After the win achieved in the Indianapolis Grand Prix, the Repsol Honda Team has continued to show a high level in the first outing at the Misano circuit. After winning five days ago, Dani Pedrosa again led the MotoGP category with authority, this time accompanied by his team-mate Andrea Dovizioso, who was second in this first practice session.
The Spanish rider went out ready to follow the path laid in Indianapolis from the start and instead of progressing little by little with a discreet start and then upping the pace, as he usually does, Pedrosa set the pace to follow from the start of the session. Gradually improving, the Spanish rider topped the timesheets until he finally stopped the clock at 1 minute, 34 seconds and 772 milliseconds, being the only rider capable of riding at under one minute and 35 seconds and opening a gap of more than six-tenths over his rivals. He achieved this best time with the softest compound tyre available at Misano and he did so based on the Indianapolis set-up adapted to the special characteristics of this track.
His nearest rival was a motivated Andrea Dovizioso, who in his home Grand Prix finished today’s practice in second place. At a track where the Hondas initially start with a disadvantage due to the over-aggressive response of the engine, Dovizioso completed an excellent day for the Repsol Honda Team with his second place. Like his team-mate, today, the Italian rider focused on testing the tyres to decide which ones he will use in Sunday’s race.
Despite this satisfactory start, this positive performance will have to be ratified in the qualifying session tomorrow.
Dani Pedrosa, 1’34.772 sec, 27 laps, 114 km. >> Audio
“It’s been really a good start here in Misano compared to last year and I’m very happy about that. We are coming from a strong result at the last race and it’s important to keep the momentum going, which we have done so far. But we need to remain very concentrated and focused because we still have some areas to improve, and I’m sure our rivals will also go quicker tomorrow. Our pace has been quite fast today and Andrea is close to the front as well, so this is a good sign for the team. Here the grid positions are very important again because the first corner is close to the start and it’s a tight bend, so we need to make sure we have a good pace tomorrow so that we can qualify well, and also to be ready for another long and tough race. I can say this was one of my best Friday practices, but I’m not going to relax at all”.
Andrea Dovizioso, 1’35.384 sec, 27 laps, 114 km. >> Audio
“I’m happy with the work done during this session and I’m satisfied to be second. Six tenths from Dani is quite a big gap but I think we have the opportunity to close this. At the end I was able to improve my lap times with the tyres I used for the whole session, so I’m confident we can move forward tomorrow. I think everyone was struggling for grip today and it was easy to lose the front, but we found a set-up solution that was effective to help with this so we’ll continue working in that direction tomorrow. Tyre selection for the race will be very important, and both the harder and softer option Bridgestones look like possible choices at the moment. I think there are many of riders who can be strong this weekend so we have to work hard tomorrow and do a good job in qualifying”.
