The following is from Repsol Honda…
Repsol Honda RC212V rider Dani Pedrosa and HRC test rider Tadayuki Okada took to the track at Brno today, following the Repsol Honda team’s difficult Czech GP weekend.
Weather conditions today were perfect, allowing both riders to start testing at 10.30am, with Pedrosa riding his RC212V with spring valves while Okada rode the pneumatic-valve machine usually ridden by Nicky Hayden, who missed Brno due to a foot injury. Pedrosa stopped testing at 12.30pm, while Okada continued for the rest of the day. The Japanese rider, who gave the pneumatic-valve RC212V its race debut at June’s Italian GP, tested updated engine parts and electronics. The Repsol Honda team will not test tomorrow, its next outing is at Misano for the San Marino GP on August 29/30/31.
Dani Pedrosa, fastest lap: 1m 59.067s (11 laps)
“We tried some different front tyres that Michelin brought here for this test, but we finished after some laps because we couldn’t find any improvement. We tested the tyres with my current race bike, there was no point using the machine with the pneumatic-valve engine because the tyres weren’t working well enough. We have rescheduled this test at Misano, on the Monday after the San Marino GP.”
Tadayuki Okada, fastest lap: 2m 00.735s (67 laps)
“Today we tested some new steps in development concerning both engine and electronics. In Japan we are working on the development of both the spring-valve engine and the pneumatic-valve engine. Since my last appearance at the Italian MotoGP I can say that the bike with pneumatic-valve engine has improved a lot. I think that the bike has reached a satisfactory level of development, I hope that Dani will be able to test it soon.”
The following is from Yamaha…
Fresh from his fifth victory of the season yesterday, which took him fifty points clear at the top of the standings, Valentino Rossi was back in action today on the first day of a two-day test at Brno. The Fiat Yamaha Team rider finished the day second fastest, behind Casey Stoner, with a best lap of 1’57.332 after 28 laps.
The main focus of the day was on testing new Bridgestone tyres and the Fiat Yamaha crew worked through a range of both front and rear rubber, with an eye on finding new material for the final six races of the season. Rossi also tried some new electronics and mapping, which he will continue working on tomorrow.
Rossi’s Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo was also testing today and finished ninth fastest, with a best lap of 1’57.979.
Davide Brivio
Team manager
“It was a good day of testing today, after a great day of racing yesterday! We have tested many different Bridgestone tyres, both front and rear, and we have collected a lot of information which will help us for the rest of the season. Then we worked on some new electronics and mapping but we need to continue with this tomorrow because we haven’t finished the whole programme. Tomorrow we also have some general set-up work to do, to try some things that we weren’t able to check at the weekend, due to losing one day to rain. We hope that we will have another good day tomorrow, finish all of our planned work and then we will leave here in good shape for the final push.”
