26 - Dani Pedrosa Fan Site

Patrick Isaaco has been working alongside the likes of Mick Doohan, Wayne Gardner and Alex Criville. Isaaco is now Dani Pedrosa’s Michelin technician at Repsol Honda, responsible for making sure the 2008 MotoGP title contender has the best tyres possible at each and every grand prix.

Q : To begin with, could you explain the main features of tyre construction?

Patrick Isaaco :

I won’t go into great detail, but basically a tyre is made up of a carcass - the internal structure of the tyre - and the external rubber part, that is to say the tread and walls that make contact with the floor. All of these parts can vary their rigidity depending on the desired level of traction or grip. Whatever happens, research never stops so that all parts are improved and modified.

Riders are always asking for more, so we constantly work on developing tyres. And the dimensions can also be changed, although once the season has started they do not usually vary too much. Tests can be made, but in general during a single season everything stays the same; and this year all riders are using 16 inch tyres at the front and 16.5” on the rear.

Q: Last year was tough for Michelin. From your point of view how is the 2008 season working out?

Patrick Isaaco :

Competition racing is very demanding and there is never anything that is perfect. As I said there is always work to be done and improvements to be made. This year is also being very difficult since the championship is very tight and it is not easy to create any big differences. That is why we are constantly seeking new solutions. If you look at the championship the battle is very tough between Stoner, Rossi, Dani Pedrosa, and even Jorge Lorenzo, who is still there. All the riders can do a good job, and we have to carry on working. Nothing is ever decided before the start.

Q: What do you think about the current tyre regulations, which limit the number of tyres that can be used and make tyre selection on a Thursday crucial for the outcome of the race…

Patrick Isaaco :

It’s not easy and the truth is that the regulations have made our job a little more complicated, but at the same time it is true that we have more tyres this year than last. Back then everybody criticised them because they were new regulations and it was not easy. Now everybody has got used to them and the work is done keeping them in mind. This is how the rules are and we have to respect them. So far this year things have not gone too badly, although the truth is that the work needs a better level of anticipation and a good co-ordination between the team, the rider and Michelin so that the right decision can be made on the Thursday before a race

More :
here

Source : crash.net

Hey I thought I’d just let you know that I’ve found some errors with the (perma)links. If you click the links (such as post title and more) it went to ‘page not found’. I fixed that though so now everything should work fine. If you have any other problems please comment here or if you can’t register/login/comment, feel free to send me an email and I’ll try to fix it. Thanks.

Dani Pedrosa and his team from Repsol Honda still experiencing some problems with the tyres and therefore they  shortened the Brno test -originally 2 days- and call it a day after eleven laps.

Pedrosa admitted that they have tried some different front tyres that Michelin brought for the test, but they finished after some laps because they couldn’t find any improvement.

Furthermore, Pedrosa said that using the pneumatic-valve engine wouldn’t be of much use since the tyres lacking anyway. ”We tested the tyres with my current [valve-spring] race bike, there was no point using the machine with the pneumatic-valve engine because the tyres weren’t working well enough,” said Pedrosa. “We have rescheduled this test at Misano, on the Monday after the San Marino GP.”

Dani Pedrosa said that the Brno race might have been the worst race in his career. He was riding so slow due to tyre problem - according to Honda team - in fact all he could do was ride and not race. Pedrosa finished 15th, in front of Randy de Puniet while watching championship leader Valentino Rossi won the race. Rossi’s victory was also ‘a gift’ after Stoner who was leading the race fell on lap 7. Rossi himself admitted that he might not won the race if Stoner didn’t crash out.

Casey Stoner crashed out of the race lead on lap seven, leaving Valentino Rossi to collect a 15 second victory…

1. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team (B) 43min 28.841 secs
2. Toni Elias SPA Alice Team (B) 43min 43.845 secs
3. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 43min 50.530 secs
4. Shinya Nakano JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 43min 54.700 secs
5. Anthony West AUS Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 43min 58.306 secs
6. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 43min 59.449 secs
7. Marco Melandri ITA Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 44min 5.294 secs
8. Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 44min 5.591 secs
9. Andrea Dovizioso ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP (M) 44min 7.663 secs
10. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team (M) 44min 8.414 secs
11. John Hopkins USA Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 44min 8.451 secs
12. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Alice Team (B) 44min 9.733 secs
13. James Toseland GBR Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 44min 40.331 secs
14. Colin Edwards USA Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 44min 49.974 secs
15. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (M) 45min 5.879 secs
16. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP (M) 45min 7.248 secs

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Pedrosa will start from 12th on Brno Grand Prix. Casey Stoner took the pole followed by Valentino Rossi and John Hopkins. Two riders, James Toseland and Jorge Lorenzo - both from Yamaha - were unable to qualify after suffering in wet qualifying session, they were lapping 1.6secs and 12.0secs slower than Stoner. Complete qualifying results are under the cut.

