British GP - Free Practice
STONER FASTEST AT DANK DONINGTON, CAPIROSSI 14TH
Ducati Marlboro Team rider Casey Stoner ended a soaking first
day of practice here with the fastest lap time, the World
Championship leader in superb form despite a treacherously
slippery track surface. Team-mate Loris Capirossi had a harder
time in the difficult conditions but is confident he will
do better tomorrow after a more promising afternoon session.
Rain fell on and off throughout the day, Stoner riding his
fastest lap at the end of the morning session. Capirossi rode
his best lap at the end of the afternoon outing.
CASEY STONER, fastest, 1m 43.749s
"I think everyone is running pretty much the softest
wets. I used the same tyres for the whole day today and they
still looked pretty new. It's ridiculous really, I don't think
any other British track is this bad in the wet, and to have
a world championship race here with bikes doing these speeds
is just a little bit wrong. Since they resurfaced the track
it's got worse than what it was before in the wet, it's become
dangerous. For tomorrow we're going to see if we can make
the tyres work a bit harder and hopefully pick up a few tenths.
We'd already made a few improvements for the wet at Mugello
- we changed something in the geometry to help me get more
weight transfer on the rear, that's why we were pretty fast
and confident in the wet there. It doesn't really matter if
it's wet or dry on Sunday, we've all got to race in the same
conditions. But the way this circuit is at the moment, I think
a dry race would be a better option for everyone."
LORIS CAPIROSSI, 14th fastest, 1m 46.811s
 "This
morning was really bad. We had some trouble with the engine
set-up and we've not been able to find the right settings.
This afternoon we started with a different electronics set-up
and although it was a bit better it's still not right. I can't
ride well because the bike feels too aggressive, so we need
to analyse the data and understand why. We don't have so many
of the rain tyres we want to use here, so I used the same
front and rear for both sessions. They aren't perfect but
they are pretty good and their endurance is beyond doubt,
given that I used the same tyres for the whole day! Joking
apart, I was really worried this morning but now I'm feeling
better, even if I'm not totally happy yet. The track conditions
are the same as usual when it rains here - slippery, with
a lot of water onto the track, but still manageable because
it didn't rain too hard."
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