Source
The Ilmor MotoGP team, which raced under the 'Ilmor SRT' banner at the end of 2006 but which is now calling itself simply 'Ilmor GP', completed its first test of 2007 at Almeria in Spain last weekend.
The new team elected to miss the first two MotoGP tests of the year, in Sepang and Philip Island, to focus on getting its bikes ready for a quick European test before heading out to join the rest of the MotoGP fraternity in Sepang for next week's final Malaysian test.
Andrew Pitt:
It was an unusual test for me, it was snowing as I was out on track. It was very cold and too dangerous to really push things but we made some good progress on the engine side of things. I felt more in control of the bike which given the delicate conditions says a lot. I'm looking forward to getting out to Sepang and seeing what we can do in much more favourable circumstances.
Mike Janes(Team Manager):
It was without doubt a worthwhile exercise. The workload we have had since Jerez has been enormous and we have had to really focus on getting the new team ready for this season. It was unfortunate that we couldn't make it to Sepang earlier this month or Philip Island but it was great to see everyone working together despite the awful weather conditions. After some extensive dyno work back at Ilmor, I feel that we have made a big step forward in terms of the engine calibration - the difference between the bike in Jerez and the bike we have out here in Almeria is very significant. The overall engine response is more predictable and controllable.
