PEDROSA AND REPSOL HONDA ON TOP
Repsol Honda French Grand Prix, Le Mans
First day of practice, Friday May 16 2008
Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa made a great start to his
French GP weekend by setting the pace in today’s opening
practice sessions aboard his RC212V. Team-mate Nicky Hayden
had a more difficult day, ending up 12th fastest, but the
American is confident of improvement tomorrow, so long as
the forecast rain stays away.
With showers predicted for tomorrow, there was extra pressure
on the team to find the best-possible set-up during today’s
two one-hour outings, Pedrosa looking superbly smooth and
controlled around the historic French circuit, while Hayden
worked to improve corner-entry performance.
Le Mans has been slightly modified for this year’s
event. The Garage Vert hairpin at the bottom of the circuit
been adapted to improve run-off.
Dani Pedrosa, fastest, 1m 34.227s
“We worked very hard today because we heard that the
weather forecast for tomorrow isn’t so good. At least
we did get two hours of dry track time, which we dedicated
to quickly finding a good basic set-up and then doing some
work on tyre choice for Sunday’s race. The revised part
of the circuit seems quite bumpy, so I ran straight on there
several times during the day, same as a few other riders.
Overall I’m feeling quite happy about my machine after
this first day but we must keep our heads down and keep working
hard because the top few riders are all very close together
on lap times.”
Nicky Hayden, 12th fastest, 1m 35.378s
“Things didn’t go as smooth as we’d have
liked today. Braking at this track is so important and I don’t
have a good feeling when I’m braking. Straight line
or leaned over, the front end doesn’t feel so good.
I don’t know why, but I was hurting a little bit in
that area in China too. We’re basically a full second
off the pace and that’s a lot on a 1 minute 34 lap,
so we need to sort something overnight. We really never found
a direction all day, we were chasing our tails, so that makes
it hard, and it’s never good to fall behind when there’s
rain in the forecast. I know the team will work hard, so I’m
confident in that.”
Kazuhiko Yamano - Team Manager
“The problem here is the weather forecast. That made
it extra important for both riders to find a good setting
today, in case there is some rain during tomorrow’s
two sessions. Dani seems quite happy, Nicky still has some
work to do. Michelin are doing a great job with the tyres,
they’re coming up with many good solutions whatever
the weather: hot, cold, rain.”
Free Practice 2 - results
1 D. PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team 1'34.227
2 C. STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team + 0.049
3 C. EDWARDS USA Tech 3 Yamaha + 0.060
4 J. LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team + 0.260
5 C. VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 0.403
6 V. ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team + 0.732
7 S. NAKANO JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini + 0.820
8 R. DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP + 0.846
9 J. HOPKINS USA Kawasaki Racing Team + 0.906
10 A. DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini + 1.012
11 L. CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 1.029
12 N. HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team + 1.151
13 A. DOVIZIOSO ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP + 1.223
14 M. MELANDRI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team + 1.451
15 J. TOSELAND GBR Tech 3 Yamaha + 1.621
16 A. WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team + 1.650
17 T. ELIAS SPA Alice Team + 1.812
18 S. GUINTOLI FRA Alice Team + 2.187
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