The two-month winter testing ban came to an end yesterday with the first pre-season test of the 2009 MotoGP season and here’s what the riders had to say after the first day:Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team) Position: 2nd Time 2′02.
038 Laps: 34“This morning was really difficult, I really didn’t feel comfortable on the bike.
My wrist is still in a lot of pain and I honestly hoped it would be in better shape than this after three months since the operation.
Even though the lap times were good from the start the wrist was still giving me a lot of problems – it is weak and painful under braking, especially in the first left-hand turn.
I can’t do more than four or five laps at a time and there’s nothing I can do about that at the moment, other than hope that it improves over time.
Sepang is a physically demanding circuit and probably not the best place to be riding for the first time after three months out.
I preferred not to ride too much and tire myself out and hopefully it will already be a bit better tomorrow.
Freddy, our physiotherapist, has a bit of work to do tonight! The GP9 is running well and I have the same positive feeling as the last two tests at Barcelona and Valencia.
The chassis is completely different and we’ll have to work on improving the set-up but we have a good starting point and we can use the GP8 as a reference.
The power delivery has improved and now we have more torque, which helps on the exit of the slower corners.
Bridgestone have brought two compounds here that both work well, although I prefer the harder one because even though it is a little more difficult to ride it guarantees a more consistent performance.
”Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro Team) Position: 11th Time: 2′04.
002 Laps: 60“We started out with the same set-up as Jerez, because after two months without riding it was better to go with something we knew.
We haven’t made massive changes over the course of the day, mainly because before we do that I need to pick up my own pace.
The bike feels good on the brakes and it is stable and precise in the fast corners.
I’m struggling a bit on corner exit though because it still tends to pump quite a lot and I’m not used to that yet.
We’re working to reduce it and we’ve got a couple of ideas that we’ll check out over the next two days.
I like the new tyre rule.
We’d got to a point where we were working too much on the tyres and there wasn’t enough time to work on the set-up of the bike.
Now we just have a choice of two tyres, both of which work well even though I’m not able to get the most out of the harder compound yet, and that makes the job much easier for the team.
”Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) Position: 3rd Time: 2′02.
324 Laps: 31“I am very happy because I was able to ride the bike today, despite the stitches in my hand and foot, and I was fast.
I am not 100% because of the pain, but I have no problem to ride.
I am also pleased because the engine is better and I feel very comfortable with the new chassis.
We are adapting our way of testing to the new tyre rule and it is not so bad so far, even though we have more work to do.
The bike needs to be gentler with the tyres now; normally I prefer harder tyres but from now on we’re going to need to be ?sweeter’ with them.
For sure it will be good for the show, because everyone will be starting from the same level with tyres.
This morning I had a small fall, when I was riding very slowly.
It was not so wet, but some patches of the track are lacking grip and that one especially seemed to have none at all! I stopped quite early this afternoon because I wanted to keep myself in good shape for tomorrow and the day after.
After some laps my finger was hurting and it was also beginning to swell up.
Tomorrow we will try something new with the electronics and we will also have to change the engine, because the one I used today was the same one that we used at the Jerez test and its mileage is now over.
”Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha) Position: 10th Time: 2′03.
894 Laps: 61“Today has been a difficult first day back at work! My body is a little rusty after so much time off.
In this condition it’s quite difficult to be fast, but I am happy because the bike seems to be better, especially the engine.
In Japan they have been able to improve the acceleration and with the new chassis as well the bike isn’t moving so much on the exit of the corners.
Unfortunately the circuit is not ok, because there are two corners with some problems and when you ride through them the bike is sliding too much, which is dangerous.
This is why a couple of riders have had some crashes I think.
I stopped quite early because I had already done a lot of laps and was very tired.
Tonight I’m going to have a massage and try and get as much sleep as possible, and hopefully I will feel stronger tomorrow!”Andrea Dovizioso (Honda HRC) Position 6th Time: 2’03.
