Alex Barros and Sebastián Porto prepare the assault on the podium at home.
Both Repsol riders set the third fastest time in their respective classes.
Alex Barros races at home and its noticeable in the results of the Brazilian rider despite his physical problems. Sebastián Porto is not from Brazil, obviously, but he is the fastest Argentinean rider, winner of the latest Dutch Grand Prix, and has a large amount of Argentinean fans that have come to Brazil given the vicinity of his home country.
Intense free and qualifying practices have been experienced today in the MotoGP class, with Repsol Honda Team riders playing the leading role. Nicky Hayden set the second fastest time in the morning session behind Valentino Rossi, and his teammate, local hero Alex Barros, finished eighth, having problems with his left shoulder after the crash he suffered at the Dutch Grand Prix. In the afternoon, Barros got over his physical problems and set the third fastest time in the last instants of the qualifying session, only two thousand of a second behind the second fastest rider, the Japanese Tamada. Barros, who had a light crash with the bike almost standing still while rejoining the track after a long breaking manoeuver, finished third behind Gibernau and Tamada. His teammate Nicky Hayden was not able to keep the pace of the top riders this afternoon and finished eighth, a bit over a second behind Gibernau. Xaus, who took part in a 250 GP nine years ago, had several problems with the settings and finished the first timed session in a backwards nineteenth position.
In the 250, Sebastián Porto got back to activity, eager to get a good result after his recent victory in Assen. Fastest in the mornings free practice, the Argentinean is methodically working on his bike to find the best settings for the race. Third in the first qualifying practice carried out in the afternoon, only one tenth of a second behind the fastest time set by De Puniet, Porto remembers that this is a circuit where he feels very comfortable and where he took his first victory two years ago. His teammate Fonsi Nieto, sixth fastest in the morning, dropped back to ninth in the afternoon, but feels very confident and optimistic. In the minor class, the day started with positive results for the Repsol riders, with Pablo Nieto setting the fourth fastest time during the free practice and his teammate Sergio Gadea finishing twenty-first after his first contact with the Brazilian track. Things changed in the afternoon for both riders, especially for Pablo Nieto who only managed to improve his times by some hundreds of a second, dropping back to the fifteenth provisional position on the grid. Sergio Gadea was not able to keep his morning position either, dropping back to the twenty-sixth place.
