Casey Stoner feels Qatar race to be interesting – MotoGP news
Casey Stoner will unleash his strength with Repsol Honda team in the 2011 MotoGP season by riding the new 2011 RC212V.
Sepang tests dominator returned in super-satisfaction after performed at the test held last month. After having rest for some days the rider is returning for the final pre-season test at Qatar in an optimistic way, followed by the first race of the season
on March 20, 2011.
By the end of first day of the second three-day test, Stoner felt quite sure that he will need a couple of laps to break the two-minute circle, and he proved with his performance.
He said, “In Sepang the track is usually at its best in the morning. I prefer to set my fastest time at the end of the day. We decided to use the soft tires and try to be the first in setting a time under two minutes. To be honest I did not think that only
one other rider would set a time like this, as the track was in optimal conditions. We must be happy about the job we did there, it was very good.”
The Aussie rider was excited to come in for Qatar race after the final pre-season test, as he has won some races on this track.
He went on to mention, “The races are finally approaching and I am looking forward to seeing how we perform with this team, how I work with the bike on the circuit and, above all, what the general level for everyone is. I am sure there will be riders more
confident than others, so it will be interesting to see who goes for victory in the first race.”
Dani Pedrosa of Repsol Honda was the only rider, who broke the two-minute trance, finishing on second place overall.
He commented, “I think so, I have seen many riders that are taking more risks and they are pushing a lot more. There is more competitiveness because they think victory is possible, they feel they are closer to the podium and that motivates them to take more
risks than before. I think we will see very exciting races this year.”
He added, “It is difficult to know if the problem comes from the clutch or the electronic control. The bike rebounds a lot when entering the corners and it is difficult to brake late, because the bike is a bit unstable. We have improved a bit on that, but
it is not enough yet, we have to dedicate more time to it to be at 100%. About the suspension, at the moment we are using last year’s standard. We also have a modified 2011 fork that we tested once, but we had some problems and we did not feel fully comfortable.”
Stoner also anticipated that the 2011 MotoGP season will come up with some surprises as the Hondas dominated the test sessions.
Dani Pedrosa and Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo are the obvious riders to be seen at front. On the other hand, Andrea Dovizioso and Marco Simoncelli are also improving faster, and Ben Spies is also a promising rider this season.
Not for getting Valentino Rossi, he might not be able to perform in the start of the season, but definitely seen to come up later.
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