POSITIVE THREE-DAY TEST FOR SUZUKI AT SEPANG

 

SUZUKI MotoGP concluded the third and final day of official testing at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia today satisfied with progress and developments made to the GSX-RR.

Team riders Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales tested a variety of parts and set-up options that provided the team with important data to take forward to the next test at Losail in Qatar next month.

Today’s session, held in air temperatures of 32° and 60° track, saw Espargaro complete 50 laps with a best time of 2:00.275, giving him ninth position on the day. Viñales completed 43 laps with a fastest-lap of 2:00.604 for 14th on the timesheets.

Satoru Terada - Team Director/ Project Leader:

“We arrived at this test in Sepang only a short time after Sepang 1, so we haven’t had the chance to make very big improvements, but our engineers worked very hard and we managed to introduce several new specifications. Even if small, we did make positive steps forward, both in the engine and especially in electronics. We’ve also worked on the chassis and found good compromises on the set-up, so I’m very happy with how these days went.

“The riders had two small crashes but without major injuries and no particular damage to the bikes, so we had time to collect information. We will now go to Qatar with more improvements to be tested step-by-step.”

Aleix Espargaro:
“We are satisfied with today’s results, we ran a lot in hot conditions because yesterday we had some issues with those conditions with more than 50 laps. Today we ran a lot with 60° closing laps in 2.01. I’m very, very happy with the improvements on the pace. I’m missing the fast lap because with the two soft tyres I made a couple of mistakes.

“The bike is very improved, we worked a lot on electronic set-up and to find a better configuration of the traction control, which gave good results and let us cut one second off our time. We also worked on traction out of corners and it was important to verify the bike’s behaviour in hot conditions because they are similar to race conditions. We still have a lot of work to do but I’m confident and aware that I’m in a Factory team with a lot of people working hard to do the best job.”

Maverick Viñales:

“I leave Sepang with a very good feeling and satisfaction and we did a very good job without any major issues. I managed to improve my times a lot, both in the fast laps and the overall pace. I’m learning more and more about the bike, we made some changes in terms of set-up and electronics and I’m learning how to exploit them.

“Today I tried to get a good single lap time, but didn’t want to push too hard like I did yesterday when I crashed, so we focused more on consistency and we worked on the pace; we also got very important feedback from the bike which we can work on. I’m still a rookie, so I still need to understand so many things about the bike, but I’m performing well and my performance is improving day by day.”

Sepang Day 3 Test Times: 1 Marc Marquez (Honda) 1:59.115, 2 Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1:59.437, 3 Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 1:59.658, 4 Andrea Iannone (Ducati) 1:59.722, 5 Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1:59.833, 6 Bradley Smith (Yamaha) 1:59.883. 9 Aleix Espargaro (SUZUKI MotoGP) 2:00.275. 14 Maverick Viñales (SUZUKI MotoGP) 2:00.604.
Source Suzuki Racing

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SUZUKI MOTOGP CLOSES-IN ON SEPANG TOP TIMES

SUZUKI MotoGP continued its development of the GSX-RR at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia today and moved ever-closer to the leading times.

Aleix Espargaro completed 57 laps with a best time of 2:00.409 for ninth on combined times and 0.565 seconds from leader Marc Marquez (Honda). Team mate Maverick Viñales recorded 61 laps with a best time of 2:00.731 which gave him 12th position overall, 0.887 seconds from the top.

Although Viñales suffered a small crash, no damage was suffered by rider or machine. Both riders continue to gain more confidence and set-ups of their machines and will continue tomorrow with some longer race simulations runs.

Davide Brivio – Team Manager:

“Today we have had another positive day because we could bring on our testing plan and we continued positively our learning process. The riders rode many laps today and this gave us the chance of discovering some issues on which we must work in order to be consistent in long runs like a race. Aleix in particular started a long run allowing us to collect important data, while Maverick continued to try some different set-up configurations and he’s learning fast how to feel the bike and give feedback to engineers. It’s a good thing to see that our times are good, closer and closer to the top. Tomorrow we will try further improvements but for the moment everything is going smoothly.”


