The weather respects the last test day. Repsol riders among the fastest MotoGP riders.
Alex Barros, second at the end of the day and Nicky Hayden, third, satisfied with the work done on the last day.
Despite the low temperatures, the day has been much calmer for the MotoGP riders testing on the Catalan track in Barcelona. After the persistent rain of the last two days, clear skies and even sunshine have been a great help for all of the teams who had lost almost two testing days. Theyve all been working until the very end of the session to be able to carry out the planned tests which were delayed due to bad weather conditions.
At mid-day, there was a special 45-minute timed session, broadcasted by TV, with an exclusive prize for the fastest rider: a convertible. Alex Barros didnt have a good start. After only a couple of laps, some oil on the track made the Brazilian Repsol Honda rider crash, as well as four other riders. Fortunately none of them suffered any physical consequences. Alex went back onto the track ten minutes later with his second bike but he didnt want to join the fight for the fastest time during the last few minutes. His team-mate Nicky Hayden, the rider who made the highest number of laps today (78), didnt want to take any useless risks on such a cold track either, considering that there are only three weeks left for the start of the first Grand Prix of the season in South Africa. After the broadcasted timed session, where Valentino Rossi was the fastest rider and won the prize, the testing session went on with unaltered good weather conditions. However, the temperatures were especially low, with maximum values of around 14º C. Once again the riders reached incredible top speeds, such as the 347.4 Km/h of Loris Capirossi on his Ducati new circuit record-, and the 347.2 Km/h of Alex Barros on his Repsol Honda. After the tests at the Catalunya Circuit, the MotoGP teams will leave Barcelona tomorrow heading towards Jerez de la Frontera, were the last tests of the 2004 season will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday. After the tests in Jerez, the next meeting place of all the teams will be the South African circuit of Welkom, to start the 2004 season of the Motorcycle World Championship.
Alex Barros:
144.631, 40 laps
A bit of a high day and a low day. We made a good test this morning to check that everything was OK for the race for the car this afternoon. At the start of my second or third lap I catch the oil and I go down. No injury I was lucky. I was the first rider to hit the oil from the Aprilia, then the others come. When the other riders see the flag it was already too late. I start again but we have trouble. Too much traffic on fast runs and then the tyres go off! I was really disappointed at the end. All the bad things come together! It was really important to get going again in the next session. We make a few small changes to the suspension and then it comes good as normal. Im happy now!
Nicky Hayden:
144.634, 78 laps
Not such a bad day! Was quickest this morning and it all felt good. The 40-minute qualifying session went real quick with the red flag. I didnt get quite the lap I wanted. We really needed this test after yesterday. In the afternoons session we found a few things with the bike that definitely helped. Went faster this afternoon than all weekend! Ran off a lot of 44s which is good. My expectations from last year have changed obviously and I have to aim high. I feel like Ive really learned some stuff today; even though I did 78 laps today we still ran out of time got some more things to test in Jerez to confirm a few things. Then roll on South Africa!
Classifications:
- Valentino Rossi 144.571, 54 laps
- Alex Barros 144.631, 40 laps
- Nicky Hayden 144.634, 78 laps
- Colin Edwards 144.653, 65 laps
- Sete Gibernau 144.669, 51 laps
