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Dani Pedrosa Surprises Himself at Sepang
Written by: Dennis Noyes
Borrego Springs, CA ? 11/30/2005 Dani Pedrosa ran his first ever wet weather test aboard an RCV. (Photo: Andrew Northcott)
Just how good is Dani Pedrosa, really?
We are about to find out, and so is he. And the most interesting statement out of Sepang on the third and final day of the final winter tests before the start of the obligatory Christmas-New Years truce that runs from December 1st ?til January 20th came from Dani himself: ?Estoy impresionando conmigo mismo??.?I am impressed with myself.?
And, knowing Dani, that was a sincere statement not an arrogant one by any means. He was talking in particular about how easy it was for him to slide the 240+ horse power Honda RC211V, but behind his words you can read surprise and relief at his strong performance with a bike about 50% heavier and well over twice the power of the Honda 250 that he rode to his second consecutive 250 World title this season.
At the end of the day the 5?2? 110 pound Spaniard who, at the age of 20 has now won three world titles in a row (125 in 2003 and 250 the last two seasons) was third overall after three days of testing and, surprisingly, fastest on the final day in spite of losing part of the day due to rain.
Valentino Rossi, who had the best time of the three day session with a 2?02.610 set on Tuesday, was riding the new Yamaha M1, but his machine could never have felt as ?new? to him as the ?old? Honda felt to Pedrosa.
Nicky Hayden, second on the final day and fifth overall for the three days, split his time between his normal RC211V and a bike with the new chassis that had been tested by Max Biaggi and Sete Gibernau in Brno.
While both Pedrosa and Casey Stoner (tenth fastest overall) clocked quick times, it should be observed that, according to reports from the official MotoGP website, neither of the young rookies did more than a handful of consecutive laps and both confessed to being tired from the strain of handling the big MotoGP 990s.
After his quick times in the dry and in the wet, Pedrosa clearly has the right stuff to ride the big Honda fast and the only question remaining is the big one: Will he will have the strength and stamina de wrestle the 319 pound V5 around for 45 minutes in race conditions.
According to a Motociclismo (Madrid) reporter present in Sepang, Valentino Rossi did a swift double-take when he was told Pedrosa?s times from day three and remarked, ?That is a very fast time for him today,? a short sentence ripe with significance.
Only thirteen riders took part in the tests. Noticeably absent were Makoto Tamada on his Konica Minolta Honda, and the WCM, D? Antin and Roberts teams. The Ducati team tested on the same three days, but in Jerez de la Frontera in Spain where both Sete Gibernau and Loris Capirossi set times better times on the new Desmosedici GP6 than the previous best Ducati MotoGP time set by Carlos Checa in 2005. (At the time of this posting we are awaiting the times from today?s session.)
Unanswered Questions
There were still a few unanswered questions hanging in the air at the close of testing in Malaysia: Will this be the last time we see Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards in Gauloises livery or will there be some kind of last-minute compromise agreement that will see a Gauloises presence on Rossi?s (and Colin?s) Yamahas?
Will the Pons Hondas return after the break still in Camel colors, or will Camel either find accommodation for Max Biaggi on the Kawasaki or Suzuki teams, or will Camel leave the championship?
Will the Roberts team find sponsorship for 2006? Honda have agreed to supply engines at the same spec as those supplied to the top satellite riders (like Marco Melandri) and the team is hard at work building a chassis to take the RC211V Honda engines. Roberts has said that the team will be there in 2006 even if the three-time 500 World Champion has to pay for it himself. The rider will be former 500cc World Champion Kenny Roberts Junior (the only active rider other than Rossi to have won a title in GP racing?s premier class).
Will the WCM team find sponsorship or some kind of Dorna subvention sufficient to take advantage of the offer from KTM to supply V4 engines in 2006?
There seems to be no question that the D?Antin team will run a two-rider team with a ?satellite? version of the Ducati Desmosedici GP6 and that one of the riders will be Jose Luis Cardoso. The other could be Italian Roberto Rolfo, who campaigned the machine in 2005. The name of Ruben Xaus has been mentioned but the fact that the former World Superbike runner-up who rode in MotoGP for D?Antin in 2004 and then moved to the Tech3 Yamaha satellite team in 2005 was not present to at the most Valencia GP tests casts doubt on this possibility.
Between now and the end of January these questions will probably be answered and most observers expect a 21 rider field along the following lines:
Honda Teams
Repsol Honda: Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa on Michelin
Fortuna Honda: Marco Melandri and Toni Elias in Michelin
Pons Honda: Carlos Checa and Casey Stonet (Sponsor TBA) on Michelin
Konica Minolta Honda: Makoto Tamada probably on Michelin
Yamaha teams:
Yamaha ?factory?: Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards on Michelin (Sponsor TBA)
Tech 3 Yamaha: James Ellison on Dunlop (Sponsor TBA)
Ducati Teams:
Marlboro Ducati: Loris Capiriossi and Sete Gibernau on Bridgestone
D? Antin Ducati: Jose Luis Cardoso and a second rider TBA probably on Bridgestone (Sponsor TBA)
Kawasaki: Shinya Nakano and Randy de Puniet on Bridgestone (Probably no major sponsor)
Rizla Suzuki: John Hopkins and Chris Vermuelen on Bridgestone
Team Roberts (powered by Honda): Kenny Roberts Junior on Michelin (Sponsor TBA)
WCM (powered by KTM) riders TBA on Dunlop (Sponsor TBA)
Best times after three days in Sepang
1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2?02.61 Day 2
2. Marco Melandri (Honda) 2?02.65 Day 2
3. Dani Pedrosa (Honda ) 2?02.77 Day 3
4. Toni Elias (Honda) 2?02.78 Day 2
5. Nicky Hayden (Honda) 2?02.70 Day 3
6. Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki) 2?02.93 Day 3
7. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 2?02.94 Day 2
8. Carlos Checa (Honda) 2?02.96 Day 2
9. John Hopkins (Suzuki) 2.03.10 Day 2 and Day 3
10. Casey Stoner (Honda) 2?03.56 Day 2
11. Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki) 2?04.27 Day 3
12. Chris Vermuelen (Suzuki) 2?04.50 Day 2 and Day 3
13. James Ellison (Yamaha) 2?05.00
Best Ducati times from Jerez after two days (of three)
Capirossi 1?40.947
Gibernau 1?41.024 cold and windy