Sunshine, clouds, rain and wind took turns today throughout the first day of training sessions for the Portugese Grand Prix. Under these complicated weather conditions, this morning…
Dani Pedrosa had a particularly tough first free training session. The tarmac, at first completely wet and afterwards with some dry patches, did not exactly entice anyone to take any risks, and the winner of the last Spanish Grand Prix decided to play safe. This, and a few setup problems with his Honda RC212V 2008, led him to finish sixteenth at the end of the first session. Teammate Nicky Hayden, who finished fourth in the last Grand Prix, was sixth this morning. In the afternoon, and on a now completely dry track, though with strong wind, Pedrosa gradually climbed places until he took the lead by the end of the session, after a suerb struggle with Italian Valentino Rossi and American Colin Edwards for the best time. Nicky Hayden, increasingly consistent on his new Honda RC212V 2008, completed a fine day for the Repsol Honda Team scoring the fourth best time. In the quarter-litre category, Julián Simón finished today’s timed training session in sixth position, after completing 46 laps on the Portugese track and riding a best lap time of 1’42.189 secs. The Repsol rider has been testing an accelerator with less travel, in order to try and avoid the cramps that affect his forearm since the race in Jerez, and which after new magnetic resonances have been treated by an osteopath. Once again, Simón rode lap times that came close to the fastest, improving on his time during the last lap, Mika Kallio, and Hiroshi Aoyama, riders who receive technical support from Repsol, finished in third and eighth place, respectively. Today was an important day for young Marc Márquez, who was finally able to make his debut in the World Championship, now recovered from the fracture he sustained during the pre-season training sessions. The Repsol rider suffered a light fall this morning in the slow chicane on the Estoril Circuit, when he stepped on the gas for the slope. In spite of the incident, he got up without any problems and was able to go back to the box with just a few scratches on the bodywork of his bike. In the timed session, Márquez concentrated on improving adjustments to his bike and on getting to know the Portugese track, finishing in fifteenth position, somewhat annoyed with the difficulty of having to ride on a track that was still wet, though satisfied with the improvements on the bike. The Repsol rider is aware that tomorrow he will have little time to solve the problems he still has getting his bike to turn in the curves, if he wants to improve his position on the starting grid.Dani Pedrosa, 1’38.507 sec, 40 laps, 167 Km. >> Audio We started today using the base setup we used at Jerez and we didn’t need to make too many changes. This morning’s session was quite complicated because it had been raining, so conditions were constantly changing as the track dried, then we had a minor technical issue with one of my bikes, so we had to stop before the end of the hour. This afternoon we had a dry session which allowed us to start doing some tyre testing in preparation for the race, which is especially important considering the changeable weather during the weekend. After a few laps this afternoon I began to get into the rhythm of Estoril again.Nicky Hayden, 1’38.688 sec, 47 laps, 197 Km. >> Audio Everything went pretty well, it&r squo;s been quite a positive day, I think we had a pretty good start to things. Sure we’re gonna have to improve a little bit, but seems like in the wet and dry we got a bike working relatively well, so if we can sweeten up a few things tomorrow, hopefully we can really be up there come Sunday. More or less the bike was working okay without a lot of big changes, so we’re running a pretty similar setup to what I ran at Jerez, just a few little clickers here and there. Conditions were not easy, the morning was wet, then half and half and the afternoon was a little bit patchy and windy, so sure it was quite challenging, but the team’s done a good job and we’ve got a pretty decent setup, so we’ll see tomorrow.Julián Simón, 1’42.189 sec, 46 laps, 192 Km. >> Audio As in all Grand Prix’s, we start here in Portugal with high spirits. It’s the third race and we want to see our bike up in the top places. Just like we did in Jerez during the first laps, we’ll try to be there in the front and stay there throughout the race, keeping a good pace. Conditions here aren’t that good, this morning the track was damp and we spent some time setting up the bike. During the official training session the weather conditions improved, though the track still wasn’t perfect yet. We ran a lap time which I think is quite good, though I’m convinced that we could have done better if I’d have stopped to change a tyre, but there wasn’t time for more. I think that overall today was a good day. I think my arm is better than in Jerez, but we’ll have to do a lot of work with the physiotherapist this weekend to try and make it to the race in the best possible condition.Esteve Rabat, 1’49.500 sec, 30 laps, 125 Km. >> Audio Today was a very difficult day because it rained in the morning, it was freezing cold, and in the afternoon it looked like the track was drying out, and twenty minutes before the timed training session it rained again. The track was half wet, half dry, though we were able to ride with smooth tyres. In any case, the track was still dirty and today didn’t end as a very significant day. The important thing today was to gather as much infromation as possible for tomorrow’s timed training session and get a decent place on the starting grid. If you manage to hook up to the leading pack on this circuit, you can stay there, because there are a lot of braking areas where you can recover lost ground. Tomorrow we’ll try to get the bike properly set up and see once and for all if we can have a good race.Marc Márquez, 1’51.330 sec, 26 laps, 109 Km. >> Audio It was a good day, though at first it was raining and then the track gradually dried out. I was starting to pick up my pace and had a fall, though there were no consequences. I’ve been ridong alone throughout almost the whole training sessions, to pick up my pace and to get to know the circuit. In the afternoon we went on the track with smooth-treaded tyres, and though it took us a while to get the hang of it, in general it was a good day. We went out there to ride and there wasn’t much time to adjust the bike, but the sensations are good and I think I can do quite well. In the World Championship you can see that everyone gives it all they’ve got, and you have to concentrate on your work if you want a top position. My arm is much better than I expected and doesn’t bother me at all. I was obviously quite nervous at the beginning, but once on the bike it was just like a normal training session.
