Malaysian 2005 pre-season testing session 2 - MotoGP
Sepang - Saturday February 12th 2005

Second test day in Malaysia, Camel Honda amongst the fastest in MotoGP

Around three o'clock in the afternoon on the second day of MotoGP tests at
Sepang in Malaysia, a few drops of rain looked as though they would end the
day's work.  Luckily the weather held out until just after the chequered flag
brought the session to an end and riders were able to run until gone six
o'clock. It was another positive day for the Camel Honda team, with Alex Barros
riding strongly all day once more, going under two minutes and two seconds early
on, and then remaining comfortably amongst the front runners as he kept up a
fast pace whilst continuing with set-up and tyre tests. Troy Bayliss also made
improvements, having worked devotedly alongside chief mechanic Santi Mulero and
telemetrist Ramon Aurin he is beginning to get a better feeling for his RC211V.

Sito Pons - Camel Honda

"I'm happy with how things are going. We are exploring every possibility that
this new bike offers and the times are improving every day. Alex looks
confident, motivated and in perfect harmony with the engineers. He is constantly
running at a fast pace and that's important. Troy is working his socks off too
and bit by bit he is getting used to this new bike, which is so different to the
one he rode last year, especially as regards the engine-braking and the clutch.
There are a few weeks left before the beginning of the season, and lots of test
days left, at several tracks, and he will gradually get into a groove with his
RC211V."

Alex Barros - Camel Honda - 2'01.78 (84 laps)

"I'm completely happy with the work we are doing. Today we focused on tyres and
I certainly think we've made steps forward. I didn't stop for lunch until we did
everything we had to on both the fronts and the rears because we were finishing
off the work we started three weeks ago in these first two days: we've basically
achieved the objectives we set ourselves in the first session here in Sepang.
Perhaps there's a few little things that could improve the front tyre, but I
don't think that will be possible for Australia, it's too close; probably in the
Qatar tests. In the afternoon we tried to change a few things in the bike
settings but we haven't really seen any particular changes we can make at the
moment with the bike already going so well."

Troy Bayliss - Camel Honda - 2'03.75 (77 laps)

"These tests are proving challenging because we still haven't got the results we
wanted. We're exploring all possible solutions and we hardly took a break today.
We're working hard on the clutch, but I still don't feel comfortable. We tried
several different tyres, but until we get the set-up better the tyres won't
change the situation too much. We are analysing the telemetry with the team and
the Honda technicians, and we hope to make a good step forward tomorrow."