Yesterday there was a glitch when they indicated that Ben Spie had lapped in 1.58, but there wasn’t any glitch today when Casey Stoner posted a 1’59″607 with his RC213V. His lap on the third day of testing at Sepang and early this morning was 0.058s faster than the lap time he set during the 2011 Sepang tests with his highly evoluted 800cc machine.

The Australian champion is still suffering from back pain, stating that it seemed that he’d ‘felt like he had done three rounds with Mike Tyson’ but his fast lap set a warning shot to his rivals, despite the fact that both he and Repsol Honda team mate Dani Pedrosa have yet to solve the chattering issues that emerged with the new Bridgestone tires.

Casey Stoner:

“It’s been a good test in general, we only managed two out of the three days unfortunately but the weather has been really good to us and we’ve been able to do what we planned. The day I missed hasn’t affected us too much and we’ve managed to complete our testing programme, to be honest I think track conditions on the first day weren’t that great anyway as the lap times were not so fast. I’m still not feeling great with my back but the bike is ok, so we’ve made progress in reducing the chatter a little more and trying a few different things, some small settings on the shock that we haven’t tried before amongst other points. So far it’s been pretty positive, we’ll just have to wait and see what we have for the next test and hopefully improve a little more. Now I’m looking forward to getting home to Switzerland to see Adriana and await the arrival of our baby!”

Dani Pedrosa:

“Three days testing here in Malaysia is very tiring. This morning when I woke up I was pretty sore and stiff, but once I got running I was a little bit better. Anyway, it’s been worth it to do a general test of the engine, chassis and tyres and overall it is the biggest test we have done on this bike and we have good data to analyse and can start to build up points we need for the second test. As I said yesterday, the biggest point to improve is on braking, and we are also working on the electronics to improve the management of the power and the grip level. The chatter is still there, I know it’s something very difficult to fix, but I’m sure Honda is working hard on it. In general, it’s been a positive test for us and we will come back here in three weeks with new ideas. This bike is physically more demanding, you feel the power in the acceleration, the speed under hard braking and also the extra weight, but it’s alright. I will keep working hard physically to prepare for the second test.”

....

1 comment

This year’s controversial Motegi GP was one strange race, and Casey Stoner who was tipped to win it and continue his winning streak suffered a big technical issue that left him third, while Andrea Dovizioso had jump start that psyched out several other riders.

Dani Pedrosa who last year lost his 2010 title chances in Japan due to a faulty throttle and picking up a fractured collarbone, instead took the first win ever for the Repsol Honda team at the Twin Ring and now is just one point behind Andrea Dovizioso (3rd) in the championship standing.

With three rounds to go, Stoner still leads the championship by 40 points over Jorge Lorenzo.

Dani Pedrosa - 1st

“I’m super happy with this victory, for the team that has been working so well, for HRC because this is the first win in Motegi with the Repsol Honda Team and for myself because it is the first time I’ve won here in MotoGP after doing so in 125cc and 250cc. The race was strange at the beginning with Stoner and Dovi really fast on the first few laps, they pulled away and then Casey had some problem and Andrea had a ride through for his jump start. I was alone in front with Lorenzo close, but I tried to put my head down and push every lap to pull away. I’m happy because at this track I’ve had a mix of good and bad results and some bad injuries, so to come back one year later and win in MotoGP is fantastic.”

Continue reading: Repsol Honda: Pedrosa super happy while Stoner and Dovizioso have different issues

....

0 comments

Milking the 100 victories with 8 world titles that goes with it, Repsol Honda has released this short, but very pleasant video with some pretty good racing scenes with all their past and present stars.

Enjoy.

....

0 comments

If you’re into stats and trips down memory you’re going to like this chart and images from some of the 100 victories that the Repsol Honda Team celebrated yesterday at Motorland Aragon (nice touch that it happened to be in Spain for the Repsol sponsor).

Casey Stoner winning and giving the team it’s 100th victory, thus making Repsol Honda the most successful team in the Motorcycling World Championship modern era.

