Honda about to make engine decision

The engine was raced in the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello by HRC test rider Tadayuki Okada, who had a trouble-free run to 14th place.

Race rider Dani Pedrosa, who along with teammate Nicky Hayden still used a conventional mechanical-valve engine in today's event, said that discussions will take place tonight.

"It was very important that Okada finished today, gathering a lot of data which we will examine and discuss tonight," said the Spaniard.

"I don't know yet which engine I'll be using next weekend," added Hayden. "To be honest, I've been concentrating on this race, so I haven't thought about it yet."

41-year-old Okada, contesting his first GP in almost eight years, said that there's still work to be done on the new engine, after he took the chequered flag almost a minute behind winner Valentino Rossi on Fiat Yamaha.

"We finished the race and this was the most important thing of all," said the Japanese. "We have gathered plenty of data which we can now analyse.

"We still have some issues with edge grip and this is the next step to improve the engine - the bike was sliding today so I couldn't fully use its power. The engine's strong point is its higher rev ceiling which gives an advantage on the straights, but we still need to improve driveability.

"My thanks to Repsol Honda and to HRC for all their work with this engine. It was very exciting for me to race in a GP again - it felt really amazing when I crossed the finish line!"

Honda team manager Kazuhiko Yamano, who expressed the outfit's joy at today's successful test run, confirmed that discussions on the engine are imminent.

"We are very happy that Tady finished the race," he said. "We are also looking at his data, later we will talk to Dani and Nicky to discuss the engine plan for next weekend's race. We will never give up - our target is always to win."

Pedrosa classified third in today's race while Hayden had a yet-unknown problem to finish in a lowly 13th place.