Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso will take to the track again this week with their MotoGP rivals for the second official test at a steaming-hot Sepang.
As Suzuki and Yamaha began initial tests with their reserve riders on the blisteringly hot Malaysian circuit today, Honda, with no reserve rider at this session, bided their time as the mercury topped the 34ºC mark, with tomorrow the time for the big guns to continue testing the improvements made to the bikes since the last test at Sepang three weeks ago.
Dani and Dovi ended that first test in an encouraging fourth and sixth respectively, and they will continue to build on that solid foundation this week. “I think the next Sepang test will be more indicative about our true pace,” commented Dovizioso.
While Dani is still recovering well from last season’s hand problem, all is not well for his countryman, Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo, whose own hand injury sustained will mean he misses this test, and possibly the last pre-season session next month in Qatar. Tension remains at Yamaha, with Lorenzo initially looking to leave the team, whom he felt did not appreciate his efforts, before signing a new one-year deal, and his chief rival Valentino Rossi recently claiming the team isn’t big enough for the both of them – Rossi eventually overcame his young team-mate to claim his seventh title last year.
GEPA Pictures/Gold & Goose
All of this might well aid last season’s third-placed man Dani Pedrosa, and with the performance of the Honda RC212V likely to improve significantly with its new Öhlins suspension set-up and advanced electronics in Malaysia this week, 2010 may well see Dani in the title mix with the Yamahas.
Meanwhile, Mika Kallio (pictured, left) has another hot few days’ testing lined up for the Pramac Racing Ducati Desmosedici GP10 – the Finn struggled acclimatising from -20ºC temperatures in northern Europe to those nearer 40ºC in Asia at the last test, but neverthless feels positive about the season ahead.
“The bike has significantly improved from last season thanks to the better delivery of the new engine prepared by Ducati,” said Kallio. “We are confident that we can have a good season going in this direction.”
Also in attendance will be Interwetten Honda rookie Hiroshi Aoyama, whose initial pace on the privateer RC212V at his first Sepang outing was very encouraging.
“We’re not that far away from the other Honda [riders] and newcomers,” says Hiro’s manager Daniel Epp. “It’s only about a couple of 10ths’ difference.”
For more news on the Sepang tests, hot-foot it to motogp.com
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