Gibernau Fastest on First Day in Sepang

TahoesHateMe · 02-11-2005, 09:36 PM

Copied and posted from Cycle News Online

The 2005 Honda RCV211V broke cover with promising results at the second round of tests athe Sepang Circuit in Malaysia. The complete, updated version of the most successful motorcycle in MotoGP history took the top three spots among the 14 riders in the multi-team test, though sweltering temperatures meant the times were well off the best turned just a few weeks ago, and the factory Repsol Honda riders were well down the ranks.

Telefonica MoviStar Honda?s Sete Gibernau led all comers with a best lap of 2:01.76, half a second off his recent best. Part of the deficit could be put to less grip caused by the extreme heat; 95 degrees ambient with a track temperature of 122 degrees, though the riders will certainly put heat on the 2:00.54 turned by Marlboro Ducati?s Loris Capirossi by the end of the three day test.

"I'm very satisfied of the work we did today,? Gibernau, the only rider other than the Repsol Honda team to enjoy the advanced electronics on the 2005 model, said. ?We worked on the chassis, forks and suspensions both front and rear. We also did some tire testing requested by Michelin because of the extremely hot temperatures of the tarmac.

?Today we focused on the chassis, tomorrow I think we will work on the electronics.?

Camel Honda?s Alex Barros ran 68 laps and clocked the second fastest time, 2:02.08, despite the heat and humidity.

?It was really hot today, and humid too, so it was a challenging day from a physical point of view,? the veteran Brazilian said. ?I?m still very satisfied though. We worked in the first part of the morning getting the bike set-up, seeing as a few of the electronic components have changed, but despite the track conditions being really bad, I went quick straight away. Obviously we already have a good base and that is really positive.?

Third fastest was Makoto Tamada on the Konica Minolta Honda with a lap of 2:02.34. Tamada was slightly weakened by a recent flu, which did little to help him deal with the conditions. Said Tamada: But if we put aside my physical situation, I consider myself more than satisfied on how things have been going today: in fact, after a few technical adjustments, my lap times have gotten better and better, and this gives me positive hopes for the next days of test.?

Capirossi was about two seconds off his recent best in Sepang, while riding the new Desmosedici that had been tested by test rider Shinichi Itoh on Thursday.

?Today I lapped pretty good, but I was worn out by the end of the day? Capirossi said. ?I?m not feeling very well, so I get tired pretty quickly and above all my reactions are a bit slow. However I am quite satisfied because I managed to quickly find something that enabled me to set some good times immediately: now my hopes are high for the next couple of days.?

Like many others, Gauloises Yamaha?s Valentino Rossi was under the weather and gradually weakened throughout the day. ?As the day went on I felt more and more weak and I began to find it hard to focus on the bike. I thought it was a good idea to stop a little early, as we had already done all the work we wanted to do.? Rossi ended up with the fifth fastest time.

Rossi?s former Yamaha teammate Carlos Checa was sixth fastest on the new Ducati GP5, the Spaniard in front of the Repsol Hondas of Max Biaggi and Nicky Hayden.

The Honda pair had an eventful day. Biaggi crashed in turn 11, his new RC211V sustaining damage. Then he and Hayden collided as Biaggi was leaving the pit and Hayden was arriving. Neither was hurt, which was important for Biaggi who continues to recover from the broken ankle suffered in a Supermoto accident in November.

?Today I'm satisfied with the little improvements we have made which all indicate important things for the future,? Biaggi said. ?We don't care about the lap time today as it counts for nothing.

?The crash this morning happened when I lost the front wheel and the pit-lane accident happened when I was leaving the pit garage, Nicky returns to his pit very close to the garages and I didn't see him."

Hayden agreed that the pit lane accident was just that. ?The pit-lane incident was one of those things; Max pulled out of his pit garage right in front of me as I was heading back into mine, we hit each other, it was nothing more than an accident."

The new RC211V didn?t feel much different from the hybrid he rode a few weeks back, Hayden said, adding that, despite turning 87 laps, the heat didn?t allow him to come within a second of his best from the earlier Sepang test.

?I tried a few suspension changes and some were good but I got into a bit of a rut this afternoon,? Hayden, who was about a second off Gibernau, said. ?We knew that, for the first day, we wouldn't be giving too much focus to any one area of the machine. I've got some chassis changes to try tomorrow so I'm sure I can get going better than today.?

Sete Gibernau?s new Telefonica MoviStar Honda teammate Marco Melandri was ninth fastest, just in front of the Gauloises Yamaha of Colin Edwards.

