Rizla Suzuki racers Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen believe that there is a lot of potential in the new engine they are using at Brno this weekend and are eager to discover its full capability at the Czech circuit.
Capirossi (P9, 1’58.582, 22 laps) made many modifications to the chassis throughout the session to get the most from the new spec engine, and although he suffered with a vibration problem in the latter part of the hour, he is confident that he can improve dramatically on his time over the next two days.
Vermeulen (P13, 1’59.041, 23 laps) tested two completely different setting configurations and is clear in the direction the bike has to take tomorrow. He also made the most of the hour to get as much data about the different tyres that he has at his disposal this weekend to make sure he is fully prepared for Sunday’s 22-lap race.
Today’s practice at the 5,430m Brno circuit was held in dry, but overcast conditions with air temperatures getting up to 22ºC. Jorge Lorenzo on his factory Yamaha set the fastest time.
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has one more practice session tomorrow morning, with qualifying in the afternoon to decide grid position for Sunday’s race. Round 11 of the MotoGP World Championship will get going at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT) on Sunday 16th August.
Loris Capirossi:
“It has not been too bad today with the new engine we have received here from Suzuki, but we can certainly go a lot quicker. At the end of the session I made several changes and when I went back out I suffered with some vibration problems which we will need to look at tonight to see what has caused that. The latest engine seems good and I think it will give us a great opportunity from here until the end of the season to get some good results.”
Chris Vermeulen:
“I feel fit this weekend here at Brno and I felt really comfortable on the bike today after my injuries. The team did a good job again today and we tried a lot of things, including all the tyre compounds and two very different set-ups. I am not happy with the lap-time and the position, but the potential in the bike when we put the right pieces together looks very promising. We will make those adjustments first thing tomorrow and hopefully they’ll make us go a lot quicker.”
Paul Denning - Team Manager:
“The potential of the GSV-R with the new spec engine and the updates that have been delivered to Brno is definitely a step in the right direction. The engine performance in particular is a reasonable improvement which we hope will help us on Sunday afternoon. We didn’t come close to realising the full potential this afternoon, with Loris suffering from a severe mid-corner vibration and Chris having to use a combination of two different settings. The gap to the front two is big, but our potential to improve a lot and get in amongst the rest of the guys is fairly clear.”
| 
|