These press release were issued after today's MotoGP test:

Sepang Test
Saturday Feb 07 2009Sepang Test
Day 3 - End

STONER FINISHES SEPANG TEST ON TOP AS HAYDEN MAKES FURTHER PROGRESS

The first test session of the 2009 preseason ended today at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia, with another day of intense work for the MotoGP teams and riders, who were able to take advantage of stable yet typically demanding conditions.

Casey Stoner shaved another four tenths of a second off his best lap time from yesterday to finish the session on top of the time sheets. The Australian is satisfied with the work he has been able to do on the Desmosedici and the Bridgestone tyres, although he feels there is still plenty more to come when he is fit enough to push himself harder. Another priority for the former World Champion is to regain the range of mobility required from his wrist to be able to ride the bike without pain in the next test.

Nicky Hayden has made continual progress over the three days of the test and he was able to improve by another half second today, although he would have ideally liked to have been even faster. The American is determined to use the information gathered over the past three days to full effect in the next test, having already shown the team his famous dedication to the task. The lap times set by his own team-mate have given Hayden belief that there is a lot more to come from himself and his bike, giving him a crucial mix of confidence and motivation ahead of the new season.

The next appointment for the Ducati Marlboro Team is a test session from 1st to 3rd March at the Losail circuit in Qatar.

Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team), fastest time 2'01.043 (38 laps)

"Today wasn't bad! The more I ride the GP9 the more we understand how to improve the set-up of the new chassis and today we made a big step forward with improving grip and feel with the new bike. Considering that I have recently had an operation and my wrist has still not full recovered, to be the fastest rider here is a dream to be honest. Now I have to work hard on improving my physical condition and recovering the level of movement I need to ride the bike properly without pain. Now I know that I can step up training on my arm and hopefully the situation will have improved for the Qatar test. The GP9 is a good bike and in every test we've done with it we've come out on top. That doesn't mean to say that we can afford to relax, though, and we'll keep our heads down and keep working. I set pretty much the same lap time on both tyre compounds and I actually prefer the harder one. The fact we've gone to a single tyre rule doesn't seem to have an adverse effect on the performance of the Bridgestones - they're doing a great job, as usual."

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro Team), fastest lap 2'02.496 (62 laps)

"We started out on the right foot again today and I managed to knock six tenths of a second off my best lap from yesterday. Then in the early part of the afternoon I had a little crash in turn two, where to be honest they've done a bad job of resurfacing the track and it has caught a few riders out this week. Luckily I wasn't hurt. Obviously I'm not happy with my lap times, I was expecting more from myself, but I have to stay positive. I've improved my lap times every day and we have gathered a lot of data to work from in the next test. The fact Casey is already so fast means that the bike has the potential - it can only be a good thing that he is going so quick. The team is working hard and they are just as determined as I am to get the results, so that's a good thing. I wasn't too bad in the first two sectors but I was losing too much in T3 and T4, where the problem I'm having with the bike being unstable and unpredictable on the exit was the worst. The Bridgestones are really consistent and I was able to do my first long run on the Ducati without any tyre life problems."

Sepang Circuit Records

Circuit Record: Casey Stoner (Ducati - 2007) 2'02.108
Best pole: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha - 2006) 2'00.605

Unofficial lap times, Saturday 07/02/2009

1. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 2.01'043 (38 laps)
2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2.01'137 (43)
3. Loris Capirossi (Suzuki) 2.01'262 (57)
4. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 2.01'413 (22)
5. Toni Elias (Honda) 2.01'560 (37)
6. Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) 2.01'666 (48)
7. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2.01'907 (61)
8. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) 2.01'955 (54)
9. Mika Kallio (Ducati) 2.02'386 (61)
10. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) 2.02'497 (62)
11. Alex De Angelis (Honda) 2.02'523 (32)
12. Sete Gibernau (Ducati) 2.02'727 (42)
13. Randy De Puniet (Honda) 2.03'418 (50)
14. Yuki Takahashi (Honda) 2.03'474 (58)
15. Niccolò Canepa (Ducati) 2.03'915 (41)
16. James Toseland (Yamaha) 2.03'953 (36)
17. Yamaha tester (Yamaha) 2.04'328 (38)
18. Yamaha tester (Yamaha) 2.04'614 (33)

