It was a good weekend for Honda. Casey Stoner, Andrea Dovizioso, and Marco Simoncelli put three Honda RC212V Motorcycles on the BRNO podium, and after testing the 2012 prototypes on Monday, it looks like the Japanese manufacturer can hope for more of the same during the 2012 MotoGP season.
Stoner and Pedrosa tested out the new RC213V at BRNO on Monday, and both riders were impressed with the 1000cc machine.
Stoner, who had already tested the RC213V earlier this year at Jerez, was happy about the work that had been done to the bike and was excited for the final product. Stoner put in 58 laps on the future Honda and claimed the top time during the BRNO testing session.
"Today was another good shakedown but we still have some work to do," Stoner said. "We found a few positive things and confirmed certain directions to take and move forward.
"We had a few small problems with chatter but it's something that shouldn't be too difficult to sort out through engine braking and engine management systems, which are areas we can definitely improve in, along with the chassis.
"The engine for me is fantastic, to ride the 1000 with more grunt and more power it's a lot of fun, it has incredible acceleration... most of the time too much.
"We tested a couple of the new tyres and had some issues, the traction didn't feel that great and they seemed to create a lot more chatter so we went back to the standard tyres and the chatter seemingly disappeared. From the data we have from the first test and this test, we can go away and come back with the next step and take it from there."
Pedrosa got his first chance to ride the new Honda. After 37 laps on the new machine, Pedrosa posted the fourth fastest time behind Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies on the new Yamaha.
"First of all, I'm very happy to have tested the 1000cc because rain was expected but it didn't arrive until the end of the day, so we were lucky with that," Pedrosa said. "My first impression in the morning was that the feelings were quite similar to those I had when I first came into MotoGP, you can feel the difference in torque and power.
"Perhaps I was still riding it with a 800cc style and I need a little more understanding again and try to ride it differently, but the bike seems to work quite well. We will make many modifications, so the final version will be very different to today's bike, but this is normal and the first impression is quite good.
"Compared to the 990cc I rode in 2006 it's very similar on the power side, but a little lighter in weight and behaviour. I tried one run with the prototype Casey tested in Jerez and also the other one with some modifications and it was a bit better.
"With a new bike, electronics, engine, chassis, everything is not the best, but from my experience in the past with new bikes, the starting point is not so bad. We have to be very careful with the chassis because perhaps the tyres next year are a little different in construction which will affect the chassis."
