MotoGP Blog

Three manufacturer teams stayed on at Motegi, working on next year’s machinery. No surprise, Ducati were not one of them, but were straight on their flight back to Italy to celebrate before making the long trip to Australia.
Yamaha
Chassis and tyres. Colin Edwards spent the day faithfully testing Michelin compounds and constructions, the French manufacturer working with the Texan with some success. Also the mystery of Rossi’s front end problems in the race were solved, apparently due to a complete lack of temperature in the front tyre caused by the still-wet pit lane. Meanwhile, Rossi concentrated on two new chassis: a stiffer one and a really stiff one from the 2007 bike. Rossi favoured the less stiff one of the two, the really stiff one passing too much vibration on to the rider.
Suzuki
2008 bike and tyres. A run out for the new 2008 bike with engine and chassis revisions in the hands of test rider Aoki. Absent from the test was Hopkins, who was given some gardening leave due to his impending departure to Kawasaki next year. Vermeulen spent his day testing Bridgestone tyres.
Repsol Honda
Fairing, clutch and tyres. More overtime for the Michelin technicians, working closely to improve their rubber’s performance on the Honda bikes. A revised, slightly wider fairing for Hayden to offer him more aerodynamic efficiency, and some new clutch parts for the 2008 bikes, although we’ll probably see these again before the season is out.