Fortunately, the rain that fell yesterday gave way to a sunny but cool day that helped the second day of practice for the Australian GP to take place under normal conditions. But the lower temperature recorded in the morning caused many falls in the three categories.
In the afternoon there was another exciting MotoGP classification session in which several riders, among them the two from the Repsol Honda Team, fought for the pole position. In the morning, Nicky Hayden had already warned the others that he was ready to fight for first place by setting the best time in the third free practice session. Dani Pedrosa, with some problems on his motorbike`s set up, finished further back in 10th position obviously in need of some improvements if he was to be competitive in the definitive classification session.
In the afternoon, both Hayden and Pedrosa fought with Stoner, Lorenzo, and Rossi to set the best lap time, and although at one moment they occupied the first two positions after mounting their classification tyres, in the end Hayden had to make do with third position – that is on the first row – and Pedrosa with 6th – on the second row.
SECOND ROW FOR SIMÓN IN 250cc AND THIRD FOR MÁRQUEZ IN 125cc.
Julián Simón has not been able to keep the position he got on the first row of the grid, he finished there yesterday after setting the second best time in the first classification session in the rain. But the rider in the Team Repsol KTM 250cc did two positive practice sessions today on Phillip Island. In the second free practice Simón set the third fastest lap time but in the afternoon, in the definitive session, he was not able to lower his times enough to stay there and he had to make do with the 6th best time. That means he will start on the second row of the grid tomorrow. In spite of not having been able to retain his position on the first row Simón is optimistic and it confident that he can fight for the podium again tomorrow.
The second and definitive classification session in the smallest of the three categories was not as fruitful as yesterday`s for the Repsol riders, but their grid positions will allow them to start with options of putting in a good race tomorrow. After the first classification session yesterday in the rain, the dry track let the riders lower their times considerably today. Esteve Rabat who finished on the second row of the provisional starting grid in yesterday`s classification session with the 5th best time, was not able to retain this position this afternoon and he fell down to 18th place – fifth row of the grid. His teammate Marc Márquez, who had a difficult day on his bike yesterday, engine problems and a fall put him back in 21st position – this afternoon fought hard to get on the second row of the grid, although in ther end he finished 12th and it will satrt from the third row.
Dani Pedrosa, 1’29.277 sec, 55 laps, 245 Km. >> Audio
“Tomorrow I will take the start from the second row – it’s important to be close to the front of the grid for this race, so you can get away with the leaders. The Bridgestone qualifying tyres worked very well in this afternoon’s qualifying session but I couldn’t exploit their potential to the maximum. We struggled a bit this morning because conditions were pretty cold, then everything improved this afternoon with warmer track temperatures All in all, it was a positive day, I have a good race pace, which is most important, and I’m feeling quite confident for the race. Tomorrow it will important to have a good start, the first laps will be crucial. Tyres consistency will be determined but it is also very physical race.”
Nicky Hayden, 1’28.756 sec, 53 laps, 236 Km. >> Audio
“The front row is always really important and I’m happy to there, but to be honest I’m a bit disappointed. I’ve had a couple of poles here before, and today another one certainly wasn’t out of the question, there was less than a tenth in it. I would really liked to have been on pole, the season’s on its way out, so it would be nice to have salvaged one of them. But we have been competitive all weekend, fastest this morning and in the rain yesterday, so we’re not too far away. I know the race isn’t going to be easy, we need to sweeten up the bike to see if we can get some more traction, also the rider’s going to have to get it together a little better. The team is doing a great job here, everyone at Repsol Honda is working hard and the Michelin tyres seem to be good. I’ll try to get in there tomorrow and not let these guys get away from me.”
Julián Simón, 1’33.250 secs, 40 laps, 178 Km. >> Audio
“We are doing some good work this weekend, although it is a pity that in today`s official practice we were not able to finish on the first row. Even so, the pace we have is good and I am pleased with all the effort that the team is making. The track was in better conditions this afternoon and that meant we could lower the times more easily. Referring to tomorrow we know which tyres we will use, and the set up is more or less completed. I think that it will be a tough race, with a leading group that will have a lot of riders. We will try to make a good start, enjoy the race and finish in the best place we possibly can.”
Esteve Rabat, 1’38.986 secs, 24 laps, 107 Km. >> Audio
“Today was a very difficult day, because in the morning we had mechanical problems. That harmed us in the afternoon since we were not able to do a lot of laps and get the best set up. In spite of all this my team has been able to set up the bike in a way that we could get the best out of the it on the few laps that we did. Once again we will start towards the rear, so I hope to get off to a good start tomorrow, and get into a fast group that will let us catch the leaders”.
Marc Márquez, 1’38.822 secs, 35 laps, 156 Km. >> Audio
“Today things went better, since we were able to ride the whole day in the dry, this allowed us to get a good set up on the bike. Even so, we still have to improve some things for tomorrow`s race, but the result today was quite good. Our objective will be to try and finish the race, then finish as close to the front as possible. This is a very beautiful circuit where you are always openiong and closing the throttle, and I like that a lot.”
