Dani Pedrosa has improved dramatically the Honda’s performance and looked “satisfied” with the important progress they had during the second testing day in Sepang.  Today, the Catalan has been trying out the new suspensions.

“Today, we have overcome more tests and I can say that we have progressed in a significant way, which is important when you have to choose a course to follow,” Pedrosa commented to RTVE.

The Spanish pilot made clear that today they mainly worked with the “rear suspension”, and were able to collect a “much data” to continue improving for the return to the Malayan racetrack “in two weeks.” “We have also tried out different trailings and at the end of the day, have noticed progress, so I’m happy because of that,” he added.

Pedrosa recognized that yesterday, Thursday it took him longer “to find the rhythm on the bike because it was the first day of return to the command,” but that today, “everything was better.”

“It suits us quite well to have the second test here in only two weeks.  I have not requested new parts because, both the team and I believe it’s better to analyze first what we have found here and concentrate on that.  I’m going home very satisfied,“ stated the Spaniard.

The current MotoGP champion, the Italian, Valentino Rossi, motorcycle world’s nine-time champion, again made clear that the new Yamaha M1 gives him good sensations, as he leaded the second pre-season testing day in the Sepang racetrack.

‘Il Dottore’, who already was the fastest yesterday, today rolled with good times, his best being 2.00.925.

The rider from Urbine was the only one capable of riding below 2.01, while his direct World Championship rivals did as follows: Stoner, his closest opponent, made it second at only 395 thousandths.  Lorenzo and Pedrosa also rolled at less than a second from the Italian rider.

However, the great surprise of the day was in charge of the US rider, Ben Spies (Yamaha), Superbike world champion, pulling off the fifth best time, showing great adaptation to the M1, in spite of his lack of experience with it.

Regarding the rest of the Spaniards, the results were: Aleix Espargaró (Ducati) ninth, improving yesterday’s times, while Héctor Barberá (Ducati) and Álvaro Bautista (Suzuki) are still adapting to the ‘queen’ category  and were twelfth and fourteenth, respectively.

On the other hand, the fright of the day was experienced with the Italian, Marco Simoncelli (Honda), who suffered a fall due to a ‘lash’ of the RC21V, but escaped unharmed and could return to the track a while later.

–RESULTADS OF THE DAY:

1. Valentino Rossi (ITA/Yamaha)  2:00.925.

2. Casey Stoner (AUS/Ducati)       0.395.

3. JORGE LORENZO (ESP/Yamaha)       0.360.

4. DANI PEDROSA (ESP/Honda)         0.142.

5. Ben Spies (USA/Yamaha)           0.444.

6. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA/Honda)     0.006.

7. Colin Edwards (USA/Yamaha)       0.207.

8. Nicky Hayden (USA/Ducati)        0.014.

9. ALEIX ESPARGARÓ (Ducati)         0.154.

10. Loris Capirossi (ITA/Suzuki)    0.116.

…/…

12. HÉCTOR BARBERÁ (ESP/Ducati)     0.222.

16. ÁLVARO BAUTISTA (ESP/Suzuki)    0.029.

Virgin Racing, one of the new four cars of this season, this Thursday completed its first tests at the British Silverstone circuit, with the German pilot, Timo Glock at the wheel of the VR-01.

“To see the VR-01 in action was a wonderful moment for me and for all the team.  It’s great to be back in the racetracks,” said the pilot at the end of the testing session.
On the other hand, Nick Wirth, Technical Director pointed out that the 10 month effort of the team paid off.  “Today were the first steps, but the program will really be in action tomorrow, with a full day of evaluation in Timo and Lucas di Grassi’s racetrack.”

Analysis of the new Virgin VR-01

Leaving aside the beginning of his campaign in the media, Virgin made clear at all times that Wirth was going to design the car totally with CDF technologies.  The team believes it’s the most profitable solution.

With scarce time for tests, the VR-01 has already passed the FIA-required crash tests and has rolled its first laps in the British circuit of Silverstone.

Aside from its very attractive line, the VR-01 has quite simple front wing endplates.  And we say simple because it currently does not incorporate a system for the driver to modify the angle of attack of the upper element.  Yet, we will surely see more developments in before it runs in Bahrain.

