FIM MotoGP World Championship Sachsenring, Germany July 17, 2009 Free Practice One Results: MotoGP (wet conditions, all on Bridgestone): 1. Casey STONER (Ducati), 1:22.779 2. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), 1:23.034 3. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), 1:23.088 4. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda), 1:23.133 5. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda), 1:23.282 6. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), 1:23.295 7. Toni ELIAS (Honda), 1:23.351 8. Nicky HAYDEN (Ducati), 1:23.367 9. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda), 1:23.370 10. Marco MELANDRI (Kawasaki), 1:23.466 11. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha), 1:23.496 12. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki), 1:23.705 13. Mika KALLIO (Ducati), 1:24.090 14. James TOSELAND (Yamaha), 1:24.317 15. Niccolo CANEPA (Ducati), 1:24.908 16. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), 1:25.161, crash 17. Gabor TALMACSI (Honda), 1:25.416 250cc (dry conditions): 1. Hector BARBERA (Aprilia), 1:24.951 2. Marco SIMONCELLI (Gilera), 1:25.412 3. Mattia PASINI (Aprilia), 1:25.415 4. Alex DEBON (Aprilia), 1:25.481 5. Mike DI MEGLIO (Aprilia), 1:25.493 6. Roberto LOCATELLI (Gilera), 1:25.530 7. Hiroshi AOYAMA (Honda), 1:25.720 8. Aleix ESPARGARO (Aprilia), 1:25.771 9. Ratthapark WILAIROT (Honda), 1:25.813 10. Karel ABRAHAM (Aprilia), 1:25.834 125cc (wet/dry conditions): 1. Julian SIMON (Aprilia), 1:28.594 2. Marc MARQUEZ (KTM), 1:29.265 3. Bradley SMITH (Aprilia), 1:29.423 4. Nicolas TEROL (Aprilia), 1:29.578 5. Sergio GADEA (Aprilia), 1:29.776 6. Sandro CORTESE (Derbi), 1:29.852 7. Danny WEBB (Aprilia), 1:29.967 8. Simone CORSI (Aprilia), 1:29.997 9. Joan OLIVE (Derbi), 1:30.027 10. Stefan BRADL (Aprilia), 1:30.052 26. Cameron BEAUBIER (KTM), 1:31.543 More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Stoner fastest, beating race lap record in first practice Round 9: German GP Free Practice Sachsenring, Friday 17 July 2009 Bridgestone compounds available: Front: Wets Hard Slicks – Hard, Extra hard Rear: Wets Hard Slicks – Hard, Extra hard (asymmetric) The opening free practice session of the German Grand Prix started in very wet conditions after a brief but heavy thunderstorm prior to the session’s start. A dry line soon appeared though, allowing riders to gain valuable experience of both Bridgestone’s wet and slick tyres in what is expected to be a weekend of changeable weather. Every rider started on the hard compound wet tyres, the only available compound of wet tyre this weekend, completing approximately 30 minutes on them before Bridgestone’s slick tyres became faster on the drying tarmac. All the riders switched to the softer of Bridgestone’s slick tyre offerings this weekend, marked with the white line around the sidewall. With a dampened track temperature after the rain, these were clearly the faster choice. The laptimes tumbled through the session as the track became increasingly dry. Ducati Team’s Casey Stoner sealed his position at the top of the timesheets with a 1m 22.779s. Even though track conditions were not ideal, Stoner’s lap was 0.3seconds faster than the previous race lap record of the Sachsenring set by Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa in 2007. The Spaniard also bettered his 2007 lap record to go second fastest on his final lap. Whilst Stoner was 0.255seconds clear of the field, just 0.462seconds separated Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo in eleventh position from Pedrosa in second. Tohru Ubukata Bridgestone Motorsport Manager Motorcycle Race Tyre Development “In these conditions we saw today that our wet tyres and slick tyres have sufficient overlap of their operating range to deal with a wet, drying and then dry track. I’m happy with the durability of our wet tyres as we have seen again that they can be used until the surface is almost dry. “I’m also satisfied with the working temperature range of our hard compound slicks, the softer option this weekend. In similar wet/dry conditions in Le Mans and Mugello, riders went from wet tyres to our soft or medium compound slicks, whereas here they switched from wets to our hard compound tyres and still the performance was good. Given the cooler conditions, the hard compound slicks were clearly the fastest choice and no riders used the extra hard compound today.” Top ten from free practice (Friday 13:55 14:55 GMT+2) Pos Rider Team Practice Time Gap Tyres 1 Casey Stoner Ducati Team 1m22.779s Bridgestone 2 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 1m23.034s +0.255s Bridgestone 3 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1m23.088s +0.309s Bridgestone 4 Randy de Puniet