Estoril day 1 times and rider claims

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2008-04-11 Estoril day 1 times and rider claims
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Dani Pedrosa was pace-setter in fist day in Estoril

Strong wind and rain showers in first free practice were not something that riders wanted for their first appearance on the Estoril circuit, but fortunately track dried for second free practice. Fastest man in wet conditions was Casey Stoner, but he was not able to repeat that performance on dry track, finishing FP2 in 7th. On the other hand, Dani Pedrosa, who is well known as rider which does not have much success in wet, managed to set fastest time of the day in FP2, promising another strong race for current championship leader. Valentino Rossi, who had nasty highside in first free practice, which he escaped unhurt, set second fastest time in both free practices, showing that he has Bridgestones for all race conditions. Colin Edwards brought his new, pneumatic valve Yamaha to 3rd time of the day, in front of Nicky Hayden in 4th. Jorge Lorenzo managed to set 5th time in his first appearance in Estoril on board MotoGP machine, beating his rookie colleague, Andrea Dovizioso who ended day in 6th. Casey Stoner was 7th fastest, also having crash from which he escaped unhurt. Shinya Nakano was 8th fastest, in front of Randy de Puniet and John Hopkins in 10th.

Dani Pedrosa - 1st - 1:38.507:
We started today using the base setup we used at Jerez and we didn’t need to make too many changes. This morning’s session was quite complicated because it had been raining, so conditions were constantly changing as the track dried, then we had a minor technical issue with one of my bikes, so we had to stop before the end of the hour. This afternoon we had a dry session which allowed us to start doing some tyre testing in preparation for the race, which is especially important considering the changeable weather during the weekend. After a few laps this afternoon I began to get into the rhythm of Estoril again.

Valentino Rossi - 2nd - 1:38.547, 43 laps
I am happy about today’s result. To be second in both sessions, in the wet and the dry, is not bad at all and the conditions were quite difficult! My Bridgestone tyres in the wet worked very well and I had a great feeling, so I’m really happy about this. Maybe I had a bit too much feeling in fact because I was pushing a little bit too hard when I fell! It was quite a big crash and I hit the ground hard but fortunately I am fine and I just have a bit of pain in my hip. After that with my second bike I was able to go even faster so this made me very happy. This afternoon was good again, even if the track wasn’t perfect and the wind was tricky, but this is Estoril and we know that the weather can always change from minute to minute so we have to be ready to adapt. Tomorrow we need to keep improving, whatever the weather, and be ready to fight in any conditions! Thanks to my team for working very hard to rebuild my bike, it was a big job!

Nicky Hayden - 4th - 1:38.688:
Everything went pretty well, it&r squo;s been quite a positive day, I think we had a pretty good start to things. Sure we’re gonna have to improve a little bit, but seems like in the wet and dry we got a bike working relatively well, so if we can sweeten up a few things tomorrow, hopefully we can really be up there come Sunday. More or less the bike was working okay without a lot of big changes, so we’re running a pretty similar setup to what I ran at Jerez, just a few little clickers here and there. Conditions were not easy, the morning was wet, then half and half and the afternoon was a little bit patchy and windy, so sure it was quite challenging, but the team’s done a good job and we’ve got a pretty decent setup, so we’ll see tomorrow.

Jorge Lorenzo - 5th - 1:38.868, 44 laps:
We’re fifth and we need to improve but it’s only my first time at Estoril with the MotoGP bike and so I know I have to work slowly, step-by-step. The biggest problem at the moment is the weather because it’s changing so often; one it’s minute raining, the next it’s sunny but it’s also very windy. It makes it quite hard to prepare! Everyone knows that this isn’t one of my favourite tracks but I am not thinking about the past now, only about what is in front of us. We need to keep our focus and work very hard to find the best setting, and we also need to work on the situation with the tyres because it’s not perfect at the moment. I was definitely more confident in the wet this morning than I was at the Jerez test so I am happy about this, but there is still more to do. One very good thing is that the new electronics we tested in Jerez are working well and so we’re pleased about this. I think it’s going to be a very competitive weekend with everyone very strong so we have another big job to do tomorrow!