Aleix Espargaro:
“I’m happy about the day, especially about the first part of the day. I found a good feeling from the very beginning and we immediately made good lap times. It is important to see that after five days here (including Sepang 1) we are getting closer and closer to the top.

“In the second part of the day we struggled a little with hotter conditions and we encountered some issue with the grip on the back so we need to work more on this. With my riding style I open the throttle early and when the tarmac gets hot we lose grip, so we need to fix it. The first part of the championship will not be in extremely hot weather conditions so we have time to find out a solution.

“We tried a race simulation, we had planned 17 laps in a row, but I had to give up a little earlier because my knee still hurts and I’m not at my 100%. However, the long run gave us important data. We still have two days to test, so we have time to work on the issues we are finding out.”

Maverick Viñales:

“It was another positive day. I did many laps and I’m becoming more-and-more familiar with the bike and the setting opportunities. I had a little crash but it wasn’t bad, I’m ok and so is the bike, I simply slid off.

“My main objective is still to find out the most effective riding style, even if we are introducing new technical modifications in every run to let me understand how the machine reacts to them. I also tried a small race simulation, just to start approaching the long runs, but tomorrow we will do more testing on this side.”

Sepang Day 1-2 Combined Times: 1 Marc Marquez (Honda) 1:59.844, 2 Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1:59.902, 3 Andrea Iannone (Ducati) 2:00.098, 4 Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) 2:00. 250, 5 Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 2:00.275, 6 Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2:00.275. 9 Aleix Espargaro (SUZUKI MotoGP) 2:00.409. 12 Maverick Viñales (SUZUKI MotoGP) 2:00.731.
Source Suzuki Racing

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SUZUKI MOTOGP CONTINUES IMPROVEMENT AT SEPANG

The SUZUKI MotoGP team continued to improve with the newly-refined GSX-RR in the opening day of testing at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia today with riders Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales setting fourth and ninth-placed positions on the timesheets.

Espargaro completed a total of 39 laps in mixed weather and track conditions, setting a time of 2:01.055 on his 17th attempt with hot weather conditions, while Viñales posted a 2:01.317 on his 22nd of 50 laps of the 5.543 km circuit.

With air temperatures of 32° and track temperatures reaching 53°, today’s conditions were more slippery compared to the opening test at the beginning of the month and got worse by the end of the afternoon with some scattered rain showers.

However, the team and riders worked through several new modifications on the GSX-RR that included a redesigned fairing, developed at Suzuki’s wind tunnel in Japan, and improved overall power output without affecting affordability.

Davide Brivio – Team Manager:

“It has been a good day for us because we made further improvements. The riders feel confident on the bike and we were able to upgrade and improve the engine power. At the previous tests we decided to cut the power in order to gain reliability, now we are reintroducing some more power but with a step-by-step approach.

“Last week in the wind tunnel in Japan we developed a new fairing that has been tested today. It didn’t give the results we were expecting so we will further-refine its shape.

“It is only the first day of testing but being so close to the top always gives a good feeling. It has also been interesting to test in wet conditions and both riders reported positive feelings. Aleix already has experience in riding a MotoGP machine in the rain so he could give us good feedback, while Maverick had the chance to have a first touch with the bike response. They both felt confident with their machines also in these conditions.”
Source Suzuki Racing

Aleix Espargaro:
“It has been a positive day of testing because we made some improvements.
The track was more slippery and dirty today so I had to get back the confidence, but I have very good feelings. We are working on the performance improvement but working little-by-little, so I was a little surprised by the speed and power that the bike had today.

“I also had the chance to test the bike in wet conditions and I feel very comfortable: it is small and easy to handle so I feel confident. Tomorrow morning we will try some set-up modifications and in the afternoon we will work on the pace; since it is maybe more important than the single lap.”

Maverick Viñales:
“I continue having good feelings about the bike and my objective is to ride as much as possible as I have to learn how it behaves and also the lines to be kept on track.  I’m in the middle of my learning process so we haven’t been making major modifications on the machine; it’s more a matter to adapt my riding style. I also had the chance to try how it behaves in wet conditions and I had good feelings.”

