Keeping an eye on the weather forecasts in Donington.
Hiroshi Aoyama and Dani Pedrosa, best Repsol riders of the first day. Complicated return into action for Nicky Hayden after his victory in Laguna Seca.
First practice day of the British Grand Prix and first rain of the weekend. The weather, as usual in this event, is claiming for its leading role. After the US Grand Prix for the MotoGP riders and the Dutch Grand Prix for the rest, activity is back in Europe this weekend with the ninth round of the 2005 season. The low temperatures for this time of the year, with 16º C during the second MotoGP session, and the black, cloudy sky did not make a normal progress of the first English practices easy.
The rain threat of the morning did not go further but in the afternoon and during the second MotoGP free practice, the intermittent drizzle hindered the normal development of the practice, forcing the riders to spend most of the time sheltered in their pit garages. James Ellison made the largest number of laps with a total of 19. In the morning, the MotoGP practices were carried out under normal circumstances, with North American Colin Edwards fastest, followed by Valentino Rossi and John Hopkins.
Nicky Hayden, who was returning to action after his recent victory in Laguna Seca, finished ninth, while his teammate Max Biaggi was twelfth. In the afternoon, Hayden was one of the riders most harmed by the rain; first with a light crash after loosing grip on his front tyre with the first rain drops and then by the rain showing up again, hindering him from getting back on the track to keep on working on his bike’s setting. His teammate Max, in a much calmer second session, compared to Haydens, set the ninth fastest time, six tenths behind the fastest rider, Brazilian Alex Barros.
The Repsol Aspar team riders had a rather feeble performance in the first qualifying session of the 250cc class. After the morning practice, Sebastián Portos third place enticed optimism, but several mechanical problems on both of his bikes set him back to the eleventh place in the afternoon. His teammate Randy de Puniet had no brilliant performance either, neither in the morning (eighth), nor in the afternoon qualifying session (seventh).
They now both dependent on the weather conditions of tomorrow to try to improve their positions on the starting grid. Positive practice results however for Dani Pedrosa and his teammate Hiroshi Aoyama. The Japanese set the seventh fastest time in the morning, but moved up to third in the afternoon. Pedrosa, second in the morning, less than one tenth behind the fastest time, set by Lorenzo, finished fourth in the qualifying session. In the morning, the current class World Champion suffered a light crash on the fast downhill section after loosing grip on his front tyre due to the lack of temperature. Fastest in the afternoon was again Lorenzo.
Average performance of the Repsol riders in both sessions of the minor class, with Sergio Gadea fastest of them in both, setting the eighth fastest time in the morning and the eleventh in the afternoon. Héctor Faubel was thirteenth both in the morning and in the afternoon. While he was on his fast lap in the afternoon session, three minutes before the end of the session, he had a light crash after his front tyre lost grip, hindering him from improving his fastest time, having to settle for the thirteenth place. The fastest session times were for Luthi in the morning and Kallio in the afternoon.
Repsol rider´s comments:
MotoGP. Nicky Hayden
First free practice 9th, 130.580, 27 laps
Second free practice 21st, 139.586, 9 laps
Didnt get too much done today really. This morning went OK but we were missing a bit of feeling. We were trying to get some laps on a race tyre as we knew the weather for the weekend could be bad. We didnt really get much out of the afternoon. I came in when it rained and then came out again when it looked dryer. It then started raining again and I wanted to get a little feel in the rain and unfortunately tipped over in Turn 1 going slow and pretty easy. Pretty stupid little mistake all my own fault and Im sorry to the team. By the time I went out again it was raining again! The timing was all wrong. Thats the way it goes. You have your good days and your bad days this wasnt great.
MotoGP. Max Biaggi
First free practice 12th, 131.658, 29 laps
Second free practice 9th, 131.327, 13 laps
The weather conditions infulenced our practice today. This morning the feeling was not so good and we were down on speed. We were just not fast enough. We mae some changes for the afternoon session and immeadiatly the bike started to feel a bit better. We aim tomorrow to improve the feeling and we aim to enjoy, as this pace is not acceptable.
250. Hiroshi Aoyama
First free practice 7th, 133.910, 28 laps
First qualifying practice 3rd, 132.826, 23 laps
The track was very cold in the morning and I thought that the best would be to take it easy. I wanted to get back the feeling on the bike bit by bit after three weeks without racing. This afternoon we continued working on the front end, because I didnt feel comfortable with it and in the end I was able to lap behind Dani to set a good time. I have to manage to set this lap times constantly tomorrow and on Sunday.
250. Dani Pedrosa
First free practice 2nd, 133.143, 23 laps
First qualifying practice 4th, 132.887, 21 laps
Its been a rather hard day. The track was very cold and the tyres didnt get a good temperature, especially the front one. Thereve been several crashes on risky sections and I even had a fright myself in the morning. This circuit has only got two or three left-hand corners and when you reach the first one, which in addition goes downhill, the tyre is colder than usual and its easy to crash. The feelings have been positive in general. We have to be ready for everything, because they say that the weather is going to get worse. At least we were able to use the dry track to set the bike.
250. Randy De Puniet
First free practice 8th, 134.011, 30 laps
First qualifying practice 7th, 133.368, 20 laps
Today wasnt too bad considering that conditions were not very good. I did plenty of laps and found a good rhythm, whats more with this chassis I feel a lot more comfortable and think we can get a good result this weekend whether it rains or not.
250. Sebastián Porto
First free practice 3rd, 133.217, 24 laps
First qualifying practice 11th, 133.962, 13 laps
Things went well this morning and in the afternoon we had a lot of problems with the bike. In the end I had to take my second bike but after just three laps we had more problems so we lost the rest of the session. There is not much more to say really, it was a shame because the day started alright. I am angry because these things shouldnt happen. This morning we were third and just a tenth off the pace, well just have to see what happens tomorrow and when it isnt raining.
125. Sergio Gadea
First free practice 8th, 139.335, 21 laps
First qualifying practice 11th, 138.551, 14 laps
I was very well-placed in the morning session and I felt completely comfortable. In the afternoon we made a few changes which did not bring the results we hoped for. We switched back to the mornings set-up but lost time in doing so and also changing the tyres which did not give us much time to do anything. Whats more, when I tried to push I got stuck behind a group and could not give my best. I like the circuit and did quite well last year. We have already taken off a second on my time from last year so that is good. Well see what we can achieve tomorrow, if the weather allows.
125. Héctor Faubel
First free practice 13th, 139.718, 21 laps
First qualifying practice 13th, 139.079, 16 laps
I lost some time this morning because of a puncture. I was convinced I could improve a lot in the afternoon, but when I pushed I ended up on the ground three minutes from the end of the session. I got back on the bike but it was very difficult to recover. Tomorrow I hope it does not rain so I can improve my time and I can get on the first line of the grid. I am happy with the bike, but we have to work on the front suspension which is not quite working as Id like. I hope we can get it fixed for tomorrow.
Track conditions
- Air: 16º-18º
- Asphalt: 19º-21º
- Humidity: 46%-69%
- Wind: 5 Km/h