Andrea Dovizioso – 6th - 1:39.171:
The big difference between riding a MotoGP bike and a 250cc bike at this circuit is that the race track has some very slow corners where you have to be very good in using first and second gear. On a bike with so much horsepower, this requires a lot of sensitivity in using the throttle, especially when you exit the corners. This is why we are going to work a lot tomorrow on the electronic engine management system to find a better set-up. I had a good pace in the afternoon and I was increasing my performance progressively so I think we are in a position to do even better tomorrow. Estoril is a race track that I like a lot and this helps me to find a good feeling with the bike. I hope, for this reason, to be as fast as possible in the race.

Casey Stoner - 7th - 1:39.202:
These are completely different problems to the ones we had in Jerez. So far I'm still having absolutely no feeling with the front end and I can't explain why we crashed on an out lap, going slow, with the bike upright. I was literally cruising, just picking the bike up on the way out of the corner and the front decided to give up on me. We've had such good feeling with the front in the past and lately it's gone - there aren't even any close saves, the grip is either there or it's not. I had these problems throughout the session today - so many times I had the front end on my knee and had to pick it up, so something is clearly not right. For one reason or another the bike doesn't feel the same as it has done in the past and we just need to try and figure it out, but I'm sure with a few set-up changes we can get there. It wasn't our best day but we're still not far off the pace.

John Hopkins - 10th - 1:39.474, 23 Laps:
This morning the conditions were poor and it was incredibly windy, so we used the session to check our wet set-up, which went well. We found a good setting at the Jerez post-race test last week, which offered more machine stability and rear grip, so the dry track time this afternoon was used to improve on that. We also had a new chassis to try and this made the bike feel easier to ride, resulting in our times being quite consistent. Overnight, we will analyse the data collected today to build on the work we've done with the new chassis. I like it here: it's a late, hard-braking circuit and it's vital we qualify on the first two rows because it's quite difficult to make passes. I'm aiming for a top five grid position, which I think we should be able to achieve.

Loris Capirossi - 11th - 1:39.591:
It’s been really hard today, because this morning we didn’t really learn anything because the track was very bad due to the weather. We used slick tyres this afternoon but the conditions were still really poor, it was very cold and we just couldn’t find the best solution. We have worked a lot on the settings and did make some progress at the end of the day, so now we have a very good opportunity to go really well tomorrow.

Chris Vermeulen - 12th - 1:39.946:
We had a bit of everything today condition wise. It started out wet this morning but dried out quite a lot, but not enough to go out on slick tyres so we finished the session on wets. We were riding around on a half dry track so it was very slippery, but it was fun and we were able to see how a wet tyre would perform in a race if it started out wet and then dried up. This afternoon it hadn’t rained but there were still some small wet patches because there had been so much rain. The track was mostly dry and with it being so cold it was difficult to get heat in the tyres, but eventually we got the bike working quite well and made some big steps. We have some more things to try tomorrow and hopefully they will keep us heading in the right direction!

Marco Melandri - 15th - 1:41.112:
We spent all day working down a particular route that led to nowhere and we lost a lot of time. The conditions have been mixed, with damp and dry moments, but it was like riding in the wet. It's not easy but it is the same for everybody. At the moment we're not on it, I can't ride as I want to. Tomorrow we'll go backwards a little with the set-up and hope that the situation improves.

Anthony West - 16th - 1:41.572, 25 Laps:
It's certainly quite difficult here as the track conditions really aren't ideal. This morning we used our wet setting, which I felt quite comfortable with. In the later session the track was slippery in some places but dry in others. With that and the wind, it was difficult to make any real progress with the new chassis we were using, as I couldn't feel how much the wind was affecting the machine stability. Estoril isn't a track I go particularly well at, so we have a lot of work to do here. I hope that tomorrow we can have either wet or dry conditions, not a combination of both, so we can make steps forward in set-up.

Sylvain Guintoli – 17th - 1:41.875, 43 laps:
This morning the feeling with the bike was good. Bridgestone tyres were really good. This afternoon we have continued to work with a new dry setting. I really need to change my riding style. It’s not easy because I have to think in a different way, I don’t do things in a natural way. I have to get used to it and once I will understand the bike results will come.

Combined Free Practice Times
1. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 1'38.507
2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'38.547
3. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 1'38.632
4. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda 1'38.688
5. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'38.868
6. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP 1'39.171
7. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 1'39.202
8. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'39.309
9. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1'39.332
10. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing 1'39.474
11. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'39.591
12. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki 1'39.946
13. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 1'40.055
14. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'41.033
15. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 1'41.112
16. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing 1'41.572
17. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team 1'41.875
18. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team 1'43.262

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