Sepang 2 Test Results (Day 1): 1 Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2:00.414, 2 Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 2:00.543, 3 Pol Espargaro (Yamaha) 2:00.876, 4 Aleix Espargaro (SUZUKI MotoGP) 2:01.055, 5 Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2:01.162, 6 Marc Marquez (Honda) 2:01.190, 7 Carl Crutchlow (Honda) 2:01.222, 8 Bradley Smith (Yamaha), 9 Maverick Viñales (SUZUKI MotoGP) 2:01.317, 10 Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) 2:01.355.

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FACTS BIG STEPS FORWARD IN SEPANG TEST

SUZUKI MotoGP has concluded its three-day season-opening MotoGP test at Sepang in Malaysia today with positive results and valuable new data acquired in readiness for its full MotoGP comeback in 2015. 
Team riders Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales continued to improve their lap-times around the 5.543km Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia, enthusiastic about progress made this week; and the improvements and refinements made to their GSX-RRs. 
Espargaro completed a total of 137 laps to finish 10th in the overall rankings after setting a best-lap of 2:00.486 today; an improvement of 1.73-seconds since testing began on Wednesday. 
MotoGP class rookie Vinales, who recorded a total of 176 laps, moved up to 12th overall today after lapping at 2:00.964; a significant improvement of 2.2-seconds from his initial first-session time. 

Satoru Terada - Team Director/ Project Leader: 
“The most important thing is that we had no major troubles and no crashes, plus we completed a full three-days of testing. Both of our riders have made great improvements, which has given us the confidence in the work we have done over the winter; and we are even-more motivated now. 
“We are quite happy with their lap-times as they have improved a great amount during the three-days, and we are clearer now on the areas we have to work on. The factory needs to find the optimal-solution now for our upcoming tests so that we can get ready for the first race in Qatar.” 

Davide Brivio - Team Manager: 
“I’m very happy with this test because we were able to achieve some good improvements and also get some good answers and feedback. First of all, our reliability has greatly improved, we have run for three-days now, plus two-days previously with our test riders; which means five-days without any problems. This shows that the engineers at the factory in Japan have worked well during the winter, and they have made a great effort. 
“We were also able to work a lot with both our riders and put-in many laps and this helped them both to understand the bike more and we could therefore improve the settings of their machines. We also made good improvements on the electronics-side as well, and overall, the package seems to be at a good level already, because we learned that we have a very good chassis and a very good bike which Aleix and Maverick are happy to ride. 
“The other thing that we have to mention is that our riders are obviously a very-strong factor of this whole package and development: They work very hard and they get along with the team crews very well, which I believe is very important; so there are many positive elements here. But we also know our weak-points, but I think our engineers have acquired sufficient information here to find a solution to them all. We still have a lot of work to do and there’s a long way ahead to achieve them yet, but I would say that we are having a promising start. It’s been a hard winter for everybody and I want to thank all the guys in Japan; everyone needs to continue going forward and we have to continue to give our best.” 

Aleix Espargaro: 
“Overall I’m very happy with the first test and we have to be proud of improving a lot of the reliability of the engine. We had no problems in three days which is great and the atmosphere of the team is really fantastic. I already feel better than last year as I am very comfortable with the team. It’s very important for me that I feel the people working together are my family; so I’m very happy about this! 
“I‘m also happy that the bike is improving and developing really quickly: From the first test I think that our bike is not so-far-off the factory Yamaha and Ducati, so we have to be proud of that - although we still have to continue really hard. We finished the test 1.6-seconds away from the factory Honda, so we need to be closer at the next test. 
“I know that the Suzuki engineers and technicians will work really hard at the factory and I will also train harder in my house to be fully-fit. It won’t be easy during the first part of the season, as everything is still new, but I’m really optimistic.” 

