Checa: For me it's the chassis...

While the two other Honda MotoGP riders testing at Sepang listed engine performance as the main area of urgent development, new LCR rider Carlos Checa spent his time trying to find a suitable chassis set-up.

Checa began the final day working on refining the base-line settings of the machine by altering the castor angle by half a degree to improve front-end feeling before switching his attention to ride height and working on the electronic mapping in a bid to improve the engine braking characteristics. On day two of the test Checa had thought he needed more help from the engine under deceleration but on Friday he preferred a softer setting.

"Basically we spent a lot of time looking for better chassis settings trying to establish a better base line to work from in future testing. We played with the castor angle and ride height of the bike looking for a better base line. Traction is good but I found it a little difficult to find a good contact feeling from the front, the bike needs to turn faster," explained the experienced Spaniard, who was seventh fastest on Friday.

"The weather didn't help us today I had hoped it would have held off so I could use the last hour of the day but no luck. But Honda know which areas of the bike they have to work on and we have helped to clarify the parts that need improving. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with this team and it has been good to be here and get to know everybody better."