With four days of pre-season testing at Sepang already over, MotoGP will be heading to Qatar on March 18-19 for the final two days of tests, before the new season kicks off at Losail for the night race that takes place on the weekend of April 11th .
Here’s what the riders had to say about today’s final day of testing in Sepang.
Valentino Rossi – 1st : 2′00.
271 Laps: 39 “I’m really happy to have beaten my pole record, it’s a good feeling to be this fast in testing.
I did this with an old tyre but we also got the chance to try a very good new tyre from Bridgestone today, which I hope we will use from the first race.
Our bike is in great shape; we need to do a bit more work on the electronics but in general everything is better, especially the rear grip and the engine.
Yamaha have been very clever to develop this new bike whilst keeping the best parts of the old one, I’m very happy about it.
It was good to get the chance to try the Japanese test bike, hopefully the feedback I gave them will help us in the future.
Now we go to Qatar and then we will see our level because it is not one of mine or Yamaha’s best tracks! But we’re in great shape and this is very important at this stage of the season.
I’m really looking forward to it.
”Casey Stoner – 2nd 2′00.
512 Laps: 33 “When we first went out this morning the track conditions were a huge improvement on yesterday thanks to the slightly cooler temperatures, which meant the track was less slippery.
That allowed us to get the best out of the bike and we were able to set some fast times.
We started out with the same setting we finished with yesterday, which I already liked, and we changed just a couple of things and were able to immediately set a strong pace.
”“It is just a shame that the red flag came out right after we put the new medium tyre on.
I missed out on a few laps because of that but it wasn’t a big deal.
We are really satisfied with the package we have now and the progress we have made so far.
If you ask me I’d say we are starting off from a stronger base than last year so now we’ll just have to wait and see if we can get straight on the pace in Qatar.
”Nicky Hayden – 3rd 2′00.
703 Laps: 42“I am obviously really happy because the changes we made yesterday afternoon that enabled me to go a couple of tenths faster despite the heat have proved to work even better today with the track in improved condition.
After making small steps for the last few test sessions today we have finally taken a big leap forward and I was able to ride fast.
”“The arm wasn’t too bad but it still isn’t as strong as before, which I can feel more than anything in the hard braking, and it was hard work today.
Anyway, I am recovering well and now we move on from Sepang feeling really happy.
”Colin Edwards – 4th 2.
00.
988 Laps: 35“It felt really hot out there today and I don’t think anybody was going to do a lot of laps in those conditions.
I did 35 laps and all of them were productive and I’m leaving this test really happy.
I worked on the electronics and a bit of suspension work today and I was happy with the new Bridgestone rear tyre.
We did full race distance on it in the middle of the day when it was really hot and I was still doing 2.
02s on the last lap.
So it really keeps a good level of grip for a long time.
I feel ready to race right now.
We’ve got the bike sorted out and the last test in Qatar should be another positive test to set us up nicely for the first race.
We’re ready to go because Yamaha has done a fantastic job.
Everything they have done has improved the bike and that’s a great achievement.
I want to thank my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3 again for all their hard work and congratulate Ben too.
This is a tough track to learn but he’s doing a great job and he is impressing a lot of people.
We’re working really closely together and that is going to be great to help the team have another great year.
” Ben Spies – 5th 2.
01.
014 Laps: 44 “It has been a positive test for me again because I have been able to improve my lap time by quite a bit.
I’m 0.
8s quicker than yesterday so that is a good step in the right direction.
I did a race simulation and all my laps were in the 2.
01s.
I’ve always felt good at the end of races and I think that is what my strong point has been in the past.
In Valencia when I raced the Yamaha for the first time I came on strong at the end.
When the tyres go off I feel a little bit better.
I didn’t quite get to improve on my overall position but I’m convinced I had the speed to get into the high 2s, but I was only able to use one of the softer Bridgestone tyres.
But all in all it has been a positive day and the gap to the front has become smaller again.
”Loris Capirossi – 6th 2.
01.
320 Laps: 102 “Overall the test has been not too bad and I think we are in a reasonable situation at the moment.
I used the new engine and it does seem to have some improvement in performance from the one we used at the end of last season.
I tried some new traction control strategies and they seem to be a bit better, but we really need to understand how the bike is going to perform in colder conditions, so the test in Qatar will be very important.
Two days of testing at a time is not enough to try and get everything done and make the changes we need, but it is the same for everyone so we have to try and do our best.
I have asked Suzuki if they can make some improvements for the chassis in time for Qatar and they say that they will be able to, so that is positive and it will help us understand how much we have improved since last year.
”Andrea Dovizioso – 7th 2:01.
439, Laps: 46 “If we consider the two days in total this second test session has represented a big step forward compared to the last time we came here at the beginning of February.
I’m satisfied that we could lap consistently and for the race this is very important.
We did a race simulation and the pace with race tyres was good.
