All Friday afternoon free practice and provisional qualifying sessions at the Grand Prix at Misano have been canceled due to heavy rains. The heavy rainfall has resulted in flooding in areas of the track, and according to Dorna Sports, some of the run-off areas and garages have also been affected. Friday was to include more practice time than normal due to the inexperience of most of the riders with the revised Misano course. Officials are working on a revised schedule for Saturday. More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: WEATHER CAUSES MAYHEM IN MISANO Grand Prix Motorcycle racing returned to the Adriatic holiday resort of Misano for the first time in fourteen years today, but the party was well and truly spoilt by the Italian weather as fierce storms turned the first day into a washout. After the paddock was welcomed back to the venue by temperatures in excess of 35 degrees yesterday, it looked like the heat was going to be the chief weather worry for the weekend. However storms overnight gave way to showers this morning before even more torrential rain set in around midday, accompanied by dramatic displays of thunder and lightening. The rain eventually abated around 2pm but left the paddock, pit lane, some parts of the track and most pit boxes flooded, forcing race direction to cancel all remaining sessions today. This morning’s first free practice, held in very wet conditions, nonetheless gave the riders a taster of what to expect from the Misano track. The Fiat Yamaha Team duo of Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards put in a positive initial showing, finishing the session second and fifth respectively. The MotoGP riders should have had two more practice sessions today; an extra hour having been added to allow them time to learn the new circuit. As a result a revised schedule tomorrow will see a two-hour MotoGP practice in the morning, from 0900 to 1100, before the standard one-hour qualifying session in the afternoon. Valentino Rossi Position: 2nd Time: 1’48.632 Laps: 21 “Unfortunately we had very bad weather today but this morning my first impressions of the track were good, better than when I came here to do some laps with the safety commission on a street bike. I think they’ve done a very good job with the bumps; we asked them to resurface another time and now it’s not so bad. Of course in the wet we’re not riding at the maximum, but it seems okay and I was quite happy. Because of the rain we lost two hours, which makes things more difficult for everyone, but we have an extra hour tomorrow and the forecast is much better so I hope that we will get some dry time. My performance this morning was quite good, we tried a new rain tyre on the rear and it worked well. Melandri was quite far ahead but anyway I’m quite happy. Of course it’s another story tomorrow in the dry, but I think we have some more improvements for the dry setting as well so I am looking forward to it.” Colin Edwards Position: 5th Time: 1’49.219 Laps: 19 “What time we had this morning was really good! Once I’d got the hang of going the opposite way around the track to what I was used to from my Superbike days, I felt pretty comfortable out there and my bike felt good in the wet. We went out initially and just did a few laps to get a bit of a feeling, before coming back in and changing the setting accordingly. We did almost the whole session on one set of tyres and they felt really good, much better than they have previously in the wet this season. We had a lot of grip which was very encouraging. Obviously we could have done with the extra time this afternoon and the weather has been unbelievable but everyone’s in the same boat so we’re going to have to make the most of it!” Davide Brivio Fiat Yamaha Team Director “It’s really unlucky that the weather has been so bad today, we weren’t expecting this here! The first practice this morning didn’t really give us enough time to completely gauge the situation, especially as it was wet, but anyway it’s given the riders an initial feeling and they were both quite fast. It seems Michelin have done a good job with the development of their wet-weather tyres so we were very pleased about this. It’s a pity we missed out on the extra session and couldn’t continue with the good work, but it’s the same for everyone and so now we will make the most of the time we have tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Practice cancelled as biblical scale downpour soaks Misano All of this afternoon’s practice sessions were cancelled at Misano in Italy as a torrential downpour flooded the track and left both the Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racers in search of snorkels and Suzuki outboard motors to navigate the circuit, rather than their GSV-Rs. A huge thunderstorm broke