The Repsol Honda Team rider Andrea Dovizioso was the fastest today in the MotoGP practice session at the Circuito de Catalunya. After finishing millimetres away from his first ever podium finish as a Repsol Honda Team rider in the GP de Catalunya, the Italian and his team took advantage of all of today`s permitted practice time to try out several of the lastest developments for the factory RC212V.
Dovizioso, who is 4th in the overall World Championship classification, was constantly fast today, with a best time of 1’42.230 secs, quite a bit below the fatsest lap time set in yesterday`s race – Casey Stoner, 1’ 42.858 secs – and even lower than the fastest lap record – 1’42.358 secs set by Dovizioso`s Repsol Honda Team colleague Dani Pedrosa, in the 2008 race.
And it was precisely Pedrosa who was not able to participate in today`s tests. The demands of the weekend`s racing, including a race of 25 laps, left him exhausted and the team decided that he should get a hard-earned rest before the next MotoGP race at Assen, in a fortnight`s time.
The Repsol Honda Team now goes back to its base in Belgium before starting to prepare for the next two dates held on consecutive weekends: the first is the aforementioned Dutch GP, and the following weekend the American GP at Laguna Seca.
Andrea Dovizioso: 1st, 1’42.230 sec.
“I’m really happy with the test today and with the pace we were able to achieve. The modified chassis we tested gave very positive feedback straight away so I used it for most of the day. One of the main improvements in feeling was in the entry to the corner which is a very important plus point because that’s one of the main areas where we’ve been looking to make progress. We also performed some tests on other aspects of the set-up and all-in-all the results were promising. In the race yesterday we were very close to the podium, and also quite close to the leaders after a dry race run in very demanding conditions, so we’re heading in the right direction. I know Honda is working really hard to give us a machine to win races, and today has given us a lot of positive signals, so thanks to them – and to my team who have also been working very hard this weekend. I’m definitely looking forward to getting back out on track in Assen.”
