MotoGP test Qatar. Day two of three day test

2009-03-02 16:18
Dovizioso fastest Honda rider on day two of Qatar — Pedrosa injured in turn 10 crash

Following a rain induced false start on the opening day of MotoGP pre-season testing at the Losail circuit at Qatar the teams and riders were able to put in a complete six hour session of serious testing under floodlights this evening, despite the prevailing strong wind depositing sand and dirt onto the cold 18 degree track surface. The Qatar test is crucial to the early season fortunes of the competitors as the 18-round 2009 MotoGP World Championship series opens at the 5.380 km Losail circuit, on April 12.

The day's action resulted in contrasting fortunes for the Repsol Honda factory team riders Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa, while Dovizioso was the fastest Honda rider of the day teammate Pedrosa suffered a heavy high side crash that ruled him out of further participation in the test.

Italian Dovizioso and his technicians work on the electronics of his RC212V and overall machine set up and balance and ended the day with fourth fastest time on the day.
For Pedrosa the trip to Qatar turned into a nightmare. The cautious Spaniard sat out opening day of the three-day test preferring not to risk a crash in the wet and sandy track conditions while carrying a lingering knee injury.

Unfortunately for Pedrosa his fears were confirmed when he crashed at turn 10 in the slippery sand strewn conditions. He was taken to the circuit medical center where an examination revealed the fall had reopened the surgeons incision on his left knee that required stitching to close. Pedrosa also damaged his left wrist and the scan revealed severe contusions but no obvious fractures. He will fly home, to Barcelona, in the morning for further injury assessment but hopes to be fit for the final pre-season test at Jerez, Spain which begins on March 28.

San Marinese Alex De Angelis was in sparkling form aboard his San Carlo Gresini Honda RC212V setting sixth fastest time of the day. De Angelis spent his day fine tuning machine set up and testing tyres and was pleased with his performance and eager to improve tomorrow on the final day of the test.

De Angelis' teammate, Spaniard Toni Elias, who has rejoined the team following a year contesting the championship for the Pramac team, worked on machine geometry and suspension of his San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V in a bid to improve the traction. Elias struggled to find a solid base line for his RCV at the last test in Sepang and today's track conditions did not allow the Spaniard to make much progress.

Frenchman Randy De Puniet ended the day in buoyant mood having established a good base line set up for chassis and suspension that gave him confidence in the front end of his LCR Honda. He will continue testing tyres tomorrow, the final day of the test.

The Scot Racing Team and HRC have enjoyed a successful multi-year association in 125cc and 250cc GP racing fielding an impressive array of talent over the years. The partnership has delivered numerous race victories and a 125cc World Championship title win, with Dovizioso in 2004, the enduring success has encouraged the Italian team to seek further success at MotoGP level with Yuki Takahashi retained for his MotoGP debut season.

Following a long career racing small capacity two-stroke machines Takahashi has adopted a sensible step by step approach to riding the powerful RC212V Honda 800cc four stroke. The Japanese star concentrated his efforts on adapting his riding style to the characteristics of the big four-stroke and slowly lowered his lap times as the session progressed and was rewarded by breaking the two minute barrier in the closing stages.


Honda rider quotes and lap times.

Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda: 4th fastest time at 1m 57.879s — 60 laps.
"This was an interesting day and I'm happy with how it went. We tried many settings with the electronic systems on the machine to enhance the power delivery. The results were pretty positive and now we'll have a meeting to decide how to move things forward tomorrow. The track conditions were not so bad - not as good as the race here last year, but considering how windy it was today, it was OK. The lap times were not as fast as the race lap times, but it was a good test today and we're moving forward."

Alex De Angelis, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 8th. 1m 58.441s — 53 laps.
"My feeling has improved and I'm confident. We tested various set up options and the behaviour of tyres over a race distance and I 'm satisfied with the performance. We did around 20 laps with the second set of tyres and I'm happy with the results we got. Tomorrow it will be another important test session."

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 10th. 1m 58.619s — 28 laps.
"The early part of the session went quite well and I was happy with the progress we were making. The conditions weren't ideal with the sand blowing on the track, but this was an unexpected crash. I was entering Turn 10 and I had a high-side and then the bike came down on top of me. It's a shame because we also lost testing time yesterday, but now I will go home for some more scans and hopefully they won't show anything more serious.

Randy De Puniet, LCR Honda MotoGP: 11th. 1m 58.936s - 55 laps.
"Compared to the last test session in Sepang today we made a big step forward. I changed my riding style and the feeling with the front improved a lot. I'm satisfied, we are working on the correct direction. Today in fact we only used two tyres as we worked on suspensions and the tyres were also working well with the machine base set up. Tomorrow we will use some new tyres to reduce the gap in terms of lap times."

Toni Elias, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 12th. 1m 59.036s — 56 laps.
"Considering that the first race of the season will be held here in a month we focused on the setting of the bike, in particular we worked on machine geometry and suspension to improve the traction. We struggled a bit in Sepang, but here today, with these difficult track conditions we suffered more than Malaysia. We have a lot of work to do but we have another day here to test the new bike and I hope the track conditions improve for tomorrow."

Yuki Takahashi, Scot Racing Team: 13th. 1m 59.153s — 65 laps.
"I'm still adapting to the RC212V that is a complete new bike for me. It's normal that I need to do kilometres and get the feeling with the bike. At the beginning of the test session there was a lot of san on track, then the conditions improved. I tried to do as many laps as possible to understand the bike, It was important to follow some more experienced riders to study the best line and I have to thank Andrea Dovizioso for this. Tomorrow we will continue working in this direction."


OFFICIAL LAP TIMES
1. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 1:57.139 37 laps
2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1:57.747 51 laps
3. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 1:57.817 41 laps
4. ANDREA DOVIZIOSO (Repsol Honda) 1:57.879 60 laps
5. Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) 1:58.018 24 laps
6. Loris Capirossi (Suzuki) 1:58.264 42 laps
7. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1:58.400 63 laps
8. Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda) 1:58.441 53 laps
9. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) 1:58.577 54 laps
10. DANI PEDROSA (Repsol Honda) 1:58.619 28 laps
11. Randy De Puniet (LCR Honda) 1:58.936 55 laps
12. Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda) 1:59.036 56 laps
13. Yuki Takahashi (Scot Honda) 1:59.153 65 laps
14. Marco Melandri (Kawasaki) 1:59.195 63 laps
15. Niccolo Canepa (Ducati ) 1:59.266 36 laps
16. Mika Kallio (Ducati) 1:59.764 48 laps
17. James Toseland (Yamaha) 2:00.234 51 laps

Source: Honda Pro Image

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