Pedrosa tops Monday testing
The main focus of the post-Portuguese Grand Prix session was tire testing, was for both Repsol Honda riders trying a variety of different compounds. Joint World Championship leader Pedrosa used qualifying tires to clock the fastest lap of the day while Hayden preferred to concentrate on riding in race trim with race tires, recording the fastest lap of the day on race tires and improving on his best lap during yesterday’s race. The day also gave the RC212V riders the chance to experiment with different settings options, with a view to the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix, and evaluate new chassis parts which offered promising performance.
The Chinese GP, round four of the 18-race 2008 MotoGP series, takes place at Shanghai on May 2/3/4.
Dani Pedrosa, fastest lap: 1m 36.455s ( 68 laps)
“It’s been another positive day of testing. We focused mostly on testing tires with Michelin, both race tires and qualifying tires, because I needed to improve my performance on qualifiers. The day’s work has helped us prepare for the Chinese GP and further improve our base setup. We also did some work on the chassis and suspension to improve front-end feeling during hard braking, because this aspect of performance is particularly important at Shanghai, and we also worked on the electronics."
Lap times
1. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) 1’36.455
2. Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) 1’36.707
3. Andrea Dovizioso (Jir Scot team) 1’36.791
4. Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda) 1’36.928
5. Colin Edwards (Yamaha Tech 3) 1’37.145
6. Randy De Puniet (Lcr Honda) 1’37.146
7. Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro) 1’37.330
8. Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki) 1’37.617
9. Shinya Nakano (San Carlo Honda) 1’37.725
10. James Toseland (Yamaha Tech 3) 1’37.767
11. Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) 1’37.781
12. Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda) 1’37.782
13. John Hopkins (Kawasaki) 1’38.023
14. Toni Elias (Alice team) 1’38.695
15. Anthony West (Kawasaki) 1’39.695
16. Sylvain Giuntoli (Alice Team) 1’39.223
17. Marco Meandri (Marlboro Ducati) 1’39.725