The Repsol Honda Team today remained at the scene of Sunday’s Grand Prix of Catalunya carrying out further machine development and tyre testing ahead of the forthcoming races in this packed summer of MotoGP action. Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa both gave positive feedback after riding with the latest modifications to the chassis of the RC212V, designed to further improve the handling characteristics of the 800cc Honda.
Pedrosa, who finished yesterday’s thrilling encounter in third place just 0.390s behind the winner, completed 85 laps of his home track and recorded a best lap time of 1m 43.120s. The 21-year old Spaniard declared himself happy with the progress ahead of the next race at Donington Park in the UK, despite having a harmless low-speed fall at Turn Five after running off the track into the gravel.
Hayden continued the improvements made throughout the weekend and took a further quarter of a second off his best lap time on race tyres at the 4.727km (2.937-mile) Montmelo circuit. Like Pedrosa, his time of 1m 43.175s was inside yesterday’s fastest race lap set by John Hopkins and, although Hayden lost some testing time with a mechanical problem, the World Champion completed 89 laps and finished the day in positive mood.
Hayden will complete a further day of testing at Montmelo tomorrow before the Repsol Honda Team departs for the next race – the Grand Prix of Great Britain which takes place on June 24.
Dani Pedrosa Best lap time: 1m 43.120s – 85 laps“Today we’ve been testing various aspects of the machine based on what we learned in yesterday’s race – mostly just basic stuff – and we’ve made some improvements. As well as working on the updated chassis we’ve been testing tyres with Michelin too. My crash today was nothing too special. I went off the track while braking for Turn Five and was going towards the wall, so I had to lay the bike down – it was not a big accident. This was a long day after the race weekend but I’m feeling quite confident as we go to Donington. If the weather stays stable there I’m hoping to have another good weekend.”
Nicky Hayden Best lap time: 1m 43.175s – 89 laps
“That was a useful day and obviously we’ve got plenty of work to do. I tried the chassis that Dani used over the weekend and there were definitely some good points to it and I was able to go a little faster. We spent some time testing a clutch and also tested some tyres for Michelin this afternoon. We lost a bit of time with a machine problem this afternoon but we found a few improvements today that were definitely worth our time and we’ll stick around tomorrow, keep our heads down and keep chipping away at it.”
Unofficial Lap Times And Tyres (Q= Qualifying Tyre Used):
1. John Hopkins - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m 41.4s Q
2. Toni Elias - Honda Gresini 1m 42.630s Q
3. Casey Stoner - Ducati Marlboro Team 1m 42.680s
4. Valentino Rossi - Fiat Yamaha Team 1m 42.720s
5. Alex Barros - Pramac d’Antin Ducati 1m 42.9 Q
6. Loris Capirossi - Ducati Marlboro Team 1m 43.0s
7. Marco Melandri - Honda Gresini 1m 43.0s
8. Chris Vermeulen - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m 43.0s
9. Randy de Puniet - Kawasaki Racing Team 1m 43.050s
10. Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda Team 1m 43.120s 85
11. Nicky Hayden - Repsol Honda Team 1m 43.175s 89
12. Colin Edwards - Fiat Yamaha Team 1m 43.410s
13. Shinya Nakano - Konica Minolta Honda 1m 43.475
14. Alex Hofmann - Pramac d’Antin Ducati 1m 43.635s
15. Carlos Checa - LCR Honda 1m 43.650s
16. Sylvain Guintoli - Tech 3 Yamaha 1m 43.8
17. Makoto Tamada - Tech 3 Yamaha 1m 43.9s
18. Nobuatsu Aoki - Suzuki Test Rider 1m 44.2
19. Andrew Pitt - Yamaha Test Rider 1m 44.5s
20. Anthony West - Kawasaki Test Rider 1m 44.7s
21. Shinichi Itoh - Ducati Test Rider 1m 47.0s
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