The World Champion ends MotoGP tests at Catalunya with the best time, over a second inside the lap record. Daniel Pedrosa finished the MotoGP test at the Circuit de Catalunya as the fastest rider in his category on Thursday. His task was far from easy as he battled to find a setting with his new bike that would allow him to get the maximum out of both man and machine. The carburetion problems he had endured yesterday persisted this morning and, to avoid losing further time, the team decided to park the number one bike and concentrate on his spare machine.

Despite several changes and set-up modifications, as well as a lack of a decent front tyre, Dani set an extraordinary time on the last of his 99 laps, moving to the top of the time sheets with a 1'46"248, over a second inside the Circuit de Catalunya record he set last season.

 

Work was equally intense in the adjacent box, where Hiroshi Aoyama relentlessly tested a series of different settings as he aimed to improve his feeling with the front end. The Japanese rider completed 104 laps today and made significant improvement, bettering his fastest time from yesterday by a second.

 

The Telefónica MoviStar Honda 250 team will be back on track next week on Wednesday and Thursday for two more days of MotoGP tests at Jerez, where the season will get underway on the 10th April.

 

DANI PEDROSA (1'46"248, 99 laps): "It was a difficult day today because we've had problems with the carburetion of the bike, as we did yesterday. We also had a few problems with the front tyre and it seems as though they didn't bring enough here, but I guess that was the same problem for all the riders. These problems disrupted our programme a little but in the afternoon it was a lot better. We parked the number one bike and worked solely on the spare, which I felt more comfortable with, and we got the time down in the end. Hopefully we can solve the problems at Jerez next week."

 

HIROSHI AOYAMA (1'47"546, 104 laps): "Today I completed more laps on a single day of tests than I ever have before - it was a very long day. I tried a few different settings to improve my feeling with the front end and at the end of the afternoon I think we found the key. I felt much more comfortable than yesterday although I think I could improve my times a lot more. We've made some big changes to the bike, which are helping, but I have to get to know it bit by bit. That is what preseason is for and I hope that in Jerez next week we can take another step forward."

 

LAP TIMES

1. Dani Pedrosa (Esp/Honda) 1'46"248

2. Sebastián Porto (Arg/Aprilia) 1'46"438

3. Randy De Puniet (Fra/Aprilia) 1'46"756

4. Alex De Angelis (RSM/Aprilia) 1'46"787

5. Jorge Lorenzo (Esp/Honda) 1'47"018

6. Andrea Dovizioso (Ita/Honda) 1'47"021

7. Héctor Barberá (Esp/Honda) 1'47"199

8. Roberto Locatelli (Ita/Aprilia) 1'47"379

9. Hiroshi Aoyama (Jap/Honda) 1'47"546