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Williams unveil new FW31 at Portimao

The Williams F1 team unveiled this morning at the Portimao circuit their new car, the Fw31. Just like Ferrari’s, Toyota’s and McLaren’s new cars unveiled last week, the Williams FW31 features a narrow rear wing and a larger front one. The new FW31 will have today its track debut at the Portuguese circuit and will run in its winter test livery, as the full racing colors will not be unveiled until prior to the 2009 Australian Grand Prix.

Williams FW31 Technical Specifications:

Chassis: Monocoque construction fabricated from carbon aramid epoxy and honeycomb composite structure, surpassing FIA impact and strength requirements
Front suspension: Carbon bre double wishbone arrangement, with composite toelink and pushrod activated springs and anti-roll bar
Rear suspension: Double wishbone and pushrod activated springs and anti-roll bar
Transmission: Williams F1 seven speed seamless sequential semi-automatic shift plus reverse gear in a aluminium maincase, gear selection electro-hydraulically actuated
Clutch: AP Carbon plate
Dampers: Williams F1
Wheels: RAYS forged magnesium
Tyres: Bridgestone Potenza, F 350mm wide, R 375mm wide
Brake system: 6 piston AP calipers all round, Carbon Industrie carbon discs and pads
Steering: Williams F1 power assisted rack and pinion
Fuel system: ATL Kevlar-reinforced rubber bladder
Electronic systems: MES
KERS: Williams Hybrid Power’s patented Magnetic Loaded Composite flywheel system
Cooling system: Marston oil, water, and gearbox radiators
Cockpit: Driver six point safety harness with 75mm shoulder straps & HANS system, removable anatomically formed carbon fibre seat covered in Alcantara. Safety Devices extinguisher systems
Weight: 605 kg with driver, camera and ballast
Wheelbase: 3100 mm
Length: 4800 mm
Height: 950 mm
Width: 1800 mm

Engine:

Designation: Toyota 2.4L V8, 90° V angle, pneumatic valve train.
Fuel management and ignition systems: Toyota
Spark plugs: ND
Engine materials: include block and pistons in aluminium, crankshaft in steel billet, connecting rods in titanium

Source:
http://www.formula1news.net

Piquet Jr expecting an 'easier' season

Nelson Piquet Jr is confident that his second season in Formula One will be "easier" after a trying debut campaign.

MHatched against double World Champion Fernando Alonso in his first season in F1, Piquet Jr struggled to keep up with the Spaniard, often finding himself well behind his team-mate. This sparked rumours that Renault were ready to sack Piquet Jr after less than half a season.

However, three points-scoring finishes in the four mid-season races, which included a podium finish at the German GP, went a long way towards securing the Brazilian's future.

Now gearing up for his second season in Formula One, the Renault driver is hoping that he learnt all the hard lessons last year.

"I know this season will be easier for me as I'm feeling much more comfortable in the team, I know the circuits and how to approach a grand prix weekend," he told Renault's website.

"I'm sure it's going to be much easier for me to handle everything. I'm going to start 2009 where I left off in 2008 and determined to improve race by race."

As for his goal for 2009, Piquet Jr is keen to match what his team-mate Alonso did this past year, which was claim fifth place in the Drivers' standings for Renault.

"I would love to be in the top five in the Drivers' Championship," he said. "That would be excellent, but obviously it's going to depend on what the car is like.

Source:
http://www.planetf1.com

Heidfeld happy despite wind hampered test

Heavy winds forced BMW Sauber to adjust their program for the final day of private testing in Valencia, but despite the setback, Nick Heidfeld was satisfied with proceedings.

Gusty conditions at the circuit meant that Heidfeld spent the majority of the day gathering mechanical dataand focusing on systems checks.

The German was able to get 91 laps under his belt despite the winds of up to 70km/h, and was content with the results of the test.

"Although the test had to be interrupted once when the wind blew some debris over the track, I managed to do some long runs in the afternoon," Heidfeld told the teams official website.

