Written by:
SPEED Staff
SPEEDtv.com
01/21/2008
Sepang, Malaysia
DE PUNIET FASTEST ON FIRST DAY OF 2008 MOTOGP TESTS, PEDROSA SIDELINED BY CRASH
The first MotoGP test of 2008 got underway at the 5.542 km Sepang circuit in Malaysia today, opening day of the three-day test. In 30 degree plus conditions it was LCR Honda rider Randy De Puniet who set the pace. The Frenchman was in scintillating form all day and steadily lowered his lap time to end the first day with a time of 2m 01.377s, a massive 1.2s faster than his best ever previous lap time at the track.
Second fastest was Repsol Honda factory team rider Dani Pedrosa. The diminutive Spaniard was 0.487s down on De Puniet but his day ended badly when he lost the front end entering turn 11. Pedrosa crashed at high speed sustaining a small fracture in the second metacarpal in the fall. The RC212V caught fire and was badly damaged in the crash. Tonight Pedrosa will fly home to Spain tonight where he will see a specialist physician in Barcelona first thing tomorrow morning.
Nicky Hayden, MotoGP World Champion in 2006, got off to a slow start today but quickly settled into his usual fast consistent rhythm putting in a marathon 85 lap stint while working on geometry and suspension settings on the latest RC212V Honda prototype. The Kentuckian, riding the bike for the first time since a shoulder operation in early December, ended the day eighth fastest but content with his days work.
Gresini Honda riders Alex De Angelis and Shinya Nakano spent the first part of the day adapting the base set up of their RC212V's to suit the 2008 chassis. Once the riders had gained confidence in the set up the team moved on to testing rear suspension link set up in a bid to improve grip and stability while testing a range of Bridgestone tires.
De Angelis on his first visit to Sepang on the Honda RCV set impressive lap times managing to set his fastest lap of the day on a tire that had run 16 laps. Teammate Nakano quickly found a base set up for the new for 2008 chassis and set to work on the suspension link system and testing tires for Bridgestone.
Andrea Dovizioso, JiR Scot RC212V Honda, was reasonably happy with the performance of the new chassis on the opening day. However, the young Italian is still experiencing problems under heavy braking into corners while the bike is vertical. The rear end of the machine becomes 'light' and Dovizioso is unable to use the rear brake to steady the machine over the final meters before banking into the corner. But Dovizioso was very upbeat about his potential for the second day of testing.
