Rapid Repsol duo begins testing duties with new Honda machines

The Repsol Honda Team were back on track in Valencia today in preparation for the 2014 season. Newly crowned World Champion, Marc Marquez, was fastest on this second day (the team did not test yesterday), with teammate Dani Pedrosa in third.

HRC had two different prototypes for the riders to test side by side, one from mid-season and an evolution machine. Marc had a busy day testing, completing 77 laps in total with his fastest lap of 1:30.536 coming on lap 75. Dani also had a busy programme completing 72 laps and recording his fastest lap on lap 67 with 1:30.948.

Dani Pedrosa 1:30.948, 72 laps, 288 km. “Today we mixed our testing between the 2013 and 2014 bikes. The track conditions were good and there was a lot of grip, so we were able to put in a lot of laps. In general it was a good day of testing and we pushed every part to the limit to try and see the pros and cons of each one. We found some references with the new bike, as there are already a few changes: For example, the ECU, which is the same for everyone. We have also worked on some other aspects of the bike and are trying to adapt to them. There is still a lot to be done and tomorrow we will continue working to carry on progressing.”

Marc Marquez 1:30.536, 77 laps, 308 km. “After the celebrations, we were back on the bike today and I felt comfortable from the beginning. Today’s testing was important, because we gathered a lot of data and tried out two different bikes: the prototype that we had already ridden at Misano, and a new one brought in especially for this test. They are fairly similar and we were able to make a few improvements, but we still have some changes to configure. We set good times with both bikes and were consistent with our pace. Tomorrow we will focus on just one machine and work on setting it up in more detail.”

Source: Repsol Media