"I finished the day with some race start simulations on different tyre compounds."

Whilst the wind was less than ideal, the BMW crew were happy to have a try track, something that was hard to come by in Portugal earlier in the week where a number of teams were testing.

"We managed to collect a great deal of data and have already made initial progress," said managing director Walter Riedl.

"Although the strong winds made testing difficult during the last two days, we benefited from the fact that the track was dry throughout and outdoor temperatures were higher than during our tests in December, which meant we were able to glean some valuable insights concerning the tyres as well.

"We have already used the 2009 version of the V8 engine with its rev limit of 18,000 rpm, as well as employing KERS.

"Overall we are very happy with the testing, particularly with regard to the high reliability of the new car.

"Now we are naturally very keen to see where we stand in terms of the competition, but we will have to wait for the next test to gain a first impression."

The team resume testing in February, with two stints planned for Bahrain.

Source:
http://www.planetf1.com

Jonathan Rea Wins Irish Motorcyclist Of The Year Award

Jonathan Rea was awarded the trophy for the Motorcyclist Of The Year for the second time at the Irish Racer Awards on Friday at the Ramada Hotel in Belfast.

Rea said after the presentation,

“Just like last year I have got to thank the public for their votes, I’m simply flabbergasted.

To retain this trophy which depicts Joey Dunlop’s famous yellow helmet means a lot to me. He was my boyhood hero.

This award will again have pride of place among my other trophies back home.”

Rea signed a three-year deal with the Ten Kate Honda World Superbike team back in September and will ride alongside BSB rider Ryuichi Kiyonari and Spain’s Carlos Checa in the 2009 season.

The 21-year-old Irish man, signed the contract on the Saturday night and on the Sunday took second place in the World Supersport Championship.

Source:
http://www.worldsuperbikenews.co.uk

Jacque fastest Kawasaki at Phillip Island

The Kawasaki Racing Team were met with perfect conditions as they arrived at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia today, to start the first of three days of development testing ahead of the annual test ban, which comes into force on 1st December. This is an important test for Kawasaki, as all the data collected during these three days in the southern hemisphere will be fed directly in the development programme for the 2009 Ninja ZX-RR, which is due to make its track debut at Sepang in February.

To increase the amount of data collected, Kawasaki's regular MotoGP pilots were joined in Australia by test and development rider, Olivier Jacque, with the three of them clocking up more than 1000 kilometres around the Phillip Island circuit on the opening day. Following on from the Valencia test, which was curtailed by rain on the second day, Marco Melandri used the first day of testing in Australia to continue his familiarisation with Kawasaki's Ninja ZX-RR. The 26-year-old Italian completed 93 laps of the 4.445km circuit, posting a best lap time of 1'32.5s. Melandri continued to make changes to the Ninja ZX-RR, to tailor the machine to his riding style, but was hampered today by a lack of feeling from the front end of the bike.

Melandri will work with his crew and Kawasaki's suspension engineers overnight to improve front end feel, and is confident that if they can make steps forward in this area then lap times in the low 1'31s bracket are achievable tomorrow.

For Hopkins the first day of testing at Phillip Island was a painful one. The 25-year-old Anglo-American suffered with a painful left knee and ankle injury, sustained during a high-speed practice crash at Assen back in June. The fractured ankle was fixed with a plate after the crash, but the tendons rubbing on the metal plate every time he changed gear left Hopkins' left leg swollen and sore after 76 laps of the Phillip Island circuit today.

Ignoring the pain, Hopkins worked closely with new crew chief, Naoya Kaneko, to make improvements to his Ninja ZX-RR throughout the day, and the Kawasaki pilot is confident of improving his lap times tomorrow.

Jacque's main focus during the first day of testing was on evaluating a revised chassis and new electronics package on the Ninja ZX-RR. The 35-year-old former world champion tested the new chassis, which features revised geometry, for the first time during the morning session, but was quickly able to match the lap times achieved on the machine that his two teammates were testing.

