MotoGP Official Quote:
The Barcelona rider undertook numerous four and five lap runs, demonstrating a high level of physical fitness, in view of the difficult climatic conditions, with air temperatures of over 30°C and track temperatures exceeding 50°C. Despite this, the Spanish rider kept up an excellent pace, lapping consistently in the low 1´51 region.

Not having tested on qualifiers Gibernau recorded a best time of 1´50.5 on board the GP8 on race tyres, just a few tenths off this year´s race record at Mugello set by Casey Stoner.

Very Cool. I hope we see him replacing Melandri soon! Oh boy is it going to get interesting if that happens.

I don't think he could hang with Stoner in a race. However if he did I would expect some pretty strict team rules to be in place.

so he tested the gp08...i would wager that he'll be faster than marco. ok, not that difficult given that marco is no longer trying. but it would be interesting with him around.

Everyone is currently faster than Marco (including Canepa) so that's a safe bet, lol.

Sort of surprised the name Canepa has not been mentioned more. In a recent (I forget where) test of the MotoGP bikes Canepa was a bit faster on the GP9 than Stoner was on the GP8, although Stoner might have been working on his race set-up. It is assumed that Stoner was using race tires and Canepa was on qualifiers - still....

i think he would for sure do better than melandri has, i feel that if he got everything going, he could finish a consistent top 6-7. canepa has a good future ahead, but in no way is he close to stoner. however, he did impress at indy.

it should be getting interesting after laguna, however i think in terms of race results, sachs will be a mixture of stoner, rossi, pedrosa, but stoner will take laguna.

(btw, could someone tell how the hell the pm system here works, i sent a message and it didn't go to my sent box?, thanks.)

I think you have to select for it to go into sent, but not certain.

DARBY - 03 July 2008 06:14 PM

Sort of surprised the name Canepa has not been mentioned more.

He is doing some WSB wildcard rides in the near future...
Makes one wonder if Chaz is kicking himself for not pursuing the Ducati test mule role?

I would love to see Gibbers back in MotoGP (and even had a cat named after him... that cracked him up when I told him about it, and he translated for Capirossi, who also chuckled).

But I wonder if the difference between his test times and Melandri's race times is really indicative of a major difference.

Stoner's fastest lap during the race was a 1'50.003. Melandri 1'51.181

Stoner qualified at 1'48.375, with Marco at a 1'50.465.

So Melandri is running pretty consistently 1.8-2.1 behind Stoner.

Keep in mind that Sete was running without traffic, and that he was "consistently in the low 1´51 region."

I'm not sure that a 1´50.5 on a clear track is that indicative of being a lot faster, under real world conditions, than Melandri.

garyb425 - 05 July 2008 07:16 PM

I think you have to select for it to go into sent, but not certain.

yeah, i just saw it, i'm still surprised that it does not automatically save them to the sent box. but thank you.

RLMEsq - 05 July 2008 07:36 PM

I would love to see Gibbers back in MotoGP (and even had a cat named after him... that cracked him up when I told him about it, and he translated for Capirossi, who also chuckled).

But I wonder if the difference between his test times and Melandri's race times is really indicative of a major difference.

Stoner's fastest lap during the race was a 1'50.003. Melandri 1'51.181

Stoner qualified at 1'48.375, with Marco at a 1'50.465.

So Melandri is running pretty consistently 1.8-2.1 behind Stoner.

Keep in mind that Sete was running without traffic, and that he was "consistently in the low 1´51 region."

I'm not sure that a 1´50.5 on a clear track is that indicative of being a lot faster, under real world conditions, than Melandri.

all that being true, there is no question that marco doesn't fit because he simply has given up. he no longer wants to be on the bike. it makes no sense for either party to go on like that.