Grand Prix of Portugal. Free Practice
The circuit of Estoril is hosting round fourteen of the MotoGP
World Championship. The Portuguese circuit is located just
a few kilometers from the coast, and is reknowned for being
a tricky and technical track, as well as having shifting weather
patterns. Due to the circuit’s emphasis on high speed
cornering and low-speed flickability, the right balance of
the motorcycle and tires is fundamental. The Pramac-d´Antin
team finished the first day of Free Practices with Alex Barros
in ninth and Alex Hofmann in eighteenth.
Alex Barros ( 27 laps. 1´38´61).
“I was really upset with this morning’s free practice,
so I charged ahead this afternoon to improve my results. I
changed quite a few aspects of the motorcycle, and immediately
I felt much more comfortable on my Ducati Desmosedici. On
one of my last laps, I was headed towards a low 1:38, but
a small mistake in a curve cost me some time. For tomorrow,
we’re going to change a couple more things and I expect
to lower my rhythm about a half second. We’re looking
to be as competitive as possible on Sunday”.
Alex Hofmann (24 laps. 1´39´11).
“Of course, that this is not the result I expected.
We worked well on the "set-up", but this is a circuit
in which there is a lot of pressure coming onto the brakes
and in some zones I find I’m still suffering from my
hand injury. I’m not at 100%, but I’m shooting
to drop my times a lot tomorrow and I want to be able to fight
among the top ten in the race”.
Classification:
1º Casey Stoner 1´37¨95
2º Makoto Tamada 1´37´98
3º Valentino Rossi 1´38´12
4º Dani Pedrosa 1´38´20
5º Randy de Puniet 1´38´28
9º Alex Barros 1´38´61
18º Alex Hofmann 1´39´11
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