Czech GP. First practice. Driver´s comments

Dani Pedrosa: ‘We still have to make some small changes just as most of the other riders have to, because this has been the first dry session after this morning’s rain’.
MotoGP, Valentino Rossi, 1.59´708 sec, 2nd: Today Im happy. We made good work here in the test last month and the bike works well. We are able to maintain a good, constant fast rhythm. The Michelins are good on a track where grip is so important. The tyres are moving around but Im pretty happy with traction. We are not at 100% but we are in good shape. We use the new exhaust system here on both bikes as we find it has the advantage here in the tests. We look at all the data tonight to make improvements for tomorrow. MotoGP, Nicky Hayden, 2.00´442 sec, 6th: Overall a pretty good day. Fifth fastest this morning and sixth this afternoon. Thats the highest Ive ever been! Gotta be happy with that. We had a good test here a few weeks back that helped a lot with the settings and for me gettin to know the place. Id like to get the bike to steer a little better but were workin on that. The bike feels good generally. Tomorrow weve gotta do it all again and stay on the second row or go better for the race on Sunday. 250.Fonsi Nieto, 2.04´853 sec, 5th: We hardly could work this morning due to the rain and we’ve also been having problems with the front fork throughout the day. The track was very cold in the morning and I thought that it might the reason for the problem. We’ve only been working on the number one bike today, so I haven’t been able to check the difference with the fork of the second bike. Now I’ll sit down with my mechanics to check everything, hoping to be able to improve my times tomorrow, looking forward to the race. 250.Toni Elias, 2.05´026 sec, 6th: Too bad it rained in the morning, because we weren’t able to work on the bike’s settings. In the afternoon I clocked the times with the race tyres; we also focussed on the setting of the suspensions and several other parts to try to improve the bike’s general behaviour. I’m following the working line set up by Sandi and we’re improving bit by bit, but given the rain in the morning and the strong heat in the afternoon, it’s been very difficult to tune the bike. Today’s result isn’t bad and I hope to be able to make it better tomorrow. 250.Sebastián Porto, 2.05´370 sec, 7th: I’m a bit angry because we’ve had problems with the tyres again and that’s something that is worrying us a lot. We already lost a race in Germany due to a defect front tyre and here we’ve had the same problem twice in the afternoon. The truth is that I’m tired of loosing opportunities to be in the front due to the tyres. The bike is working well in general, but both the team and I are very angry with the thing about the tyres. Let’s hope it doesn’t happen again tomorrow and that the bike works a bit better. 250. Héctor Faubel, 2.06´235 sec, 11th: We arrived very happy, because we saw the end of the tunnel at the Sachsenring and the bike is really reacting good, much better than before. We’ve been having several problems with the front fork in the last months, but now the bike is much more balanced. There are only a few changes left and some work tomorrow in order to improve times and get a place in the front.                       250.Joan Olivé, 2.07´620 sec, 22nd: I had a light crash at mid-practice, changing direction in one of the chicanes. I lost the front of the bike because of a new tyre compound that didn’t react the way expected and it made me loose time that I would have needed to continue working on the settings. But I’ve been able to do many laps anyway, and that is important to get a good rhythm for the race. We’ll keep on testing tomorrow because we had not much time to work today after the crash. Let’s hope for better weather conditions to be able to work on the settings, although there are not many changes needed. 125.Dani Pedrosa, 2.09´330 sec, 1st: This afternoon’s practice has been quite good and we’ve been in the lead, but we should not forget hat there are two sessions left, and the race of course. With regard to the bike, it’s working fine. We still have to make some small changes just as most of the other riders have to, because this has been the first dry session after this morning’s rain. There was a bit of confusion this afternoon because I didn’t notice the chequered flag and kept on lapping. These times are obviously worth nothing, but, anyway, I think that it’s been a good start. 125.Héctor Barberá, 2.10´072 sec, 7th:I haven’t been able to lap much this morning because of the wet track. We did a good job in the afternoon but there was a section where I had a small problem with the clutch, making me loose some tenths. I’m sure I could have been on a better position. But I’m happy anyway, because I’ve been able to lap quite fast. I rode very well last year on this track, so I don’t think that it’s going to be difficult to improve my times tomorrow. The bike is working fine and we’ve found a good setting with regard to the chassis and the engine. 125.Pablo Nieto, 2.10´598 sec, 12th: Today we had the first contact with the bike after those well-deserved holidays. It rained this morning and it set us back with the regard to the work on the bike. I used the afternoon to lap and to work on the settings; we’ll keep on doing the same tomorrow to set some good times for the race. Starting almost directly with the official practices right after holidays is something difficult and you shouldn’t get nervous. We still have tomorrow left to work for Sunday, and that’s the most important of all.