Pedrosa happy with final test day of 2010 despite injury still hampering his efforts
The Repsol Honda Team wrapped up its 2010 season today with a positive second day of testing at the scene of Sunday’s Grand Prix of Valencia. Casey Stoner, who joins the team for 2011, finished the day with the fastest time to completes an impressive debut test for the 24-year-old Australian. – a lap of 1m 32.066s which 0.113s quicker than Jorge Lorenzo – the quickest rider yesterday – and. Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso also made good progress today, with Pedrosa just 0.4s behind Stoner, and Dovizioso – who was suffering from a fever – 0.8s back.
Pedrosa spent further time testing the 2011 prototype which incorporates modifications designed to further improve the performance of the machine he and Dovizioso campaigned this year. The 25-year-old Spaniard reported an improvement in stability under braking and from his 48 laps – the fastest of which was on his very last one – has provided Honda’s engineers with a lot feedback which will be used over the winter to refine the machine. Pedrosa was still suffering some lack of strength in the left should he damaged in October and will undergo more hospital tests tomorrow to determine if any more medical intervention is required to speed his recovery.
Dani Pedrosa, 5th, 1:32.497 sec. 48 laps, 192 km
“The test was positive because, even if I couldn’t do long runs due to my physical condition, my lap times were quite good and I could have a clear idea about what we liked and what we need to change to make a step forward. We tested the new prototype machine again and it has some good points that can help us to move forward and also some other areas I didn’t like so much, but it’s not a completely different bike and this is what I asked for, so I’m happy about that. This test was planned to work basically on the chassis and engine; we improved the braking – the bike is more stable – but the engine is still too aggressive from my point of view. We are looking forward to the Sepang test where we can put all the things we liked together, and also do some testing with the new suspension that I haven’t tried yet, with the target of achieving better grip and braking power. I also tested two different spec Bridgestone tyres and they worked well. In general I’m satisfied with the work we have done because I’ve been suffering a lot during the whole weekend with my shoulder, but even in spite of this I could give good information to the team for the next test in February. Tomorrow I will go to the doctor again to have a CAT, an MRI and vascular tests to find out what’s wrong with my shoulder. I don’t know yet if I will need more surgery, but if it’s necessary I will do it”.
Source: Repsol Media Service
