The three day session of Official IRTA Test has ended at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit of Spain. Just like yesterday, the morning was characterized by a thick and strong fog, so the Pramac D’Antin MotoGP Team elected to postpone their testing until the weather cleared up. Today there was time for additional free practice sessions, split by a 40 minute live-timed “qualifying session”, where the riders of Pramac D’Antin MotoGP, ran their bikes in qualifying configuration.
In the first free practice, Alex Barros and Alex Hofmann, continued to determine the ideal set-up for their Ducati GP7’s, in preparation for the first World Championship MotoGP 2007 race that will take place in just two weeks on the 10th of March at the Losail Circuit in Qatar.
Alex Barros (1’42.100 - 29 laps in free practice 1’41.038 Qualifyfing session): “Today I’m not very satisfied, because we know I can be better. I have some difficulty with both tires, the qualifying and the race compounds. My race pace wasn’t constant and I wasn’t able to work as I would have liked. For Qatar, Phillip Island, and Sepang, we found good solutions for the bike’s disposition, but here it didn’t go as we wanted. I didn’t have the right feeling with my bike and I’m wasn’t able to run with the highest corner speed. Anyway, the winter tests were good for us. We still have a lot of work to do to find the right competitiveness, but overall, I’m satisfied with the work that the Team done. I’m sure to begin the World Championship with a strong motivation, fighting constantly for the podium.”
Alex Hofmann (1’40.851 – 44 laps in fr ee practice/1’40.681 Qualifying session): “This test in Jerez was very difficult for us. We have work a lot to find the right set-up to utilize in the next GP race at Jerez, and we’ll be studying all the data we assembled here this weekend. During the afternoon we ran a simulation race, and our race pace is good, but I’m not completely satisfied. Both of today’s times, obtained in race configuration and qualifying were not so bad. This isn’t really my favorite track, but we’re coming back here in one month, and I want to do the best I can. The winter tests were good fun, and I’m confident for the beginning of the 2007 Championship. I am highly motivated this year and I can’t wait to get my best results ever ”.
Fabiano Sterlacchini – Track Engineer for Alex Barros:“This test was very different than the previous ones, where we were able to find solutions. Here in Jerez, we encountered a variety of difficulties that we were only able to partially solve. Barros wasn’t able to push as hard as we wanted and he couldn’t use his full potential. Our motor is working well, but we didn’t find a satisfactory solution for our chassis gremlins. There were many different variables that affected this test, but we’re confident of obtaining good results in the future”.
Emanuele Martinelli - Track Engineer for Alex Hofmann:“Today wasn’t what we expected. We worked specifically on the chassis and suspension to try and find some speed, and with the race set-up we’re not so bad, but far from perfect. We must improve the power delivery of the engines, and try to insure that the quality of the materials at our disposal is consistent. We’re satisfied with the bike because we know its potentional, and I’m stoked for Hofmann’s season because overall we did really well at the three other Winter Tests this year”.
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