Valentino Rossi once called the current crop of MotoGP riders the “traction control generation” but he widely misinterpreted Casey Stoner use of electronic aids. The reigning World Champion in tonight’s third and final free practice in Qatar may have ended up third on the charts, but he was hampered by traffic on his final run and just his T1 was almost as fast as Lorenzo’s only Stoner was on hard and used tires.

“Today has been pretty good for us in general, we has some issues in the first two sessions but we’ve fixed them slightly in last one which is definitely positive. We’ve been able to turn down the electronics a lot more and now I have more feeling and connection with the rear tyre which gave me a lot more confidence. This allowed me to do some good lap times with some pretty old tyres. A few people got in our way throughout the session so we were unable to show what we were really capable of, but we know how we feel and we’re confident for qualifying tomorrow,” commented Stoner who strangely enough didn’t throw a hissy fit at Bautista for holding him up and just said that it was strange that a rider with Bautista’s experience could still continue making the same mistakes.

Dani Pedrosa had a very rough night, an unexpected crash in FP2 mined some of his confidence, but fortunately he wasn’t injured, while he had electronics issues in FP3 that left him down in 5th and 0.812s from his team mate.

“The day wasn’t as good for us as we would have liked. I had some problems with the electronics and I couldn’t ride at 100%, especially in the exits of the corners where we have more issues. Let’s hope the mechanics can find a solution and we can have a good qualifying session tomorrow. The crash in the first session was totally unexpected; it was on my first lap of the second exit and I was not pushing at all. But I escaped unhurt and it’s ok.”

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The chatter issues that plagued the Repsol Honda riders during the pre-season tests in Sepang, but not at the IRTA test at Jerez came back with a vengeance during tonight’s first free practice session in Qatar.

Casey Stoner despite his chatter issue was able to finish on top of the timesheets, while Dani Pedrosa not only had chatter but also had tire problems, but managed to finish fifth.

Both riders didn’t want Bridgestone’s new front tire spec denominated “24,” preferring the “21″ that according to Stoner offers better braking and stability, but at Jerez Bridgestone left the matter in the hands of the riders and asking them to vote on which tire they wanted this season with the Repsol Honda riders getting the short stick, because more than 60% of the MotoGP riders chose the more evoluted 24 that has a slightly different construction in the center.

“The track tonight wasn’t so bad, I expected the conditions to be much worse but in general it was ok. We started this evening with huge chatter issues and I was a little afraid we couldn’t fix this but after a few more exits we managed to reduce it to a more comfortable level. This is a positive point for the weekend but with such a short session and then nothing until tomorrow it’s slightly strange. It was an ok start tonight, we finished quickest which is good but we’ll have to wait until tomorrow for some real track time and with the conditions a little better and see where we are,” said Casey Stoner.

While his team mate Dani Pedrosa said, “There are some corners where we are struggling a lot with the chattering, especially in the area where you slide more, but it’s like this and we will need to adapt the best we can. On my first exit I had an issue with the tyres and I had to stop in the garage; I felt a vibration in the wheels, so we decided to change both tyres. I lost some time there and at the end of the practice I went wide twice. Anyway, it’s been good to go out there and get the feeling back at this track after a long time without riding here. Tomorrow, with two practices sessions, we will start working more with the chassis and electronics to improve and prepare for the race.”

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Just a few hours after the news ran wild in the internet that Dani Pedrosa had been allegedly involved in a cheating scam to obtain a boating license, the Spanish rider had the following statement released by his lawyer to do a little damage control:

“Following bad advice I made a mistake. Mistakes can be ignored or learn from them, and I’ve learned from it. I publicly apologize to my fans and all those who trust me. Now I’m looking forward. I’m a motorcycle rider, the world championship starts this weekend, and I want to focus solely and exclusively on Sunday’s race. I have learnt a lesson from this mistake and wish to leave the issue behind right now and focus on a season that I face with a high motivation and enthusiasm.”

The Repsol Honda rider will be on track on Thursday evening for the first free practice of the season at Losail, Qatar.

