VERY DIFFICULT QUALIFYING SESSION FOR ALEX BARROS AT RED
BULL GRAND PRIX IN LAGUNA SECA
 After
yesterday's disastrous incident, where Alex Hofmann was the
victim of a collision with another rider that resulted in
a bad accident, the Pramac d’Antin Team readied itself
to contest the qualifying session for the race that will take
place tomorrow. Hofmann was confirmed to miss at least the
next five weeks, recovering from hand surgery, and so the
Italo-Spanish Team chose to support young Briton, Chaz Davies,
who will substitute in Hofmann's place. Much of the Team's
hopes and focus will be on the Brazilian, Alex Barros, who
is currently in the top ten in the World Championship classification
and who is looking for important championship points tomorrow.
Unfortunately for Barros, he was still hurting from the Sachsenring
crash, and with his damaged throttle and brake hand, was unable
to set a good qualifying lap. The surprise of the session
was Chaz Davies, who's pleasant demeanor and calm and cool
manner made working together a pleasure. Using a qualifying
tire for the first time, Chaz almost set a good laptime, but
a small mistake in the last section of the track prevented
him from acheiving a higher grid position.
Alex Barros (1’23.557 – 35 laps):
“Even today wasn’t a good day for me, and I’m
very disappointed about this. Even if my hand wasn't painful,
the bike didn’t give me any help. I wasn’t able
to find a good bike set-up that would make me able to ride
with confidence. For this reason I had a lot of difficulties,
especially in the turns where I couldn't be fast as I wanted.
I think that the main problem was coming from the front which
was shaking so much I couldn't possibly control the bike well.
I'm worried for tomorrow, because even though I know during
the race anything can happen, it's still very penalizing to
start from the last row on grid.
Chaz Davies (1’24.098 - 27 laps): “
’m very happy, because I couldn't have imagined a week-end
like this. My feeling with the bike is a lot better than yesterday
because I succeeded in understanding how to drive the Ducati
Desmosedici quite well. Today was my first time with qualifying
tires and I had a really good sensation; Bridgestone tires
work very well. For tomorrow I'm not sure what will happen,
but for sure I will rest this evening to be at my best for
the race and to try and be constant with the race pace. I
know that it will be a very difficult race because I don't
have the right athletic training to ride this kind of bike,
but I will give my best”.
Tempi ufficiali:
1°Casey Stoner: 1’22.292
2°Dani Pedrosa: 1’22.501
3°Chris Vermeulen: 1’22.590
4°Nicky Hayden: 1’22.624
5°Valentino Rossi: 1’22.683
17°Alex Barros: 1’23.557
20°Chaz Davies: 1’24.098
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