Repsol Honda performances raise engine questions

Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa, Nicky Hayden and Tadayuki Okada experienced mixed fortunes in Mugello, with Pedrosa the highest placing of the trio in third place. The race also served as a valuable run for Okada´s pneumatic valve engine, which the regular rider duo will now decide whether to use in Barcelona next weekend.

Dani Pedrosa - Third

`That was a really tough race because Valentino´s pace was very, very fast. I got a good start and the rhythm was really high, at first I was able to go with them, then I had a battle with Casey. I tried to catch him at the end but it was impossible. It was great to be on the podium, it's a good result for the championship, but while consistency is always important, we need to win more races. The engine was good today, our main concern now is tyre consistency during the second part of races. I was losing the front towards the end of today´s race, so tyres are what we must focus on. It was very important that Okada finished today, gathering a lot of data which we will examine and discuss tonight. Valentino had his seventh win here today, I hope it will be my turn at Catalunya.´

Nicky Hayden - Thirteenth

`This morning we made a nice step, we made a suspension adjustment and the bike felt a lot better, so we had a pretty good pace. We were certainly unlucky in the race. I got an awesome start, felt pretty good, but it was clear from the beginning that we had a problem. Guys started coming past and there was nothing I could do, there was no way to defend. So I just tried to get to the finish and get a couple of points. They're checking the data now to see exactly what happened. Like I said, we were quite unlucky, I knew we didn't have Rossi´s pace this morning, but we had enough pace to be in there, to be quite competitive. I don't know yet which engine I´ll be using next weekend. To be honest, I've been concentrating on this race, so I haven't thought about it yet.´

Tadayuki Okada - Fourteenth

`We finished the race and this was the most important thing of all – we have gathered plenty of data which we can now analyse. We still have some issues with edge grip and this is the next step to improve the engine – the bike was sliding today so I couldn´t fully use its power. The engine´s strong point is its higher rev ceiling which gives an advantage on the straights, but we still need to improve driveability. My thanks to Repsol Honda and to HRC for all their work with this engine. It was very exciting for me to race in a GP again – it felt really amazing when I crossed the finish line!´