|
MotoGP Free Practice - Motegi |
|
|
|
|
Friday, 21 September 2007 |
Click the "more" for rider quotes from Estoril and check out the Gallery for images from the Portugese GP.
1 Daniel Pedrosa Honda 1'47.865
2 Randy de Puniet Kawasaki 1'48.254
3 Marco Melandri Honda 1'48.351
4 John Hopkins Suzuki 1'48.361
5 Casey Stoner Ducati 1'48.444
6 Kousuke Akiyoshi Suzuki 1'48.457
7 Loris Capirossi Ducati 1'48.499
8 Anthony West Kawasaki 1'48.529
9 Nicky Hayden Honda 1'48.552
10 Makoto Tamada Yamaha 1'48.581
11 Colin Edwards Yamaha 1'48.614
12 Shinya Nakano Honda 1'48.697
13 Carlos Checa Honda 1'48.715
14 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1'48.782
15 Toni Elias Honda 1'48.881
16 Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha 1'49.383
17 Alex Barros Ducati 1'49.392
18 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1'49.555
19 Akira Yanagawa Kawasaki 1'50.229
20 Shinichi Itoh Ducati 1'50.769
21 Kurtis Roberts Team Roberts 1'51.563
Marlboro Ducati MotoGP
Ducati Marlboro Team riders Casey Stoner and Loris Capirossi completed day one of practice for this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix fifth and seventh fastest. Riding in searing heat - with afternoon ambient temperatures in the mid-30s and track temperatures nudging 50 degrees - both men worked hard on set-up and are hopeful of improving tomorrow.
World Championship leader Stoner ended the day 0.579s off 'provisional pole', while 2005 and 2006 Motegi winner Capirossi was a further 0.055 seconds down.
CASEY STONER, 5th fastest, 1m 48.444s
"I'm a bit disappointed with today because we couldn't find a good set-up and we just went around in circles. This afternoon we tried something with the chassis but it didn't work and we didn't have enough time to go back to the same settings we had this morning, so we spent a lot of time making a lot of changes and it definitely wasn't a great day. To be honest there isn't one area where we have a big problem, we just need to generally improve in a lot of areas, so tomorrow we will start again with the bike settings we had this morning and we will continue working from there in a different direction. I'm confident we can improve because this morning's set-up wasn't bad at all".
LORIS CAPIROSSI, 7th fastest, 1m 48.499s
"Here we have tried something really different on the set up. I rode four or five laps, one of them behind John [Hopkins], and I was able to be quite fast, even if I had to push really hard. Anyway, tomorrow I think we will make a few more little changes and we should have the chance to improve. It's difficult, because I'm still struggling with the power delivery. At this track you need a lot of power at low revs and we don't have so much, it's one of our limitations. We are trying to get around this problem by working on the set-up in order to find more torque. We have also made some changes to the gearbox. The team is reacting very well, we are trying many things and we hope that we can improve tomorrow."
Repsol Honda MotoGP
Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa dominated the first day of practice for the Grand Prix of Japan today, topping the timesheets in both one-hour sessions aboard his Honda RC212V. On a day when the 21- year-old Spaniard renewed his contract with HRC to ride for the factory Repsol Honda squad for two more years, Pedrosa was peerless at a track he rates as one of his favourites. In the afternoon session he was the only rider to lap below 1m 48s, his time of 1m 47.865s being 0.389s quicker than nearest rival Randy de Puniet in second.
With the top ten MotoGP riders covered by less than three-quarters of a second, Nicky Hayden finished 0.687s from the fastest time and was not fully satisfied with ninth position and a time of 1m 48.552s today. The World Champion was a little less comfortable with the feeling of his RC212V than his team- mate and will look for improvements ahead of tomorrow afternoon's qualifying session as he attempts to repeat his pole position from the previous race in Portugal.
Both today's practice sessions at the 4.801km (2.981-mile) Motegi circuit were demanding on the riders with temperatures reaching 34 degrees in the afternoon. The weather conditions are expected to remain hot for the rest of the weekend, with Sunday's 24-lap Grand Prix of Japan beginning at 14.00hrs local time (CET: 07.00hrs BST: 06.00hrs).
