The weather conditions that the riders faced today, the first day of practice for the Japanese GP, were rain in the morning and then overcast in the afternoon. Motegi saw drizzle first thing in the morning, it later got heavier and so the three practice sessions in the morning took place on a wet track and with all the riders choosing to use rain tyres. In the afternoon conditions were better and the track dried out.
In MotoGP, two different stories for the Repsol Honda Team riders in the first session. Nicky Hayden was especially fast in the rain, he set the best lap time in the first free practice, whilst his teammate Dani Pedrosa, still adapting to his new Bridgestone rain tyres, finished towards the back of the field, 18th – – penultimate position.
In the afternoon the situation changed for Dani Pedrosa. The first 125cc classification session finished with the track dry and so the MotoGP riders, who came out immediately afterwards, used slicks. And so we saw the best Pedrosa out on the track again, and he steadily and bravely moved up the leaderboard to finally take the top position halfway through the session. Pedrosa was very fast on the dry track and in the end he set the second best time, 7 hundredths of a second behind Casey Stoner, the fastest. His teammate Nicky Hayden, the fastest in the wet session, finished in 7th position on the dry track, but he was optimistic about the second free practice session tomorrow and is confident that he can improve his performance with race tyres.
SIMÓN 8th IN 250cc, RABAT 12th AND MÁRQUEZ 15th IN 125cc.
The Repsol KTM 250cc rider demonstrated that he felt very comfortable on the Japanese track of Motegi, and only a technical problem right at the end of the first classification session in the afternoon stopped him from getting a better position in the classification. Simón was fourth in the morning`s rain, and In the afternoon, on a dry track, he was always among the six fastest in the category. A few minutes before the end, and in third position, a mechanical problem on the KTM engine forced him to retire to the pits, and he fell to 8th position on the provisional starting grid.
In 125cc, Marc Márquez and Esteve Rabat had a very positive first day`s work preparing for the Japanese GP. For Márquez, his first visit to this track saw him take 19th position, meanwhile his teammate Rabat finished one place ahead of him. The two Repsol riders fell during the free session in the morning, but fortunately both were unhurt. In the afternoon`s first 125cc classification session the two riders put in a great performance in complicated conditions – with dry zones and other wet ones. Rabat finished 12th and the young rider Márquez was 15th.
Dani Pedrosa, 1’48.194 sec, 47 laps, 226 Km. >> Audio
“Track conditions were quite difficult this morning, so I struggled a bit. This afternoon everything improved. The track dried out, so we were able to start working towards the race, improving our machine set-up and especially trying the different tyres from our allocation. We found some good grip out there, but we need some more time to find the ideal combination for this track, because I am still finding the limit of the Bridgestone tyres. I am feeling better and better, and we want to keep working hard to get the best set-up because this is such an important race for us.”
Nicky Hayden, 1.48.800 sec, 45 laps, 216 Km. >> Audio
“This year, it wouldn’t be a GP weekend without a little bit of rain. Things felt awesome this morning. The bike set-up was quite similar to what we had at Indy, so the bike, the tyres, everything was working really good. I was quite fast, but it looks like the weather is going to clear up for the rest of the weekend. This afternoon things weren’t quite as great. The track looked a little patchy, so I just did one lap on intermediates when we went to slicks, the track came in quite quick. The bike felt okay in the dry but not great, though with just a few more tenths I would be quite a lot higher up the order. This track I sometimes struggle a bit in the dry. I’m close on all the splits but I’ve definitely got some work to do. I wasn’t completely happy with the set-up, the balance felt wrong, the way it was pitching back and forth into and out of the corners. I’ll try to give my guys some good information, so hopefully they can help me out and make it a bit easier tomorrow.”
Julián Simón, 1’53.574 secs, 38 laps, 182 Km. >> Audio
“This was quite a positive day. We saw that our bike can be very competitive. This morning we rode in the wet; in these conditions we had a good pace and that meant we were up with the leaders. This afternoon we also had a good session, although it was a pity that with 5 minutes left we had an engine problem, because we were not able to finish any higher than 8th. Even so I am pleased because we have worked well and I am sure that if everything had worked out right we would be on the front row. This will be our objective tomorrow, and we will see if we can round off the weekend with a good race.”
Esteve Rabat, 2’03.668 secs, 27 laps, 130 Km. >> Audio
“Today things did not go too badly, in spite of a fall that I had in the morning. In the afternoon I almost fell again, but I was able to keep my balance. I found myself very comfortable on the bike today, although we had a problem with the chassis. We were a little weaker in the engine department compared to the Aprilias, something that was seen when accelerating. Tomorrow we will work to get the final set up on the bike, and so improve in the second classification session and have things easier for the start. I am not totally pleased with how things went today; I hope that things go better tomorrow.”
Marc Márquez, 2’03.736 secs, 27 laps, 130 Km. >> Audio
“Today was a day to get used to the circuit and to start setting the bike up. In the first session we rode in the rain and I fell quite badly on the final lap. I am a little bruised but fortunately in one piece. In the afternoon we started in the wet but halfway through the session it started to dry out, and in the end although it was not completely dry we were able to ride quite well. I think that tomorrow we can improve quite a few things, because in the afternoon we saw how some riders got things right and how others didn`t.”
