Submitted by Kropotkin on
Testing has started in the first of the extremely restricted test programs, the amount of testing having been slashed for cost-cutting purposes over the winter. Dani Pedrosa is sitting out the test, preferring to rest in the hope that his injured femur will recover in time for Assen, while the Tech 3 team are also absent.
Andrea Dovizioso is testing the new chassis for HRC, while Ducati is testing a new rear shock, the carbon fiber swingarm and some electronics updates, as well as a revised tail section which lifts the seat higher.
Yamaha has little to test, and so Jorge Lorenzo is mainly working on refining setup. According to MCN, Valentino Rossi is due test a revised version of the M1 engine, designed to last for two races, ready for the new regulations which come into effect after Brno. From then, the riders will have 5 engines to last 7 races, and Yamaha need to ensure that the new engine has not sacrificed performance for durability. As of 1pm, Rossi had yet to take to the track, though. Rossi is notorious for his hatred of early mornings, and will probably wait until the afternoon to make an appearance.
Update - Valentino Rossi took to the track during the afternoon session, run between 2pm and 6pm, but is without Jerry Burgess, who is headed back to Australia for the funeral of his mother, who died on Saturday. One incident of note was the consequences of a crash by Pramac Ducati's Niccolo Canepa: The Italian had crashed going very slowly (about 40 km/h, according to GPONe.com) while testing the carbon fiber swingarm. As a result of that crash, the swingarm cracked, underlining the risks of using CF as a structural material. However, both Canepa and Kallio were about half a second quicker with the new CF swingarm than they were on the aluminium one yesterday, so its benefits outweigh the disadvantages.
Final times (courtesy of GPOne.com)
Pos. | Rider | Bike | Time | Best lap | Total laps |
1 | Andrea Dovizioso | Honda | 1'42.230 | 33 | 69 |
2 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | 1'42.434 | 56 | 58 |
3 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | 1'42.446 | 30 | 80 |
4 | Mika Kallio | Ducati | 1'42.637 | 96 | 98 |
5 | Casey Stoner | Ducati | 1'42.763 | 24 | 38 |
6 | Loris Capirossi | Suzuki | 1'43.188 | 71 | 83 |
7 | Randy de Puniet | Honda | 1'43.247 | 66 | 76 |
8 | Chris Vermeulen | Suzuki | 1'43.299 | 27 | 83 |
9 | Alex de Angelis | Honda | 1'43.360 | 68 | 69 |
10 | Niccolo Canepa | Ducati | 1'43.391 | 87 | 90 |
11 | Marco Melandri | Kawasaki | 1'43.506 | 31 | 89 |
12 | Toni Elias | Honda | 1'43.708 | 59 | 60 |
13 | Sete Gibernau | Ducati | 1'43.819 | 4 | 45 |
14 | Nicky Hayden | Ducati | 1'44.157 | 97 | 98 |
15 | Gabor Talmacsi | Honda | 1'45.056 | 52 | 53 |
250 class | |||||
1 | Hiroshi Aoyama | Honda | 1'47.377 | 65 | 67 |
2 | Raffaele De Rosa | Honda | 1'47.922 | 57 | 58 |
3 | Karel Abraham | Aprilia | 1'47.923 | 30 | 31 |
4 | Axel Pons | Aprilia | 1'50.234 | 41 | 53 |
Times at 4:30pm (courtesy of GPOne.com)
Pos. | Rider | Total laps | Time | |
1 | Andrea Dovizioso | 59 | 1'42.230 | |
2 | Jorge Lorenzo | 48 | 1'42.446 | |
3 | Casey Stoner | 38 | 1'42.763 | |
4 | Valentino Rossi | 30 | 1'43.133 | |
5 | Chris Vermeulen | 70 | 1'43.299 | |
6 | Loris Capirossi | 63 | 1'43.306 | |
7 | Mika Kallio | 73 | 1'43.393 | |
8 | Marco Melandri | 69 | 1'43.506 | |
9 | Randy de Puniet | 63 | 1'43.517 | |
10 | Niccolo Canepa | 77 | 1'43.720 | |
11 | Sete Gibernau | 25 | 1'43.819 | |
12 | Alex De Angelis | 57 | 1'43.903 | |
13 | Nicky Hayden | 73 | 1'44.259 | |
14 | Toni Elias | 48 | 1'44.259 | |
15 | Gabor Talmacsi | 48 | 1'45.184 | |
16 | Karel Abraham | 31 | 1'47.923 | (250 class) |
17 | Hiroshi Aoyama | 48 | 1'48.417 | (250 class) |
18 | Raffaele De Rosa | 48 | 1'48.417 | (250 class) |
19 | Axel Pons | 49 | 1'50.712 | (250 class) |
Times at 1pm (courtesy of GPOne.com)
Pos. | Rider | Total Laps | Time | |
1 | Andrea Dovizioso | 35 | 1'42.230 | |
2 | Jorge Lorenzo | 39 | 1'42.446 | |
3 | Casey Stoner | 21 | 1'42.859 | |
4 | Chris Vermeulen | 41 | 1'43.299 | |
5 | Loris Capirossi | 41 | 1'43.306 | |
6 | Mika Kallio | 44 | 1'43.393 | |
7 | Marco Melandri | 45 | 1'43.506 | |
8 | Randy de Puniet | 39 | 1'43.517 | |
9 | Sete Gibernau | 14 | 1'43.819 | |
10 | Niccolo Canepa | 44 | 1'43.950 | |
11 | Alex de Angelis | 32 | 1'44.197 | |
12 | Toni Elias | 34 | 1'44.271 | |
13 | Nicky Hayden | 44 | 1'44.695 | |
14 | Gabor Talmacsi | 21 | 1'45.355 | |
15 | Karel Abraham | 31 | 1'47.923 | (250 class) |
16 | Hiroshi Aoyama | 26 | 1'48.341 | (250 class) |
17 | Raffaele De Rosa | 26 | 1'48.417 | (250 class) |
18 | Alex Pons | 19 | 1'51.114 | (250 class) |
Comments
Tech Trois
What do we make of Tech Trois being absent?
JT needs seat time.
Tech 3 absent
There could be a couple of reasons Tech 3 is absent from the test.
1. Tech 3 have an extremely tight budget. Tech 3 missed out on some very valuable testing time during the preseason when both JT and CE desperately needed to learn the new Bridgestones. I suspect Herve was pounding the pavement for sponsorship money he needed to keep the team running for the 2009 season.
2. Yamaha have a very strict contract with Tech 3 that prohibits them from developing/testing new parts. Furthermore, the tire war is over so Tech 3 don't have any Michelin equipment to test either.
I'm sure they are focusing on their Moto2 effort as well, but Herve has stated by his own admission that many of his tech personnel will move to Moto2 since there is nothing to work on in GP. I think the Moto2 project costs for 2009 are already reflected in Tech 3's salary expense. No engines are available so most of the work is being done in CAD and via computer simulation.
Agreed... weird. Maybe the
Agreed... weird.
Maybe the Moto2 effort, but I have to believe Colin's result was a good one for them?
Takahashi was absent as
Takahashi was absent as well. Do we know his fate yet, beyond the injuries he suffered in his lap 1 crash?
http://www.ducati.com/clinica_mobile/news.jhtml?newsId=47976&news=articl...
-jim
I hope Nicky is finding out
I hope Nicky is finding out what is making him slower from the morning to the afternoon. It looks like any small changes they can make at the track don't seem to be helping take off big chunks of time. He's certainly getting the seat time he needs - but to what effect?
Most odd.