Jacque is confident that the new chassis offers many advantages over the old; a point he is keen to prove by reducing his lap times around the 4.445km Phillip Island circuit tomorrow, once he's had more time to refine the set-up of his Ninja ZX-RR to suit the characteristics of the new chassis.

John Hopkins - 76 Laps - 1:33.3:
We ride a lot more during testing than we do on a race weekend, and that has caused me some problems today. The left knee and ankle I damaged in the crash at Assen has been really painful. Every time I change gear the tendons in my ankle rub across the metal plate that was inserted to fix the bones, and this causes the ankle to swell up a lot. My knee also kept locking out, especially on the left-hand corners, so I'm not in great physical shape. Having said that, it's been good working with my new crew chief, Naoya. We communicate together very well and we've definitely made some improvements to the bike. Naoya is very methodical in his approach, but he also has a fresh way of looking at the problems and, as a result, we've made some big steps forward already. Now I just need more time on track, injuries permitting. Phillip Island has always been a difficult circuit for me, and I've never had a good result here, so the more time I can get on track over the final two days of testing the better.

Olivier Jacque - 85 Laps - 1:32.4:
Today we've focussed on evaluating a new chassis on the Ninja ZX-RR, with positive results. This morning I was able to match my lap times on the older bike very quickly, but I think that at this point we are only using around 80% of the potential of the new chassis. With more set-up time tomorrow I hope we can get closer to using 100% of this potential and reduce our lap times as a result. We're also working with a revised electronics package on the bike, which gives us more options for fine-tuning the power delivery characteristics, and again the initial results have been positive. We will continue to work on refining the system over the next two days, and collecting the data necessary for further development back in Japan.

Michael Bartholemy: Kawasaki Competition Manager
We came to Phillip Island to test because we've had some problems at this circuit in the past. So far it looks like it was a good decision, as the conditions have been perfect for testing most of the day, with only the wind causing some issues this afternoon. Marco has continued his familiarisation with the Ninja ZX-RR, and already he's working with his crew and making improvements. He had some issues with the front end of the bike today, but we think we have a solution for this that will improve things for tomorrow. John was not in the best of condition today; he was short on sleep as a result of jet lag and his Assen injuries were obviously causing him some pain on the bike. Hopefully, after a good night's sleep tonight, he'll be firing on all cylinders again tomorrow. Olivier was the fastest of our three riders today, which is very positive given that he's testing the chassis that may well form the basis of our 2009 Ninja ZX-RR. Hopefully he can continue to improve tomorrow with more time on the bike, as the data from this test is critical to our ongoing development programme in Japan. Overall it's been a positive first day of testing.

Source:
http://www.highrevs.net

Ducati Marlboro team makes official debut at Madonna di Campiglio

The Wrooom - MotoGP Press Ski Meeting 2009 got underway in the best manner possible on Monday 12th January with a welcome cocktail party for the world’s media at the Hotel Spinale, before the focus turned to both work and play in the opening Wrooom press conference at Madonna di Campiglio this morning. Both Casey Stoner and his new team-mate Nicky Hayden, making his official debut in Ducati Marlboro Team colours, were under the spotlight before spending a relaxing afternoon on the stunning slopes of the Italian Dolomites.

There were plenty of talking points for the media, who have flocked from all corners of the globe, not least in seeing an American rider in the Italian factory’s Grand Prix uniform for the very first time.

