MotoGP news

Strong day for Repsol Honda duo

Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden put in another day's good work at sunny Estoril today, testing Michelin tyres, fine-tuning machine setup and evaluating new chassis parts. 

The main focus of the post-Portuguese Grand Prix session was tyre testing, both riders trying a variety of different compounds. Joint World Championship leader Pedrosa used qualifying tyres to clock the fastest lap of the day while Hayden preferred to concentrate on riding in race trim with race tyres, recording the fastest lap of the day on race tyres and improving on his best lap during yesterday's race. The day also gave the RC212V riders the chance to experiment with different settings options, with a view to the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix, and evaluate new chassis parts which offered promising performance. 

Dani Pedrosa commented, "It's been another positive day of testing. We focused mostly on testing tyres with Michelin, both race tyres and qualifying tyres, because I needed to improve my performance on qualifiers. The day's work has helped us prepare for the Chinese GP and further improve our base setup. We also did some work on the chassis and suspension to improve front-end feeling during hard braking, because this aspect of performance is particularly important at Shanghai, and we also worked on the electronics."

Nicky Hayden added, "Everything went pretty smooth today. We worked mainly on improving the race setup to get the bike more stable on the brakes, because there's a lot of hard braking at Shanghai. We improved our race pace here, I think we were fastest on race tyres today, so we're happy about that. In the afternoon we did some tyre testing with Michelin and that went pretty well. I'm feeling confident, the bike is working well and my team have done a great job here, doing a day-and-night shift to give me a good bike after I bent my race bike yesterday, so a big thank you to them. I'm looking forward to China and getting a positive result."

Vote or add to:

more news

• 04 May
  • Brave Lorenzo rides to fourth
  • Both Ducatis back in top five
  • Mixed feelings for Team Alice
  • Repsol Honda happy with Chinese result
  • Photos: Sunday in Shanghai
  • Disappointment for Gresini riders
  • Rossi extremely pleased with victory in China
  • Rossi wins Chinese Grand Prix!
• 03 May
  • Photos: Saturday in Shanghai
  • Stoner puts Ducati in with a chance
  • Rossi happy despite missing pole
  • Lorenzo riding through pain barrier
  • Alice team expected more from qualifying
  • Repsol Honda on rows two and four
  • Bridgestones good for front row
  • Edwards storms to pole at Shanghai
  • Final practice: Rossi fastest, Lorenzo returns
• 02 May
  • Positive practice for Gresini riders
  • Better day for Ducati
  • Rossi fastest in Shanghai practice
  • Photos: Friday in Shanghai
  • Lorenzo weekend in doubt
  • Ankle injury for Lorenzo
• 30 Apr.
  • Gresini looking for Shanghai redemption
• 29 Apr.
  • Lorenzo determined to build on stellar start
  • Rossi eyes Chinese victory
  • Alice team hopes for another step forward
  • Hayden to ride demo lap at Indy 500
• 28 Apr.
  • Stoner expects better performance in China
• 24 Apr.
  • Repsol Honda duo ready for Chinese challenge
• 16 Apr.
  • Lorenzo relieved surgery went well
• 15 Apr.
  • Biaggi would welcome Ducati test
  • Lorenzo's surgery successful
• 14 Apr.
  • Gresini making more progress at Jerez
  • Ducati tries to iron out troubles at Jerez
  • Strong day for Repsol Honda duo
  • Yamaha happy with Rossi's Chinese preparations
• 13 Apr.
  • Stoner fuming after loose camera costs better finish
  • Rossi hoped for more than third
  • Photos: Sunday in Estoril

Homepage