Rookies rule as night test concludes.
Saturday, 1st March 2008

Lorenzo, Toseland star in Qatar.

The final pre-season MotoGP test of 2008, and first ever to be held at night, has concluded with two rookies at the head of the Qatar timesheets after Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo edged out Tech 3 Yamaha's James Toseland by just 0.040secs.

Lorenzo, the reigning double 250cc world champion, had been second fastest to MotoGP world champion Casey Stoner with race tyres on the opening night and he again impressed with multi-lap rubber on the final night.

The #48 completed a promising race simulation that saw a series of 1min 56secs laps - close to Stoner's 2007 race winning pace - before (like most riders) trying a qualifying tyre, with which he narrowly demoted reigning double World Superbike champion Toseland on his very final lap of the seven hour session.

"I am very happy because we have done two days of testing with a very good rhythm throughout," said Jorge. "Our performance has been consistent, which is very important after the trouble we had at the last test and this makes me confident for the first race. The race simulation today was really positive, although I think we still need to do some work on the rear of the bike which might allow us to be a bit faster.

"Despite all these positive signs we must keep our feet on the ground, because I have never raced with the other riders and the first race will be a new experience for me!" he warned. "Next week many things will be different so we must remain focused and hopefully maintain a good rhythm. I am happy because I think people understand now that I am ready for this, and this is very important for me and for my confidence.

"I do not have experience in MotoGP so I cannot say how this championship will turn out, but let's say that without experience the winter tests were good and with some experience the championship might be even better!" concluded Lorenzo.

The season-opening Qatar Grand Prix takes place on March 9 and Lorenzo won't be the only rookie approaching the inaugural night race with confidence. A determined Toseland - who also set his best Friday lap time on a qualifying tyre - has slowly but surely been working his way towards the front of the MotoGP field during winter testing and is a previous Qatar winner in WSBK.

Just 0.381s behind Lorenzo, in third position, was Frenchman Randy de Puniet, who was once again the top Honda rider - with his satellite spec LCR machine. The former Kawasaki rider was over 0.6secs quicker than the leading factory RC212V, of Nicky Hayden, by the conclusion of testing and could be set to shock during his third MotoGP season.

Toseland's team-mate Colin Edwards completed an all-Michelin top four, while Ducati's world champion Casey Stoner was the leading Bridgestone
rider in fifth - on a night when none of the Bridgestone-shod racers made significant improvements on qualifiers - despite suffering a turn two accident at around 10.30pm local time.


The remaining top ten position were occupied by JiR Team Scot rookie Andrea Dovizioso, Hayden, Rizla Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen, San Carlo Honda Gresini rookie Alex de Angelis and then five-times MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi - who ended the test 1.7secs slower than his Michelin-shod team-mate Lorenzo and with work clearly still to do.

It definitely wasn't the end to the pre-season that the Italian had been hoping for, especially after two promising tests, and Rossi later revealed that they'd run out of time after heading in the wrong direction with tyre choice for the cool conditions.

The session was briefly red-flagged at around 9.30pm local time following a fall by new Rizla Suzuki Loris Capirossi at turn seven, but the veteran Italian was unhurt and once the action resumed he was soon back out riding again - eventually lapping eleventh fastest.

In addition to the tumbles by former team-mates Stoner and Capirossi, there were crashes late in the session for Capirossi's troubled Ducati replacement Marco Melandri, San Carlo Honda Gresini's Shinya Nakano and Alice Team's Sylvain Guintoli - the chilly 13°C track temperature a likely factor in those falls.

Guintoli's bike was badly damaged, but he was later given the all clear by doctors.

The opening pair of practice sessions for the 2008 Qatar Grand Prix
will take place on March 7.

Gi

The other Yamaha's are doing just brilliantly, so the Yamaha's are not the problem. Could it be that Valentino made a blooper by changing over from Micheline's to Bridgestone tyres?

I hope Vale's just sandbagging...after all it wouldn't be the first time he's done that, or the last I'm betting!! ( Please Vale - be sandbagging!!! )

Angela....All through the winter that was the only thing i had in my mind...was Vale's choice correct??? I'm gettin more nervous.....or Will it be like Welkom when he moved from one manufacturer to another??? u never know.....coz it's Vale...how will i pass this 1 week???? gooddddd.....

It's just that he has been so fast at every other test, even in the cold wet Jerez test. It feels strange, so I hope you are 100% right.

"Generally speaking however all of the winter tests, barring this one, have been positive for us; I was fast in Sepang and fast in Jerez"This makes me feel better....

Vale said that he has to get used to 'stones tyres... maybe this is the problem! And he was top speed at Jerez... he did a good job there! I think that Yam has little things to set up on his bike yet so I think we shouldn't worry by now... let's wait for the season start!

Gi

It's not easy to swtich tires, even in formula 1 when everybody swtiched to Bridgestone, Michelline riders were not that fast even in the first race.
Furthermore he does not have a fellow rider on same bike and tires to push him in a right direction.
Trust me, when he starts to race, the only thing it matters is that tires will last whole race without eating itself.
Only thing Valentino needs for now.

I hope all of you are right....cant bear the tension....imagine the grid on Qatar on sunday night....

Valentino Rossi - "Relaxed and Ready"
"Firstly speaking about the night race, after the last test I am quite relaxed about this. I think they have done an excellent job with the lights and it's really true that you can ride just the same as you can by day. The biggest problem is of course the temperature, because it's very cold by night and this makes our work, especially with the tyres, much harder. Generally I'm very happy and excited that we have finally reached the first race. It's been a long time since Valencia and I am definitely ready to start a new challenge. Yamaha have worked very hard over the winter and our new bike is very good; of course there are some things still to work on and we did have some issues to contend with at the last test, but I am confident that we are in good shape overall. I am very happy with my tyres as well and now I just want to get started. We have a big task ahead of us but I know that my team and everyone at Yamaha are up to the job."

Noooo, no mistake. Bottom line is, it seems to be about majority of races where B'stones performed... at the moment, gotta take the bad with the good. The bad being Michelin currently being on top, but just wait for those races in the year when you can see Dani's rear tyre smoking and skidding... (I have faith that it will still happen... unless michelin finally got smart and put an industrial spy in at Bridgestone to find out where B'stone have been growing their rubber... and bombed the plantation! -though I don't think they grow rubber anymore for tyres, do they?)

It was brought up last year... can't remember which race, might have been Phillip island, where the commentators were saying that VR is possibly contributing to his tyre wear because of the way he pushes the bike to the limit... and as we hear about traction control and the Yam's "made in Taiwan" electronics... he's fighting the bike as well... those bridgestones should end up proving to be tough enough to handle it in a way the michelins didn't.
Anyway, that's what I'm comforting myself with at the moment!

We just might have the opposite of last year happen... bit more like 2006... Rossi might start slower then finish the season like a bat out of hell...