WET QUALIFYING SESSION FOR PRAMAC D’ANTIN TEAM AT
DUTCH TT IN ASSEN
Unfavourable weather conditioned this afternoon’s qualifying
session in preparation for tomorrow afternoon’s Dutch
TT in Assen. Persistent rain throughout the afternoon forced
MotoGP riders to go on to the track with a wet set-up and
could not continue with the dry set-up work that began yesterday.
For both Pramac d’Antin riders, it was a good day.
Both achieved good lap times and a good feeling with wet Bridgestone
tyres and Ducati bike, which leaves the team encouraged in
case tomorrow’s race is held in wet conditions.
Alex Barros had some bad luck during the afternoon session
and will start his race from the fourth row, but the Brazilian
is confident to be able to obtain a good result thanks to
the good feeling he had with his Desmosedici.
German Alex Hofmann was in an excellent fourth position up
to the last lap but ultimately ended the qualifying session
with the eighth fastest time, a consequence of heavy traffic
on track that forced him to slow and make a mistake in the
last turn.
Alex Barros (1’50.402 – 21 laps):
“My time isn’t really good, but at the same time
I’m satisfied because the bike is very good and I have
the right feeling both with wet and dry set-up. I think I
was unlucky because when I went out on track it started to
rain a lot and I could not drive with full confidence, then
when I went back into the box, the rain reduced. I could have
profited from these conditions, but I was unfortunately not
able to get back out on track immediately. Despite my position
on the starting grid, I’m convinced that we have a good
possibility to perform well in all kind of weather conditions
tomorrow.”
Alex Hofmann (1’49.927 – 22 laps): “I’m
very satisfied because I have a really good feeling with my
bike. The Bridgestone tyres and the bike have both worked
very well today and since the beginning I have had a good
feeling. For this reason, I made a lot of fast laps, then
during the last laps of qualifying, there was a lot of traffic
on the track as all riders tried to better his lap time, so
I had to back off and I also made a mistake, which lost me
four positions on the grid. The third row is not so bad to
start the race, but I am sure I could have reached the front
row today, so I am a bit disappointed. Anyway, I’m confident
for tomorrow and I hope to do good race.”
Official Time:
1° Chris Vermeulen: 1’48.555
2° Casey Stoner: 1’48.572
3° Randy de Puniet: 1’49.579
4° Marco Melandri: 1’49.679
5° John Hopkins: 1’49.684
8° Alex Hofmann: 1’49.927
12° Alex Barros: 1’50.402
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