STONER TOPS 2012 JEREZ PRE-SEASON TEST

The Repsol Honda pair were split by Yamaha Factory Racing's Jorge Lorenzo, who was the only rider apart from Stoner to post lap times under 1'39 across all three days of the rain-affected test session. Behind Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing's Ben Spies was the next quickest, with Monster Yamaha Tech 3's Cal Crutchlow completing the top five.

Both Repsol Honda riders spent the morning of the final day of the final pre-season test session preparing their bikes for a longer run. Pedrosa made a race simulation, with 27 laps in the low 1'40"s, finishing reasonably happy with his performance and the bike behaviour. Stoner took positive information from a long run of 12 laps, of which eight were in the 1'39"s.

"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," Stoner said in a Repsol Honda press release at the conclusion of the Jerez test.
"Anyway we feel like we've made some progress on a track like this for us. 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. 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."

For his part, Dani Pedrosa was satisfied with the test session, despite early brake problems.
"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."

The next time the Repsol Honda riders will go on track will be April 5th at Losail, for the Grand Prix of Qatar, the first race of the 2012 season.