Repsol Honda riders test 2012 RC213V prototype at Brno
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| Stoner tests his new bike |
After celebrating the all-Honda podium Sunday at Brno, the Repsol Honda Team returned back on track Monday for a one day test dedicated to the development of the Honda prototype for the 2012 MotoGP Championship.
It was a positive day of testing with both riders giving valuable feedback, which will allow the HRC engineers to continue the development of the new machine. As scheduled, the test began at 09h00 under dry conditions and finished at 18h00 with one hour lunch break. Fortunately, the rain that was expected did not arrive until the final 30 minutes of the day, when the Repsol Honda Team had already finished their program.
Czech Republic GP winner Casey Stoner, who already tested the RC213V in the Jerez test, was the fastest rider on track with a lap time of 1’56.168. Completing a total of 57 laps, he and his team took some important steps forward in the development of the 2012 machine.
Lap times:
1. Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda Team/Honda 1000 cc) 1'56.168 (54/57 laps)
2. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Team/Yamaha1000 cc) 1'56.253 (22/28 laps)
3. Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Team/Yamaha 1000 cc) 1'56.306 (15/24 laps)
4. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team/Honda 1000 cc) 1'57.264 (16/37 laps)
5. Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team/Ducati 800 cc) 1'57.533 (72/78 laps)
6. Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3/Yamaha 800 cc) 1'57.591 (67/74 laps)
7. Toni Elias (LCR Honda MotoGP/Honda 800 cc) 1'57.903 (55/56 laps)
8. Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team/Ducati 800 cc) 1'58.266 (9/74 laps)
9. Loris Capirossi (Pramac Racing Team/Ducati 800 cc) 1'58.387 (62/66 laps)
10. Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech 3/Yamaha 800 cc) 1'58.492 (31/44 laps)
11. Mika Kallio (Marc Vds Racing Team/Suter Mvds 1000 cc) 2'00.144 (73/81 laps)
CASEY STONER – 1st – 1'56.168
"Today was another good shakedown but we still have some work to do, we found a few positive things and confirmed certain directions to take and move forward. We had a few small problems with chatter but it's something that shouldn't be too difficult to sort out through engine braking and engine management systems, which are areas we can definitely improve in, along with the chassis. The engine for me is fantastic, to ride the 1000 with more grunt and more power it's a lot of fun, it has incredible acceleration, most of the time too much! We tested a couple of the new tires and had some issues, the traction didn't feel that great and they seemed to create a lot more chatter so we went back to the standard tires and the chatter seemingly disappeared. From the data we have from the first test and this test, we can go away and come back with the next step and take it from there".