Red Bull riders Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa joined a host of MotoGP riders yesterday at Valencia's Ricardo Tormo circuit to test out their new 1000cc bikes…
It looks like Repsol Honda will lead the pack again next season after Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa notched up the fastest lap times of all the riders testing out their new bikes yesterday. Pedrosa achieved 1'32.186 on his final lap and Stoner got round the circuit in 1'32.322.
Testing continues today, but here's what Stoner, Pedrosa, Ducati's Valentino Rossi, Yahama Racing's Ben Spies and Pramac Ducati's Hector Barbera had to say about the new bikes…
Dani Pedrosa
"It's been a good day for testing after so much rain. The track conditions were good, which allowed us to work well on the bike and get the first feeling of the new RCV. We've moved a step on from when I first tried the bike in Brno, which is a good thing. We modified the front end a little, and the corner entry is better, as well as the under-braking. I'm quite satisfied. Not because of the lap times, but more for the feeling I had. We've been riding 800cc for quite a long time and I feel I need to adapt my riding style a little. It's interesting, it's more fun."
Casey Stoner
"Everything has gone pretty well for us. We're struggling a little with the new tyres – we're finding they are giving us a bit of chatter on the bike. We compared the bike that we tested in Jerez and Brno to the new version we have here and we found quite a lot of improvements with chattering but we still need work done on this."
Valentino Rossi
"This bike is nicer to ride than the 800, even if we're just starting our work. You can say that it is improved in some respects, while in others, it's very similar to the other bike. But that's exactly what we expected. We know we're doing preparatory work for the bike that we'll use in the 2012 winter tests. The engine seems pretty good already. It's fast, although I didn't find myself with the others to do a direct comparison. On the other hand, I'm a little slower in mid-corner, and we also have to try to improve rear grip. But it's not bad for a first taste, and the really important thing is that we can work freely, changing balance, weight distribution, measurements, whatever we need."
Ben Spies
"We weren't too worried about lap times today. We made a lot of small changes to the bike, including geometry changes, electronics etc, to make the bike as comfortable as possible. Tomorrow we'll try a different chassis spec so we can choose which one to go forward with. We confirmed which direction of power delivery to go in, which is good. This is testing so we never got close to the limit with the bike; it's about riding at 90 per cent consistently to test the motorcycle. When we get the full package next year in Sepang we'll go closer to the limit."
Hector Barbera
"I am very happy with this new adventure I'm having with the Pramac Racing and Ducati 1,000cc. Compared to the bike we used at last Sunday's race, this one has changed a lot. We can feel that the engine is more powerful, and from my point of view it's much more fun to ride. The new chassis improves the handling too. The bike reacts much better when entering and going through the corners and this helps me a lot. The first impression is good and the bike gives me more confidence."
Want more?
- Report from the final MotoGP race of the 2011 season
- Official MotoGP website
- Check out the Red Bull Rookies Cup page
Comments
Add a comment