Dani Pedrosa 1st 1m 47.865s
"As a first day today went quite well and the pace I could maintain was pretty fast and consistent, so I am happy so far. It was hot in the morning session and then it got even hotter in the afternoon, but still the balance of the bike felt good. I like this track and we must continue to improve the set-up tomorrow because this is only the first day and for sure our rivals will be working hard to overtake us. I am very happy to have signed for Honda again today and I hope we can continue this weekend in the positive way we have started."
Nicky Hayden 9th 1m 48.552s
"This morning went relatively smoothly but this afternoon I had a few problems and couldn't find a good rhythm. I made a few mistakes and almost crashed one time and was in the dirt another time. It just wasn't really flowing really well and I'll definitely have to clean that up for tomorrow. It wasn't the greatest of starts and for sure I'd like to be closer to the front right out of the gate. The track temperature is quite warm and it's going to be important to get some good feel and traction. A lot of riders seem pretty close right now so we'll have to make some improvements for tomorrow morning."
HANNspree Gresini Honda MotoGP
MotoGP returned to Honda’s home at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit today as the first practice sessions for the Grand Prix of Japan took place.
The Honda riders, who always tackle this event with special motivation, did not disappoint and today both Daniel Pedrosa and Marco Melandri were on podium pace in both the morning and afternoon sessions.
Melandri was third fastest overall, four tenths behind provisional ‘pole’ setter Pedrosa, and was more than satisfied with his progress. Marco set a fast and consistent pace and is confident of taking another step forward tomorrow.
Toni Elias is also confident despite ending the day down in fifteenth position today. The work on finding a compromise between traction and stability was only partially successful but the Spaniard is confident the team have at least identified the way they need to work tomorrow.
The first day of practice took place in extremely high temperatures, with the track reaching 46° and humidity levels touching 36%.
MARCO MELANDRI (3rd, 1'48"351):
“I’m really satisfied with this first day of work. The bike has improved a lot in terms of power delivery and engine braking thanks to the new mapping that we received this morning. I’m happy because the bike is much more manageable now. I’m also happy with our choice of tyres – we’ve worked well with Bridgestone today and I hope to make another small step forward with my race pace tomorrow. This is a particularly difficult track to manage fuel. The heat today was most unusual for this time of year but the forecast is for the weather to change. I’m happy because we’ll be ready for wet or dry conditions.”
TONI ELIAS (15th, 1'48"881):
"We’ ve done a lot of good work with the team today and in general I am happy. We tested a lot of things – not everything gave the result we were looking for but it was important for us to find the right way to work. The Bridgestone tyres are working very well here and because of the intense heat we decided to save some of the softer tyres for tomorrow.”
Konica Minolta Honda MotoGP
The first practice sessions for this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix took place in sweltering weather conditions today. Once more the lap times were extremely close with the top 15 riders being covered by just one second. Shinya Nakano spent the day evaluating tyres and making suspension changes to his KONICA MINOLTA Honda RCV212V, as he tried to find a tyre and suspension combination that worked well around the 2.98mile Twin Ring Motegi circuit. After being in the top ten during the morning session, the former All-Japan 250cc champion slipped to 12th in the afternoon’s session, but is confident of making improvements before tomorrow’s qualifying session.
Shinya Nakano – Rider, KONICA MINOLTA Honda (48 laps – 1’ 48.697”)
“It’s good to be home! Today was quite good in the morning, although the afternoon session was even warmer so this made it difficult to choose our tyres. Tyre choice will be critical here and we may need to use a harder tyre than we first thought. Today we chose two tyres that we will use tomorrow and compare their performance. The nature of Motegi means that both tyre and suspension settings are key to a good lap time, so we will be working hard to find the right combination. I’m confident for qualifying tomorrow, although as we’ve seen today it’s going to be very close indeed!”
Kawasaki MotoGP
The A-Style Grand Prix of Japan started well for the Kawasaki Racing Team today as Randy de Puniet, Anthony West and Akira Yanagawa mounted their Ninja ZX-RR machines and took to the circuit at Motegi.
De Puniet showed he was on form by ending the first two free practices in second place, on combined times, after putting in blistering performances in both the morning and afternoon sessions. With a best time of 1'48.254 at the end of the day, he knocked nearly half a second off his previous best, assisted by a lightning top speed of 284.8kmh.
