FIM MotoGP World Championship Donington Park, England June 30 Best Combined Practice Times: 1. Dani PEDROSA (Hon RC211V), 1:28.970, Michelin 2. John HOPKINS (Suz GSV-R), 1:29.025, Bridgestone 3. Casey STONER (Hon RC211V), 1:29.064, Michelin 4. Marco MELANDRI (Hon RC211V), 1:29.196, Michelin 5. Shinya NAKANO (Kaw ZX-RR), 1:29.275, Bridgestone 6. Colin EDWARDS (Yam YZR-M1), 1:29.379, Michelin 7. Valentino ROSSI (Yam YZR-M1), 1:29.416, Michelin 8. Kenny Lee ROBERTS (Hon KR211V), 1:29.544, Michelin 9. Nicky HAYDEN (Hon RC211V), 1:29.557, Michelin 10. Loris CAPIROSSI (Duc GP06), 1:29.798, Bridgestone* 11. Makoto TAMADA (Hon RC211V), 1:29.806, Michelin 12. Carlos CHECA (Yam YZR-M1), 1:29.842, Dunlop 13. Chris VERMEULEN (Suz GSV-R), 1:29.941, Bridgestone 14. Randy DE PUNIET (Kaw ZX-RR), 1:30.342, Bridgestone 15. Alex HOFMANN (Duc GP06), 1:30.387, Bridgestone 16. Michel FABRIZIO (Hon RC211V), 1:30.762, Michelin 17. James ELLISON (Yam YZR-M1), 1:31.306, Dunlop 18. Ivan SILVA (Duc GP05), 1:32.524, Dunlop 19. Jose Luis CARDOSO (Duc GP05), 1:32.576, Dunlop * Did not ride in afternoon session. More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: DUCATI MARLBORO MEN GO BACK TO WORK The Ducati Marlboro Team went back to work at warm and sunny Donington Park today, just six days after last Saturday’s Dutch TT. Riders Loris Capirossi and Alex Hofmann finished the day tenth and 15th quickest, the Italian preferring not to take part in the afternoon session to rest the chest injuries he sustained in the turn-one accident at Catalunya two weeks ago. Capirossi is still in pain and struggling to breathe normally. And because his injuries are internal they are difficult to treat and are quite unresponsive to pain therapies, so rest is the best cure in order to be as strong as possible for Sunday’s race. Hofmann made a steady start this morning but made useful improvements to the set-up of his Desmosedici GP6 this afternoon. LORIS CAPIROSSI, FP1 8th fastest, 1m 29.798s “This morning’s practice went well. I was pretty happy with our tyres and our set-up which didn’t need many changes to work here. But after ten laps or so my chest started hurting again, though it isn’t as bad as it was at Assen. After that I decided on a new strategy, to rest this afternoon and get back on track tomorrow, then having pain-killing injections for the race. I think I can have a good enough race and maybe take home useful points. I still have a strong belief in the championship. In two weeks at the Sachsenring I expect to be 80 to 90 per cent fit, then for the last seven races I think we’ll be very competitive from every point of view – bike, tyres and rider.” ALEX HOFMANN, 15th fastest, 1m 30.387s “We didn’t exactly lose this morning’s session but we definitely didn’t make the best of starts, that’s why I’m a bit down the list. I was struggling with wheelspin, I couldn’t get the power down but 20 minutes into this afternoon’s session we some good improvements, which allowed me to feel the bike and the tyres so I could start to work. We made some changes to the rear suspension settings and tested some tyres and I think with what we’ve learned we can make another useful step forward tomorrow. My aim is to do consistent 29s on race tyres tomorrow morning, so I’ve got a good pace going into qualifying.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: NAKANO FIFTH FASTEST AT DONINGTON PARK Kawasaki’s Shinya Nakano finished today fifth fastest at Donington Park and just three tenths of a second behind Dani Pedrosa, who topped the timesheet at the end of this afternoon’s free practice session. Nakano tested a number of different rear tyres from Bridgestone during both practice sessions today, as he worked with his crew to identify a suitable race tyre for Sunday’s 30-lap British Grand Prix. The 28-year-old Japanese rider has narrowed the choice down to two different rear slicks, but will postpone making a final decision on which one he’ll race until he has completed further comparison tests tomorrow. The stop start nature of the Melbourne Loop section makes it difficult sometimes for riders to find a consistent rhythm at Donington Park, but Nakano had no such problems today. The Kawasaki rider ran top ten on the timesheet throughout this afternoon’s hour-long session, before upping the pace to claim fifth place overall with his final lap. Randy de Puniet was 14th fastest today, after struggling with front-end chatter on his Ninja ZX-RR. The Kawasaki rider worked with his crew during both hour-long practice sessions, trying different chassis and suspension settings in a bid to reduce the chatter, but the problem persisted and, as a result, the 25-year-old Frenchman was unable to show his potential around the Donington