Honda dominant team in Qatar MotoGP test

Last day of Qatar MotoGP test session still belongs to Honda. Involved exciting competition with Dani Pedrosa, fastest racer status successfully taken Casey Stoner.

In the circuit Loasail, Honda once again appeared dominant after placing two drivers in the top position. With a time of one minute 55.681 seconds Stoner managed to establish himself as a racer with the best time.

Drivers who last season beat riding the Ducati team-mate Dani Pedrosa in the order of two. The Spaniard was just 0.064 seconds adrift behind Stoner.

The success of Honda riders placing in the top position on the last day test session Qatar made ​​the Japanese manufacturer’s clean sweep of all top positions in a total of eight-day winter test session. It’s a good start for Honda to get back into the competition to win in the 2011 season, which will start on March 20 this weekend.

Sitting in third position is after the Yamaha rider Ben Spies clocked one minute 56.294 seconds. Spies ‘destroy’ domination of Honda who are still putting the drivers in the top-riders.

Occupying the top four are the Gresini Honda rider Marco Simoncelli. While Andrea Dovizioso who was also riding a Honda perched on the top five positions.

The world championship on a Yamaha, Jorge Lorenzo had to settle for seventh position in this final session. He lost faster than Randy de Puniet is entitled to rank sixth.

Completing the top 10 for this test session is Colin Edwards on the stairs to the eighth, Nicky Hayden in ninth position and Hiroshi Aoyama in the order of 10. While Valentino Rossi only ranked 13 in the session.

Stoner And Pedrosa Complete Repsol Honda 1-2 in Qualifying

Repsol Honda Team

The first qualifying session of the 2011 Championship took place in Qatar this evening with Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa occupying the top two positions on the grid.

The Repsol Honda riders spent much of the early part of the session exchanging fastest laps and were the only two riders to break into the low 1’54s. Stoner’s pole time of 1’54.137 was almost a second quicker than his own Pole Position set here in 2010. Pedrosa took second place with a time of 1’54.342 and Jorge Lorenzo completed the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s race. Andrea Dovizioso qualified in 7th position after finding some traffic on track during his flying laps. However, he is confident he can fight for a podium in tomorrow night’s race.

CASEY STONER – 1st - 1’54.137

“We can’t ask for a much better weekend, everything has gone well and the team have made all the right steps and gradually improved the bike as the weekend progressed. Tonight I was able to achieve good, consistent lap times again on the hard tyre and this is important for the race tomorrow. As ever, we will keep our feet on the ground as we’ve had good starts to seasons in the past and then they haven’t played out as expected, we just need to keep working and ensure that we continue to progress. We’ve done all our homework and the best job possible, now I just want to get the season started”.

DANI PEDROSA – 2nd - 1’54.342
“The weekend has been very good for us so far, I’ve been running at the top in every session and I’m very happy to be on the front row in Losail for the first time; this is a big improvement for me. Nevertheless, we have to focus on the race, Casey is running very fast, also Lorenzo is improving very quickly, so we have to focus making no mistakes tomorrow. I don’t know yet if the race will be a fight between Casey and myself. We’ve never run at 10:00 pm, so I hope the bike works well after 125 cc and Moto2 races. I want to prepare as best as possible for tomorrow and be ready to be consistent for 22 laps. The race will be fast, I guess, so we will need to maintain a high pace. I hope I will be able to do it and fight for the victory”.

ANDREA DOVIZIOSO – 7th - 1’55.229
“I’m disappointed with the third row, I need to improve the use of the soft tyre for a better qualifying. The positive point is that we have a good pace to fight for a podium spot, this is our target tomorrow. We will work during the warm up to improve the set up to get more stability at the beginning of the braking and I hope to gain more confidence and find a good stability in the front. For the race it will be very important to have a good start and arrive at turn 1 close to the first riders. It is impossible to catch Casey, I will try to maintain contact with Dani, Lorenzo and Spies. It’s important to start the season with a good result and I will give everything in the race”.

Ducati homecoming for #Rossi #Motogp

His day started with a visit to the legendary Ducati
factory in Borgo Panigale, where he toured the
offices, the workshops and the museum, surrounded
by those that create and build the dreams of
motorcyclists around the world. Valentino Rossi of
course received a heroes welcome, even if his time
with the company has only just started.
“This was my first real visit to Ducati – the nine time
world champion said later – it was a beautiful and
emotional experience! After many years on
Japanese bikes, where the atmosphere is very
different, this felt like a homecoming. It was a really
warm welcome!”
What has Ducati represented for you over the
years?
“First off, Ducati was a great adversary and
competitor in these past years. It was a strange
feeling when I walked into the Ducati garages at
Valencia. Filippo Preziosi was the one who finally
convinced me to come here.”
How is your outlook at the moment?
“We have a lot to do. I’m working really hard to be in
shape, and to ride the Desmosedici I have to change
my style slightly, but there is little time left.”
Aside from you testing being interrupted by
the flu, what did you like about the
Desmosedidi, and what worries you about it?
“Missing the second day of testing was a problem,
yes. A positive point about the Desmosedici is its
considerable power, but the bike needs to be
understood. My team has come over to Ducati with
me, and they are trying to understand the bike as
well.”
If you could go back in time, would you sign for
Ducati again?
“I had already been thinking about it for several
years; this was the right time to do it, and maybe my
last chance to do it, so yes, I would do it again. For
sure this is a difficult and important moment in my
career.”
What does Italian unity mean to you (this is the
150th anniversary of the unification of Italy,
ed.)?
“It’s very important to me – Vale answered with a
clever smile – actually, I signed with Ducati
specifically because of the 150 year anniversary of
unification. “
Have the expectations of the fans and the
general public changed recently?
“Yes, I feel more pressure and more responsibility. I
have always raced to win, but this year there is more
weight on my shoulders, because my fans have now
been combined with the Ducati fans.”
Do you regret not making a switch to
Superbike, considering all the success that
Biaggi has had?
“I saw the races at Phillip Island, and as always I
enjoyed watching them a lot. I was really rooting for
Carlos Checa, and for Ducati, who clearly
demonstrated that they could still be strong even
without an official factory team. It’s a great series,
and I’m happy to know I can race there when I get a
little older.”
You are very superstitious, but something most
have gone wrong with your rituals last year.
What happened?
“I am superstitious, but I have been racing for a lot
of years now, and I have come to understand that
the superstitions don’t help with anything. I only do
the rituals now as a way to get focused and
concentrate, but it’s clear that they don’t work.”