New World Champion Aoyama tests Honda RC212V

Graduating from the 250cc class as World Champion this winter, in addition to Marco Simoncelli, Álvaro Bautista and Héctor Barberá, Japanese rider Hiroshi Aoyama joined that European trio in making his MotoGP test debut on Monday at Valencia and the 28 year-old thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Aoyama has been recruited by Daniel Epp to ride a satellite Honda in MotoGP next year in a newly formed premier class outfit - Interwetten MotoGP – and Monday gave the rider and his new crew their first chance to work together.

In his first MotoGP session Aoyama took it steady as he completed 40 laps, registering the slowest time of his fellow 250cc graduates – around five seconds off Casey Stoner’s pace. Nonetheless he enthused, “It was the first time to try the MotoGP bike and it was a great experience for me”.

“Compared to 250cc there was a big difference on the brakes, so I could not get such a good feeling today, but it was ok for a first try. I still have two more days testing this week so the target will be to get the right feeling.”

Aoyama went on to say, “We decided not to put any control on the acceleration, for spinning, engine braking or wheelies, so it was all manual. It meant it was a bit difficult to ride, but it was fun and it was nice to slide on the corners. Tomorrow we might put some control on the bike.”