Pedrosa on top in Valencia post-season testing Thursday, 15 November 2012 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium. Rear: Medium, Hard (Asymmetric) Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Soft Weather: Day 1: Wet. Ambient 13-14°C; Track 10-12°C (Bridgestone measurement) Day 2: Wet. Ambient 14-18°C; Track 15-16°C (Bridgestone measurement) Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa continued his race-winning form in the Valencia Grand Prix to clock the overall quickest time in the post-season test at Circuit Ricardo Tormo. Pedrosa’s benchmark time of 1’32.322 was impressive given the less than ideal condition of the circuit on Wednesday with damp patches off the racing line and a track temperature of just 16°C. All riders who recorded laps on slicks bettered their times set in the wet on Tuesday. Apart from a brief three lap window at the beginning of the day, the whole of the first day of testing took place in wet conditions. A dry line began to show towards the end of the second day testing, resulting in a flurry of activity in which thirteen riders took to the circuit. The only specification of slick tyres used during the test were the softer option front and rear slicks, while two CRT riders, Randy de Puniet and Karel Abraham evaluated the experimental soft rear slick. For maximum safety in the wintery conditions the only wet tyre allocated for the test was the soft compound option. Masao Azuma Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department “The weather for the Valencia test was for the main part even harsher than experienced over the race weekend and this limited the amount of time riders spent out on track. We had brought two experimental tyres for the riders to assess but unfortunately the damp and very cool track surface limited their use. None of the works riders were able to assess our new hard rubber compound, but two CRT riders tried the new soft specification rear tyre and commented that it provided a good improvement in rear grip which is encouraging. “Overall, it was very positive to see the quick pace shown by the riders in the difficult conditions as it shows the confidence bestowed by our 2012 specification tyres. Bridgestone also had technical staff present at the Aragon circuit on Wednesday where Yamaha Factory Racing was testing but there was limited running there also due to rain. Our focus now shifts to our winter development program and we plan to have a new batch of test tyres on hand for riders to test at the first pre-season test for 2013 at the Sepang in February next year.” Valencia post-season test combined results (Tuesday, Wednesday 10:00 17:00 GMT+1) (w) denotes time set on wet tyre Pos, Rider, Team, Fastest Lap, Gap, Total Laps 1, Dani PEDROSA, Repsol Honda, 1’32.322, 20 2, Cal CRUTCHLOW, Monster Yamaha Tech 3, 1’32.671, 0.349, 28 3, Stefan BRADL, LCR Honda, 1’32.813, 0.491, 30 4, Nicky HAYDEN, Ducati Team, 1’32.956, 0.634, 63 5, Alvaro BAUTISTA, Go & Fun Honda Gresini, 1’33.109, 0.787, 31 6, Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Ducati Team, 1’33.238, 0.916, 72 7, Marc MARQUEZ, Repsol Honda, 1’33.403, 1.081, 28 8, Michele PIRRO, Pramac Racing, 1’33.625, 1.303, 86 9, Andrea IANNONE, Pramac Racing, 1’33.833, 1.511, 96 10, Randy DE PUNIET, Power Electronics Aspar, 1’34.081, 1.759, 51 11, Bradley SMITH, Monster Yamaha Tech 3, 1’34.538, 2.216, 43 12, Karel ABRAHAM, Cardion AB Motoracing, 1’35.309, 2.987, 52 13, Danilo PETRUCCI, CAME Ioda Racing Project, 1’35.403, 3.081, 26 14, Hector BARBERA, Avintia Blusens, 1’39.248, 6.926, 68 15, Aleix ESPARGARO, Power Electronics Aspar, 1’43.517 (w), 11.195, 40 16, Valentino ROSSI, Yamaha Factory Racing, 1’43.736 (w), 11.214, 28 17, Claudio CORTI, NGM Mobile Forward Racing, 1’45.814 (w), 13.292, 29 18, Colin EDWARDS, NGM Mobile Forward Racing, 1’46.426 (w), 13.900, 19 More, from a press release issued by Avintia Blusens MotoGP Team: New Avintia Blusens MotoGP rider Héctor Barberá makes his debut in the rain in Valencia 2013 teammate Hiroshi Aoyama continues readapting to top class CRT Cheste, 14 of November 2012. Rider Héctor Barberá who has recently signed up in Avintia Blusens MotoGP enables the Spanish team to become one of the most solid ones in the CRT for the 2013 season. Barberá who finished second in the 2004 world championship in 125c.c and also in 2009 in 250c.c. will start his fourth season in MotoGP riding Avintia Blusens CRT’s and surprisingly enough his teammate Hiroshi Aoyama was his ex-rival in the 2009 250c.c. world championship won by the Japanese rider. A nice coincidence but also a sign that the team has a great potential this year as it is formed by the top 2. Today was nearly the same as yesterday in terms of climatological conditions. Many riders decided to keep off the track as the asphalt was in very bad conditions though it eventually proved possible to ride in the dry as the day was coming to an end. Hiroshi Aoyama somehow achy also chose this option preferring to rest in order to recover properly and be in great shape for the next training practice scheduled in late November. Barberá went the opposite way as he completed quite a few laps taking frequent breaks in order to set everything up to his liking trying variations on the electronics. At the end of the day he is setting the tone for the forthcoming work on the Avintia Blusens CRT. These working days did not prove to be as fruitful as expected due to the meteorological conditions but they have enabled the Avintia Blusens MotoGP team to set all the different components in motion to ensure a great season to come. Héctor Barberá: “Clearly he weather was not on our side but I am happy with the work we have done though. These days we have ridden numerous laps in very small batches which enabled me to set everything up to my liking and discover a little more how the motorbike works. We have managed to set the basics for the season to come although we have to further investigate and compile information. The sensations were of course quite different from what I am used to but it’s positive because the bike is fun to ride the engine is surprisingly powerful and I think it’s got potential. Yesterday we worked with the engine brake and other aspects to try to understand the bike a little bit better. There are still a lot of things to be tried out and improved. Actually this is not the definitive bike so that’s why I think we are going to do a good job.” Hiroshi Aoyama: “During the G.P we didn’t want to bring huge changes or make too many trials before the race. Yesterday we did the exact opposite and make drastic changes in order to trigger the “behaviour” we were looking for. I crashed twice in the course of the day but fortunately I was able to carry on working. As the day came to an end we obtained valuable information regarding the adjustments to be made in the wet and we made interesting conclusions. Today I was sort of achy from yesterday and I preferred to rest.” Raúl Romero (MotoGP Team Manager): “I am glad to have two great riders such as Héctor and Hiroshi in the team – a top 2 I am convinced we’ll achieve great things with. Our first MotoGP season has now finished and we have managed to carry out our project. However we were not able to evolve as far as expected. As a matter of fact and though it might sound like a lie it rained in most G.P’s and every time we had scheduled training practices. It may sound like a joke but the rain has been a crucial factor in our evolution. I only hope it won’t rain in Jerez – where the next training practices will take place so we can finish off the year with our two new recruits making tests in the dry and go further with the bike’s development so we are completely ready for the 2013 season.”