Grand Prix of San Marino
Qualifying Practice
UNFORTUNATE DAY FOR THE PRAMAC-D´ANTIN TEAM
Sunny skies and beautiful weather masked what was a very
dark day for the Pramac Dántin riders. After an intense
two hour morning free practice, due to the cancellation of
two free sessions yesterday afternoon following a tremendous
rain storm, the riders quickly recovered their strength and
went back out in the afternoon for the Qualifying session.
The goal was to find the optimum settings for the bike, but
with the time lost because of the yesterday’s weather,
what resulted was a not what the team had hoped for.
During the Qualifying practice, the two members of the Italo-Spanish
team underwent a variety of problems and weren’t able
to secure the grid positions that they wanted. Alex Barros
wasn’t able to find a good feeling with the qualifying
tires and will be forced to fight from the sixth row, while
Alex Hofmann, in only his first race back after the catastrophic
accident in Laguna Seca, will aim to gather as many important
points as possible as he re-adapts to his Bologna Bullet.
Alex Barros (24 laps. 1´35,89): "Obviously,
I am very dissatisfied with my place on the grid, but I know
that with the race tire I can get into a good rhythm. Starting
from this far back, it doesn’t bode well for the race,
but I’m committed to getting as good a result as I can,
because the I know that the team, the bike, and my skills
are much better than 19th".
Alex Hofmann (23 laps. 1´36,65): "I
am happy to be racing again after the serious accident that
I suffered in Laguna Seca. It is normal that after several
weeks of inactivity and an intense rehabilitation of my hand,
that I would tire after a few laps. Tomorrow I expect to improve
my result in the race because the race tire behaves better
for me than the qualification tire”.
Luis d´Antin (General Manager). "For
us it’s been a difficult weekend, and losing all that
time on Friday didn’t help us to find the best race
settings for the race.The only positive thing is that with
the race configuration we found we are competitive and we
know we can definitely improve on the results of today".
Official Times:
1º Casey Stoner 1´33.91
2º Valentino Rossi 1´34,09
3º Nicky Hayden 1´34,46
4º Randy De Puniet 1´34,50
5º John Hopkins 1´34,53
17º Alex Barros 1´35,89
19º Alex Hofmann 1´36,65
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