800 MotoGP bikes already faster than last year’s 1000s
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Article Summary
February 26, 2007 It’s ironic indeed that the premier motorcycle roadracing class MotoGP decided to cut its engine capacities to 800cc from 1000cc for safety reasons. The need to develop new machinery for the 2007 season has seen manufacturers dig deep into their technological bag of tricks, and culminated yesterday when the first shots were fired under the new 800cc engine format. Each year the riders finish testing and are given one 40 minute session to post the fastest time, with the fastest walking away with the BMW M award, in this case in the form of vehicle. This year testing finale was held yesterday at the Spanish circuit of Jerez. In the closing stages of the session Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi lapped in 1’38.394, almost seven-tenths of a second faster than Capirossi’s 2006 pole time on the Ducati 1000cc Desmosedici with both Honda’s Dani Pedrosa and Rossi’s Yamaha teammate Colin Edwards bettering Caprirossi’s time too. Lap records can only be set in a race, not in practice, but the lap record on a 1000cc MotoGP bike was set in 2005 when Rossi lapped in 1’40.596 – yesterday, 15 riders on six different makes of 800cc machines lapped faster than the 1000cc lap record.
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