COOL START FOR THE PRAMAC D’ANTIN MOTOGP TEAM AT THE
QATAR GRAND PRIX
 The
PRAMAC D’ANTIN MotoGP riders started the 2007 MotoGP
World Championship in good form and highly motivated. Today,
Alex Barros, began to contest his 228th Grand Prix in the
premier category (258 total Grand Prix starts in all classes
in his career), clocking a time of 1’57.620 at the end
of the first free practice, while Alex Hofmann, after a good
morning session, closed the afternoon practice with a 1’58.206.
The aim of both riders was to clearly define the best race
set-up of their Ducati GP7’s, equipped with Bridgestone
rubbers. The Brazilian started the day with a good base setting
obtained during the previous Qatar test, and spent some time
testing different tires and making a few changes to the geometry
of the bike, while the Mindelheim guy focused on front end
feel.
Alex Barros (11th - 1’57.620): “I
am very happy with my debut for this first race of the new
season; I was anxious to breath deeply once again the competitive
spirit within MotoGP. Despite the not-so-good conditions of
the track, today’s session was satisfying. The goal
was to work in the racepace, because that’s what counts.
We started working with the good base setting we found here
in Losail last month, tweaking a few things with the suspension
and testing the front and rear tires we will choose for the
race. I am feeling quite comfortable on the bike but we have
to improve in the slower, 180° corners, where we’re
suffering a little bit. Tomorrow, we will continue to work
on tires selection and on the electronics of the engine to
make the bike easier to ride for the entire race. We have
some space to improve. We are looking to find a few tenths
here and there to be competitive and fighting for the podium,
which is my objective for this season. I am ready to start
this new season and do my best!”
Alex Hofmann (16th - 1’58.206): “Today
was a special day for me because I started another Championship
with the same Team I had last year, and because I’m
facing this new challenge with a fighting spirit like I’ve
never had before. This season represents to me a crucial turning
point and I want to give my all so I can show everybody I’m
really fast. Today’s set-up was the one defined at last
month’s test here in Losail therefore I focused my work
today on the Bridgestone tires that work well here. In the
morning I didn’t have any problems and the feeling with
the bike was good. In fact, my best time of the morning was
1’58.021, while in the afternoon, maybe because of the
higher track temperatures, I lost my good feeling with the
front. The several changes we tried didn’t solve this
problem today, but I am sure that tomorrow we will find the
right setting for the bike which will allow me to make a good
race. I want to thank the team because I know they’ve
worked long and hard during the preseason, and now it’s
finally time to race!”.
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