Hofmann tries big bang, Nakano 'earns salary'.

Alex Hofmann got the opportunity to test the new big bang version of Kawasaki's Ninja ZX-RR MotoGP machine for the first time during the third and final day of testing at the Jerez circuit in Southern Spain on Friday.

Hofmann started the day with the standard 'screamer' engine, but after running confirmation tests on development chassis components and settings during the morning, he switched over to the big bang motor for the afternoon session.

After familiarising himself with the characteristics of the new engine, the 24-year-old German rider concentrated on refining basic set-up, and working with Kawasaki engineers on fuel injection mapping.

After stepping off the bike at the conclusion of the test, Hofmann commented that he could feel the potential the revised firing order offered, but felt that there was still a lot of work to do before the full potential could be realised.

"This morning I retested some of the components and settings from yesterday, just to confirm our findings. Then it was onto the big bang bike for the first time," began Alex. "Today was all about getting a first impression of the new engine, and you can feel that there is definitely potential there, but it's still in the early development stages and it won't be until we arrive at a better base set-up that we'll be able to judge exactly how much potential this engine has.

"Hopefully Shinya will be able to take things to the next step at the next test. Overall I'm pretty happy with how things have gone over the past three days. We've tested a lot of new components and settings during an intensive test schedule, and I leave here having achieved a reasonable lap time for the conditions," added Hofmann who set a best time of 1min 42.8secs, 0.4secs slower than yesterday.

Running a big bang engine with a slightly different specification to that of his team-mate, Shinya Nakano completed the test and development programme started on Wednesday. The 27-year-old Japanese rider completed 59 laps during a full day of testing, and was rewarded with a lap time that was one second faster than his previous best.

"We continued to work on the new engine today. Finding the right set-up for such a new engine is not so easy, but this afternoon we found some good settings and that allowed me to improve my lap time," explained Shinya, whose best time as a 1min 41.7secs circulation - effectively matching his qualifying time for the 2004 GP.

"I also tested a new swinging arm on the bike this afternoon, and the results were also positive. It felt like it improved traction out of the corner, especially when hard on the gas," he revealed. "Overall I'm happy with the progress we've made. It's been a busy test, and there's still a lot of development work needed before the start of the season. But we leave here having found a good base set-up with the new bike, ready for the next round of testing at Valencia, which is just ten days away."

"We've seen a small step forward with the big bang bike during this test, which shows that development is heading in the right direction, but we are well aware that time is not on our side," admitted team manager Harald Eckl. "The first race of the season is getting ever closer and we know we have a lot of hard work to do between now and then if we are going to realise the full potential of the latest Ninja ZX-RR."

Nakano will now continue the development of the big bang 2005 Ninja ZX-RR at the Valencia circuit during a two-day test on 7/8 March and a one-day test on 16 March, before being rejoined on track by Alex Hofmann for the annual IRTA tests at Catalunya and Jerez.

"Shinya is definitely earning his salary this year, and I know that everyone in the team appreciates the effort he's putting into developing this new engine," said Eckl. "And Alex has worked hard to evaluate changes designed to improve the chassis. Overall this has been a positive test for the team."