Repsol Honda trio sustain solid momentum

Article from http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2011/Repsol+Honda+day+two+Sepang


The Repsol Honda team enjoyed another productive day of Testing at Sepang on Wednesday, as Dani Pedrosa, Casey Stoner and Andrea Dovizioso all finished inside the top four on the timesheet whilst accomplishing a solid amount of work on the development of their RC212V machines.
Pedrosa topped the timings with the first and so far only lap under 2’01”, lapping at 2’00.770 on only his fourth turn of the circuit in the morning. The Spaniard spent the day trying out different chassis set-ups, the new RC212V engine and also worked on suspension with Öhlins technicians.
“I think it's the first time I've ridden so fast on this track, but you're just fresh in the morning and I did four very good first laps,” said Pedrosa, whose best effort was just 0.252s off Valentino Rossi’s circuit best lap, set in 2009. “I was not looking for a time, but I saw that the track conditions were good and I pushed. The closer you get to the limit, the clearer the changes you are doing on the bike become, which lead you in the right direction.”
He continued: “Today I tried the new engine, which has improved from Valencia, some chassis configurations and rear shocks. Tomorrow the plan is to continue comparing both bikes and it would be great to come away with the chassis and engine decided for the next test."
Stoner was second fastest at 0.664s off his team-mate, with Dovizioso fourth at less than a tenth of a second behind the Australian as the pair worked on improving braking stability and comparing the 2011 RC212V frame with a new version, which carried some different characteristics.
"Yesterday we really didn't expect the best time, today we expected a bigger difference with the soft tyre - but with the chassis we chose we just couldn't get the best out of the tyre,” said Stoner. “Tomorrow maybe we can focus a little more to compare the chassis again and then see which direction to go from there. We've got a few other small things here and there but they can wait until the next test. Now I'm starting to understand the bike a bit better and when I ride it, it feels more like home."
Dovizioso, who also tested different electronic map settings, said: “I’m satisfied with the work done today. We have a good base that works well on different tracks. We started comparing the 2010 and 2011 front fork again and decided to stick to the 2011 version because it allows me to brake harder even if a small vibration still remains in the middle of the corner. I'm very happy with the pace I had today, but I am still not happy with my ability to improve my lap time when I try to push harder on the softer tyre."