Bushiee46
26-02-2007, 21:24
http://www.gixerjunkies.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7900&stc=1&d=1172521435
Had he hit not hit a false neutral, Kawasaki's Randy de Puniet believes he could have been as high as third in Sunday's 40-minute qualifying session at Jerez - in which he was the best Bridgestone rider in an impressive fifth.
"I am a little bit upset, not with the position I got at the official practice, but with my lap time," said the Frenchman, who has shown the potential to be a regularly front row contender during his second MotoGP season. "I improved with every qualifying tyre I tried, but in my last lap I hit a false neutral in the gearbox and that lost me some time. It also started to rain, but I just closed my eyes and pushed hard until the end. I'm sure that without the mistake I would have been into the low 1min 39secs bracket [fast enough for third behind Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden]."
"Overall I am satisfied with the job we did during the session and these three days of testing. We made some changes to suspension settings and my feeling was much better this morning. Today the engine was smoother and this is important for race distance. I can't wait to arrive in Qatar for the first round," enthused de Puniet, who went on to be fastest of all in the final free practice session later in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, experienced team-mate Olivier Jacque underestimated the grip of the Bridgestone qualifiers and was left just 15th fastest in the shootout, but went on to take second behind de Puniet in the following final track session.
"This afternoon's timed session was the first time I've tested the qualifying tyres from Bridgestone. I was surprised at just how much more grip they offer compared to the race tyres, which meant I didn't get the best from the rear qualifier first time out," said OJ. "On the second tyre my lap time was a second quicker and I'm confident I'd have been able to improve again with the third soft tyre, but then I noticed rain on my visor, so I abandoned the last flying lap and returned to the pits. Now I realise I could have carried on, but I wasn't sure how heavy the rain was at different parts of the circuit and there was no reason to risk everything for a fast time so close to the start of the season. Anyway, overall I'm pretty satisfied because I'm not so far off the top five. The bike definitely felt better today and the extra grip of the qualifiers helped to overcome some of the set-up issues we've had. The balance is still not perfect, but most important is that we've seen an improvement day by day."
"Our assessment of these tests is very positive, as we proved our potential," said racing director Ichiro Yoda. "Randy and Olivier showed it in the first sessions and during the official timed practice this afternoon, even though they still don't get on well with the qualifying tyres, and confirmed it in the afternoon. Compared with the last tests in Qatar we have done a step forward with the tyres, as we are sure now about the choice for the race. However, we need to improve the engine performance in order to gain some top speed and to get a friendlier power delivery.
"I'm satisfied with our riders' job so far, but I have already let them know our expectations for Qatar," he warned.
Had he hit not hit a false neutral, Kawasaki's Randy de Puniet believes he could have been as high as third in Sunday's 40-minute qualifying session at Jerez - in which he was the best Bridgestone rider in an impressive fifth.
"I am a little bit upset, not with the position I got at the official practice, but with my lap time," said the Frenchman, who has shown the potential to be a regularly front row contender during his second MotoGP season. "I improved with every qualifying tyre I tried, but in my last lap I hit a false neutral in the gearbox and that lost me some time. It also started to rain, but I just closed my eyes and pushed hard until the end. I'm sure that without the mistake I would have been into the low 1min 39secs bracket [fast enough for third behind Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden]."
"Overall I am satisfied with the job we did during the session and these three days of testing. We made some changes to suspension settings and my feeling was much better this morning. Today the engine was smoother and this is important for race distance. I can't wait to arrive in Qatar for the first round," enthused de Puniet, who went on to be fastest of all in the final free practice session later in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, experienced team-mate Olivier Jacque underestimated the grip of the Bridgestone qualifiers and was left just 15th fastest in the shootout, but went on to take second behind de Puniet in the following final track session.
"This afternoon's timed session was the first time I've tested the qualifying tyres from Bridgestone. I was surprised at just how much more grip they offer compared to the race tyres, which meant I didn't get the best from the rear qualifier first time out," said OJ. "On the second tyre my lap time was a second quicker and I'm confident I'd have been able to improve again with the third soft tyre, but then I noticed rain on my visor, so I abandoned the last flying lap and returned to the pits. Now I realise I could have carried on, but I wasn't sure how heavy the rain was at different parts of the circuit and there was no reason to risk everything for a fast time so close to the start of the season. Anyway, overall I'm pretty satisfied because I'm not so far off the top five. The bike definitely felt better today and the extra grip of the qualifiers helped to overcome some of the set-up issues we've had. The balance is still not perfect, but most important is that we've seen an improvement day by day."
"Our assessment of these tests is very positive, as we proved our potential," said racing director Ichiro Yoda. "Randy and Olivier showed it in the first sessions and during the official timed practice this afternoon, even though they still don't get on well with the qualifying tyres, and confirmed it in the afternoon. Compared with the last tests in Qatar we have done a step forward with the tyres, as we are sure now about the choice for the race. However, we need to improve the engine performance in order to gain some top speed and to get a friendlier power delivery.
"I'm satisfied with our riders' job so far, but I have already let them know our expectations for Qatar," he warned.