MotoGP – Valencia Test Day 3 – A word from the protagonists

Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team) 1nd half
“Today we understood the bike a little better, also helped by the truly fantastic weather conditions. This morning when I got up I was pleasantly surprised and in fact we worked very well. I am satisfied with these three days of testing and with how the bike behaves with the new characteristics, now we are able to have much more traction when exiting corners. It's still difficult to understand when exactly to step on the gas or when to wait a moment but we're getting there, it's a matter of getting used to it and identifying the best set up. It's also nice to go on holiday physically fit, without injuries to recover from, as had happened in the past two years, and to be able to plan training to be fit for the start of next season.”

Dani Pedrosa (Honda Repsol Team), 2th time – in the photo
“We had a good day today. The track conditions were very good and there was a lot of grip, so we were able to improve our speed by quite a bit. My feeling with the new suspension really improved today and that was our main focus here. It's a big change, because I've been using Showas since 2003, so naturally it takes a bit to get used to something new. We didn't spend a lot of time adjusting the new chassis, because it was important to focus on one thing at a time. At the next Sepang test in February it will be a good opportunity to focus on the chassis. My goal is now to take some rest and then prepare for 2010 in the best possible way. We need to start the season fully, both physically and in terms of the bike package. This is what the whole team will be working towards all winter.”

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro Team), 3th fastest
“Today we had to find some confirmations and I think we found the answers we were looking for. I like the innovations we have introduced, the engine performance is certainly more progressive even if we still have to find the most suitable settings. Today I lowered my time by a couple of tenths also thanks to the new Bridgestone tire which works very well. But I'm happy, I think we're on the right track, they were three very important days and I think that in the next tests we'll be ready to do better and get even closer to the times of the best. I would like to say a big thank you to the team because it is not easy after such a demanding season and a long race weekend to do three days of testing straight. Thanks to all my guys for working so hard, to my brother Tommy who has been here with me, and to everyone at Ducati who works at home. We can be proud of the progress made during this season and look forward to the next one with a very positive spirit."

Andrea Dovizioso (Honda Repsol Team), 4th time
“Today we confirmed some of the setup improvements we found yesterday, and we also tried some solutions that couldn't be tested yesterday due to my accident. I improved my lap time and managed to go faster than during the whole race weekend, so that's positive. All in all I'm very confident because I was able to lap at 1m 32,8 at the end of today's session, and this lap time is good for a race pace. Braking stability has improved and I think we are working in the right direction, although we still need to take a step forward. For example, we can still improve the handling out of corners and this is something we will work on in February. Now, with the season over, we will have some rest. I have two charity events and then I will spend the winter with my family and friends. We've been traveling a lot, so I like to stay home during the winter break to get ready for 2010.”

Marco Melandri (Team San Carlo Honda Gresini), 5th time
“Today was also a good day, unfortunately having few tires available it's a bit difficult to work well. At the beginning I thought I had a problem with the bike's set-up but I think it was due to the fact that we started with a hard and used tyre, then when I put on the new tire the bike was a little unbalanced but I managed to improve my time the same. Ultimately I am happy because we have collected useful information on what can happen to us during the season. It was a nice three days, not easy, but we definitely worked well and now I hope that the new bike works and above all adapts positively to the tires because my goal is to get closer to the podium. Now a little break doesn't hurt anyone."

Mika Kallio – (Pramac Racing Team), 6th time
“And so my first year in MotoGP is officially over. In these three days of work we were able to test various mixes of technical solutions used during this year and we reached a very high level of competitiveness. I learned a lot this season and this is thanks to my technicians who supported me at all times. Next year we will return determined to improve our race results.”

Aleix Espargarò – (Pramac Racing Team), 7th time
“I maintained a very good and constant pace today but unfortunately, unlike other riders, I wasn't able to do a single fastest lap to climb the rankings, but that's okay, next year we will have many opportunities to improve. My confidence with the bike increased a lot thanks to these hours of work in Valencia: we changed the setup of the swingarm and this gave me much more grip and consequently I felt more comfortable on the bike. I'm sure we can have a lot of fun next year.”

Loris Capirossi (Team Rizla Suzuki), 8th time
“We worked hard today too, even though we didn't have much time available this morning. The new material that was brought over was quite interesting and the improvements to the engine aren't that bad. We made some steps and overall we improved the lap time by a few tenths. We really need to find about a second and I was very sad that the rules have changed so much and now we can't try until February. For me this doesn't help the championship because we need more tests to make the bike more competitive. We will have a new bike in February and I hope it works well straight away, because Suzuki is working very hard, because I know they came here with a lot of things. The good thing is that I believe 100% in Suzuki and 100% in myself and my team, I will prepare well during the winter, so I am ready for next year and I think if we have a good bike we can be close to the first.”

Hector Barberá (Ducati Aspar Team), 9th fastest
“I'm very happy because in the last three days we improved every time we were on track and in the end we achieved a respectable lap time. I felt very good riding the Ducati and did a lot of laps! The physical demands are much higher so I will have to adapt slowly, because my shoulders and forearms are very tired today. This could also be due to the fact that we didn't do a six-day non-stop with the GP and the test. The first lap I did on Monday was chaos, I couldn't find a single point of reference because everything was so different, but with a little patience and a lot of hard work I established a good feeling with the bike. I need to improve my physical endurance. Today was the most fun day of the three. As soon as I went out I was on pace for my fastest lap from yesterday and I improved from there. We tried the harder tires for the first time and I went even faster. We also tried a softer rear shock and some settings that allowed me to understand the bike better. Above all, I understood that you have to use a lot of body strength in the middle of the turn.”

Marco Simoncelli (Team San Carlo Honda Gresini), 10th time
“Even though I was a little tired today I'm enjoying it, I had fun and I went better than yesterday and the pace wasn't bad either, certainly we can't compare it to that of the frontrunners but I'm happy. My confidence with the bike is growing a little more even though I still don't feel very good about it, I struggle with braking in the first part of the corner and then, being in difficulty, I can't be as fast as I would like on the exit but, in my opinion, the the real problem remains braking. All in all I have to say that I'm satisfied because I did the times alone and I did them slowly. In short, I am happy with these three days and I appreciated the working method, I also got on particularly well with the Honda technicians, there is an open dialogue with them, they are very helpful, they express their impressions and listen to yours. It's a nice way of working, the goal of doing well is common and therefore we are all moving in this direction. Now that the tests for the "MotoGP beginners" have been confirmed, I am waiting to find out where they will be carried out. “