just after midday and the deluge of water that fell in a short time made the Misano track look more like an aqua park rather than a Grand Prix circuit fit for the top two-wheeled machines in the world. MotoGP officials tried to clear the track of water that was over a metre deep in places, but even Moses would have had problems parting the gushing torrent as it flowed down onto the racing surface from the surrounding hillsides. John Hopkins and Chris Vermeulen did get out in the morning session which was also hampered by heavy showers and recorded the eighth and 11th quickest times respectively. Vermeulen crashed during the session in the wet conditions, but was unhurt and managed to continue with the practice on his spare bike. Marco Melandri set the fastest time on his satellite-team Honda. A new schedule will now be arranged to allow all riders to get some much needed practice on the new Misano circuit in time for Sunday’s 28-lap race. John Hopkins: “Well, you could say that everything went swimmingly today! In these conditions the only one that got any significant practice was the Team’s rubber duck! We weren’t able to test much this morning as it was so wet, so all we really learnt was which direction the track went. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow and we can get some dry time, because if not and it is fine for the race it will be a complete lottery as to what could happen. I wonder if Bridgestone has rubber rings that we could fit to the bike, so we could have some extra buoyancy to float around!” Chris Vermeulen: “I was looking forward to coming back here, but if I’d have known this weather was going to be here I’m sure I would rather have stayed on the beach in Australia. I thought at one point we were going to need a submarine to get out of the circuit this evening! We’ll have to see what happens tomorrow and pray that we get some dry sessions.” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: TORRENTIAL RAIN STOPS PRACTICE, STONER AND CAPIROSSI THIRD AND FOURTH A torrential downpour brought proceedings to an early close at Misano today, with Ducati Marlboro Team riders Casey Stoner and Loris Capirossi placed third and fourth quickest following this morning’s opening wet practice session. Two hours of heavy rain around lunch time badly flooded parts of the track and some of the pits, leaving Race Direction with no alternative but to cancel the day’s remaining sessions. MotoGP had been allotted an extra hour of practice today to allow riders to acquaint themselves with the revamped Misano circuit, so tomorrow’s schedule gives MotoGP riders three hours of track time – two hours of practice in the morning and an hour of qualifying in the afternoon. CASEY STONER, 3rd fastest, 1m 48.852s “I had a small problem this morning, I made a mistake and crashed, even though I was being very careful at that point of the track because I had seen a lot of 125 riders crashing and running wide there, so it came as a big surprise to me. For the rest of the session we only had medium tyres so it wasn’t possible to ride with so much confidence. I was expecting this afternoon to be dry but it was the complete opposite – in the end there was enough water on the track in some places to go swimming! I think we could have had a good day today, I was quite disappointed that we couldn’t ride the circuit again. I’m not so impressed with the track, there are some points where it’s very, very bumpy and also the circuit in some places is unbelievably slippery in the wet, it’s similar to Donington and worse at some corners. It’s not so easy to get a good feeling in the wet here but hopefully it will be dry tomorrow and then we should be able to understand it a little bit better.” LORIS CAPIROSSI, 4th fastest, 1m 49.167s “Today felt like Malaysia last year. This torrential rain has ruined everyone’s plans. When we woke up this morning it was already raining but we were able, more or less, to complete the morning practice session. The surface doesn’t feel too bad in the wet, there was just one section, the “Quercia” turn, which was very slippery and I think that almost all this morning’s crashes happened there. The real problem is that our braking points and lines are very particular in the rain so I really hope that tomorrow is dry because the forecast for Sunday is sunny. At the moment we have no data for Misano, so we have to start from scratch with gearbox set-up, suspension settings, engine mapping, tyre choice and so on. That’s why we will get two hours of practice tomorrow morning, from 9 to 11am. I also hope they will be able to clean the track because the rain has put a lot of mud on the asphalt. The surface probably won’t be perfect anyway, but it will get better once the bikes put down some rubber.