The first free practice session before the Indianapolis GP could not have started better for the Repsol Honda Team rider, Dani Pedrosa. The Spaniard, who did the fewest laps at the legendary American track – 16 compared to the 24 completed by the local rider Nicky Hayden, who finished second – set his fastest one on lap 6 when rain was already falling heavily. Andrea Dovizioso, who did 23, set his best time on lap 9 but was one second and a half slower and more than aware that he will have to continue working on his rain set up if the race is in the wet.
The final minutes of the first session in the 125cc category saw rain falling on the American track, and this obliged the MotoGP riders – who went out just after the 125cc riders finished – to use wet tyres.
The first day gave the Repsol Honda Team riders a chance to get their first contact with the peculiar American track, twisty and with several sections of different types of asphalt that made the work of setting up the bikes a little difficult. The weather forecast is for better conditions the rest of the weekend but after last year’s experience with hurricane Ike, the team will keep an eye on the sky and its possible effects on Sunday’s race.
Dani Pedrosa, 1’51.507 secs, 16 laps, 67 km. >> Audio
“This was a very good start to the weekend and in wet conditions we are looking in good shape. It was raining for the whole session and we had good grip, even though there were some big patches of standing water around the track. I felt confident and was able to push hard – and actually it’s been a quite long time since I’ve felt that confident in wet conditions and been happy to push to the maximum. If it’s dry tomorrow, that’s also good for us, even though the only thing we can really take forward from today’s session is the gearing information. This track is unusual to ride because it’s been designed to run in the other direction and so the apex of some of the corners feels very strange. Still, even in the rain there is a unique atmosphere here and it’s a special place to ride”.
Andrea Dovizioso, 1’53.151 secs, 23 laps, 97 km. >> Audio
“I was fast early in the session and overall I’m satisfied with how today went. It was a difficult practice session because it was raining a lot and the different types of tarmac at this track responded in a different way. There were also some big puddles out there which made things tricky. At the beginning I was riding with a good rhythm and going quickly, but I couldn’t improve my lap time at the end of the session because we decided to use only one tyre and spare our wet tyre allocation for the weekend. So by the end the tyres had become slick and it was difficult to control the bike, especially on the dark asphalt. I’m not worried about today’s position though. The conditions were particular for this situation and the weather forecast for tomorrow and Sunday is good, so I’m confident that I can improve”.
