Casey Stoner once again ended on top of the timesheet on the final day of testing in this second pre-season test at Sepang.
While he didn’t hit the sub two minute mark that he posted in February (1.
59.
607), the Repsol Honda team can be more than satisfied regarding the performance of the RC213V as they’ve led every day of testing so far – expect the first day last month when the Australian was struggling with back problems and yesterday when they weren’t on track – Stoner has always been on top and today Dani Pedrosa was right behind him and this not withstanding the chattering issues that continues to bother both riders.
Casey Stoner – 1st “Again we’ve been unable to profit from the full three days of the test here in Sepang, the first day we only managed about 16 laps before the rain came and then yesterday we weren’t able to get out at all.
So today it’s been good to have some nice weather, get out on track and find some different solutions on the bike.
We’ve been trying a few different things with electronics to have the engine character the same way we like it.
We’ve also tried shortening the wheelbase to reduce chatter and we’ve been successful in decreasing it slightly, but at the moment we’re unable to eliminate it completely, so we still have quite a lot of work to do.
The chassis balance feels good as does the traction on the bike, it’s turning well but we really need to get rid of the chatter.
Overall we are happy with the bike”.
Dani Pedrosa – 2nd “In general we’ve been working a lot on the chassis at this test, to find the best compromise.
We tried different set ups and we are leaving quite happy with the results.
This is a very specific track, so it’s important to have clear ideas for the future.
We also made some progress with the braking and the chassis feels a little better because we have a less chatter compared to the first test.
We need to keep improving it on entry and mid corner, but I think that we can expect improvements when we work more with the engine and the electronics, which we will do at the Jerez test.
Today I also used a different screen to be more comfortable on the straight which felt better”.
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