Portugal GP. First practice. Driver´s comments

Toni Elias: ‘Itll be difficult to keep the pole, but Im happy with how weve started and hope that things will continue like this’.
MotoGP, Valentino Rossi, 1.39´391 sec, 1st: It was good at the end! We made a good lap time but we still have much work to do for the prefect set-up. We need to pay attention to the rear of the machine. I have a good feeling from the tyres but I need a little bit more grip and think we can make the difference by working on the rear shock. I also have a little trouble with chatter from the front of the bike. We have a lot of data from today and we work hard this evening and tomorrow for the second session and for the best set-up for the race on Sunday. MotoGP, Nicky Hayden, 1.40´509 sec, 9th: This tracks a bit different! Real odd in places even got a kinda backwards cork-screw. Had an OK day really. Really been tryin to find my reference points at this new track this morning I over shot at the end of the main straight and ran out onto the gravel! Tried to get into a good rhythm this afternoon. I rode around and kinda got a little frustrated then settled down and seemed to get into some kinda flow. Ive definitely got some areas I need to work on and try and relax a little bit more. It came a little better at the end of the session but Ive definitely gotta get more consistent. Toni Elias, 1.42´255 sec, 1st: Im very happy with how weve started in Portugal. Before our arrival I was worried; I thought that the bike may not work as well as in Brno because this circuit is completely different. But everything worked very well, the bike is doing great and I hope it will continue like this. Tomorrow will be a complicated day because all the other riders are very good and theyre obviously going to improve their times. Itll be difficult to keep the pole, but Im happy with how weve started and hope that things will continue like this.                        Fonsi Nieto, 1.43´009 sec, 5th: We had several problems at the beginning because I didnt feel comfortable with the bikes settings. It seems that we managed to improve towards the end of the session and we were been able to set faster times. I tried to push harder in the last lap but there were several riders lapping together and we even had a fright, so I had to slow down. Never mind, Im not worried, Ill keep on working tomorrow, preparing everything for the race on Sunday.         Sebastián Porto, 1.43´539 sec, 6th: The afternoon session has been a bit complicated, although we started well this morning and I managed to be second fastest. But in the afternoon, we had problems with the front brake and I crashed at mid-session. We think that the reason might have been the problem with the brake; that it blocked, hindering me from taking the corner and making me crash. In the end I decided to take the second bike and that made things a bit more complicated. Im physically OK; tomorrow well go back this mornings settings and Im sure that Ill be able to set faster times.                        Joan Olivé, 1.45´841 sec, 18th: It hasnt been bad, weve improved a lot and Ive lapped one second faster than this morning. Now we have to follow this line and tune the bike to have it ready for the race, thats the most important. We have to finish setting the bike and try to make as many laps as possible tomorrow to see if there is any problem left to solve. You can always feel the wind in this circuit, and if there is a harsh blast from the front it can even make you stop in a corner, but once its gone you may not have time enough to brake for yourself, so you have to be very careful. Lets hope for less wind for tomorrow, but if there is, it will be the same condition for all of us. Héctor Faubel, 1.46´068 sec, 20th: We had problems with the engine this morning and we tried to solve them in the afternoon. I tried to tune the bike but with the wind and the geometry problems it turned out to be very difficult. I hope to be able to solve it tomorrow because were not doing well, Im two seconds behind my usual time. The wind is also very annoying, especially when you have to go from one side to the other. If we manage to solve our problem I may be among the top ten tomorrow.’ Dani Pedrosa, 1.47´136 sec, 2nd: Todays practice sessions have been OK. We set the fastest time this morning and the second fastest in the afternoon. Despite the suspension problems we had in the afternoon session we managed to set the bike in order to improve times. I was able to progress bit by bit and get back to the front in the last five minutes of the session. The wind is blowing very strong this weekend; lets hope for better conditions because it can be dangerous sometimes, but on the other hand its the same for all of us and we all have to deal with it. Pablo Nieto, 1.48´132 sec, 16th: The practice sessions havent been bad, I had some problems lapping this morning because after the crash in Brno I didnt feel comfortable on the bike. I felt better this afternoon and everything went fine but six minutes before the end of the session we had a problem with the engine and I had to stop. The most important is that I think that were working well, lets see if we have better luck and we can improve our times tomorrow. The wind is very annoying and its even worse on a 125, because its a lighter bike and it can easily get up, but its the same situation for all of us. Héctor Barberá, 1.48´348 sec, 20th: Things went very well this morning but we had some problems with the rear suspensions in the afternoon. I was testing different tyres and I decided to use a softer compound to improve my times towards the end of the session. I ended up crashing at the end of the back straight, right in the middle of a right-hand corner, but it wasnt a strong crash, one of those you come out unhurt but feeling sorry for the mechanics. It doesnt happen to me very often but its a quite usual kind of crash: you start braking and then you notice that youre braking too hard with the front and that you may crash any moment. When I noticed that I was right about to crash I let the bike go. The bike was carried away but nothing serious happened. Weve had several problems with the settings today but I hope to have everything clear after analysing the telemetry data and to be able to improve times tomorrow, obviously only if the weather allows us to do so.