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: MISANO FREE PRACTICE CANCELLED AFTER TORRENTIAL RAIN Free practice ahead of Sunday’s San Marino Grand Prix was cut short today, with all track sessions being cancelled after the opening MotoGP practice when torrential rain left parts of the Misano circuit flooded and the teams fighting a losing battle to keep water out of the pit boxes. Even the one session completed by Kawasaki’s Randy de Puniet and Anthony West was hampered by heavy rainfall, but all the premier class riders managed to complete their virgin laps of the course before the really serious weather crept in. De Puniet put in an early, strong ride, coming in seventh on the final timesheets. The 26-year-old Frenchman continued his recent good form, scoring the second fastest time of the day of 210.8 km/h on his 800cc Ninja ZX-RR. Even in spite of the conditions, he complimented his Bridgestone tyres, impressed with their grip around the track. Certainly, he didn’t look like a rider who was learning his way around. Kawasaki team mate, Anthony West, meanwhile, topped the leaderboard to begin with, being the only rider familiar with the newly reconstructed layout (he won a World Supersport race at Misano earlier in the year). But the others soon caught up with him as they got used to the 4.180 km circuit’s twists and turns. The 26-year-old Australian came home in 9th with a best lap of 1’50.389 and a top speed of 206.5 km/h, despite a minor crash at turn one. MotoGP has not visited the track since 1993 and in that time it has been vastly re-structured. Therefore, an extra practice, in addition to the usual two the teams get on a Friday, was scheduled in for this afternoon to further help riders learn their way around. However, only the first morning session was run before the really torrential rain fell at around noon, flooding parts of the track, much of the paddock and most of pit lane. Teams suddenly found themselves frantically attempting to keep the water at bay but soon hundreds of mechanics, suspension engineers, data technicians and even Kawasaki’s Competition Manager, Michael Bartholemy, were doing everything possible to save bikes and equipment in the garages. As a consequence, the remaining two sessions were cancelled and Saturday’s timetable has been rescheduled. There will now be a two-hour long practice from 09:00 to 11:00hrs tomorrow, with qualifying remaining at 13:50. Sunday’s 28-lap race will go ahead as planned at 14:00. Randy De Puniet #14 – 7th – Best Lap 1’49.724 “I was second fastest in that session, which is quite a good start. Initially, I wasn’t doing so well as I had a technical problem and lost 20 minutes; then I restarted, just as the really heavy rain came down and only managed two laps. Later on I got up to first place but then ended up seventh. The bike had a good feeling in the wet and I felt the Bridgestones had pretty good grip on the track, considering how wet it was, but I’m looking forward to riding in the dry because I think I can go even faster then. By the time the really bad weather began, I was in my motorhome. When I arrived back at the pits I saw what was going on in the box and pit lane. There was no way we could carry on today. It was quite an impressive sight, though!” Anthony West #13 – 9th Best Lap 1’50.389 “Well, that was interesting. It was good to get out there and be at the front for a while, and things were going well, but then I came off. But the other two Aussies, Chris Vermeulen and Casey Stoner, went down too and I didn’t want them to feel embarrassed so I thought I’d join in. Seriously though, it was just a stupid thing as it was slippery out there. I went in to turn one, touched the brakes and lost the front. Still, I came back in, went straight out again and my fastest lap of the session was my last, which is a good sign. I’ve never seen anything like this rain and flooding though. I was looking for the Kawasaki jet ski”¦” Michael Bartholemy Kawasaki Competition Manager “It was a funny day! But I’m happy with these early results. It’s a new track and it’s not just the riders who need to get used to it but also the crews, for set up and so on. Anyway, it was more like Scotland today than Italy! I hope the circuit improves the situation for next year, as it’s been difficult to deal with in the garages. But the weather is due to get a lot better for tomorrow and Sunday so we look forward to Randy and Anthony getting back on the bikes in the morning.