01r.jpgHonda RC212V riders made hay in the sunshine of Jerez, Southern Spain, on day two of the final MotoGP test session of 2006. Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda, was the fastest of the Honda men testing and one of only two riders to crack the 1m 42s barrier for the 4.423km circuit.

Gresini Honda rider Marco Melandri and Shinya Nakano on the Konica Minolta Honda are both testing the new 800cc V-four Honda for the first time and both set very respectable lap time at 1m 42.4s and 1m 44.5s respectively.

Pedrosa a three time world champion in the smaller grand prix categories, two 250cc titles and one at 125cc level, was in sparkling form as he ran through an intensive test programme that saw him evaluate engine, chassis, suspension and tyre performance. The Spanish youngster set a lap time faster than his best at the 2006 grand prix held at the circuit in April of this year a time just two tenths of a second outside the MotoGP lap record.

Gresini Honda rider Melandri put in his first full day of testing on the RC212V. The 24-year old Italian works hard in testing and today was no exception he covered 52 hard laps setting the 800cc Honda to his riding position and style before working on the geometry and suspension in a bid to understand the characteristics of his new mount and to try and get the machine to turn as he wished it to. He ended the day reasonably satisfied with some aspects but he and the team have a lot of work to do to further improve the RCV before the enforced December long break in winter testing.

For Konica Minolta team rider Shinya Nakano everything is new. He is riding Honda for the Italian team for the first time and with an all-new machine at that. If that were not enough Nakano also has the task of riding a MotoGP machine equipped with Michelin tyres after several years campaigning with Bridgestone rubber.

The Japanese rider worked methodically during what was in fact his first day on the machine as he sat out the wet session yesterday, the opening day of the three day test. Working on the riding position before moving onto suspension work Nakano established a reasonable base line setting to work from as he and the team mechanics endeavoured to improve their understanding of the RC212V. Nakano ended the day in positive mood having set times comparable with riders with more 800cc experience.

Honda rider lap times and quotes:

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 1m 40.799s - 67 laps - “We had a good day’s testing and I’m pleased with how things went today. We tried many chassis and suspension adjustments on the bike, finding the combinations that worked best with the Michelin tyres we tested. My lap-times were quite good and I went faster than in the race at the beginning of the season, but you can’t read too much into this because November is good time for going fast at Jerez. We’re hoping it stays dry for tomorrow so we can continue this progress.”

Marco Melandri, Gresini Honda: 1m 42.4s - 52 laps - “It has been a better day it’s really the first day with the new bike after the rain of yesterday. We started working on the geometry of the machine to try and understand the possibilities we have for chassis settings. I’m not so happy yet I have not found a good connection between throttle, engine and rear wheel. Funny because even with less power from the 800cc I still have wheel spin. We tried some things on suspension and of course tested with Bridgestone tyres. In the end I had a good feeling getting the bike to turn better, it was good in the fast corners but we have to work on the bike to get it to turn better in the slow to mid-range speed corners. Tomorrow we will work on improving the suspension set up.”

Shinya Nakano, Konica Minolta Honda: 1m 42.463s - 53 laps - “Not so bad for my first real day of testing on the RC212V. First I had to find a comfortable riding position before we started to work on the bike. Once I had found that we worked on suspension settings and changed the front forks before working on the rear end. After we found the best machine balance for me I started working on front tyre testing and we found a very positive direction to work in. The engine is powerful but easy to control a much different feeling to any other bike I have raced. I’m happy because I could ride normally without worrying and that’s good. Tomorrow we will work on the gearbox to help me understand more about the potential of this bike.”

Unofficial lap times:

1. Valentino Rossi, Yamaha: 1m 40.688s
2. Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 1m 44.030s
3. Colin Edwards, Yamaha: 1m 41.186s.
4. John Hopkins, Suzuka: 1m 41.205s.
6. Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki: 1m 41.619s.
7. Loris Capirossi, Ducati: 1m 42.244s.
8. Marco Melandri, Gresini Honda: 1m 42.469s.
9. Shinya Nakano, Konica Minolta Honda: 1m 42.528s.
10. Alex Barros, Ducati: 1m 43.182s.
11. Tady Okada, Repsol Honda: 1m 43.316s.

Press release courtesy of Honda.