The Australian rider leads the Mugello test of the Repsol Honda Team with the 800cc RC212V
The Repsol Honda Team were back at the Mugello circuit this morning for the last test of the season with the 800cc RC212V. All three riders tested a new swing arm and then followed their own testing schedules.
Casey Stoner was the first rider out, 15 minutes after the track was opened. The Australian rider who had a small crash in the morning session, completed forty-seven laps and set a new circuit record of 1’47.326 on his penultimate lap, seven tenths faster than his pole position time set here on Saturday. As well as the swing arm, Casey tested a new Bridgestone front tyre as well as some other smaller set up issues on his RC212V.
Andrea Dovizioso got up to a good pace quickly. He completed sixty six laps and spent the day working on engine braking and testing the new swing arm.
The plan for Dani Pedrosa, considering the pain in his right shoulder and the fatigue accumulated over the race weekend, was to combine short rounds with long pauses in the garage to test new Ohlins rear shocks and other items more effectively. Dani left the circuit after twenty six laps with a positive feeling.
The next test for the Repsol Honda Team will be on August 15th in Brno, aboard the 1000cc 2012 Honda prototype.
Dani Pedrosa
6th – 1:49.015, 26 laps, 136 km
“It was a short but very interesting and positive test for us. We basically wanted to use this test to improve our suspension. Unfortunately, due to the issues with my shoulder, we decided not to test the front fork as I am not able to brake on the limit, so there is no point in trying it now. This is the modified Ohlins fork from the Estoril test, where I was also unable to test it due to injury. However, Casey and Andrea have been using it since then and it looks like it’s a big step forward, so as soon as my fitness improves, I’ll try to use it also as it improves the braking, perhaps I will try it in Sachsenring during the practice sessions together with a new swing arm that I also tried today but I need to complete more laps with it make a final decision. We also tested two rear shocks and got positive feedback. We have good data that we can use for the coming races to give us more edge grip and also on corner entry to reduce the sharpness when I flick the bike, two aspects I’m looking to improve. That was pretty much all we tested today”.
Andrea Dovizioso
3rd – 1:48.061, 66 laps, 346 km.
“It was a very good test day. I was very motivated from yesterday’s result so as soon as I went on track, I rode consistently at a good pace in the mid 1’48’s with used hard tyres. We worked on engine braking and improved the stability and then we tested a new swing arm, which gave positive feedback. I think we are going to use it in Sachsenring because with the new swing arm lap times come easier even if the bike moves more in the rear. I’m still not so strong with the soft tyres, but I’m very happy with my feeling of the bike. We worked on the set up of the machine and I think we will arrive in Sachsenring with a good base that we will fine tune for the characteristics of the German track, which is very different to Mugello”.
Casey Stoner
1st- 1:47.326, 47 laps, 247 km.
“This morning the track was very dirty and I had a small incident going into turn one, but nothing major. We had a few things to test here today, a new front tyre from Bridgestone which wasn’t so different to the one we are currently using, perhaps just a little more contact feeling so it could be a good direction they are working in. We tested a new swing arm and had positive feedback, we found more traction and some more grip delivered a little earlier so I don’t need to pick up the bike so much, which could help us in a track like Sachsenring where you spend a lot of time on the edge. In general we didn’t test so much, the bike was very similar to the race day set up, we also tried something small on the rear suspension and this was also a small step forward”.