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Melandri tops Misano timesheets in calm before the storm GP Cinzano San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini – Friday 31st August Report Day 1 Due to the extreme weather conditions at the Misano circuit, where torrential downpours took place at around 12pm local time, all of this afternoon’s practice and qualifying sessions for the GP Cinzano de San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini were cancelled. The large quantity of rain that fell in a two hour burst provoked a large amount of flooding on the track, with the run-off areas and garages also affected. Race Direction confirmed the cancellation of the day’s activities after inspecting the track. Practice sessions were due to be extended today to allow for the inexperience of the riders with the Misano circuit, but this was clearly not possible. In this morning’s hour of MotoGP practice, Marco Melandri made a positive return to riding in his first time on track since suffering a neck injury in Brno. The Gresini Honda rider was planning to take things slowly on his first 800cc outing in Misano, but was by far the fastest rider out of the blocks during the dry portion of the morning session. Few riders were able to complete any significant amount of dry laps, and as such were unable to match Melandri’s time of 1’46.948. The closest rider on the timesheets was local rider Valentino Rossi, who hails from just 9km from the circuit and was nearly 1.7 seconds off his compatriot’s lap. An innocuous lowside from Casey Stoner on a slippery track was the most notable incident of the morning, along with other light crashes from Chris Vermeulen and Anthony West. Of the Australian trio, World Championship leader Stoner was the fastest in the early going, third quickest today ahead of team-mate Loris Capirossi, Yamaha’s Colin Edwards and World Champion Nicky Hayden. The top ten was completed by Randy de Puniet, John Hopkins, Anthony West and Alex Barros. An updated schedule for Saturday will see the 125cc riders on track at the earlier time of 8.00am, with 2 hours of MotoGP action to follow at 9.00am. The remaining schedule remains as normal for a Saturday, with MotoGP qualifying at 2pm local time. 250cc An extended 80 minute 250cc session concluded with Andrea Dovizioso at the head of the standings, clocking a 1’48.460 lap of the Misano circuit onboard his Kopron Team Scot Honda. The World Championship challenger is experiencing something akin to a second home race this weekend, all-important as he makes his push for a maiden quarter litre title. Whilst most of the session was marked by rain and a wet track, some riders still used their time to put in a full quota of laps. One rider sure to be pleased with his performance is Briton Dan Linfoot, second on the timesheets on the Team Sicilia Aprilia. The top six also included KTM rider Hiroshi Aoyama, local fan favourite Alex de Angelis and 125c World Champion Alvaro Bautista. 125cc The 125cc class was the first World Championship category to take to the track at Misano since 1993, completing a full session this morning, albeit on a damp track. Gabor Talmacsi was the fastest of the day, with a 1’55.450 lap putting him ahead in the early going after an extra 15 minutes allocated for the lower cylinder class. Talmacsi went round faster than Mattia Pasini -sure to be well-supported over the weekend- Dino Lombardi, Tomoyoshi Koyama, Pol Espargaro and Simone Corsi. More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: MISANO CIRCUIT FLOODED AS RAIN FORCES CANCELLATION OF MOTOGP PRACTICE The Misano circuit made a dramatic return to Grand Prix racing on Friday as the afternoon practice sessions for the San Marino Grand Prix were cancelled with parts of the track submerged to shoulder height by flood water. The morning’s MotoGP practice session went ahead in wet conditions, but a torrential downpour at lunchtime saw a river of water running down pit lane and flooding many garages, including the Repsol Honda pit. There was no significant damage to equipment, but at 2pm the organisers were forced to cancel the day’s remaining practice sessions and begin the process of draining the track. Repsol Honda riders Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa took to the new-layout Misano in the morning and spent the hour learning the circuit. The wet conditions made times largely irrelevant and prevented any significant machine set-up work or tyre selection ahead of Sunday’s 28-lap race. Because of this, in order to allow teams to make up for lost time at a circuit for which they have no previous set-up data, Saturday morning’s practice session has been extended to two hours running from 9am 11am. This will be followed by the one-hour qualifying session in the afternoon. Thankfully the weather is forecast to improve for the rest of the weekend. Nicky Hayden 6th 1m 49.591s “Well that’s going to make things interesting now. It’s a new track and today we got a little bit of a feel for it, learned which way it goes and the track seems ok. It’s a little bit tight in a few places but the grip in the rain is not as