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2008-04-01 Impressions after first day of Jerez test
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 After second race of the season that took place in Jerez, most of teams stayed for testing in order to improve set-up of their bikes from lessons learned in first two races. Jorge Lorenzo again set fastest time of the day, in front of team-mate Rossi, who continued with Bridgestone utilization. Casey Stoner managed to find set-up day too late, managing to solve problems that teethed him all weekend.
Daniele Romagnoli - Jorge Lorenzo team manager:
It was a another really good day today; Jorge's progress is almost unbelievable for us to watch and every day is enjoyable. The most impressive thing today is that we were able to improve on Jorge's race pace from Saturday, which was the best pace of the whole weekend. We continued to work on set-up and improved the front feeling with the help of a new fork setting, and with race tyres today he was very consistent and very fast. We also refined some engine mapping and through this it seems that we've been able to obtain improvement with tyre wear. Michelin had planned a very interesting tyre test for us today with Estoril in mind and we found some good things, especially concerning the rear tyre. Jorge has done a great job at just his second race and today's test gave us a chance to check out some important things that will help us at the next race in Estoril. We're already looking forward to the next challenge but for now I want to thank all the team and Yamaha for their hard work; they deserve a good rest before Portugal!
Davide Brivio - Valentino Rossi team manager:
Today gave us the chance to spend a whole day working closely with our engineers and Bridgestone on tyres and general bike setting. It's still early days in the Bridgestone-Yamaha relationship so we are still focusing on adapting these two elements in order to create the best package. We got some good feedback today and it seems we improved the feeling in both areas. It's been very important to stay this extra day because the first two races have been quite intense for everyone, so it's good to have time to test in relaxed surroundings without the pressure that comes during a race weekend. We were able to go through things step by step, analyse the details and take on board some information which we hope will be useful in Estoril and beyond. We worked with different front and rear compounds today, and we also tested some qualifying tyres. Of course we're always looking to improve the setting and today we were also abe to improve the stability of the bike in the fast corners. Valentino is happy with the days work and now he and all of the team will have some well deserved rest before the next race.
Casey Stoner - fastest lap on race tyres - 1:40.588; with qualifying tyres - 1:39.218 (59 laps)
We've done a few different tests on the setting and with the tyres and I'm pretty happy with how it's gone. We tried some different front tyres that gave me a better feeling than I had in the race yesterday, especially under braking, so I can say it was a really positive test. It's a bit of a shame because with just a few small changes to the set-up we had yesterday the situation has improved a lot and we could have had a much better race if we'd gone with this in the first place. The test on qualifying tyres didn't go quite as well because on the best one I ran wide in one corner and without that I would have knocked a few tenths off my best time. It has been the best day we've had at Jerez and it's left me with a good feeling going to Estoril!.
Randy De Puniet - 1:39.484s (lap 88 of 97).
It was a very long day for us. I made 88 laps in total and tested many things. This morning we lost some track time to fix a front-end problem. Then we will focus our work mainly on suspensions regulations and tyres testing: we found some good solutions but we still miss some adjustments to make a step forward. Anyway we improved the rear traction and, in the last two laps of the day, I tried many starts. I think we got a good base for next GP at Estoril track.
Dani Pedrosa - 1:40.166s (lap 60 of 69)
Today we worked on basic setup to help us get more familiar with the bike, to know our package better and to find the best direction so we can continue improving. It’s the kind of work we usually do at preseason tests but we weren’t able to do this year because of my injury. It was a necessary job with a lot of stops in the pits but I think it was very useful. We also started working on tyres with Michelin and we will focus on tyre testing all day tomorrow. It will be a very important day, crucial for our development programme.
Nicky Hayden - 1:40.389s (lap 25 of 80)
We learned some stuff today, we were able to run pretty decent and consistent laps using reference tyres and we got some good data, so quite a positive day all in all. We had nothing major to test, just some different clutch options to get into the corners a little bit better and some general setup options, looking for a bit of edge traction to help save the tyre over race distance. We’ll come back again tomorrow, get another full day and just work our way through some more options.
Andrea Dovizioso - 1:40.394s (Lap 55 of 55)
The race yesterday brought us back sharply to the reality of life in MotoGP. We had no illusions after Qatar, but after the Jerez race we have analysed with great attention to detail every point of the race and our approach during practice to each technical element of our set-up. The main objective for the team and I is to look more closely at the data acquired during the race and practice sessions and analyse it still further. I have worked a lot on my riding style and on the data, then I’ve also looked at how things have changed during the race. In race configuration on a single lap I’m fast, but I must improve my performance and make a more consistent rhythm during the whole race. In qualifying trim we have to move forward a great deal and I must learn how to use the qualifying tyres to their maximum.
Marco Melandri - fastest lap on race tyres - 1:41.396 (32 laps):
The day started well and we were working with some success on finding more rear grip when I lost the front and crashed on the way into the final bend. It happened suddenly and my hand got trapped underneath the handlebar. I was lucky not to break any bones in my fingers but it's still really painful because the nail on my middle finger has ripped in half. I don't think it will be a problem for Estoril though. Unfortunately we had to call time on a day that was proving to be important and positive. We had a few things still to try, including the tyre that Casey liked. The changes we've had chance to test have been good and I'm sure we're on the right track to improve my feeling with the Desmosedici
Jerez test - day 1 times:
1. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'38.679
2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'39.117
3. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 1'39.218
4. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1'39.484
5. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing 1'39.569
6. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'39.747
7. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'40.034
8. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 1'40.116
9. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda 1'40.389
10. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP 1'40.394
11. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki 1'40.534
12. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'41.308
13. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 1'41.396
14. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing 1'42.132
15. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team 1'42.240
16. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki Racing 1'42.562
17. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team 1'42.624
Jerez Lap Record
D. Pedrosa (Honda) 2008, 1'40.116
Jerez Best Lap
J. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2008, 1'38.189
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