[Nick the Quick]

Thats funny about the singing in the helmet thing. I thought I was wierd for doing that. I find myself singing some Tom Petty, Weezer, or Metalica's "Fuel" in my helmet whenever I'm riding. Sometimes I use an MP3 player or just hum a tune as well. I think it keeps me calmer.

Ruben Xaus is not going finish 7 races this season. He is a funky rider, fun to watch him ride, but just a funky rider. Needs use better lines.

Rossi, OMFG, the guy is so amazing. Even though his times are that good, its yet to be seen if the Yamaha is going to be able to perform that well in a pack of Hondas and Ducatis. But still Rossi will most likely find a way, because where there is a will there is a way. And we all know what the will of Rossi is like. Its going to be intresting, and thats an under statement.

[deez]

Update for Wed night (It's lunchtime in Melbourne apparently). Here is a quote from the Fatman (a regular on Colin's site and friends with Colin).

"Its lunch at the island at the moment...i believe Col is quickest. Rossi came out and did a race simulation and did quickest lap early. Birdy said then Colin went out to do his simulation, nailed a quicker time and came in unexpectedly after 10 laps. One of the Japanese HRC guys got down on their knee and shook his hand. Seems Honda wont to be fastest every session, every day everywhere!!!
Rossi is running a new big bang engine but apparently reliability is questionable....."

[CyBeR929]

Day 3

Unofficial lap times

Max Biaggi (Honda): 1’30.21 (62 laps)
Colin Edwards (Honda): 1’30.45 (31 laps)
Sete Gibernau (Honda) : 1’30.60 (41 laps)
Nicky Hayden (Honda): 1’30.68 (83 laps)
Valentino Rossi (Yamaha): 1’30.80 (78 laps)
Alex Barros (Honda): 1’30.88 (74 laps)
Loris Capirossi (Ducati): 1’30.97 (56 laps)
Troy Bayliss (Ducati): 1’31.64 (68 laps)
Carlos Checa (Yamaha): 1’31.96 (92 laps)
Marco Melandri (Yamaha): 1’32.00 (80 laps)
Shane Byrne (Aprilia): 1’32.28 (67 laps)
Neil Hodgson (Ducati): 1’32.44 (64 laps)
Norick Abe (Yamaha): 1’33.76 (80 laps)

Barrros seems to be progressing...I'd expect him to be a factor if he can get his shoulder feeling good. I'm a little suprised Bayliss is a second and a half off the pace, but I lump him in with Nicky...maybe not the best qualifier, but always a threat on Sunday.

[deez]

Barros is taking it easy, he isn't running at 100%. He'll be at 100% and ready by the 1st race in South Africa. Damn... Colin is fast, he is gelling well with that bike. He was faster on it than Rossi first time he and Rossi rode it.

Rossi is truly amazing, so much more development needed on the M1 and he is clicking at the heels of the fastest Honda guys. Can't say I'm suprised all that much but if Burgess can get that damn thing running a little faster, Rossi will be very competitive.

[Crash]

Nicky admits that he's never been that good at practice and quals. But come sunday, he just wicks it up a few nothces. Like you said always a threat....

[nedro]

Hondas Dominate the last day again. Too bad Nicky is bringing up the rear.

The final day of marathon MotoGP testing in Malaysia and Australia ended in Phillip Island today with Honda once again stamping their authority over their rivals with a crushing display of dominance. Just as at Sepang last weekend, the Japanese factory riders were in comfortable and confident mood as they eased to the top of the time sheets, Max Biaggi clocking the best time on the final day with a lap of 1’30.21. Behind Biaggi four out of the following five quickest times were set by Honda riders, the exception being the current World Champion Valentino Rossi on the Yamaha.

“I am really happy with my time today and happy with the work we have done overall,” commented Biaggi. “I was comfortable on one bike but we had a chatter problem and on the second bike it was the other way around - there was no chatter but I was uncomfortable! Anyway, we basically mixed the two bikes up to find a decent compromise and I was able to ride comfortably for a 25 lap race simulation. We have found a structural fault to be the problem in one of the bikes so hopefully this will be resolved for the next test.


”

Team-mates Colin Edwards and Sete Gibernau, second and third fastest respectively today, also carried out a race simulation in the morning and were so happy with the results that they packed up at 12pm.

