High temperatures, rain and high humidity levels on the first practice day of the Malaysian Grand Prix.
A lot of work ahead for Hayden and Biaggi; Porto, Aoyama, De Puniet and Pedrosa in the first and second rows of the 250cc. Faubel seventh in the 125cc.
The weather has played one of the main roles on the first practice session of the Malaysian Grand Prix. After a calm morning, where even the sun came out for a while, big black clouds arrived in the afternoon, rain included. The second MotoGP session started under the rain, but it fortunately stopped after a couple of minutes and track began to dry progressively, although not enough to let the riders lap on slick tyres.
Thus, most of the MotoGP riders used rain tyres in the front and mixed in the rear, including the riders of the Repsol Honda Team. In the morning, during the first free practice, Gibernau was fastest, while Max Biaggi and Nicky Hayden finished tenth and eleventh. In the afternoon, things didn’t go much better for the Repsol Honda Team riders, who finished in back positions. Biaggi was fourteenth and Hayden fifteenth. Obviously both riders and their respective technical teams have a lot of work ahead before the next practice sessions of the Malaysian Grand Prix tomorrow morning.
The qualifying session of the 250cc class was held on a dry track, although with some wet sections out of the line due to the rain fallen during the previous sessions. In the morning’s free practice, the best time was for Australian Casey Stoner, with Sebastián Porto third, De Puniet fourth, Aoyama fifth and a still convalescent Dani Pedrosa eighth. Pedrosa improved in the afternoon moving up to seventh, while Porto was fourth, Aoyama fifth and De Puniet sixth. The fastest rider was Alex De Angelis from San Marino.
The qualifying practice of the 125cc was the only session held on a completely dry track, although the rain showed up two minutes before the finish forcing the riders to get back quickly into their garages. In the morning, the fastest time was set by Mike Di Meglio, a French rider in an Italian team, who repeated the good performance in the afternoon, taking the provisional pole position. In the morning, Héctor Faubel set the seventh fastest time and in the afternoon, the ninth. Héctor, who knows that he is able to be much further in the front, confirmed that the rain hindered him from setting a faster time, closer to the pole, but shows himself confident and optimistic on a circuit he likes. Joan Olivé, tenth in the morning, kept the place on the third row in the afternoon, after setting the eleventh fastest time. Sergio Gadea, thirteenth in the morning after his terrible accident in Japan, suffered a light crash in the afternoon, that hindered him from rejoining the dry track, falling back to the twenty-sixth position.
Rider´s comments:
MotoGP. Max Biaggi
First free practice 10th, 2’04.098 19 laps
Second free practice 14th, 219.232 seg, 16 laps
I’m really disappointed after the first day here. I came with such high expectations from Japan and we are in trouble on the first day – in all conditions all around the track. Under braking into the corners the machine has chatter and we can’t hold a good line in the turns. I cannot believe a bike can change so much in five days. In none of the tests we have had here has it been this bad. For sure we have a lot of work to do before tomorrow morning to turn the situation round. I really believe in my team and HRC and together we can find a solution that will help to express my full potential round a track where I have had such good past success in races and over the last winter tests.’
MotoGP. Nicky Hayden
First free practice 11th, 2’04.220, 21 laps
Second free practice 15th, 219.875, 18 laps
Wasn’t the best day really. This morning the track was real dirty to start off with and towards the end of the session we started to find a good way but we ran out of time. We had some things we wanted to try this afternoon but couldn’t when the conditions changed. In the full wet the bike felt good but not so hot when the track started to dry. At the end of the session we tried some intermediate Michelins but it could have been a bit early. Hopefully tomorrow the conditions will be more stable and we can find a good direction.
250. Sebastián Porto
First free practice 3rd, 2’09.693, 19 laps
First qualifying practice 4th, 209.123, 13 laps’The weather made thing a bit difficult today as when we went out in the afternoon session the track was still a bit damp. By the end, it had dried out and the bike responded well, although we had a minor problem with the engine. I think we lacked a bit of acceleration, but if we can sort that out, I’m sure we’ll improve tomorrow. I like this circuit and set the lap record here last year. I still have a lot I can improve and the objective is for the bike to perform as well as it did last year and to have a good race.’
250. Hiroshi Aoyama
First free practice 5th, 2’09.945, 20 laps
First qualifying practice 5th, 209.213, 15 lapsI was looking forward to getting back on the track after last weekend and I felt good during the free practice. In the afternoon, we waited for the track to dry out completely, but the rain had left the asphalt with less grip and the conditions had changed. We made some changes in the settings of the engine and improved some things, but we have to keep on insisting in the front end.
250. Randy De Puniet
First free practice 4th, 2’09.868, 23 laps
First qualifying practice 6th, 209.405, 17 laps
‘Today didn’t go badly and I felt very comfortable on the bike. At the beginning, the track was a little bit damp and that caused us to lose some time. I don’t like lapping in those conditions, but the bike responded well and we were up towards the top for most of the session. The time we set is not bad, but I could have been higher up if it had not been for a rider who got in my way when I was trying to lower my time. In the end I was sixth but I think we can improve a bit tomorrow.’
250. Dani Pedrosa
First free practice 8th, 2’10.312, 16 laps
First qualifying practice 7th, 209.495, 13 laps
I felt a bit better this afternoon and we improved some positions on the grid, but were still far behind. I hope to feel better tomorrow on the bike and to be able to fine-tune the set-up. These practice sessions might mean a step backwards as regards recovery, but its a must. The pain is similar to that in Motegi, but there are much more changes in direction on this circuit and therefore I suffer a bit more. Our plan is to dose the efforts during practice, not to loose time lapping senselessly and prepare the race as good as possible.
125. Héctor Faubel
First free practice 7th, 2’16.434, 14 laps
First qualifying practice 9th, 2’16.424, 8 laps
‘Today went well and I’m feeling good. We worked well in both the morning and the afternoon and that has shown in the lap times. The podium in Japan has helped a lot because it was a reward for all the hard work. It was a shame I was only ninth this afternoon but I’m sure I would have improved if it wasn’t for the rain. Hopefully there are no setbacks tomorrow and we can improve even more.’
125. Sergio Gadea
First free practice 13th, 2’16.434, 13 laps
First qualifying practice 26th, 2’19.381, 7 laps
‘My mechanics have had to work hard to rebuild the bike after the crash in Japan last week. The bike was destroyed and they have had to send us a few parts from the factory. Today’s session was quite difficult because a few minutes after I went out I crashed. I managed to get back into the session but it started raining and I couldn’t improve my time. Hopefully we can work normally tomorrow.’
Track conditions
- Weather: Variable
- Air: 30º-37º-xº
- Asphalt: 35º-46º-xº
- Humidity: 49%-15%
- Wind: 4 Km/h
