On opening day of MotoGP test at PIMotoGP winter testing continued at the Phillip Island circuit Australia today, the opening day of a three-day session.
In fine, sunny weather, with ambient temperatures just above 20 degrees and track temperature at 40 degrees,
the riders and teams began chasing a good base set-up for their Honda RC212V machines, working from data gathered at Sepang last week.
The surprise package of the day was Gresini Honda rider Alex De Angelis who set third fastest time even though this is the first time the MotoGP debutant has ridden his RC212V at Phillip Island. De Angelis felt strong all day and made good progress, working on geometry settings.
"I have recovered perfectly, my right arm doesn't hurt anymore and this has helped me a lot. I immediately found a good feeling with the bike on this track, which is one of my favourites, and the track conditions today were almost perfect!”, he said. “ I could lap with a good pace from the first laps. We have worked on geometry and my feeling has improved a lot during the day. Every test is like a new adventure for me, I have a good relationship with my team and I like the RC212V a lot. Today we tested only with race tyres and I'm very satisfied."
His team-mate Shinya Nakano was also happy, using new front suspension settings to dial out the chatter that had hampered him at Sepang.
"We worked hard to solve the problems we had at Sepang, in particular the chatter. We tested a modified fork and we succeeded to minimize the problem. I feel very well - fit and motivated - and I did my best time of the day at the end of the afternoon when track conditions were not ideal, which means that I'm feeling very good”, he commented.
Honda Motor Sport