Today I can’t be totally satisfied with seventh on the timesheets and this was because I wasn’t able to use the soft tyre at its best to improve the lap time.
It’s something we’ll have to analyse because getting a good grid position for the race is important.
Of course there is still work to do to get closer to Valentino and Casey, but anyway, all-in-all I’m very confident”.
Dani Pedrosa – 8th 2:01.
478 Laps: 57“We put in a lot of work today and tried many things on the machine to improve our pace.
We made some progress with the feeling from the engine which is positive, though we didn’t really get the results we were looking for elsewhere, and some of the issues we had yesterday are still there.
So, there’s plenty for us still to do before Qatar.
The team is working really hard and we’re positive that there’s a lot more to come.
Of course I can’t say that eighth is where I want to be on the timesheets at the end of this test, so we’ll definitely look to move things forward in Qatar”.
Hiroshi Aoyama – 9th 2.
01.
692 Laps: 50“At the middle of the test we had to have a little break, because I had a stomach ache.
The Set up is not perfect yet and I am sure that we still can be faster.
But today we did a big step forward and we found good base settings.
Alvaro Bautista – 10th 2’01.
732 Laps: 59 “I am very happy with this test and it shows that we have improved a big amount since the last test here.
It was a bit of a strange day today because I did improve my time, but after nearly crashing yesterday I was in a lot of pain and it made it very difficult to ride, so I was not able to do too many laps.
It has been a good test though and I am happy with the direction we are going in.
I still need to get some parts of the bike improved and I am sure we will make more steps in Qatar.
I feel very happy with most things at the moment, the team is very good and we are all working together very well and I am finally starting to ride the bike how I want to!”Randy De Puniet – 11th 2′01.
980 Laps: 58“If we consider the two days in total we made some progress with the suspension set up which was our main issue in the first outing here some weeks ago.
Basically we have worked to develop the machine base set up using the data we gathered before and I am pretty satisfied about this second test session and about the lap time I have clocked up today.
”“It could be even better (maybe half second) as, at the end of the day, we have found a better suspension set up to test but we had just used tyres left.
We did a race simulation and I feel more comfortable on the bike thanks to the step forward we made on the machine balance and on the weight distribution.
Of course there is still work to do but I am more confident now ahead the last test session in Qatar”.
Marco Melandri – 12th 2′02.
078 Laps: 60“What a shame.
I was really satisfied yesterday evening but not today.
We weren’t able to build on the progress we had made and make the big step we were looking for compared to our performance here in February.
It is disappointing to be going home with only half of the job done.
The crash this morning was obviously a setback but we need to work out how we can bounce back stronger at the next test and I’m sure we will head out there in mid-March confident that things can be much better”.
Héctor Barberá – 13th 2.
02.
080 Laps: 52 laps“This morning we tried three different rear shock settings and I was quickly lapping on the same pace I had set yesterday.
In the end I was able to stop the clock on 2′02.
08, which is a second faster than I had managed on my last visit to Malaysia three weeks ago.
I go home with a good taste in my mouth but I believe I could have improved more than this.
Anyway, every day I ride this bike I get more comfortable with the front and the settings we are trying are allowing me to shave tenths off the lap times and improve my feeling with the bike.
The most positive thing from this test is that I have significantly improved my performance from the first test of the year and I am feeling more comfortable.
It is a shame we have to pack up already but we’ll just have to keep training hard at home now to make sure we get the most out of the last session in Qatar.
”Mikka Kallio – 14th 2’02.
082 Laps: 66Yesterday in the late afternoon we had found a good technical compromise and this had given us confidence for the last working day here in Sepang, but things have not gone as we expected.
I feel very well with the new bike but perhaps I have yet to find total confidence to push to the maximum.
We cannot make anymore mistakes in the next test in Qatar next month.
Aleix Espargaro – 15th 2.
02.
447 Laps:49This morning I was feeling and wasn’t doing so bad, but then in the afternoon I was unable to make the step forward as most of my colleagues have done and I was back in the classification.
Anyway I remain very confident because I’m sure I have the possibility in order to do well.
I am very pleased to see the two official Ducati in the top three: I am sure we will find soon the right solution to fight for the best positions as well.
Marco Simoncelli – 16th 2′03.
689 Laps:2 “I don’t seem to have much luck at Sepang! We have had two MotoGP tests here and I have had two crashes, although luckily without any serious consequences.
Whilst I can remember how the crash at the start of February happened I can’t recall anything about this one, which means I obviously took quite a blow to the head.
The airbag helped limit the damage so I have to consider myself lucky in that respect.
Just after the crash I was suffering memory loss, which worried everybody, but the CAT scan showed no signs of bruising so that was a relief.
It was a lucky escape but unfortunately for me the test was over.
Now we just have two days on track before the season starts.
We’ll have to work twice as hard in Qatar and hope that the Doha circuit brings me a little bit more luck.
”
