MotoGP: 2009 Catalunya Test Results

The Repsol Honda rider recorded a time of 1:42.230, a hair faster than the official lap record set by his teammate Dani Pedrosa in the 2008 Catalan Grand Prix. Pedrosa sat out the test to recover from his injuries, leaving Dovizioso to test a new chassis for the Honda RC212V.

The modified chassis we tested gave very positive feedback straight away so I used it for most of the day. One of the main improvements in feeling was in the entry to the corner which is a very important plus point because thats one of the main areas where weve been looking to make progress, says Dovizioso. We also performed some tests on other aspects of the setup and all-in-all the results were promising. In the race yesterday we were very close to the podium, and also quite close to the leaders after a dry race run in very demanding conditions, so were heading in the right direction.

Lorenzo focused on testing his Yamaha M1s electronics while Rossi worked on a new engine spec designed to have a longer life span. A longer lasting engine would help once new rules limiting the number of engines for each team comes into effect in the second half of the season.

It was hard to test after yesterday but it was a good day and we found out some important things, says Rossi. We worked on electronics to try to find a better power delivery and we also checked a different version of the engine for the second half of the season. Finally we also tried a new tire with Bridgestone.

Pramac Ducati s Mika Kallio set the fourth fastest time, beating out factory Ducati Marlboro rider Casey Stoner. The Pramac team received updates from Ducati to the Desmosedicis traction control, as well as a new carbon fiber swingarm and tail-piece.

It has been a really positive session also because we have solved the problems encountered yesterday and the technical updates, most of all the new carbon fiber swingarm, gives me more confidence with the rear part of the bike even if there are still some aspects that we have to improve, says Kallio.

It wasnt the day I had hoped for, seeing the progress we had made over the weekend, says Hayden. In Saturday mornings practice, when it was a little cooler and the conditions were similar to those of today, I lapped in 1m43.6 while here today I havent gone under 1m44 and right from the start I didnt have the same feeling as I had over the weekend. I dont know why, also because we worked so hard, but I hope that the data collected is of use to the engineers so we can prepare well for Assen.

The Catalunya test was the first of only two testing days in the 2009 season. The next test is set for Aug. 17 at Brno, Czech Republic. The MotoGP season continues June 27 at the Assen TT in the Netherlands.