Crutchlow and Dovizioso complete successful Mugello test Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team riders Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso completed a positive test session at the Mugello circuit in Italy today. Hot and humid conditions enabled Crutchlow and Dovizioso to focus on a range of set-up options with their YZR-M1 machinery and both were able to post competitive times inside the top six. Crutchlow concentrated on improving his feeling with a full fuel tank to help him be faster in the early stages of races in the second half of the 2012 Mo toGP World Championship. The British rider also experimented with different geometry settings and he was satisfied with progress made having set the fifth quickest time. The 26-year-old’s best lap of 1.47.750 was only 0.315s behind Jorge Lorenzo’s best pace and Crutchlow managed to improve on his best lap set in yesterday’s Mugello race by an impressive 0.7s. Dovizioso spent his time on track experimenting with different geometry settings and also working on adapting his riding style to improve his mid-corner speed on the YZR-M1 machine. The Italian, who claimed a fantastic fourth podium finish in the last five races in yesterday’s 23-lap Gran Premio d’Italia TIM encounter, set a best time of 1.47.775 to finish in sixth position. His best time was 0.5s faster than his quickest pace in yesterday’s race and he was happy with improvements to the front-end feeling of his YZR-M1. Cal Crutchlow 5th 1.47.750 50 laps: “I am feeling pretty tired now because it has been a hectic period in the Championship and today it was very hot. But it was a good test and it gave me the chance to work on the bike for the beginning of the race. Each time I went out I had a full fuel tank and we definitely made some progress. I can still improve but I will be going to Laguna Seca confident that I will be faster in the first part of the race. This season I have been really strong as the race has gone on, so we need to work on improving my speed right from the off. We worked on a few different settings and it was interesting to understand how they affected the bike and that will give us some options in the second part of the season.” Andrea Dovizioso 6th 1.47.775 38 laps: “Today we just concentrated on trying modifications to the set-up that we don’t normally have time to experiment with on a race weekend. We changed the geometry of the bike to help me understand some different options for the future and we definitely improved the bike from yesterday’s race. We made the bike better on the front-end to help enter the corner better and the good thing is the changes we made should help at the next race in Laguna Seca. I also worked a little on my riding style with the YZR-M1 and now I am even more confident for Laguna Seca where I’m sure I can be battling for another podium.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: MotoGP Official Test Mugello – Testing Date : 16/07/2012 Weather : Dry Temperature : Air: 29ºC, Ground: 51ºC Humidity : 32% Positive steps in Mugello Test for Repsol Honda Team After three demanding weeks, with consecutive races in the Netherlands, Germany and Italy, the Repsol Honda Team have concluded with a positive day of testing at the Mugello circuit. The Honda factory team were back on track this morning to test a new engine and a new prototype that HRC has developed, aiming improve performance of the RC213V. Dani Pedrosa did 51 laps with a best time of 1’47.549, two tenths under the circuit record he set in Sunday’s race (1’47.705) and Casey Stoner completed 47 laps with a fastest time of 1’47.551, just two thousandths off his team mate. Both riders reported some positive feedback and the HRC engineers now have valuable data from the factory riders to take back to Japan for evaluation. The Repsol Honda Team can now enjoy a small break before taking to the track in Laguna Seca for the US Grand Prix on the 29th July. DANI PEDROSA 2nd 1’47.549 “We tested many things today and I’m happy because we found some positives with the new engine and also with the new chassis that can help us in the second part of the season. I was really hoping for some improvements after the issues we have had with the extra weight, chattering and the front tyres and in this test we made a step forward. Honda is working very hard and I’m sure they will do their best to be able to supply us the new parts for Laguna and the following races, but we’ll see if it’s possible with the engine allocations; anyway, it would be very good for us. The engine is better into the corner, the engine brake is smoother and the bike is not so sharp when you close the throttle, so this helps you to get into the corner. I m ade my best lap time on my current bike; it’s normal as I’m used to it. With the new bike I made a mistake shifting gears and I had a small crash on my third lap, so I couldn’t do a longer run, but the feeling was also positive”. CASEY STONER 3rd 1’47.551 “We had a new engine and new chassis to test today. With the engine we found some improvements, a little smoother and some more power. As far as chassis goes I didn’t find any real benefits, we tried many different things but couldn’t get a better feeling. There were a few small areas that improved but nothing in terms of performance or for the lap time, just a marginally better feeling under braking. It wasn’t really the test we were looking for, we had hoped to find something to help us get rid of the chatter and give us some more feeling in the middle of the corner but unfortunately we didn’t find this. If we can have the new engine with the current chassis, it’s the best combination, but we’re not sure if we can have it in time for La guna Seca, we’ll have to wait and see”. SHUHEI NAKAMOTO – HRC EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT “Both riders gave positive feedback with the new engine and we will do our best to provide it to them already next week in Laguna Seca. The new chassis has good points and bad points. Dani seems to like it and we will do our best to bring it for him at the next round. Casey doesn’t find what he was looking for in this new chassis; to reduce the chatter. We have some more ideas to solve this and we will continue working to improve our machine but we can be reasonably happy of today’s result”. More, from a press release issued by Ducati: Mugello test day concludes three busy weeks for Ducati Team The post-race MotoGP test that concluded three intense weeks of racing and testing was blessed with a beautiful, sunny day that was warm but breezy. Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden worked together with their respective teams and the Ducati engineers on a number of updates to the chassis, in an effort to balance the weight distribution; to the engine, to improve rideability; and to the electronics. Valentino Rossi suffered a fall at the Correntaio that was due to a small problem with the ECU. Although he suffered no physical harm, the decision was made to finish his test early, before 4:00 p.m. Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 4th, 1:47.746 (49 laps) “We didn’t really have anything major to try today, but it was important in the sense that it’s the last time we’ll test before my two home races. We tried some things with the settings, and Ohlins had a couple of ideas that we tested. We lost a pretty significant amount of time after Valentino had his problem because the guys wanted to check everything on my bike to make sure it was okay. At the end of the day I put in a soft tyre to see how fast I could go, but then I had a problem with the fuel pump. We ran out of time, but still, my best lap was about the same as my qualifying time, which is okay. At this level, as we get closer to the front, it gets harder to make big improvements, but we leave here encouraged.” Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 10th, 1:48.565, (19 laps) “They had some things to try today, but it was mainly with an eye toward the future, as the substantial changes they’re working on at Ducati for the engine’s power delivery weren’t ready yet. So this was an intermediate step, an interim engine management system through a new ECU. We started testing it this morning, and the first feelings were good, as I immediately did a good time with a used tyre. However, when I started again after the break, the bike stalled at the Correntaio and I fell. Fortunately, I was leaned over quite far at that point so I just tipped over, and nothing bad happened. In the interest of safety, we decided to stop because the engineers have to analyze the data to understand what happened. We also had some different parts for the chassis, but we weren’t able to work with them much since we finished early. In the end, it wasn’t a particularly productive day, although the first impression with this change was pretty good.” Filippo Preziosi, Technical Director “This morning, with Vale, we started to try some changes to the chassis, work aimed at concentrating the mass and balancing the weight. Unfortunately, in the afternoon we had a problem with a hardware component, which we’ll have to check now. Given that safety is the most important thing, we stopped his test. Therefore, we only have his first impression, but based on that, we’ll continue with our schedule in order to bring some additional updates to the Misano test. With Nicky we didn’t have the same problem, and we were able continue the work. In the next few days, our test team will go forward with the work started by the factory riders.” More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: EXTRA ON-TRACK DAY FOR BRADL AND HIS CREW AT MUGELLO CIRCUIT Mugello, 16th July: the third official in-season MotoGP test got underway at Mugello today with Stefan Bradl taking to the track aboard his RC213V. After yesterday’s brilliant performance Bradl circulated the Tuscan circuit 50 times posting the 7th fastest time of the day (1’48.060) before flying to USA next week for the American GP at the “roller-coaster” Laguna Seca track. LCR Honda racer together with his crew evaluates new brake pads and a new master cylinder for enhanced braking performance, as well as testing new Öhlins front forks and rear suspension. In addition, the team tried out new geometry settings on the bike. Stefan: “Basically we worked to improve our weak point of the last races in the acceleration area. Adjusting the suspensions and the geometry settings I could feel the bike more stable. In the past races the bike was bumping too much and sometimes it was too nervous but now I feel more comfortable especially in the corner exit. We can also improved lap time easily on used tyres and front end feeling is getting better. I suffered a small crash but I am okay and already looking forward to the American race”. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Lorenzo Completes Successful Mugello Test Following his incredible victory yesterday in the Grand Prix of Italy, Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge Lorenzo today completed a successful day of testing on the Mugello circuit. The Championship leader worked through a number of settings including a different engine specification tested to decide the path of development and an updated electronics package. Team mate Ben Spies did not test today as he continues to recover from the illness which hampered his race yesterday. The team now takes a week’s rest before moving to the USA for the first of the two American rounds, Laguna Seca. Jorge Lorenzo – 1st – 1:47.435 “Today we did 40 laps. We worked on improving the settings of the bike compared to the race and also tried some different engine specification to help us choose the direction to work in for the future. The track was very bad this morning after all the fans were on it yesterday afternoon but it became a lot better.”