Repsol Honda Team faces this cold first day of the French Grand Prix with caution.
Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden in intermediate positions after the first practices at the Le Mans circuit.
The weather conditions were not really inviting to take unnecessary risks in the premier class during the two free practices staged today at the French circuit of Le Mans. Low temperatures and the rain that showed up at noon did not leave the track in good conditions, so both riders of the Repsol Honda team decided to be prudent on this opening day. Nicky Hayden set the ninth fastest time in the morning and his team mate Dani Pedrosa the tenth. In the afternoon, during the second free practice session, Pedrosa was ninth and the current leader of the overall standings, Nicky Hayden, was eleventh.In the 250cc, the riders held their practice this morning under varying conditions.
First it was dry but then it began to rain and they all had to enter their garages to change tyres and settings of their bikes. The weather respected however the afternoon session and the first qualifying practices of the class were carried out on a completely dry track. Sebastián Porto and his team faced this Grand Prix as a point of inflection to let the Argentinean rider get back to the leading positions. For the moment, Porto has been seventh in the morning and again in the afternoon during the timed session. Team mate Shuhei Aoyama, twentieth after his first contact with the French track, was twenty-second in the afternoon.The quarter-of-a-litre class was the most affected by the whimsical weather in the afternoon.
Despite the morning tests having been carried out on the dry – Repsol rider Bradley Smith was twenty-ninth in his first contact with the French track – the rain showed up during the free practices of the 250cc so that the first timed session of the 125cc class was staged under quite complicated track conditions. The riders had to get onto the track first on wet tyres to change them a few laps later against patterned and continue with slick for the last laps. In his first qualifying session in Le Mans and considering the difficult conditions, the British rider’s performance can be considered as positive. Bradley Smith set the twenty-second fastest time this afternoon.
Rider´s comments
Dani Pedrosa,
59 laps, 24662 Km.
Today was not easy but it was the first day for me here on a MotoGP bike so its no surprise. I think we were lucky to get good weather because it rained in between the sessions but we got two hours of dry practice which is good. My lap-time is not as good as Id have liked but we have to keep working on the set-up to improve it. We are working on several things – trying to get the best feeling on the machine and get it to turn a little better, and to improve the grip. This is a difficult track for me because it feels very small for this machine the track is narrow and there are many slow corners, so a MotoGP bike feels a little cramped here. And the changed section at turn one has made it a little bit more difficult I think its faster at the beginning and the chicane is tricky.
Nicky Hayden,
56 laps, 23408 Km.
It hasnt been the greatest day for me and weve been a little bit on the back foot all day. So weve got to sit down and figure out whats going on with the bike and the rider too and come out better tomorrow. I dont want to make excuses but I definitely feel a little bit under the weather today, I dont feel too good, but I can fight through that. Were trying to get a little bit more traction and get some edge grip in some of these long corners, plus were trying to get the clutch issues ironed out too. But its early days and well regroup and hopefully move up tomorrow. Ive definitely got to get that new section of track nailed down tomorrow as well – I liked it the old way because it was really fast.
Sebastián Porto,
31 laps, 12958 Km.
Im happy because we have improved a lot. Several things have been changed for this race. Today Ive been working on both bikes although the rain made things a bit complicated in the morning. But weve made a big step forward and thats what we were looking for. The bike has improved a lot, I feel much better on it and weve made a big step forward. Now we have to keep on working, there is still a lot to do, but the most important is that we have found the way and that were there. Well try to keep on working tomorrow to see if were able to improve a bit more.
Shuhei Aoyama,
39 laps, 16302 Km.
Le Mans is a complicated circuit and I havent learned it well yet, so there are still some corners in which I’m not resolute enough. It hasnt been bad considering that its the first day, but I loose a lot of time compared to the top riders. Well have to do a further step forward tomorrow. The weather hasnt been of much help today either, because we started the practice this morning with dry settings, and we began to work in order to improve them, but then it rained, so we had to stop, change the settings and get back on the track. Luckily it didnt rain in the afternoon, so we were able to continue working.
Bradley Smith,
34 laps, 14212 Km.
Its been a lot better than China. We rode better in the wet, and also when the track was a bit damp. We went also on slicks but I didnt go quite as hard as I should have because I was caught unaware with the bits that were wet. Then they soon dried but I was a bit too cautious in that. After three different conditions within thirty minutes we managed to do quite a good job so Im looking forward to tomorrow. If the rain holds off I hope that I can stay in that position if not improve. I definitely dont want to go back. I want to carry on with this step forward from China and make sure I can still do it when I’m in really dry conditions, but Im looking forward to it.
Standings
MotoGP
- C.Edwards (Yamaha) 1’35.170
- V.Rossi (Yamaha) 1’35.282
- S.Nakano (Kawasaki) 1’35.447
- J.Hopkins (Suzuki) 1’35.461
- C.Stoner (Honda) 1’35.546
9. D.Pedrosa (Honda) 1’35.796
11. N.Hayden (Honda) 1’35.971
250
- A.de Angelis (Aprilia) 1’39.797
- A.Dovizioso (Honda) 1’39.807
- H.Barberá (Aprilia) 1’39.827
- J.Lorenzo (Aprilia) 1’40.428
- Y.Takahashi (Honda) 1’40.439
7. S.Porto (Aprilia) 1’40.708
12. S.Aoyama (Honda) 1’41.043
125
- A.Bautista (Aprilia) 1’45.280
- M.Kallio (KTM) 1’45.469
- L.Pesek (Derbi) 1’45.577
- M.di Meglio (Honda) 1’46.086
- S.Cortese (Honda) 1’46.134
22. B.Smith (Honda) 1’48.541
