Malaysian Kawasaki/Suzuki Test Update

Suzuki Press Release

SURPRISE NEW SUZUKI SHOWS BIG PROMISE AT FIRST TESTS

Sepang, Malaysia - January 16, 2003: First tests of Suzuki's all-new 2003 MotoGP four-stroke prototypes have left riders and team raring to go, after highly promising first tests and fast lap times on the machine's first outing in the hands of the full-time GP riders in Malaysia last week.

Kenny Roberts Jr, champion on a Suzuki in 2000, described the new machine as "the biggest jump forward since I joined the factory in 1999," and his comments were echoed by a team infused with enthusiasm.

Team manager Garry Taylor describes why. "It's a brand new bike, which the factory had kept pretty quiet about. And it's a big jump from last year's bike, in every respect.

"I don't think any of us could believe how much work the factory had done. The mood is fantastic. It has made everybody that much more motivated to try that much harder this coming year," added Taylor.

The comments came after a week of testing at Sepang, the Malaysian GP circuit, where factory test rider Kosuke Akiyoshi joined the regular GP riders. World and American Superbike teams were also testing their new Suzuki GSX-R Superbike.

Second rider John Hopkins also spoke about the massive promise of the new 990cc V4, developed from the lessons learned in the four-stroke GP machine's first season last year. "It's much better than the bike I rode at the end of last season, and we'll get it better still before the season begins," the Californian rider said.

The tests began with a pleasant surprise on Monday for the regular riders and team staff. They had been expecting to test an interim version of the 200-plus horsepower GSV-R. Instead, they found the first version of the all-new 2003 machine waiting for them.

The on-track performance of the sophisticated new iteration gave the team's spirits a further boost. "This is the first version of the machine, and straight away it was doing better lap times than last year's," said Taylor.

"Since the bike is at the beginning of its development, it will get better still before the first race," he added. "The whole team is really excited and optimistic."

This is the first of a series of tests in Malaysia, Australia and Spain for Team Suzuki, before the first race of the season at Suzuka in Japan on April 6.

KENNY ROBERTS - "A LOT OF PROMISE"

These first tests went really well, and the new bike has given us reason to be optimistic for the coming year. There are a few major things that still need doing to win races, and improving the top speed is one of them. But the factory has already taken the biggest step forward that I've know, even compared with introducing the new four-stroke last year. The new bike has a lot of promise. There's still a ways to go, but everyone in the team is really enthusiastic. It's been a great start to the year after a winter lay-off that seems to have gone past in the blink of an eye.

JOHN HOPKINS - BETTER EVERY DAY

This is my second ride on the Suzuki GP bike, and I can notice a big improvement compared with last year's bike. This one gives me the feeling that I'll be able to get out and do some real racing. There are still improvements before the machine is fully competitive, but every day so far its getting better, and you can't ask more than that. It's my first four-stroke GP season, and of course there's still some learning to do. But there always is, right up until the last race of your career.

I believe that this (the times portion) was cut-and-pasted directly from a copyrighted article at roadracingworld.com and should have been identified as such.



For reference, in October '02, KRJR qualified at 2:05.911 and had a best race time of 2:06.122.



Not indicated if any of these times are on "Q's" vs race tires.



Interesting that until final day, Hopper was faster than KRJR, and the Kwackers,which are at a far earlier stage of development were right up there with the Suzukis.



Also interesting is how fast Pitt is -- there was a lot of crap posted about his selection, having mostly supersport experience, over EBoz and others deemed more deserving.



Don't know how conditions at the track compare to what they were last October, but the competitive times on Qs were in the mid 2:04 range, and for the race, low 05s, so they still have a way to go to challenge Honda and Yamaha. Hope they, as well as Ducati and Aprilia, will narrow that gap somewhat over then next couple of months.



My own prediction is that Yamaha will challenge from the first, and will make the championship a battle, and that Ducati, and possibly Aprilia will at least take some podiums, if not outright race wins. Suzuki and Kawasaki could challenge for a few podiums.



There should be some great racing down in the field, among some of the new riders/new entries -- just hope that the TV cameras show some of that.



Can't wait



Bob

Kawasaki Press Release

I copied this from roadracingworld.com but its a press release so I don't feel bad about stealing it ;-)

ANDREW PITT'S BEST EVER IN SEPANG

Sepang ­ Thursday, January 16th, 2003: Kawasaki Racing Team rider Andrew Pitt concluded three days of testing in Sepang with a personal best time of 2:06.3, more than four seconds faster than on his MotoGP premiere at the Malaysian Grand Prix in October last year. Whereas Pitt boarded a plane on Wednesday night to attend his best friend¹s wedding, and will re-join the team at their next session in Phillip Island, Australia, his team-mate Garry McCoy decided to add another half day of testing on Thursday to his schedule, before the crates had to be packed. McCoy improved his previous best time by a tenth of a second, and could have gone much faster if a clutch problem hadn't slowed him on his best run.