088s Laps: 55“I’m very happy to be back in action.
I was looking forward to ride my bike, and I particularly enjoy this place, I love the Sepang circuit and the hot temperatures that we find here.
This morning we worked a lot on my position on the bike, testing different solutions, as I was still not comfortable enough.
Finally we found a good solution and a good feeling with the bike, so in the afternoon we could continue to work on the chassis and concentrate more on the set up to adapt the machine to the Bridgestone tyres.
This is a very important element at the moment, in fact the tyres are consistent and have a lot of potential but we aren’t using all the potential at the moment.
This is a good feeling because we know that there is space for improvement”.
Dani Pedrosa (Honda HRC) Position: 8th Time: 2’ 03.
312s Laps: 44“Today we came back on track after two months break since the last test in Jerez.
It was important to get back the feeling with the bike and resume the rhythm.
After such a long time, I really looked forward to go back riding my bike.
The priority at the moment is to adapt the bike to Bridgestone tyres, so we worked on the setting in order to get the best match between machine and tyres.
Our target during these three days of testing is also to improve every single aspect of the bike in preparation of the season.
” Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) Position: 15th Time: 2’04.
882 Laps: 61 “It was very hard opening day but I feel quite satisfied.
I came in this morning focused only on the new bike set up because the lap time was not my main target.
We had a lot of things to adjust: suspension, tyres and so on.
At the beginning I struggled a bit with the engine brake but my crew found the solution and I could ride as I like.
The tyres are working well but there’s a lot of work to do yet.
However this first outing was very productive for us and we’ll keep on working on the base set up to make the bike more suitable to my riding style”.
Loris Capirossi (Suzuki) Position: 1st Time: 2:01.
869 Laps: 37“The first impression is not too bad after two months of no riding.
We have started tested several new things because Suzuki have been working very hard over the winter.
We had a good test in the wind tunnel in Japan last November, I asked for a lot of things and they have come back with everything.
The whole base of the bike is different, new seat, new fuel tank, new fairing, new engine and we have a couple of chassis to test.
We have a lot of work to do!”Niccolò Canepa (Pramac Ducati) Position 19th Time: 2.
05.
270 Laps: 45 “For sure I cannot be satisfied,” he said.
“Looking at the lap times and at the data, we have noticed that for half of the circuit I maintain my teammate’s rhythm, which is good, while I lose too much time in the two final straights and the last turns.
“I probably have to improve the way I sit on the bike because my top speed is 16km/h slower than Mika’s.
This makes a big difference.
”Mika Kallio (Pramac Ducati) Position 13th Time: 2.
04.
405 Laps: 60“We have encountered some difficulties in the first few hours of work, but in the afternoon we managed to straighten things up and be a bit more competitive.
We have worked a lot controlling one single detail at the time.
This is the way I like to work.
At this moment we don’t care about lap times, first of all I have to feel the bike completely mine.
I am really trustful for the next two days of work here in Sepang.
”Toni Elias (San Carlo Team Gresini) Position: 5th Time: 2:02.
886 Laps: 52“I am very pleased to be back on track.
I immediately found quite a good feeling with the bike.
Being the first day back after a long break, our thought was just to put laps on the bike, to regain the rhythm and also to get a feel for the new engine.
It is not easy to give 100% right away, but I am satisfied, both with the bike and with the team.
This test session is very important with view to the coming season, and I am very motivated.
”Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Team Gresini) Position: 12th Time: 2:04.
396 Lap: 53“Today it took me a bit of time to regain the riding rhythm.
At Jerez I had tried the Nakano’s bike but this is much different both in terms of power delivery and chassis.
I have to understand it better and to adapt myself a bit.
In particular, I was not able to let go and to hug the corners as I would like, which prevented me from opening the throttle.
We have different solutions to try though, and tomorrow I will continue to put kilometres on the clock and to understand and study the bike better.
”