For the second time this season, the MotoGP riders have crossed the Atlantic for a GP in United States, this time at the impressive circuit in Indianapolis, America’s motor racing Mecca. After first contact with the track that hosts the legendary Indy 500, Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso completed the first practice session in fourth and seventh position respectively, in a session dominated by Casey Stoner.
From the outset of today’s practice session, Dani Pedrosa was not riding as comfortably as he has been in recent races. In the first laps around the slow bends of the American track, with its numerous bumps and three changes of surface –making it a difficult ride-, Pedrosa suffered problems with rear-wheel grip and braking stability. The Spaniard, focused on getting a better sensation from the track, put in longer laps towards the end of the session to improve his lines on the bends, and was able to keep up a pace of 1’ 41’’, timing in with a best mark of 1.41.421.
Andrea Dovizioso closed the day two-tenths of a second behind, in seventh spot, after once again trying out the suspension he used for the first time at Brno two weeks ago. Satisfied with the feeling he got from today’s practice, the Repsol rider is aware of the margin of improvement needed going into tomorrow’s session, where he will be able to better analyze the performance of the Honda RC212V with the hard Bridgestones, which he barely used today at a serious pace.
Dani Pedrosa, 1’41.421 sec, 26 laps, 110 km. >> Audio
“This track is very bumpy and also you can really feel the changes in the surface, but this is no different to last year. Today the big difference was that the temperature of the asphalt was higher and this made it quite slippery. We were lacking a little traction at the rear and we also have to improve out set-up on the brakes – so this is our homework for tomorrow. At the beginning of the session I struggled to get into a good rhythm and to feel comfortable in these conditions, so in the second half of the session I stayed out on the bike to better understand the right line and where the bumps are. I tried only the softer option Bridgestone today so tomorrow I will ride with the hard one because the right tyre choice will be very important for the race of course. I think we can make progress tomorrow”.
Andrea Dovizioso, 1’41.683 sec, 26 laps, 110 km.>> Audio
“We weren’t really going for ultimate lap times today and so I think we made a good start – tomorrow we can improve quite a lot because our lap times this afternoon aren’t indicative of our full potential. We began today with some further comparison tests between the modified forks and the fork we have been using so far this season, and this took some time, but it was important for us to understand the direction to follow.In the end we chose the existing fork. We did our best lap time with the hard option Bridgestone, but I did only one fast lap on that tyre so there’s more to come and I’m confident for tomorrow. We will continue working on the electronics set-up especially, but I’m confident we’ve found a good base”.
