The Repsol Honda MotoGP team with good feelings at Misano

The Repsol Honda riders had their first contact with the MotoGP bikes yesterday at the Misano circuit, where Casey Stoner ended up 76 thousandths behind the best time, followed by Dani Pedrosa in third and Andrea Dovizioso in sixth.

Five days after the last race held this past Sunday in the United States, the Motorcycle World Championship has crossed the Atlantic Ocean to host the San Marino Grand Prix with barely any rest, and today saw the first free practice sessions take place. Casey Stoner, who was the fastest in the first session, finished just a few thousandths off the best time of the day, set by Jorge Lorenzo. Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso, who both improved their times in the second session, finished third and sixth respectively.

Repsol rider Casey Stoner led the morning session, setting a time of 1 minute, 34 seconds and 180 thousandths over 18 laps. In the second free session, the Australian of the Repsol Honda Team shaved another 175 thousandths off his time over 19 laps, ending up 76 thousandths behind Jorge Lorenzo, who set the best time of the day.

Behind Stoner, Dani Pedrosa finished after completing 20 laps in the first session and another 22 in the second, ending 200 thousandths behind his teammate. After the first setup adjustments on his Honda RC212V, Andrea Dovizioso finished sixth, slightly improving on his morning time, though with a wide margin for improvement for tomorrow’s session, when they will carry out the third free practice and the official timed session that will determine the starting grid for Sunday’s race.

Below you can see the statements from Dani Pedrosa:

We started quite well and I felt comfortable from the first run, but in the afternoon we didn’t improve as much as we would have liked. When Bautista’s engine blew right in front of me, I thought the track would be dirty, so I did a few slow laps, and I lost time and a bit of rhythm.

We still have to keep working, especially on the suspension, to get a bit more traction and improve stability under heavy braking, so that’s where we’ll focus tomorrow. I tested both tyres — the hard one only in the afternoon — and we still have to decide which will be better for the race.

Statements from Andrea Dovizioso:

Today we started working with a basic setup, and in the afternoon we made some changes to the rear end that didn’t give the results we wanted. This is a slow circuit, with lots of heavy braking and hard acceleration, and we need to analyse the data to understand the most critical points, the places where I lose the most time, so we can keep moving forward.

It was very hot today, but the track conditions were good. We ran both tyre compounds, the soft and the hard, and I felt good on the bike. We need to review the data and decide the right direction to prepare for the official session and the race. I’m confident I can be closer to the front.

Statements from Casey Stoner:

We did a good job this morning. In the afternoon we tried some changes, but I had a small problem with the front brake, air got into the line, and that cost us time. Afterwards we completed a race distance on the soft tyre and got some valuable information.

We’re running competitive times, but it’s still not enough, so we have to keep working tonight to improve tomorrow. We would need to improve the bike so I can feel better in the middle of the corner and on corner exit, and it would help to have a bit more traction and for the bike to turn better. If we can solve this, I’m confident I can improve my times considerably.