MotoGP debutante Andrea Dovizioso and his JiR Team Scot squad are back in Europe for the latest round of the post season winter tests in the run-up to the 2008 MotoGP championship.

Following on from an impressive showing in Sepang ten days ago, the 2007 250cc runner-up spent this first day getting used to riding the 2007 RC212V MotoGP bike around the 2.748 mile (4.423km) Jerez track.

The 2004 125cc World Champion will now continue the hard work tomorrow when he begins an exhaustive series of tyre tests for Michelin and begins to make changes to the chassis of his Honda in a bid to find the perfect set-up for the Spanish track.

Cirano Mularoni – Team Manager, JiR Team Scot
“We have had a good day today although it was a steady start. Andrea today had to get used to the Jerez circuit on the four-stroke MotoGP bike so that was our main aim. He still is getting used to this bike and at every track we go to it’s a new experience for him. Tomorrow our work continues and we will be making more changes and Michelin will be giving us more tyres to test, so we are hoping that the good weather continues.”

Andrea Dovizioso – Rider, JiR Team Scot MotoGP - Best time: 1’ 42.033”, total laps: 60
“It has been not so bad today. Once more I’m getting more used to the bike although the problem here at Jerez is that I don’t like the circuit so much, so it’s been difficult to go fast from the first lap! Despite that I think the lap time was not so bad so we are not worried as we will get faster the more we learn the circuit with this bike. As it was my first time out on the MotoGP bike here we didn’t make so many changes today but a few things on the electronics to make it suit the circuit. Sepang is so different and Jerez is a much smaller circuit, so the electronics are set-up to stop the rear wheel spinning so much. Today I still had some problems adjusting to the engine Braking so we need to improve that point. Tomorrow we will work hard with Michelin and test some tyres, as today was spent simply learning the circuit. I would also like to make some changes to the brakes as you use them a lot here at Jerez.”

Gianni Berti - Technical Coordinator, JiR Team Scot MotoGP
“Even on the 250 Andrea has had difficulties with this track, I think it’s fair to say he’s not a big fan of Jerez! Despite that we have to get on with the job of getting Andrea used to the bike on this track. Here we made some small modifications to the chassis and electronic set-up just to make the bike easier to ride around here so he can get used to the characteristics of the bike on the Jerez circuit. Today was a build-up to the final two days of the test while Andrea got used to the RC212V. Tomorrow we will step things up with some more tyres to test from our partners at Michelin, so we will have another busy day.”