Honda Dani Pedrosa got his first contact with the new asphalt, run-offs and cambering at Sepang International Circuit on Day 1 of 2017 testing, after the Spaniard missed the race at the track last season due to a crash in the Japanese GP ahead of the event.
The most successful rider at Sepang, three-time World Champion Pedrosa used day one to familiarise himself with his surroundings after the long winter break, and concentrated on one engine configuration – as did his teammate, Marc Marquez.
Completing 44 laps with a best of 2:00.970, Pedrosa also rode in the rain of the late afternoon to gather some valuable data in the wet.
“Today basically was about re-familiarising ourselves with the bike, the track, and tyres, and I rode for the first time on the new asphalt in Sepang.” Said Pedrosa who set the 13th fastest time of the day.
“We started to work on the bike and have two different engine configurations. We concentrated on one.”
“We also had chance to ride in the rain and get some valuable information. We hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow, I think we could go a lot further with our program because today was only the first day.”