The nose follows the trend to copy the Red Bull  V nose concept (as well as the rounded underside), and it also has a sharp tip, almost as low as on the Mercedes GP (but longer).  The front wheel suspension is mounted like a unique keel system.  Seems as though the chassis has a small keel under its nose for the lower wishbone.

Rather unusual for new cars are the front brake ducts.  Even though most of the teams have opted for the highest possible position for the ducts, the VR-01 has them pointing downward, attempting to catch the air from under the front wing.  It’s important to consider that in this area, the air can flow faster and be a bit less dense.

The front part of the sidepods is clearly inspired in Brawn’s BGP001 and it’s also quite similar to the 2010 McLaren 2010.  Small and high combined air inlets must prevent an efficient flow of air around the sidepods, providing more potential downforce in the rear end.

This configuration of the sidepod panels will surely help to achieve this goal.  The racing car seems to be quite developed in the middle zone, though the way the mirrors are mounted and their place came as a surprise.

Just like the new Ferrari, the sidepods are rather lean and without sharp curves.  In both cases, the designers opted for a long car capable of placing all the components near the center line.  This Virgin, as well as the Ferrari could be around 5.5 meters long, 70 cm longer than the Mercedes.  While this may prove beneficial in the fast circuits, in twisty road tracks they may become a challenge.  We’ll see…

The back end of the car seems to have some influence from last year’s Red Bull, as for instance, the aggressive slope.  While this puts the upper wishbone mounts completely in view, the suspension system is still a push rod design.

After the first tests we have been able to see the F10 with more detail, the new Ferrari is a longer car.  Comparisons with the Renault R30 show that the Italian single-seater must be a little more than 5 meters long.  Is length this Ferrari’s secret?

A car like this has several advantages, including the possibility to have a soft air flow around the single-seater.  Naturally, together with a great distance between axles.  This is peculiar because McLaren found that the more distance between axles was inefficient for it in 2009.

If we try to guess the reason for this length, maybe it was motivated by the need to include a larger fuel tank … Is it possible that the fuel tank size forced this decision?

The nose’s cone is sharp and it marks a great difference from all the Ferraris of the last 10 years.  The tip extends at the forefront of the front wing, being bigger than the F60’s.  The top part, as was expected, is a copy of the Red Bull RB5’s V shape, with the outer sides of the nose higher than the middle part.

Around and behind the pilot’s position, all parts have had an evolution (if not to say they’re totally new.)   The sidepods’ cooling openings haven’t had almost any modifications nor the airbox or rear part of the car.  The engine’s exhaust contrary to Renault’s has been transferred farther to the front.

Specifications

• Chassis: Molded carbon fiber and aluminum honeycomb composite monocoque.
• Gearbox: Ferrari longitudinal gearbox, semi-automatic, electronically controlled sequential – fast gear change
• Differential: Limited slide differential
• Number of gears: 7 + backward gear
• Brakes: Brembo
• Suspension: independent suspension, activated push-rod with torsion bar and front and rear damper units
• Weight: with water, oil and pilot: 620 kg
• Wheels: BBS tyres (front and rear): 13 inches

Engine

• Type: Ferrari 056
• Number of cylinder: V8 a 90 °
• Cylinder block: aluminum
• Number of valves: 32
• Overall cylinder: 2398 cm3
• Piston bore: 98 mm
• Weight: at least 95 kg (FIA regulation)
• Injection: electronic fuel injection
• Fuel: Shell V-Power

Oil: Shell Helix Ultra

The first official tests of MotoGP started together with the presentation of the motorcycles for the 2010 World Championship.  The Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki and Ducati test pilots have started the first session of the pre-season testing without official times.

The stars were the Japanese, Norihiko Fujiwara and Wataru Yoshikawa (Yamaha Factory), Kosuke Akiyoshi (Repsol Honda Team), Nobuatsu Aoki (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) and Vittoriano Guareschi (Ducati Marlboro Team).  Their activity in the tracks was followed with much attention by many official riders who already where in ‘boxes’, among them: Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa, Loris Capirossi, Nicky Hayden, as well as the debutants, Héctor Barberá, Álvaro Bautista and Hiroshi Aoyama.

