Repsol Honda dominate with 1-2-3 in Qatar

Article from http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2011/Repsol+Honda+riders+review+FP3+at+Losail

The pair were the only riders to break into the 1'55” band in FP2, closely followed by Andrea Dovizioso in fourth place with a time of 1'56.116. In the later FP3, all three Repsol Honda riders achieved times in the 1'55”s and occupied the top three positions on the time sheets. Stoner ran his fastest time on lap 15 of 16 with a 1'55.035 - breaking his own circuit record of 1'55.153, Pedrosa was just 0.158s behind with a lap time of 1'55.193 and third fastest Dovizioso found his quickest time on his final lap with a 1'55.740.
Stoner used both sessions to understand his bike’s performance better with used tyres and finished the session confident that he is able to achieve what he expects, from both front and rear Bridgestones. Pedrosa also spent a lot of time working on tyres for qualifying and Sunday's race. Dovizioso rectified the issue he had yesterday with vibration in the front of the bike and worked on set-up in preparation for qualifying.

Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda
"We spent most of the second session tonight on used tyres to get a better understanding of where we are with them. We did a quick lap on race distance with these tyres, so we're really happy with this. In addition we completed around 30 laps on the front tyre which also worked well. We played around with the tyre pressure a little, but in general they seem to be very consistent from start to end. Today we had a few more things to try, in the first session we didn't make many improvements from yesterday and then in the second session we made a big step forward. I'm really happy at the pace we're running, the way I'm riding and the bike set-up".

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda
"We did a good job today, especially in FP3. We concentrated on doing a good lap at the beginning and then we were focused on the pace. I'm happy about how is everything going - even if there are still some places where we know we can do better and improve some tenths. We need to keep our concentration to do that tomorrow. For the qualifying session, our target is to be on the front row. Here in Qatar, my best position on the grid has been a sixth place and I would really like to be on the front row tomorrow. This afternoon we tried both tyres, hard and medium and both worked well. My feeling is that the hard compound is better for the race distance, even if the race is one hour later than practice today and the softer compound is the best option for the qualifying session".

Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda
"I’m happy with the work done during today’s two practices and of course with the third position. It’s not enough because Casey and Dani are faster, so we will keep working hard to gain some tenths. Today the team did a great job to solve the vibration in the middle of the corner that we had yesterday. We also modified the set up of the fork, a middle step between 2010 and 2011. Doing this, I had a better feeling, but we also lost the good points of the 2011 fork, such as the stability in braking and corner entry. Tomorrow we will continue working on the fork set up and the target is to do a good qualifying session for a good position on the grid. The race will be a bit different, long and hard for the body. I’m confident that we can improve".