LCR Honda MotoGP 1m23.133s +0.354s Bridgestone 5 Alex de Angelis San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m23.282s +0.503s Bridgestone 6 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m23.295s +0.516s Bridgestone 7 Toni Elias San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m23.351s +0.572s Bridgestone 8 Nicky Hayden Ducati Team 1m23.367s +0.588s Bridgestone 9 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 1m23.370s +0.591s Bridgestone 10 Marco Melandri Hayate Racing Team 1m23.466s +0.687s Bridgestone Weather: Wet, drying, dry. Ambient 24°C; Track 30-33°C (Bridgestone measurement) More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: REPSOL HONDAS ON THE PACE IN TIGHT FIRST SESSION AT SACHSENRING The Repsol Hondas of Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso were separated by just 0.3s seconds in today’s first practice for the German Grand Prix, yet finished in second and ninth places on the timesheets as the Sachsenring circuit produced a typically tight session. A heavy rain shower before the session meant the hour-long practice started wet and ended dry, with Pedrosa eventually dipping fractionally below his race lap record – set here on his way to victory in 2007. Pedrosa, who is looking for a second consecutive victory after his win in Laguna Seca two weeks ago, is strong at this circuit and proved this once again despite the mixed conditions, finishing just 0.255s behind the fastest time set by Casey Stoner. He and his factory Honda team-mate were riding with the latest specification engines in their RC212Vs, designed to further improve the race machine’s driveabilty and to enhance power delivery in the middle of the rev range. Dovizioso was fast in both wet and dry conditions, briefly topping the timesheets after 15 minutes on a wet track before appearing on top again as a dry line emerged. As the times tumbled in the final few minutes the Italian was able to up his pace further and finished just 0.591s behind Stoner. However, on a day when the top 12 riders were covered by a single second this was good enough only for ninth place. Like his team-mate, Dovizioso is confident of further progress in tomorrow’s practice and qualifying sessions. DANI PEDROSA 2nd, 1m 23.034 “As a first practice session here, this has been pretty good for us. The track was wet at the beginning and then began to dry out, which made things a little complicated, but it was the same for everyone and we made some progress. I have to say that at the beginning in the wet I took it easy after what happened last year, but actually, when I saw the rain before the session I thought, OK, we can pick up from where we left off and change the outcome. We rode with the new engine today although, because of these mixed conditions, it wasn’t really possible to draw definite conclusions – but the feeling was positive. We need more laps to fully evaluate the engine, so we’ll continue with that tomorrow. The main goal is to set the bike up as best as possible for any conditions – rain or dry – ready for the race.” ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 9th, 1m 23.370 “Even though the track conditions were not ideal, we already felt some improvements from the new engine that Honda has brought for us this weekend. The situation wasn’t perfect for a comparison test because we started with a wet track and then it started to dry, so we began with the current version of the engine and then we did the last run with the new one. The feeling was good both in wet and dry conditions and we did a lot of testing without focussing too hard on setting ultimate lap times, so I’m confident for tomorrow. We’ll continue with the set-up and tyre testing work tomorrow, and continue to evaluate the new engine. Today we couldn’t use the hard Bridgestone tyre option, but it will be important to test it in preparation for the race. The weather forecast looks really mixed. Of course we would prefer dry, but we we’ll see.” KAZUHIKO YAMANO – REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER “This was a good start for the team and initial feedback from the riders is positive. We need to study carefully the information we gathered today and, because the conditions were varying right through the session, we probably won’t be able to draw too many firm conclusions just yet. There are also a few areas of the machine package we still have to work on to get the ideal set-up, so we’ll work on the plan for tomorrow’s sessions in readiness for whatever the weather will throw at us.” More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: WEATHER DISRUPTS OPENING DAY AT THE SACHSENRING A torrential downpour which ended just as the first free practice session began at the Sachsenring