PRAMAC D’ANTIN RIDERS UNDER THE RAIN IN MUGELLO FOR
QUALIFYING SESSION
 Tricky
weather conditions with dry and wet periods in rapid succession
made life difficult for both Pramac d’Antin riders in
today’s final qualifying session for the Italian Grand
Prix.
Alex Barros felt very good during the last free practice
session in the morning and took a strong fifth position, but
then ran into difficulties in the qualifying session in the
afternoon. The Brazilian rider was able to achieve only the
tenth position and he will start his race from fourth row
on the starting grid. A good start will be his only chance
to run within the top contenders and to achieve a good race
result.
German Hofmann, who will line up alongside his team-mate
on the starting grid, was reasonably happy with his performance
on the second day in Mugello, and is confident for the race.
Alex Barros (2.03.025 - 21 laps ): “Unfortunately
today wasn’t very good for me, I’m not satisfied
with my result. It’s crucial to have a good qualifying
time if you want to do well in the race, therefore I can’t
be happy with only tenth position. I don’t really know
what the problem is. With dry race configuration we are satisfied
and competitive, but with rain setting I’m not as fast
as I want; we need to work hard, if we want to improve for
tomorrow. During the qualifying session we tried two different
kind of tires, a harder and a softer compound, but I didn’t
get the right feeling with either of them. I’m very
displeased for that, and also quite worried for the race.
I just hope that somehow we can turn things around tomorrow.”
Alex Hofmann (2.03.920 – 20 laps) :
“Today’s qualifying session was like a lottery
until the end. Like yesterday, the rain interrupted our search
for a good set-up. We started with a harder rain tyre compound,
and when the rain eased, we continued with a softer set. After
just a couple of laps, I came in for another pit stop to re-fuel
and to go on a longer run, but when I went out again, the
rain came back with a vengeance. It really bucketed down,
and there was little we could do. Only a few minutes from
the end I finally managed to do my best lap, and I’m
sure that I could have further improved if the session had
continued for a little while. The race tomorrow will be difficult,
because we don’t know what the track conditions will
be like. But my motivation is very strong and I will give
my best to confirm the result of Le Mans.” .
Official Time:
1° Casey Stoner: 2’00.359
2° Chris Verneulen: 2’01.381
3° Valentino Rossi: 2’01.965
4°Olivier Jacque: 2’01.709
5°Loris Capirossi: 2’01.797
10°Alex Barros: 2.03.025
11°Alex hofmann: 2.03.920
|