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You’ve got to be kidding me, this has to be some sort of late April’s fool joke by the Spanish press, even if April Fool’s Day for the Spanish is celebrated on December 28th and called el Día de los Santos Inocentes, because they are reporting that Dani Pedrosa was arrested and then released by the Guardia Civil for allegedly trying to cheat on his boating license test.

Reported by news agency “Europa Press” and “El Pais“, and supposedly confirmed by Paula Sánchez de León, a delegate of the Valencian Government, who stated that 21 people including Pedrosa, were indicted for having trying to cheat on the exam by using sophisticated electronic devices to obtain the right answers and the cost to get the answers was between 2000-2500 euros.

Obviously neither Pedrosa nor someone from his entourage was available for comment.

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Watch out MotoGP world, Casey Stoner left the last pre-season test at Jerez on the top of the timesheets only after his last and final lap, but don’t be fooled by that lone flying lap because the reigning World Champion on mini-run of 11 laps (Stoner doesn’t do race simulations) was lapping constantly in the middle and high 1.39s on worn tires and with some chatter that the Honda’s have suffered from with the weight increase and the new Bridgestone tires.

“Today we were really pleased with the lap times we’re running but I think we can still improve the bike quite a bit before the race here,” said Stoner. “Anyway we feel like we’ve made some progress on a track like this for us. We did a lot of laps and a longer run to get a little more understanding of fuel consumption and things like this and in general we’re satisfied with how the whole test has gone for us. Now we can go racing which is what we really enjoy. Towards the end of the day we had some chattering but we have an idea what caused this and it’s not the same as in Sepang.”

Team mate Dani Pedrosa instead did a full 27 lap race simulation as he has a little more trouble physically on the bigger and heavier 1000cc bike but he didn’t mention any chattering issues on his Honda, but needs to improve on braking and corner entry.

“We’ve been working a lot with the chassis in the morning to prepare the race simulation. But by the time we were ready, we had to stop twice in the box for an issue with the rear brake. Finally, on my third exit, I could make it. I did the full race distance, 27 laps, and I’m quite satisfied with the result, the lap times were pretty good even though it was very windy in the afternoon, it’s also been also good physical training for me. In general, I think we’ve done a good pre-season, we only need to improve a little more on braking and corner entry… It would help us for the first race of the season”.

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Casey Stoner always seems to be the odd man out, while everyone got in some lap time in the rain and on full wet tires - so the Jerez track must have been very wet in the first afternoon hours - but when the Australian decided it was time for him to go out it wasn’t wet enough for him so after just three laps decided to sit out the remaining hours and save Bridgestone some money on tires.

“We realised that the weather conditions weren’t really suitable for what we needed to work on today so we decided to wait for the heavier rain, which never appeared,” said Stoner. “We went out briefly but realised it wasn’t really wet enough to work on anything regarding wet set-up and there was no reason for us to stay out on track and ruin sets of tyres. They were 50/50 conditions and you never set up a bike for these circumstances. I hope the weather improves tomorrow so we can continue our plan.”

Dani Pedrosa has never been known as a wet weather specialist - his best ride in the rain before crashing out while leading by over 7 seconds was at Sachsenring in 2008, but the Repsol Honda man was the first rider to head out in the rain and was also the fastest before calling it day an hour and half before the end of the session and didn’t get any action in on the drying track and ended up 12th overall.

Dani Pedrosa said, “I decided to go out when it started raining properly because it’s always good to get some information about the behaviour of the bike in wet conditions before the beginning of the season, and even more important with a new bike. Obviously, the set up of the bike was pretty standard on chassis and electronics, but I had good feelings riding it, the bike worked well and it gives me confidence. If it’s not raining tomorrow we will go back to the testing programme we had planned for today: basically to try some new ideas for the chassis and the electronics and if we have time I’d like to do a race simulation. Everything has been positive and smooth so far, so let’s hope to close the pre season with a good result.”