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REPSOL HONDA TEAM LEAVES SEPANG WITH POSITIVE FEELINGS
ANDREA DOZIOSO IS CONFIDENT WITH THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE BIKE

MotoGP tests, Sepang, Malaysia
February 7 2009. Day three of three

Andrea Dovizioso completed the first MotoGP tests of 2009 with positive feelings.
The Repsol Honda man continued his adaptation to the new bike, evaluating the chassis of his RC212V and working on machine-tyres matching in typical tropical conditions (with asphalt temperatures reaching 52°C degrees, 32°C the air temperature).
The Italian rider, who last year scored his first MotoGP podium on this track, was Repsol Honda's lone rider today. Andrea improved his race pace, cutting more than 4 tenths off his lap time from yesterday.

His team-mate Dani Pedrosa ended the test session yesterday after completing the test programme with confidence and good feelings.

Repsol Honda riders resume testing at Losail, Qatar in three weeks, next 1st, 2nd and 3rd of March.

Andrea Dovizioso, 2:01.955 (33 of 54 laps)
"We focused on bike set up and decided the way to follow concerning the chassis. We understood a lot of things during these three days and I'm very confident. We need more work to adapt the machine to the tyres, this is a very important point. Concerning the engine, my feeling is that we need a smoother power delivery.
Today it was really hot and it was very demanding out there from a physical point of view, especially after a break of more than two months. I did a long run of eleven laps to understand better the machine and the tyres and collect data.
All in all, we have done a very good job and everybody in the team is very motivated."

Kazuhiko Yamano - Team Manager
"I'm satisfied of the work done during these three days of testing, both riders and team worked very well and we have fixed the line to follow for the season. We did an important step forward. Dani finished his programme yesterday, he understood the bike and the way to follow and Andrea concluded the job today with a long run. The motivation in the team in very high and we look forward to the next test session in Qatar at the beginning of March."

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ROSSI SECOND QUICKEST AND LORENZO IMPROVES ON FINAL DAY IN SEPANG

Fiat Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo rounded off the first test of the 2009 season in strong style today, with the Italian finishing second, less than one tenth off Casey Stoner. His Spanish team-mate was seventh and inside the lap record pace for the first time this week.

Rossi continued to focus mainly on electronics today as he looks to fine-tune the 2009 M1 step-by-step. With the stitches in his hand and foot he decided not to attempt a long-run, but was able to improve on his time from yesterday by half a second and recorded a best lap of 2'01.137.

Lorenzo had struggled to find confidence on the first two days of tests but for the first time today found his rhythm with the new Bridgestone tyres. He was delighted to complete a long-run of 22 laps and his best lap of the day, in a time of 2'01.907, was over a second quicker than yesterday.

The next stop for the team is a night test at Doha in Qatar on 1st, 2nd and 3rd February.

Position: 2nd Time: 2'01.137 Laps: 43

I am leaving this place feeling happy, because we've made a good start. Everything went well: my pain is less, the bike is good and I am feeling better and better. We finished everything we wanted to do on the bike and the setting and the rhythm is quite good. The lap time is fast so we have made a good start. We didn't do the long run, but actually we didn't need to. Without my injury maybe it would have been possible, but in this situation we decided to leave it. My injuries are getting better each day because they're only cuts and they're healing fast. I don't think that they made much difference to my speed here and by the Qatar test I will be back in perfect shape. I did the fastest lap today with the hard Bridgestone tyre, so it means that the bike is good. For sure we need to improve some more but since this year we have less testing, this performance has been very important. The first test of the year is always difficult, even if you trained a lot in the winter, so I am happy! Qatar will be interesting, because last year we weren't strong there, but then last year the bike was not yet ready when we went to the first race in Doha. I am really looking forward to the next text there."

Position: 7th Time: 2'01.907 Laps: 61

"I am very happy because today I've seen how fast I can ride with the Bridgestone tyres. Today has definitely been the best day for me at this opening test of the year. Also, we have been able to do a long run in hot conditions with 32 degrees (36 in the afternoon!), and I was able to finish 22 laps without stopping. I was tired when I finished but it was incredible; the rhythm was good and my best lap was right at the end, when I did a 2'01.9. This means that I have improved over a second since yesterday and we have made a big step forward. We need kilometres under our belt and we've got some week! All the team worked hard up until the last minute and now they will keep going so we can try to go even better in Qatar next month. We have to continue in the same way as today, improving all the time, because we don't have that much time until the first race!"

