Jerez 2005 pre-season IRTA test - MotoGP
Jerez de la Frontera - Saturday 26th March, 2005

Rain and sun on second day of Irta test in Jerez

As was forecast, the MotoGP teams taking part in the second day of Irta testing
at Jerez were hit by persistent rain-showers this morning, only for the skies to
clear and the sun to shine from midday onwards. Naturally, with the weather this
variable the riders' work was affected badly, most of whom took advantage of the
situation to set their bikes up for wet weather racing. However, once the rain
stopped the track took a long time to dry out fully, consigning the teams to
their pit garages until around five o'clock in the afternoon. Troy Bayliss was,
as ever, one of the first to get out on track this morning, and made the most of
the conditions to get a feeling for his RC211V in the wet, clocking up around
twenty laps and testing several wet weather tyres. Barros meanwhile only rode in
the last half-hour, to prepare tomorrow's work and to check track conditions. 

Ramon Forcada - Camel Honda - (Alex Barros's crew chief)

"Today was almost completely ruined because the overnight rain continued into
this morning and left the track in less than perfect conditions for testing what
we had scheduled. We want to try to modify our suspension settings both on the
front and the rear, but to get perfect results, the track has to be right. In
the last twenty minutes Alex did a dozen laps or so to check the condition of
the ashpalt.

Alex Barros - Camel Honda - 1'43.328  (15 laps) 11th fastest

"I went out at the end of the session to check the track and to begin tomorrow's
tests. Obviously in fifteen laps we hardly touched on the work we will try to
complete during the whole day tomorrow."

Santiago Mulero - Camel Honda (Troy Bayliss's crew chief) 

"Troy is such a tireless worker. I think he was about the second rider out there
today, and straight away he began to test tyres for Michelin. We were working
well and at that point it would have been better if it continued to rain.
However, it stopped and we were stopped for a few hours because with the track
half-wet and half-dry, it didn't make any sense to ride. In the last hour we did
a few laps more, but we focused on completing our work tomorrow."

Troy Bayliss - Camel Honda - 1'43.130  (42 laps) 10th fastest

"When I saw the rain this morning, I said to myself that it wasn't too bad
because I would be able to test a little in the wet and if we get rain in two
weeks time then the conditions would be quite similar. We did around twenty
laps, and both the bike and Michelin's rain tyres went really well. Then it
stopped raining however, and we were forced to wait for the track to dry
completely. At the end we rode again, but the times weren't too quick, there
wasn't great grip from the track."

Official Lap Times

 1. Nakano (Kawasaki)        1'42.112
 2. Hayden (Honda)           1'42.139
 3. Gibernau (id.)           1'42.218
 4. Hopkins (Suzuki)         1'42.359
 5. Melandri (Honda)         1'42.573
 6. Hoffmann (Kawasaki)      1'42.699
 7. Rossi (Yamaha)           1'42.710
 8. Roberts (Suzuki)         1'43.083
 9. Edwards (Yamaha)         1'43.095
10. Bayliss (Honda)          1'43.130
11. Barros (Honda)           1'43.328
12. Biaggi (id.)             1'43.559
13. Xaus (Yamaha)            1'43.756
14. Elias (Yamaha)           1'43.813
15. Guareschi (Ducati test)  1'44.357
16. Aoki (Suzuki test)       1'44.885
17. Rolfo (Ducati)           1'45.087
18. Capirossi (Ducati)       1'46.198
19. Byrne (Proton)           1'46.467
20. Battaini (Blata WCM)     1'47.410
21. Tamada (Honda)           1'56.617
22. Ellison (Blata WCM)      1'58.494