MotoGP 2004 - MotorSM.com

2004 MotoGP TESTING	for latest update
*Rossi Quickest - FINAL TEST*	Advertising Inquiry

2004 MotoGP - PRE SEASON TEST

OFFICIAL IRTA TEST: March 26 - 28, 2004, Barcelona, Circuit de Catalunya
MARCH VALENCIA TEST:
HAYDEN (Honda), QUICKEST
FEB TEST
FEB PHILLIP ISLAND TEST: BIAGGI (Honda), QUICKEST
FEB SEPANG TEST: HAYDEN (Honda), QUICKEST
JAN TEST
SEPANG, MALAYSIA: BIAGGI (Honda) QUICKEST

ROSSI PUTS YAMAHA ON TOP

For the first time since switching from championship winning Honda to Yamaha, Rossi is quickest. He did it on the final day of the final pre-season test. He also won the prize of a BMW Z4 sportscar for being the best qualifier. The competition begins on April 18th.
ROSSI (YAMAHA): "... In two months they've done incredible work ... The whole day has been a brilliant surprise and we’re all very happy. I think this year will be great for the Championship as a whole because it’s going to be very competitive. Everyone has put in so much hard work – the team and the Yamaha engineers – and we’ve done a great job so far. There is still a lot of work to do and a long way to go, but we’ve made a good performance. This year is going to be a great challenge"

FINAL TEST

SUN, MAR 28, 2004, CATALUNYA (vs 2003 pole 1m 43.927s, Rossi, Honda)

1 Valentino Rossi, ITA, Yamaha YZR-M1 1m 44.571s
2 Colin Edwards, US, Honda RC211V +0.082s
3 Sete Gibernau, SPA, Honda RC211V +0.0098s
4 Loris Capirossi, Ducati +0.3
5 Nicky Hayden, Honda +0.37
6 Kenny Roberts, Suzuki +0.47
7 Ruben Xaus, Ducati +0.5
8 Carlos Checa, Yamaha +0.6
9 Marco Melandri, Yamaha
10 Makoto Tamada, Honda
11 Biaggi 12 Hodgson 13 Nakano 14 Barros 15 Hofmann 16 Byrne 17 Lavilla 18 Itoh 19 Bayliss 20 Hopkins 21 Abe 22 Aoki 23 McWilliams 24 Fabrizio 25 Lucchi

SAT, MAR 27, 2004, CATALUNYA

*** SESSION WASHED OUT WITH RAIN ***

FRI, MAR 26, 2004, CATALUNYA

BARROS QUICKEST: "... It was too slippery to really tell anything but I'm happy with the results ... We hope for some good weather tomorrow."
ROSSI 2ND: "... We made some progress today, but not so much because it was raining. Like last year here, the temperature is too cold and therefore so were the tyres; the conditions are really different to those of the Grand Prix in the summer here ... We’ve been working quite slowly but we’ve got a bit more potential"

RAIN SHORTENED SESSION

1 Alex Barros, Honda RC211V 1m 45.464s (vs 2003 pole 1m 43.927s, Rossi, Honda)
2 Rossi, Yamaha +0.078s, 27 laps
3 Gibernau, Honda +0.4
4 Roberts, Suzuki +0.4
5 Hayden, Honda +0.5
6 Tamada, Honda +0.5
7 Edwards 8 Itoh 9 Biaggi 10 Hopkins
11 Hodgson 12 Checa 13 Capirossi 14 Xaus 15 Nakano 16 Bayliss 17 Byrne 18 Hofmann 19 Melandri 20 McWilliams 21 Abe 22 Aoki 23 Guareschi 24 Lavilla 25 Fabrizio 26 Lucchi

MARCH 2004, PHILLIP ISLAND YAMAHA TEST:

ROSSI: "... we've made some good progress with tyres and I was comfortable with the race simulation this afternoon. It wasn't as warm as we would have liked, about 20° outside temperature, but we have found quite a good level and are ready to see what happens when we move to a different circuit. The IRTA tests are going to be interesting for this reason, as we've only tested with this set-up and engine spec at two circuits, and Barcelona and Jerez are difficult because of their hard braking"

MAR 11, 2004; PHILLIP ISL., AUSTRALIA: (vs 2003 pole: Rossi, Honda, 1m 30.06s)
1 Rossi, Yamaha, 1m 30.8s
2 Checa, Yamaha, +0.5s
3 Melandri, Yamaha, +1.12s
4 Abe, Yamaha
MAR 10, 2004; PHILLIP ISL., AUSTRALIA: (vs 2003 pole: Rossi, Honda, 1m 30.06s)
1 Rossi, Yamaha, 1m 30.72s
2 Checa, Yamaha, +0.79s
3 Abe, Yamaha, +2.23s
4 Melandri, Yamaha

MARCH 2004, VALENCIA TEST: HAYDEN (Honda), QUICKEST

HAYDEN: "... I’ve gone faster here than I ever have before which is good. The teams working real well and I’m looking forward to the IRTA tests at the end of the month when the season will really start to build. In Barcelona they’ll be all the teams, great atmosphere, a little bit of hype. We then have one more test at Jerez then the fun starts with the first race. I’m really excited."