today made for a mixed opening to the German Grand Prix, with Valentino Rossi finishing a promising third and his Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo ending the day in 11th, but just seven tenths off the lead. The session began on a soaking track, which gave the riders an opportunity to work on their wet settings for the early part of the hour, before the tarmac rapidly began to dry out in the warm conditions and a dry line started to appear. Rossi was happy to find his M1 working well throughout the changing conditions, finishing up with some fast laps at the end when the track was almost completely dry. Lorenzo, who is still recovering from the separated shoulder and fractured foot he suffered at Laguna Seca, was content with his start despite his position in the time sheets. The 22-year-old was able to complete an important test on a dry set-up, which did not leave him enough time to set a fast lap at the end when times were tumbling, but he hopes to make more progress and feel stronger on the bike tomorrow. Valentino Rossi Position: 3rd Time: 1’23.088 Laps: 29 “This was quite a strange session because we had all sorts of track conditions and then at the end it was basically dry and I was quite fast. It was a good chance to work on the rain setting and I am pretty happy because the bike felt good and our times were also quick on the wet track. It seems we have a good setting immediately here for all conditions, because it continued to feel good as the track dried and the nature of the asphalt changed. We have some things to improve, especially the feeling and general balance in the faster parts of the track, so we will concentrate on this tomorrow. Right at the end we had a bit of traffic or we could have been faster, but anyway we’re still third so I think we are in good shape. It seems Bridgestone have brought good tyres for this track, of course there is no intermediate tyre which is always going to be a bit difficult in these sorts of conditions, but I don’t think it was a big problem today.” Jorge Lorenzo Position: 11th Time: 1’23.496 Laps: 28 “I am not at 100% and in fact my injuries don’t feel as good as I had hoped on the bike, which is disappointing. I have decided for the first time to use the leathers with the airbag and I want to say that I feel much more safe! This isn’t the best track for me, the slow corners don’t really suit my style and when I am not at full fitness it makes it more difficult, but today was okay considering the conditions. During the early part when it was wet I was reminding myself of the track, and then when it was dry later on I didn’t really have enough time to go fast because we had some things to check on the setting. But there are 12 riders all very close together, within seven tenths of a second and I am not worried because it was a strange day and not one for making conclusions. The forecast tomorrow looks similar tomorrow but let’s hope it is wrong!” Davide Brivio Team Manager “This was like a double session because we had some of it the wet and some in the dry. In some senses this was positive because we were able to test both our settings and collect plenty of information, which will help us whatever the weather on Sunday. It seems like we’re fast in both the wet and the dry so we’re feeling confident and will concentrate on the finer details tomorrow to perfect the set-up.” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “Today was a bit difficult because of the weather it wasn’t a normal practice that’s for sure. We had an important test planned and in fact we changed bikes a little bit late once it was almost dry at the end, so we didn’t have time afterwards to start concentrating on setting fast laps, but we collected a lot of information which we hope will help us to improve. Hopefully it will be dry tomorrow and we can have a more ‘normal’ day on track.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Solid start for Capirossi as crash curtails Vermeulen in Germany Rizla Suzuki racer Loris Capirossi made a promising start during the first practice session at Sachsenring in Germany, whilst team-mate Chris Vermeulen was left nursing bumps and bruises following a big high-side crash. Capirossi (P12, 1’23.705, 27 laps) found vital information during the hour long session which he is sure will enable him to improve dramatically over the weekend. He is less than a second from the fastest time of the day and is in a confident mood as he prepares to put the data to good use as soon as he takes to the track tomorrow. Vermeulen (P16. 