HOFMANN AND NAKANO BATTLE ASSEN HEAT WAVE
22 June 2005 - Kawasaki Racing

Heat wave conditions, unusual for Assen at TT time, made life difficult for Kawasaki riders, Shinya Nakano and Alex Hofmann, during today''s free practice sessions ahead of Saturday''s Dutch TT.

Track temperatures soared to 48 degrees at the sun-baked Circuit van Drenthe during the afternoon session, much higher than the 35 degree temperatures of recent years at this race.

While the warm weather was a welcome change for riders and spectators at a normally cool Assen, they did little to assist in Kawasaki''s search for an ideal race set-up.

Tyre assessment for Saturday''s 19-lap race was the main focus today, and will remain so tomorrow for Kawasaki and Bridgestone technicians.

A revised range of Bridgestone tyres have been made available for the unique demands of the Assen circuit, although today''s test results were inconclusive according to Ichiro Yoda, Kawasaki''s Technical Director.

Rear tyre drive-grip and race distance endurance will be further assessed in tomorrow''s two hours of practice and qualifying.

Following last week''s test session at the Catalunya circuit in Barcelona revised engine management settings, aimed at improving rear-end control under acceleration, are being used on the factory ZX-RR machines at Assen.

Nakano finished with the tenth fastest time toda,y while Hofmann was just behind in twelfth. Hofmann''s fastest lap came in the cooler morning session.

Shinya Nakano: #56 - Tenth - 2''02.280
''The afternoon session was very difficult; I lost the good feeling I had with the bike during the cooler morning session. I improved my lap time, but it wasn''t easy. The main problem is rear-end pumping and grip under acceleration on corner exit. We are still looking for a tyre direction for the race and we will try some different tyres tomorrow, hopefully with better rear-end performance. The changes to the track are better for safety, but everyone is still adjusting their braking points, they are different from last year.''

Alex Hofmann: #66 - Twelfth - 2''02.409
''It''s amazing for it to be so hot at Assen, but the heat did not favour our performance potential at this track. For sure we need to improve our rear-end grip and set-up for the race, at the moment it''s good for a couple of laps, but the race is over 19 laps. I had a good rhythm in the morning session and we got a lot of set-up work done, but I''m looking for more, I want to push into the top ten in qualifying tomorrow.''

Ichiro Yoda: Technical Director
''Our main work today was tyre evaluation with Bridgestone, and we still have a lot to do. We need to confirm the mileage and grip for the race distance; today the performance was not ideal, with a slippery feel for both riders at the rear end. Drive grip on the right hand side of the tyre is very important at Assen, and we have further tyre options from Bridgestone to test tomorrow. The front is okay; the rear is our main focus. We have also implemented a new engine management strategy here and this is helping the riders with throttle control.''

FREE PRACTICE - COMBINED TIMES
1. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team 2''00.757; 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Gauloises Yamaha Team +0.083; 3. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Movistar Honda MotoGP +0.280; 4. Alex Barros (BRA) Camel Honda +0.296; 5. Marco Melandri (ITA) Movistar Honda MotoGP +0.485; 6. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda +0.733; 7. Carlos Checa (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team +0.767; 8. Colin Edwards (USA) Gauloises Yamaha Team +0.831; 9. Max Biaggi (ITA) Repsol Honda +1.272; 10. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team +1.532; 11. John Hopkins (USA) Team Suzuki MotoGP +1.532; 12. Alex Hofmann (GER) Kawasaki Racing Team +1.652

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