Sebastián Porto fastest in 250 and Nicky Hayden close to the pole in MotoGP.
The North American rider was second fastest in MotoGP, Fonsi Nieto sixth in 250 and Pablo Nieto seventh in 125.
First official practice day in the renewed Le Mans circuit with a completely reasphalted track and the Repsol Honda Team riders have been among the fastest in both practice sessions. Nicky Hayden set the second fastest time in both sessions, after leading the time sheets on several occasions during the two hours of practices on this first day at the French Grand Prix. His team-mate Alex Barros, seventh fastest in the morning, kept a fast pace during the qualifying session but was not able to fight for the fastest clock in the last moments of the session and with qualifying tyres, having to settle for the tenth provisional position of the starting grid. Rubén Xaus, highly competitive in both practice sessions, despite this being his second visit to the French track – he raced here several years ago at the beginning of the Supersport World Championship – set the thirteenth fastest time on his Ducati.
In the 250 GP, Sebastián Porto overpowered his rivals once again during the first practices of the weekend. Fastest after both sessions, free and qualifying practice, the Argentinean rider is preparing the third race of the season with optimism getting ready for the assault on his first victory of the 2004 season. His team-mate Fonsi Nieto showed himself very competitive this morning as well, setting the second fastest time, less than a tenth behind Porto. In the afternoon, he chose the wrong set-up for his Aprilia loosing some positions – sixth fastest – but there are two practice sessions left before the race that will allow the Repsol rider and his team to improve positions.In the minor class, Pablo Nieto returned to the track where he suffered a heavy crash fracturing his coccyx last year.
Eighteenth in the free practices, Nieto has been progressively improving his times in the afternoon thanks to the work of his team on the settings of his Aprilia. Jorge Martínez Aspar’s pupil set the seventh fastest time in the first qualifying practice, thus making sure a place in the second row of the starting grid. His team-mate Sergio Gadea hasn’t been very lucky in his first contact with the French track. A mechanical problem hindered the young Repsol rider from taking part in the morning practice – he could only make two laps -, finishing twenty-eighth in the afternoon session.