1’25.161, 19 laps) had a session he would rather forget. After starting this afternoon on the wet set-up bike, he immediately ran into some issues that forced him back to the garage and to miss a part of the session. As the track dried out – following an earlier thunderstorm – Vermeulen took to the circuit on his Suzuki GSV-R and quickly made improvements that started to see his lap-times come down. After coming in to make further changes he returned to the track and went quicker again, but then disaster struck as he hit one of the wet patches still on the 3,671m German track. Vermeulen lost traction from his rear wheel and at first it looked like he would slide into the gravel, but the rear tyre then gripped and viciously threw Vermeulen high in the air causing him to land hard on his hip that he had previously injured at Laguna Seca in the last race. He was able to walk away from the accident – although in obvious pain – and will certainly be doing all he can overnight to make sure he is fit to ride tomorrow. This afternoon’s session was held on a damp, but drying track after a huge thunderstorm soaked the circuit just before the start of proceedings. All riders started on wet tyres, but changed about half-way through to slicks as the track dried out to give enough grip. Today’s fastest time was set by Casey Stoner on his factory Ducati. Rizla Suzuki has one more practice session tomorrow morning with an hour of qualifying in the afternoon. Sunday’s 30-lap race is round nine of the MotoGP World Championship and the lights go out to signal the start at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT). Loris Capirossi: “The conditions today were very strange, because we started with wet tyres and after about half-of-an-hour it was good enough to change to dry ones. I stayed out as long as I could to try and find a good rhythm with just a basic setting so we could understand how the bike was working. We found out a lot of information that will certainly help us to work in the best way possible tomorrow. Although we are 12th – which is a pretty poor position – we do have a lot of data to use tomorrow and I think we will make some big improvements.” Chris Vermeulen: “It has not been the start to the weekend that I would have wanted! The weather wasn’t ideal and we went out on the wet bike at the beginning, but I had an issue with that and missed a bit of the session. The guys seemed to overcome the problem and I was able to go back out and do a few more laps in the damp conditions. About half-way through we went out on slicks – even though it was still a bit patchy in places – and we were making steps with the bike. I went back out towards the end of the hour and the bike was a big step forward, which helped me get my lap-time down. As I was going across one of the puddles I think I was pushing a bit too hard and had a bit of a slide and crashed. I landed on the same side that I injured in Laguna so I’m not in the best of conditions, but I am sure I’ll be fine tomorrow and we’ll make some big steps forward.” Paul Denning – Team Manager: “The most important thing from today is that Chris wasn’t badly injured in his crash, and despite aggravating the injuries from Laguna Seca, there doesn’t appear to be anything that will stop him from gritting his teeth and carrying on competing this weekend at Sachsenring. “As for Loris, the position isn’t great, but he appears to have a good base feeling with the bike. He didn’t follow any other riders to set his times and he has been building step-by-step. Most importantly he is very clear on where we can improve on the bike to take some good steps for the weekend. Hopefully some of that information can help Chris out and give him a decent start point tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Solid start for Monster Yamaha Tech3 in stormy Sachsenring Colin Edwards and James Toseland got their German MotoGP challenge off to a solid start at a weather-hit Sachsenring circuit today. Evaluating an upgraded electronics package from Yamaha to help acceleration exiting corners, American Edwards was a promising sixth quickest and Toseland upbeat despite finishing 14th in mixed conditions. Today’s session started on a wet track after a powerful storm drenched the track during the earlier 125GP session. With forecasts for more unpredictable weather during the weekend, Edwards and Toseland gained valuable experience on Bridgestone’s rain tyre before conditions improved significantly for the second half of the session. Switching to full slick tyres for the final 25 minutes as the track dried rapidly, Edwards was immediately able to lap consistently in the top six, the 35-year-old making big progress in eradicating the front-end problems that have hindered him recently. Edwards’ best time of 1.23.295 put him second in the closing stages before he eventually ended sixth, just over 0.2s outside of the top three. Toseland was