2009 MotoGP winter test
11-11-09 by Bracksy
After two days of testing at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia it may be situation normal at the front of the field as the likes of Jorge Lorenzo, Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi swap positions and bragging rights at the top of the charts but there has been a few surprises thrown up. Lorenzo ended up fastest dipping into the high 1:31 bracket from Stoner and Rossi.
Well maybe not too much of a surprise but Ben Spies on the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha posted the fourth fastest time on the second day just a second slower than pace-setter Lorenzo with Nicky Hayden just 0.038 second behind in fifth fastest.
“I’m really happy with this test,” said a delighted Spies. “My performance in the race surpassed my expectations and so did the test. I didn’t touch the set-up of the bike again and continued mainly working on adapting my style. I feel like I made a lot of progress. My data guy could see on the computer that I was riding with more of a MotoGP style and each day I’ve made steps and gained confidence with the tyres. At the end I put on some tyres that had half race distance on them, but I was still able to lap half-a-second faster than yesterday. And where I was running 34′1s in the race I could get into low 33s consistently today. I’ve been making small steps but I’m a lot closer to the front than the back, so that is a good sign. I’ve enjoyed working with my new guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3. It has been a tough year but a great year for me and I’m looking forward to the winter, training hard and being ready to go again in February.”
Monday’s test was overshadowed by the same winds that affected the GP the previous day but Tuesday dawned fine and clear with the lads putting in some very fast times.
One noticeable absence from Day Two was Spies’s teammate Colin Edwards struck down with a virus that halted his progress. Edwards explains, “I woke up this morning at 5am and felt horrendous. I felt completely drained of all my energy. I thought I’d got food poisoning and I knew then I wasn’t going to be able to ride today. But the Clinica Mobile guys said I’d got a virus and I’ve just been lying in bed all day. It obviously wasn’t the way I wanted to end the year but I’m looking forward to a long break now and coming back strong for 2010. I’ve had another great season with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team and would like to thank all my guys again for their hard work. They are an awesome bunch. And looking at the times today, Ben has done a great job. He’s not only showed what a fast learner he is, but how talented he is. There should be a good bit of friendly Texan rivalry in 2010 and I can’t wait.”
Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso was another casualty cracking his hip in a big highside crash using the harder compound Bridgestones but he managed to soldier on.
Stoner was fastest on Day One but slipped to second yesterday behind Lorenzo saying, “We weren’t able to make much use of the day yesterday because of the high winds but today the conditions were much better. The new engine setting, which I am preferring so far, changes the performance of the bike in different ways, for example in corner exit, so we have to modify the set-up in order to get the most out of it. I also have to get used to it and adapt my riding style accordingly. It probably means I can’t get on the gas as hard and fast out of the corners but can keep it open more further in the corners. We also tried out the new Bridgestone, which seem to work well. In general I’m very pleased with how things are going.”
There is another half-day test on Wednesday, although the FIAT and Tech 3 teams have packed up, and head off on a well deserved break and to reconvene in the next test at Sepang in Malaysia in February after the winter testing ban.
Check the next page for times!
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Tags: 2009 MotoGP, Ben Spies, Ricardo Tormo, Valencia, Valentino Rossi, winter test
