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posted March 18, 2005 10:32 AM
IRTA team tests, Catalunya, Spain
March 18, 2005
DUCATI MARLBORO MEN FIND TYRE & SUSPENSION IMPROVEMENTS
Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Carlos Checa both made useful forward progress during team testing at Catalunya today, the first of a three-day session at the Spanish track. The pair both rode more than 70 laps of the circuit, Capirossi working well at tyre selection while Checa improved the suspension set-up of his Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP5.
"Both riders made promising progress towards the end of the day," said Ducati Marlboro Team technical director Corrado Cecchinelli. "Loris found a good front tyre that gives him extra confidence into the corners and Carlos found an improvement in his rear-suspension settings, so both riders should be able to push harder tomorrow when we begin testing a new batch of front and rear tyres from Bridgestone. We wanted to find a good base set-up here before we started testing their latest tyres."
Both riders may also evaluate a new engine-braking system for the first time over the weekend. Factory test rider Vitto Guareschi tried the new system today, testing it on his own machines as well as those belonging to Capirossi and Checa.
CAPIROSSI FINDS EXTRA FRONT-END GRIP
Loris Capirossi ended the day eighth quickest and looking forward to making further progress over the next two days here. The Ducati Marlboro Team man, who has already topped several test sessions this winter, was 0.816 seconds off pace-setter Max Biaggi.
"Today has been more or less good, but we're not yet at 100 per cent here," said Capirossi, who won the Ducati Marlboro Team's first MotoGP race here in 2003. "This afternoon I tested a good front tyre which helped me into the corners and I'm sure we have more to come from the new tyres that we'll be trying out for the first time tomorrow. This is only the first day here and we have plenty of tyre testing to do here, so I'm sure we will improve."
CHECA IMPROVES REAR-END SET-UP
Carlos Checa's fastest lap of the day was just 0.128 seconds slower than his team-mate's best. The Spaniard spent the day working at improving the rear-end set-up for improved control while accelerating out of turns.
"We have been working to get rid of some suspension 'pump'," commented the Ducati Marlboro Team rider who will race for the team for the first time at next month's season-opening Spanish GP. "We made some improvements which we'll keep working on tomorrow. I'm also hoping to test the new engine-braking system."
Capirossi: 1' 43.974
Checa: 1'44.102
Source: Ducati Corse s.r.l.
   
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