The Repsol Honda Team today revealed the new racing prototype it will use to contest the 2008 MotoGP World Championship as a day and a half of MotoGP testing began at Valencia, Spain. Riders Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa got their first taste of the all-new Honda RC212V with which they intend to regain the world title for the factory Honda squad. Today’s test, which ran from 2pm to 5pm at the 4.005km (2.487-mile) Ricardo Tormo circuit, gave Pedrosa and Hayden the chance to complete the first installation laps on the new machine ahead of a full day’s testing tomorrow.
After completing some familiarisation laps on the 2007 machine, Nicky Hayden rode 19 laps on the new version while Pedrosa chose to only ride the new machine, completing 34 laps. The all-new RC212V has been designed as an evolution of the 2007 machine – the bike which on Sunday won the final race of the 2007 season at the Grand Prix of Valencia in the hands of Pedrosa. The 2008 RC212V features a new V4 engine with pneumatic valve springs – making use of technical knowledge from Honda’s Formula 1 programme – along with an all-new chassis designed to further enhance the handling characteristics.The Repsol Honda Team will complete one more day of testing with the new RC212V at Valencia tomorrow.
Nicky Hayden
Best lap time: 1m 33.176s – 26 laps
“This afternoon we got to do a few laps on the new machine and the general feeling was pretty good. We only had half a day so I’m excited about getting some more time on the new bike tomorrow so I can give the team a lot more information. We did the first run of the day on the standard bike with a normal 16.5-inch rear tyre instead of the 16-inch one we used on Sunday and that was pretty frustrating because immediately I went a lot faster than I did all weekend on race tyres, so we’ll have to work out with Michelin what happened there. Then I got a crack on the new bike. There’s not so much I can say after just a few laps but the seating position is different, yet the actual riding position feels about the same. The tendency to wheelie was a lot less and the pitch of the weight, front to rear, was more controlled and not so aggressive on the brakes. We had a few technical issues with the machine so I didn’t get a whole lot of track time today so we’ll come back tomorrow and hopefully get a full day’s testing.”
Dani Pedrosa
Fastest lap time: 1m 33.387s – 34 laps
“The aim of today was to get a general feel for the bike and put in the first few laps so that myself and the team can become familiar with the machine. We achieved that target so it was a successful afternoon, but at the moment I can’t say too much about the performance or lap times because it’s early days. The speed was OK and there is a difference in how the new engine feels through the revs but again it’s too early to draw any real conclusions. If we get a full day of testing tomorrow we should get a better idea of how the bike compares to the 2007 machine and where we need to focus the development. After the race win on Sunday the whole team is excited about working with the new machine and hopefully turning it into a winner in time for the 2008 season.”
