Crutchlow and Dovizioso complete successful Mugello test

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team riders Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso completed a positive test session at the Mugello circuit in Italy today. 

Hot and humid conditions enabled Crutchlow and Dovizioso to focus on a range of set-up options with their YZR-M1 machinery and both were able to post competitive times inside the top six. 

Crutchlow concentrated on improving his feeling with a full fuel tank to help him be faster in the early stages of races in the second half of the 2012 Mo toGP World Championship. The British rider also experimented with different geometry settings and he was satisfied with progress made having set the fifth quickest time.

The 26-year-old's best lap of 1.47.750 was only 0.315s behind Jorge Lorenzo's best pace and Crutchlow managed to improve on his best lap set in yesterday's Mugello race by an impressive 0.7s.

Dovizioso spent his time on track experimenting with different geometry settings and also working on adapting his riding style to improve his mid-corner speed on the YZR-M1 machine.

The Italian, who claimed a fantastic fourth podium finish in the last five races in yesterday's 23-lap Gran Premio d'Italia TIM encounter, set a best time of 1.47.775 to finish in sixth position. His best time was 0.5s faster than his quickest pace in yesterday's race and he was happy with improvements to the front-end feeling of his YZR-M1.

Cal Crutchlow – 5th 1.47.750 – 50 laps:

“I am feeling pretty tired now because it has been a hectic period in the Championship and today it was very hot. But it was a good test and it gave me the chance to work on the bike for the beginning of the race. Each time I went out I had a full fuel tank and we definitely made some progress. I can still improve but I will be going to Laguna Seca confident that I will be faster in the first part of the race. This season I have been really strong as the race has gone on, so we need to work on improving my speed right from the off. We worked on a few different settings and it was interesting to understand how they affected the bike and that will give us some options in the second part of the season." 

Andrea Dovizioso 6th 1.47.775 – 38 laps:

“Today we just concentrated on trying modifications to the set-up that we don't normally have time to experiment with on a race weekend. We changed the geometry of the bike to help me understand some different options for the future and we definitely improved the bike from yesterday's race. We made the bike better on the front-end to help enter the corner better and the good thing is the changes we made should help at the next race in Laguna Seca. I also worked a little on my riding style with the YZR-M1 and now I am even more confident for Laguna Seca where I'm sure I can be battling for another podium.”

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Press Release

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Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/rGrbd7oKD_W/Crutchlow+Dovizioso+complete+successful+Mugello

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