Repsol Honda Team complete successful two-day MotoGP test at Jerez, Spain

2008-04-02 06:36
The Repsol Honda team leave Jerez satisfied with the results of the two-day post GP test held at the 4.423km Andalusian circuit, venue of the Spanish GP held at the circuit last weekend.

On the opening day of the test Repsol Honda team riders Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden had worked on testing basic machine set up options for the RC212V employing data gathered over two days of grand prix practice and the 27 lap (119.421km) race.

The final day was dedicated almost exclusively to tyre testing with Michelin. Despite sunny weather track conditions were not ideal due to a strong wind that drove sand and debris onto the track top. Both riders tested new 16.5 rear tyres brought to the test by Michelin with encouraging results.

Pedrosa, MotoGP race winner at Jerez on Sunday, has been racing with a standard profile Michelin front tyre so far this season but today he dedicated time evaluating the performance of several different front tyres he had been unable to test during the winter due to injuries sustained in January.

The young Spaniard found was pleased with the results but called a halt to his test programme at 15.00. due to the increasing amount of sand blown onto the circuit.

Team-mate Hayden completed a full day of testing putting in a total of 86 laps setting fastest lap of the day on the last lap of 86 using qualifying tyres.

The Honda supported MotoGP teams racing with RC212V machinery elected to sit out the final day of the test.

Honda rider quotes and lap times.

Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 1m 38.940s on lap 86 of 86.
"Everything went real smooth. We did a lot a work with Michelin, tried to check a few tyres' durability, and I was able to string together a few high 39s on race tyres, which we were pretty happy with. We also tuned the bike a little bit, tuned the rider too, worked on a few things, and overall it's been a real positive day. We've got the chassis working good, now we need to work on the engine because we're coming up to some tracks with big long straightaways."

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 1m 40.099s on lap 16 of 41
"Today we worked on tyres with our Michelin technicians and it was a very useful day. We focused mainly on the front tyre, testing different fronts because so far I've only used Michelin's standard profile. We found some interesting solutions. We also tested some rears that Michelin brought here for testing. I didn't use qualifying tyres. These two days have been very important in getting us more familiar with the bike and helping us work some more on setup. I stopped early this afternoon because track conditions weren't so good, the wind was blowing a lot of dust and dirt onto the track."

Source: Honda

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