?We had a few difficulties starting out today; for some reason the bike didn?t feel the same as last time, but once we sat down and discussed things, everything got better,? Edwards said. ?We did a lot of tire work and didn?t change much on the settings throughout the morning, but this afternoon we played around a bit with the front and rear settings, and made some good improvements. It felt even hotter than at the last test, but I?m pleased because I was doing consistently fast laps during the hottest part of the day.?

Unofficial Lap Times:

1. Sete Gibernau (Honda) 2:01.76

2. Alex Barros (Honda) 2:02.08

3. Makoto Tamada (Honda) 2:02.41

4. Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2:02.47

5. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2:02.53

6. Carlos Checa (Ducati) 2:02.56

7. Max Biaggi (Honda) 2:02.60

8. Nicky Hayden (Honda) 2:02.67

9. Marco Melandri (Honda) 2:02.69

10. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 2:02.98

11. Toni Elias (Yamaha) 2:03.90

12. Rub?n Xaus (Yamaha) 2:04.08

13. Shinichi Itoh (Ducati) 2:04.30

14. Troy Bayliss (Honda) 2:04.45

NomadRip · 02-11-2005, 10:52 PM

Go Tamada! :flipper

Bushido69 · 02-16-2005, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NomadRip

Go Tamada! :flipper

It would be cool to see a "Nihon-jin" win a few more races this season....

arai_speed · 02-16-2005, 12:44 PM

Poor Max.... :laughing

SPEED · 02-16-2005, 12:53 PM

I have a great feeling about Nicky this season....he's going to kick A$$! :deathmetal

rrwantr · 02-16-2005, 01:00 PM

Go Edwards!!!!

SPEED · 02-16-2005, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bushido69

Quote:

Originally Posted by NomadRip

Go Tamada! :flipper

It would be cool to see a "Nihon-jin" win a few more races this season....