German Alex Hofmann and Japanese test rider Akira Yanagawa joined McCoy on the extra fourth day of testing, with Hofmann narrowing down the choice of new generation Dunlop tyres, and Yanagawa successfully working on the set-up of a new front fork and a new rear shock absorber.

Hofmann left the Sepang circuit in an especially triumphant mood: Having improved by more than a second on Wednesday already, he slashed another 1.3 seconds on Thursday, when he had the chance to swap his older, carburetted Ninja ZX-RR version with Andrew Pitt's up-to-date fuel-injected bike.

Andrew Pitt (72 laps ­ best time in 2:06.31):

"I'm pretty happy with my lap time. We're making progress. I'm more than four seconds faster than at the Grand Prix here in Sepang back in October, and even though we still have a long way to go, we're getting closer. The bike is a little bit easier to ride, the whole combination is working better now. We just had a few problems with the fuel injection, the bike was running a bit rough. But I think it is just my bike, a small mistake that we should be able to sort out easily, because when I tried Akira's one, it was a lot smoother. We further improved the chassis settings and got rid of the rear shock pumping that was disturbing us on the first two days of testing. We also went through a few good tyres, and in the end, the bike was just better on the exit of the turns, and it was possible to open the throttle a bit earlier. Now I'm really looking forward to our next test session in Phillip Island, as long as it is not too windy, because if it is, it's a real handful down there. But otherwise, I love to ride on my home track. My goal is to make the same sort of progress in Phillip Island that I did here!"

Garry McCoy (43/20 laps ­ best time in 2:06.40):

"On Wednesday, we started to move the pivot point of the rear swing arm. We went the complete opposite direction to what we had in our previous tests and in the last couple of days. We had to change the rear shock and a few other settings to suit it, and it wasn't really feeling too bad, probably a bit better than anything we've had in the past. It just seemed as if I had to push really hard to do times which are two seconds off the pace, so it was obvious that we needed to work and play with it more. I was pretty happy about the chance of another half a day of testing on Thursday, because track time is definitely what we need at the moment. We went through a few more settings and further improved the bike, and my idea was to put in one fast lap and then to try and set up the bike to ride at this pace comfortably. I tried several times to go for a lap in the 2.05's, but I never accomplished it, because I either the tyre wasn't right, or we had other problems. On my fastest lap, the clutch was slipping pretty much all the way--without that, I would have been a second faster for sure!"

Alex Hofmann (51/52 laps ­ best time in 2:06.62):

"We went through an immense tyre testing schedule, and eventually we found a very good tyre that kept a high level of grip for a long time. I rode this tyre for about 20 laps, and the performance was very consistent which was a real revelation. I then tried the tyre type on which Garry and Andrew did most of their set-up work, and it was another step up in terms of grip and traction. Luckily I had a chance to adjust myself and the bike to the higher performance level of this tyre, and when I went out with a suitable setting, I went one second quicker straight away. This lap in 2:07.9 was good for my self-confidence--if you test tyres for so long, and your lap times remain the same, it gets monotonous. On Thursday, there was even more to come. I was riding Andrew¹s bike, which felt like a thoroughbred Grand Prix racer in comparison to my prototype. Instead of doing more tyre testing, we tried different mappings for the fuel injection system in order to get it as smooth and responsive as possible. But more than anything, I had a lot of fun, and it felt good to get much quicker once again. I am also happy because I did learn how to slide properly. I can now crack the throttle open in the apex and spin the wheel all the way to the curbs on the exit of the turn with a big smile on my face. Sometimes I even manage to smoke the tyre!"

Akira Yanagawa (50/16 laps ­ best time in 2:06.73):

"I am quite happy with the settings we found and with the progress we've made. We used a new front fork and a new rear shock, and both are now working really well. With this setting, I¹m able to push harder and to get closer to the aggressive riding style I like most. I didn't even use a soft tyre on my fastest lap, it was a normal racing compound that I ran for quite some time to see how it would last a long distance!"

Harald Eckl (team manager):

"I am happy with the outcome of this test. We made another step forward in comparison to our last test session in December, with our riders being over two seconds quicker than back then. If we compare Andrew Pitt's lap times now with his race times back in October, there is a gap of almost five seconds, which is down to improvements on the bike, improvements on the tyres, and the growing experience of Andrew as a rider. The rear shock pumping that the riders complained about earlier on is all but gone, which is a relief, because in the beginning you never know if such a problem stems from a mismatch of components or if it's just a matter of getting the set-up right. Luckily, it turned out that we could solve the problem. Our next aim is to improve the fuel injection system. There is a lot of potential just in the mappings. Of course there are many things that we didn't have a chance to try yet. But it¹s also very good to know that we are far from having explored the limits of our bike. I am confident that we still have full seconds and not just tenths or hundredths up our sleeves. Looking back at what we've done and what we have the chance to do in the remaining weeks before the season starts, we are well on schedule!"