Fiat Yamaha Team
The new YZR-M1 hit the track to give a brief glimpse at what it is capable of and made a solid showing in Sepang.
The two-month winter testing ban came to an end today with the first pre-season test of the 2009 MotoGP season, and Fiat Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo were itching to get back to business with their latest-evolution
YZR-M1s. At the traditional winter testing venue of Sepang in Malaysia, alongside the rest of the teams, the pair made a gentle start to their campaign with Rossi finishing the day third fastest and Lorenzo tenth. Both riders concentrated on developing the new chassis and also adapting to a new way of working with the single-tire rule, which sees all riders now on Bridgestone tires.
Having received stitches to his left hand and left foot on Saturday after an accident at home, Rossi was unsure how comfortable he would be on the bike. He was pleased to find he was able to ride as he wanted however. He had a small slip-off this morning but was unhurt and completed 31 laps, stopping just before 4pm after posting a best time of 2’02.324. Lorenzo had his first chance to try the new specification engine and was happy to find he had improved acceleration on the exit of the corners. The 21-year-old completed 61 laps with a best time of 2’03.894.
Valentino Rossi
Position: 3rd Time: 2'02.324 Laps: 31
Despite the stiches, Rossi left Day 1 in the top three.
“I am very happy because I was able to ride the bike today, despite the stitches in my hand and foot, and I was fast. I am not 100% because of the pain, but I have no problem to ride. I am also pleased because the engine is better and I feel very comfortable with the new chassis. We are adapting our way of testing to the new tire rule and it is not so bad so far, even though we have more work to do. The bike needs to be gentler with the tires now; normally I prefer harder tires but from now on we’re going to need to be ‘sweeter’ with them. For sure it will be good for the show, because everyone will be starting from the same level with tires. This morning I had a small fall, when I was riding very slowly. It was not so wet, but some patches of the track are lacking grip and that one especially seemed to have none at all! I stopped quite early this afternoon because I wanted to keep myself in good shape for tomorrow and the day after. After some laps my finger was hurting and it was also beginning to swell up. Tomorrow we will try something new with the electronics and we will also have to change the engine, because the one I used today was the same one that we used at the Jerez test and its mileage is now over.”
Jorge Lorenzo
Position: 10th Time: 2'03.894 Laps: 61
Lorenzo, feeling a bit rusty after the break, put down some solid times during Day 1 putting him in 10th for the day.
“Today has been a difficult first day back at work! My body is a little rusty after so much time off. In this condition it’s quite difficult to be fast, but I am happy because the bike seems to be better, especially the engine. In Japan they have been able to improve the acceleration and with the new chassis as well the bike isn’t moving so much on the exit of the corners. Unfortunately the circuit is not ok, because there are two corners with some problems and when you ride through them the bike is sliding too much, which is dangerous. This is why a couple of riders have had some crashes I think. I stopped quite early because I had already done a lot of laps and was very tired. Tonight I’m going to have a massage and try and get as much sleep as possible, and hopefully I will feel stronger tomorrow!”
Davide Brivio
Team Manager
“We made a good start today because although Valentino’s physical condition isn’t perfect, we’ve been able to do a good job. The new bike seems to have been ‘born’ in a good way. We are pretty competitive already although we still need to work on the set-up. With the new tire rule it has become very important that we find a good starting point to work from and I think we are going in the right direction so far.”
Daniele Romagnoli
Team Manager
“We started with the set-up we used in Jerez and it was a promising first day, although we still have some difficulties entering corners with the front and some other issues in acceleration. Jorge used the day just to find confidence with the bike again after the winter break and we did not concentrate too hard on set-up. That will be the priority of tomorrow.”
Ducati Marlboro Team
First Test Of 2009 Preseason Underway For Ducati Marlboro Team
Stoner making his first practice of the 2009 season after missing the last test in late 2008.
The opening test of the 2009 preseason got underway on a cloudy but dry day at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia today, with Ducati Marlboro Team riders Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden both on track – the Australian returning to action after missing the previous test as he recovered from a scaphoid operation. Stoner is still not in peak condition and unable to push too hard, with his wrist feeling weak after three months out of action, yet he was on the pace throughout the day. The former World Champion reported positive feedback from the GP9 and was happy with the work done on the new carbon chassis and tires.
Hayden set about his Sepang testing program in methodical manner and with his usual hard-working approach, making as few changes as possible to the bike in the early part of the three-day session. The American is happy with the new bike’s performance in corner entry but despite adapting well to the new Bridgestone tires he is still looking for more stability from the bike in corner exit.
Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team), fastest lap 2'02.038 (34 laps)
Hayden powered though the test despite some pain in his wrist.