Park circuit today. The Kawasaki Racing Team’s technical staff will revisit the problem overnight, using data downloaded from de Puniet’s Ninja ZX-RR machines, and they are confident of finding a solution ahead of tomorrow’s all-important practice and qualifying sessions. Shinya Nakano: 5th – 1’29.275 “We’ve been able to carry the momentum over from Assen to Donington, and I’m satisfied with my position in practice today. Our main focus today has been on rear tyre testing, to identify a race tyre for Sunday. We have tried three different rear slicks in the bike today, and it looks like we will have to go for a harder compound than we originally predicted, because the temperature is higher than we were expecting here at Donington. Today I did many laps, and I managed to find a good rhythm with the bike very quickly, especially around the stop start section that includes the Melbourne Hairpin, where it’s very easy to lose valuable time. So, overall I’m happy with what we’ve achieved today, but I think we can improve further tomorrow.” Randy de Puniet: 14th – 1’30.342 “Today was difficult because I had some problems with front-end chatter throughout practice that we couldn’t seem to dial out, and this made it almost impossible to lap consistently at a reasonable pace during both practice sessions. We will look again at the problem overnight, using the data from the bike, and I’m confident that the team will find a solution and we’ll be back on the pace tomorrow.” Naoya Kaneko: Technical Manager “Shinya focussed today on tyre testing, to identify a race tyre for Sunday, and while we have a couple of potential options open to us, we won’t make a final decision until we’ve run some more comparison tests tomorrow. Shinya went well today, but there are still some improvements to be had tomorrow from refining the chassis and engine settings on his two bikes. Randy has had a difficult day, but when you look at his partial lap times they are not so bad. I think that, at the moment, he doesn’t have the confidence in the front end to be consistent, but we hope to solve this problem overnight ready for practice and qualifying tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone Motosports: LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS IN DONINGTON Suzuki rider John Hopkins set the standard for Bridgestone riders on the first day of free practice at Donington Park in preparation for this weekend’s British Grand Prix. Hopkins claimed the second fastest time of the day (1m29.025s) just 0.055s off the lead pace, as the Bridgestone engineering team were forced to swiftly deal with higher than expected track temperatures in the UK. Kawasaki’s Shinya Nakano, who scored his best ever race result at Assen last weekend with second place, posted the fifth fastest time (1m29.275s) today. His team-mate Randy de Puniet, who won last year’s 250cc event at Donington, was 14th (1m30.342s). Ducati riders Loris Capirossi (1m29.798s) and Alex Hofmann (1m30.387s) secured tenth and 15th fastest of the day. Capirossi, still struggling with injuries sustained in Catalunya only a fortnight ago, opted to sit out the second session in order to retain his energy levels for the rest of the weekend. Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen (1m29.941s) bettered his morning time by almost one second but remained in 13th spot, highlighting the faster nature of the circuit in the afternoon session. Donington has never been kind to Bridgestone in dry conditions with the circuit’s characteristic playing against the Japanese tyre manufacturer’s strengths, but initial results from opening practice hint towards a much improved performance level ahead of this year’s race. Shinji Aoki, Assistant Manager Motorcycle Race Tire Development: “We have always struggled in the dry at Donington, as we can see from last year’s qualifying results when we only had one rider in the top ten. The main issue has always stemmed from a fundamental lack of grip, particularly in the downhill corners. At smooth surface circuits like Donington, this problem is exacerbated. But we have worked hard on this problem and have seen some encouraging results today. We brought several types of compound with us this weekend. We will not derive any benefit from the special low temperature compounds we used in Assen because of the unexpected high temperatures we are likely to have all weekend. However, we have tried a variety of harder compounds with each of our three teams today and have identified suitable tyres with which we can carry out long runs in tomorrow morning’s practice hour. From there, we will have a much better indication of our relative competitiveness this weekend.” Bridgestone Combined Friday Practice Results Result Rider