Good start for the Repsol riders at the first practices of the Spanish Grand Prix.
Nicky Hayden second in MotoGP with Max Biaggi sixth; fastest time for Dani Pedrosa in the 250cc, with Sebastián Porto second.
Today the 2005 World Championship has finally started on the Jerez Circuit after a long winter break. Under completely covered sky and the rain threatening to show up over the Spanish track, the first practice day of the Spanish Grand Prix went off quietly with the Repsol riders playing the leading role.The premier class captured with no doubt the attention of the journalists and fans on this first free practice day in Jerez. This season’s changes in the regulations have changed the configuration of the MotoGP practices, having now three free practices and only one qualifying practice on Saturday afternoon. Both riders of the Repsol Honda Team protagonised this first day of the race weekend.
Nicky Hayden was again very fast, both in the morning and in the afternoon, on the track where he set the fastest time during the last tests of the 2005 preseason, only a week ago. Third and second fastest in the two first sessions, the Repsol rider has found a good pace and is only waiting to fine tune some details of his bike tomorrow, to make a positive qualifying session and get a good place on the starting grid. His teammate Max Biaggi, who, after excellent preseason tests in Barcelona had several problems in Jerez last week, has shown again today that MotoGP has to count on him too. Fifteenth this morning, Max was competitive again in the afternoon after the improvement made on his bike, setting the sixth fastest time. The Roman and his team have still a lot of work left to do, but the six tenths of a second that separate Max from the fastest clock, set by Sete Gibernau, show that the Repsol rider is back on the level of Barcelona.
In the 250cc, Sebastián Porto -fastest in the morning’s free practice – dominated large part of the afternoon timed session and only a couple of seconds hindered him from fighting during the last instants to set the fastest time of the timed session. Porto, finally second fastest, was leading the time sheets a bit more than one minute before the end of the session, but then came an inspired Dani Pedrosa to clock the fastest time. The Argentinean Repsol rider tried to counter attack with another fast lap, but just when he was facing the main straight to make his last lap, he was surprised by the chequered flag. Pedrosa and Porto, Porto and Pedrosa, are right now the strongest men in the class. Their respective teammates, De Puniet and Aoyama, were also very fast on this first day, with the Frenchman fourth and the Japanese fifth at the end of the timed session.
The first day didn’t bring any brilliant results for the Repsol riders in the minor class. Héctor Faubel was the fastest and most consistent of them along the day, setting the sixth fastest time during the morning’s free practice and seventh in the afternoon. One second and a half behind the fastest time set by the Italian rider Marco Simoncelli, Faubel will have to keep on improving tomorrow if he wants to have options for a place on the podium on Sunday.
MotoGP. Nicky Hayden,
2nd, 1’40.894, 29 laps:
‘We tested here last week so we’re basically just getting a few more laps in and confirming a few things. Basically it all felt pretty good for the first day; the team is working well and I’m pretty happy with the bike. There are a couple of places where the tyre is spinning up a bit so we need to work on the set-up there to find a bit of time – or stop losing it – but I think we’re in pretty good shape for Sunday. With only one qualifying session it means we can now really concentrate on race set-up rather than worrying about a time. That’ll be the important job tomorrow afternoon.’
MotoGP. Max Biaggi
6th, 1’41.424, 27 laps:
‘Positive signals: we could be on the right way. The terrible weekend we had here in Jerez 15 days ago was not worthless. Engine management is definitely getting better, even if our job isn’t done yet. Entering and coming out of the corners without hesitating or chattering is still our goal, especially to reach a good racing pace. My team and I are doing our best. I hope to improve tomorrow, I want to be positive.’
250. Dani Pedrosa,
1st, 1’43.025, 21 laps:
‘We’ve been progressing throughout the practice. I felt comfortable and was able to improve the time more than expected. There’s been a lot of traffic during the session and there’s been a bit of a lack of coordination in the garage some tines, but in the end I was able to do two good laps. I hope that the weather conditions do not change tomorrow to be able to keep on preparing the race. I’ve never been on the podium here in Jerez so it’s another challenge for me’.
250. Sebastián Porto
2nd, 1’43.195, 17 laps:
‘It’s been quite good today and the bike is responding as expected. Too bad in the end, by just one second, I crossed the finish line under the chequered flag and couldn’t do my last fast lap. Never mind, being fastest or second fastest is not the most important, what really counts is to be in the front line for the race. I think that the bike is working well and we have set a good pace, so we have reached the aim we set ourselves during the preseason, not only making one good lap. Everything is working well for the moment and we hope to improve tomorrow. Let’s see what happens with the weather; if it’s warm, it’ll be a benefit for us as regards tyres and engine.’
250. Randy de Puniet
4th, 1’43.647, 20 laps:
‘Things haven’t been bad today. We had several problems this morning with the clutch, but in the afternoon, during the timed practice we found the solutions that allowed us to improve our times. My feeling with the bike is good but it’s been a shame because in my last lap, when I was just about to set the pole time, I lost some time in the second section when I came across another rider. I’m confident that we’ll be able to improve our time tomorrow.’
125. Héctor Faubel
7th, 1’48.611, 12 laps:
‘This is my first timed practice after changing the class and the first 30-minute-practice, and it’s really more complicated for the riders. I’m still a bit greenish, but I’m feeling better all the time. Today’s result has been quite good, I’m already in the provisional second row. I think that I’ll be able to jump to the front row tomorrow, although I’m satisfied so far.’
