Italian Grand Prix, Mugello
First day of practice, Friday May 30 2008
REPSOL HONDA’S HAYDEN SECOND QUICKEST IN RAIN
Inclement weather and changeable track conditions dominated
today’s proceedings at Mugello, riders contending with
a damp track this morning and heavy rainfall this afternoon.
Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden excelled in the conditions,
the American leading the morning session at one point and
ending the afternoon outing second fastest. On combined session
times Hayden was 12th overall while team-mate Dani Pedrosa
was eighth and wild card rider Tadayuki Okada 17th.
Okada’s progress was watched with special interest
because he is giving Honda’s pneumatic-valve-spring
engine its MotoGP debut this weekend. The Japanese rider,
who hasn’t contested a GP since October 2000, was satisfied
with progress, though he had a high-speed tumble this afternoon
when he lost the front while braking for the downhill Casanova
right-hander. The six-time GP winner was forced to sit out
the remainder of the session because he has only one bike
here.
Dani Pedrosa, 8th fastest, 1m 55.805s
“This morning track conditions were 50/50, not completely
dry, not completely wet. We started working on wet set-up
and we needed to do a lot of testing. We also tested different
rain tyres as the track conditions always change a lot when
it’s raining. In the afternoon the track was properly
wet, in one area there was a lot of standing water which made
riding quite dangerous. At the end of the session the rainfall
slowed and the lap times improved. If it’s wet again
tomorrow we are in quite good shape, though there is still
room for improvement. If it’s dry, as the weather forecast
suggests, it will be a completely new story as far as set-up
is concerned. Mugello is a very technical and demanding track
where you need perfect chassis settings. So if it’s
dry tomorrow we will have to work hard for the race.”
Nicky Hayden, 12th fastest, 1m 59.436s
“Everything went pretty smooth today apart from the
weather. This morning right at the end it didn’t look
good because we were on wets and the guys on slicks took a
lot of time out of us, but earlier when it was raining, we
were on top with not long to go. This afternoon at the beginning
things weren’t great, we were maybe a little bit too
hard on set-up, then when the heavy rain stopped the tyres
and bike worked better. We tried a few things for the rain
but we ended up with the bike exactly how it was when we got
it off the truck and that seems the best set-up for us. I
know it’s only in the wet, but the way things went at
Le Mans, it’s certainly a bit more fun when you’re
near the front and competitive, whether it’s wet or
dry or snowing or whatever. If it’s dry tomorrow it’ll
be really important to make the most of the two hours for
the race on Sunday.”
Tadayuki Okada, 17th fastest, 2m 02.810s
“When I crashed, it was my second lap on new tyres and
they were not warm enough, so when I braked the front end
tucked under. Till then, I was setting up the machine smoothly.
Although it is almost eight years since I last raced in a
GP I had a good feeling and felt confident riding with the
other riders. Of course, wet conditions hide the subtle differences
between settings changes, so we will have to see how it goes
in the dry. I hope it will be dry tomorrow and that I can
find a good set-up for the race.”
Kazuhiko Yamano - Team Manager
“Tady’s comments about the engine are quite positive,
he says power delivery is not so bad and the handling is easy
here. Now we need to spend some time checking all the data.
Unfortunately he crashed this afternoon but he is okay and
the bike wasn’t badly damaged. Of course, it’s
been raining most of the day, so we have only been able to
check the bike with rain settings. Both Nicky and Dani have
focused on wet set-up in case it rains for the race. Nicky’s
lap time in the rain wasn’t so bad, it’s good
to see him up the front.”
Free Practice 1 lap times
1 1 John HOPKINS USA Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 1'54.053
2 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 1'54.520
3 Anthony WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 1'55.021
4 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 1'55.141
5 Shinya NAKANO JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 1'55.528
6 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP HONDA 1'55.718
7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 1'55.774
8 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1'55.805
9 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 1'58.618
10 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 1'58.672
11 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP HONDA 1'59.240
12 Nicky HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1'59.436
13 James TOSELAND GBR Tech 3 Yamaha YAMAHA 1'59.899
14 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 2'00.004 16 16
15 Marco MELANDRI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 2'00.162
16 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA Alice Team DUCATI 2'01.718
17 Tadayuki OKADA JPN Repsol Honda Team HONDA 2'02.810
18 Toni ELIAS SPA Alice Team DUCATI 2'03.305
19 Colin EDWARDS USA Tech 3 Yamaha YAMAHA 2'03.774
Free Practice 2 lap times
1 C. VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2'01.500
2 N. HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team + 0.510
3 C. STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team + 0.805
4 V. ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team + 0.827
5 J. TOSELAND GBR Tech 3 Yamaha + 0.912
6 J. LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team + 1.062
7 A. DOVIZIOSO ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP + 1.069
8 R. DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP + 2.068
9 C. EDWARDS USA Tech 3 Yamaha + 2.086
10 D. PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team + 2.199
11 A. DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini + 2.265
12 J. HOPKINS USA Kawasaki Racing Team + 2.450
13 L. CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 2.549
14 A. WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team + 3.897
15 S. NAKANO JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini + 4.134
16 T. OKADA JPN Repsol Honda Team + 4.603
17 S. GUINTOLI FRA Alice Team + 4.757
18 T. ELIAS SPA Alice Team + 7.480
19 M. MELANDRI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team + 12.612
Mugello - CIRCUIT DATA
Length: 5.245 m
Width: 14m
Pole position: Right
Right corners: 9
Left corners: 6
Longest straight: 1141 m
Race: 23 laps = 120.635 km
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