Here’s the press release:

On March 26th, 1995, the Motorcycling World Championship started a season with the arrival of a new sponsor in the premiere category. The Repsol livery painted with an attractive design the official NSR 500 of the Honda Team. In his first race, Mick Doohan inaugurated in the best way the collaboration of the two big international companies, achieving the first of the 35 victories by one of the most solid and successful partners of the Motorsport world and especially of the Motorcycling World Championship.

Continue reading: Repsol Honda's 100 wins and some images

....

0 comments

Repsol Honda has decided to debut a special one off livery for the Motorland Aragon GP this weekend and gave the job to Spanish designer David Delfin to create the new livery (and we though he only designed high-end clothes).

Repsol Honda usually isn’t very big on changing the graphics on their MotoGP bikes, so this could be something very interesting to see.

Here’s a video preview of what the designer might be coming up with and it looks like stars are going to be the main theme.

....

0 comments

Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo aren’t the only riders that have to spend time in the Clinica Mobile trying to get in shape to race, Casey Stoner revealed that he’s still suffering neck pain that he sustained when he was one of the three Honda riders who crashed out during the second free practice at Assen and becoming still another victim to the Bridgestone cold tire syndrome, which includes Hiroshi Aoyama.

Stoner, who has now won five out of ten races this season, has been struggling with pain ever since that unlucky practice session, but it obviously didn’t stop the Australian from taking a breathtaking victory on Sunday at Laguna Seca.

“I can’t do strength training because of my neck, just cycling,” Stoner said. “In the Assen crash I came down hard with all the G forces through my shoulder and it has trapped a muscle between my vertebrae and discs - the muscle is damaged pretty badly. I’ve had a scan and the doctors said it will be two-and-a-half months before my neck is right, it will take a long time to heal. At Laguna Seca I could barely breathe after qualifying because my neck and also muscles on my ribs tightened up.”

And to think that we all thought he was only having tire management problems.

Source | smh.com.au

....

0 comments

Despite explicitly not saying so in his Repsol Honda blog, it seems like Dani Pedrosa has decided to skip this weekend’s Assen GP to continue his rehabilitation, after going through further surgery last Thursday to fix a bone fragment in his right collarbone.

“It’s been some days since the surgery and I feel much better. I don’t feel the pain I had before the operation and the evolution has been very good. I’ve already begun the rehabilitation and I am very positive. Every day I notice an improvement and this is very good because I really wish to get back on the bike as soon as possible. To be honest it will be very difficult for me to make it to Assen, but I really believe I will be okay for Mugello, so now I’m focused on working to get better every day and see how far I get. I want to return as soon as possible, but I want to do the right thing,” wrote the Repsol Honda rider.

After missing two GPs and ruling himself out of Assen, Pedrosa is targeting his return for the Italian GP at the Mugello July 3rd (where on Monday he should finally get the his first taste of the new Honda GP 1000cc bike, after missing the first test at Jerez in May).

With the Spaniard missing three GPs in a row, Honda is contractually be obliged to find a a replacement rider; so Hiroshi Aoyama has been lined up take his place at Assen, while HRC test rider, Kousuke Akiyoshi is stepping in to take Aoyama’s place in the San Carlo Honda Gresini Team.

....

0 comments

Dani Pedrosa’s second surgery on his fractured collarbone has been deemed successful by Dr. Xavier Mir, Chief of the Pathology Unit of the Hand of Dexeus USP, and Dr. Cesar Garcia Madrid, vascular specialist of the Institute Planell at Teknon Medical Center who performed in conjunction the surgery on the Repsol Honda rider.

This second operation, his third this season, was to fix, by compression osteosynthesis, a small fragment of bone that had dislodged during the rehabilitation process, apparently this technique allows for faster consolidation and minimises the resting time, and according to Dr. Mir, Pedrosa can begin rehabilitation in the next 48 hours.

Whether the Spaniard will be up to taking part in next week’s round at Assen still remains to be seen and more news will probably be available on Monday or Tuesday at the latest.

....

0 comments

Dani Pedrosa, just three days after writing on his blog that his shoulder recovery was going more slowly than expected and that his participation at the Assen GP was in doubt, is currently undergoing further surgery on his collarbone.