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As expected rain and wind hampered today’s second day of MotoGP testing at Jerez de la Frontera. In the first hour of the morning session from 10am to 11am and when it was still dry, Avintia CRT rider Ivan Silva and Ducati’s test rider Franco Battaini were the only ones to record lap times, while everyone else remained in the garages venturing out once in while to check the dark and cloudy skies over the Spanish circuit.

Silva’s best lap remained on top of the timesheets almost until the end of the session when there was a flurry of last minute activity in the final half hour when the track was almost completely dry, which saw Nicky Hayden prevail as the chequered flag was waved. Hayden’s final flying lap was in 1.40.775, followed by Karel Abraham who was 0,906 from the factory Ducati rider, with Ben Spies taking the third spot.

The best rider under the rain wasn’t the usual wet weather specialist, but Dani Pedrosa. The Repsol Honda rider was the first to brave the blustery weather conditions doing long runs and posted a best time of of 1′49.822. The other riders started out their wasted day by middle afternoon on full wet tires, but Pedrosa’s best time remained unchallenged even though Jorge Lorenzo was just 0.266 adrift in second. Yamaha Tech3’s Cal Crutchlow followed the two ‘aliens’ in third, but was more than 1.3s adrift.

According to tomorrow’s local weather forecast, the final day of testing should be cloudy, but dry.

MotoGP Jerez Day 2 results after the jump.

Continue reading: Wind and rain hampers MotoGP Day 2 testing at Jerez

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Casey Stoner set the record straight on the first day of IRTA testing with a flying lap on his final run of the day at the Jerez circuit and strangely enough for the Australian he actually did a good number of laps, 54 to be precise and didn’t suffer any chatter, something that the Honda RC213V had suffered from during both Sepang tests which Stoner believes is caused by the new tires. Like Pedrosa, he thinks its the different circuit and asphalt that has masked the problem and not some solution the team has came up with.

“Today has been quite good, we did race distance with a soft set of tyres this morning and we were getting quicker and quicker as we progressed but I think also the circuit was getting better,” said Stoner. “Then we put the hard tyre on and did a tyre comparison and we had very similar feelings to what we had in Sepang. We tried a few things with the chassis as the bike was proving slow to turn in the corner but in general it is working well especially at the end of the tyre life. On the last exit we did our fastest lap on a new soft rear tyre. It’s been a good first day”.

Despite having run in second for most of the of day and finishing third in the finale, Dani Pedrosa wasn’t that happy, because the small Spaniard had trouble getting back into the testing mode after three weeks without riding his Honda.

“It’s been a pretty tough day, the mechanics had a lot of work to do in the garage and I’ve been stationary a long time, so it was not easy to get into the rhythm quickly,” said Dani Pedrosa. “But I’m happy because we have a clear idea about the changes we need to do on the bike to improve tomorrow, especially on braking and the exits of the corners. We also tested the new front Bridgestone tyre, but just for a few laps, so I will keep testing it tomorrow to know if it’s better. Unfortunately, in the afternoon I had a problem on one bike and I couldn’t use it any more, so I spent quite a long time in the box between runs and thinking about the changes we want to do. We didn’t have too much chattering today, but I think it’s because of the circuit characteristics”.

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After Repsol’s official riders presentation on Saturday at the Al Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid, ahead of the World Championship X-Trial round (Repsol Montesa’s Toni Bou won the round, making it four in a row), you now get a brief highlight video of the presentation event with Casey Stoner involved in a wannabe David Copperfield illusionist number.

After the jump there are interviews with Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez in Spanish, but if you hit the 3.20 mark you can check out what Casey Stoner says - and luckily it’s in English.

Continue reading: Video: Repsol presentation in Madrid

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After Repsol Honda’s MotoGP team presentation at Sepang at the end of January and the official Honda Racing presentation in Tokyo February 3rd, it was now sponsor Repsol’s turn to do their bit.

The Spanish petroleum giant officially launched their 2012 campaign with a complete team presentation of the riders that will be under the Repsol banner. The event took place yesterday evening at a packed Palacio de Deportes in Madrid ahead of the fourth round of the FIM X-Trial World Championship.

