MotoGP: Kawasaki, Suzuki Finish Tests

The two teams conducted their three-day test at Phillip Island Grand Prix, Nov. 26-28 to gather valuable data for developing their 2009 race machines, before MotoGPs test ban begins in December. Both teams had disappointing 2008 seasons, and testing at Phillip Island allowed them to avoid the pressure of being compared to the other teams.

Rizla Suzukis Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen combined to log more than 450 laps over the three days to test prototype parts that will be used in the 2009 GSV-R race bike. Last week, the two riders also took part in wind tunnel tests at Suzukis facilities in Hamamatsu, Japan.

We had a lot of new parts from Suzuki to try including, front forks, rear linkages, new frames and swinging arms and we also tested some control tires from Bridgestone and they worked pretty well with the bike straight away, says Vermeulen. We also tested the new engine spec that we had at the Valencia test and that worked pretty well but I want more steps in the same direction. We also had some electronic modifications and with all this we were able to find some good improvements and we were consistently quicker around here than we were in the race.

We still have some work to do especially to improve the engine still further but it has been a really positive three days for us, says Capirossi. I did more than 200 laps and it has been a really good test. The prototype bike is already better than the recent one, but the next version we get to try should be even better because that will have lots of new developments and we will be able to use all the information from this test to improve it even further.

The Kawasaki trio of racers Marco Melandri, John Hopkins and development rider Olivier Jacque combined for more than 150 laps at Phillip Island.

Melandri completed 79 laps as he continued to adapt to a new team and a new bike. His crew worked on adjusting the chassis and suspension settings on his Ninja ZX-RR. Melandri also struggled at the Phillip Island race, finishing 16th for Ducati Marlboro, over a minute behind the race winner, his then-teammate Casey Stoner. Melandris best time at the test session was 1:31.8, more than half a second better than his race time.

Hopkins completed 50 laps with a top time of 1:32.3 as he adapted his riding style to compensate for a foot injury.

Following the test, Hopkins will fly home to the United States and undergo surgery to remove metal plates from his left foot, ankle and hand.

Jacque, a former 250cc World Champion, had a bit of a scare, highsiding at the Hayshed turn in the final afternoon session.

I had a big crash late on in the day after the rear came round on me through the right-hander at Hayshed, says Jacque. It takes some time to warm up the right-hand side of the tire here, and although Id been really careful up to this point, I must have just given it a bit too much gas on cold tarmac and down I went. It was a big impact, but apart from a few bruises, I walked away uninjured. It was scary though.

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