Testing brings Jerez action to close

Eurosport - Wed, 02 Apr 10:32:00 2008
Five consecutive days of MotoGP track action at Jerez - three during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend then two days of testing - have come to a close, with only four riders tinkering with their bikes.

Whereas 16 of the 18 top riders tested the day before, only Repsol Honda representatives Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa, plus Rizla Suzuki's Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen returned on Tuesday.

They were joined by Kawasaki test rider Olivier Jacque and Michelin test rider William Costes.
Sunday's race winner Pedrosa and team-mate Hayden, fourth in the GP, had worked on testing basic machine set-up options during the opening day of the test, with the final day then dedicated almost exclusively to tyre testing for Michelin.

Both riders evaluated different 16.5-inch rear tyres, while world championship leader Pedrosa also tried wider profile Michelin fronts, which he had been unable to evaluate before due to his pre-season hand injury. Pedrosa has been racing with a standard profile front tyre so far this season.

The young Spaniard was pleased with the results; however he was forced to call a halt to his programme early due to the increasing amount of sand blown onto the circuit.

"Today we worked on tyres with our Michelin technicians and it was a very useful day," stated the 2008 world championship leader.

"We focused mainly on the front tyre, testing different fronts because so far I've only used Michelin's standard profile. We found some interesting solutions.

"We also tested some rears that Michelin brought here for testing. I didn't use qualifying tyres.
"These two days have been very important in getting us more familiar with the bike and helping us work some more on set-up."

Team-mate Hayden completed a full day of testing and set the fastest lap of the day on this 86th and final circulation, using qualifying tyres.

The 2006 world champion's best time 1:38.940 was a fraction under his best qualifying lap at the GP - which had placed him fourth on the grid - but 0.261s behind the best lap time on day one of testing, set by Jorge Lorenzo.

Hayden left Jerez happy with his chassis set-up, although engine power remains a concern. Repsol Honda is still using the '07 spring valve engine, while development continues on the '08 spec pneumatic-valve powerplant - which HRC's factory team is due to test after Estoril.

"Everything went real smooth," said Nicky. "We did a lot a work with Michelin, tried to check a few tyres' durability, and I was able to string together a few high 39s on race tyres, which we were pretty happy with.

"We also tuned the bike a little bit, tuned the rider too, worked on a few things, and overall it's been a real positive day.

"We've got the chassis working good- now we need to work on the engine because we're coming up to some tracks with big long straightaways."

Third behind the Repsol riders was Vermeulen. The Australian, who was caught out by a tyre gamble during the GP, recorded a best lap time of 1:40.184, placing him 1.244s behind Hayden but 0.592s in front of team-mate Capirossi, who snatched a daring fifth at the final turn of the weekend grand prix.

Former MotoGP rider Jacque was one second slower than Capirossi on the lone ZX-RR present during day two of testing, while Costes was 0.7secs behind the Frenchman.

Practice for the Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril, round three of the 2008 MotoGP World Championship, begins on Friday April 11.