Back out on the track their Yamaha rivals lapped until the end of the afternoon, in conditions which were more cloudy and slightly cooler than the first two days, with Valentino Rossi finally choosing his favoured engine from a choice of four brought to the test by the factory. The Italian was unable to make any progress on his lap times but later revealed that he was satisfied with the M1’s capacity for future improvement. “Myself and Jeremy (Burgess) have chosen the engine which we think has the most potential,” said Rossi. “It still needs a lot more power but we think we can get that from this engine.”

Aprilia rider Jeremy McWilliams and Ducati’s Ruben Xaus were both absent from the circuit today due to injury. McWilliams flew home early after suffering chronic pain due to the broken rib he sustained in a crash at Sepang, whilst Xaus was observed overnight at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne after suffering bad bruising to his neck and back in a spectacular crash yesterday. Makoto Tamada was at the circuit but did not ride, commenting that his team had completed all the work they had planned for this test.

Unofficial lap times

Max Biaggi (Honda): 1’30.21 (62 laps)
Colin Edwards (Honda): 1’30.45 (31 laps)
Sete Gibernau (Honda) : 1’30.60 (41 laps)
Nicky Hayden (Honda): 1’30.68 (83 laps)
Valentino Rossi (Yamaha): 1’30.80 (78 laps)
Alex Barros (Honda): 1’30.88 (74 laps)
Loris Capirossi (Ducati): 1’30.97 (56 laps)
Troy Bayliss (Ducati): 1’31.64 (68 laps)
Carlos Checa (Yamaha): 1’31.96 (92 laps)
Marco Melandri (Yamaha): 1’32.00 (80 laps)
Shane Byrne (Aprilia): 1’32.28 (67 laps)
Neil Hodgson (Ducati): 1’32.44 (64 laps)
Norick Abe (Yamaha): 1’33.76 (80 laps)

[nedro]

Quotes from the Honda garage after the final day at Phillip Island:

Max Biaggi: " I'm quite happy, we have a good rhythm, good lap time and things are working very well. A lot of confidence so at the moment I'm looking okay. The consistency today was very good today, and for sure much better than the race distance from last year. My bike is working good, the tyre performance is improving and it all looks good. The race is two months away but I can't wait for it to come. We confirmed that the problem with the bike chattering is a structural problem today, maybe we can change the chassis or something. We mixed the two bike's settings up so now I have one good bike and one which needs fixing, but hopefully it can be sorted for the next test or for the Barcelona MotoGP test."

Colin Edwards: “We got everything done early today. We went out this morning and put in some decent laps. I attempted a long run today but after 10 laps it became clear to me that the tyre we were trying wasn't as good as yesterday so I decided to come in. We ran out of things and tyres to test so we could go home early.


I was ready to leave Sepang and get to another racetrack really, and I'm pleased with things now as we leave Phillip Island, the bike's working good, I feel good. I kind of feel a little bit guilty, because I show up and the bike just works, I haven't done a whole lot, maybe a click here or there but nothing outrageous. It's been the easy life so far!"

Sete Gibernau: "I can leave pretty satisfied with how things have gone here, as I've said before I've never really felt comfortable here, so I think the team once again did a great job. We've found good direction with the front, and today we've done another endurance race once again, it looks like we're going to end up the pre-season having done a lot of 'races' already. That's good, it's mentally good, it's good preparation, we've managed to find the right direction, I'm happy with Honda and how they are working, so all in all we are pleased. We were quite a lot faster than Valentino went here in the race, although conditions were better now. I'm capable of pacing myself to a good race and that was my main concern, so yeah, I'm pleased. If the race had to be tomorrow, we'd be fighting to win."

Nicky Hayden: "Overall at Phillip Island we've had three pretty productive days. We got to do a lot of laps and we're happy that many of them were consistently fast. We're up there with the fast guys and it really feels like I'm riding the bike closer to the limits - pushing more and more all the time. We still have a lot of work to do in the remaining tests before the start of the season but we're happy with the position we're in at the moment. We're off the Japan next for some wind tunnel tests - I'm going to work on my 'tucks', then back to Europe in early March."

Alex Barros: "I'm feeling pretty happy. I'm comfortable on the bike and the rhythm is improving. The target for the six-day test at Sepang and Phillip Island was to take it steady, get used to riding again and not to do anything stupid. We have achieved this and it's pleasing to be not so far off the top already. Every day the shoulder feels better and I am pleased it will have even more time to recover before the next tests at Valencia. This new team is working well and there is a very good spirit - I leave here with confidence and expectation about the season ahead."

