Following a strong weekend, in which rider Evgeny Bobryshev debuted the factory 2012 CRF 450R at the Mantova Starcross race where he finished second overall with a final race win, the Honda World Motocross team has enjoyed three days of testing with its Japanese staff from the R&D department in Japan.

With Monday being restricted to off-track work due to rain, the last two days have seen Evgeny Bobryshev undergo an intense schedule of engine, chassis and suspension testing. With his teammate Rui Gonçalves absent due to straining his shoulder prior to the Mantova race, Bobryshev has solely been working with the team and Japanese staff to run through a number of new components.

Also present at the test were staff from the Showa and Dunlop R&D departments. Bobryshev ran a new-spec SFF Showa suspension system during the race weekend and was able to bring a lot of information to the test about the Showa fork system to further develop with engineers. The Russian-ace also went through a number of new tyre options around the sandy Mantova track, and has given his feedback, again to continue the development with Dunlop.

 It’s been an incredibly busy schedule with Bobryshev out on track for the majority of both days, in which he was able to test various factory engine components and chassis parts as well as new suspension, to gather information to improve the factory bike even further for the race season. The team will now head back to base with new data to work through before competing at the Dutch championship event in a couple of weeks’ time.

Evgeny Bobryshev #777
“We missed one day riding on the track with the rain, but the last two days have been very productive. We changed a lot of things on Tuesday, so I didn’t do masses of laps, but today I have been riding since around nine this morning until it was dark. We have found some nice improvements for the bike, especially to suit my style a little bit more. We have made another step forward since the race, and now the bike really suits me with the power delivery. I feel it’s a lot easier to ride, especially in corners where the bike is now a lot smoother. We also tested some different suspension settings with Showa, as well as a number of different tyre options with Dunlop too, so it’s been a very busy few days. While we have made many different improvements with the engine, chassis and suspension, the main thing for me is that the bike feels more stable and there is less pressure on the arms, especially over th e bumpy sections. I’d really like to say thanks to everyone in the group from the Japanese staff to the team, whom have all been working so hard throughout the last week. It’s really amazing to work with this team, as everyone is working so hard for the goal and trying to make things better for me to improve. So, a big thanks to them and now I am going to Russia for a few days before coming back to race at the Dutch championship.”

Roger Harvey: Honda Motor Europe Off-Road Manager
“Following on from a really good building weekend at the Mantova race, we’ve had a busy few days here working through testing new parts for a number of areas of the bike. The Japanese R&D staff from Honda, Showa, and Dunlop have been working meticulously with the team through a good test schedule and we’ve had the opportunity to try many different things for refinement of the strong package we already have. This information can now be taken away from the test to be analysed and put into the development of the bike that we will race during the Grand Prix season.”

Taichi Honda: Project Leader for Factory CRF
“I’m very happy with the progress made and the beginning of the season. Today we’ve tried many different things including a new chassis, new suspension and a new engine. Everything has given us good results, and we can now take a lot of data away from here to prepare for the Grand Prix races. We have done many laps in the last few days and I look forward to making more improvements with the factory bike, which is already proving to be a good package, ready for the first race.”