During this first day, no official times have been announced.  Some said that in the Yamaha ‘box’ they assured their two pilots marked a better time of 2:07.34.

The Honda test rider, Kosuke Akiyoshi, rode both, Andrea Dovizioso’s motorcycle and Dani Pedrosa’s to be sure of the good operation of the basic standards and that the new evolutions that the official riders will try out tomorrow are also ready.

Ducati was the team with less attendance in the track.  Vittoriano Guareschi, Sport Director of the official team, but also test rider of the Italian motorcycle, only rolled half of the day.  In the afternoon, he met with the people who are responsible for the satellite ‘scuderias.

Valentino Rossi with his new Yamaha M1 2010 took over the first pre-season testing day at the Malayan Sepang circuit.

‘Il Dottore’ rode the new M1 for the first time and which was presented at first hours in the morning, and made a best time stopping the chronometer in 2.01.411, a time almost a second from his ‘pole position’ last year (2:00.518).

Behind the Italian, the Australian, Casey Stoner (Ducati) in 491 thousandths of the best time after 42 laps in the circuit.

In third time position, Colin Edwards with the new M1 of Monster Yamaha Tech 3, also rolled under 2.02, at only 30 thousandths from Stoner.

The veteran, Loris Capirossi (Suzuki), who was the first in the racetrack, closed the first session with fourth best time, with 0.170s. from the world champion.  While Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) was the best Spaniard with his fifth position, but stayed at 0.754s. from making the best time.

The Repsol Honda, started its work with its pilots’ tests: Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso with their RC212V.  The Italian made it sixth and the Spaniard eighth, separated by only 236 thousandths.  Between them sneaked in Nicky Hayden, from the US.

Left behind in the time tables were the queen category Spanish rookies, Héctor Barberá (Ducati) in tenth place, ahead of Aleix Espargaró’s Ducati del Pramac d’Antin, while the also debutant, Álvaro Bautista (Suzuki) could only get a fourteenth place.

It was a shame that the session had to end due to the rain that poured in the Sepang circuit at 5 PM (local time).  Tomorrow, the second and final testing day will take place.

This morning the first single-seater of the Formula One Virgin Racing ‘scuderia’ passed FIA’s mandatory final safety test.  The Cosworth VR-01 was presented yesterday, before Timo Glock tested it in the racetrack.

The team is proud to present this F1 “all digital”, developed by CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics), without the use of the wind tunnel.  Tuesday night, the single-seater designed by Nick Wirth, successfully passed the rear shock structure test.

“We’re delighted of having passed the FIA-required structural integrity controls,” commented Wirth, the Technical Director.

“We’re ready for our first shakedown session, before going to Jerez to start the tests.  Everybody is looking forward to finally see the VR-01 running through the asphalt.”

Nick Heidfeld is officially confirmed as test and reserve pilot of the new Mercedes GP Petronas ‘scuderia’ for the 2010 Formula One World Championship.

After his time in BMW-Sauber, the  F1 “German selection” is completed with Heidfeld.

“I’m thrilled to sign for Mercedes.  It’s the most appealing team of this season, not only because Schumacher is there, but also because this year is the comeback of the ‘silver arrows,’ under the solitary work of the Mercedes-Benz team, for the first time in the last years,” declared Heidfeld in the the web site of the German ‘scuderia’.

He admits to be “very proud” of being part of Mercedes and assured that he’ll “do everything in his hand” to help Schumacher and Rosberg.  On his part, the ‘scuderia’ boss, Ross Brawn, considered “a great pleasure” to be able to have “a pilot of the quality and experience of Heidfeld.” “He has 10 years of experience and I’m convinced that his help in the development of the MGP W01 will be priceless,” he stated in the web site.

The Catalan pilot, Dani Pedrosa (Honda) assured he had “good sensations” in his left wrist, after the screw was removed last December.

“The sensations I’ve had in my left wrist have been good and that’s something positive.  Overall, today I have taken everything easy, because we have plenty of time to continue with the enhancements, starting from tomorrow,” he declared after the first tests in Sepang.

