CAS HONDA COMPLETES SUCCESSFUL HONDA TEST IN ITALY

Posted by Ray | 16 February 2009 | Comment

CAS Honda’s Billy Mackenzie and Cedric Melotte concluded a two-day Honda test in Italy on Friday with positive results, after both riders made further steps forward ahead of the start of the 2009 motocross race season.

Mackenzie, who has recently returned from a long testing stint in California, boarded full factory Honda machinery for the first time this year at the Mantova track and has made significant progress throughout the two days. The Scottish-ace worked closely with his CAS Honda crew alongside the Honda staff to evaluate a series of settings and parts, which has given the British MX1 Champion plenty of useful information to work with aboard his CRF450R race machine.

Mackenzie has found a good direction with his overall set-up, improving on every lap, and finished the test with great confidence in the machinery that he will line up to race in just under a month’s time. The 24-year-old CAS Honda pilot will now return to the UK to continue his fitness and test programme over the next few weeks to fully prepare him for his season opener at Hawkstone Park.

Melotte also concluded the test in a positive mood. The 30-year-old Belgian focussed on developing his suspension set-up as well as evaluating various engine parts and maps aboard the all-new CRF450R.

With the improvements made by the team over the last few tests, Melotte felt confident that the bike is now feeling like his own. The multi-time Grand Prix winner is still adapting to the Japanese machinery and is looking forward to spending as much time as possible on the bike ahead of his first race in the next few weeks.

The CAS Honda team will now return to base with more useful data from this test, and is looking forward to continuing its work with the factory to develop the machines in readiness for the start of the race season.

[u][b]Billy Mackenzie #211
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“I’m really pleased with how things have gone with the test in Italy. We worked through a lot of different parts and the bike is performing well, although it’s quite different from the standard machine. It was useful to have some of the Honda staff there, as having more people’s opinions has given us some assistance over the two days and I’ve really enjoyed riding the bike. Overall the test worked out very well for us, and I feel we only need to make a few minor improvements before the start of the season. My training has been going really well and I’m looking forward to testing the bike out against the opposition. Hopefully the weather will allow me to get plenty of riding in as we start building up to the first race.”

[u][b]Cedric Melotte #10
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“The last few days in Italy have been very useful to us and I’m pleased with the progress we are making. The machine development over the last few weeks has been excellent, and we’ve definitely made further improvements with our set-up. During the last few days we have continued refining the suspension setting, which I am very pleased with, as well as evaluating some different specification engine parts and maps. I’m happy with how the bike is feeling, as the engine is really nice to ride, and overall the package is good. Working with the Japanese staff from Honda alongside the team has also been very useful, as we have been able to collaboratively move forward together. I hope to spend a lot of time on the bike in the next few weeks to put me in the best condition possible and I’m looking forward to the start of the season.”

[u][b]Neil Prince: CAS Honda Team Manager
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“Working with Honda in Italy has been useful to us in our machine development. Billy has been riding a practice bike over the last few months and although he has tested some bespoke parts, this is the first time he has ridden the full factory machine. He has made a full evaluation of various settings and he’s made some excellent progress during the last two days. Cedric is also noticeably more comfortable on his bike since we started working with him. We’ve been concentrating on improving his suspension set-up, and both riders have tested different specification engine parts and maps. It’s been a very positive test for us and over the next few weeks both riders will be riding and training to prepare themselves for the start of the season, while the team will head back to base to work with the new data we now have to further develop our machines. I’d like to say many thanks for the Honda staff who have assisted us throughout this test.”