The 26-year-old Frenchman is determined to do well this weekend after a hugely disappointing Portuguese Grand Prix last week saw him retire with a mechanical problem. Happy with the progress made in setting up the bike so far, and riding at a scorching pace throughout the day, de Puniet is very much on course for the podium spot which, so far this season, has eluded him.
Team mate, West, started the day in less positive fashion, still unable to find enough grip to give him the confidence to fulfil his and the bike's potential. However, by the end of the afternoon session, the 26-year-old Australian was smiling as his best time of 1'48.529 put him in eighth position, just 0.030 seconds behind last year's winner at Motegi, Loris Capirossi, and ahead of current world champion, Nicky Hayden. Assorted suspension tweaks and some successful choices of Bridgestone tyres seemed to have done the job in helping West feel more at home on the Ninja than he has at previous rounds.
Meanwhile, wild card rider for the Japanese race, Akira Yanagawa, put in 28 laps over the two sessions on his ZX-RR and managed 19th place on the provisional grid. Stunned by the 800cc bike's light weight and staggering power, the 36-year-old Japanese superbike rider struggled slightly to find a set up to suit his riding style but, with his dedicated crew and the back up of the factory team, he is confident he can fine tune the Ninja to his needs by the start of Sunday's 24-lap race.
It was a boiling hot day at Motegi, with temperatures reaching 34°C and the track temperature 46°C this afternoon. With the weather set to continue in this vein for the coming weekend, and the top 15 riders within a second of provisional pole man, Dani Pedrosa, it looks as if Sunday's race could be a sizzling spectacle indeed.
Randy DePuniet Kawasaki MotoGP Pilot #14
"That wasn't a bad day! This morning we worked on the settings on the bike and this afternoon we tried a harder compound tyre, which was better for longevity because I did 20 laps on it and my time at the end of the session was still very good. We can improve a few bits and pieces, including adjusting the rear suspension slightly and perhaps working with a different rear tyre, but already, it's pretty good and I'm happy."
Anthony West Kawasaki MotoGP Pilot #13
"This morning I didn't feel so confident but all of a sudden, this afternoon, everything felt good on the bike. I struggled in the first session with rear grip, just spinning and sliding everywhere, then this afternoon it was so different: just from better grip I could get more of a lean angle in the corners and choose better lines. Essentially, I simply felt more comfortable on the bike. It was actually a heap easier to ride and go faster. In one corner, I even got my elbow on the ground once or twice and I've never had that before! It was all a big improvement and the times show that."
Akira Yanagawa Kawasaki MotoGP Wild Card #87
"I feel okay. I have a little problem with chatter on entering the corners but I suspect some of that may be down to me because my riding style is not suited yet to this bike. We need to find a solution to that, if we have time. Anyway, I have to compromise and I need to put in some more laps to get used to the feeling of the Ninja. This bike is like nothing I've ever ridden: like the chassis of a 125 with the engine of a rocket ship! I think you probably need a special technique for riding it but I'm sure we can make some further adjustments to help me get more from it."
Pramac D’Antin Ducati MotoGP
The first day of the MotoGP Free Practices has not gone well for the pilots of the Pramac-Dántin Team. Alex Barros hasn’t found the right balance necessary to ride fast, and waits until tomorrow to make an improvement. The second pilot, Shinichi Ito, is substituting for the first time on a Ducati at this circuit, and today he made adjustments and corrections as he advanced bit by bit and got used to the machine. Tomorrow at 1:50 PM, local time, the Qualifying round will begin, to form the grid for the race on Sunday.
Alex Barros ( 22 laps 1´49´39).
“Today we used two bikes with different transmissions. I found that one had a better general balance, but I wasn’t able to adapt to the gearbox. The set-up isn’t correct, and we have a margin to improve both on the front and the rear. Tomorrow I will go out with a new motor, which will give me something extra, and for sure this will be reflected in my times”.
Shinichi Ito (19 vueltas. 1´50´76).
“At the moment, I don’t have the right feeling with the bike at Motegi. The settings aren’t adequate, and I don’t have confidence over both axles to ride aggressively and get everything out of the GP7. The motor goes very well, and when I have the set-up at a good point I will surely lower my times”.