Pedrosa, lapped 51 times and marked eight best in the day.  He pointed out that due to the time he has not ridden a motorcycle, it has been difficult for him to “adapt to the speed and find his rhythm,” thing he considered “normal”.

“We were not aiming to get great times per lap nor obtain great performance.  We have spent part of the day working in the ‘Ohlins’ suspensions, because they’re an important change from last season,” Pedrosa added.

At the end of the first day of 2010 MotoGP’s official tests, the Spanish pilot Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) recognized it has been “quite” difficult for him to find the rhythm, in the first contact at the Malayan Sepang International Circuit.

“After such a long pause, today it has been quite difficult for me to find my rhythm.  At the beginning of the day it has been difficult, but little by little I have started to feel more comfortable and to improve.  In the afternoon, I have improved even more and have come close to the pilot ahead of me.  So at the end, I have felt satisfied with our work,” Lorenzo explained, after getting the fifth best time of the day.

Referring to the Yamaha M1, the pilot from Mallorca declared that “it’s not completely different to the last campaign,” but that “the small details make it easier to drive.”  The later is a determining factor for a MotoGP pilot.

The Spaniard seems to have good rapport with his new sport principal, Wilco Zeelenberg, assuring he has felt “well” with him. “He’s an ex-pilot and hence, we’ve been able to share a lot of information and he has given me good advice,” he pointed out.

The first three official test days for the 2010 Formula One World Championship have concluded, and if we had to choose a short sentence to define them it would be, “Ferrari is a step above the rest.”

Even though, they’re just doing tests, the teams need to check-out and take the most advantage possible of the cars so to confirm the actual performance of the single-seaters and carry out the improvements and adjustments that are needed.  That’s what it’s all about.  It’s worth noting that since the first day, the Brazilian, Felipe Massa at the wheel of the Ferrari F10 evidenced the supremacy of the red racing car in the Valencia racetrack (right in these moment), during the second official tests.  We’ll see what happens.

Talking about single-seaters, several options have been seen.  Some quite innovative, as is the case of the Mercedes GP with its “double airbox”; the Toro Rosso’s union of the sharp fin with the rear wing, etc.  Different solutions to the problems that were brought forward to the engineers regarding the cars’ design.

Having said that, Ferrari returns to the leading positions forecasted by the experts.  The F10 looked solid with great rhythm in the long portions, with an exceptional performance of the red racing car driven by the Spaniard, Fernando Alonso, who made his debut today with Ferrari.  Alonso only needed one training session in the Comunidad Valenciana Ricardo Tormo Circuit to show that he was the fastest of all the pilots who have participated in these three days of collective tests.

The pilot from Asturias started out with the intention of making clear that he’s not just a Ferrari passer by, stopping the chronometer in 1:11.470, better time than his team-mate Felipe Massa, who marked the rhythm during the first two testing sessions.

Alonso won seven times Massa’s best time, and he made most of the more than one hundred racetrack’s laps in 1:12, a devastating rhythm.

However, the surprise of these tests has been in charge of the BMW-Sauber, in the hands of his pilots Pedro Martinez de la Rosa and the Japanese, Kamui Kaobayashi.  They have shown options to be on top.  The clear evolution of the BMW 2009 together with Ferrari engine’s performance has resulted in a machine with ambitions.

Both pilots have concluded in second position during the three testing days.  They have followed Ferrari’s wake in sessions that have helped Pedro to recover the feeling of a team’s official pilot.

As De la Rosa, the German, Michael Schumacher has recovered the control of an F1, the Mercedes GP, showing to be a step behind the Ferrari and the BMW-Sauber, during the first contact of the season.

The new and remodeled Toro Rosso has improved from last year, as well as the Spaniard, Jaime Alguersuari who complied with in his debut.  He has only driven one day in Cheste, but it has been helpful enough to show him he can finish among the best.  He got the best fourth time of the session, better than the time of his team-mate, Sebastien Buemi, and try to learn all that he can to continue progressing in the Formula 1.

The most noticeable note in a negative sense was given by the current world champion, Jenson Button who with his McLaren had to be pleased with the fifth best time, far from the Ferrari.  Together with Button, the Renault R30 still does not convince us.  In spite of the innovations and changes, the single-seater has not been able to find the solution.  Let’s hope Kubica can contribute with his experience to improve the car.

