Imorgen starter så testen på Phillip Island med Ducati,Honda og
Yamaha,i mellemtiden kan interesserede så læse hvad Mamola læser ud af
Sepang-testen :
"Picking up from where I left off in my last Expert Eye, you may
remember that we discussed Valentino Rossi’s debut with the Yamaha M1
in Sepang, and tried to put into context the information we were able
to ascertain from the test – in terms of lap times, comments from
Valentino and the pictures and video footage we have seen. There was
no doubt that it was an excellent effort from Valentino and the team,
but there was also no doubt that this test last week, alongside Honda
and most of the other MotoGP contenders, would give us a much clearer
picture of how the land really lies. That has certainly turned out to
be the case and it is no surprise to me to see four Hondas ahead of
Valentino on the time sheets – with Alex Barros fully fit you can
basically make that five and, at some circuits, Tamada will also be on
the pace.
Perhaps what has surprised me has been the pace of Nicky Hayden and
Colin Edwards. Nicky is starting to show why he won that Rookie of the
Year title last year and why Honda are putting so much faith in him.
The new swingarm and rear suspension from HRC seem to have worked for
him but Nicky’s main strength is his talent and enthusiasm for racing
motorcycles – he just loves to ride and he is going to be a big asset
to our sport for a long time. I think Colin realised at the last test
that he needs to be in top shape and he seems to have been training
hard recently riding motocross and so on. To be quite frank he was a
little off the pace at the January test but he has stepped his game up
and the lap times have followed.
As far as Sete Gibernau is concerned, he reported that he felt very
comfortable during a 21 lap race simulation and it seems to me that he
has been focussing heavily on race set-up. I have heard Sete mention
that he believes a lot of races will be won this season from
three-quarter distance to the end, and he is clearly working towards
being ready for that scenario. His chief mechanic Juan Martinez spent
many years working as a suspension technician for Mick Doohan and
Valentino Rossi under the supervision of Jeremy Burgess, and he is a
very smart character. Juan helped Sete to four wins last season and to
me it seems that his crew are going quietly about their business and
making sure that they are 100% ready for that first race in South
Africa.
So, with Max Biaggi also setting good lap times and Honda making good
progress all round, what is going on at Yamaha? Well, from this
distance it is hard to tell but certainly the lap times have not come
down too much. In fact, Rossi barely improved at all on his fastest
lap from the first test, although that doesn’t necessarily mean to say
that he hasn’t made progress. We know that one of the problems with
the M1 is that it doesn’t have enough power, and that is something
that they are trying to address. Valentino said that they have moved
the torque down a little bit to make it easier to ride, but that is
taking away power from the top end and causing a whole new set of
problems. Hopefully they will have made some steps forward in that
area with the new engines they had in Malaysia but for the time being
at least they are still a long way from the Honda RC211V.
Sepang was also a very interesting test for Ducati, who will be very
encouraged by the performance of the new Desmosedici. If I am not
mistaken, Ducati are saying that 65% of the 2004 bike is completely
new, but straight away the boys have got on it and gone faster than
they previously had at Sepang. Both Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss
struggled there during the Grand Prix last October and the circuit
definitely didn’t seem to suit the bike, which really struggled under
hard braking, but they were much closer to the Hondas this time
around. Considering they are effectively one test behind and have not
had chance to properly test the new 16.5 inch Michelin front tyre then
you have to say that they were impressive and should be a real force
at the next test which starts tomorrow at Phillip Island.
The same can be said for Neil Hodgson and Ruben Xaus, who both had a
tough time at Sepang but came out of the test with creditable results.
Neither of them had ridden there before and, as I said, the 2003
version Desmosedici which they are riding was not suited to that
circuit. The step up from WSB to MotoGP is a big one but they just
need time on the bikes and the opportunity to get as many laps in as
possible before the season starts. They will look forward to riding at
Phillip Island, a track they both know and which favoured the Ducati
last season. Good progress there will no doubt give them the necessary
encouragement and confidence to build on in the future.
As far as the others are concerned, I think Kawasaki are finding the
right way forward now and, in Shinya Nakano, they have a good rider
with the right experience after so many years working for Yamaha. So
far they seem to be responding quickly to what he wants and if they
can continue to do that then they will keep making progress. Suzuki
have suffered a terrible blow with the loss of both their riders
through injury at such a crucial part of the preseason and now they
are relying on Gregorio Lavilla and a Japanese test rider to carry
them forward. Without taking anything away from these two riders,
Suzuki really need to get Kenny Roberts Junior and John Hopkins back
on board as soon as possible.
Like Hodgson and Xaus, British Superbike Champion Shane Byrne paid his
first visit to Sepang on the Aprilia and put in a lot of laps, which
is the best thing he can do at this point of the steep learning curve
which a rookie season in MotoGP represents. His team-mate Jeremy
McWilliams had a couple of crashes and doesn’t seem to be getting to
grips with the bike at all. He is used to riding a Proton, which has
struggled for horsepower whether it be the two-stroke or the
four-stroke, whilst the Aprilia has more than enough horsepower in a
place where it is very difficult to control. Perhaps Jeremy just needs
to take a step back and approach things a little slower.
Tomorrow the tests begin again at Phillip Island, and I am very much
looking forward to seeing how things pan out. We know that the Honda
and the Ducati both went well there last season, with Rossi and
Capirossi finishing first and second respectively, whilst the first
Yamaha was Olivier Jacque back in sixth place. Jacque finished 28
seconds behind Rossi, which would have been 38 seconds if it wasn’t
for the ten second penalty, so it will be an interesting marker to see
how far Rossi and Yamaha have come in comparison. Meanwhile, the man
to watch again has to be Nicky Hayden, who finished third at Phillip
Island behind Rossi and Capirossi in his best performance of the
season and heads to Australia on top form and full of confidence."
--
-Michael
|