Extra pressure on Nakano in Brno
Added on Wednesday, August 13th, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor
Extra pressure on Nakano in Brno
Shinya Nakano admits that he feels an added sense of responsibility after being given the opportunity to ride a factory Honda this weekend at Brno.
The San Carlo Gresini Honda rider, who has been the most consistent rider in the MotoGP series this season, has been rewarded for his form with the opportunity to ride a factory standard Honda RC212V as part of the manufacturer’s development strategy for 2009. Honda hope to use the current factory bike as the basis for the model offered to satellite customers next season, with the factory team looking at switiching to a pneumatic-valve alternative.
That leaves the satellite rider straddling the same bike as that used by championship contender Dani Pedrosa but whilst Nakano is relishing the opportunity to ride a faster bike, he concedes that there is an added pressure to get the best possible results for HRC bosses.
Nakano said: “My crew and myself have been given a great challenge for this weekend, taking a completely new bike to the track – an RC212V similar to the one ridden by Dani Pedrosa.
“At the start of the season you have all the time you need to set a bike up and adapt it to your riding style whereas now we’ll have to do it against the clock. From the first free practice we’ll have to work flat out and hope that the weather is on our side because we will need all four sessions to fully understand the bike.
” In any case, the chance to ride it at Brno, a technical circuit that is used a lot for testing and is one I really like, makes me optimistic. On paper the new bike is more powerful than the one we’ve been using so far, which is an important factor at this track.”
Team manager Fausto Gresini added: “HRC have entrusted our team and Shinya Nakano with development of the 2009 satellite version Honda RC212V – a decision that gives us a lot of satisfaction and consolidates our status as a leading team in the eyes of Honda, as we have been for several years.
“We’re really happy to have this opportunity and we will give our best to make the most of it. “
