[kropotkin thinks...] - 2011 MotoGP Qatar Day 1 Test Round Up - Not Necessarily What

[Ninjette Newsbot]

If you enjoyed reading this article, please click here to view it on Kropotkin's site, MotoGP Matters.

-----------------

With the MotoGP season opener now just a week away, the final test before the season starts feels more like a couple of extra days of practice rather than a genuine test, especially with the Qatar race being spread over four days instead of the usual three. A point made repeatedly by the riders themselves, none of whom really had anything positive to say about the new four-day format. They all understood why it was being done, but it was a problem they felt could be fixed by holding the race later in the year, when the humidity which suddenly rolls into the circuit at about 10:30pm every night in March and early April would be less of a problem.

So with most of the big decisions already made - HRC has its chassis, the "standard 2011" version, the new version introduced at Valencia last year and the slightly stiffer of the two options Honda had been preparing for this season - teams are starting to work on minor tweaks, adjustments to setup rather than major revisions of new parts. Casey Stoner has two identical bikes with just seating positions and height differences, Dani Pedrosa has been working solely on mapping and electronics, and Jorge Lorenzo had a new swingarm to test.

read more

[Alex]

Things are getting interesting...