MotoGP teams test for 2003

By Dan Moakes
February 3 2003

The Grand Prix teams haven’t been sitting around waiting for next spring. Several of the leading riders have been out on track, developing their 2003-spec machinery, or just getting used to it.

Much of the off-season testing and important development work has been going on in Spain, with Ducati, Aprilia, Honda and Yamaha all running bikes there, in a variety of weather conditions. For some of the newer riders, or those new to a team, these engagements amounted to familiarisation sessions. Meanwhile, Suzuki ran GSVs for three riders at Sepang, Malaysia, and Kawasaki are due to make use of the Suzuka circuit in Japan.

Suzuki’s new signing, John Hopkins, got his first taste of the GSV-R in November, with team leader Kenny Roberts also running some evaluation laps. In addition to the regular racers, former World Champion rider Kevin Schwantz, who retired in 1995, returned to the track with the marque he won 25 Grands Prix for, and gave some extra feedback.

Among the teams active at the Spanish Jeréz circuit were Aprilia, whose new signings, Colin Edwards and Noriyuki Haga, were reportedly very impressed with the ‘Cube’ bike. The American managed to crash the machine on his début, and had another off in a later outing, but recorded some respectable times. Test rider Marcellino Lucchi also performed development work.

Aprilia’s ‘opposition’ in Jeréz came from Ducati, who fielded Loris Capirossi, Troy Bayliss and tester Vittoriano Guareschi. With Bayliss adjusting to both the Desmosedici V4 and the track itself, it was Capirossi who made the best impression, recording a lap that would have taken pole for the 2002 Spanish GP. Bayliss may have been out-paced by Edwards, but the bike’s potential was obvious.

Best times from the Jeréz tests: Capirossi 1:42.1, Edwards 1:42.9, Bayliss 1:44.2, Guareschi 1:46.8

Meanwhile, Valência was the venue of Honda’s track work. New boy Nicky Hayden managed a couple of falls from his RC211V, the second of which resulted in a badly smashed bike, but recorded some useful mileage in between. Also out on their own machines were the works-supported pair Daijiro Kato and Tohru Ukawa. Kato went quicker than Hayden, but Ukawa’s fastest time was actually his personal best for the circuit.

The Yamaha teams also made use of the Valência circuit, with results comparable to the Honda trio. Marco Melandri played himself in well, and managed a quicker time than Olivier Jacque. Shinya Nakano was even further ahead of his ex-team-mate, but the best laps went to Alex Barros and Carlos Checa, despite a minor crash each.

Best times from the Valência tests: Barros 1:33.7, Checa 1:33.7, Ukawa 1:33.76, Nakano 1:34.2, Kato 1:34.54, Melandri 1:34.83, Jacque 1:35.1, Hayden 1:35.50

In other news, the Yamaha d’Antin team recently confirmed that Shinya Nakano will be their sole racer in 2003. Norick Abe, the team’s leader in recent years, will be retained in a testing role, and should have some wildcard race entries.

Meanwhile, there will be a further new bike in the championship next year, entered by the newly linked Harris WCM partnership. This outfit will be building a bike based on a modified Yamaha R1 Superbike, with British Superstock racer Chris Burns on the list of possible riders.