Gala evening for the Repsol Honda Team in Barcelona.
Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden share the leading role with all the other team members during the presentation of the 2006 season.
After the first day of the first official 2006 MotoGP Tests, the Repsol Honda Team presented this afternoon on the Paddock of the Circuit de Catalunya the riders and all other members of the team, who will be fighting side by side for the world championship title this season. Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden, were joined this time by the whole group of technicians, mechanics and staff that surround them race after race, to present the new Honda RC211V 2006, including some changes in its design showing more white and the Repsol fluorescent orange.
The presentation gathered a large group of guests and representatives from the media accredited for the test days, and was also attended by Mr. Satoru Horiike, Honda Racing Managing Director, Mr. Jaume Giró, Repsol YPF General Director for Communication and Carmelo Ezpeleta, Dorna CEO. All of them expressed their excitement and confidence in the face of the season which is right about to start, highlighting the significant contribution of the Repsol Honda Team to the history of the World Championship.
Team riders Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa played the leading role at the event, shortly after finishing their first intense working day on the track, and both Repsol and HRC wanted to show the importance of the team’s work presenting all its members, one by one, to the media. All of them, together with their riders, sat for the first season’s picture together with the 2006 Honda RC211V, which appeared on the stage after a moment of suspense and a perfect magic trick.
Main figures:
Mr. Satoru Horiike:
‘We are looking forward to the results of our work with two young riders such as Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden. We will fight beside them this year in order to reach our goals and we are hopeful in the face of the season that is just about to start’
Mr. Jaume Giró:
‘We are highly satisfied with the excellent results of the preseason. The aim we have set ourselves for 2006 is to do a good job, day after day, with humbleness. I understand that fans expect victories from a leading team, but the victories will not come if you do not work constantly. All of this will also be possible thanks to the collaboration with HRC. Repsol has managed to establish with Honda Racing Corporation a strategic alliance that goes far beyond sports sponsorship, and the intense technological collaboration between the technical centres of both companies has allowed Repsol YPF to offer HRC a new fuel, specially formulated for the engine of the RC 211V, which is already at the disposal of the team for the 2006 season.
Mr. Carmelo Ezpeleta:
‘I have known Repsol’s activity in competition for many years and I want to thank them for their constant presence in the Motorcycling World Championship. It makes Dorna proud to count on a team such as Repsol Honda in the championship, always willing to work for the victory. I also want to highlight their professionalism, because their presence is important no matter whether they win or not. Repsol and Honda do not only work to win world championships. They also help the championship, and that is very important’.
Nicky Hayden:
‘Every year is a great year at the beginning. I’m really happy to have this chance and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world but with the Repsol Honda team. We have some fantastic sponsors, such as Repsol. It’s a great job and I want to do my part, work to the top, gather information for the team and give them the results they deserve.It’s always fun being back in Europe for these tests. More than preseason testing it’s rather like a first Grand Prix, because you can see whereabouts you are. Not exactly, because you never know it exactly, but the championship is getting closer and you have to get through details and solve problems. We have a new bike and with no doubt we have to thank the mechanics for their job and the whole team, because everybody is really working hard on this. We try to give our best.’
Dani Pedrosa:
‘I’m thrilled. I had never been at such an important team presentation. I’m young and it seems that everything is arriving very fast, but I have to try to assimilate everything and keep my feet on the ground. This is a strong team, I’m happy and I think that everybody is giving their best. That’s very important, the teamwork and the motivation, so let’s hope that we’ll be able to keep on progressing. I might not be aware of what the MotoGP class really is. To bad things didn’t work out well today, and I know that many people have a lot of expectations, but let’s hope that they give us some time, that they’re patient and respect what this situation really means.
As regards the test, this has been the first time we’ve tested here, and it was cold, and there was also a lot of wind, but we’ve been progressing bit by bit. The truth is that the cold was also new to me, and the wind was so strong that it was hard for me to ride. We have two more days so let’s hope that the weather holds on, allowing us to do some good tests’.
First working day at the Circuit de Catalunya During the first MotoGP tests carried out today on the Catalan track, Dani Pedrosa made a total of 88 laps (415.97 kms), while team-mate Nicky Hayden covered a total of 103 laps (486.88 kms). Valentino Rossi set the fastest lap time of the day. The tests will continue tomorrow and on Sunday, in order to get ready for the first round of the 2006 championship, the Spanish GP to be raced at the circuit of Jerez.