The afternoon session has been calmer than the morning.  At the beginning of the session, Alonso and Schumacher lapped 1:15 high, with a lot of fuel in the tank.

The fuel weights and single-seaters’ performance marked the start of this session.  In his initial laps, Jaime Alguersuari had a slip that caused him to leave the track, but after returning to the boxes he reintegrated without great consequences.

With the single-seaters in the racetrack, De la Rosa, Petrov, Button and Alguersuari, the Spanish pilot of the BMW Sauber began to get good times, without decreasing his record.

With a 1:12 rhythm, De la Rosa began the afternoon as the fastest at the Ricardo Tormo, while Petrov improved the R30 performance notably with 1:13:666.  Nonetheless, the one who didn’t seem to be comfortable in the racetrack was the current champion, Jeson Button who was running over 1:13, far away from the “Kaiser’s” times.

Alonso with 180 liters of fuel, has to modify his style and form of driving the F10.  The pilot from Asturias, today could not stop lapping, therefore taking the most advantage of these official tests.

As time went by and the bi-champion’s single-seater used its fuel, he started to reduce his times, again.  After his stop at the boxes at 16:01, he began to run in 1:13, possibly with medium fuel charge.

When the session ended, , the  Ferrari finished rolling in 1:12 lows, after 127 laps to the Valencian circuit.  In this moment, Vitaly Petrov marked his best time, 1:13.097.

1º. Fernando Alonso 1:11.470 in 127 laps
2º. Pedro de la Rosa 1:12.094 in 79 laps
3º. Michael Schumacher 1:12.438 in 82 laps
4º. Jaime Alguersuari 1:12.576 in 96 laps
5º. Jinson Button 1:12.951 in 82 laps
6º. Nico Hulkinberg 1:13.669 in 126 laps
7º. Vitaly Petrov 1:13.097 in 76 laps

The third day began with the “variable” of watching Fernando Alonso drive the F10 for the first time.  This morning, the Valencian Community Ricardo Tormo Circuit was at a complete standstill.  A crowd of fans who gathered to see Alonso made long lines of cars in the A-3 freeway, a long distance the exit that leads to the Circuit.

While regularly it takes around 3-4 minutes to access the Circuit, today it almost took 20 minutes.  The expectation aroused by the pilot from Asturias was unbelievable.  If yesterday we spoke of 7000 people who attended the Circuit, today the amount was estimated in more than 20.000 people present.

Today has been a complete day.  It was possible to watch the three Formula One Spanish pilots in the racetrack: Fernando Alonso , Pedro Martinez de la Rosa and Jaime Alguersuari.  In addition, to the current champion, Jeson Button and Michael Schumacher who also rolled out.

The debuting racing cars start at 10 AM on the dot.  The single-seaters start to roll out and we see Fernando Alonso passing by with his new blue helmet (Asturias flag); he is ahead.  Nonetheless, the “first fright“ came with De la Rosa when unexplainably he stopped on his tracks, just when he was marking the best time.  The marshals showed a red flag.  Up to that moment, Fernando had just made one reconnaissance lap.

The march starts again and the pilots start to roll their cars.  Fernando Alonso makes the best time, stopping the chronometer at 1:12.160.  After that, he reduced his time on five consecutive laps.  Just as well it’s the first time he rolls with this car.  How many hours would he have made in the simulator?

Behind the pilot from Asturias, Schumacher marks his best score; he’s fourth in the time table and goes to boxes.  The difference between Alonso and Schumacher is of 1.007.  There was a morbid fascination in the racetrack.

Subsequent to his stop, Schumacher starts to lower his times.  De la Rosa still has the second best time; the BMW C29 is performing well.  It looks solid in the track.

In this moment, the current champion, Jeson Button appears.  He makes his official debut with McLaren.  During his first laps his times were far away from the best (1:18.420), six seconds behind the Spaniard.  The British is still in adaptation period with his new single-seater.