Repsol presented Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa (MotoGP), Marc Márquez (Moto2), Maverick Viñales, Miguel Oliveira, Álex Rins (Moto3), Álex Márquez, María Herrera, Francesco Bagnaia, Lorenzo Baldassarri (Campeonato de España de Velocidad), Toni Bou and Takahisa Fujinami (Trial).

“This is really fantastic. I have been riding for a Spanish team in Repsol and developing as a rider in Spain was a very special experience for me. To be surrounded by people in this event is somewhere that I have always wanted to be. This is a great place for a presentation,” said Casey Stoner.

“I am very happy to be here at the Repsol riders presentation,” said Pedrosa. “I really enjoy these events, because the people here give you a lot of support and a warm reception. It is also nice to be in the same place as the other Repsol riders —including the Trial competitors whom we don’t see so often. We hope that this is the start of a good season for everyone.”

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Casey Stoner once again ended on top of the timesheet on the final day of testing in this second pre-season test at Sepang. While he didn’t hit the sub two minute mark that he posted in February (1.59.607), the Repsol Honda team can be more than satisfied regarding the performance of the RC213V as they’ve led every day of testing so far - expect the first day last month when the Australian was struggling with back problems and yesterday when they weren’t on track - Stoner has always been on top and today Dani Pedrosa was right behind him and this not withstanding the chattering issues that continues to bother both riders.

Casey Stoner - 1st

“Again we’ve been unable to profit from the full three days of the test here in Sepang, the first day we only managed about 16 laps before the rain came and then yesterday we weren’t able to get out at all. So today it’s been good to have some nice weather, get out on track and find some different solutions on the bike. We’ve been trying a few different things with electronics to have the engine character the same way we like it. We’ve also tried shortening the wheelbase to reduce chatter and we’ve been successful in decreasing it slightly, but at the moment we’re unable to eliminate it completely, so we still have quite a lot of work to do. The chassis balance feels good as does the traction on the bike, it’s turning well but we really need to get rid of the chatter. Overall we are happy with the bike”.

Dani Pedrosa - 2nd

“In general we’ve been working a lot on the chassis at this test, to find the best compromise. We tried different set ups and we are leaving quite happy with the results. This is a very specific track, so it’s important to have clear ideas for the future. We also made some progress with the braking and the chassis feels a little better because we have a less chatter compared to the first test. We need to keep improving it on entry and mid corner, but I think that we can expect improvements when we work more with the engine and the electronics, which we will do at the Jerez test. Today I also used a different screen to be more comfortable on the straight which felt better”.

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Repsol Honda riders Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa were the fastest riders in today’s first day of testing in the second pre-season test at Sepang.

Stoner was as usual one of the riders who put in the less number of laps in the 8 hour test and even elected to quit earlier than anyone else after a rain storm that lasted for almost any hour brought the test to a virtual standstill, but he was also the only rider to lap - in the few that he did - in the high 2.01s.

Both riders are still complaining regarding chatter issues.The Spaniard also had slight engine issue and he too mentioned the extra 4kgs that the team had to add after the December rule change which is making set-up more difficult.

Casey Stoner - 1st - 2′01.761

“It was really hard to leave Switzerland, Ally woke up for a feed at the same time as I was leaving for the airport and I didn’t really want to leave! The first day of testing has gone well, we started off where we left last time but the track conditions have been a little worse. We have a some work to do, this morning we managed to compare a few things back to back, we’ve tried a new set of brake disks to try and reduce the brake fade that I’ve been having at the last test so that’s been an improvement. We’re trying a few other things with set up, to shorten the wheelbase and get a little more traction. We have a couple of things we can try to change the stiffness and also move the weight around a little bit to try and upset the chatter and reduce the frequency. This afternoon I have no doubt we would have gone a second or a second and a half faster, but the rain came out and the track didn’t dry up enough to warrant going out so we’ll wait until tomorrow.”

Continue reading: Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa on first day of testing at Sepang II

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