bad as I’d heard it might be. It was quite bumpy, even in the wet, and with some of the corners you can tell that you’re going backwards they’re pretty open on the entry and tight on the exit. It’s going to be tight and a little bit hard to pass here but the layout isn’t exactly too tricky for instance there’s no blind corners. It looks like the fast corners at the end of the back straight are going to be the most technical, tricky section and it’s the fast corners where you can make up the most time. We’ll come back tomorrow ready to put in a hard day’s work.” Dani Pedrosa 12th 1m 51.177s “I’ve never seen anything like the conditions today. Even Malaysia last year wasn’t like this and I haven’t seen the garage getting flooded before it’s amazing. This morning we could learn a little about the track and it seems quite bumpy, and a little slippery in the wet. It’s narrow too so it could be pretty difficult to overtake but we’ll see. Tomorrow morning we will have a lot to do in the two-hour session. Also, because we’ve lost the time this afternoon, it will be tricky to choose race tyres and set-up because the temperature and conditions in the afternoon are different to the morning. Effectively we’ll have just half an hour of afternoon time to do this before we use the qualifying tyres towards the end of the session. So, it’s going to be a busy day!” Makoto Tanaka – Team Manager “Well, obviously we didn’t learn too much today! Everybody is riding this track for the first time so it would have been useful to have the extra practice time that was scheduled. This morning’s session was wet so we didn’t obtain too much set-up information and Nicky and Dani were wisely riding quite carefully. I hope tomorrow is fine and we can use the extra hour in the morning to get stuck into set-up and tyre choice.” More, from a press release issued by Gresini Racing Honda: MELANDRI SETS THE PACE ON WET FIRST DAY AT MISANO On a day of unprecedented rainfall that saw the afternoon practice sessions cancelled by Race Direction, Honda Gresini rider Marco Melandri topped the time sheets after setting the pace in the morning. An incredible lap time of 1’46.948 left him a massive 1.68 seconds clear of nearest challenger Valentino Rossi, with Casey Stoner third. Melandri, returning to action after missing the race at Brno with a neck problem, took things steadily as he recovered his feeling with the bike on a wet and relatively unknown circuit. However, he quickly found that he had a good feeling bike and he was able to complete a total of 19 laps. Toni Elias, who returned from his own injury nightmare at Brno following a crash two months previously at Assen, decided that it was too risky to ride in such difficult conditions as he continues his recovery from a broken femur. Weather forecasts are predicting improved conditions and clear skies for tomorrow. MARCO MELANDRI (1st 1:46.948): “I’m really happy – I didn’t think I would be so comfortable on the bike having not ridden it properly for almost two months (since Laguna). Two days ago I was very worried because I was in a bad way but thankfully this morning I felt better. The wet conditions didn’t put too much stress on my neck because there isn’t the hard braking that you have in the dry. I was really desperate to get back on track and I enjoyed it. The bike is working well and I found a good feeling straight away. I know Misano track but with the changes they made and the reverse direction it feels completely new. The fast part is particularly difficult to understand but I think this is where the rider can make the difference. Tomorrow could be tricky because of the amount of dirt that the rain brought onto the track.” TONI ELIAS: “It was a strange day because of the rain. This morning I decided not to risk it in the wet because it was too dangerous to crash. I’ve never seen anything like the weather this afternoon – hopefully it will be dry tomorrow so we can get out on track.” More, from a press release issued by Konica Minolta Honda: Monsoon conditions hit Misano and cause practice chaos Terrible weather conditions have hit the Adriatic coast near the Misano circuit, leading to the cancellation of all of today’s remaining practice sessions. In the morning, Shinya Nakano was able to take to the new Misano track for just 22 laps, to get some experience of the 2.6mile circuit in the worsening conditions. The leader of the first session was Italian Marco Melandri on his Honda RC212V. However, following a two-hour downpour, which flooded the circuit, run-off areas and pit garages, all remaining timed sessions were cancelled. The decision was made for safety reasons, as on some corners water was sitting around a metre-deep. Tomorrow morning the MotoGP riders will have two hours of free practice, while the schedule