The japanese Grand Prix starts with different luck for the Repsol riders in the first practice sessions.
Hayden sixth and Biaggi seventh in MotoGP; two heavy crashes for Pedrosa and provisional pole for Aoyama in the 250cc, Faubel sixth in the 125cc.
Good weather, sunshine and rather high temperatures were the ingredients of this first practice day of the Japanese Grand Prix. A highlight in the MotoGP class was the fact that the eleventh fastest riders are all within one second.
The riders of the Repsol Honda Team, used this first day to make the first adjustments on their bike’s settings and prepare tomorrow’s assault on the leading spots of the starting grid. With the relief that the weather conditions are going to be similar tomorrow, both Repsol Honda Team riders set times that put them on the second and third row of the starting grid. Max Biaggi was eighth in the morning and his team-mate Nicky Hayden ninth; Hayden was however the fastest of the Repsol Honda Team in the afternoon after setting the sixth fastest time, just one place ahead of his team-mate Biaggi who finished seventh.
Hard day in the 250cc for the current World Champion and leader of the class Dani Pedrosa. Dani suffered a heavy crash in the morning, halfway the free session, being thrown up and away while opening the throttle in a right-hand corner before the tunnel. He hurt his thumb on the left-hand and his right elbow. Despite the incident, Pedrosa managed to finish tenth fastest. In the afternoon, the Repsol rider crashed again on his third lap during the qualifying session. Same corner, opening the throttle and flying over the bike again.
This time Pedrosa hurt his right shoulder. Bruised and on his second bike, Pedrosa set the fourteenth fastest time. The day has been with no doubt much more positive for his team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama, setting the second fastest time in the morning’s free session and the provisional pole in the afternoon, including the interesting detail that it was his brother, Shuhei Aoyama, who set the third fastest time. Different luck for the riders of the Repsol Aspar Team. De Puniet had a light crash this morning that set him back in his work to find the setting for his Aprilia not being able to do better than twelfth in the afternoon session. The day was however better for his team-mate Sebastián Porto, fourth in the morning and fifth in the afternoon.In the minor class, the dominance of Finnish rider Mika Kallio on this first day has been absolute, setting the fastest time in both practice sessions.
In the morning, Sergio Gadea set the fifth fastest time of the free session, although a bit over one second from Kallio, and his team-mate Héctor Faubel was seventh. In the afternoon, Gadea suffered a light crash towards the end of the qualifying session, having to settle for the twelfth provisional position on the starting grid, while his team-mate Faubel managed to improve the time set in the morning by more than a second, moving up to sixth.
Repsol rider´s comments
MotoGP. Nicky Hayden
First free practice 9th, 1’49.184, 23 laps
Second free practice 6th, 1’48.646, 24 laps
‘We sure got some work to do! Under really hard braking we’re real unstable and we need to get this area sorted for tomorrow. Especially here as there are areas of the track where we’re really losing out. We haven’t got the right gear ratios either. We can definitely do some work on the transmission and that should make some beneficial difference. We changed the rear shock in the session and went back to how it was before. The boys are going to do their homework tonight and I’ll have to find a little more time from somewhere as well.’
MotoGP. Max Biaggi
First free practice 8th, 1’49.184, 24 laps
Second free practice 7th, 1’48.718, 24 laps
‘Not a great first day here really. We found some better solutions during the session but not the big steps we need really. This track has some hard braking areas at the end of the straights and the bike is not so stable into the turns and we are losing time there. It is also hard to get on the power out of the turn as well but we have been having this issue all season so there is no change really. I am trying so hard to get a good grid position as I know we can make a good race with a good start.’
250.Sebastián Porto
First free practice 4th, 1’53.589, 23 laps
First qualifying practice 5th, 1’53.126, 17 laps
‘I am happy because the bike is working well and that is the most important thing at the moment. I was not totally happy when I came out on the qualifying tyres at the end of the session, but fifth place is not bad and I am confident of improving tomorrow. Motegi is a track that favours the Honda and that does not help, but at least we have started well and are near the front. I am confident we can get better and really want to well here.’