A great surprise comes when the pilot from Asturias improves the time achieved by Felipe Massa, yesterday.  The Brazilian made 1:11.722 and Alonso pulled off 1:11.709, in that same lap.  Schumacher also lowers his time, remaining at 7 tenths of the Spaniard, and Pedro marks a best lap, too  Aren’t this petty quarrels?

At any rate, the show was in the racetrack.  The F10 seems to please the pilot from Asturias, who in his first contact had the satisfaction of making a debut record, but subsequent to his return to the boxes he lowered again his best time.  When a little more of two hours of testing had elapsed, he stopped the chronometer at 1:11.599.

The third Spaniard in the racetrack, Jaime Alguersuari, rolled with consistent times all morning long.  He was ahead of Button, specifically, fourth place in the time table.  However, the most significant aspect is that his times are better than those of his team-mate, Sebastian Buemi.

The last stage of the morning session starts to stabilize.  Alonso starts to advance in 1:12 lows, a great rhythm.  While “Schumi” and De la Rosa follow him at half a second.  Everything seemed to indicate that the session would end in that monotony, but the pilot from Asturias returns with all his might; he wants to see the F10 potential and stopped the chronometer at 1:11.600.  We were all surprised, but a bit later, 3 minutes later, he makes 1:11.470; he lowers his time again.  Wasn’t it supposed to be his contact with the F10?

At 2 o’clock the time came to stop and have lunch.

Morning times:
1º. Fernando Alonso 1:11.470
2º. Pedro de la Rosa 1:12.094
3º. Michael Schumacher 1:12.438
4º. Jaime Alguersuari 1:12.576
5º. Jenson Button 1:13.783
6º. Nico Hulkenberg 1:14.410
7º. Vitaly Petrov 1:14.707

Virgin Racing, is the first team -of the four that participate this year-, that reveals details of its first single-seater, the ‘VR-01′ that will be presented tomorrow in the racetrack driven by the German, Timo Glock and the Brazilian, Lucas di Grassi.

The ‘scuderia’ that had problems with the presentation of its car ‘online,’ but that shows details of it, tomorrow will test the single-seater in the British circuit of Silverstone.

The Technical Director of Virgin Racing, Nick Wirth, underlined that to join an F1 team, mount an engineering group and design a new car from scratch is “an epic pursuit after having such a short time.”

The new single-seater’s design has been entirely done with assisted systems (CFD), instead of a wind tunnel, and for Wirth “it is not surprising to see the skepticism created by the system we have used.”.

“We’re competing in sport that is experimenting a significant change to be able to face today’s tough economic reality.  I have absolute faith in the digital design’s process and in the opportunity to test a total CFD design at the highest level.  It means to show that this could well be the path for the Formula One future.  That’s very, very exciting,” he expressed.

“We have come up with a car that has a first class design and that will benefit from a high degree of aerodynamic efficiency and stability.  Reliability has been an important element in its design and together with all the key areas to comply with FIA’s safety rules and the crash test requirements,” assured Wirth.

Virgin’s Team Principal, John Booth, commented on all the difficulties involved in the process, being a “a counter clock race to design and develop a racing car, and simultaneously, putting together a new team of people and the installations.”

“I’ve always had absolute trust in Nick’s ability to design a good car, and I’m hopeful that the team will make a good job when they roll it out.  After working closely with technical team during the last 10 months, I know that the VR-01 is the result of a very intense and deep design, and I feel excited to think of its debut in the racetrack,” he added.

Tomorrow, it will be possible to see the VR-01 in the British Silverstone racetrack, even though there will be no other references of other single-seaters running through the British circuit.

The Malayan ‘scuderia’, Force India has announced that the presentation of its new single-seater for the 2010 Formula One World Championship will take place next Tuesday through the Internet.  A day before the second period of collective testing at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit.

The new single-seater called ‘VJM03′ will be launched at 10.00 AM.  It seems that this year’s trend is to make presentations online; Virgin Racing will also launch its single-seater through Internet.

The car for the 2010 season has been created by a team led by the technical director, James Key and the design director, Mark Smith, and it will be the first one that is presented with Otmar Szafnauer as new operations chief.

Yesterday, Force India introduced its new test pilot, the DTM star, Paul di Resta, also assuming the position of reserve pilot for the 2010 season.