A day lost on what would have been the first of three days out on the track in the 2009 pre-season at the Circuit of Doha. Without a doubt a significant setback for all the MotoGP teams and riders who were all ready to work there, and this year they do not have too many days of training available to them.
The day began at 18:00 and ended at 24:00, but just at the start of the session a short shower left the track in a wet state. Some corners were going to take a long time to dry out, at practically 23:00. Several riders tried to do a few laps but the wet surface at that time, on a track in the middle of the desert along with the low temperature and the dirt, made it almost impossible to do any serious work.
Dani Pedrosa was one of the riders who decided not to go out at all and so not take any risks, he left the circuit without even getting on his bike. He kept an eye on the monitors in the pits and he saw how the riders were six seconds off the fastest time set in last year`s race. And so Pedrosa and his team in the end decided not to take any risks at all – the track was dirty, wet and cold and very treacherous at that time of the day – and started to think about tomorrow’s training session. The same decision was taken by Rossi and Stoner.
Andrea Dovizioso, who needed to get more kilometres under his belt on what is a new bike for him, did in fact go out on the track but he only did 15 laps: he set a time that was 7 seconds slower than his best lap in last year’s race.
The two Repsol Honda Team riders hope to take good advantage of tomorrow`s session, the second day available to them as the weather forecast promises better conditionns.