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POSITVE CONCLUSION OF THE TEST FOR THE SAN CARLO HONDA GRESINI TEAM. TONI ELIAS FASTEST HONDA AND FIFTH OVERALL

Sepang, 7 February 2009 - Day 3

Toni Elias and Alex De Angelis have completed the first test session of the 2009 season on the Malaysian race track.

Despite the strong humidity and the high temperatures, Toni Elias e Alex De Angelis took the best from this last day of test and continued the search for the best settings for the new machine.

Amazing performance of Toni Elias who keeps learning the new RC212V factory spec with very positive feeling. Elias was the fastest amongst the Honda riders and fifth overall at the end of the day.

Good work also for Alex De Angelis who significantly dropped his lap time of yesterday. Alex improved the feeling with the bike and was very happy about the way he is working with the team.

The San Carlo Honda Gresini Team's riders will be on track again in Qatar from the 1st to the 3rd of March.

Toni Elias, 2:01.560

"I'm very happy as we improved day by day. We started the work on a completely new machine and the feeling was good since the very first day. We still have to do lot of runs on the track but the direction we are working is good. Nice atmosphere in the garage ...really a great team".

Alex De Angelis, 2:02.253

"Today we made a further step forward and I'm very glad about this. Today's pace was significantly faster with a better feeling with the machine. We focused on the machine setting and the tires. The new 2009 technical package needs a different work but I think we are in the right direction. I'm very motivated ....surely still a lot of work to reduce the gap from the first riders but I can't wait to be in Qatar for the next test".

Fausto Gresini - Team Manager

"I'm definitively happy. It has been a very positive test, thanks to the hard work of the team and the good material prepared by HRC. I couldn't wait to see the new RC212V on track and at the end I was very excited to see that day by day our lap time was faster and faster and the gap from the first riders always smaller. Both the riders and the team are very motivated and after this test we are even more optimistic for this MotoGP seaosn."

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Bridgestone completes successful first test of 2009

Sepang, Malaysia - Official Test
Thursday 5 - Saturday 7 February 2009

The first test of the 2009 MotoGP season was successfully concluded today with all 17 riders in attendance using
Bridgestone tyres under the single tyre ruling that has come into effect for this season.

After three days of uninterrupted running in the Malaysian heat, Ducati Team's Casey Stoner finished fastest,
followed closely by Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi and Rizla Suzuki's Loris Capirossi. With every machine equipped
with the same tyres, the top five riders were separated by just 0.5seconds.

As per the new single tyre supplier regulations, Bridgestone brought two compounds of its slick tyre to the test -
medium and hard. Each rider was supplied with a total of ten sets of tyres during the course of the three days, as well
as an additional three tyres (one front and two rears) for Bridgestone's testing purposes.

On the opening day of the test every rider was allocated two medium sets and two hard sets of tyres. A further three
sets of tyres were provided per additional day with each rider selecting his combination of compounds.

The test gave Bridgestone an excellent opportunity to continue working closely with all this year's teams and riders
and also to introduce two different specifications of extra hard compound rear tyre, under development for races later
in the season such as the Sachsenring and Phillip Island. Each rider was offered one of each specification, along with
an additional hard compound front tyre for the testing runs, and the performance of each closely monitored.

Tohru Ubukata - Bridgestone Motorsport - Manager Motorcycle Race Tyre Development

"The test has been very successful for us as all the teamsresponded positively to the performance and durability of
our tyres, and we have gathered some valuable data relating to our extra hard compound rear tyres. This will allow us
to determine the best way to develop these for races later in the season. The test has also given us a lot of
information that will allow us to ensure we select the correct tyre compound choices for future hot races."

Hiroshi Yamada - Bridgestone Motorsport - Manager Motorcycle Sport Unit

"We are very pleased with the performance of our tyres following the first test of this season. Of course we have good
relationships with many teams from previous years, but there are also new teams that we have recently started
working with and the test has allowed us to continue to build these relationships. I'd like to thank all the teams and
riders for their cooperation in this first test of the year as we look forward to the first race in Qatar. We have had very
positive feedback from all the teams over the last three days and the times at the front are very close which is exciting
for competition this year."

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