After a three week break for MotoGP the teams and riders got back to work today at the track of Estoril in Portugal. Thanks to the good track conditions – asphalt with a good temperature and grip – the times set in the first free session were fast practically from the start.
Dani Pedrosa, 2nd in the most recent GP race held at Misano, dominated most of the first practice session and was at the top of the classification until eight minutes from the end when his compatriot Lorenzo lowered the fastest time by over 3 tenths. Pedrosa, as he mentioned at the end of the day just like many other riders, started out cautiously taking his time to get his feel for the bike back and get used to the speed and power. After such a long break the body needs to get used to the demands made by a MotoGP bike.
For Andrea Dovizioso the start of this Portuguese GP was also positive, although in his case the work he did was to get used to the new Öhlins suspension, something that stopped him from making the progress he would have liked. He was 6th in the first free practice session but Dovizioso`s overriding objective was to improve the handling on the rear end of his Honda RC212V, something that will allow him to get closer to the leading positions.
Dani Pedrosa, 2nd 1m 37.544s >> Audio
“That was a good first session and I’m happy with how we’ve started our Estoril weekend. We were fast pretty much from the outset and the feeling from the machine was good straight away. Normally when we visit this circuit earlier in the season it’s cold and the grip is not very good, but today the track temperature was high and the Bridgestone tyres were working well, which allowed me to set fast lap times that were also quite consistent. Of course it’s a bumpy circuit, but we know this is going to be the case so you come here prepared for that – it’s not a big problem. Braking is very important at this circuit and it can make a big difference in the race because you need to be able to overtake into the slow corners at the end of the straights. We can improve on this area and we’ll continue to work on the set-up tomorrow. Overall, I’m pleased with our start to the weekend.”
Andrea Dovizioso, 5th 1m 38.244s >> Audio
“It’s really good to get out on track again because it’s been more than a three week break since Misano. It actually takes a little while to get back into the grove after this time away but I’m pretty confident that we can have a good race here. This afternoon we struggled a little bit with the rear of the machine which meant my ultimate lap time wasn’t quite where I wanted it to be, so this is the area we’re going to be focusing on to find some improvements. The tight, slow corners at this track together with the bumps seem to amplify the issue because the rear is working a lot. Still, this means we have the potential to close on the riders in front, and that’s what we’ll be gunning for in tomorrow’s practice and qualifying sessions.”