in the afternoon will remain unchanged with qualifying beginning at 1.50pm local time and ending at 2.50pm. Extra practice sessions were drafted in for today, as this is the first time Misano has been used as a Grand Prix circuit since 1993. Since then massive revisions have been in place to increase safety, including resurfacing, reversal of the direction of racing from anti-clockwise to clockwise, and the lengthening of the track by around 120 metres. The original track was designed back in 1969 and held its first event in 1972. The first Grand Prix held at the circuit was in 1980 for the Grand Prix of Nations. The 2007 tyre rule which sees 17 rear and 14 front tyres allowed in each rider’s allocation has been expanded to 15 fronts and 19 rear tyres. It is hoped that conditions will rapidly improve, as weather forecast for Saturday and Sunday are much better than today’s conditions. Sunday’s 28-lap race is due to start at 2pm Central European Time. San Marino GP – Free practice classification 1) Marco Melandri Honda 1′ 46.948″ 2) Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1′ 48.632″ 3) Casey Stoner Ducati 1′ 48.852″ 4) Loris Capirossi Ducati 1′ 49.167″ 5) Colin Edwards Yamaha 1′ 49.219″ 15) Shinya Nakano Honda 1′ 53.297″ More, from a press release issued by Repsol: A WET FRIDAY AT MISANO A constant downpour ruined the first day of training at the Italian circuit. Training in the afternoon cancelled because of a flooded track The San Marino GP could not have got off to a worse start on the first day of training. What should been everybody in the World Motorcycling Championship`s first encounter with the Italian track the organisers had even extended the time for training today so that the riders could get to know this unknown track was an authentic fiasco owing to the terrible weather. The only riders not to get hit by the downpour on the Circuit of Misano were the young lads in 125cc, who during the morning session were able to ride in the dry. Afterwards in the first free training for MotoGP the rain started to fall heavily and riders were falling all around the circuit. In 250cc the rain stopped momentarily and the track dried a little, and that made their work even harder. A little before the start of the first timed session for 125cc torrential rain appeared again and this time it completely flooded the whole Circuit of Misano. The large amount of water that fell on the Italian track in the end flooded the paddock, the pits and the track itself, an absurd situation to even think about riding motorbikes, and so the rest of the day`s training at Misano was cancelled. Quotes MotoGP Nicky Hayden — 6th, 19 laps, 80km. “Well, now things are going to get interesting. This is a new circuit and today we learnt a little about it, we saw what it is like and the surface seems to be fine. It is narrow at some points, but the adherence in rain was not as bad as we had heard. “It has quite a lot of bumps, even in the wet, and on some curves it seems that you go backwards; they are very open when you enter and narrow at the exit. It is going to be quite tough getting through them, but the track is not so deceptive in reality; for example there are no blind curves. It seems that the fast curves at the end of the straight at the back are going to be the most technical ones, the trickiest section, and it is on the fast curves where you can make up time. We will be back tomorrow and we will be faced with a lot of hard work.” Dani Pedrosa — 12th, 16 laps, 66km. “I have never seen conditions like those I saw today. Even in Malaysia last year it was not like this and I had never seen the pits flooded before; it was incredible. This morning we learnt something about the circuit and it seems that it has quite a few bumps and is a little slippery in the wet. “It is also narrow, so it could be difficult to overtake, but we will see. Tomorrow morning we will have a lot to do in the 2 hour session. Moreover, owing to the lost time today it will be tricky choosing the tyres and the setup as the temperature and the weather conditions in the afternoon are different from those in the morning. So in effect we will have half an hour in the afternoon to do do it before using the classification tyres at the end of the session. So it is going to be a very busy day!” 250cc Julián Simón — 14th, 28 laps, 117km “This was a very strange training session because we did not expect the weather to be so bad. The only positive thing that we got to know was the track itself, I like the circuit a lot and I think that we can set up our bike for this circuit and it also suits my riding style. “We hope that the weather is better tomorrow and we can ride because today we have only been able to train in the morning and things did not go as we would have liked. But after riding we have some information that will help us out a bit tomorrow.” Shuhei Aoyama — 21st, 29 laps, 121km “I can`t say much about today, it was a day that was completely lost. We have hardly been able to make any conclusions about the circuit, but the first impression is that I like it, but we will have to see how tomorrow goes. I hope the weather gets better tomorrow.” 