250. Randy De Puniet
First free practice 11th, 1’54.765, 23 laps
First qualifying practice 12th, 54.090, 21 laps ‘I am not happy today because I did not have a good feeling with the bike at all. In the free session in the morning, I fell after opening up the gas and in the afternoon my feeling was not good. What’s more, at the end of the qualifying I did not put a qualifying tyre on so I was not able to improve my time. We’ll see if we can improve tomorrow and find a good set-up for the race.’
250. Hiroshi Aoyama
First free practice 2nd, 1’53.368, 22 laps
First qualifying practice 1st, 52.556, 16 laps ‘This has been a good start of the Grand Prix, I’m happy with this provisional pole position, but I don’t want to fool myself, we have to keep on improving. The best lap time is still far from the one set last year and that means that there’s still margin left for improvements. I feel good, very focussed and I think that we can do even better. I’m also happy for my brother who’s been third fastest; I’ll have to watch out for him!’
250. Dani Pedrosa
First free practice 10th, 1’54.669, 13 laps
First qualifying practice 14th, 54.445, 12 laps
‘I crashed this morning opening the throttle and it’s been a bit strange, I think it was due to the rear tyre. I wasn’t able to get back on the track and in the afternoon I crashed again after the bike stalled. The bike threw me up and away on both crashes and I hit myself hardly on several parts of the body, although it’s the shoulder that is hurting most right now. The blows from the morning are the less important ones, although everything makes you feel uncomfortable. The positive side is that nothing is broken and I hope to be able to rest and feel better, at least to get on the track tomorrow and improve some positions. I don’t think that tomorrow will be harder than today’.
125. Héctor Faubel
First free practice 7th, 2’00.493, 15 laps
First qualifying practice 6th, 1’59.937, 11 laps
‘I’m much happier this race than the last one, and this was clear with today’s performance. I’m working well with my technical tem, and I think we’re doing a good job setting up the bike. This is a circuit which suits my riding style well, and it doesn’t bother me if it’s a Honda test track, it’s just another track for me, and I have to adapt accordingly.’
125. Sergio Gadea
First free practice 5th, 2’00.214, 17 laps
First qualifying practice 12th, 2’00.678, 11 laps
‘I was faster than in this morning’s free practice, but in the qualifier I ran off track, and this meant I had to come into the pits, after what was basically just a light crash. I went back out on track, and I wasn’t comfortable with that bike, so I couldn’t’ improve any further. Once the qualifying session was over, we saw that the brake was damaged but at least we now where the problem is, so tomorrow I’m confident we can improve the lap time.’
Track conditions
- Air: 26º-34º
- Asphalt: 34º-39º
- Humidity: 1%-20%
- Wind: 6-7 Km/h
Standings:
MotoGP
- J.Hopkins (Suzuki) 1.47.952
- L.Capirossi (Ducati) 1.48.053
- K.Roberts (Suzuki) 1.48.263
- V.Rossi (Yamaha) 1.48.574
- S.Gibernau (Honda) 1.48.582
- N.Hayden (Honda) 1.48.646
- M.Biaggi (Honda) 1.48.718
250
- H.Aoyama (Honda) 1.52.556
- A.de Angelis (Aprilia) 1.52.733
- S.Aoyama (Honda) 1.52.810
- A.Dovizioso (Honda) 1.53.036
- S.Porto (Aprilia) 1.53.126
12.
R.de Puniet (Aprilia) 1.54.090
14. D.Pedrosa (Honda) 1.54.445
125
- M.Kallio (KTM) 1.59.137
- M.Simoncelli (Aprilia) 1.59.682
- M.Poggiali (Gilera) 1.58.698
- M.Passini (Aprilia) 1.59.821
- G.Talmacsi (KTM) 1.59.682
- H.Faubel (Aprilia) 1.59.937
12.
S.Gadea (Aprilia) 2.00.678