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
John Hopkins was the fastest of the trio of Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racers during today’s free practice sessions at Motegi in preparation for Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix, as he recorded the fourth quickest time of the day.
Hopkins (1’48.361, 45 laps) looked fast and settled right from the start of the day and topped the leaderboard during both hour-long sessions. The confident Anglo-American is pleased with the progress he and his team have made and is sure there is still more to come from both himself and his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R tomorrow.
Team Test rider Kousuke Akiyoshi (1’48.457, 41 laps) produced a fantastic performance to clock the sixth fastest time and leave some much more experienced and famous riders in his wake. Appearing in only his third GP event Akiyoshi performed well on his ‘home’ circuit and showed that all the laps spent testing the 800cc GSV-R has proved very useful to him in a racing environment.
Chris Vermeulen (P18, 1’49.555, 45 laps) struggled to find a smooth rhythm today around the 4.8km Motegi circuit. He will be working hard into the evening with his Crew Chief to try to rectify any details that they believe will help Vermeulen find the time to move up the timesheets and into a competitive position.
John Hopkins:
“The day went pretty good straight away as the Bridgestone tyres worked really well and so did the Suzuki. We’ve had a play around with a couple of things including the suspension, but we haven’t had to do a whole lot of set up because it all seemed to work well right out of the box. We’ll try a couple of things tomorrow and test the durability of one of the best tyres from today, but all-in-all we’re in pretty good shape and everything seems to be going well.”
Kousuke Akiyoshi:
“I am very pleased with my position and maybe quite surprised. It is good to be able to race the GSV-R after so much testing this year. I think I can go a bit quicker now and will be trying to get a good grid position tomorrow to help me for the race.”
Chris Vermeulen:
“It has not been a great day today! We struggled with some problems with the bike this morning which the mechanics sorted out very quickly between the sessions. This afternoon it felt like my first session really because anything I did this morning was a bit of a waste. We did get things going and made some progress in the session but I am disappointed with the lap-time. At the end I only really got one flying lap with the set-up that I liked and tomorrow we need to make a lot of progress so we can move up the order a bit.”
Fiat Yamaha MotoGP
Scorching sunshine welcomed the MotoGP paddock to Motegi today as the fifteenth round of the season got underway at the Japanese track. Temperatures reached a maximum of 34 degrees during this afternoon's free practice and it was a difficult day's work for the riders and teams alike, with Fiat Yamaha pair Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi finishing the day 11th and 14th respectively in the combined standings, which were topped by Dani Pedrosa. Just five days after his spectacular victory in Portugal, Rossi got off to a less auspicious start today, finishing the morning session fifth but dropping to fourteenth this afternoon after his number one bike suffered a technical problem and he was forced to complete the hour on his second machine. Edwards meanwhile did not fare much better, finding himself down in 13th this morning and climbing just two places in the second session, despite making some improvements to his set-up this afternoon.
Colin Edwards - Position: 11th Time: 1'48.614 Laps: 46
"This morning and early this afternoon things were not looking good at all! We couldn't find the right setting or the right tyre and we were crossing our fingers that something was going to work out for us. Mid-way through the afternoon however we tried our last tyre and we were immediately one second faster, so at least there's no doubt now that's the right direction to follow. We've got a lot more work to do, both on setting and with the tyres, so we need to have a good look at the situation tonight to make sure we make the most of the time we've got left to us. We were two seconds off the pace and now we've closed that gap to one but that's still way too much and we're really going to have to pull out all the stops tomorrow."
Valentino Rossi - Position: 14th Time: 1'48.736 Laps: 48
"Today was very, very hot, much more than we expected. We're a long way behind because unfortunately we were following different set-ups with my two bikes and the one that was working better had a technical problem. On my second bike, with the different setting, I wasn't able to improve and so here I am in 14th. The situation with the tyres is not so good and we have a lot of work to do, even if we know that Michelin can work here because they are in front with another rider. For us the situation isn't great at the moment and we need to find a way to turn this around. It's the first day and I know that if we can improve a few things then we can be in a better position. We have to do the maximum tomorrow and see where we get to." |
|
