Least differences between the favourites at the Catalan Grand Prix.
The top five of the 250cc and MotoGP classes are within half a second. Kallio, Pedrosa and Gibernau clock the fastest times. Porto 3rd and De Puniet 4th in the 250cc; Biaggi 4th and Hayden 5th in MotoGP.
Evenness and least differences between the candidates for the victory, and races without any clear forecast for the Catalan GP which will be held tomorrow at the Circuit de Catalunya. After today’s qualifying practices, both 250cc Repsol riders were able to get a place on the front row of the grid, while the MotoGP riders will be starting from the second. Some more problems in the 125cc with Héctor Faubel in seventh position. Tyre testing has been the main objective for all of them today considering the high temperatures expected for tomorrow.Porto and De Puniet hope to be able to clinch their first victory of the season tomorrow. The Argentinean rider felt comfortable throughout the session and his lap times have been constant.
The work on the bike’s set-up has been effective and Sebastián is one of the favourites for the win. Meritorious fourth place for Randy de Puniet who spent most of the practice session in the garage due to a problem with his bike. His result is encouraging considering that he was only able to cover half a dozen laps. They will both be starting from the front row together with Pedrosa and Lorenzo.Second row of the MotoGP starting grid for Max Biaggi and Nicky Hayden.
Both riders of the Repsol Honda Team regret not having been able to take their bike up to the front row but their practice sessions have been regular, free of problems and the team has found a good compromise for the race set-ups. Given the evenness shown by all favourites during the qualifying session, both the North American and the Italian are convinced that a good start will allow them to be in the leading group of the race.Faubel, will finally take part in the GP after the progressive improvement of his physical condition after the accident suffered at the Italian GP. He is not at a 100 percent yet, but he’s got the OK from the doctors and he hopes to be able to be fighting for tomorrow’s podium. Sergio Gadea finished fifteenth.
Repsol rider´s comments:
MotoGP. Max Biaggi,
4th on the grid
Third free practice 7th, 143.325, 26 laps
First qualifying practice 4th, 142.756, 27 laps
Its been a very important testing day. Weve been working to choose the bike for the race and we used all the time we had. For a few thousandths of a second we missed the first row, but its ok anyway. The important thing now is to make a good start. The team is working always better day by day. The worst is gone.
MotoGP. Nicky Hayden,
5º on the grid.
Third free practice 2nd, 143.009, 26 laps
First qualifying practice 5th, 142.847, 25 laps
As weve been quick all weekend it would have been nice to get onto that front row but it wasnt to be. Well, as usual, have to make a good start and stay with the boys and Ill have to bring my A-game tomorrow. This weekend has been good so far. Weve been up front in all the sessions and I was actually hoping to get a little more from my qualifier. No excuses, I got a good clear run but just didnt make the lap time. Itll be a hot pace tomorrow. Everyone is going really quick here thats what makes it fun.
250. Dani Pedrosa,
1st on the grid.
Second free practice 3rd, 146.833, 24 laps
Second qualifying practice 1st, 146.238, 18 laps
There has been some indecision in the garage today. We have made some changes that didnt work well and we had to go back to the previous settings. The changes made us loose considerable time, more than five minutes that were not planned and I was only able to do a couple of good laps. Weve been able to improve both my feelings and the lap times and thats the most important. The race is obviously another story. We are going to cover a lot of laps and its going to be warm. We know which tyres were going to use but we still have to see how theyll work during the race. The circuit is very similar to Mugello, although its warmer here and the asphalt is slightly more slippery. I hope to be able to make a good start and control our rivals closely.
250. Sebastián Porto,
3rd on the grid.
Second free practice 2nd, 146.523, 24 laps
Second qualifying practice 3rd, 14.706, 16 laps
Im happier than yesterday, not only for the position and the time, but also because weve found the right set-up for the bike. Were competitive again thanks to the changes weve made. I was hindered by other riders during my fast lap, and that made me loose some tenths, but the most important thing is, as I said, that Im happy because I have good feelings with the bike again. Tomorrow well have a difficult race, but I feel that I have a competitive bike; were stronger than in the previous races and that makes me feel more comfortable.
250. Randy De Puniet,
4th on the grid.
Second free practice 4th, 146.907, 27 laps
Second qualifying practice 4th, 146.852, 14 laps
I had a problem with the bike during the qualifying practice and that forced me to stay in the garage for about twenty-five minutes. I finally was able to make three good laps and get close to the time set yesterday without even putting on qualifying tyres. Considering the problems Ive had today, front row isnt bad at all, but for me, the most important is tomorrows race. If I manage to do a good start, I hope to be in the front, fighting for the victory. Id like to win here, because this is one of my favourite circuits.
125. Héctor Faubel,
7th on the grid.
Second free practice 7th, 152.056, 12 lapsSecond qualifying practice 7th, 152.056, 12 lapsIm feeling better every day. I hope to be able to stand the whole race. It will be very hard but Ill try to make a good start and Ill do everything I can. I dont feel 100 percent yet, but after the way I felt, I wasnt even sure to be able to race here. I got very good feelings with the bike. We had some problems with the suspensions this morning but it went much better in the afternoon. I hope to be able to fix everything before the warm-up. We still have to see how I feel tomorrow on the track in order to get a good result in front of our fans.
Standings:
125
- M.Kallio (KTM) 1.51.451
- M.Pasini (Aprilia) 1.51.515
- M.Simoncelli (Aprilia) 1.51.949
- L.Zanetti (Aprilia) 1.54.234
7. H.Faubel (Aprilia) 1.53.242
15. S.Gadea (Aprilia) 1.52.805
250
- D.Pedrosa (Honda) 1.46.238
- J.Lorenzo (Honda) 1.46.617
- S.Porto (Aprilia) 1.46.706
- R.de Puniet (Aprilia) 1.46.825
- H.Aoyama(Honda) 1.47.082
MotoGP
- S.Gibernau (Honda) 142.337
- M.Melandri (Honda) 1.42.390
- V.Rossi (Yamaha) 1.42.723
- M.Biaggi (Honda) 1.42.756
- N.Hayden (Honda) 1.42.847