also satisfied with his best time of 1.24.317, the British rider opting to continue using his rain tyre in damp conditions in case of a repeat of the flag-to-flag races in Le Mans and Mugello. Both races started on a wet track and finished in the dry. Having gained crucial data when he switched to slick tyres to improve the set-up of his YZR-M1 machine, Toseland is confident that he can climb higher up the timesheets tomorrow in wet or dry conditions. Colin Edwards 6th 1.23.295 29 laps “Looking at last year’s race I knew the Bridgestone rain tyre was awesome, so it gave me chance to sort some of the issues out I’ve had in the wet recently. Previously I’ve had too much weight on the rear but now we’ve got it more balanced and it felt really good. For the dry we went back to my old setting that I pretty much rolled out at the first race in Qatar with and it was like coming home. We’d gone off the right path and I’ve not had any feeling with the front in the last few races. The bike hasn’t been turning but the changes we’ve made with the front forks have transformed the way I feel. Now the bike is doing what I want it to because before I couldn’t get the front set-up, I couldn’t get into the corner and I had too much weight on the front with no feeling and no confidence. Now there’s more weight on the rear and I can control weight transfer more without it all pushing to the front. I tried some new electronics today too and they are fantastic. It used to be so much effort to manage the bike under acceleration, but now it is incredible. I want to say a massive thanks to Yamaha because what they have put on my bike is like gold dust. It’s a lot less effort to control the bike when I’m accelerating and it is giving me some crucial tenths.” James Toseland 14th 1.24.317 32 laps “It wasn’t a bad session even though I’m down the timesheets because we’ve gathered a lot of information in the wet and dry. It was important to do a few laps in the wet and we found we didn’t have a great setting. So that was good to discover because it looks like there’s a big chance of rain for the rest of the weekend. I spent a bit too much time on the wet tyres basically, even when it was drying up while the other guys were already out on slicks. I wanted to check on the wet tyres and get a feel for them just in case it does dry up for the race like it did in Le Mans and Mugello. In the damp conditions I had a big moment too and really hit my right leg hard. I was out of the seat at Turn Eight and I smacked my foot on the rear brake lever so hard that it was all bent. It was painful but luckily it caught me on the protective part of my boot, otherwise I could have done myself some damage. By the time I put the slicks on and made a few changes to my set-up it was a little bit too late to get close to the speed of the others but I’m sure I could have got in the 1.23s. We had some new electronics from Yamaha and it is a big step. I’ve got to say a big thanks to Yamaha for helping me out. These bikes have got so much horsepower that with a bit more control under acceleration, it’s amazing how much easier it feels. It has really helped me coming out of the corner and I can control the bike much better.” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: STONER AND HAYDEN ON PACE AFTER SACHSENRING STORM Despite waking up to bright sunshine and warm summer temperatures in Germany this morning, a lunchtime thunderstorm left the Sachsenring circuit soaking wet for the opening free practice session of the German Grand Prix. Ducati Marlboro riders Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden were unfazed by the inclement conditions, Hayden in particular following up his impressive progress at Laguna Seca by setting the pace in the wet during the early stages. The track dried quickly as the hour-long session progressed and whilst Hayden was able to convert his good form on rain tyres to some impressive lap times on slicks, the American slipped slightly down the order to eighth place when the pace was increased in the final few minutes. The man who upped the ante the most was Hayden’s own team-mate Stoner, who incredibly dipped well inside circuit record pace despite wet patches still being present on the track to take top spot. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) (1st; 1’22.779) “It would have been better to have a full wet session because even from the first two laps the track was starting to dry and you don’t get such good feedback. The bike seems to be working well, we had to change a few small things – like the seat, to make it a bit more comfortable – but generally over the last three races it has been great and I’m quite happy with it here. We’re improving the GP9 step by step and I think you can see that by Nicky’s recent results, which I’m really pleased about. Physically I feel the same as I did at this stage in the last few races so if it rains again tomorrow it would probably be beneficial to me because I’m sure it would leave me in better shape for the race and give us a much better chance of challenging for the win.” NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team) (8th; 1’23.367) “It is nice to be able to come to a track and not have to be trying something radical with the set-up on the first day and today we started out with pretty much the settings from Laguna, making a few changes as the session went on. Having said that we are trying a new handlebar here, which isn’t normally the kind of thing you do at this stage of the season, but we have changed a lot on the back of the bike so we just needed to compensate a little at the front. Up to now we’ve been using data from Casey or previous riders to find a base set-up on a Friday but now hopefully we can work from my own data on a consistent basis. My final position today isn’t too great but early in the session we were going really well, especially in the wet. We were on top for a long time and in this paddock if you’re P1 in the wet, dry or intermediate you have to be riding well and be comfortable with the bike. I think I was third up until the last lap, and it is a thing we need to improve when I try to really dig in we don’t seem able to go faster and it’s an area we still need to address in order to improve qualifying in particular. Anyway, here we’ve started very well so we’ll see where we go from here.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: He has been under the weather in recent weeks, but Casey Stoner proved to be on top of conditions at the Sachsenring on Friday afternoon. A damp track following rainfall in the 125cc Free Practice session gave the riders plenty to think about in their first run for the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, but in the end it was the Ducati Marlboro man who proved most at ease. Stoner was some three tenths of a second quicker than any other rider, with a time of 1’22.779. Whilst he was the standout rider, behind him was a group of three riders separated by less than a tenth of a second. Laguna Seca racewinner Dani Pedrosa headed said pack, showing no fear in the face of a track that so viciously took him out of action on raceday last year. World Championship leader Valentino Rossi and LCR Honda’s Randy de Puniet also made their presences felt, whilst Alex de Angelis and Colin Edwards also showed their versatility in preparation for an important race. Still feeling the effects of his qualifying crash in the United States, Jorge Lorenzo was nearly two seconds down on Stoner’s initial time. The Fiat Yamaha rider has had little time to rest after receiving the big knock under two weeks ago. The only faller in the Free Practice session was Rizla Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen, who crashed with fifteen minutes remaining in a highside that left him limping away, whilst James Toseland nearly came unstuck with a loss of rear grip early on. 250cc Héctor Barberá came back from a three-week break for the 250cc class by putting his name at the top of the Free Practice one timesheet. The PepeWorld rider was able to improve upon his own fastest lap in the final minutes of the run, eventually posting a best time of 1’24.951. The Spaniard was nearly half a second quicker than rival Marco Simoncelli, the category’s World Champion and 2008 Sachsenring racewinner. Clocking almost exactly the same time as Simoncelli was fellow Italian Mattia Pasini, whose Team Toth outfit once again had their participation thrown into doubt before the Friday session. Alex Debón and Mike di Meglio also showed renewed energy in the top five, whilst the main title contenders could be found further down the results sheet. Scot Racing’s Hiroshi Aoyama, the series leader, was seventh quickest, whilst Álvaro Bautista could only muster eleventh nearly a full second behind Barberá. There was a big sliding lowside for Shoya Tomizawa in the run, although he walked away unharmed from the incident. 