Dovizioso was happy with his day’s work on Friday as he brought his time down by a further two-tenths of a second from the previous day, taking in 46 laps in the Malaysian heat as he completed a three-quarter race distance in the afternoon.

“If we consider the two days in total this second test session has represented a big step forward compared to the last time we came here at the beginning of February,” said Dovizioso, whose best lap time was 2’01.439. “I’m satisfied that we could lap consistently and for the race this is very important. We did a race simulation and the pace with race tyres was good.”

He continued: “Today I can’t be totally satisfied with seventh on the timesheets and this was because I wasn’t able to use the soft tyre at its best to improve the lap time. It’s something we’ll have to analyse because getting a good grid position for the race is important. Of course there is still work to do to get closer to Valentino and Casey, but anyway, all-in-all I’m very confident.”

Pedrosa, who completed 57 laps on Friday with a best time of 2’01.478, was just behind his team-mate on the timesheet as the eighth quickest rider and he outlined the aims for Qatar.

“We put in a lot of work today and tried many things on the machine to improve our pace,” said Pedrosa. “We made some progress with the feeling from the engine which is positive, though we didn’t really get the results we were looking for elsewhere, and some of the issues we had yesterday are still there. So, there’s plenty for us still to do before Qatar.”

He added: “The team is working really hard and we’re positive that there’s a lot more to come. Of course I can’t say that eighth is where I want to be on the timesheets at the end of this test, so we’ll definitely look to move things forward in Qatar.”

For more discussion on Honda Racing go to link

Source: MotoGP

After a difficult start to their first day aboard the 2010 version of the RC212V, San Carlo Honda Gresini’s all-Italian line-up of Marco Melandri and Marco Simoncelli were pleased to have completed their first laps on the new prototype.

The pair spent most of the first of two days testing at the Sepang circuit on finding their respective set-ups, as well as focusing on the power and traction combination of each machine. With an air temperature of 32°C both riders were tired by the close of the day, but are looking forward to returning on Friday for further work.

“It hasn’t gone at all bad today, nor has it been brilliant, but as far as first days go I’m quite satisfied,” explained MotoGP rookie Simoncelli, who totalled 54 laps and clocked a best time of 2’03.563. “We tested several things to try and work out which direction to go in, and now we need to look at what we have found. I’m sure that by analysing the data we’ll be able to put the pieces together and to work in the right direction tomorrow.”

He continued: “I also need to understand this bike a bit more to give the right kind of feedback. With the 250 it was easier to get results after just a few modifications but with the MotoGP bike it’s harder to find the right settings. One positive thing is that compared to the bike I tested previously the rear traction has improved, but it’s a bit harder for me on the front because I’m finding it tough to work out its limits. In any case, I’m confident about tomorrow and am sure that we will do much better.”

Team-mate and seasoned MotoGP campaigner Melandri stated: “Today was difficult for us and I think the only reason is that we lost a lot of time by starting off with a completely wrong setting. We worked all day in one direction and things were just getting worse, however as we worked our way backwards we realised that we were going completely the wrong way. Unfortunately when we finally started to work in another direction it began to rain so I was only able to do a single lap, but the feeling was instantly better.”

Melandri, who managed 50 laps and a best turn of 2’03.609, added: “On a positive note we haven’t used too many tyres today so we’ll have more to use tomorrow, as well as a much clearer idea of which way we need to work. At the end of the day I’m satisfied. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, the bike is quite different from the one we tested at Valencia last year, and I continued in the way we had with the bike at that test, but it’s clear we need to go another way. It’s a shame to have lost time, but we’ll make it up tomorrow.”

For more discussion on Motorcycle Racing go to link

Source: MotoGP