MotoGP winter testing continued at the Phillip Island circuit Australia, the opening day of a three-day session. In fine, sunny weather, with ambient temperatures just above 20 degrees and track temperature at 40 degrees, the riders and teams began chasing a good base set-up for their Honda RC212V machines, working from data gathered at Sepang last week. The surprise package of the day was Gresini Honda rider Alex De Angelis who set third fastest time even though this is the first time the MotoGP debutant has ridden his RC212V at Phillip Island. De Angelis felt strong all day and made good progress, working on geometry settings. His team-mate Shinya Nakano was also happy, using new front suspension settings to dial out the chatter that had hampered him at Sepang.
Alex De Angelis, Gresini Honda: 1m 30.688s – 70 laps
“I have recovered perfectly, my right arm doesn’t hurt anymore and this has helped me a lot. I immediately found a good feeling with the bike on this track, which is one of my favourites, and the track conditions today were almost perfect! I could lap with a good pace from the first laps. We have worked on geometry and my feeling has improved a lot during the day. Every test is like a new adventure for me, I have a good relationship with my team and I like the RC212V a lot. Today we tested only with race tyres and I’m very satisfied.”
Shinya Nakano, Gresini Honda: 1m 31.111s – 91 laps
“We worked hard to solve the problems we had at Sepang, in particular the chatter. We tested a modified fork and we succeeded to minimize the problem. I feel very well – fit and motivated – and I did my best time of the day at the end of the afternoon when track conditions were not ideal, which means that I'm feeling very good.”
Lap Times:
1. Colin Edwards - Yamaha Tech3 1:29.566
2. Casey Stoner - Ducati Marlboro 1:30.178
3. Alex DeAngelis - Honda Gresini 1:30.688
4. Andrea Dovizioso - Jir Team Scot 1:30.701
5. James Toseland - Yamaha Tech 3 1:30.864
6. Marco Melandri - Ducati Marlboro 1:30.869
7. Shinya Nakano - Honda Gresini 1:31.111
8. Nicky Hayden - Repsol Honda 1:31.226
9. Loris Capirossi - Rizla Suzuki 1:31.274
10. Chris Vermeulen - Rizla Suzuki 1:31.317
11. Randy DePuniet - Honda LCR 1:31.436
12. John Hopkins - Kawasaki 1:31.623
13. Anthony West - Kawasaki 1:31.786
14. Sylvain Guintoli - Alice Team 1:32.484
15. Toni Elias - Alice Team 1:32.573
Practice conditions:
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 21°C
Track: 40°C
Phillip Island Circuit Lenght: 4.445 km
Lap Record: 1.30.332 Marco Melandri 2005 (Honda)
Circuit Best lap: 1.29.020 Nicky Hayden 2006 (Honda)
