Jerez day 1 test times and (some) impressions

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2007-03-26 Jerez day 1 test times and (some) impressions
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Olivier Jacque was fastest rider of the day 1 in Jerez

After Jerez MotoGP race yesterday, all of MotoGP teams stayed in Jerez for more testing before season continues in less than 3 weeks in Istanbul. Only two riders were not attending test, Loris Capirossi and John Hopkins. Loris Capirossi did not take part in the test as he returned to Monte Carlo on Sunday evening immediately after the race to be close to his wife Ingrid for the expected birth of their first child, Riccardo, in the next few days. Hopkins was absent due to pain in his wrist after Sunday's crash. Wet weather conditions were not exactly what teams have expected, but all of the teams got the chance to test their machines on wet tyres. Read rider impressions after day 1 of test in Jerez.

Casey Stoner (1:51.736s - 21 laps) - 5th
When I woke up this morning and saw that, like in Qatar, we were unable to test in normal conditions, I tried to look on the bright side of things: I've only tested the Bridgestone wets once and this was a good opportunity to do some more laps. For sure it would have been better to test in the dry but at least the day wasn't wasted. We worked on the tyres and the electronics without trying to go for a quick time. I'm pleased with the way things went and I think it will be useful for races with similar conditions. Now I'm going back to Monte Carlo for a day or two and then back home to Australia, where I'll start to train for the Turkish GP, a race that I like a lot.

Alex Barros (1:52.132 – 37 laps) - 8th
Despite bad weather, I’m happy for the results we got. It was the first time I tried the DUCATI GP7 in the rain and at the beginning I had some troubles. My Team did a good job and finally I succeded in driving with confidence, and I got the right feeling with this kind of conditions that made me riding fast. Today we made some job trying two different types of Bridgestone tyres, but we focused manly on the rear. I’m very satisfied because my laptime was good and I’m confident that in case of rain, we have a solid base to start.

Toni Elias (1:52.198, 56 laps) - 9th
We would have preferred to test on dry conditions. Anyway it was a positive day because we could test on wet, working on the set up, compared to last time I tested here on wet, today the feeling was a lot better even if there is still room for improvements. Tomorrow we need dry conditions for an important tyre testing.

Nicky Hayden (1:52.632s – 67 laps) - 11th
The weather was pretty wet today so we took advantage of the track time to try learn more about the bike. A lot of the same issues we’re having in the dry we’re having in the wet too so the feeling was mixed, but I was able to get faster as the day went on and collected a lot of useful data. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll get some better weather and make some further progress.

Marco Melandri (1:52.842, 45 laps) - 12th
It was the first time that we tested with Bridgestone tyres on wet conditions. We worked on the set up and the feeling was good. Today we were supposed to work on the front of the bike and test qualifying tyres but we couldn’t because of the rain. I hope that the weather improves for tomorrow.

Alex Hofmann (1:52.610 – 58 laps) - 13th
Today I hoped we could find a good weather, because after my bad Sunday we have to try a lot of things, but I could only get down on track with rain setting. Neverthless I‘m pleased with this day, because it was the first time I rode the DUCATI GP7 800cc with Bridgestone rain tires, and I got a good feeling . In this afternoon we worked a lot on mapping trying to get a more smooth engine character, and trying to achieve the best balance; then we changed different types of tires finding a satisfying one. After this test I got again the right feeling to go on, and I hope to run an exciting race in Istanbul.

Dani Pedrosa (1:53.240s – 51 laps) - 15th
Today was useful because I haven’t ridden this new bike in wet conditions very much during winter testing so it was good to be able to get a feeling for how the bike behaves in the rain. I also tried a few types of Michelin’s wet weather tyres. The conditions were quite variable today so the lap time does not mean so much – still I’m glad to have gained this experience.

Jerez test - day 1 times

1. Olivier Jacque (Kawasaki) 1'51.422 (52 giri)
2. Randy De Puniet (Kawasaki) 1'51.502 (59)
3. Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) 1'51.536 (27)
4. Kenny Roberts Jr (Kr-Honda) 1'51.567 (30)
5. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 1'51.736 (21)
6. Carlos Checa (Honda) 1'51.827 (44)
7. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1'51.899 (41)
8. Alex Barros (Ducati) 1'52.129 (36)
9. Toni Elias (Honda) 1'52.198 (56)
10. Shinya Nakano (Honda) 1'52.212 (53)
11. Nicky Hayden (Honda) 1'52.637 (67)
12. Marco Melandri (Honda) 1'52.842 (45)
13. Alex Hofmann (Ducati) 1'52.904 (55)
14. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 1'53.104 (36)
15. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1'53.240 (51)
16. Silvayn Guintoli (Yamaha) 1'55.992 (44)
17. Makoto Tamada (Yamaha) 1'57.917 (38)
18. Akiyoshi Kousuke (Suzuki) 1'58.635 (36)
19. Vittoriano Guareschi (Ducati) 2'00.291 (33)

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