The Repsol Honda Team rider Dani Pedrosa got his third consecutive pole in MotoGP today, at the Malaysian track of Sepang, after others in Japan and Australia. Pedrosa, the ninth best in the morning, set the pole in the afternoon`s timed session with his second classification tyre.
Pedrosa said after the practice that he still had work to do on the Honda RC212V`s set up, and he must make a decision together with his team regarding the race tyres. The different track conditions today, compared to yesterday and the high level of tyre wear on the new asphalt were two of the decisive factors in the two practice sessions. The big doubt for tomorrow is the weather, this will affect the state of the track and makes the tyre choice especially difficult.
Today was an especially difficult day for his teammate Nicky Hayden. In spite of setting the fourth best time in the morning`s free practice session, the rider from Kentucky was not able to find a good enough set up that would let him keep up a good pace in the race this afternoon. In spite of this the Repsol Honda Team rider was able to set a fast lap with classification tyres, and so he will be on the second row of the starting grid as he set the sixth best time.In 250cc, another difficult day for the Japanese rider Shuhei Aoyama. He was 13th in the morning`s free practice session, but in the afternoon in the definitive timed session he could only finish in 16th position.
His teammate Julián Simón guaranteed himself a position on the second row of the starting grid after setting the 8th best time in the second timed practice. Simón, who had some problems with his front tyre and so could not ride with total confidence, hopes to find a solution tomorrow in the warm up so that he can race with complete confidence.Complicated day for the young riders in the Repsol Honda 125cc Team. After yesterday`s two positive performances yesterday, with Esteve Rabat 8th and Bradley Smith 10th, today things went wrong for the riders schooled by Alberto Puig.
In the morning, Rabat set the 16th best time and his teammate Smith was right behind him. In the afternoon, the same problems, a lack of power on their Hondas, did not let them keep the positions they got yesterday; Smith finished 15th – fourth row of the starting grid – and Rabat 17th – fifth row. Smith fell but was unhurt at the end of the session, when his engine broke down, and so was unable to fight for a better place on tomorrow`s grid. The two riders hope to take advantage of tomorrow`s warm up to try and improve the set up on their bikes.
