The second practice day of the Czech Republic Grand Prix saw a dominant Dani Pedrosa top the timesheets in both the free practice session and the qualifying session, allowing him to start from pole position on tomorrow’s starting grid. His team-mate, Andrea Dovizioso, will start from the second row, after finishing the qualifying session in sixth place.
Dani Pedrosa has come back from the summer break on top form. After finishing the first practice session of the Czech Republic Grand Prix held yesterday in second place, he completed the two sessions held today at the Brno circuit with a faultless performance. The Repsol rider constantly showed that he was comfortable at the always technical Czech track and with a constant and strong pace; he topped the timesheets from the start of the qualifying session. A surprising Ben Spies overtook him a few times, but the ever consistent Dani Pedrosa continued to progress until time run out, closing the day with a 338-millisecond advantage over the American.
His team-mate, Andrea Dovizioso, was third in today’s free practice, shaving three tenths off yesterday’s time. Focusing on improving his feelings under braking, an aspect that gave him the most problems yesterday, he continued to improve in the qualifying session and stopped the clock four tenths faster. Dovizioso ended with a time of 1 minute, 57 seconds and 117 milliseconds, a time which puts him on the second row of tomorrow’s starting grid, in sixth place.
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
“It was a great qualifying session and to be back on pole position is fantastic after such a long time – the last time was in Italy at the beginning of June. We’ve done a very good job so far this weekend and we have established a good pace for the race, but we still need to keep a clear mind, stay focused, and try to be ready for any conditions because the weather forecast for tomorrow is very uncertain. Anyway, the team did a very good job today and I hope if it’s dry we can have a strong race and go for the victory. I won’t really be approaching the race tomorrow with a particular strategy. In this championship you have to find your own limit because there are a lot of riders going fast and you can only concentrate on your own performance and do the best you can. So I really hope to do a great job tomorrow and at least to be back on the podium”.
Andrea Dovizioso >> Audio
“We had a good pace today, and compared to last year here we have found more speed, whereas for some of our rivals this is not the case. This proves that our machine package has improved a lot from last year. Our lap time today was quite good this afternoon but we still have to work to improve our pace because Dani is quite a lot quicker and in the race he is usually very strong. In particular we need to work on the rear end because the machine is pumping and moving a bit too much. I think we are all at the limit with the front end as the accidents of Valentino, Jorge and Nicky show. I tried the hard option Bridgestone tyres today which we didn’t have the chance to test yesterday. It was important to do this in order to be ready for all weather possibilities tomorrow, but I think we have to use the soft option tyres for the race”.
