2009 Catalunya Post-Race Test Times - Updated

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)
Source: 

http://www.gpone.com/news/News.asp?NNews=4467

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sport/sportresults/MotoGP/2009/June/ju...

http://www.gpone.com/news/News.asp?NNews=4472

http://www.gpone.com/news/News.asp?NNews=4473

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Aprilia
Ducati
Honda
Kawasaki
Suzuki
Yamaha
Andrea Dovizioso
Jorge Lorenzo
Alex de Angelis
Niccolo Canepa
Nicky Hayden
Marco Melandri
Mika Kallio
Randy de Puniet
Toni Elias
Chris Vermeulen
Casey Stoner
Loris Capirossi
Gabor Talmacsi
MotoGP
250
Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain

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Comments

phoenix1 replied on

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.

barryg replied on

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.