Makoto Tamada: "We finished our testing schedule really yesterday, so we decided that today we shouldn't take any risks. I wasn't too happy with the other two days really, the other riders are all getting better, but I couldn't. I just hope for more improvement in Barcelona next month. Using last year's tyres we beat our time from the race, so we know the machine is better, we've made a big step there. Now when we get the 2004 tyres, we hope to make another big step."

[nedro]

Quotes from the Yamaha garage after the final day at Phillip Island:

Valentino Rossi: "I'm pretty happy. This test's been quite good and we have already improved a lot since we began testing. I still need more horsepower and it is more difficult to ride at the moment because I have to push much harder. Today I did more than 25 consecutive laps and already the bike seems to work quite well when the tyres are wearing down, which is very important to know. In an ideal world I will have more horsepower for the next test here in two weeks time! Yamaha have worked so hard and so quickly so I am sure we can continue in this way."

Jeremy Burgess (Rossi's Crew Chief): “ We just need some more push from the engine, which Yamaha are working on. This engine spec is still very new for us but everything we wanted to test is done. Yamaha are on track and they seem happy. This circuit requires quite a lot of horsepower and our times have been slightly off but the bike reliability is good. We've been developing new tyres with Michelin over the three days; they like using Valentino for testing because he gives such great feedback.





We are now looking forward to the next test here and also to testing the bike at tracks such as Barcelona during the final stage in the lead-up to the first race."

Carlos Checa: "Not a lot of improvement today. We have been trying different things but can't find the right way to go to improve by a second, which we obviously need. I think we are missing something; possibly we have made too many changes so we'll remedy that next time. I need to improve by a minimum of half a second to be closer to the pace and this will be my target at the next test."

Marco Melandri: "I tried to do a race simulation this morning, about 15 laps, but then I had a small problem with my rear tyre so we had to stop. I've had a much better feeling during these 3 days than I did in Sepang. My shoulder is getting stronger daily, and I've worked really hard here at Phillip Island. I will need to take extra special care with my training programme when I get back to Italy to ensure that I'll be in perfect condition by the time we start racing. We never got great test results in Sepang even after six days, so it's reassuring that here the feeling was much better from the very start. We're using 16.5 inch front tyres, and we've finished working with Magneti Marelli on the engine braking system for the time being. This was a very positive test for me but I need to get a bit of rest now!"

Norick Abe: "I am so surprised that it wasn't very good here for me! I normally manage reasonable times in testing but I have fallen here, although not today. In 2002 I rode the M1 here and I had a fall at turn one, it was quite scary as I highsided at 200kmph and I think that is why I have not been very confident here; my lap time has not been good. Anyway we still have three more days here at the next test and I need to make a good time then. We have made a lot of changes, possibly too many!"

[deez]

{sounding like a broken record} Rossi + Burgess = lethal. They've got that thing within spitting distance of the Hondas in only 2 tests. We should see some slicing and dicing at the front this year. I'd love to see Rossi, Edwards, and Bayliss duking it out. Next test is March 6th I believe.

[The Sook]

But if you look at the race sim times, Rossi was slower than his race time last year, while Edwards was 21 sec's faster. And they blew an engine, and it's hard to start (Rossi's bike).

[ratter]

some pics I got from the island, please disregard the quality, as the pics were taken from outside the fence as they would not let the public into the circuit and all the pics have been cropped and resized to fit on here.

[ratter]

some more

[ratter]

more

[ratter]

more again

[ratter]

Plenty more pics, but need to go through them all and pic out good (fair) ones and resize them if any one wants any more

[maxib]

Hey, nice pics Ratter! Thanks.

[The Sook]

For those that don't know already, the post from the Fatman on the CEII site that Booth was talking about...........Birdy is short for Birdman, which is me. Someone already has that name on here so I can't use it. Haha.
Colin was really happy, and the general concensus was that Max would wait until 5 minutes from close of track and test, then go out on Q's and set the fastest lap, of which then nobody will beat, coz the tracks closed. Tool. haha
From what i saw, the riders in general don't really care about the times, but more on the set up and feel of the bikes. But make no mistake, when I saw that HRC guy get down on one leg and shake Colins hand for beating Rossi's time, I knew how serious the factory's are about having it.