The World Champion begins MotoGP Test in Jerez working on just one bike, whilst Hiroshi Aoyama enjoys his best session of the preseason Grand Prix fever arrived at the Jerez circuit in Spain today, just two weeks ahead of the first race of the season, thanks to the second session of official preseason tests.

 The 250cc teams took to the circuit that will host the curtain raiser to the 2005 season knowing that they had the perfect opportunity to finalise their preparations. Daniel Pedrosa and Hiroshi Aoyama were the first out onto the track at around 11.30am, as damp patches caused by overnight rain began to dry. The sun broke through the clouds intermittently from midday but the low temperatures, as well as dirty conditions, of the track were reflected in the lap times.

 

The World Champion again suffered from the carburetion problems that appeared last week at the Catalunya circuit and he was forced to work on just one bike. The setback affected his testing programme significantly, with pit time extended whenever adjustments needed to be made to his second bike, but even so he figured amongst the fastest riders throughout the day. Dani rode with the number one plate on his bike for the first time at Jerez in January, when he set a best lap of 1’42”9 in much more favourable conditions. Nobody came close to that time today although Pedrosa is confident of setting a rhythm in high 1’42s if the weather improves tomorrow.

 

Hiroshi Aoyama grew stronger as the day wore on. The Japanese rider today enjoyed his best session of the entire preseason, lapping third fastest and ending the session just one tenth off the pace of his team-mate.

 

 

 

DANI PEDROSA (1’43”700, 68 laps):

“At the start of the day we had the same carburetion problems as in Montmeló and we decided to take the bike apart again. We focused on the second bike and took our time to test a few basic things. The programme we had in mind was completely disrupted by the fact that we only had one bike available, so we’ll have to keep going tomorrow with what we were working on this afternoon because the temperature and winds didn’t help at all. We’re a little bit off the times we did in January but I think we can lap in high 1’42” tomorrow as long as it doesn’t rain.”

 

HIROSHI AOYAMA (1’43”831, 89 laps):

“My fast lap today wasn’t bad at all – I’m happy. In the morning the track was a bit dirty because it had rained overnight but it improved as the day went on. We’ve changed the set-up of the bike radically from what we had at Catalunya in the last test and today we were clearly working in the right direction. I have to say that I also feel more comfortable at this track, it suits my riding style more and maybe things come more easily to me here. I think the majority of riders will improve their times tomorrow and I want to stay at the top.”

 

 

LAP TIMES

 

1. Sebastián Porto (Arg/Aprilia) 1’43”403
2. Dani Pedrosa (Esp/Honda) 1’43”700
3. Hiroshi Aoyama (Jap/Honda) 1’4”831
4. Alex De Angelis (RSM/Aprilia) 1’43”981
5. Casey Stoner (Aus/Aprilia) 1’44”290
6. Andrea Dovizioso (Ita/Honda) 1’44”532
7. Yuki Takahashi (Jap/Honda) 1’44”544
8. Jorge Lorenzo (Esp/Honda) 1’44”655
9. Randy De Puniet (Fra/Aprilia) 1’44”772
10. Roberto Locatelli (Ita/Aprilia) 1’44”784