Konica Minolta Honda starts the final phase of testing with their new Honda RC212V 800cc machine this Friday at the legendary Circuito de Jerez in southern Spain. The 2.75-mile circuit will play host to the second round of the championship on 25th March, but this weekend it’s the venue for the final test before the start of the season – the annual IRTA tests. This will be the last chance for riders and Teams to fine-tune their new-for-2007 800cc machines before the season starts for real in just over two weeks time. 29-year-old Shinya Nakano has spent the last three months getting to grips with more changes than most riders on the grid. The former 250cc Championship runner-up has a new Team, new tyres and a new motorcycle to deal with as he aims to better his previous podium placings and try and take his elusive debut win. But first the winter’s work must continue at Jerez, with the Team aiming to find a better set-up to the rear-end of the Honda Honda RC212V and help Shinya acquaint himself with the new Michelin qualifying tyres which will be vital in determining where the Japanese rider will start the coming races.
The gruelling 18-race season begins in Qatar at the Losail circuit in Doha. The race is held on Saturday 10th March, with the second round being held back at Jerez just two weeks later.
Gianluca Montiron – Team Manager Konica Minolta Honda “The results and fastest lap-times of the winter tests aren’t very important because nobody take scores for the championship from this. I think Shinya has spent enough time with the package he has at his disposal, the new bike and tyres, to understand the characteristics of the new 800cc machine. I think he’s also got to know how his new Team works and we’ve learned a lot about him. Now we are at the final test and in Jerez we will be looking to find a good setting for the rear of the bike. We also have to permit Shinya to be more familiar with qualifying tyres because it’ll be very important to start from the front row for each race. I trust in the package we have, the Team, tyres, sponsors and rider so I’m looking forward to seeing Shinya battle with the top men in the first Qatar GP!”
Shinya Nakano – Rider, Konica Minolta Honda“The coming three days at the IRTA tests are very important because they are held only 15 days before the first round of the 2007 MotoGP World Championship! It’ll be vital to find a good combination of tyres to use for the first and second races, in particular we need to find a good rear tyre during this test. I do not feel 100% ready yet, so I know that I still have much to do and improve, but by the end of this test I hope that we’ll be more than prepared for the first two races of the year. I’m happy at how the Team and I have learned to work together over the last few months as good communication will be vital throughout the year. I like Jerez, it is a good technical track and in the past I have obtained good results, so I love riding around there.”
Giulio Bernardelle – Technical Director, Konica Minolta Honda“We go to Jerez aware that we have two main targets. The first is to be more effective in race trim as after the test in Australia and Qatar we were able to produce a significant improvement in lap times and that’s what we want to see again in Jerez. The second target is to get Shinya used to the qualifying tyres we will be using this year, also because this season there are new rules imposing a limitation of the maximum number of tyres to be used. That means we’ll need the rider to be able to get the best from the tyres as soon as possible, or they will be wasted. In Qatar we found a good base setting, which gave Shinya a good feeling, especially from the front tyre. In Jerez we’ll focus on finding the best tyre choice which we will use here for the second race of the season.”
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