Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) kept alive Honda's formidable
record by taking the fastest time in the final pre-season test of the
year under the lights of the Losail International Circuit in Doha,
Qatar on a day when everyone in the Honda Racing Corporation family
expressed their sympathy and prayers for the people of Japan.
All
three Repsol Honda riders wore black armbands as a mark of respect
and to show solidarity with the victims and survivors of the
devastating earthquake.
Honda riders have been fastest in every pre-season test to date and
have frequently swept the top three spots. Today was no different.
Pedrosa led the field with the fastest lap of the evening, followed
by team-mate Casey Stoner, the Australian who's instantly adapted to
the Honda RC212V. Third place was a pleasant surprise, as Hiroshi
Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini), always among the hardest workers in
the class, finished a testing best third overall and within .173s of Pedrosa.
This test is of particular importance since it comes only days before
the start of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship. The season kicks off
here on Thursday evening with a unique four-day program. With testing
in the evenings on Sunday and Monday, the riders will have a chance
to gauge their performance when they line up for real only three days later.
Today it was clear that Pedrosa was ready to race. The Spaniard
lapped the 5.380k circuit in the desert east of Qatar in 1m, 56.271s
on the 28th of his 41 laps. The desert track was covered by a thin
layer of sand, which suppressed lap times and which should be brushed
off with more track time.
Pedrosa believes that times will begin to
come down once the track cleans up, though he's starting from a
position of power. The set-up here is much different than in Sepang,
which gave the team the chance to test a number of new solutions,
which clearly have been effective.
"It was a positive first day of practice. We didn't test anything in
special, because our priority today was checking that the bike was
also working well here in Qatar, a very different circuit than
Sepang, where we did the main winter testing," Pedrosa said.
"We basically worked on
the set-up of the bike, to adapt it for this layout and conditions,
and tomorrow we will continue working on mappings and a front fork.
It seems like the lap times are closer here than in Sepang, and I'm
sure that the times will improve for all because at this track the
surface is quite dirty at the beginning, so we will see tomorrow and
I hope to make another step forward and close the winter test in a
good shape. I'd also like to say I'm very sorry about what happened
in Japan. My Japanese mechanics and engineers were explaining the
situation there and it's very moving."
This is a track that Casey Stoner likes. The 25-year-old Australian won the
race three years on the trot, from 2007 through 2009. The streak was
broken last year when he had a front end while easing away from the
field. Otherwise his dominance might stretch over four years.
Having done most of the development testing in Sepang, Stoner is
concentrating on confirming the work that was done there with the
season about to kick off. Like Pedrosa, he was focusing on race
set-up, which is very different than in Sepang, as well as tyres.
Stoner found more success with the softer compound, though his lap
times varied little on the harder tyre.
Stoner finished the day .143s off Pedrosa's pace
"Everything has gone well with the bike and in general we don't have
a whole lot to test here; we're just trying to get more out of the
balance of the bike - both bikes have the same chassis but we tried
very different riding positions," the Australian explained.
"It seems to be more difficult to get
a decent lap time on the harder tyres, having made my fastest time on
an older soft tyre, but our consistency seems to be very good also
with the hardest compound. We've been trying to get a little bit more
grip and turning out of the bike and work on set-up for this circuit,
focusing on race set-up. It's nice to be so close to the season and
at the final test, I'm just pleased the team reached here safely and
there were no casualties back in the HRC Headquarters in Saitama, my
thoughts are with all the people in Japan."
Aoyama put in the second longest day of any of the Honda riders; only
Toni Elias (LCR Honda MotoGP RC212V) rode more laps. The 29-year-old
Japanese was only .030s behind Stoner in a field that was tightly
bunched. From Pedrosa in first to Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda
Gresini) in 11th, the field was covered by less than a second. And
the entire 17-rider field was covered by less than two seconds.
Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V) spent the evening working on
electronics and set-up, specifically for the rear of the RC212V. The
ultra-modern circuit is wider than most, which makes control of the
rear crucial. And it was mid-corner where Dovizioso struggled the
most in the Sepang tests.
Dovizioso ended the evening with the seventh fastest time, though he
noted that the conditions kept lap times lower than last year,
including his, and is confident of better on the second day.
Simoncelli was also off the form he'd shown in Sepang. The tall,
lanky Italian with the bushy hair topped the time sheets in the early
February test and finished third in the second test a few weeks
later. Which means that the speed is there and that it's just a
matter of making a few adjustments to his factory Honda RC212V to get
the most out of it.
Toni Elias was back at Losail on a MotoGP bike after a one year
absence and in much better health than when he arrived for the race
last year. The Spaniard had been injured in a pre-season combined
125cc and Moto2 test and was visibly hobbled. Elias will need to be
at full strength as he adjusts to the Honda RC212V on another 'new' track.
The team was working on the rear suspension to find a solution to get
more heat into the rear tyre.
The two-day test concludes tomorrow, after which the teams have three
days to regroup for the start of practice.
Day One Results
1. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team 1m 56.271s (41)
2. Casey Stoner AUS Repsol Honda Team 1m 56.414s (32)
3. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m 56.444s (59)
4. Ben Spies USA Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 56.563s (38)
5. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 56.682s (60)
6. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 56.742s (42)
7. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 1m 56.780s (56)
8. Valentino Rossi ITA Ducati Marlboro Team 1m 57.038s (57)
9. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 1m 57.137s (57)
10. Randy de Puniet FRA Pramac Racing Team 1m 57.143s (39)
11. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m 57.226s (57)
12. Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m 57.302s (61)
13. Hector Barbera ESP Mapfre Aspar Team 1m 57.325s (69)
14. Loris Capirossi ITA Pramac Racing Team 1m 57.437s (56)
15. Karel Ab raham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing 1m 57.499s (49)
16. Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 57.737s (51)
17. Toni Elias ESP LCR Honda MotoGP 1m 58.250s (65)