125cc Earlier in the day it had taken just half an hour for rain to hit the Sachsenring on Friday afternoon, provoking an early trip back to the garage for the 125cc riders. With the expectation that more showers will come down over the course of the weekend, a selection of riders went back out on a soaking track before the end of the session, but nobody was ever going to beat the 1’28.594 lap put down by Julián Simón at the dry beginning of the afternoon. Marc Marquez was second in the run, 0.671 behind the Bancaja Aspar rider, whilst title challenger Bradley Smith was a further 0.158 back. The only other rider within a second of Simón’s time was Nico Terol, Jack&Jones WRB’s form rider of recent races. The lower cylinder class competitors will hope to be able to continue work on their dry settings on Saturday morning, when they will undertake a second free practice session for the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland. More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing Team: KALLIO GRITS HIS TEETH: THIRTEENTH IN THE FIRST FREE SESSION. CANEPA FIFTEENTH IN HIS FIRST DAY AT THE SACHSENRING After the injury suffered in Assen less then three weeks ago, Mika Kallio is back on track even if his physical conditions are not the best and he made it to register interesting lap times during the first free practice session. The Finnish rider is still suffering pain at his left ring finger, but with courage has fought in a day made even harder due to the heavy rain that came down on the German circuit just before the beginning of this afternoon free practice started at 2pm local time. Mika had to get his confidence back and in the first few laps had to check the situation with the injured finger. At the end of the practice he started to push and registered the thirteenth fastest lap time of the day not too far from the bests riders. His teammate, Niccolò Canepa, made his debut at Sachsenring and he is in fifteenth position with a respectable lap time after only 31 laps. Fabiano Sterlacchini – Pramac Racing Technical Director “Reading what has happened today, with the particular weather conditions and Mika’s precarious physical condition, the situation isn’t bad at all. Mika has constantly improved and we made it do modify the bike even if the track conditions were changing really fast. Mika’s injury was really serious and we expected some difficulties, but as usual Mika has surprised us registering interesting lap times. We are not far from the firsts as from the first to the twelfth rider there is only one second of distance and we are right there ready to step inside the fastest group.” Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing Team – 13th lap time in 1’24.090 “Sometimes I hit the top part of the injured finger on the clutch and it hurts so bad, but the only thing I can do is grit my teeth and continue to fight on track. I didn’t take any painkiller and I don’t think I will need it in the rest of the weekend. For sure it is not simple to use the clutch like in the other races. Without this problem I could have been faster today as I wouldn’t need to take some time to evaluate the situation of the injury. I know there are some part of the track where I can sensibly improve and tomorrow we should take a big step forward in the standing.” Niccolò Canepa – Pramac Racing Team – 15th lap time in 1’24.908 “To be the first time on this track things didn’t go so bad. In addition with the wet track we lost a lot of time. Today I mainly concentrated to learn the track without modifying the bike at all. Tomorrow we will start to try to improve the set up of the bike and in this way we expect to sensibly improve our lap times.” More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: De Puniet FOURTH fastest AT GERMAN GP OPENING DAY Sachsenring, 17 July: The 800cc premier class riders hit Europe this week end for the ninth round of the season at the Sachsenring race track and the opening day of free practice for Sunday’s Deutschland Grand Prix was conducted on damp surface as torrential rain hit the German track at 14:00 local time. LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet clocked his fastest lap time of 1’23.133 (less than 4 tenths off the fastest lap time of the day) in the last minutes of the afternoon session (4th overall) chasing the correct set-up for tomorrow’s qualifying session. The Frenchman aboard the Honda RC212V no. 14 made 36 laps throughout the session lapping consistently fast on race trim at the 3.671 km race track. Stoner topped the timesheets with a 1’22.779 quickest lap time. De Puniet 4th 1’23.133 De Puniet 4th: “Well”¦ it was a good first session and I am quite satisfied about our performance. After the storm we started in the wet as everybody but since the first laps I was very comfortable with the bike which we need to improve a little bit. Once the surface started to dry up I came out on soft tyre but I have been very careful at the beginning; when my lap times became more consistent we decided to continue on soft tyres. I made a 23-lap run (Sunday’s race is 30 laps!) with a good pace especially in the end on used tyres so I am pretty confident for tomorrow’s qualifying. Basically we found the correct overall package and we just have to fine-tune the chassis and the suspensions”.