Positive performance of Dani Pedrosa in Jerez, setting the fourth fastest time. Nicky Hayden continues with the set-up of the Honda RC211V 2006
The first of the three final test days of the 2006 MotoGP preseason was staged today (Friday) in the same venue of the first race of the year in two weeks time, the 2006 Spanish Grand Prix. After the cold and the rain during the Barcelona tests last week, the sun has finally come out and the temperatures are rising, up to around 20º C. On this first test day, Repsol Honda Team rider Dani Pedrosa showed again the same competitiveness level he showed at the tests in Sepang, Malaysia, in mid-February.
Covering a total of 96 laps on the Andalusian track (425 Km) Pedrosa continues with positioning tests on his Honda RC211V: seat, handlebars, gear and brake levers& All of it has been checked by the Repsol rider, who is looking for the highest degree of comfort on his new bike. Despite setting the fourth fastest time of the day Dani keeps on insisting on the fact that he has just arrived in the class and that these are only tests, that races are something different in the MotoGP class. His fastest time, 1.41.499, awarded him the fourth place on the time sheets, behind Capirossi -fastest-, Gibernau and Nakano. Pedrosa was 5 tenths behind the fastest time of the Italian rider and his plans are to finally make the race simulation tomorrow.
The tests went not as good for team mate Nicky Hayden, but the North American rider continues with his hard work trying to set-up the new RC211V 2006. Hayden made a total of 108 laps in Jerez (442 km), setting the eleventh fastest time 1 second behind Capirossi.
Dani Pedrosa:
‘It’s been quite good today. We started bit by bit. In the morning we tested different positions of the handlebars, seat and footrests. We are changing the position because I don’t know which position I prefer for my bike yet. Then, after lunch, we tested several tyres and the result has been positive, considering that it’s been the first day. But we have to cover more laps and try to find other settings for the bike. The weather was good so we’ve been able to test well and until the last moment, because the temperature was much better than in Barcelona. We have planned to do the race simulation tomorrow. This is not one of my favourite circuits, but it’s been good for the moment. This circuit is much more physically demanding than with the 250cc machine, and the main difference is that the bike gets up in the front when opening the throttle and it’s difficult to control it.’
Nicky Hayden:
‘We have continued testing several things after the bad weather problems we had in Barcelona. We started lapping on 42′, but we were not able to improve to 41′ as we wanted. We were lucky, the weather was excellent today and we were able to test a lot of things. Out major problem is coming out of the corners, because it skids a lot, so there’s a lot of work left to do. The bike enters the corner well, but we need to have some more traction and to improve the feeling of the rear end. This is right now our biggest problem, so we have to try to find the right solutions.’
