After Sunday’s ultimate round of the season premier class riders and team are having three additional days on-track work at Ricardo Tormo circuit. Second day of testing at the 4.005 km circuit concluded today with Lorenzo on the top of the timesheets with the best time of 1’31.939. Yesterday testing started after lunch and ended at 17:00 local time whilst today the 800cc riders have lapped from 10 am to 5 pm with ambience temperature of 21°C.
Jorge Lorenzo Speaks… 1st
"I am happy that we are so competitive here with this new version of the bike. I was able to do some very fast laps and it feels good to be the fastest on the last day of the season. There is a long time now until the next text and it is good for me mentally to know that I was fast today. We have worked on some electronics and the suspension, and we have compared the new chassis to the old one and taken a lot of important information for our engineers. I am so happy about my season; I’ve won three races, taken many podiums and finished second in the championship. I think this is a great achievement by us and now I would like to wish everyone a good holiday to recover so we all come back in February at the maximum ready to work again!"
Valentino Rossi Speaks… 3rd
"I am happy about what we have so far with the new evolution of the bike, because it’s already faster and already feels better than the old one. The throttle is easier to open and I think that Yamaha has done a good job so far. We were quite fast today and I’m happy about the work we have done over these two days. I think that we have given our engineers plenty to work on over the winter and I am looking forward to the next updates in February. It’s good to finally finish work and now we have some months to relax and recharge the batteries ahead of next year, which for sure is going to be a big, big fight!"
Ben Spies Speaks… 4th
"I’m really happy with this test. My performance in the race surpass ed my expectations and so did the test. I didn’t touch the set-up of the bike again and continued mainly working on adapting my style. I feel like I made a lot of progress. My data guy could see on the computer that I was riding with more of a MotoGP style and each day I’ve made steps and gained confidence with the tyres. At the end I put on some tyres that had half race distance on them, but I was still able to lap half-a-second faster than yesterday. And where I was running 34’1s in the race I could get into low 33s consistently today. I’ve been making small steps but I’m a lot closer to the front than the back, so that is a good sign. I’ve enjoyed working with my new guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3. It has been a tough year but a great year for me and I’m looking forward to the winter, training hard and being ready to go again in February."
Dani Pedrosa Speaks… 6th
"We tested with the new 2010 bike today and also used Ohlins suspension. The key thing was to begin getting used to the new suspension because the feelings are quite different and we need some time to find the set-up for the new chassis. We didn’t do so many laps this afternoon because, with this kind of testing, you spend quite a lot of time in the box. The feeling from the chassis was quite similar today – it’s the suspension that really feels different, and I think this is normal when you make a change like this. The initial feeling is positive and we’ll come back tomorrow and get back down to work."
Randy De Puniet Speaks… 7th
"Yesterday we have tried to understand what happened on Sunday’s race when I struggled with rear grip issues and today we have found a good solution to that problem. We worked on Öhlins suspension new link and on the chassis geometry to make the bike more stable in the corners. I am pretty satisfied about the things we have fixed in the last two days as those data will be helpful for the 2010 machine, which we are going to test in February. In two weeks time I will remove the screws from my left ankle and will keep on training to be in a good form at Sepang".
Mika Kallio Speaks… 8th
"We have tried aluminum swingarm and compared to yesterday we have improved by six tenths of a second. Not too bad I would say. Work with the team went ahead without any big complications, on the contrary, in addition to the swingarm we tried other small changes that lead me to feel more comfortable riding the bike. I hope that tomorrow morning I can improve more to end positively my first year in MotoGP."
Aleix Espargarò Speaks… 11th
"I do not know why but despite the time recorded today is good I feel I can do better. I must be patience because I still have a lot to learn in this category. Certainly my feeling with the bike is improving lap after lap and this is the most important thing. Sincerely we are a little sad because I know this winter I will miss very much my bike, but we will return loads in February for the first test of the year."
Andrea Dovizioso Speaks… 12th
"Today we tried the 2010 machine with the new chassis and swing arm. It’s very early days of course, but the first impression is positive and the feeling is that we are working in a good direction. The weight distribution is different in order to improve the stability of the machine under braking and to better suit the Bridgestone tyres. We have two more days of testing here, and tomorrow we have the whole day to continue evaluating the new machine."
Colin Edwards Speaks…
"I woke up this morn ing at 5am and felt horrendous. I felt completely drained of all my energy. I thought I’d got food poisoning and I knew then I wasn’t going to be able to ride today. But the Clinica Mobile guys said I’d got a virus and I’ve just been lying in bed all day. It obviously wasn’t the way I wanted to end the year but I’m looking forward to a long break now and coming back strong for 2010. I’ve had another great season with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team and would like to thank all my guys again for their hard work. They are an awesome bunch. And looking at the times today, Ben has done a great job. He’s not only showed what a fast learner he is, but how talented he is. There should be a good bit of friendly Texan rivalry in 2010 and I can’t wait."
MotoGP Test Times from Valencia
1. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1’31.939
2. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 1’32.195
3. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1’32.528
4. Ben Spies (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’32.942
5. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team 1’32.981
6. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 1’33.025
7. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1’33.111
8. Mika Kallio (FIN) Pramac Racing 1’33.125
9. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’33.211
10. Marco Melandri (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’33.326
11. Alex Espagaro (SPA) Pramac Racing 1’33.345
12. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Repsol Honda 1’33.456
13. Hector Barbera (SPA) Aspar Team 1’34.206
14. Marco Simoncelli (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’34.230
15. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’34.540
16. Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN) Scot Racing Team 1’35.261
