Dovizioso Leads Spanish Test

Cycle News Staff | June 15, 2009

Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso led today’s MotoGP test session at the Montmelo circuit in Spain, the first in-season test of the year. Dovizioso finished fourth in the Catalunyan Grand Prix yesterday at the same venue.Dovizioso, who is now fourth in the World Championship after moving past his teammate Dani Pedrosa in yesterday’s Grand Prix, lapped at a best of 1:42.230 – faster than the fastest lap from the race which was Casey Stoner’s 1:42 858 and also inside the existing lap record of 1:42.358 set by Pedrosa in 2008. Pedrosa did not take part in today’s test as he continues to fight back to health.”I’m really happy with the test today and with the pace we were able to achieve,” Dovizioso said. “The modified chassis we tested gave very positive feedback straight away so I used it for most of the day. One of the main improvements in feeling was in the entry to the corner which is a very important plus point because that’s one of the main areas where we’ve been looking to make progress. We also performed some tests on other aspects of the set-up and all-in-all the results were promising. In the race yesterday we were very close to the podium, and also quite close to the leaders after a dry race run in very demanding conditions, so we’re heading in the right direction. I know Honda is working really hard to give us a machine to win races, and today has given us a lot of positive signals, so thanks to them – and to my team who have also been working very hard this weekend. I’m definitely looking forward to getting back out on track in Assen.”Fiat Yamaha teammates Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo ended the day second and third fastest, respectively, a day after their epic battle in the Grand Prix.”It was hard to test after yesterday, but it was a good day and we found out some important things,” Rossi said. “We worked on electronics to try to find a better power delivery and we also checked a different version of the engine for the second half of the season. Finally we also tried a new tire with Bridgestone. We got good feedback and hopefully today should mean I can feel even better on my M1 than I did at the weekend, which was already pretty good. At the end we also tried to set some fast ‘qualifying’ laps and I made a good time, so we’re happy. Now I am going home to Italy to have some rest.”Lap Times

 

1. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) 1:42.2302. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1:42.4343. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1:42.4464. Mika Kallio (Ducati) 1:42.6375. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 1:42.7636. Loris Capirossi (Suzuki) 1:43.1887. Randy De Puniet (Honda) 1:43.2478. Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) 1:43.2999. Alex De Angelis (Honda) 1:43.36010. Niccolo Canepa (Ducati) 1:43.39111. Marco Melandri (Kawasaki) 1:43.50612. Toni Elias (Honda) 1:43.70813. Sete Gibernau (Ducati) 1:43.81914. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) 1:44.15715. Gabor Talmacsi (Honda) 1:45.056