spent their day testing new chassis parts and tyres from Michelin. Valentino Rossi evaluated lot of tyres from Bridgestone, improving his time on race tyres from yesterday's race and gaining more confidence in Yamaha-Bridgestone combination before Shanghai. Andrea Dovizioso set third time of the test after disappointment in the race. Casey Stoner managed to improve setup of Desmosedici GP8, managing to set consistent lap times inside 1.37.

Dani Pedrosa - 1st -1:36.455, 68 laps:
It’s been another positive day of testing. We focused mostly on testing tyres with Michelin, both race tyres and qualifying tyres, because I needed to improve my performance on qualifiers. The day’s work has helped us prepare for the Chinese GP and further improve our base setup. We also did some work on the chassis and suspension to improve front-end feeling during hard braking, because this aspect of performance is particularly important at Shanghai, and we also worked on the electronics.

Nicky Hayden - 4th - 1:36.928, 111 laps:
Everything went pretty smooth today. We worked mainly on improving the race setup to get the bike more stable on the brakes, because there’s a lot of hard braking at Shanghai. We improved our race pace here, I think we were fastest on race tyres today, so we’re happy about that. In the afternoon we did some tyre testing with Michelin and that went pretty well. I'm feeling confident, the bike is working well and my team have done a great job here, doing a day-and-night shift to give me a good bike after I bent my race bike yesterday, so a big thank you to them. I’m looking forward to China and getting a positive result.

Casey Stoner - 7th - 1:37.333,77 laps:
I'm happy with the work we've done today. We modified a few things that made the bike a little less nervous over the bumps and allowed me to lap in 1'37s with more consistency than I managed yesterday. We also tried a few new tyres and found some interesting things. At the end of the day I tried two qualifiers but I preferred not to try a third one because it had been a long day and it was pointless taking risks when I was tired. I'm really happy with the work we've done and the pace we found. I'm sure the improvements will help us when we get to China but now I'm just looking forward to heading back to Australia and spend some time relaxing with the family.

Marco Melandri - 17th - 1:39.725, 78 laps:
Today we tried a different weight distribution to try and improve the grip, braking and corner entry. Things have improved a little and I'm quite pleased. We need to continue and be positive, work together and I'm sure we'll find the way forward.

Estoril test times:
1. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 1'36.455
2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'36.707
3. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP 1'36.791
4. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda 1'36.928
5. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 1'37.145
6. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1'37.146
7. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 1'37.330
8. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki 1'37.617
9. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'37.725
10. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 1'37.767
11. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'37.781
12. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'37.782
13. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing 1'38.023
14. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team 1'38.695
15. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing 1'39.065
16. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team 1'39.223
17. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 1'39.725

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