Nicky Hayden:
On Sunday I tried on my Ducati leathers for the first time in an official photo session and I felt very proud. I know what a huge opportunity I’ve been given and I’m very grateful to Ducati, Marlboro and everybody who has shown faith in me in this new chapter of my career. I was immediately struck by the dedication and passion that the team is famous for and by how hard everybody is trying to make me feel comfortable in these new surroundings, as they have done helping me adapt to the bike and get the most out of it. So far everything has gone really well. Obviously I need to get faster in order to be truly competitive but I already love the bike. I can’t say it’s easy to ride, it gets pretty loose on corner exit sometimes but the engine is powerful and that is important, especially in a race situation. The chassis is nice and stiff so you get plenty of feedback and I like the feeling with the front, which is really stable in the fast corners. So far we have only had two test sessions at Valencia and Jerez, which are tight and twisty tracks, and I think that at places like Malaysia and Qatar it will be even better. I’m happy to be working with Casey – we’ve known each other for a few years now, you could say we’ve got similar backgrounds having not come up through European competition and having started out racing in dirt-track. We’re both competitive and we’re going to want to beat one another but we’ll also work together to make a strong team. As far as my expectations for the season are concerned, I still have a lot of faith in myself and in what I’m capable of. The first objective is to get back to the same level I was at in 2006, challenging consistently for the podium and trying to start winning races again.

Answering about the recovery of his left wrist, which was operated on late last year, Casey Stoner responded:
I’m reasonably happy. I would like to have a little more movement but the check-up went well yesterday, the bone graft has healed well and that is very positive. It means I can start to work my hand and arm a little harder now and start to recover some muscle mass and get in the best possible shape for the next test. So far I’ve only ridden the GP9 twice, at Barcelona during the season and for a day at Valencia in November. It wasn’t much but it was enough to understand that we’re not a long way off and that the new chassis is an improvement. We need to work on improving the set-up and refining a couple of areas on the bike. Last year we were perhaps a little too confident and overlooked some of the work we needed to do, leading to a few highs and lows at the start of the season that end up costing us dear. In any case, despite a breakdown and two crashes we still won six races and finished second in the championship, which means we can look forward to next year really positively. I’m really happy with the addition of Nicky to the team. He has always been kind to me, even when I was racing in the smaller classes, and I think we can work well together. The communication between us is great and I think we can work together on fixing certain situations and getting the most out of the GP9 so that we can both be competitive. From my side I also plan to be a little more aggressive this season and maybe be a bit more decisive in races where nobody seems to want to take the initiative.

The event programme continues tomorrow with a press conference with Claudio Domenicali and the official unveiling of the new Desmosedici GP9.

Source:
http://www.highrevs.net

Following the recent two-day test at the Australian former Grand Prix venue of Eastern Creek Kawasaki´s French test rider Olivier Jacque was optimistic about the evolution of the Japanese manufacturer´s Ninja ZX-RR race machine.

The former 250cc World Champion, alongside Japanese test rider Tamaki Serizawa, worked with a Kawasaki test team at the Australian venue on Friday and Saturday to assess the improvements which have been made to the bike.

Commenting on the test Jacque stated, `Well it is the first shakedown so everything is brand new. We have a new engine and a new chassis. It takes time to set up all these things correctly but the first impression is quite positive.´

He continued, `The new chassis gives more feedback on the front end which was a problem last season. We have been looking closely at that this winter and we now have lot more stability on the front which helps with turning. Of course there is still work to do though.´

`Last year we had problems with the front end and I was complaining. We tried a few things but it was not going in the right way,´ added the man who retired from MotoGP competition in 2007. `The few laps we have done with the new bike seem like a big step though, so I am quite confident. This was just a test but the engineers have been working very hard this winter to find a solution to the problem. We are testing to see what the improvement is like and it is quite efficient.´

Asked about the responsiveness of the new bike on the rear end Jacque replied, `We still have to make adjustments in terms of the rear shock and with swing arm stiffness. Also, the last time I came to Eastern Creek was 14 or 15 years ago and that was in 250cc so it is hard to make comparisons.´

The experienced rider also confirmed that the next step of testing would take place elsewhere on Australian soil in the coming days, where he expected to see further progress made. He concluded, `It takes more than two days to set up the bike properly so that is why we will go to Phillip Island, where we will know what gear ratio to use and which set-up configuration to use. It will be easier there. But first of all here we just needed to clean up the bike and polish the first set-up.´

Although Kawasaki´s factory team have withdrawn from MotoGP the Ninja ZX-RR development continues rapidly, with the bike available for use by a private team in 2009.

Source:
http://www.motogp.com