In occasion of the final 2006 test session, scheduled for November 28th and 29th on the Spanish circuit of Jerez de la Frontera, Shinya Nakano will make his debut on the new Honda RC212V. Thursday, November 30th, will only be used in case the team will be forced to stop the test the previous days because of the weather conditions.
Tomorrow, the Japanese rider will see his dream come true. For the first time in his career, he will ride a Honda defending the Konica Minolta Honda Team colours. Nakano will have the use of the brand new 800cc Honda RC212V equipped with Michelin tyres.
At nearly one month from the last race of the 2006 MotoGP Championship, this event represents an important moment for the new rider and also for the Italian-Japanese Team which will start the new challenge expected to bring Shinya Nakano to steadily fight for the leading positions of the MotoGP category. During these days, all the data and the information collected will be fundamental to define the basic set up to be used to start the Winter Test scheduled to begin for January 22nd-24th in Sepang.
Gianluca Montiron – Konica Minolta Honda General Director: “We are satisfied to start working with Shinya Nakano at Jerez and anxious to begin this new challenge with such a high level professional. Thanks to Konica Minolta, we have a package of absolute value at our disposal: bike, tyres, rider; we have all we need to aim for high performances. Nakano has a winning mentality and he showed his potential several times in the past; now we will start working with the utmost commitment to prepare all the Winter Test sessions in order to get ready for the beginning of the Championship. I hope the rider will shortly get the necessary feeling with the new Honda RC212V, Michelin tyres and our Team, completely dedicated to him.”
Shinya Nakano – Konica Minolta Honda Rider: “I’m at the beginning of an important challenge where everything is new: bike, tyres and Team. It is a challenge I accepted because I looked for it with the firm belief in the technical package I was offered.
In this test session, I’ll need to find the right position on the bike and the right feeling to obtain the necessary automatisms permitting good performances from the beginning. Jerez is one of the circuits I prefer; in the 2006 season I obtained the first row in qualifying and finished the GP in seventh position. It is a technical and demanding track; here, it is necessary to have a well balanced bike. I hope the weather conditions will allow us to work profitably.”
Giulio Bernardelle – Konica Minolta Honda Technical Director:“I think that Jerez circuit is perfect for us to start this new adventure with Nakano and the 800cc Honda equipped with Michelin tyres. The track is good and demanding from the technical point of view, therefore it’s valid to obtain a concrete idea of our potential since the first test. Our performances will be compared with those of the other present riders and bikes of absolute value but, the important will be to try to complete our working programme without too much pressure, trying to make the best use of the time we have. Many tests are fixed in this winter calendar thus, we will have the possibility to understand, step by step, how to use our great potential to the utmost.”
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