Post by BADGER on Oct 28, 2008 11:30:28 GMT
Preparations for the 2009 MotoGP season began at Valencia this (Monday) morning, less than a day after the final round of 2008, with the start of a two-day test session at the Spanish circuit.
As well as testing technical updates and evaluating the kind of Bridgestone tyres all riders will be using next year, the test has particular significance since its marks a number of debut appearances.
By 2pm Nicky Hayden - who had previously stated that it wouldn't take long for him to discover is the Ducati Desmosedici suits him or not - was fastest of the riders that have changed teams, sitting ninth out of the 17 riders present with a time of 1min 34.128sec.
Hayden, who is also making his debut on Bridgestone tyres, has thus taken less than half a day to match Marco Melandri's best Valencia race lap on a Desmosedici.
However, the American is 1.1sec behind his best race lap on an RCV and 1.6sec behind new team-mate - and Sunday's race winner - Casey Stoner, who currently leads the testing field on the GP9 from Hayden's former team-mate Dani Pedrosa.
Melandri has arguably caused the greatest stir so far, the Italian all but matching his best race lap on the Desmosedici during his first morning on a Kawasaki to sit just 0.024sec slower than Hayden on the timesheets.
After a horrendous season at Ducati, Marco Melandri made an instant impact on his Kawasaki debut - during testing at Valencia on Monday - when he beat both his best race and qualifying lap on a Desmosedici, and got within 0.022sec of new team-mate John Hopkins.
The former MotoGP World Championship runner-up, who struggled from day one to adapt to the Ducati, enjoyed a much easier transition to the ZX-RR and finished the day tenth out of the 18 riders, albeit 1.3sec from former team-mate Casey Stoner.
"It's always interesting when you start working with a new rider, and I think today has been a good start both for Marco and our crew," said Melandri's new crew chief Juan Martinez.
"He's been able to lap consistently throughout today and his comments after each session have allowed us to start working out what he needs to go fast on our bike, which is very different to the one on which he finished the race yesterday.
"Sure we have some points still to improve, but overall Marco's first impression was good. His riding style seems to be well suited to the characteristics of our Ninja ZX-RR, and this means that the comments he makes should make it easier for our engineers in Japan to identify the development direction of the bike for next year.
"Marco is a guy who, in the past, has been up there and fighting for race wins, so he understands what he needs to go fast, and this is exactly what we need to take the Ninja ZX-RR to the next level of development," added the Spaniard.
Melandri has already outpaced Anthony West's best race lap and is just a fraction behind the best race lap of John Hopkins. Hopper his improved his pace by a further 0.3sec this morning and holds seventh position.
Sete Gibernau's (below) first laps for the newly-formed Onde 2000 Ducati team saw the Spaniard claim twelfth fastest, his lap of 1min 34.451sec already quicker than either satellite (Alice) Ducatis had managed in Sunday's race.
Toni Elias, who has left Alice for a return to Honda Gresini, was one place behind Gibernau after four hours of testing.
The three 2009 MotoGP rookies sit at the tail of the timesheets, with former Ducati test rider Niccolo Canepa unsurprisingly quickest of the trio on his Alice debut, but team-mate Mika Kallio is so far only 0.268sec behind.
Kallio's fellow 250cc graduate Yuki Takahashi made a cautious start with the ex-Dovizioso Team Scot machine and is currently over one-second from the Finn.
World champion Valentino Rossi is yet to appear on track, although his Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo (sixth fastest) has already beaten his best Michelin race lap.
As well as testing technical updates and evaluating the kind of Bridgestone tyres all riders will be using next year, the test has particular significance since its marks a number of debut appearances.
By 2pm Nicky Hayden - who had previously stated that it wouldn't take long for him to discover is the Ducati Desmosedici suits him or not - was fastest of the riders that have changed teams, sitting ninth out of the 17 riders present with a time of 1min 34.128sec.
Hayden, who is also making his debut on Bridgestone tyres, has thus taken less than half a day to match Marco Melandri's best Valencia race lap on a Desmosedici.
However, the American is 1.1sec behind his best race lap on an RCV and 1.6sec behind new team-mate - and Sunday's race winner - Casey Stoner, who currently leads the testing field on the GP9 from Hayden's former team-mate Dani Pedrosa.
Melandri has arguably caused the greatest stir so far, the Italian all but matching his best race lap on the Desmosedici during his first morning on a Kawasaki to sit just 0.024sec slower than Hayden on the timesheets.
After a horrendous season at Ducati, Marco Melandri made an instant impact on his Kawasaki debut - during testing at Valencia on Monday - when he beat both his best race and qualifying lap on a Desmosedici, and got within 0.022sec of new team-mate John Hopkins.
The former MotoGP World Championship runner-up, who struggled from day one to adapt to the Ducati, enjoyed a much easier transition to the ZX-RR and finished the day tenth out of the 18 riders, albeit 1.3sec from former team-mate Casey Stoner.
"It's always interesting when you start working with a new rider, and I think today has been a good start both for Marco and our crew," said Melandri's new crew chief Juan Martinez.
"He's been able to lap consistently throughout today and his comments after each session have allowed us to start working out what he needs to go fast on our bike, which is very different to the one on which he finished the race yesterday.
"Sure we have some points still to improve, but overall Marco's first impression was good. His riding style seems to be well suited to the characteristics of our Ninja ZX-RR, and this means that the comments he makes should make it easier for our engineers in Japan to identify the development direction of the bike for next year.
"Marco is a guy who, in the past, has been up there and fighting for race wins, so he understands what he needs to go fast, and this is exactly what we need to take the Ninja ZX-RR to the next level of development," added the Spaniard.
Melandri has already outpaced Anthony West's best race lap and is just a fraction behind the best race lap of John Hopkins. Hopper his improved his pace by a further 0.3sec this morning and holds seventh position.
Sete Gibernau's (below) first laps for the newly-formed Onde 2000 Ducati team saw the Spaniard claim twelfth fastest, his lap of 1min 34.451sec already quicker than either satellite (Alice) Ducatis had managed in Sunday's race.
Toni Elias, who has left Alice for a return to Honda Gresini, was one place behind Gibernau after four hours of testing.
The three 2009 MotoGP rookies sit at the tail of the timesheets, with former Ducati test rider Niccolo Canepa unsurprisingly quickest of the trio on his Alice debut, but team-mate Mika Kallio is so far only 0.268sec behind.
Kallio's fellow 250cc graduate Yuki Takahashi made a cautious start with the ex-Dovizioso Team Scot machine and is currently over one-second from the Finn.
World champion Valentino Rossi is yet to appear on track, although his Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo (sixth fastest) has already beaten his best Michelin race lap.