Maverick Vinales: 
“I’m very happy as we worked so hard from the opening day of the test and we made some big steps forward. We improved more than two seconds from the first day, so we are very happy. We worked so much with the chassis all the time during the past three days and I believe that we can go two-to-three steps better now. 
“I would like to concentrate a little bit more on the engine-side for me at the next test, but the chassis is perfect; I can go 100% on the bike and I can push so much more with the front tyre, so that this is what I really like a lot with the bike. I can go so fast into the corners and this is the big advantage. If we are able to have slightly more engine power, and keep this advantage of the chassis, I believe that we can make even bigger improvements. 
“Although I’m struggling a little bit on how to manage the tyres - as it’s so very different to Moto2 - finding the best lines is a slightly difficult-point for me right now. My team helped me a lot finding the best lines and I managed this and improved a lot during the test. I’m so happy that all the crews and engineers worked so hard for me during these three days of testing and I’m really looking forward to our next test.”

Source Suzuki Racing.

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REPORT DAY2 ESPARGARO & VINALES FASTER AT SEPANG

 

SUZUKI MotoGP continued to make strong and positive progress in the second day of testing at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia today as Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales significantly improved their lap times.

Espargaro moved up into 10th position on the first two days of combined times with a lap of 2:01.344; which was just over 800ths-of-a-second quicker than Wednesday’s time of 2:02.225. Vinales made even greater improvements aboard his factory GSX-RR, lapping 1.24 seconds-faster and posting a time of 2:01.916 around the 5.543km circuit; placing him 15th overall in the rankings.

Today’s test was held in sunny conditions with air temperatures of 31.9C and track temperatures reaching 52.5C. Tomorrow, SUZUKI MotoGP will continue to evaluate the new settings on the GSX-RRs and plan a full-race simulation testing.

Davide Brivio – Team Manager:

“We are quite happy today because we did a lot of work and achieved much progress, plus we are quite satisfied that both our riders managed so many laps. Aleix tried different types of settings and worked more on the electronics-settings while Maverick made a big improvement on his lap-times as he tried different riding styles and improved. It’s also important that we started to understand more about the bike now from the data we have acquired from our riders. There’s still a lot to do, of course, but it is positive so far for both as they are still continuing the learning-process. We are trying to optimise the package and find the strongest points to prepare for the season ahead.”

Aleix Espargaro:

“I’m happy with the improvements made since yesterday as we closed half-a-second closer to the fast guys compared to the lap-times yesterday; which gives me great confidence that we are working in the right direction. We have a good set-up with the geometry of the bike and I’m getting more-used to being faster and more competitive with my new bike, so we are very happy and really looking forward tomorrow. We still need to work more with TC and rear-grip as these are the main issues right now, but I think that the time we did today was quite competitive.”

Maverick Vinales:

“Today I attempted to try several different lines and also tried different riding styles to try to find which is the best and at the end of the session, I made a good lap, so I’m quite satisfied with the job done today. It’s rather important for me now to improve the lap times, and even step-by-step, I can feel that we are going in the right direction. I’m sure that I can improve a lot more if I have more laps and gain more experience; so I’m really keen to do as many laps as possible. We will try to make one long run tomorrow, but the primary plan is just like today; go step-by-step and target the best lap-time at the end of the day.”

SUZUKI MotoGP concludes its first test of 2015 tomorrow and will return to the Sepang International Circuit at the end of the month for a further four-days of testing in preparation for the opening round of the MotoGP World Championship at Losail, Qatar on March 29th.

Sepang Day 1 & 2 Combined Times: 1 Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1:59.963, 2 Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) 2:00.015, 3 Marc Marquez (Honda) 2:00.146, 4 Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 2:00.260, 5 Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2:00.380, 6 Andrea Iannone (Ducati) 2:00.391. 10 Aleix Espargaro (SUZUKI MotoGP) 2:01.344. 15 Maverick Vinales (SUZUKI MotoGP) 2:01.916.
Source Suzuki Racing

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REPORT DAY1 POSITIVE OPENING DAY FOR SUZUKI MOTOGP IN SEPANG

SUZUKI MotoGP has completed a positive first day of testing at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia as the team prepares for a full factory comeback to the 2015 MotoGP World Championship. 

