Casey Stoner
"I'm really happy because in the past, for a variety of reasons, testing hasn't gone well at this circuit for me but today was quite a bit better. The shoulder isn't hurting so that's a bonus; it's just a little weak but that's not too much of a problem other than in the changes of direction, where we can't go as fast as we'd like. It's been quite hard to get my confidence back because after almost two months without riding and my two crashes in the last test at Jerez it feels a little bit like learning to ride again. We lost a bit of time this morning but that kind of thing can happen with a new bike. I've got total confidence in Ducati and the bike was actually running really well in the afternoon - we just have to be a little patient. The GP8 has improved in terms of power delivery, which was one of our weak points, and even though I'm not yet riding as I'd like I think we're on the right lines. Towards the end of the session I tried the new Bridgestones and there were some encouraging things. We'll keep working on the new tyres tomorrow and hopefully the weather can be on our side like it was today."
Marco Melandri
"The power delivery is better compared to the last test and even though that is something that isn't crucial at this circuit, I think it will be when we go somewhere like Jerez. I still don't feel completely comfortable with the bike as far as the cycle part is concerned. The Ducati has a very unique character - it reacts differently to set-up changes compared to the bike I was used to and along with my engineer we're just trying to understand the problems I'm having at the moment. Losing time this morning when we had to programme the new engine configuration meant that I couldn't get as many laps in as I'd wanted to but these things happen at the beginning. I want to say a big 'thank you' to Ducati Corse for changing the ergonomics of the bike as I requested after Jerez. Now the seat position is good for me and we can concentrate on working on the setting."
Valentino Rossi
“It feels good to be back on the bike after the winter break, and me and all my team are feeling very motivated about the task ahead. I still have some pain in my hand but I had it checked out again last week and the fracture is okay, so I know it’s not a problem to ride. Today we continued where we left off with Bridgestone and it seems we’re making good progress, we did many laps with the same tyre and I’m pleased with things so far. Unfortunately I had a crash today; I was on an out lap and maybe I pushed a little bit too hard, too soon, with not enough temperature in the tyre and I lost the front. Luckily I was not hurt, my hand is okay and I was able to continue with the day’s work! As well as tyres we tried a new-spec engine and I was quite pleased with this, as well as with some new electronics. The surface wasn’t good today and it wasn’t possible to go so fast but I hope tomorrow it will improve and we will be able to keep improving in all areas.”
Jorge Lorenzo
“Unfortunately I lost the front and crashed at turn 13 but it wasn’t a big fall and I wasn’t hurt at all. I went back to the pits and went out on my other bike, forgot about the problem and started improving straight away! In this way it was a positive day for me. We had the chance to test a new engine, with which I found to be an improvement compared to the previous one, and we also worked on some new electronics. I still need to improve some things about my riding style, and we need to work on the bike in the hard braking areas because I am lacking some stability there. Today we didn’t change anything with the tyres but tomorrow we will start some tyre testing with Michelin.”
Davide Brivio Rossi Team Manager FIAT Yamaha
“It was unfortunate that Valentino crashed, as well as quite a few other riders, but he is fine, the bike was okay after some work and it didn’t interrupt things too much. The surface was quite poor and this caused problems for everyone but anyway we were able to get quite a lot of work done and overall it’s been a good first day, despite Valentino’s problem! Of course we’re working a lot with Bridgestone, continuing from the work we did in Jerez, and so far we seem to be going well. Tomorrow we might try a long-run and check the situation with the tyres over many laps, so this will be interesting.”
Daniele Romagnoli Lorenzo Team Manager FIAT Yamaha
“Luckily Jorge wasn’t hurt so despite his crash it was a good day’s work for us. We continued with the base set-up we had in Jerez, where he was quite fast, and it seems to work okay. The main area we need to work on is the hard braking areas, where we still have some vibration, so we need to concentrate on improving the bike for those parts of the track. We tried a new-specification engine and some new electronics and Jorge felt very comfortable with these. Tomorrow we will continue with general set-up work and also start testing new tyres with Michelin; we have a lot to do but so far things are going quite well.”
Andrea Dovizioso
“We worked a lot today on the setting of the engine brake/slipper clutch, to get a better braking ‘feel’ with the new bike. We’ve made some progress, but I think over the next few days the technicians and myself will look more at this problem to find the right solution for me, and my riding style. Everything else is very good. We all worked well together today and Michelin gave us some well-known compounds and tyres, which is important to cut down the variables when you’re testing a new machine. I think the principle difference between the 2007 and 2008 bike is how it enters into the corners and the final part of the braking zone, which as I’ve mentioned I want to improve as soon as possible. The overall feeling though is very positive and I think Honda has done a great job with this bike. The handlebar position is a little low for me at the moment and it is on the highest setting, so I know I must adapt myself to this for sure.”
Randy De Puniet
“A very good day for us we have improved
since the last test here and I was 1.2 seconds
faster so I have to be happy with that. My target
is to keep improving the set up of the bike and
my feeling with the bike while riding each day we
are here. The corner entry speed with the new
chassis is definitely better and the lap time is
good. Michelin gave me a good race tyre for this
track and I have the rear end grip I missed last
time I was here last November.”
Dani Pedrosa
“I wasn’t pushing so hard at the time of
the crash. I lost the front going into Turn 11.
It was quite a big crash – the bike caught fire
and I hurt my right hand. Today it was good to be
riding again after the winter break, we were
working on general set-up, getting a good feel
for the bike before starting some comparison tests.”
Nicky Hayden
“It’s good to be back. Coming in here yesterday
it was pretty cool because I had a line of
mechanics and two brand new HRC factory GP bikes
waiting on me, every nut and bolt was brand new,
and to me that’s pretty cool. Today didn’t go the
best at the start. The chassis feels different to
the prototype I tested last November. It took me
a while to get a good feel from the front, though
towards the end of the day we made some progress,
doing some geometry stuff and a little bit of
suspension. I didn’t test any tyres today, we
just used reference tyres because I wasn’t going
fast enough. First we had to get the bike working
better. The shoulder’s better, though I still
need to get some more strength in it. So that’s
day one in the books. Tomorrow we’ll see if we
can try the pneumatic engine and test some tyres,
we’ve got plenty of work to do and it’s a long way to go to Qatar.”
Shinya Nakano
"We started with the new chassis and found
some good points the only real difficulty I had
was on corner entry I couldn’t hold my line in
some corners a little bit the same as last year
but Bridgestone found me a good front race tyre
and it improved my feeling with the bike and I
set the same lap time as I did the last time we were at Sepang.”
Alex De Angelis
“Today was the first time I have ridden the
RCV as I was not at the November test. I felt
today was good because I didn’t have to change
much on the new chassis set up. I didn’t try to
change anything until I set a god lap time then
we started to try out things. Today I did have a
little front end chatter but it was much less
than the last test at Jerez. The Bridgestone
tyres worked really good today. I did a 20 plus
lap run and set fastest lap on lap 16 so that was very positive.”
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