Yamaha Team Estoril test notes

Marlboro Yamaha men complete final test session of 2002.

Marlboro Yamaha Team riders Max Biaggi and Carlos Checa stayed on at Estoril today to continue fine tuning the chassis performance of the ever-improving YZR-M1. Both men were happy with progress in this, their last test of 2002, conducted in bright sunshine following yesterday's rain-lashed Marlboro Portuguese GP.

"This was a useful day for us, even though the track surface was pretty dirty after all that rain," said Marlboro Yamaha Team manager Geoff Crust. "Carlos tested some new suspension parts, while Max wanted to evaluate some different chassis settings which the weekend's weather prevented him from trying. Both of them seem pretty satisfied with progress."

Biaggi, who finished Sunday's race in sixth place, worked at further improving the new chassis he received at last month's Czech GP. "The new chassis is better but we had some trouble with set-up over the weekend, so I wanted to try a few different directions with settings," said the Italian, currently third in the MotoGP World Championship. "We have definitely improved the balance of the bike today, and our findings should be a big help in case we run into any set-up difficulties at the last few races."

Checa, who started Sunday's race from pole and finished a brilliant second, was impressed with the parts he tried. "We learned plenty today, although these parts won't be used for a while," said the Spaniard who holds fourth in the title chase. "The bike worked really well over the weekend but we're always looking for improvements. I think we need to keep working in this direction and now I'm just looking forward to the last few races of 2002."

After the tests the Marlboro Yamaha Team crew packed their eight tonnes of freight that will be flown from Lisbon to Brazil for the Rio GP, which takes place on Saturday September 21. The race is the first of four out-of-Europe 'flyaway' races which take the team to Japan, Malaysia and Australia during October. The 16-round season ends at Valencia, in Spain, on November 3.

-myt-