Testing occured for the new year's version of their Honda RC212V engines at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit this week.  Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso were happy with the outcome and results as they prepare for next season.

Pedrosa was trialling Ohlins suspension and claimed the second fastest lap on the last day of testing on Wednesday with a 1’31.944.

“We had a good day out there. The track conditions were very good and there was a lot of grip, so we were able to improve our speed quite a lot,” states Pedrosa. “My feeling with the new suspension really improved and that was our main focus here. It’s a big change because I’ve been riding with Showa (suspension) since 2003, so of course it takes a while to get used to something new. We didn’t spend a lot of time working specifically on adjustments with the new chassis because it was important to concentrate on one thing at a time.”

Dovizioso, who incurred a hairline fracture to his left hip with a fall was back on his engine on Wednesday as he gained his best time over the three days in the last session with a time of 1’32.825.

“We confirmed some of the setting improvements we found earlier, and we also tested some solutions that we couldn’t get round to on Tuesday because of my crash,” explains the Italian. “I improved my lap time and I was able to go faster than during the whole race weekend, so this is positive. All in all I’m very confident because I could lap at 1’32.8 at the end of today’s session, and this lap time is as good as race pace.”

He adds, “The stability while braking has improved and I think that we are working in the right direction, though we still need to take a step forward.

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Casey Stoner has marked the quickest lap on the first day of the Valencia testing, with a best time of 1’32.660, and the Aussie was happy with the performance of his machine.

A smash upon warming up ahead of Sunday’s event, the final race of the season, meant Stoner could not take his spot on the grid, however a positive day at the Ricardo Tormo track left him in front on the timesheet.

“We tried a new engine configuration designed at improving the rideability of the bike and for the moment it is going really well,” says Stoner. “The feedback is smoother and we improved traction with the same set-up we used over the weekend, so that is positive. We also tried some different forks and in general I am satisfied.”

“We didn't do many laps today – just tried to make sure we were working in the right direction. I think we are and I can't wait to get back on track tomorrow, when hopefully it won't be as windy.”

Racing the other Ducati factory engine, Nicky Hayden marked the fifth fastest lap of the day, just 0.698s behind his colleague.

“I was really looking forward to getting back out on track today and starting work on next season,” says Hayden. “We have a direction to work in and loads of work to do but we made a lot of progress already today. We don't have a lot of tyres available and just worked with two sets – a hard one and a softer one – with very similar times on both that were not far off my qualifying time from Saturday.”

He adds, “We tried some engine updates on one of the bikes, some forks and a couple of different settings but this is just the start and it is early to say which is best because the lap times have been very similar.

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