125cc Bradley Smith — 22nd, 21 laps, 87km “Today was an authentic disaster, and the position was not at all good either, although the positive part is that the bike is working better. We have improved compared to the weekend in Donington; there we were 9 seconds behind the leaders and here just 3 seconds. “I am aware that I can still do a lot better and this afternoon I was hoping to do so, but the rain came and it was not to be. It is diappointing to have lost the training in the afternoon, but we have tomorrow`s sessions. It will be difficult but we will work hard to improve our position.” Esteve Rabat — 33rd, 24 laps, 100km. “Today was a bit of a disaster becaue of the rain; when it started it felt as if the bike was gliding on wet glass, sliding constantly. I did not have any “feeling”, but well let`s see what weather is in store for us tomorrow.” Official results MotoGP 1. Marco MELANDRI (HONDA) 1’46.948 2. Valentino ROSSI (YAMAHA) 1’48.632 3. Casey STONER (DUCATI) 1’48.852 4. Loris CAPIROSSI (DUCATI) 1’49.167 5. Colin EDWARDS (1’49.219) 6. Nicky HAYDEN (REPSOL HONDA) 1’49.591 12. Dani PEDROSA (REPSOL HONDA) 1’51.177 250cc 1. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (HONDA) 1’48.460 2. Dan LINFOOT (APRILIA) 1’48.527 3. Hiroshi AOYAMA (KTM) 1’49.100 4. Alex DE ANGELIS (APRILIA) 1’49.580 5. Álvaro BAUTISTA (APRILIA) 1’50.096 14. Julián SIMÓN (REPSOL HONDA) 1’52.964 21. Shuhei AOYAMA (REPSOL HONDA) 1’55.515 125cc 1. Gabor TALMACSI (APRILIA) 1’55.450 2. Mattia PASINI (APRILIA) 1’55.882 3. Dino LOMBARDI (HONDA) 1’56.217 4. Tomoyoshi KOYAMA (KTM) 1’56.278 5. Pol ESPARGARÓ (APRILIA) 1’56.549 22. Bradley SMITH (REPSOL HONDA) 1’58.536 33. Esteve RABAT (REPSOL HONDA) 1’59.464 More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: A river runs through It on opening day in Misano Round 13 San Marino and Riviera di Rimini – Free Practice Misano World Circuit, Misano Adriatico, Italy Friday 31 August 2007 The opening day of practice in preparation for this weekend’s MotoGP event at a revised Misano World Circuit in Italy was limited to just one wet session this morning after a torrential lunchtime downpour forced Race Direction to cancel the afternoon’s track activity. The heavy rain left parts of the circuit, the pitlane and team garages submerged under water meaning a frantic afternoon for teams and circuit staff. Bridgestone’s tyre fitting area was unaffected by the downpour. Three free practice sessions were originally scheduled for the MotoGP class today with an extra hour of practice included to allow teams, riders and tyre manufacturers the opportunity to get to grips with the new-look 4.18km Misano track, run in a clockwise direction. An additional three tyres have been permitted for each rider’s allocation this weekend for this extra practice, a total of 15 front and 19 rear tyres as opposed to the standard 14 and 17. Early morning rain meant that only wet weather tyres were used during the one-hour session, so each rider still has 34 tyres at his disposal once action resumes tomorrow. To compensate for the reduced running today, Race Direction has extended Saturday morning MotoGP practice by one hour from 09.00 -11.00 local time. Qualifying practice remains unchanged and will start at 13.50 (local time). Bridgestone-shod Honda Gresini rider Marco Melandri returned from his recent injury woes to post the quickest time of this morning’s wet session, 1.684s faster than his nearest challengers, Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) and Casey Stoner (Ducati) who were second and third fastest respectively. Ducati’s Loris Capirossi, Kawasaki’s Randy de Puniet, Suzuki’s John Hopkins, De Puniet’s team-mate Ant West and Pramac d’Antin rider Alex Barros all completed the difficult morning session in the top ten. Bridgestone Free Practice Session Results Pos Rider Team Session 1 (pos) Gap P1 Marco Melandri Honda Gresini 1m46.948s Fastest P3 Casey Stoner Ducati 1m48.852s +1.904s P4 Loris Capirossi Ducati 1m49.167s +2.219s P7 Randy de Puniet Kawasaki 1m49.724s +2.776s P8 John Hopkins Suzuki 1m49.957s +3.009s P9 Anthony West Kawasaki 1m50.389s +3.441s P10 Alex Barros Pramac d’Antin 1m51.072s +4.124s P11 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m51.164s +4.216s P14 Alex Hofmann Pramac d’Antin 1m53.171s +6.223s NC Toni Elias Honda Gresini No Time Weather: Session 1 Wet track – Air 22°C, Track 19°C, Humidity 79% (taken from official MotoGP timesheet)