Under a sunny and clear sky, the Estoril Circuit was witness today to one of the most vibrant timed sessions of the 2007 season. In the morning, the Repsol Honda Team riders hade made their way to the leading positions in the classification – Nicky Hayden 4th and Dani Pedrosa 6th -, with the general classificationleader, Australian Casey Stoner, in the lead of the third practice session.
In the afternoon, the two Repsol riders got off to a different start, with Pedrosa among the first five riders and Hayden a bit behind, around ninth place. Fifteen minutes away from the end, the MotoGP riders began to attack in search of a pole position.
The changes have been constant at the head of the classification; a few minutes away from the end Stoner overtook Rossi, who was first, registering an amazing time which seemed fit to put an end to the session. Pedrosa, who did not make the most of his tyres but kept up an excellent pace, stayed in thhird position and looked as if here were a sure candidate for the front row on the grid. But noone had taken Repsol Honda Team rider Nicky Hayden into account. The current World Champion completed an extraordinary lap in which he overtook Stoner, in first place, securing his first pole position this 2007 season. His teammate Pedrosa finally came in 5th after being overtaken by Japanese Tamada in the last minute. So, the best time for Nicky Hayden and second row on the starting grid for Pedrosa.
As for the 250cc race tomorrow, Repsol riders Julián Simón and Shuheu Aoyama will start from the second and third row, respectively. The rider from Toledo finished today in 7th position, improving yesterday’s time by half a second, though the feelings and the setup on the Portugese track allow him to hope for improving his results with respect to previous races. Shuhei Aoyama registered an overall 12th best time; due to problems with his tyres he was unable to implement the desired adjustments.In the smallest of the three categories, a poor result for the two Repsol riders.
In spite of a slight improvement this morning, in which Esteve Rabat was 12th and teammate Bradley Smith 13th, in the afternoon, during the second and definitive timed session, nothing went as the young Repsol Honda Team 125cc riders expected. Both were unable to cut down their times in the morning by any more than a couple of tenths of a second, smith finishing 15th – fourth row on the starting grid – and Rabat 17th – fifth row -.
