Testing Predictions???

shovelhead said:

The concensus is that
The Michelin rear tires are superior to the Bridgestones,
But the front is sub par and the riders are somewhat nervous about the lack of front end grip.

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Marc Marquez set the fastest time of the two-day post-season test in Valencia but stated he and Honda are still “far from the potential” of the 2016 electronics package.

Fresh from finishing second in the season finale, Marquez was three tenths of a second fastesr than the best 2015 race time.

Yet the 22-year old was far from happy with the electronics' performance, and still couldn't pass judgement on the new Honda engine.

“The thing is today we ride only with the Magneti Marelli software and we are far from a base. There are things we must improve. For the lap time the Michelin tyres are easier to make a faster lap time than Bridgestone.

“For that reason the times are really close. We play with many things, work a lot and the problem with the electronics is that you make five laps and then you stay half an hour or one hour in the box trying to fix. We need time to try and understand it well.

“At the moment I'm not enjoying it a lot. The thing is my bike didn't spin. It's just moving and cutting and I think we are far from the potential of these electronics. At the moment I still didn't understand well. I'm riding fast and pushing but I want to understand it better for the slides and all these things.

“Not much but the thing is with the Michelins you need to be careful. Just change a little bit the temperature and in the end there were many crashes, it was locking a lot. In the midday the feeling was different, the confidence was good. But everybody was pushing and locking the front.

“We must understand well and it's normal after many years with one tyres that the bikes are in that direction. I only work with the electronics. I was riding with the same set-up like Sunday. If we fix the set-up it will be better but we didn't spend time on this.”

Marquez stated he doesn't feel a need to alter his riding style dramatically and instead needs to come to terms with the feel of the Michelin rubber.

“The thing is with the Michelins you need to be careful. Just change a little bit the temperature and in the end there were many crashes, it was locking a lot. In the midday the feeling was different, the confidence was good. But everybody was pushing and locking the front.

“We must understand well and it's normal after many years with one tyres that the bikes are in that direction. I only work with the electronics. I was riding with the same set-up like Sunday. If we fix the set-up it will be better but we didn't spend time on this.

“[With the electronics the most important area] For me at the moment is corner exit. Mid corner to exit corner is where we must understand more because sometimes I feel some cuts that I don't understand. Sometimes it was a little better.

“It looks more critical, you must try to play with the gas but when you play you are slow. Still we didn't understand but it's normal. Everything is new, the engineers are working a lot and with the electronics you need a lot of time so you can adjust corner by corner. Yesterday we just tried at the end and then it's difficult.”

Marquez suffered his second crash in as many days on Wednesday afternoon, this one coming as he braked for the final turn. It was he said, similar in style to his fall when testing the French rubber in Mugello in June.

“It wasn't similar. It was exactly the same as I had in Mugello at the Michelin test. When it was not completely straight with some banking with the front suddenly pass a bump and lock the front.

“It's this where I'm struggling more to understand where the limit is. With Bridgestone I was able to brake really deep. It's there where I'm struggling more. Yesterday with the crash was completely different.

“Of course it's better to be like Dani who didn't crash with the Michelin tyres. You know I didn't try to push 100 percent. I think many riders didn't push. If you're not really concentrated or focused it's really easy to lose the front. It's better to understand now than during the season.”
Read more at MotoGP News - Valencia MotoGP Test: Marquez ?far from potential? of new electronics

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Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez may not agree on much at the moment but they both used the same phrase to describe the new for 2016 single ECU system.

The former champions, embroiled in a bitter war of words for the past two rounds, got their first taste of the control electronics - alongside further tests with Michelin tyres - at Valencia on Tuesday.

First to speak was Rossi, who set the 12th best lap time, 0.850s behind fastest man Marquez:

“I tried the new electronic for next year and it will be a big problem - I mean it is like we make a jump in the past. Like [our factory software] in 2008-2009.”

But does it make the bike more fun to ride?

“For me no, because in the end the higher the level of the bike then the better it is for me. So like this is clear step back. At the beginning you are also a little bit angry on the bike because you think 'f**k! It don't work'

“But on the other side, it can be good for the racing. Because it will be a lot more difficult to always make the same lap time. Because the bike is more difficult to ride. So can be better for the battle during the race, can be more fun about this.”

