Last night`s rain did not make things easy for the riders and teams working in the south of Spain in the final practice session of 2008. At 10am, and in spite of the sunshine, the low temperature of 5ºC did not help the track surface to dry out at all. The morning dragged by with the riders waiting in the pits for better conditions on the track which improved only very slowly.
It was not until 14.00 that all the MotoGP riders at the circuit in Jerez went out on to the track. There was a surprising rise in the temperature in the afternoon, the mercury rose to 16ºC, and the absence of the cold wind that had been blowing let the teams enjoy a productive practice session. The day`s work went on until 17.30 h.
Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi were the two riders in a different class today, the two setting the best times and with a big gap separating them from the other riders. If the Repsol Honda Team rider finished in first place yesterday, and was the only one to get under 1’40 secs, today Valentino was the rider at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the day. He was closely followed by Pedrosa. The two were the only riders to set times under one minute 40 seconds. Only 18 thousandths of a second separated them with the fastest time being Valentino Rossi`s 1:39.429 secs., with Dani Pedrosa setting a 1:39.447. The rider classified third, Jorge Lorenzo, was almost a second behind them. Over the three hours and a half that the session lasted Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa took it in turns to set the best times and were always at the top of the classification.
Yesterday Pedrosa spent his time working on the engine that uses pneumatic valves, using different settings during the practice in Jerez, today his tests concentrated on the chassis behaviour when braking and the handling when going through corners. The day was productive but short, and the team got some interesting data which will now have to be studied by the HRC technicians in Japan during the winter break.
Meanwhile, the Italian member of the Repsol Honda Team, Andrea Dovizioso, carried on with his work, which is to get used to the official Honda bike that he will ride next season. The two days of tests have helped the Italian a lot, as he is now waiting for the arrival of the tests in Malaysia, next February, to continue his work and to finally feel at home on his new bike. Today Dovizioso improved on his times from yesterday by a little over half a second, although he was only able to finish in tenth position –yesterday he was seventh.
The Repsol Honda Team will be back in action at the beginning of 2009, at the circuit of Sepang in Malaysia at the beginning of February.
Dani Pedrosa, 1’39.447 secs, 47 laps, 208 Km. >> Audio
“After working with the engine yesterday, today we concentrated on the chassis. We worked to improve the behaviour of the machine during braking and in the turns. The only problem was the weather, which meant that we didn’t get so much time on the bike today. We had to wait for the track to dry, so we didn’t start until 2pm, and we finished at five. But we worked well and got the most out of those three hours. I found a good feeling with the bike this afternoon, so now we can sit down and analyse all the data we’ve gathered here in order to be ready for our next testing appointment at Sepang next year. I don’t have any special plans for the holiday season. During December I have some promotional events to do for some sponsors and then I will relax and enjoy some time with my family and friends.”
Andrea Dovizioso,1’40.966 secs, 46 laps, 203 Km. >> Audio
“We didn’t have too much time to try too much today. Our target was to find the best riding position for my style. We made quite a few changes to the position and we understood many things. We didn’t really have time to make any other big changes. We are working to try and find a good setting for the Bridgestone tyres, but this isn’t so easy because the tyre construction is very different to what we’re used to. We saw last season with other riders who switched to Bridgestone that it takes a while to find the best setting. Anyway, I am happy because the 2009 prototype machine feels better than the 2008 bike in both engine and chassis. The engine is smoother and it is easier to feel the limit with this bike, which makes it easier to ride fast. I wasn’t so fast here but it is still early days and now we have many ideas to try at Sepang. Dani was very fast and that proves the bike has a great potential.”
