Pedrosa reminds rivals of title credentials
Added on Tuesday, May 20th, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor
Pedrosa reminds rivals of title credentials
Dani Pedrosa topped the post-race testing session at Le Mans on Monday to show that he can still challenge Yamaha duo Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo.
The Honda rider, who posted the top times in both free practice and qualifying at the weekend, could only manage a fourth-place finish in Sunday’s French Grand Prix as Yamaha earned a podium shut-out.
But Pedrosa reminded the pair of his title credentials, despite Honda’s continuing delays over their new pneumatic valve engine, by completing the circuit more than half a second quicker than his Italian rival Rossi.
After the session, Pedrosa told motogp.com: “I think we made some positive steps today. We focused on the front end, looking to improve feeling, so I tested several different front tyres and tried several different set-up solutions. I also tried some different electronics settings.”
“I’m quite satisfied; we´ve learned a few things that should be useful at the next few races.
“It was difficult sometimes because the weather was quite cold, but finally it worked out okay. At the end of the day I used a qualifying tyre because we had to test something for qualifying.
“Now I’m looking forward to Mugello, a great track with an incredible atmosphere, where I hope we can have a better race.”
Casey Stoner also clawed back some respectability after a disastrous performance on Sunday by posting the third quickest time of the day.
Le Mans Testing Results:
1. Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda; 1:33.106
2. Valentino Rossi, Fiat Yamaha Team; 1:33.661
3. Casey Stoner, Ducati Marlboro; 1:33.994
4. Chris Vermeulen, Rizla Suzuki; 1:34.108
5. John Hopkins, Kawasaki Racing; 1:34.484
6. Loris Capirossi, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP; 1:34.730
7. Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda; 1:34.752
8. Shinya Nakano, Honda Gresini; 1:34.911
9. Alex De Angelis, Honda Gresini; 1:34.926
10. Anthony West, Kawasaki Racing; 1:35.082
11. Marco Melandri, Ducati Marlboro; 1:36.064
12. Erwan Nigon, HRC Test Team; 1:37.389
13. Olivier Jacque, Kawasaki Racing; 1:37.424