A few minutes later, over at the Repsol Honda hospitality, Marquez said:

“We started on the 2015 bike, then the 2015 bike fitted with the new software. That is where we spent the most time and still we must spend a lot of time, because looks like we did like one step back [in time] because it will be difficult to arrive at the same level as before.

“But we are working, especially on the acceleration side, traction control, torque delivery is where we must improve. The connection with the gas. Then in the last runs we tried the new [2016] engine, but honestly it was difficult to give the right feedback because still we must fix the electronic software.”

Given Marquez's much-publicised struggles with the aggressive 2015 engine character, is the rough nature of the new software a concern?

“Yeah, with less electronics of course if you have an aggressive engine you will have more 'cuts' [in the power] and looks like this electronic is working a little bit slower," replied Marquez. “The 'cuts' are coming later and bigger so we must fix it well.”

The Spaniard, one of many to suffer a front-end fall on the Michelin tyres today, admitted the 2016 electronics are a bigger concern than the change of tyre brand.

“For me electronics because in the end the tyres are the same for everyone," he said. "So the tyres will not be the biggest problem and I think Michelin are doing a good job. On the other side, it is only the first time we ride with the electronics and we know it takes time to set them up.

"In Turn 13 I nearly highsided one time, but I can say the new electronics are safe. They are just not very smooth and cutting too much.”

The factory teams have previously been able to use their own bespoke software, but all riders must use the same ECU system - being jointly developed by Honda, Yamaha, Ducati and Dorna - next season
Read more at MotoGP News - Valencia Test: Rossi, Marquez: 2016 MotoGP ECU ?step back in time?

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Ducati's Andrea Iannone talked up the fun factor of riding the Desmosedici GP15 with the new control ECU and Michelin tyres as the Italian completed the official two-day MotoGP test at Valencia.

Iannone, whose season ended on a sour note as he crashed out of fourth place in Sunday's final race of the season at the Ricardo Tormo circuit – blowing any hopes he had of clawing back the two-point deficit to Dani Pedrosa to finish fourth in the championship standings – was ninth fastest overall with a lap in 1m 31.619s on Wednesday.

The 26-year-old said that although the lap speeds were currently slower than he had achieved using the Bridgestone rubber, riding the Ducati was more fun with more rear-end sliding and wheelies resulting from the switch to the new electronics software.

“Not so bad, I think the feeling with the bike and with the tyres especially is really good and for sure I want to improve a little bit the bike and the tyres,” said Iannone, who slid off at turn 5 in the morning.

“But I think with a day and work especially this improve. Today was the new electronics and I am happy about this because yes, I have a little less performance, but when you ride a little bit more you enjoy because the slide is a bit more with the control of the throttle and also the [wheelie]. So, the lap time is worse but for the rider is good.

“For sure the factory [ECU] have a little more feeling because I use for longer and I think the new software is a little bit more difficult because of the slide and the wheelie, but it's the same for everybody,” Iannone added.

“[It is] more fun because the bike have more wheelie and more slide and when you ride this is really fun, but the lap time is worse and this is not so really good, but I think for sure the time improve.”

Iannone said that while the control ECU was still much better than the electronics he used in Moto2, his first impressions of the traction control of the Magneti Marelli system were 'not really good'.

“Not really good because is first time today I use and with the other tests for sure [we] improve the setting and electronics,” said Iannone.

“For the first time not so bad, but I think for everybody because I look at everybody on the track and also bad.”

Iannone, whose Ducati team-mate Andrea Dovizioso was 15th fastest with a lap in 1m 31.967s, said he was not particularly satisfied with his overall finish on the time sheets in his final test of 2015.

“We did other chassis set-up tests, using the bike the way it was during the race weekend. I am quite satisfied, but not with the final result because my goal is to always be amongst the best, and instead a ninth place does not live up to my expectations.”

Dovizioso and test rider Michele Pirro will undertake more work during a final test at Jerez later this month, with Dovizioso on track for one day only on November 27 before the the two-month test ban kicks in from December 1.

Pirro will complete three days' testing in total, although Iannone will miss out as he prepares to undergo an operation on his left shoulder on Tuesday, November 17.
Read more at MotoGP News - Valencia MotoGP Test: Iannone: More wheelies, more slides - it's fun

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