MotoGP – America in force! –

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America in force !

MotoGP - America in force! -

For three days, some of the 2008 MotoGP riders took their marks at Sepang and some did not hesitate to get wet to get record times … Site takes stock of these tests rich in twists and turns.

Outsmarting the whims of the Malaysian weather, part of the top category fieldwork was busy preparing for the 2008 MotoGP season this week in Sepang. For three days, newcomers and regulars to the circuit took their marks: between rains and stifling heat. And some did not hesitate to get wet to get record times !

Ten days after the tests in Valencia (read), ten drivers met in Malaysia on the magnificent Sepang circuit.

A track that most pilots are particularly fond of, because of its unique layout and its great width (up to 25 meters!) Suitable for overtaking and multiple trajectories. A track that saw Casey Stoner win recently, but where Pedrosa had achieved a very good pole position and a good race: despite a Bridgestone success, the Michelin had then shown great potential and many were wondering about the outcome of these tests.

But this "revenge" was played without the same protagonists: Pedrosa did not want to participate in these tests, arguing that the engine specifications requested after Valencia would only be available in Jerez.

When the cat’s away the mice will play !

As for the official Ducati team – recently decorated by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano and Prime Minister Romanio Prodi during a meeting in Rome – Livio Suppo has let it be known that his riders will only take to the track for the final 2007 tests in Jerez, so that the Bologna plant can prepare the new motorcycle.

The Desmo GP8 will however not be radically different from the 2007 model, but subtly retouched: "this new machine will not be a revolution, but I am sure that Filippo Preziosi (technical director of Ducati Corse) will have found a way to improve the Desmosedici once again", indicates the team manager who also says"very happy with the first practice session in Valencia"from its new pilot, Marco Melandri.

In addition, the red brand will have no way of calibrating itself against its opponents, since the satellite team Pramac d’Antin (which will see its name changed soon thanks to the signature of the Italian sponsor Alice already present on the official machines ) should not resume the track until the end of January.

Too bad for Sylvain Guintoli, who loses the opportunity to familiarize himself a little more with his new machine while his teammate Toni Elias will take the opportunity to have his left shoulder operated on, which frequently causes him pain (vestiges of a fall in 2005) as well as the femur, which was badly damaged during its fall in Assen this year.

In the series, "I heal my wounds", Valentino Rossi was also the big absentee of these tests: treating his injured wrist in Valencia, the seven-time world champion will only discover his new Bridgestone bike in Jerez, at the end of the month.

Yamaha still without Rossi

A test session under high pressure which had better be positive, because the Italian press echoed worrying warnings from the idol to his employer: "I’m already going to see if the Yamaha, and especially the engine, improves next year. If nothing changes, then too bad … I have a good relationship with Ducati and Honda, but Ducati would be my favorite option as they are Italian", claims n ° 46 !

A radical speech that contrasts with his promise to remain loyal to Yamaha this summer (read).

So in this particularly tense context, who is at the top of the rankings at Sepang? The former world champion, Nicky Hayden himself! Explaining his performance by the mere absence of the top names in the category would nevertheless be reductive, because the HRC official set an incredible time in qualifying tires: faster by 1.285 seconds than his teammate’s pole this year and faster by 0.013 seconds that Rossi’s pole in 2006 with his M1 990 cc !

As usual, the American rider turned a lot (186 laps in three days), despite the rain on the first two days, a small fall without consequence and an encounter with a cobra! The n ° 69 indeed found itself face to face with a reptile in full turn and despite its attempt to avoid, its knee could not avoid the intrepid animal! "Sorry for him"apologizes Nicky, who will also be the subject of a documentary on MTV entitled" The Kentucky Kid ".

"I went out with the 2007 machine to confirm a few things and then we said goodbye to it", summarizes Nicky Hayden at the end of these tests:"then I focused on the 2008 machine and we worked on the engine and the mapping as well as some Michelin tire choices. We’re still looking for a bit more power but the bike performed really well with the rear qualifying tire and the track was certainly cleaner in this test than in the race in October.", modestly specifies the American who even goes so far as to indicate that the temperature was more favorable to the stopwatch than during the qualification led by Pedrosa !