Team riders Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales both made steps forward with new chassis and engine refinements on the 2015 GSX-R MotoGP machine in dry conditions at the 5.543km circuit as track temperatures reached 50 degrees during the first of three-days of testing alongside all the 2015 MotoGP teams. 

Espargaro completed a total of 46 laps today, improving his times during each session and setting a best-lap of 2:02.225 on his 42nd circuit, while Vinales used his time to post 69 laps with a best time of 2:03.164 on his 58th-lap. 

Aleix Espargaro: 

“I am very happy to get back on the bike again after a long winter period and this is what I like a lot. Although I’m not too much happy with my fitness right now, as I could only train really hard during last 10 days because of my injury, I’m not 100% yet. But this should not be a big problem as we have plenty of time before the first race in Qatar. Regarding the bike, I like it a lot and it is working really well; plus we also have good grip. Of course we need a lot more testing to obtain the best set-up, but for the moment we also know that our main target is to improve the power. We need to be patient because it will not be so easy, but regarding the current situation, I think that the gap in lap-times between us and our main rivals is not a great issue.” 

Maverick Vinales: 
“It was a good day and I’m quite happy. We still have many things to work-through on the bike and also myself as it was my first ride after three months, but as it was only the first day, it was important for me to get back my feeling on the bike first. The bike was quite similar compared to the one I tested in Valencia, although I felt a great improvement with anti-wheelie system; which was much smoother than before. The important target here is to get a good pace going and that I’ll keep trying to give my best."

Davide Brivio – Team Manager: 

“Today was a positive day because we had some good confirmation and had no technical troubles. This is something that our engineers have been working-though during the winter in Japan for improving the reliability, and we are glad that we had a good response today on this side. We also had the riders very excited to go back on the bike with huge motivation - and we just started with both of them to work for the settings including electronic issue targeting to the start of the season ahead. Today was a kick-off for this season’s testing, but it was also like a running-in day for us and we are quite happy with today." 

Source Suzuki Racing

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SUZUKI MOTOGP BEGINS 2015 TESTING AT SEPANG

 

SUZUKI MotoGP begins 2015 pre-season tests at Sepang in Malaysia next week in preparation for its return to the premier class of motorcycle racing at Losail, Qatar on March 29th.
Despite a forced winter testing ban, new team riders Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales, plus Suzuki’s factory technicians, have been hard at work training and continuing development of the 2015 GSX-RR MotoGP machine that the young Spaniards will race in the 18-round series.
The official four-day test at the 5,543m Sepang International Circuit, 60km south of the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, will see all the 2015 MotoGP factory teams together on track for the first time between February 4-7th; and the first opportunity for Espargaro and Vinales to evaluate the new developments made to the GSX-RR at Suzuki’s development centre in Ryuyo in Japan since the previous tests in November.

SUZUKI MotoGP Team Manager Davide Brivio said: “We are going to start the first test of the season, it is just another test for us, but the feeling this time is completely different as this is the real preparation for the coming season that starts very soon.
“Going to Sepang we are in the same situation as everybody else as we start to prepare for our first season and of course we are all very excited. We have just finished assembling the new bikes in Japan and we know that our riders can't wait to get back on the bikes as we start this new project and understand where we are at regarding development.”

Espargaro said: “I'm really excited to get back to the track again on my Suzuki. The first tests in Valencia and Jerez last November were good and satisfying so we have basically kept working in the same direction and targeting the first race of the season. We will have lots of hours testing in Malaysia which means that there’s plenty of time to try the new bike and I'm sure that we can be competitive against the other teams and riders.”

Vinales said: “I'm 100% ready to get back in action again and I can't wait to get on the bike in Sepang. I've spent most of my time over the winter riding motocross, cycling and ice racing and I have done whatever I could do to be fit and ready for the first test. I'm confident in my physical condition and I believe that the Suzuki engineers and our team has kept working hard during the winter months; I’m very excited to see the progress made on the bike. I already have a very positive feeling from the tests in November and my expectations for my first MotoGP season with Suzuki are extremely high.”
Source Suzuki Racing

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