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Dani Pedrosa was 16th fastest during Free Practice Session on Czech Republic Grand Prix at Brno. Stoner was the fastest, followed by Valentino Rossi. Pedrosa’s teammate Nicky Hayden is unable to join the race due to injuries he got during the X Games.
Pedrosa admitted that his left wrist and index finger are still hurting when he rode the bike, as well as some tyres problems.
Team manager Kazuhiko Yamano added, “Dani is still feeling pain from his left hand injury. But he can ride and we believe that the situation will get better. We are having some difficulties with tyre choice, Dani is lacking contact feeling here, especially from the front tyre. His crew have made some small adjustments today, mainly to the suspension. We hope he will be in better shape tomorrow.”
Read more here

The complete free practice results are under the cut.

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Although he hasn’t fully recovered, Dani Pedrosa said he’ll be back to race at Brno, Czech Republic on August 17th.

“The holiday period gave me a good chance to relax and recover, so I hope I will be fine for Brno,” he said. “When I returned from Laguna Seca my doctor told me I needed a week and a half of complete rest. I couldn’t train so I spent an enjoyable few days in Mallorca, disconnecting from everything and resting both my hand and foot. I had the stitches removed from my hand in Barcelona and then I started rehabilitation.
“The hand still hurts but the wrist has good mobility and the fingers are no longer swollen. The foot is still taped, just to avoid rough movements. I started training last week, mostly on my bicycle. I hope I can have a good race at Brno to start the second part of the championship in the best possible way.”

Crash.net has a Q&A with Patrick Isaaco, Dani Pedrosa’s Michelin technician. Patrick said that Dani Pedrosa has a fluid riding style, contrary to what people think about his [light] weight. This is because he likes to maintain stability and he doesn’t only think of the ease. Even if the tyre is a little hard, he is aware that if it can give him a better race performance he should use it. Contrary to what many people think we do not use the softest tyres.

Oh, and by the way I forgot to mention that now you need to register before you can comment, I’m sorry for any incovenience since this is the best way to fight the spams I got previously. If you have problems registering and/or login, please contact me. Thanks.

I posted some times ago about Pedrosa making a blog on Repsol site. I thought I’m going to post the address again here to let Pedrosa’s international fans about this blog. The blog is written is Spanish and it can be found here. For those who didn’t understand Spanish, you can try Google Translator, just copy and paste the link address or the content you want to translate, then click the Translate button.
On his latest blog entry posted on July 21st 2008 he thanked his fans for all the encouragement messages.
There’s a nice article on Repsol site about how his fans never stop supporting Pedrosa.
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Hey, I converted the homepage to wordpress. The rest of the site pages are still using the old layout. I’ll be converting other pages within this week or next week so stay tuned. The old navigation can be accessed through the sidebar so you can still view the whole site including our gallery and the older news. I will disable comment on the older news soon so if you want to leave a comment, do it now. (;

The 2009 MotoGP Provisional Calendar has been revealed. One major update is the replacement of China Grand Prix with Hungary.
MotoGP will have 18 races next year, started at the Losail circuit in Qatar on April 12th. Ricardo Tormo will host the final race at November 8th.

April 12th – Qatar, Losail (Evening Race)
April 26th – Japan, Motegi
May 3rd – Spain, Jerez
May 17th – France, Le Mans
May 31st – Italy, Mugello
June 14th – Catalunya, Catalunya
June 27th – Netherlands, Assen (Saturday Race)
July 5th – United States, Laguna Seca (MotoGP Class only)
July 19th – Germany, Sachsenring
July 26th – Great Britain, Donington Park
August 16th – Czech Republic, Brno
August 30th – Indianapolis, Indianapolis
September 13th – San Marino, Misano
September 20th – Hungary, Balaton
October 4th – Portugal, Estoril
October 18th – Australia, Phillip Island
October 25th, Malaysia, Sepang
November 8th – Valencia, Ricardo Tormo Valencia