Therefore, the team made the most of the time at hand, before they dedicate the whole of next two days to on-track testing. The team will keep working at the circuit until Friday. There was a lot of satisfaction flying around the Camel Honda box, with both riders on the pace despite having put in a lot fewer laps than their rivals.
Sito Pons "I'm very satisfied with the work both riders and the team are doing. While we only dedicated a part of the day to tests, we're on a par with the fastest out there and that means that our preparations are going well for the season.
Alex was fast straight away as in previous test sessions and Troy is constantly improving on the Honda. He looks a lot more at ease now and I think that this test, after Jerez, is the best test he has had so far.
"The riders' times are very similar, and that means there's good balance, which should guarantee a fascinating and hard-fought season. Today we anticipated a bit of the work we had to do later in the week, the promotional work had been planned for Friday, so in the next two days we will have more time to concentrate fully on our technical testing."
Alex Barros – 1.57.80 (26 laps) "We got through twenty-six laps today, so we're still short of what's needed to get the set-up right. More than anything we tested new tyres, four fronts to be exact, before we stopped for the photo shoot. However, in the next two days, we will focus entirely on the set-up of the bike."
Troy Bayliss – 1’58.55 (25 laps) "We didn’t ride too much today either, but nonetheless I'm very happy. In those few laps I was able to improve my time considerably from yesterday's taking over two seconds off it! I can see the improvements coming and we've found a good direction. Tomorrow and Friday we will be able to make the most of all the time left and we will be able to work on the data we’ve picked up today."
LAP TIMES (official):
1. Capirossi (Ita-Ducati) 1.57.69 2. Tamada (Jap-Honda) 1.57.69 3. Melandri (Ita-Honda) 1.57.75 4. Hayden (USA-Honda.) 1.57.78 5. Biaggi (Ita-Honda.) 1.57.79 6. Barros (Bra-Honda) 1.57.80 7. Checa (Spa-Ducati) 1.57.90 8. Bayliss (Aus-Honda) 1.58.55 9. Gibernau (Spa-Honda.) 1.58.66 10. Rolfo (Ita-Ducati) 2.03.0
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