Unstable weather conditions ask for caution on the first day of the Italian Grand Prix.
The rain and the cold weather were the main difficulties today in Mugello. Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa avoid any risk. Surprising eighth place for Bradley Smith in the 125cc.
Rain and cold temperatures interrupted this first day of the Italian Grand Prix. The cold temperatures – something exceptional at this time of the year – were joined by the intermittent appearance of the rain making the practice session quite complicated, both in the morning free practices and the afternoon’s timed sessions. In the MotoGP class, Dani Pedrosa finished in back positions in both of the free practice sessions held today, dedicating most of the time to adapt with his MotoGP bike to this highly difficult track.
Dani was 15th in the morning and 12th in the afternoon. His team mate in the Repsol Honda Team, Nicky Hayden, already recovered from the strong flu that physically weakened him in France, set the sixth fastest time in the morning as well as in the afternoon.In the 250cc, young Shuhei Aoyama returned to action today after his excellent podium finish in France, where he finished third. Shuhei started to prepare himself for this Grand Prix with ease and without putting himself under pressure, a formula that has given him excellent results in the last races. The Japanese rider was 19th in the morning and 12th in the afternoon, at the first qualifying practices. Team mate Sebastián Porto finished fourteenth in the morning and thirteenth in the afternoon, although he shows himself optimistic on a track he likes despite being complicated.
In the eighth-of-a-litre class, Repsol rider Bradley Smith was one of the most watchful riders as regards the weather condition during the first instants of the session. He went on the track right after the green lights went on and used the dry track to set a quick time. The rain showed up immediately afterwards. His only lap on a completely dry track – despite having cold tyres – allowed him to take the lead of the time sheets, a position he held until mid-session. From that moment, and as the track was drying, the 125cc riders started to improve their times. Bradley, making good use of the chance that the rain has offered him in Mugello, finally finished in an excellent eighth place, thus putting himself in the second row of the provisional starting grid.
Rider´s comments
Dani Pedrosa,
40 laps, 209’80 Km:
‘Today I took it easy – very easy! But that was ok for my first day here on this bike. Tomorrow I have to push harder and try to get into more of a rhythm because the conditions were difficult today, especially this afternoon with the weather changing all the time. Still, we had a dry track which was good. The position is not so high but we are happy because I never looked to set a fast lap-time today. And we didn’t touch the bike, I was just learning how to ride this bike on this circuit, which for sure is difficult on a MotoGP bike. The braking point at the end of the straight is quite impressive! So I have to adapt to the speeds and make steps little-by-little. I hope for better weather conditions tomorrow and we can really start moving forward.’
Nicky Hayden,
46 laps, 241’27 Km:
‘This afternoon we made a bit of progress and closed the gap to the guys in front of me. I was fastest in T4 which is a good sign, but I need to improve in T2 which is my weakest section. It was a strange day with the weather which was frustrating for us because it’s the first time I’ve been here, basically, on this version of the bike and I need all the dry track time I can get. We’re working on the same things we’ve had for a few races now – trying to improve traction and edge grip and a few little clutch issues to get it smoother into the corners. Tomorrow we’ll definitely try to make some big improvements. A good solid qualifying effort and race set-up is going to be important’
Shuhei Aoyama,
43 laps, 225’53 Km:
‘Today has been my first day lapping here, in Mugello and this is definitely a much more complicated circuit than Le Mans. I cannot make the times lapping on my own, but as soon as I put myself behind any other rider I manage to see important details and improve my times quickly. We have to go step by step and get to know the circuit better. I’m sure that we can make a good progression before the race on Sunday.’
Sebastián Porto,
37 laps, 194’65 Km:
‘It’s been a bit complicated but not completely bad. We’ve been testing a load of new different things. We haven’t found the ideal setting yet but it’s not bad. This track is very difficult and I think that we can improve further. That’s the most important. We’re not in a bad place. I think that we’re finding something different bit by bit and that’s what we’re looking for right now. We don’t care much about the times, at least today; what we want to try is, as always, to make the bike works the way I like it. So today we’ve been able to improve a bit and with what we are planning to test tomorrow I hope that it will work even better.’
Bradley Smith,
31 laps, 162’59 Km:
‘The dry session was a lot better than in previous races even though I did not improve in time and position. We still have problems that if wouldn’t have been it would have meant one or maybe 1.5 seconds more so that was good for me and good for my confidence. I was ready to push hard in the first few laps in qualifying one. But then the rain came down straight away. I tried to push hard because if there was not enough rain and I could set the fastest lap. But it was too much I had to come in. I went out on wet tyres and just in the beginning I didn’t have such a good feeling it was somehow different from Le Mans. So in the beginning I was slower and then the KTM passed me and that was it, I just followed him and got the rhythm. I possibly could have gone faster if I would have had more distance between me and the others. It’s still a good result but it could have been better. I think 0.4 would have put me fourth, so, yes I’m very happy’
Standings
MotoGP
- V.Rossi (Yamaha) 1’51.732
- L.Capirossi (Ducati) 1’51.756
- S.Gibernau (Ducati) 1’52.012
- J.Hopkins (Suzuki) 1’52.082
- C.Stoner (Honda) 1’52.101
- N.Hayden (Honda) 1’52.177
12. D.Pedrosa (Honda) 1’52.819
250
- J.Smurz (Aprilia) 1’55.412
- H.Barberá (Aprilia) 1’55.479
- A.Dovizioso (Honda) 1’55.480
- A. de Angelis (Aprilia) 1’55.583
- A.Debón (Aprilia) 1’55.596
7. A.Aoyama (Honda) 1’55.790
13. S.Porto (Honda) 1’57.000
125
- J.Simón (KTM) 2’15.953
- M.Pirro (Aprilia) 2’16.474
- K.Abraham (Aprilia) 2’16.790
- F.Lai (Honda) 2’17.419
- M.Kallio (KTM) 2’17.652
8. B.Smith (Honda) 2’17.780