According to a Repsol Honda press release, this new surgery is needed to fix a fragment of bone that has shifted and pin it back in place, and this setback in Pedrosa’s recovery will no doubt will continue to give more credit to those rumors that Pedrosa was re-injured following his post Le Mans surgery in a training or domestic accident, which has always been firmly denied by his team.

A new press release is expected to follow later this afternoon with an update on Pedrosa’s physical condition and whether he’ll be able to take part in next week’s Assen GP.

....

0 comments

Dani Pedrosa updated the Repsol blog where he writes, and it seems that his slated return for the June 25th Assen GP, is looking somewhat bleak :

“I’d love to know if I’ll be in Assen or not, but it’s something I don’t know yet. Recovery is going somewhat slower than expected and I’m taking taking it day by day. Assen is still a week ahead and I do not know how I’ll be in a few days. I’m a little down, because I want to recover and return to racing, but the evolution of the injury escapes my desire and will. I’m doing everything I can to recover and I’m following medical advice 100%.”

Pedrosa injured his collarbone on May 17 after his controversial crash with Marco Simoncelli and has skipped two rounds so far and that inself has sparked a lot of rumors, with the main one being that the Repsol Honda rider re-injured himself just in some sort of training or domestic accident while he was recovering, which was hotly denied along with the rumor that Pedrosa would no longer race this season.

To try prove that something did happen to Pedrosa post surgery, Italian website Motorcorse even tracked down a picture of Pedrosa at a bowling alley on the eve of the announcement of his Catalunya GP pullout and subsequently also the Silverstone GP.

....

0 comments

From today Silverstone should really be dubbed SilverStoner. The Repsol Honda rider put on a masterful display of riding in treacherous conditions that one could only applaud his skill and wonder how he could manage to stay on and find his way around such a soggy track. Oh yeah, he was also so fast that he lapped Randy De Puniet and Hector Barbera who were swimming around in the back of the field.

“At the beginning of the race we didn’t have a great start and I needed to wait for the tyres to get up to temperature,” said Stoner. “In the first few laps when I was behind the other riders I got a lot of spray up inside the visor and it was hard for me to see, or for me to push. At this time I was being careful, trying to cover my lines to stop them coming inside, then after five laps my visibility got clearer and the water drained away from my visor and I was able to start doing the lap times we were looking for and started to open a gap. I was just happy to stay up on the bike, it was incredibly cold and I was so nervous, because in these conditions it’s so easy to crash! We had a great race today in very tough conditions where anything could have happened, but to come away with a win is fantastic.”

Andrea Dovizioso took an excellent second place podium in today’s race. While Italian may not be considered one of the ‘aliens’ (even Valentino Rossi has lost that status this year) and not as fast as team mates Stoner and Dani Pedrosa and much less spectacular to watch than Marco Simoncelli, but you can always count on him to keep a cool head, be very constant and know his limits.

Continue reading: Casey Stoner and Andrea Dovizioso make it 1-2 for Repsol Honda at Silverstone

....

0 comments

Spanish website’s Motocuatro.com was the first to launch the rumor that Dani Pedrosa was not racing at Catalunya because he further injured himself in some sort of accident (training with his bicycle, with a supermotard or he had a domestic accident) which kept the media busy all during the Spanish weekend trying to find if there was any kernel of truth to the story, despite repeated denials by Repsol Honda and Livio Suppo.

However Pedrosa’s absence from the garage was considered suspicious as Montmelò was his home race and he could have shown up just to sign a few autographs and get his picture taken because that’s promoting (everyone shows up for their home race, even if they’re injured) so Italian website Motocorse.com decided to dig deeper into the story and did some pretty cool investigative work, piecing together several items and coming up with something worthy of any procedural police TV drama.

Here’s what the Italian sleuth found: at the New Park bowling alley in Barcelona, this photo (above on the left) of Pedrosa posing with some fans was taken on Saturday May 28th and note that the Repsol Honda rider isn’t wearing an arm sling and the article also mentions that Pedrosa also bowled that evening.

Continue reading: Sleuthing Dani Pedrosa's supposed second injury

....

0 comments