Just behind him, we find another American accustomed to living in the shadow of his teammate: the Texan Colin Edwards indeed signs an honorable time with a machine combining the 2008 chassis and the 2007 engine. Happy with his relationship with his new team Tech 3, the n ° 5 took the opportunity to change his way of working and did not hesitate to serve as a "hare" to his new teammate James Toseland, a novice in the category: "I think that the complete package offered by Yamaha for next year with four motorcycles, four world champions and two teams will allow us to be efficient from the start of the championship! I had fun with the bike during these tests. In terms of settings, I took a new approach and I feel much more comfortable than I was at the end of the season.", explains the ex-official Yamaha rider.

An approach which consisted of "start from a blank sheet"and not to take into account the setting used in the race last month. And the result is rather satisfactory, since with an engine dating from the start of the season, the American turned almost 2 seconds faster than during the race !

Colin Edwards is now looking forward to traveling to other circuits, such as Phillip Island, so that his boxmate can ride in familiar terrain: he can thus help in the development of the machine and the tires, even if Edwards has recognized (everything like Hayden) that these had made considerable progress.

Victim of a small fall on the first day, James Toseland took advantage of Colin’s experience to learn the trajectories and intricacies of MotoGP. Last classified 3 seconds behind the leader, English is going step by step, which delighted his French team manager, Herve Poncharal: "at the moment we are using standard settings and I think there is a lot of potential for improvement. But James is smart enough to understand that before he can really touch the set-up of the bike he needs to learn and do a lot of laps. Right now he’s doing better than we expected of him", admits the president of the IRTA whose optimistic speech is shared by the whole team, who bend over backwards to quickly accustom James to the differences between a MotoGP and a Superbike.

Hopkins detonates with the Kawa

Only 2 tenths behind Edwards, we still find an American: John Hopkins, Anthony West’s new teammate at Kawasaki. If West was rather disappointing with his eighth final time (2.067 seconds from Hayden), Hooper seems to have taken the measure of his ZX-RR: his fall on Saturday did not eclipse his time on Friday, which allowed him to ” be at the head of the ranking of the day !

"The changes I requested from Valencia have already been made, it’s very satisfying !", rejoices Hopkins:"we will have new parts for each session and I think Kawasaki wants to develop their machine continuously from the base we currently have".

Understand by this that there will be no new machine among the Greens, even if the factory has promised significant developments in January. But this situation does not seem to upset the ex-Suzuki rider, who sees the Kawa as a machine "very powerful"and who wants to work to make this power more available.

Randy persists … and falls

For his part, Randy de Puniet seems satisfied to have got rid of the "physical" side of the Kawa by switching to the Honda RCV! Impressive ease on the first day, the Frenchman set the best time on Thursday before stringing together an incredible number of laps on Friday on a dry track: at the end of these 71 laps made in the uneasy dampness, Randy took the third fastest time. behind Hooper and Vermeulen !

As a bonus, Randy matched his best time on the Kawasaki circuit and traded in his Showa suspensions for Ohlins elements. "I’m really exhausted: I completed 71 laps this afternoon despite the heat !", confides the Parisian Friday evening."But it turned out to be positive, especially the tire tests with Michelin. Even if this is the first time that we have used the Ohlins suspensions on the Honda, my feelings are quite good and I am sure that we will find the settings to be faster. !"

Randy believes that these suspensions give him more stability under braking, but that will not have prevented him from going to the fault on Saturday morning: injured in the right thumb, he will be examined today in Europe to check if he does not. has no fractures. A hard blow for the Frenchman and his team, who made promising progress throughout testing … In addition, Randy seems to appreciate the "smoothness" of the Honda which allows him to complete many laps without showing fatigue excessive, unlike its old machine with more brutal engine behavior.

The French therefore finished 9th without being able to improve his time on Friday, which placed him at 2.042 seconds behind Hayden’s final time. "It’s a shame we crashed because there was still a lot of work to do, but overall we made good progress during these tests.", summarizes Randy who hopes to be given 100% for the tests of Jerez.

Promising new Suzuki…

Test pilot Nobuatsu Aoki had said it during the Sepang race: the 2008 version of the GSV-R has a lot of potential! Highlighting its qualities of stability under braking and in curves, the engineers mainly worked to make the setting on the angle easier and to find horses in high revs: the two weak points of the Suzuki.

Running on the 2007 version on Thursday because of the rain, the Suzuki riders only made contact with the new machine on Friday. But with success, since Chris Vermeulen signs the second fastest time of the day before dropping to 5th place on the last day, while Capirossi finishes 6th just under 2 seconds from the fastest time..

Capirex continues its honeymoon with Suzuki: "the new chassis gives me a good first impression. The bike is more responsive and turns a bit easier. My lap time is better than with the Ducati and I’m very happy with it !", rejoices the Italian riding a motorcycle that seems to him"better every time I step on it !".