"This morning was really difficult, I really didn’t feel comfortable on the bike. My wrist is still in a lot of pain and I honestly hoped it would be in better shape than this after three months since the operation. Even though the lap times were good from the start the wrist was still giving me a lot of problems – it is weak and painful under braking, especially in the first left-hand turn. I can’t do more than four or five laps at a time and there’s nothing I can do about that at the moment, other than hope that it improves over time. Sepang is a physically demanding circuit and probably not the best place to be riding for the first time after three months out. I preferred not to ride too much and tire myself out and hopefully it will already be a bit better tomorrow. Freddy, our physiotherapist, has a bit of work to do tonight! The GP9 is running well and I have the same positive feeling as the last two tests at Barcelona and Valencia. The chassis is completely different and we’ll have to work on improving the set-up but we have a good starting point and we can use the GP8 as a reference. The power delivery has improved and now we have more torque, which helps on the exit of the slower corners. Bridgestone have brought two compounds here that both work well, although I prefer the harder one because even though it is a little more difficult to ride it guarantees a more consistent performance."
Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro Team), fastest lap 2'04.002 (60 laps)
“We started out with the same set-up as Jerez, because after two months without riding it was better to go with something we knew. We haven’t made massive changes over the course of the day, mainly because before we do that I need to pick up my own pace. The bike feels good on the brakes and it is stable and precise in the fast corners. I’m struggling a bit on corner exit though because it still tends to pump quite a lot and I’m not used to that yet. We’re working to reduce it and we’ve got a couple of ideas that we’ll check out over the next two days. I like the new tire rule. We’d got to a point where we were working too much on the tires and there wasn’t enough time to work on the set-up of the bike. Now we just have a choice of two tires, both of which work well even though I’m not able to get the most out of the harder compound yet, and that makes the job much easier for the team.”
Pramac Racing Team
Pramac Racing Begin The 2009 Season, Kallio And Canepa Discovering Theirs Desmosedici GP9
Fabiano Sterlacchini – Pramac Racing Technical Director
This first day of testing provided some solid testing time to work out any issues with the bike. Kallio is looking forward to more testing to improve performance.
“We couldn’t expect great lap times from the first day of work, for us the most important thing is that our riders will learn quickly the best way to work so that we will be able to constantly improve theirs bikes. Really important during these days of testing. Mika really has a great sensibility with the bike and each time he comes back in the garage he make us clearly understand how to modify and improve our performances. In the other side of the garage we have meet a bit more difficulties, but this doesn’t worry us. We can’t forget that Niccolò hasn’t been racing from more than a year and this is an important fact. He will have to get used to refer also to other riders’ lap times and not only on personal sensations like last year during Bridgestone testing. Anyway in today’s last few laps he has improved and this give us good hopes for the upcoming two days. We have noticed that we lose too much time in t he two final straights where Niccolò is more than 15km/h slower than Mika and we have to understand what slow us down so much.”
Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing Rider
“We have encountered some difficulties in the first few hours of work, but in the afternoon we managed to straighten things up and be a bit more competitive. We have worked a lot controlling one single detail at the time. This is the way I like to work. At this moment we don’t care about lap times, first of all I have to feel the bike completely mine. I am really trustful for the next two days of work here in Sepang.”
Niccolò Canepa – Pramac Racing Rider
“For sure I cannot be satisfied of this first day of work lap time sheet. Last time I have ridden here during test I had a much better fastest lap time after three days. I think I registered a 2’03.7. We will see where we will be Saturday night. Looking at the lap times and at the data, we have noticed that until half of the circuit I maintain my teammate rhythm, which is good, while I lose too much time in the two final straights and the last turns. I probably have to improve the way I sit on the bike because my top speed is 16km/h slower than Mika’s. This makes a big difference, mostly on this track.”
2009 Sepang Test Day 1 Results:
1. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2'01.869
2. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 2'02.038
3. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 2'02.324
4. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2'02.803
5. Toni Elias (SPA) Team San Carlo 2'02.886
6. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Repsol Honda 2'03.088
7. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 2'03.254
8. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 2'03.312
9. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Grupo Francisco Hernando 2'03.750
10. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 2'03.894
11. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team 2'04.002
12. Alex De Angelis (RSM) Team San Carlo 2'04.396
13. Mika Kallio (FIN) Alice Team 2'04.405
14. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 2'04.502
15. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 2'04.882
16. Yamaha Test Rider 1 (JPN) Yamaha Factory Racing 2'05.024
17. Yuki Takahashi (JPN) Scot Racing Team 2'05.098
18. Yamaha Test Rider 2 (JPN) Yamaha Factory Racing 2'05.140
19. Niccolo Canepa (ITA) Alice Team 2'05.270
Sepang Records:
Circuit Record: Casey Stoner (Ducati – 2007) 2’02.108
Best pole: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha – 2006) 2’00.605
