The 'other' boys are back in town.

[DJ Down Under]

Last time it was the World Supa bike guys...and Mlladin.

Now the Moto Gp guys are in town..testing at Phillip Island.

Here's the first test times...

DJ

MotoGP 2006 - Phillip Island Test - Jan 31, Feb 1 , Feb 2, 2006
Day One (Jan 31) - Unofficial Times
January 31st, 2006


1...Marco Melandri (Honda), 1m30.79s

2...Nicky Hayden (Honda), 1m30.99s

3...Casey Stoner (Honda), 1m31.07s

4...Sete Gibernau (Ducati), 1m31.27s

5...Dani Pedrosa (Honda), 1m31.45s

6...Kenny Roberts Jr. (KR), 1m31.50s

7...Loris Capirossi (Ducati), 1m31.60s

8...Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki), 1m31.86s

9...Toni Elias (Honda), 1m32.23s

10..Makoto Tamada (Honda), 1m32.40s

11..Randy De Puniet (Kawasaki) 1m32.49s

12..Josè Luis Cardoso (Ducati), 1m32.78s

http://www.mcnews.com.au/motorcycleracing2006/motogp/feb/island_1-2/gallery_a/images/hayden_pitlane.jpg

[DJ Down Under]

Is Sete a wuss or what..:003:

DJ


The Ducati Marlboro Team riders spent most of the day in the pit garage due to heavy rain at the Australian circuit. Final day of testing tomorrow.

Phillip Island (Australia), Wednesday 1 February 2006 - Heavy rain fell on the second day of testing at the Phillip Island circuit today, seriously hampering track activities for the MotoGP riders.

Loris Capirossi only completed ten laps of the island circuit, taking advantage of a gap between the rain showers to make a couple of runs, one with standard tyres and the other with a new type of tyre brought by Bridgestone. He was still lapping out on a drying track when a further downpour forced him back into the garage.

Sete Gibernau, on the other hand, preferred not to take any risks on the wet track and remained in his pit garage all day.

The weather forecast for the final day of testing tomorrow does not look particularly promising, but the Ducati Marlboro Team riders and engineers are hoping that they will be able to get some dry track time to continue development work on the Desmosedici GP6.

[Dallara]

DJ Downunder said:




"Is Sete a wuss or what..:003:"



Well... Yes.


Cheers!

Allan (Dallara)

[Acacia]

I like Nicky's high tech fly trap!
Is that standard Aussie race gear?

[DJ Down Under]

We call them 'Fly swatters'..just nticed that..gees the flys aren't that bad..maybe Sete was nearby..:037: ..anyway..that big wuss on the Duke has done it again.

Todays times

Sete Gibernau - Ducati Marlboro 1'30.06 - 102 laps

Loris Capirossi - Ducati Marlboro 1'30.25 - 97

Marco Melandri - Fortuna Honda 1'30.55 - 117

Shinya Nakano - Kawasaki Racing 1'30.65 - 61

Nicky Hayden - Repsol Honda 1'30.95 - 95

Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda 1'31.10 - 96

Casey Stoner - LCR Honda 1'31.21 - 80

Kenny Roberts jr - KR Honda 1'31.64 - 70

Randy de Puniet - Kawasaki Racing 1'31.77 - 81

Makoto Tamada - Konica Minolta Honda 1'31.87 - 74

Toni Elías - Fortuna Honda 1'32.18 - 69

Alex Hofmann - d'Antin Ducati 1'32.52 - 43


The third and final day of Phillip Island testing was characterized by fine weather, enabling the MotoGP teams to complete their Australian preparations in view of the new season.

On a dry but not particularly quick track (as demonstrated by the times recorded today and those in last October's race), the two Ducati Marlboro Team riders notched up just over 885 kilometres to successfully complete the scheduled testing work.

With new Bridgestone qualifying tyres, Sete Gibernau set the quickest time of the day in 1m30.06s and Loris Capirossi the second quickest time in 1m30.25s, while on race tyres the Spanish rider was second on the unofficial timesheets, and his team-mate fourth.

Gibernau put in an enormous amount of laps today, 102 in total; he was satisfied with the progress made in the electronics area and with the rapport established with the Bridgestone technicians, and is now looking forward to the future with confidence.

Sete Gibernau (102 laps) - best times 1m30.92 (race), 1m30.06s (qualifying)
"Today was a positive day, the team is working hard and so are the guys back in the factory. We made a small step forward with the engine braking software. With Bridgestone we're still trying to find what we need to improve and make the bike's handling more predictable. There is still a lot of room for improvement and we will have to work hard in the next tests. I'd just like to thank everyone for the commitment and passion with which they have followed me so far: it's a real pleasure to work in this way".

Loris Capirossi completed 97 laps of the track which included a 13-lap mini-long run. The Italian was confident that he would soon be able to count on tyres that will allow him to be even more competitive.

Loris Capirossi (97 laps) - best times 1m31.07s (race), 1m30.25 (qualifying)
"Today, thanks also to the favourable weather conditions, we were able to get through a lot of work and do a lot of laps. Every day that goes by I am more and more convinced of the potential of the GP6, even at this track, which is very fast and technical. I tested two chassis, one of which was stiffer than the other, and at the next tests in Sepang we will decide which one to use throughout the season. They both have pros and cons, but for the moment I prefer the less stiffer one. We have a big margin for improvement with the tyres. Bridgestone have got a lot of data to work with to make improvements in the next tests and, knowing them, I'm sure they will".

After travelling around the world and testing for the last fortnight, the entire Ducati Marlboro Team can now fly back home. The break will last just one week however as they will then return to the Far East for the final winter testing session outside of Europe at the Sepang circuit again from February 14-16.

Temperature: air 26°-28° C / track 32°-43° C




Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 1m 30.90s - 95 laps "We needed this dry day today. Actually everything went well even the crash this afternoon. This morning we spent some time on old tyres and this afternoon I tested some new tyres for Michelin and I really like some of the rears. When I was ready to do a long run I lost the front and crashed. Nothing big, but it was a fast place to crash and we decided to stop. I'm OK, we learned some stuff and all is going well. Yesterday in the wet I also felt quite good and it's important because it's not a secret that last year I had some problems in the wet, so we learned some stuff in the wet yesterday."


http://www.mcnews.com.au/motorcycleracing2006/motogp/feb/island_1-2/gallery_b/images/hayden.jpg