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Testing round-up
By Dan Moakes
February 3 2003
Many of the MotoGP teams continued their testing programmes throughout the holiday period, with varying degrees of success, and at a variety of locations.

The Kawasaki squad had four riders in action at Sepang during December, despite the interruption of some heavy rain showers. Regular race riders Garry McCoy and Andrew Pitt were joined by test riders Akira Yanagawa and Alex Hofmann, the last of whom had to cope with a seriously major slide at one point, which he survived. All four riders tested a variety of set-up options, apparently with limited success, comparatively speaking. Best lap times as follows; McCoy 2:07.44, Pitt 2:07.70, Yanagawa 2:07.85, Hoffman 2:08.6

Meanwhile, the Ducati riders saw some rapid action at the Australian Phillip Island circuit. Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss challenged the best lap time from the 2002 GP, with the Italian rider getting inside Valentino Rossi’s time for Honda. Best lap times as follows; Capirossi 1:32.1, Bayliss 1:32.3

Valência was the setting for Aprilia’s December testing, and it saw Colin Edwards quicker than team-mate Noriyuki Haga. The Japanese rider wasn’t helped by the fact that he concentrated on the 2002 bike, which he managed to crash twice, while Edwards was performing development work for the new machine. Best lap time as follows; Edwards 1:34.5, Haga 1:36.0

In other news, British rider Chris Burns has been confirmed as Harris WCM’s first pilot. Alex Hofmann is a possible option for the other saddle
Both the Fortuna and Gauloises Yamaha teams are to unveil their new-look bikes on 20th February, at the Jeréz circuit in Spain
Noriyuki Haga was married over the holiday break
Kenny Roberts’ Proton Team has secured the services of designer John Barnard, formerly with McLaren, Ferrari and others in Formula 1


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