Teams ready for Valencia test with a view to 2009

Teams ready for Valencia test with a view to 2009
Sunday, 26 October 2008

Next year´s MotoGP line-up, minus the Tech3 Yamaha team, will be involved in tests with sole 2009 tyre suppliers Bridgestone in Valencia following this weekend´s season finale in Spain.


Bridgestone take their first big step in their 2009 project to supply the entire MotoGP grid as the first 08-09 winter test gets underway on Monday at the Ricardo Tormo circuit.

All the MotoGP class teams, with the exception of Tech3 Yamaha, will be present at the test, with LCR Honda, the Scot Racing Team and Pramac Racing only testing on Monday and the main factory teams expected to continue on Tuesday.

With updates unavailable from Yamaha until the concluding test of 2008 at Jerez at the end of November, Tech3 will not be present as they leave the development of the 2009 M1 in the safe hands of Fiat Yamaha´s Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, the latter getting his first run on Bridgestones as of Monday.

Ducati welcome three new riders into their satellite operations this week and Monday will therefore see the likes of new Pramac riders Niccolo Canepa and Mika Kallio testing the Desmosedici GP8, with returning hero Sete Gibernau joining them on track on the same machinery with new team Onde 2000.

Those riders are expected to get their first opportunity to test the new Desmosedici GP9 in Jerez next month, whilst this week another new Ducati arrival – 2006 World Champion Nicky Hayden - and Casey Stoner will test the GP9 before Stoner undergoes wrist surgery later this week. Stoner successfully test the new prototype in Barcelona earlier this year and is keen to see what progress has been made with the machine since then.

For Repsol Honda there will be no need for a partitioned box from now on as Andrea Dovizioso gets his first factory test and his first outing on Bridgestone tyres, alongside his new teammate Dani Pedrosa. Scot Racing Team´s new MotoGP rider Yuki Takahashi will get his first 800cc run out, whilst Alex de Angelis welcomes Toni Elias back into the San Carlo Honda Gresini team.

New Kawasaki Racing pairing Marco Melandri and John Hopkins and continuing Rizla Suzuki riders Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen are also expected to test new bikes from their respective factories.

Sessions on both days will start at 10am and end at 5pm with updates and end of day reports to be found right here on motogp.com.

sumber: www.motogp.com