Who? :dunno :headscratch :biglaugh

02-11-2005, 09:36 PM	#1
TahoesHateMe Track Junkie Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 1,798 iTrader: (0) Rep Power: 6 (20)	Gibernau Fastest on First Day in Sepang Copied and posted from Cycle News Online The 2005 Honda RCV211V broke cover with promising results at the second round of tests athe Sepang Circuit in Malaysia. The complete, updated version of the most successful motorcycle in MotoGP history took the top three spots among the 14 riders in the multi-team test, though sweltering temperatures meant the times were well off the best turned just a few weeks ago, and the factory Repsol Honda riders were well down the ranks. Telefonica MoviStar Honda?s Sete Gibernau led all comers with a best lap of 2:01.76, half a second off his recent best. Part of the deficit could be put to less grip caused by the extreme heat; 95 degrees ambient with a track temperature of 122 degrees, though the riders will certainly put heat on the 2:00.54 turned by Marlboro Ducati?s Loris Capirossi by the end of the three day test. "I'm very satisfied of the work we did today,? Gibernau, the only rider other than the Repsol Honda team to enjoy the advanced electronics on the 2005 model, said. ?We worked on the chassis, forks and suspensions both front and rear. We also did some tire testing requested by Michelin because of the extremely hot temperatures of the tarmac. ?Today we focused on the chassis, tomorrow I think we will work on the electronics.? Camel Honda?s Alex Barros ran 68 laps and clocked the second fastest time, 2:02.08, despite the heat and humidity. ?It was really hot today, and humid too, so it was a challenging day from a physical point of view,? the veteran Brazilian said. ?I?m still very satisfied though. We worked in the first part of the morning getting the bike set-up, seeing as a few of the electronic components have changed, but despite the track conditions being really bad, I went quick straight away. Obviously we already have a good base and that is really positive.? Third fastest was Makoto Tamada on the Konica Minolta Honda with a lap of 2:02.34. Tamada was slightly weakened by a recent flu, which did little to help him deal with the conditions. Said Tamada: But if we put aside my physical situation, I consider myself more than satisfied on how things have been going today: in fact, after a few technical adjustments, my lap times have gotten better and better, and this gives me positive hopes for the next days of test.? Capirossi was about two seconds off his recent best in Sepang, while riding the new Desmosedici that had been tested by test rider Shinichi Itoh on Thursday. ?Today I lapped pretty good, but I was worn out by the end of the day? Capirossi said. ?I?m not feeling very well, so I get tired pretty quickly and above all my reactions are a bit slow. However I am quite satisfied because I managed to quickly find something that enabled me to set some good times immediately: now my hopes are high for the next couple of days.? Like many others, Gauloises Yamaha?s Valentino Rossi was under the weather and gradually weakened throughout the day. ?As the day went on I felt more and more weak and I began to find it hard to focus on the bike. I thought it was a good idea to stop a little early, as we had already done all the work we wanted to do.? Rossi ended up with the fifth fastest time. Rossi?s former Yamaha teammate Carlos Checa was sixth fastest on the new Ducati GP5, the Spaniard in front of the Repsol Hondas of Max Biaggi and Nicky Hayden. The Honda pair had an eventful day. Biaggi crashed in turn 11, his new RC211V sustaining damage. Then he and Hayden collided as Biaggi was leaving the pit and Hayden was arriving. Neither was hurt, which was important for Biaggi who continues to recover from the broken ankle suffered in a Supermoto accident in November. ?Today I'm satisfied with the little improvements we have made which all indicate important things for the future,? Biaggi said. ?We don't care about the lap time today as it counts for nothing. ?The crash this morning happened when I lost the front wheel and the pit-lane accident happened when I was leaving the pit garage, Nicky returns to his pit very close to the garages and I didn't see him." Hayden agreed that the pit lane accident was just that. ?The pit-lane incident was one of those things; Max pulled out of his pit garage right in front of me as I was heading back into mine, we hit each other, it was nothing more than an accident." The new RC211V didn?t feel much different from the hybrid he rode a few weeks back, Hayden said, adding that, despite turning 87 laps, the heat didn?t allow him to come within a second of his best from the earlier Sepang test. ?I tried a few suspension changes and some were good but I got into a bit of a rut this afternoon,? Hayden, who was about a second off Gibernau, said. ?We knew that, for the first day, we wouldn't be giving too much focus to any one area of the machine. I've got some chassis changes to try tomorrow so I'm sure I can get going better than today.? Sete Gibernau?s new Telefonica MoviStar Honda teammate Marco Melandri was ninth fastest, just in front of the Gauloises Yamaha of Colin Edwards. ?We had a few difficulties starting out today; for some reason the bike didn?t feel the same as last time, but once we sat down and discussed things, everything got better,? Edwards said. ?We did a lot of tire work and didn?t change much on the settings throughout the morning, but this afternoon we played around a bit with the front and rear settings, and made some good improvements. It felt even hotter than at the last test, but I?m pleased because I was doing consistently fast laps during the hottest part of the day.? Unofficial Lap Times: 1. Sete Gibernau (Honda) 2:01.76 2. Alex Barros (Honda) 2:02.08 3. Makoto Tamada (Honda) 2:02.41 4. Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2:02.47 5. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2:02.53 6. Carlos Checa (Ducati) 2:02.56 7. Max Biaggi (Honda) 2:02.60 8. Nicky Hayden (Honda) 2:02.67 9. Marco Melandri (Honda) 2:02.69 10. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 2:02.98 11. Toni Elias (Yamaha) 2:03.90 12. Rub?n Xaus (Yamaha) 2:04.08 13. Shinichi Itoh (Ducati) 2:04.30 14. Troy Bayliss (Honda) 2:04.45

02-16-2005, 12:44 PM	#4
arai_speed Canyon Carver Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: La Crescenta Posts: 788 iTrader: (0) Rep Power: 5 (20)	Poor Max.... :laughing __________________ One good turn deserves another. http://www.mysimplelife.com Original R1 Forum

02-16-2005, 12:53 PM	#5
SPEED Administrator Tournaments Won: 2 Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: So Cali Bikes: '07 Honda CBR600RR, Cag Pocket bike Age: 43 Posts: 11,119 iTrader: (5) Rep Power: 16 (42)	I have a great feeling about Nicky this season....he's going to kick A$$! :deathmetal __________________ Live to ride another day!" SIGN UP HERE --> "Zoomsplat" -Wingers" SPORTBIKES WEST.COM User Maintenance General Forum Usage Reading and Posting Messages

02-16-2005, 01:00 PM	#6
rrwantr Track Junkie Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Ridgecrest, CA Posts: 1,139 iTrader: (0) Rep Power: 6 (10)	Go Edwards!!!! __________________ Learn and refine your skills as you ride your bike in a controlled, safe and fun environment. Take it to the track!

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02-11-2005, 10:52 PM	#2
NomadRip Know It All Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Calabasas, CA (Malibu Canyon) Age: 58 Posts: 401 iTrader: (0) Rep Power: 0 (22)	Go Tamada! :flipper