The Repsol Honda Team went back to the circuit of Brno today to carry out the final tests allowed in the MotoGP class during the 2009 season. After finishing 2nd and 4th in the Czech GP yesterday, Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso were dying to get down to work and enjoy the sun. The tests went well but the weather played a big role at the spectacular circuit of Brno.
After a sunny morning where the two riders did some good work trying out the different possible configurations and several new components, rain fell in the afternoon and this meant that the MotoGP riders had to wait from 2pm to 5pm in the pits.
In spite of the interruptions Pedrosa set a best time of 1’56.747 in the morning, half a second faster than his best lap in the race on Sunday. Today it was enough to finish third behind Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi. His Repsol Honda teammate, Andrea Dovizioso, also had a good practice session and improved on his time from the race, he set a 1’ 57.841, one tenth faster than his best on Sunday. With the team`s engineers analysing the data collected today the other members of the Repsol Honda Team are on their way to the famous circuit of Indianapolis, in the USA, for the race on 30th August, the 12th race of the season.
Dani Pedrosa 3rd, 1m 56.747s
“It was a useful test session today, even though the rain tried to mess with our plans, and I hope that what we’ve learnt can help us for the next races. In the morning we worked on some set-up improvements from the race weekend and we were able to find some more speed. After lunch we were set to try some new suspension components which we managed to do when the track dried after the rain. Of course it takes time to perfect the set-up when you try new things, but our pace was quite good and the feeling was promising. Overall, this was a worthwhile test”.
Andrea Dovizioso 5th, 1m 57.764s
“It was good to get some testing time today because the new rules mean any extra track time is very valuable. It was an interesting day because we tried quite a few set-up options including some different suspension parts, and this was a first for me. Because of the limited time, we couldn’t evaluate their full potential, but the initial feedback was positive. We also continued to work with the set-up for the new swingarm we used this weekend and managed to improve our speed. Honda is working very hard for the remaining races and also for next year, and the team is fully committed”.
