After a long winter period, the Repsol Honda riders were back on track today at the Malaysian Sepang racetrack for the first official three-day test of the year with new recruit Casey Stoner setting the pace.
With an intensive testing plan scheduled for the three days, the Repsol Honda riders shared the workload, testing different parts - Andrea Dovizioso starting the morning with the 2011 front fork, while Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner kept the 2010 version.
"Very positive day. At the beginning it took some time to get used to the bike again, but I soon felt comfortable and we had a good day, Stoner said. "We didn't change the set-up too much compared to the one we had in Valencia and I am please to see that even if the circuit is different, it still works pretty well here in Sepang. We did some work later on with the engine braking to decrease some chattering and looks like we found a good solution. In the next two days we will start testing something new but anyway for me, it was a very good way to come back on track after the winter break."
Dani Pedrosa was third fastest and also happy with his direction for the day and his fitness, "I 'm pretty happy with how things went today. My priority was to see how I was on the bike after so long without riding and the feeling has been positive," the Spaniard said.
"Obviously I still have less strength under braking and lack of stability in the shoulder with the direction changes, but the cramps have gone and this is very positive for me. We have time to continue with my physical training and gain the strength that I need for when the season starts. I honestly didn't expect to do so many laps today. I started with the 2010 bike to get the feeling back and because in the second half of the season our bike was competitive and we want to begin improving from there. Then I tried a new swingarm and a new chassis, in the last two runs, and my best lap time has been with the new parts, so it's also positive. The plan for tomorrow is to test the new engine."
Andrea Dovizioso, who clocked the 8th fastest time spent the day testing the new Engine, "I'm happy because this year we are starting from a very good base. All Honda riders are very competitive so I'm confident and this is an extra boost for me," Dovizioso said.
"Today we tested the new engine, it has more power in the low revs and this helps me with the line. We also tested the new chassis and it has some positive and negative points and we need to understand it better. We did a comparison work with the 2010 and 2011 fork, the stability in the front has improved but we must rectify some vibrations in the middle of the corner, together with work on the suspension. I'm satisfied with the fact that it was easier to find the rhythm and with hard tyre I could lap consistently on 2.02.5. I lapped at 2 tenths from the first riders when they were using the same tyre choosing not to use the soft tyre in the end because we focused on understanding the new machine."
The Repsol Honda Team also announced a new sponsor, Termignoni, the historical Italian Company specialised in high performance exhaust systems. Termignoni boasts an impressive 92 victories and 6 world titles in MotoGP, the last 4 in a row. The partnership will be a two-year deal.
Main Photo: Casey Stoner lead the time sheets after day 1 at Sepang
Credit: HRC
Testing Results Day 1 Sepang
1 - Casey Stoner - 2.01.574 - AUS - HONDA Repsol Honda Team
2 - Jorge Lorenzo - 2.01.977 - SPA - YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team
3 - Dani Pedrosa - 2.02.02 - SPA - HONDA - Repsol Honda Team
4 - Marco Simoncelli - 2.02.295 - ITA - HONDA - San Carlo Honda Gresini
5 - Ben Spies - 2.02.332 - USA - YAMAHA - Fiat Yamaha Team
6 - Alvaro Bautista - 2.02.422 - SPA - SUZUKI - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
7 - Hiroshi Aoyama - 2.02.483 - JPN - HONDA - San Carlo Honda Gresini
8 - Andrea Dovizioso - 2.02.507 - ITA - HONDA - Repsol Honda Team
9 - Colin Edwards - 2.02.514 - USA - YAMAHA - Monster Yamaha Tech 3
10 - Randy De Puniet - 2.03.152 - FRA - DUCATI - Pramac Racing
11 - Kousuke Akiyoshi - test rider - 2.03.224 - JP - HONDA Repsol Honda Team
12 - Valentino Rossi - 2.03.365 - ITA - DUCATI - Ducati Marlboro Team
13 - Nicky Hayden - 2.03.508 - USA - DUCATI - Ducati Marlboro Team
14 - Loris Capirossi - 2.03.695 - ITA - DUCATI - Pramac Racing
15 - Hector Barbera - 2.03.767 - SPA - DUCATI - Paginas Amarillas Aspar
16 - Cal Crutchlow - 2.04.009 - GBR - YAMAHA - Monster Yamaha Tech 3
17 - Toni Eias - 2.04.238 - SPA - HONDA - LCR Honda MotoGP
18 - Karel Abraham - 2.04.470 - CZE - DUCATI - Cardion AB Motoracing
