Today the curtains came down on the Repsol Honda Team pits for the last time this year. The third day of training at the Circuito de Jerez ended with the two Repsol riders setting the fastest times of the three days, they will not be back on their bikes until 22nd January at Sepang though. Today Dani Pedrosa concentrated his work on the tyres that he will use next year, whilst Nicky Hayden continued to analyse the different set ups on the RC212V 2008, as well as testing new tyre compounds.
The Spaniard got out onto the track at miday when the sun had warmed the track a little, and once again the it shone the whole day. He did some laps on the RC212V 2008, but a little later he was back on the bike that he finished the 2007 championship on. He had left this tyre testing for the final day and so worked on this aspect the whole day, the aim being to collect as much information as possible for the engineers at HRC so that they can continue working during the winter following his suggestions.Nicky Hayden rode almost the all day on the new bike, and his review of the work after the three days is very encouraging since he has been able to go faster than he had done all season. At the end of the day he got back on his old bike although his best lap was on the RC212V 2008.These have been three very productive days for the Repsol riders and they have been able to collect valuable information that will allow the bike to be developed in the winter break. Pedrosa and Hayden summed things up as very positive, although they both agree that a lot of work is needed on this new engine if all its potential is to be exploited.
Dani Pedrosa, 1’38.562 sec, 72 laps.
“Today we focused on tyre testing for Michelin and after three days I think we’ve learned some useful lessons for the winter. The HRC engineers have a lot of data to work with and can now prepare the machine for the next test sessions at the end of January. I think that we have quite a lot more work to do because we’re still some way from where we’d like to be, but the signs are quite encouraging. We have some time before the beginning of the 2008 season and there is plenty of scope for more improvements, so I hope we will use the time well. I have asked HRC for some similar things that I asked for in Valencia – plus many of the things from Valencia have been improved for this test. Now that there is some time we must focus on the areas that have not yet been improved. Today we only worked on tyre testing with the 2007 machine because we have the most reference data for this. We’ve got through a lot of work and this has been a profitable final test of the year”.
Nicky Hayden, 1’38.848 secs, 82 laps.
“Again it’s been positive today. We spent a big part of the day on the new RC212V and tried the mahcine with qualifying tyres for the first time. The lap time I did was pretty good and I really didn’t expect to go that much faster than race tyres, so I’m pretty happy. I also did a long run and, although that wasn’t on my favourite tyre, Michelin got some useful information from the run. We also found some good tyres over the three days of the test so it was positive on that front. The one slightly frustrating thing was that I rode the new machine for entire test except for the last hour today and I immediately went faster by about four tenths faster on race tyres which means we’ve got a bit of talking to do. There are still a few issues to iron out with the new engine but Honda knows how to make engines so I’m confident about it. Plus the chassis on this new machine is really good and a big improvement. I guess you could say it’s been a bad year, but it’s certainly not a bad life and so we’ll come back give it everything next season. A big thanks to all the team, sponsors and everyone who’s given me support this year. I’m really excited about coming back in good shape for when things fire up again in Qatar for the night race”.
