MotoGP
Nicky Hayden Honda fastest on final day of Sepang MotoGP test
25 gennaio 2008  Gresini Honda riders Shinya Nakano and Alex De Angelis, had a relatively quiet final day of testing. Nakano decided to sit out a few hours of the day when the track temperature rose to an incredible 52 degrees making serious tyre development work for Bridgestone extremely difficult. Nakano returned to the track late afternoon but did not better his time and he did not try a race simulation test as hoped. The team will run a full race distance when the MotoGP teams return to Sepang early next month to continue pre-season testing. De Angelis worked diligently but in short bursts due to pain from a wrist tendon injury he sustained in a ‘Tank slapping’ incident yesterday. De Angelis has impressed with his calm measured approach to his MotoGP debut season. The young Sanmarines worked with the Nissin brake technicians successfully finding a good balance of stopping power and brake management. The Gresini team also worked on tyres in a bid to reduce a front end chatter problem and were partially successful before high temperatures changed the track surface grip. LCR Honda teamster Randy de Puniet, who had been fastest man on the opening two-days of the test, worked like a slave all day. In the morning the Frenchman worked on tyres before moving on to evaluate various chassis and Ohlins suspension settings on the LCR Honda RC212V. As the curtain came down on the first test of 2008 De Puniet was “Very happy with both my performance and the way the team have worked over the three-days.” Honda rider lap times and quotes. Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 2m 00.326s – 77 laps. “Today’s gone a lot better than the last couple and we’re feeling positive, I feel like I’m a lot closer than I was a year ago here. This morning we checked the pneumatic valve engine, then we just focused on the standard engine and this year’s chassis, working on the general set-up. I used qualifiers for my fastest lap and they worked well. After that we did a batch of front tyres because one of my weak points here is that sometimes I struggle when this track gets hot. So I did a batch of tyres at the hottest part of the day to improve on that. “We hadn’t really tested any tyres for Michelin here until today and we wanted to do a long run. That run was decent, probably the best thing I’ve done all week. I did the best lap I’ve ever done round here on race tyres on lap 18, a 2m 01.6s. At the end of three long days that wasn’t too bad. I used a 16.5 on that run but I’ve also been trying some 16 rears here. “Now we go to Phillip Island which is quite a different track with some long corners, some high-speed stuff and a lot of changes of direction. The big thing there is tyres so it’ll be really important to do some more tyre work with Michelin there. We will also do some more work with the pneumatic-valve engine. I’ve got faith in Honda, so hopefully they can make us proud. I think it’s going to be a good season, there’s a lot of guys going fast, a lot of guys motivated. It’s an exciting time, everyone’s at zero.” Andrea Dovizioso, JiR Scot Honda: 2m 01.447s - 51 laps. “The long run I made today was very interesting we made some small setting changes to the RCV and I also changed my style a little, hanging off the bike more than normal and this helped ease the chatter problems I have experienced here. Before the long run I tested a few Michelin tyres even a qualifier that was very good, particularly the 16 inch rear. If you look at the lap times set at the last GP here at Sepang we are not slow, my times are fast. So I leave here quite happy with the results of the test.” Randy De Puniet, LCR Honda: 2m 01.873s - 56 laps. “I worked on the range of tyres that Michelin brought here for me to try then on the overall balance of the bike with suspension settings and a different off-set on the front forks. Then, when I was happy with the set up in the early afternoon I worked on front tyres. I crashed today at the same place as yesterday, the same time and the same speed. The front turned in on me very quickly - very strange as I was of the gas. Maybe it was a combination of the high track temperature and a too soft front tyre. I ran my race simulation test yesterday afternoon and it was very good. I am very happy I have been fast on every day and was ?? fastest overall. ” Shinya Nakano, Gresini Honda: 2m 02.032s - 38 laps.“Today we did some testing with brake and tyre combinations just to confirm we are working in the right direction. We started working with the Nissin brakes at the Jerez test over three-days and now at Sepang. I am happy with the performance finally I have found a good feeling because I can brake as I need to and they perform consistently. I tried a qualifying tyre but my best lap times were set with race tyres. We are working towards the first race at Qatar and we have a lot of work to do but we are getting good support from Honda and Bridgestone so I am very happy.” Alex De Angelis, Gresini Honda: 2m 02.196s - 37 laps.“This morning my wrist was much better after the Doctor had given me a pain killing injection and everything was OK. The afternoon was not so good and I had a lot of pain so I stopped testing. We worked on the engine Braking system and I ran with less engine brake, I was sliding just a little too much yesterday. We changed the ride height and this also helped reduce the chatter a lot but not completely. I also worked with the Nissin technicians and was impressed with the performance possibilities. I am very happy with the work we did here but not happy with the condition of my wrist. Now we go to Phillip Island and that’s my favourite track. Much different to Sepang so I will learn more about the bike next week.” The MotoGP teams now move on to the Phillip Island circuit in Australia for a three-day test on January 30 – 31 and February 1. |
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