The No.65 says he is impressed with the way everything is going and says he is ready to work hard this winter to bring the machine to the highest level: beware, the old lion still has claws !

As for his young box mate, his comments are also very positive on the new Suzuki 2008. And if Chris Vermeulen’s lap times are not super fast, it is because he has chosen to work on long runs in the heat of Sepang: "I am extremely happy with the progress made. Today we focused on long testing in the race configuration when the heat was hottest, as it will be on race day.", explains Chris who seems to be preparing for 2008 with big goals … He did not fail to point out that his lap times were better than those of the race, which bodes well for the future given the relative youth of the Suzuki prototype !

Finally, the good surprise comes from Andrea Dovizioso: author of modest tests in Valencia, the young Italian seems to find his marks on his Honda MotoGP, very different from his factory 250 !

… and an impressive Dovizioso !

Fourth time during the three days of testing, the JIR Scot team rider is ranked best beginner ahead of Jorge Lorenzo (De Angelis and his team who did not make the trip). Failing only 1.536 seconds from the best time achieved on Saturday in qualifying tires, the young vice world champion 250 cc impressed observers.

"Sepang has always been one of my favorite tracks", notes Andrea Dovizioso,"because it is a track that allows you to have the confidence to go to the limits. My feeling with the bike is not yet 100%, but there has been a substantial improvement in the engine braking, one of the problems I noticed when switching to a four-stroke machine in Valencia. Above all, I have to adapt to braking and entering a corner, but I feel good in the curve and in the exit because the RCV212 allows me to open the throttle without problems thanks to all the electronic management. We especially tested a different range of front tires, which allows me to have more confidence with the front of the bike, a fundamental factor to be efficient and have the maximum confidence with the bike.", he continues, satisfied to supplant his eternal rival Jorge Lorenzo !

Because if the hot Spanish was not unworthy with the 7th fastest time at 2.051 seconds from the "pole", he did not really impress either! The two-time world champion 250 was the first to stop his tests on Thursday and Friday, physically marked by the suffocating atmosphere (over 33 ° C and a humidity of 70%!). Not to mention the difficulties related to the taming of some 230 hp of his Yamaha M1 !

"I still have problems in the braking phases and although I still don’t feel the front axle very well, we have made some progress in this area.", explains Jorge Lorenzo:"I was able to do a few laps with the 2008 machine and despite the few laps made, my feelings were quite good. The most important thing right now is to improve my feeling with the front".

The framework for Sepang’s tests is likely to change significantly in Jerez from November 27, because Lorenzo will finally be able to compete with his teammate, Valentino Rossi himself, who will discover his new Japanese tires….

Tense atmosphere and relentless pursuit of lap times for almost all the drivers, who will meet in Valence for the last time before the one-month winter break: each will naturally be keen to be the last to shine before closing the 2007 chapter. ! One last round not to be missed on Site … Stay connected !

Pilot Motorbike Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Tours
1 N. Hayden Honda M. 2 ‘04.164 2 ‘02.800 2 ‘00.592 186
2 C. Edwards Yamaha M. 2 ‘03.406 2 ‘02.831 2 ‘01.811 126
3 J. Hopkins Kawasaki B. 2 ‘04.316 2 ‘02.200 2 ‘02.047 127
4 A. Dovizioso Honda M. 2 ‘03.607 2 ‘02.591 2 ‘02.128 126
5 C. Vermeulen Suzuki B. 2 ‘03.357 2 ‘02.344 2 ‘02.447 174
6 L. Capirossi Ducati B. 2 ‘03.748 2 ‘02.698 2 ‘02.587 166
7 J. Lorenzo Yamaha M. 2 ‘04.433 2 ‘04.021 2 ‘02.643 163
8 A. West Kawasaki B. 2 ‘04.068 2 ‘03.093 2 ‘02.659 180
9 R. De Puniet Honda M. 2 ‘03.033 2 ‘02.550 2 ‘02.700 162
10 J. Toseland Yamaha M. 2 ‘05.438 2 ‘04.278 2 ‘03.550 142

Best lap: Valentino Rossi – Yamaha – 2 ‘00.605 (pole 2006)
Pole position 2007: Dani Pedrosa – Honda – 2 ‘01.877
Best lap in the race 2007: Casey Stoner – Ducati – 2 ‘02.108

Alexandre BARDIN – Photos DR

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