MotoGP Test Doha, Qatar

[Andy]

Hondas Finish Pre-Season Testing on Top

Honda riders ended the pre-season with the top two times and five of the top six, on a day of difficult conditions at the Losail International Circuit outside the Qatari capital of Doha. The newest team member Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda RC212V) finished the test slightly quicker than team-mate Dani Pedrosa just days before the start of the championship.

The performance by Honda riders culminated an extraordinary and unprecedented pre-season in which Honda riders finished on top on all eight days of testing, six days in Sepang, Malaysia and here in Qatar for two days.

More than just bragging rights, the performance is indicative that both the riders and Honda technicians have done the work needed to be ready when the 2011 MotoGP World Championship kicks off this coming Thursday under the lights in Qatar.

Today's test began after a sandstorm hit the circuit in the afternoon, covering the 5.380k circuit. When the winds died down, the riders began the final day of testing, with the track improving lap by lap as the surface improved.

Stoner, the winner here from 2007 through 2009, was encouraged by his form, having taken advantage of the final day to solidify his riding position. The 25-year-old Australian altered his position from Sepang, where he had a more rearward bias, to a more neutral seating position. Stoner and his team also worked on electronics and tyres, but mostly wanted to solidify their race settings.

Pedrosa finished with a lap time only .064s slower than his team-mate after initial concerns about the track surface. The desert winds blew across the track, but the grip was surprisingly good. In the cool conditions, Pedrosa was able to improve his lap times while testing a new front fork, electronics, and both the soft and harder tyres.

Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) improved both his time and his position on the second day. The Italian jumped from eleventh on day one to the fourth fastest time on the day and overall, while improving his lap time by nearly a second. Simoncelli matched his pace against other riders and came away confident that he'll be more than competitive when the season starts. Simoncelli, who'd been fastest at the first Sepang test, knows that there's more work to be done, but with an extraordinary three days of practice and qualifying starting on Thursday, he believes the team has a direction that will put him among the leaders.

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V) spent the day working on corner entry and race settings, while running a race simulation to end the testing season. That he didn't try the softer tyre meant his time wasn't indicative of his form, though he admitted that the gap to his team-mates Stoner and Pedrosa was too much. Still, with the work from this test fresh on his mind, he plans to continue progressing when the season starts.

Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini) finished the day tenth fastest, but sixth overall for the two days. Aoyama was ready to go for an outright lap time, but the track temperature of a cool 18C didn't allow him to get the most out of his Honda RC212V. Still, Aoyama is more confident at the start of his second year in the premier class than he was in his rookie year and hopeful of improved results.

Toni Elias (LCR Honda MotoGP) wasn't able to take advantage of the lap times afforded by the softer tyres, which meant his position wasn't as high as it might have been. Elias was more affected than most riders by the adverse conditions, which kept him and his technical crew from carrying out their testing program. The 2010

Moto2 World Champion was working toward getting the proper balance on his Honda RC212V when he crashed, setting back his progress.

Now the teams have three days to recharge their batteries prior to Thursday evening, when practice begins.

Honda MotoGP Rider Quotes

Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda) 1st, 1m, 55.681s "I'm really happy. I didn't think we would get any laps in tonight judging from the weather earlier in the day, it was a little tough but the wind seemed to settle and the track conditions improved a lot and we got some good test time in tonight. By the look of the lap times everyone seems to have taken a big step forward, but we're happy with what we've achieved again here and we can enter the race weekend with confidence but at the same time everyone else will be improving their set-up so we can't relax. We found a good rider position which I'm really happy with, having moved my position more towards the rear in Sepang - to try and find more grip, here we can run a more neutral set-up and everything seems to be working well. We did some more work on electronics tonight and also on the tyres, but generally worked in preparation for the weekend."

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) 2nd, 1m, 55.745s "The conditions seemed very difficult when we arrived at the circuit today as it was so windy and on the way here the road was full of sand, but we managed to finally complete a good test. It was very windy out on track and quite difficult to ride at maximum, but the grip was not so bad. It was cooler than yesterday and we improved our lap times, which is positive. Today we tried the new front fork, we have continued to work with electronics and have tried both the hard and the softer tyres. We kept the good feeling we had at Sepang, the test here in Qatar also went well in general and we go to the first race with a competitive bike, but for the Grand Prix we will have to keep working hard because nobody will give away anything."

Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) 4th, 1m, 56.433s "I am happy because I have improved by almost a second on yesterday and that shows that we are working well and things are looking good ahead of Sunday's race. We went out feeling very motivated tonight and we found our way again after losing it a little last night. I have found some interesting things with the setting and now we are all feeling more confident. Whenever I was with other riders out there I was able to match them and that is a good sign that we have got the right pace at this circuit. The two fastest guys are obviously looking very strong but I am sure we can close the gap on Thursday in practice and be up there fighting with the best of them come Sunday."

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) 5th, 1m, 56.439s "It was a strange day of testing. At the beginning it was very windy and the track was dirty, but fortunately we managed to test. We worked on electronics and also on the set-up of the bike to improve the corner entry and at around 22.00 we did a race simulation. The temperatures today were cooler than yesterday with the ground reaching 18 degrees. We used the hard tyre for the whole session and maybe this strategy was a mistake. In the past it was not possible to use the soft compound on this track whereas it seems possible this year. Only myself and Lorenzo made a race simulation so it's difficult to compare the lap times with the other riders. If we look at the lap times, the gap to Casey and Dani is too big. I think this is because we used different tyres and did different work, for the race weekend we should be closer. Of course we need to keep working but I feel that we arrive at the first round competitive."

Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini) 10th, 1m, 56.740s "Overall I am happy with this last test here in Qatar and with our chances on Sunday. We tried some different settings tonight and that was our main focus. I was missing a little off my lap time but to be honest that wasn't what we were looking for. At the end of the session we dialed in the setting I liked the best and I tried to improve on my excellent lap time from yesterday but with the lower track temperature I wasn't able to do so. I'm still confident though and we have yesterday's lap time as a marker of what we are capable of. Overall, it leaves me sixth fastest and only a few tenths off third."

Toni Elias (LCR Honda MotoGP) 17th, 1m, 58.536s "Today's condition was not perfect because of the strong wind and sand on the surface, thus the grip was very poor. These conditions did not help us in our testing plan for today and our main issue remain the rear. I need to transfer more weight in the rear, but in the meantime we found some good solutions for our base chassis set-up. I crashed in the last part of the session and I could not lap on soft tyres to improve my lap time, but we have got more important things to adjust ahead of Sunday's race."