Motorcycle Best Lap Gap P2 John Hopkins Suzuki 1m29.025s +0.055s P5 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki 1m29.275s +0.305s P10 Loris Capirossi Ducati 1m29.798s +0.828s P13 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m29.941s +0.971s P14 Randy de Puniet Kawasaki 1m30.342s +1.372s P15 Alex Hofmann Ducati 1m30.387s +1.417s More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Honda: GOOD START FOR MARCO MELANDRI IN ENGLAND FORTUNA HONDA rider Marco Melandri was in good form on the first day of practice for the British Grand Prix Donington Park. The Italian, who lives close to the circuit, showed determined focus from the start of the morning session and was consistently fast throughout. In the first free practice Melandri set a best time of 1’29.480 with a consistent pace throughout the session, whilst in the afternoon he stopped the clock at 1’29.196. His team-mate Michel Fabrizio, standing in for the injured Toni Elías , ended the evening session in fifteenth place. The Italian rider made the most of the two hour-long sessions to get used to the peculiarities of the Honda RC211V machine. MARCO MELANDRI (4th, 1’29″196): “I’m happy because despite still suffering from injuries I picked up in Barcelona I have been fast. I’m suffering but the pain is now limited to the right side of my body – the collarbone, arm and wrist. Since Assen the pain has actually got worse and the characteristics of this track don’t help. I’m really finding it hard in the strong braking zones. I also broke my right hand here two years ago and it still hurts so despite all that I am happy with my performance. The bike is working well and tomorrow I’ll try and reserve some energy for Sunday’s race.” MICHEL FABRIZIO (16th, 1’30″762): “I am very satisfied after the first day of practice. I took things easy and just got to know the bike and the way it behaves. I really enjoyed riding the fast part of the track and to do it on a bike like this is an incredible feeling.” More, from a press release issued by Camel Yamaha: ROSSI RECOVERING SPEED AND STRENGTH AT DONINGTON After five days of intense physiotherapy on cracked bones in his right wrist and left foot, Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi returned to MotoGP action for the first true test of his fitness since the Dutch TT in today’s free practice sessions for the British Grand Prix. Rossi took to the Donington Park circuit with heavy strapping on his wrist but was able to complete 43 laps over the two sessions, running consistently at the top end of the timing screens before settling for the seventh fastest lap overall. With Rossi focusing on adapting the bike both to the demands of the circuit and the diminishing limitations of his physical condition, his team-mate Colin Edwards worked diligently beside him on the set-up of his own YZR-M1 machine. With his last-corner battle for victory at Assen still fresh in the mind, today represented a perfect opportunity for the Texan to turn the page and focus on another podium assault in Sunday’s ninth round of the season. Edwards lapped fourth fastest in the morning session and slipped to sixth in the afternoon, but after completing 53 laps he has plenty of crucial data to work from ahead of tomorrow’s single qualifying session. COLIN EDWARDS (6th 1’29.379; 53 laps) “To be honest my pace today wasn’t quite as good as I had expected but we’re still looking for a few things from the set-up that we’ll work on tomorrow. We had a couple of problems today but by the end of the second session it was starting to come. Basically we need to get it turning into the corners a little better and there are some sections of the track where we’re getting some vibrations, but it is nothing major. We played around with the tyres a little today but we’ve got plenty still to do and need to get our heads down in the morning before chasing a lap time in qualifying.” VALENTINO ROSSI (7th 1’29.416; 43 laps) “I’m happy to be riding again and enjoying myself on the bike. Assen was a very tough weekend for me but my physiotherapist has done a good job and I feel better, although still not at 100%. I still have some pain, especially under braking, but the mobility is much better and this is important. There are three hard braking areas at this track where I am struggling and to be honest I don’t know how this will be in the race; I was losing strength towards the end of the afternoon session today and this could be a problem. As far as the lap time is concerned we need to make up a few tenths in certain areas but I think we can do this with a few changes to the bike. I will get some more treatment tonight and keep some ice on my wrist and we will see tomorrow.” DAVIDE BRIVIO CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR “We’re still working with both riders on the setting of the bike and it has been good to have a ‘normal’ first day gathering data without anything spectacular happening and no dramas to worry about either. The good news is that Valentino can ride without too much pain or discomfort and he is trying his best to manage his condition and set fast laps. We know we have to be faster but we are still fine-tuning the set-up and have plenty of room for improvement tomorrow. The only question mark is how Valentino can hold up over the course of a race but we can’t know that until Sunday. We’ll just set up the bike and let the Clinica Mobile set up the rider!” