Honda to Stick with Spring Valve for Shanghai
Added on Friday, April 25th, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor
Honda to Stick with Spring Valve for Shanghai
Honda riders Dani Predrosa and Nicky Hayden will use last season’s spring-valve engine in Shanghai amid concerns over the performance of the pneumatic valve replacement.
Honda technicians have decided that the engine is not yet of Grand Prix standard and so Hayden and title challenger Pedrosa will use last season’s engine at the Chinese Grand Prix.
The announcement will be unwelcome news for fans of the Repsol Honda pair, putting the duo at a notable disadvantage on a circuit described as “unusual” by Pedrosa.
Shanghai features the longest straight of any MotoGP circuit, as 1.202km, which should suit the Yamaha riders, all using pneumatic valve engines, as well as the high-powered Ducati’s as ridden by Casey Stoner.
“One of the most important parts of the track is the back straight, which is very long, so you need good engine performance here,” said Pedrosa, fourth at Shanghai in 2007.
“Braking is also very important at Shanghai. It’s an unusual track and you need to ride relaxed and easy. The atmosphere is almost non-existent because the crowd isn’t very big but the grandstands are huge.”
“What I like the most about Shanghai is the width of the track. The surface is of good quality but a bit rough, probably due to the Formula One cars.
“The circuit layout isn’t that great, it features some very strange corners and the balance between the straights, the tight corners and the faster corners isn’t very good.”
Pedrosa also declared himself happy with the team’s start to the season and hoped this he could continue his early season form.
“We have had quite a good start to the season – on the podium at each of the first three races and one victory – and we are working hard to stay very competitive,” added the Spaniard.
“The tests we did at Estoril were useful, we worked on a few things that should help us in China, like improving front-end feeling and stability on the brakes.
