Joined Mar 2005
7K Posts | 20+
Woody Creek
I wouldn't use that terminology. Who knows how many of these designs are scrapped after initial testing. How many variations of the M1 did Rossi have at his disposal in pre-season 2004? What Honda rolled out in 2002 was, from my understanding, quite different to what was initially developed. The 212 faced major redevelopment throughout the 2007 season, and from early on as well.
That said, it seems to me that it's back to the drawing board. If they were happy with the direction of development, they'd use this opportunity to refine. As Kropotkin has said, they don't have anything major to test, which says to me they're in need of drastic changes to improve.
I think the factory test riders aren't limited so they might as well wait til they get a target time to reach from yam and Honda then once the factory test riders can get within 1.5 secs of those times, give the bike to Nicky and Vale and see if they can make that time up. After that they can refine the bike to what the racers want