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: SPANIARDS DOMINATE ON DAY ONE AT DONINGTON Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa was the fastest out of the blocks at Donington Park, topping the timesheets in both free practice sessions for Sunday’s GAS British Grand Prix. The young Spaniard clocked his quickest lap in his second session on the track, a lap of 1’28.970. John Hopkins was close behind, on the back of a string of strong qualifying performances. Casey Stoner completed the top three at a track where he finished third last year in the 250cc category. Marco Melandri continued his miraculous recovery from injuries suffered in Catalunya, putting in a time less than two tenths of a second slower than that of Pedrosa, and Shinya Nakano and Colin Edwards rounded off a top six comprising of six different teams. Valentino Rossi was less than half a second off the pace despite a continuing to suffer from a hand injury, ahead of Kenny Roberts Jr, Nicky Hayden and Loris Capirossi, who decided against making an appearance in the second practice session due to consistent pain from injuries he picked up in the Catalunya race two weeks ago. The day’s events took place under warm temperatures, with occasional appearances from the British summer sunshine. There was also some welcome news from yesterday’s Riders For Health Day of Champions, where the final total raised from the event was confirmed at ₤191,000. 250cc Jorge Lorenzo continues his quest to regain a stronghold on the 250cc category, earning provisional pole today. The Spaniard was over half a second faster than second placed rider Alex de Angelis, carrying on from his morning practice lead. Lorenzo’s returning team-mate Hector Barbera showed no ill effects of the wrist injury which has kept him out of the previous two races, putting himself in third ahead of World Championship leader Andrea Dovizioso. Hiroshi Aoyama was the only other rider to go round in under 1’33, followed by Roberto Locatelli, Marco Simoncelli, Shuhei Aoyama, Jakub Smrz and Yuki Takahashi. 125cc Bautista took provisional pole for Sunday’s 125cc race in a session which saw a number of changes to the leadership. The Master MVA Aspar rider, fastest in this morning’s free practice, earned a fastest time of 1’37.228, putting him ahead of Mika Kallio by over a tenth of a second and beating the Finn’s 2005 pole. Italian riders Mattia Pasini and Fabrizio Lai completed the provisional front row. Fifth and sixth place went to Derbi Racing, with their riders Lukas Pesek and Nico Terol followed by Simone Corsi, Sergio Gadea, Andrea Iannone and Thomas Luthi completing the top ten. Michele Pirro meanwhile suffered a spectacular highside during the session. MotoGP Dani Pedrosa (Honda): “Yes, the day was not so bad and we still have to work. I think today was good; good weather with sunshine and the tyres worked very well. There was a good grip on the ground and that was perfect for us. My priority is to be as competitive as possible, we try this every race. In some races is difficult but we’re always giving the maximum.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac D’Antin: FIRST DAY OF FREE PRACTICE AT DONINGTON FOR CARDOSO AND SILVA An unexpected sun was shining in England today and the practice of the Team PRAMAC D’ANTIN MOTOGP has been quite positive. The Team has been working for the race, with the aim of finding a good rhythm; the development of the tyres is going on and there are signs of improvements. IVAN SILVA, at his second race in MotoGP and on a track he never saw before, classified himself in 18th position, preceding his compatriot JOSE LUIS CARDOSO by a few hundredth. Tomorrow morning, there will be another session of free practice at 10a.m., English time, before the single session of qualifying practice at 2 p.m. The Team will go on working on the tyres and will concentrate itself on the definition of the setting of the DUCATI DESMOSEDICI GP06 “Sat.”, with DUNLOP tyres. IVAN SILVA #22 (18th – 1’32.524): “I’m quite happy. We kept the same gap we