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ZitatAlles anzeigenMotoGP Test Jerez Day 1
MotoGP Test Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
Day one of three-day test.
March 23, 2012
Weather: Warm, windy
Track temperature: 41 degrees C
Ambient temperature: 24 degrees CSTONER STORMS THE CONTINENT
Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda RC213V) continued his exemplary testing season by setting the pace in the first gathering of the entire MotoGP field on the opening day of the final MotoGP pre-season test in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. Team-mate Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda
RC213V) was third fastest, while Alvaro Bautista (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC213V) and Moto2 World Champion Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda
RC213V) were both adapting to riding the Honda RC213V at Jerez for the first time. In his first proper MotoGP test, Michel Pirro (San Carlo Honda Gresini-FTR) was fourth fastest among the nine CRT riders.Reigning World champion Stoner has been the pace-setter at every pre-season session that he has seriously contested. After being hobbled by a back injury on the first day of the first Sepang test, the 26-year-old Australian was fastest in the final two sessions. And on returning to Sepang weeks later, Stoner was again fastest in the two sessions in which the Honda riders took part.
Today he continued his torrid pace at the Jerez circuit. Stoner's fastest lap of 1m, 39.146s. came on his 54th and final lap, as the winds were picking up the 4.423Km Andalucian circuit. His lap was only a touch slower than the 1m, 38.757s lap that he ran to take the pole for last year's Spanish GP, one of Stoner's 12 poles on the season. And it was the fastest lap the day by .273s.
Pedrosa was third fastest and .433s off the pace of his team-mate.
The Spaniard found that the chattering problem that had been a constant bother in Sepang had diminished, even though his track time was limited by various issues. Those issues were resolved by the end of the day and Pedrosa expects to be in attack mode for the remainder of the test.In his first visit to Jerez on the San Carlo Gresini Honda RC213V, Bautista ended the day seventh fastest with a time of 1m, 40.545s.
Bautista's previous experience on the RC213V had come in the tropical conditions of Sepang, Malaysia. The track and ambient temperatures in southern Spain are much more moderate, presenting new challenges for the riders and technicians. In addition, Bautista has little MotoGP experience at Jerez having been hurt practicing for last year's Spanish GP. Despite hundreds of laps in Jerez, the Spaniard was initially caught out by how tight the circuit seemed on the RC213V.
But he adapted as the day went on and ended the day confident of the team's direction.Bradl was tenth fastest on his first ride at Jerez on the LCR Honda RC213V with a time of 1m, 40.983s. Like Bautista, Bradl was adjusting to the vastly different conditions from Sepang, especially the engine power, which was greater due to the weather conditions. The control tyres are not the same ones used in Sepang, where track temperatures are much higher, and the young German found all the tyres did not offer as much grip. That the MotoGP rookie was able to adapt quickly is important since every track will be a new experience on the LCR Honda RC213V with Bridgestone tyres.
For Italian Michel Pirro, this was his first chance to join team-mate Alvaro Bautista on track, and his first real test of the San Carlo Honda Gresini FTR machine. The former Moto2 rider had only a shakedown test of the Honda CBR1000RR-powered machine at Imola prior to Jerez, and it was not on the control Bridgestone tyres. With so much to work on, Pirro and his team had to prioritise, which they did by concentrating on the front end. His fastest lap of 1m, 42.655s was the fourth best among the CRT set, most of which had tested extensively during the off-season.
HONDA MotoGP RIDER QUOTES
Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda RC213V): 1st, 1m, 39.146s "Today has been quite good. We did race distance with a soft set of tyres this morning and we were getting quicker and quicker as we progressed, but I think also the circuit was getting better. Then we put the hard tyre on and did a tyre comparison and we had very similar feelings to what we had in Sepang. We tried a few things with the chassis as the bike was proving slow to turn in the corner, but in general it is working well, especially at the end of the tyre life. On the last exit we did our fastest lap on a new soft rear tyre. It's been a good first day."
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC213V): 3rd, 1m, 39.579s "It's been a pretty tough day. The mechanics had a lot of work to do in the garage and I've been stationary a long time, so it was not easy to get into the rhythm quickly. But I'm happy because we have a clear idea about the changes we need to do on the bike to improve tomorrow, especially on braking and the exits of the corners. We also tested the new front Bridgestone tyre, but just for a few laps, so I will keep testing it tomorrow to know if it's better. Unfortunately, in the afternoon I had a problem on one bike and I couldn't use it any more, so I spent quite a long time in the box between runs and thinking about the changes we want to do. We didn't have too much chattering today, but I think it's because of the circuit characteristics."
Alvaro Bautista (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC213V): 7th, 1m, 40.545s "Today went well on a track with very different characteristics to Malaysia, especially considering that I haven't ridden Jerez for a couple of years and I'd forgotten how close all the corners are to each other. We worked a lot on the electronics in terms of power delivery and anti-wheelie, which is an important issue at this track.
I had a little crash this morning that cost us a little time, but in the afternoon we put a good rhythm together around the 1m 40.5s mark and tried two different Bridgestone front tyres which gave me a lot of feel. The new tyres are a lot better than the ones we had been using and that's important for confidence in corner entry. Overall I am happy because we have improved with every outing and finished the day with a good pace. My confidence with the bike is growing, the team is working really well and, as I said, before we're on the right lines. Obviously we're going to need a little time to take the next step, but I think we'll be ready for the first race."Stefan Bradl (Team LCR Honda RC213V): 10th, 1m, 40.983s "It has been a big change coming to Jerez from Sepang for the first European test. Thanks to the weather conditions the engine was more powerful and I was impressed about the performance of the bike. We had a couple of issues at the beginning of the day with the anti-wheelie and the electronics and we had to adjust a lot of things, but step by step we have improved and I could go faster. At the end of the session the tyres were working different compared to Sepang, especially the soft one, and I was expecting a little bit more grip. Tomorrow we will have to find the way to improve our braking stability, but today was A-OK."
Michel Pirro (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC213V): 17th 1m, 42.655s "The Imola session was nothing serious, so today was really the first outing for this bike. We have worked very hard to find where our limits are right now and the biggest issue is with the front end, which is limiting our corner entry speed. Having said that, we have to be more than satisfied because the bike is only a few hours old and we're measuring up to the rest, apart from (Randy) De Puniet. It was also a bit of a debut for me, with so many new things such as Bridgestone tyres, which I have never ridden before. We can be happy, and even though we have a lot of work ahead of us I have great faith in the team and I am sure that with the data we have gathered we can take another step forward."