Despite effectively only having tested at Jerez recently thanks to his lay-off due to injury, Yuki Takahashi signed in at the first day of the night tests in Qatar with an excellent 4th best time. Yuki secured 4th place in the last hour of testing before the conditions began to deteriorate. Today the team worked hard to find the best settings with suspension and geometry for the JiR Team Scot Honda RS250RW. The team also worked on the delicate setting of the carburettors for the cooler night conditions. Tomorrow Yuki and the team will work on testing tyres to acquire as much data as possible before the race on March 9th.
Gianni Berti – Technical Coordinator, JiR Team Scot
“It has been a very positive test today. We waited for a while before heading out on track as the climate conditions were hot and not like we will expect to see during the race at night. We know well Yuki’s potential, but it was still a nice surprise to see him post his fastest lap in the final part of the test when the track was getting damp and the temperature was going down to around 13 centigrade. This is a sign that his physical condition and also mental toughness is getting back to normal. Tomorrow we will work on tyres and improve on today’s time.”
Yuki Takahashi – Rider, JiR Team Scot 250GP
“I’m very happy tonight because I was wondering how well I could see and ride on the track with the floodlights! I have been in some endurance races before, but this is different because we used headlights on our bikes! The strangest aspect of today is to see properly the exit of the corner, but it is easy to get on the pace after a few laps. I started out very steady and looked at the conditions because I wanted to know the track and try to get the best feeling with the floodlights before finding a consistent lap time. After making some chassis setting changes with the team technicians we made some carburettor changes also. Then, when I felt ready in the last hour, I pushed hard to make my best lap and take fourth position.”
Yutaka Hirano – Crew chief, JiR Team Scot 250GP
“Today we preferred to work only with on the general settings of the bike and we looked at the best way for the carburettor to work in the low temperature and humidity that we find at night, which is different from other conditions we may find in the championship this year. Yuki was looking for a fast lap and we saw that when the temperature was going to go down, he pushed and got a good time – but only when the settings were right for him. Tomorrow we will work on tyres and maybe make some alterations to the gearbox.”
Test Doha 250GP – Day 1
- Marco Simoncelli - Gilera - 2’01”449
- Roberto Locatelli - Gilera - 2’01”730
- Mattia Pasini - Aprilia - 2’01”945
- Yuki Takahashi - Honda - 2’01”950
- Thomas Luthi - Aprilia - 2’02”016
