Transitional day in the Czech Republic for the aspirations of the Repsol riders.
With a view to the race, Nicky Hayden sets the fourth fastest time and Dani Pedrosa is ninth. Young Bradley Smith crashes and will not be able to take the start tomorrow.
Both riders of the Repsol Honda Team have kept their level of competitiveness at the Czech Grand Prix, aiming to be part of the fight for tomorrows victory. Nicky Hayden, sixth fastest in the morning, has clearly shown that he has been able to solve the problems he had been suffering yesterday setting, the fourth fastest time in the qualifying session, thus getting a place on the second row of the starting grid. Team mate Dani Pedrosa, fourth in the third free session, had a few problems in the afternoon that hindered him from getting into the fight for a place on the fist or second row of the grid. Pedrosa will finally be starting tomorrow from the third row, after setting the ninth fastest time.
In the 250cc, positive performance of Japanese rider Shuhei Aoyama, who managed to move up to the sixth position on the grid second row – on a track which is completely unknown to the Repsol rider.
Team mate Martín Cárdenas, thirteenth in this mornings free practice, set the eleventh fastest time in the afternoon and will start tomorrow from the third row of the starting grid. A crash fifteen minutes before the end of the second qualifying practice ruined the aspirations of young Repsol rider Bradley Smith in the minor class. The Czech Grand Prix finished this afternoon for Smith earlier than expected after crashing with his bike on a downward section of the difficult Czech circuit. The radius fracture of his left arm will hinder him from taking part in tomorrows race and right now it is not sure whether he will be able to be in Malaysia.
Rider´s comments
Nicky Hayden,
45 laps, 24313 Km:
I think that was the best session weve had all weekend as far as consistency is concerned. The front row would have been nice but I feel like my guys have done a really good job and weve made some good progress – we found a nice direction so well see how it goes tomorrow. Im looking forward to race day and getting back in the ring with the boys. Weve had a few weeks off but race day is the fun day. If its going to be dry well definitely need all 20 minutes of warm-up to sharpen it up a bit more but I feel like weve got a decent bike right now. If we can just tweak the bike and rider a little we should go ok.
Dani Pedrosa,
49 laps, 26474 Km:
In the morning we did a good job and improved a lot from yesterday, and the grip from the track was better too which helped. Also we made a good step on the machine set-up. This afternoon we had some problems finalising the gear ratios and I had to swap machines during practice, so I lost some time there. With the qualifying tyres I was on the limit to get that lap time but I couldnt be quite as fast this time as I have in other qualifying sessions. Ninth is not perfect but lets hope tomorrow I can make a great start and get away with the leaders. The bike set-up is not so bad but I think we can still improve it. Lets see what the weather does for the race I hope it stays dry.
Shuhei Aoyama,
40 laps, 21612 Km:
Im happy with how things went today, it was definitely better than yesterday. We improved the setting of the suspensions and weve also chosen the race tyres. Ive been pushing hard throughout the qualifying session. My brother and I had a small talk before the practice and decided to help each other during the session. First he would follow me and then I would follow him, but he passed me and I tried to keep up with him. It was difficult because he was very fast today, but it was fun! I will try to get a good result in the race tomorrow, but the most important thing is to finish the race.
Martin Cárdenas,
37 laps, 19991 Km:
Today things went a bit better. We changed a few things to improve the position on the bike which worked well. In the afternoon I managed to improve my time by almost half a second. I was hoping to improve it further but it hasnt been possible, although the feelings on the bike are very good now. Tomorrow Ill start from the third row of the grid, but the most important thing will be to finish race. My aim is to finish among the top ten, but the main thing is to finish.
Bradley Smith,
22 laps, 11886 Km:
Basically we used a too hard rear tyre. We were trying to find the right tyre for the race, is nineteen laps long and we didnt know what the weather would be like. In Germany we had a little bit of a problem with the rear tyre so we just tried more for the race and never really got the heat in the rear tyre. I kept on making little mistakes but I insisted on pushing because I knew that with more laps it would get better. I actually made my fastest lap of the weekend with no grip; I felt there was no grip and I had no confidence but I kept on pushing and when I saw my lap time was good I thought maybe I could try and push a little bit more. Unfortunately I lost the rear in corner ten and I went over. My hand got stuck under the bike and it was broken. I dont know for the moment, maybe will be back in Malaysia, but I definitely want to come back so well try to get it fixed and keep our spirits up.
Standings
MotoGP
- V.Rossi (Yamaha) 1’56.191
- L.Capirossi (Ducati) 1’56.441
- K.Roberts (KR) 1’56.603
- N.Hayden (Honda) 1’56.694
- S.Nakano (Kawasaki) 1’56.770
9. D.Pedrosa (Honda) 1’57.139
250
- J.Lorenzo (Aprilia) 2’02.292
- A.Dovizioso (Honda) 2’02.952
- H.Aoyama (KTM) 2’03.038
- H.Barberá (Aprilia) 2’03.092
- A.de Angelis (Aprilia) 2’03.685
- S.Aoyama (Honda) 2’03.770
11. M.Cárdenas (Honda) 2’04.753
125
- M.Kallio (KTM) 2’07.874
- A.Bautista (Aprilia) 2’07.899
- L.Pesek (Derbi) 2’07.997
- H.Faubel (Aprilia) 2’08.28
25. M.Pasini (Aprilia) 2’08.349
29. B.Smith (Honda) 2’10.697
