| BODY { font-family : Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; }
Casey Stoner lapped faster than any other rider
in history at Phillip Island today, his stunning lap of 1'28.777 coming on the
last of three days of tests at his home circuit. The reigning World Champion
used a qualifying tyre on his 25th of 51 laps, although his pace during a race
simulation was equally impressive. Only his flying lap registered outside the
1'30 mark as Stoner racked up 23 consecutive fast laps with relentless
precision. Only the heat of the track in the scorching afternoon sun interrupted
the local hero's progress, three laps short of the intended total, but his
satisfaction was still complete.
Marco Melandri was also quite satisfied
after spending another day working intensely on finding a good feeling with his
new bike in race trim as opposed to trying for a fast time on a qualifying tyre.
Today he completed a marathon 108 laps, including a race simulation.
The
pair now have two weeks' rest before their next important meeting at the Jerez
circuit in Spain, where the MotoGP Official Test takes place from 16th to 18th
February.
Casey
Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team), best time: 1:28.777 (51 laps)
"We
did the race simulation with one of Bridgestone's new tyres and it went really
well, even though we had to come in three laps early. The track temperature
today was actually higher than it was for the race here and you could tell. Even
so we managed to lap consistently in low 1.30 and that shows how well they're
working in Japan. I'm also really happy with the qualifying tyre, which is the
same as last year. It is a good thing that bike is not completely different to
2007 because it has allowed is to find an excellent base to start the season
from already. The new version of the engine has a better delivery, especially at
the bottom end, and that has allowed me to set fast times more consistently, as
well as increasing tyre life. It has been a good test session but now I'm happy
to have a couple of weeks to rest and train in the gym. The shoulder feels okay,
it is just a little bit weak and sore because I haven't been able to work on it
as much as I would have wanted but now we can do that."
Marco Melandri (Ducati Marlboro Team), best time:
1:31.377 (108 laps)
"This final day has been particularly intense
for me and my crew. We've continued to work on the balance of the bike and then
did some tyre tests The front is okay but I'm having some grip issues on the
rear. At the moment there isn't much difference between using a new tyre and an
old one so we've got plenty of room for improvement in this area. In the
afternoon I did a long run and even though the lap times weren't special we
learnt a lot. We know what we need to go forward and what can give us better
grip to improve our speed through the corners. We're on the right tracks and I'm
sure that in the next test at Jerez we'll take another step forward. For now a
bit of relaxing will do me good because the last two weeks have been really hard
work."
Phillip Island
info
Circuit Record: Marco Melandri (Honda - 2005)
1'30.332
Best pole: Nicky Hayden (Honda - 2006) 1'29.020
Fastest lap
GP 2007: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1'30.801
Pole 2007: Dani Pedrosa (Honda)
1'29.201
Unofficial lap times
01/02/2008
1. Casey STONER (Ducati) 1:28.777 (51 giri)
2.
Nicky HAYDEN (Honda) 1:29.734 (102)
3. James TOSELAND (Yamaha) 1:29.754
(89)
4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda) 1:29.780 (90)
5. Colin EDWARDS
(Yamaha) 1:29.795 (56)
6. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki) 1:30.216
(73)
7. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda) 1:30.438 (91)
8. Shinya NAKANO
(Honda) 1:30.728 (89)
9. Toni ELIAS (Ducati) 1:30.966 (97)
10.
Randy DE PUNIET (Honda) 1:30.978 (115)
11. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Ducati)
1:30.983 (58)
12. Marco MELANDRI (Ducati) 1:31.377 (108)
13.
Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki) 1:31.508 (75)
14. Anthony WEST (Kawasaki)
1:31.957 (90)
|
