Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi have completed the second test of 2009 in positive spirits following another successful outing, this time during the official MotoGP night-time test in Qatar.
Vermeulen led the way for the Suzuki team with the fourth fastest time overall, with a quickest of 1’57.224 from his 70 Tuesday evening laps of the 5,380m Losail International Circuit. Despite a crash on day two of the three day test – in which the Australian star was uninjured - Vermeulen consistently improved on his lap times as he evaluated numerous parts settings on his 2009 Suzuki GSV-R.
Capirossi was marginally behind his team-mate on the timesheets as he recorded a fastest time of 1’57.253 during his 42 laps on the final evening, to give him sixth position overall. Capirossi suffered two heavy crashes on this final night of testing but the tough Italian was able to escape uninjured.
Vermeulen and Capirossi will be hoping to continue with their good run of form during the final pre-season test – at Jerez in Spain – later this month. The pair will then return to Qatar for the first MotoGP race of the season on Sunday 12th April - the one-and-only night race of the year.
Chris Vermeulen:
“It has been quite a tough test with the difficult conditions we have encountered. We’ve had rain, wind and even a sandstorm. Day two started off well, but I lost a bit of track time when I slipped off. Today was the first time that we were able to do a long run and we found some issues that we were able to change so that was good. I’m quite happy with the test and the progress we have made so far this year; I am now looking forward to going to Jerez for the last test and then getting back here to start racing next month.”
Loris Capirossi:
“I am quite happy with the test because the bike is much better than last year and we are a lot more competitive. We still have a couple of days more to test and I am sure that by the time we get back here to Qatar we will be right on the pace. I had a couple of crashes today, but I am ok and still very strong. I think things are looking good at the moment and I am really pleased with the first two tests of 2009 and the improvement of the GSV-R by the factory.”
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“We had a great test in Sepang at the start of the year and coming into Qatar we knew it would be a bit more difficult for us, given that our previous visits here have always been quite tough. The test has been quite positive and has demonstrated the improvement of this year’s bike over the 2008 GSV-R. Whilst Casey set some fantastic lap-times to be fastest, the rest of the front runners were close and we were well inside that group. We were also able to verify some of the choices of the new stuff that was introduced in Sepang and Chris’s race distance run has given the factory some excellent data. It has been a difficult test, with three quite big crashes and strange track conditions, but the real positives are that both riders are 100% ok and both the guys are still in the top six despite these problems. We will now go to Jerez in a very positive frame of mind - Suzuki has done an incredible job to take the bike as far forward as it has done already from the end of 2008 - and we look forward to further steps as we prepare for the first race.”
Qatar MotoGP Test Final Classification:
1. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 1’55.744: 2. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) +0.989: 3. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +1.228: 4. CHRIS VERMEULEN (SUZUKI) +1.480: 5. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) +1.481: 6 LORIS CAPIROSSI (SUZUKI) +1.509:
Source:
http://www.suzuki-motogp.com
