With echoes of the Czech Republic Grand Prix which took place yesterday, Sunday, still in the air, the MotoGP riders today completed an important day of testing to take them into the second half of the season. While the 125cc and Moto2 teams packed up all their belongings yesterday after the races to begin the subsequent move to the United States – the venue for the Indianapolis Grand Prix in two weeks time -, the MotoGP riders made the most of the hours of sunshine before the onset of the rain to carry out important tests.
The track opened at 9.30 in the morning although the Repsol Honda Team riders began testing around 10.00h. Dani Pedrosa concentrated his tests on a new chassis provided by HRC on which he is looking to improve stability on entering turns, the Repsol rider’s main problem since the start of the season, in addition to new Öhlins suspension.
Pedrosa completed 34 laps, setting a best time of 1 minute, 56 seconds and 944 milliseconds, half a second slower than his best time from Saturday’s official practice. He also had a fall without injury around half past eleven when, on turn seven, a left-hander, he lost control of the rear wheel.
On the other side of the garage, Dovizioso was also testing new Öhlins suspension along with new electronics adjustments and a new version of rear brake located on the left handlebar to be activated by the thumb. The Repsol Honda Team’s Italian rider completed 48 laps, setting a best time of 1 minute, 57 seconds and 691 milliseconds.
At 15:00h the onset of the rain brought the test to a close ahead of schedule and the MotoGP teams hurried to pack up all the equipment, bikes and boxes for their subsequent despatch this week to the United States. In two weeks time, MotoGP will fire up again at the Indianapolis Grand Prix.
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
“This morning we started with our race set-up from yesterday and made some improvements to the rear grip which could help us in the upcoming races. I had a crash with the race bike late in the morning and took an impact on my chest which might be painful tomorrow, but luckily I was able to get back on the bike this afternoon without any problems. I tested an updated chassis and the initial results were positive, but I had only five laps on it before the rain ended the day for us. We weren’t able to test the new Ohlins suspension which is a pity because these were new parts for next year, but overall it was a worthwhile test”.
Andrea Dovizioso >> Audio
“Today we tested the new Ohlins front forks and shock for next year and we will take a look at the data collected from those runs to verify the results. We also tested this year’s Ohlins components with modified settings, and the feeling was good so we’ll take those to the next race at Indianapolis. We made some adjustments to the front set-up which has improved the stability. Our plan was also to test some modifications to the electronic controls and we started this, but the rain interrupted us so we didn’t get through the full programme. Still, we did some valuable work today which should help us at the upcoming races”.
