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The Ducati Marlboro Team commenced its final
test session of the year at Jerez today, deploying the factory's new Desmosedici
GP8 in the hands of World Champion Casey Stoner and new team-mate Marco
Melandri
Conditions were warm and sunny, with temperatures around 22
degrees, allowing teams to make the most of this first day of a three-day
session. Stoner was immediately very fast on the GP8, gaining a very positive
impression of the new bike. The Australian went on to top the day's lap times,
despite a fall in the afternoon that left him unscathed. Melandri focused on
chassis set-up, finding a good direction towards the end of the day.
Casey Stoner, best lap
1m 40.221s (35 laps)
"This first day with the GP8 was really
positive for us. I immediately felt at home on the bike because it's pretty
similar to what we rode last season. Today we were quite a bit faster than we
were when we raced here back in March, which is very important because we have
improved at a track that used to be a bit difficult for us. We found a very good
set-up which could also be good at other circuits. We used 2007 spec tyres
today, tomorrow we will start with Bridgestone's new tyres. The only bad moment
of the day was the crash, but these things can happen. I'm okay though, so
everything is fine."
Marco Melandri,
best lap 1m 41.889s (62 laps)
"We started working on chassis
geometry to adapt the bike to my riding style. Today we made some good choices
on settings and also some not so good choices, but every change teaches us
something more about the bike which is very important. Towards the end of the
day we found a set-up that I liked better, even though I don't yet feel totally
at ease. We have work to do and I'm not at all worried about that."
Today
lap times
1. Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team) 1'40.221 (35 laps)
2.
Pedrosa (Honda) 1'40.355 (50)
3. Rossi (Yamaha) 1'40.514 (49)
4. Edwards
(Yamaha) 1'40.790 (38)
5. Hayden (Honda) 1'40.923 (53)
6. De Angelis
(Honda) 1'41.111 (49)
7. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1'41.230 (79)
8. Nakano (Honda)
1'41.277 (55)
9. De Punite (Honda) 1'41.313 (66)
10. Hopkins (Kawasaki)
1'41.414 (41)
11. Toseland (Yamaha) 1'41.776 (58)
12. Melandri (Ducati
Marlboro Team) 1'41.889 (62)
13. Dovizioso (Honda) 1'42.033 (49)
14.
Canepa (Ducati) 1'42.666 (50)
15. Okada (Honda) 1'43.051 (34)
16. West
(Kawasaki) 1'43.576 (60)
17. Ito (Ducati) 1'44.530 (45)
18. Guareschi
(Ducati) 1'44.588 (42)
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