Six weeks away from the start of the MotoGP™ World Championship, the Repsol Honda Team will be back in action from next Tuesday through Thursday at the Sepang ciurcuit in Malaysia. Dani Pedrosa has been making the most of the break between the first test at the end of January and this latest break to improve his fitness, aiming to further adapt to the demands of the Honda RC213V.
Pedrosa will be working with his new 1000cc bike over the course of the three days, before flying back to Europe and attending the Repsol Team 2012 presentation at the Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid on the Saturday.
In a video interview conducted at the end of the first Malaysian Test, the rider from Barcelona revealed that there were major changes to the bike on which he will campaign the 2012 season.
"The test went quite well. We were able to try a lot of things for a first test. The bike is obviously more powerful and more difficult to ride physically-the fatigue at the end of the third day was pretty obvious. The bikes can brake later and corner faster, although the times are quite similar," said Pedrosa on the differences between the 800cc and the new 1000cc.
"Riding this bike is harder than riding the 800cc. I had to work on my shoulder strength, especially after the injury I had last year. I figured out (at the first test) the demands of the new bike and I have more information regarding where I need to be better prepared," said the rider, who also said the additional 4kg on the new frame is a factor that has not gone unnoticed. "The weight is quite noticeable, especially under braking and direction changes, it's not a good thing, but this is how it is."
Pedrosa also shared his thoughts on the Repsol riders in Moto2™ and Moto3™, first commenting that Marc Marquez "has proven that he is a great rider. He is very talented and certainly going to be fighting for the championship. He is a favorite, but surely there will be other riders who want to try for the championship."
Regarding the promising new Moto3 class riders, Miguel Oliveira and Alex Rins, Pedrosa said: "It’s a new category, we don’t know how the bikes will respond nor which bikes will be at the front in the first part of the Championship. They’ll have to learn a lot of circuits, maybe Oliveira is familiar with some of them, but experience is important in 125cc. Moto3 will be a more open category." And finally, on the latest addition to defend Repsol colors, Maverick Viñales, Pedrosa reflected: "Based on his riding and talent, he seems to be the favorite. Let's see if the bikes are up to expectations."
source: MotoGP Official