had from the first riders at Assen. Besides, we must consider I never had seen this track before. The setting of the motorcycle seems good and the material DUNLOP supplied us here is better than the one we had in Holland. For the moment, I find it difficult to get a good rhythm alone, surely because of the complicated characteristics of this track, as things immediately goes better when I follow some rider. Tomorrow, we will have more time to practice, I will get more used to the circuit and my aim is to get a good rhythm by myself”. JOSE LUIS CARDOSO #30 (19th – 1’32.576): “Today, we made a good job, we concentrated ourselves on the race tyres and I can say there have been improvements, their performance is more constant and we have a better rhythm. Tomorrow, we will test other tyres and we will work to find an optimal setting for the motorcycle. I’m sure that everything will go in a better way, I like this track very much, it’s very different from the 500 with which I raced here the last time”. ANDRE LAUGIER – Track Engineer of Ivan Silva: “The young rider goes on with his apprenticeship. He needs to learn the track, as he never saw it before and this is a very difficult circuit. We’re satisfied, IVAN is improving very quickly, his progression is really positive. Besides, today we tested a new tyre and it gave better results in its duration, we’re optimistic and tomorrow we will go on working for the race.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racer John Hopkins powered his Suzuki GSV-R to second place on the leaderboard after the first day’s practice for the GAS British Grand Prix at Donington today. Anglo-American Hopkins (1’29.025, 59 laps) followed on from his good showing at Assen last weekend where he recorded his first pole-position and recorded consistently fast times throughout today’s two sessions. He worked hard with his crew to get the best out of his bike and is sure that he can improve on his race potential tomorrow. Chris Vermeulen (P12, 1’30.799, 58 laps) used both sessions to re-acquaint himself with the Donington circuit a track he hasn’t ridden at since 2001 and concentrated on dialling in the best suspension set-up in preparation for Sunday and worked on finding the correct Bridgestone tyres for the 30 lap race. Today’s sessions were held in dry and warm conditions with track surface temperatures hitting 44°C in the afternoon. Today’s fastest time was set by Spaniard Dani Pedrosa on his factory Honda. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has one more practice session on Saturday morning followed by an hour’s qualifying in the afternoon. Round nine of the MotoGP World Championship gets underway at 13.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT) on Sunday 2nd July. John Hopkins: “It was a good session. We are trying to get the best tyre that we can for Sunday and working well with Bridgestone to come up with the best solution. The bike is coming along really well and the guys are working very hard and all in all everything seems good at the moment. We still have a few things to work on tomorrow to get a better level of consistency but we are really looking forward to the challenge and I’m sure it’s going to be fun!” Chris Vermeulen: “It’s good to come back to Donington. It’s been about five years since I was last here and the track seems a lot tighter on a GP bike than it did on a Supersport 600 back then – things seem to rush up quite a bit quicker! We tried some different things with chassis settings today as I have struggled a bit with front grip durability at the last two races. It seems to be working well as we went quite a bit quicker this afternoon than we did this morning which is good. We are working hard with Bridgestone on the tyres and we have a few things extra to try tomorrow and hopefully we can go quicker again.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “It’s been a good strong start to the first day of the British Grand Prix. John has put in consistently fast laps and is already showing that he could be a force to be reckoned with here this weekend. The GSV-R is basically working well it’s certainly capable of a very good lap-time and we have to focus on improving our potential over the 30 laps on Sunday. Bridgestone and John’s crew have some clear targets to achieve this tomorrow. “Chris used today very much as a marker for the rest of the weekend. He set out to learn the lines and focus on riding a Grand Prix bike around this circuit. He is less than a second off today’s fastest time and I’m sure that he has quite a bit still to find tomorrow when he gets the best feel from his bike. We are reasonably confident of a good result here and the whole team is certainly working towards that goal!”