Kommentarer från Rizla Suzuki:
John Hopkins:
“It ended up being a really, really good day. We put in a lot of work and we did the equivalent of three full race distances so that’s pretty good. We have not made a single adjustment on the bike all day, no clicks to suspension, nothing. All we did was test tyres for Bridgestone and we kept the times consistent during the 10-lap runs that we were going out and doing. We have had no problems with bike whatsoever, we have some new stuff here at this test and it all seems to be working really well. I’m very happy with the way things went today and I really want to carry that on throughout the next two days.”
Chris Vermeulen:
“I am quite happy with today because this is my first time at the track. The bike worked really well and we made some steps forward with it. I didn’t have much of a chance to try many different things today as I was learning the track but Bridgestone gave me a couple of new tyres to test and they were certainly a step forward. Hopefully I’ll be able to get a good night’s sleep and come back tomorrow and improve even further.
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“It’s been an extremely positive first day for the new Rizla Suzuki MotoGP team. John has continued with his awesome winter performances by bringing his form back to Europe. The new Suzuki GSV-R XRE4 has worked very well in the cooler conditions here at Catalunya. Also for these conditions it appears that Bridgestone has made some sensible steps from last year and we are finding better grip and consistency from the latest generation of tyres.
“It was Chris’ first ever day at the track and it is a difficult circuit to get to the top level of confidence, so for him to get into the one minute 45 bracket on his first time at the track really augers well for the next couple of days.
“We are still not quite fast enough at this point but we are moving forward. The tyres, chassis, and engine are all improving and if we can keep going in this direction then we have every chance to be far more competitive than in 2005.”