Teams stay on to test at LeMans

After Sunday’s eventful Grand Prix of France some teams remained at Le Mans and dodged the rain showers to put in a profitable day’s testing. Dani Pedrosa, who rode to an excellent fourth place in appalling conditions yesterday, ventured out on a wet track in the morning to evaluate intermediate tires and gain further useful data for the Michelin technicians. With a dry track and warmer temperatures in the afternoon, the 21-year-old Spaniard continued tests on the modified exhaust system seen on his RC212V over the race weekend and turned the days fastest lap.

Dani Pedrosa Best lap time: 1m 35.0s – 70 laps
“We were working on some bike set-up improvements today and trying to make the most of the dry track time because since the last IRTA test in Jerez I haven’t had too much dry testing. We made some improvements today which is good because we have struggled a little in China and also at times over this weekend, so it’s important we take things forward ahead of the next race in Mugello. The weather here is always difficult to predict but hopefully we’ll get another useful day here tomorrow."

Unofficial lap times

1 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 1m 35.0s 70
2 John Hopkins Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m 35.0s
3 Casey Stoner Ducati Marlboro Team 1m 35.0s 44
4 Toni Elias Honda Gresini 1m 35.1s 58
5 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1m 35.3s 66
6 Loris Capirossi Ducati Marlboro Team 1m 35.4s 50
7 Carlos Checa LCR Honda 1m 35.4s 76
8 Colin Edwards Fiat Yamaha Team 1m 35.6s 59
9 Marco Melandri Honda Gresini 1m 35.7 66
10 Nicky Hayden Repsol Honda Team 1m 35.9s 40
11 Makoto Tamada Tech 3 Yamaha 1m 36.6s
12 Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP unknown