Sepang 2007-11-15
1. Randy de Puniet (Honda) 2’03.033
2. Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) 2’03.357
3. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 2’03.406
4. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) 2’03.607
5. Loris Capirossi (Suzuki) 2’03.748
6. Anthony West (Kawasaki) 2’04.068
7. Nicky Hayden (Honda) 2’04.164
8. John Hopkins (Kawasaki) 2’04.316
9. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2’04.433
10. James Toseland (Yamaha) 2’05.438
James Toseland 29 varv
“The MotoGP bike has a totally different feeling to a Superbike but my Tech 3 team and team-mate Colin Edwards have great experience and are teaching me the ropes. I can’t wait to get back out there tomorrow and I just hope the rain stays away. Everybody has made me so welcome in the team, I‘m working with some top guys and it’s great to get started at last.”
Jorge Lorenzo 26 varv
“It’s a pity about the weather but overall the first day has been quite positive, even if I haven’t been so fast. We managed to do 26 laps before lunch and then the rain came and we weren’t able to do anymore, so hopefully it will be better tomorrow because we have a lot to do! All the time I’m feeling more natural on the bike and I can feel the difference from Valencia, but I need to make a few changes to my riding style in order to fully adapt and we’re working on this. It’s hard for me to use all the power at the moment and I need to learn to be slower and smoother in the corners and to open the throttle a bit earlier. I’m struggling a bit to find the fast lap times but this is normal because there is still so much about the bike that I don’t understand. Tomorrow we have some new things to try, including a new fork, and I will just keep on working steadily.”
Daniele Romagnoli – Team Manager
“Today we started with Jorge at what is a very different track to Valencia, so we began with a base set-up from Yamaha while he got a feel for the bike on this track. He is starting to learn and understand more all the time about the MotoGP bike but he needs to improve some things and one of the things he’s concentrating on is braking deeper into the corner. He doesn’t have the best feeling going into the corner at the moment; he’s got some lack of grip and he’s not 100% comfortable and so we’ve been trying some different engine braking settings to try to improve this. We already have some plans about how to improve the package for him but unfortunately the rain stopped us today and so tomorrow we will start again and see where we get to.”
Masahiko Nakajima – Fiat Yamaha Team Director
“Unfortunately we were only able to test for three hours today so we couldn’t do very much. There are two main aims for this test; the first is to help Jorge become fully accustomed to a four-stroke bike, especially in relation to the engine braking character, which is very different to what he’s used to on a two-stroke. The second thing he has to get used to and understand quickly is the carbon brakes, which are very different to the steel discs he has been using in 250. These are two major factors for the rider to understand and they also influence the entry into the corner, so he has a lot to learn in these two areas. Once he has overcome these factors then we are confident he will quickly be able to develop in other areas so this is where we’re focused for these three days.”
Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda 56 varv
“Everything didn’t get off to a good start today crashing on the fifth lap of a three-day test isn’t so smart. I was just about to get off the brakes when I went down it was very bright and I didn’t notice the damp patches, I was going pretty slow and I’m OK. It’s the oldest excuse there is to say ‘There must have been something on the track’ but three guys gong down in the same place? That kinda put us on the back foot but the boys fixed the bike an we got in some decent laps but with the track being damp in the morning and the rain coming after lunch we didn’t get a whole lot done. We planned to take the new bike out after lunch but the rain prevented that. The new bike is the same as at Valencia but we planned to run some different power curves on the engine.”
Randy De Puniet LCR Honda 45 varv
“Not so bad today. We started with the old set up for 20 laps then I came in to make changes to the front and rear suspension to suit my riding style. We found a good balance inside 40 laps then we worked a little on the engine mapping. I had a small crash just before the rain started, the front end turned in on me at the fast right hand corner at the back of the grandstand. I am satisfied with the first day pity about the rain because we need to get as many laps as possible to help me understand the bike better but I think we are working in a good direction, taking things step by step.”
Andrea Dovizioso JiR Scot Honda 22 varv
“I am very much more at home on this circuit than at Valencia and I am very happy with the bike - it’s big, fast and a lot of fun to ride. My lap times are very good and that surprised me because I do not yet have a really good feel for the bike in the way I want – there are so many things for me to understand about the bike before I can go fast. I am not yet confident with the engine braking because the back end slides a lot and I cannot use the front brake as I need to – if I had less engine braking I could focus more on the front brake. We have two-more days and I’m confident we will improve.”
Det är väl egentligen inte så konstigt då de borde fylla ut avståndet mellan kåpglas och cuts bättre än en kort förare.
Plus mera krökt rygg mm.