FIM MotoGP World Championship Misano, San Marino September 4, 2009 Practice Results: MotoGP (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), 1:35.304 2. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha), 1:35.430 3. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), 1:36.080 4. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda), 1:36.096, crash 5. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda), 1:36.316 6. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), 1:36.350 7. Mika KALLIO (Ducati), 1:36.419 8. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki), 1:36.508 9. James TOSELAND (Yamaha), 1:36.588 10. Nicky HAYDEN (Ducati), 1:36.608 11. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda), 1:37.056 12. Toni ELIAS (Honda), 1:37.057 13. Aleix ESPARGARO (Ducati), 1:37.126 14. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), 1:37.134 15. Niccolo CANEPA (Ducati), 1:37.306 16. Marco MELANDRI (Kawasaki), 1:37.454 17. Gabor TALMACSI (Honda), 1:37.869 250cc: 1. Hector BARBERA (Aprilia), 1:39.212 2. Mattia PASINI (Aprilia), 1:39.684 3. Hiroshi AOYAMA (Honda), 1:40.048 4. Alvaro BAUTISTA (Aprilia), 1:40.189 5. Mike DI MEGLIO (Aprilia), 1:40.262 6. Hector FAUBEL (Honda), 1:40.790 7. Marco SIMONCELLI (Gilera), 1:40.851 8. Alex DEBON (Aprilia), 1:41.071 9. Jules CLUZEL (Aprilia), 1:41.097 10. Ratthapark WILAIROT (Honda), 1:41.106 11. Roberto LOCATELLI (Gilera), 1:41.238 12. Karel ABRAHAM (Aprilia), 1:41.490 13. Thomas LUTHI (Aprilia), 1:41.628 14. Raffaele DE ROSA (Honda), 1:41.759 15. Alex BALDOLINI (Aprilia), 1:42.090 125cc: 1. Bradley SMITH (Aprilia), 1:45.297 2. Julian SIMON (Aprilia), 1:45.620 3. Andrea IANNONE (Aprilia), 1:45.778 4. Stefan BRADL (Aprilia), 1:45.966 5. Efren VAZQUEZ (Derbi), 1:46.071 6. Sergio GADEA (Aprilia), 1:46.120 7. Pol ESPARGARO (Derbi), 1:46.126 8. Simone CORSI (Aprilia), 1:46.266 9. Riccardo MORETTI (Aprilia), 1:46.277 10. Dominique AEGERTER (Derbi), 1:46.365 29. Cameron BEAUBIER (KTM), 1:48.590 More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: FIAT YAMAHA RIDERS ON FLYING FORM IN SWELTERING MISANO Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo looked ready for business at Misano on the Italian Riviera today, putting in some impressive times and finishing the day first and second, several tenths ahead of the next fastest rider. This was despite the uncomfortably hot and humid weather, although a forecast late rain shower tonight promises to cool things down a little for tomorrow. It was Lorenzo, fresh from his victory in Indianapolis just five days ago, who looked in command for the early part of the session as he immediately found a good setting and set about improving his time lap by lap. In the last twenty minutes however Rossi made a step forward and was able to join his team-mate lapping in the 1’35s, the local favourite eventually finishing the session a tenth ahead of the Spanish challenger. There was a further gap of over six tenths back to Dani Pedrosa in third, promising another tense weekend of racing between the Fiat Yamaha pair. Valentino Rossi Position: 1st Time: 1’35.304 Laps: 29 “This is more the weather for the beach than for the racetrack, today was unbelievably hot! The first session was much better than in Indy though and I am quite happy. We have made a few experiments with different settings and then at the end when we put everything together with the right tyre, I was able to do three fast laps and finish first. It’s a good sign to be in this shape already on Friday and now we just have to improve a bit more tomorrow because it’s very important here to be on the front row. It’s quite a tricky track and you have to be quite careful in some places, but my bike felt good today.” Jorge Lorenzo Position: 2nd Time: 1’35.430 Laps: 29 “Today was very hot which meant it quite hard to ride, and also the track is quite slippery here. I felt comfortable on my bike from the start and I was able to be quite fast, which is always encouraging, but I think we have some more work to do because we’re not perfect yet and the front could be better, especially on the entry to the corners. Tomorrow we will try to work on this and especially on T2 and T3, because these are the areas where we are losing some time. Valentino is very strong, as I expected because it’s his home and he won last year, so we will have to be at the maximum to be able to fight with him.” Davide Brivio Team Manager “We did a lot of work today and it looks like we’ve done a good job. We worked on both bikes and all the tyres and by the end of the session Valentino had a good pace and rhythm. We hope that we have found a good base on which we can build tomorrow. The important thing is that we continue to fine tune the setting in the morning so that we’re at our best tomorrow afternoon and Sunday.” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “A good start here in Misano, in extremely hot weather. Jorge found a good pace from the beginning of the session but we need to improve the feeling with the front because this track is very demanding on it. We already tried some different settings during the session and we collected some good data in order to help us to improve our package for tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Hard Bridgestone slicks favoured for first Misano practice Round 13: San Marino GP Free Practice Misano World Circuit, Friday 04 September 2009 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Medium, Hard. Rear: Medium, Hard In the hot and humid conditions on the first day of the San Marino Grand Prix the hard compound Bridgestone slicks were the favoured choice. Whilst the field used both options during the session to get a feeling for the available grip and balance from each, it was on the harder slicks that the best times were recorded. The Fiat Yamaha duo of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo set the pace with the Italian topping the timesheets 0.5seconds off his 2008 lap record after the hour of practice. Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso finished third and fifth respectively, either side of San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Alex de Angelis. Tohru Ubukata Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department Misano is a relatively low-grip circuit, yet the fastest time today was set on the hard compound slicks. Why do you think this was? “The hard compound slicks were generally faster today because the ambient and track temperatures were quite high; the conditions were almost the same as we saw during the race here last year when the ambient was 34 degrees Celsius and the track was 49 degrees.” What can you say about track conditions during the first free practice? “The track was a little dirty today and the grip level was not as much as last year, even though conditions were similar, so it was easy for riders to make a mistake which is why we saw a few riders fall. The track also cooled considerably towards the end of the session as cloud cover blocked the direct sunlight. The last corner here is always quite slippery because there is no inclination angle through the corner which makes it difficult for the riders to load the tyres and keep them loaded for maximum grip. “The track is also quite bumpy in many of the braking areas, so it is common for the rear tyre to lift under heavy braking. This means that front tyre stability and grip is crucial to give the riders confidence. This is another reason that the hard compound front tyre was favoured for its increased compound stiffness and therefore stability.” Is it too early to say what you expect from the slick tyres for the rest of the weekend? “If the conditions remain the same then I can say that the hard compound slicks will clearly be the favoured choice, but the weather over the next two days is expected to get much cooler, by around ten degrees Celsius, so in this situation we can expect to see more of a mix between the harder and softer options depending on rider preference.” Top ten from free practice (Friday 13:55 14:55 GMT+2) Pos Rider Team Practice Time Gap Tyres 1 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1m35.304s Bridgestone slicks 2 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 1m35.430s +0.126s Bridgestone slicks 3 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 1m36.080s +0.776s Bridgestone slicks 4 Alex de Angelis San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m36.096s +0.792s Bridgestone slicks 5 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 1m36.316s +1.012s Bridgestone slicks 6 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech3 1m36.350s +1.046s Bridgestone slicks 7 Mika Kallio Ducati Team 1m36.419s +1.115s Bridgestone slicks 8 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m36.508s +1.204s Bridgestone slicks 9 James Toseland Monster Yamaha Tech3 1m36.588s +1.284s Bridgestone slicks 10 Nicky Hayden Ducati Team 1m36.608s +1.304s Bridgestone slicks Weather: Dry. Ambient 33-32°C; Track 46-39°C (Bridgestone measurement) More, form a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Rizla Suzuki pushing hard in Misano sauna Rizla Suzuki began the San Marino and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix weekend in a positive way today and is sure that after the first session there is room for a significant improvement tomorrow. Loris Capirossi (1’36.508, 27 laps) recorded the eighth fastest time around the 4,226m Misano World Circuit, as he set about getting the best set-up for the revised chassis on his Suzuki GSV-R at his home track. Capirossi and his crew have a clear direction to go in for tomorrow and are convinced that the changes they make overnight will help his lap-time considerably. Chris Vermeulen (P14, 1’37.134, 29 laps) looked impressive during the early part of the hour-long session, but a change to his second bike hampered his progress as a technical issue caused him to spend valuable time resolving that, rather than making improvements to the overall machine. He is sure that he will be on the pace tomorrow once his crew has remedied the situation this evening. Today’s weather at the Misano circuit was more akin to the tropics rather than the Adriatic coast of Italy, as low cloud, temperatures in the mid 30ºCs and high humidity gave the whole arena a hot and sticky feel similar to Malaysia. World Champion and home-town hero Valentino Rossi on his factory Yamaha set the fastest time Rizla Suzuki and the whole MotoGP field have one more free practice session tomorrow morning with an hour of qualifying in the afternoon. Sunday 28-lap race gets underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT). Loris Capirossi: “The problem we have here today is that – like in Indy – we only have one new chassis and I decided to use the new one with a different geometry on the front and that meant we didn’t have time to change it during the session – so we had to keep it the same for the whole hour. We will certainly try something different tomorrow and this is a really important step to try and get the best feeling from the bike and that should make us go a lot quicker. I think that it is quite easy to improve on my time tomorrow” Chris Vermeulen: “The session started well as I worked with the setting from last year which we knew was fast and I felt very comfortable with the set-up. Just after halfway I jumped on the other bike and suffered with some braking set-up issues that we spent the rest of the session trying to solve. That was all a bit disappointing because it meant I never got the chance to get up to speed with the different setting, but it did feel like I could have gone a lot quicker if it hadn’t have been for the problem. I am sure the guys will have everything working fine for tomorrow and we’ll be able to find a lot more time.” Paul Denning – Team Manager: “It’s not been a bad first session here in Misano and both of the guys have again been able to confirm that at a different track the new chassis is providing some advantages. Chris had some problems near the end that restricted him quite a bit and I don’t think we have seen anywhere near his true potential – I am also sure Loris has also got a lot more to come. We are not so far away from fourth place and if we can make the right decisions overnight then I think there are some improvements to be seen by both the guys tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: REPSOL HONDAS MAKE POSITIVE START AT MISANO First practice for the San Marino Grand Prix took place at the Misano circuit this afternoon with Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso finishing the one-hour session in third and fifth places. On a baking hot afternoon where temperatures reached a sweltering 35 degrees, the factory Honda squad began the delicate process of tailoring the RC212V to the bumps and twists of the 4.226km (2.626miles) track near Rimini. Pedrosa was among the frontrunners throughout the afternoon and sat on the top of the timesheets for periods during the day’s sole practice session. He finished with a lap time of 1m 36.080m – good enough for third place – with a gap to today’s fastest rider, Valentino Rossi, of 0.776s. The Spaniard’s final run, which traditionally yields the session’s fastest time, was interrupted when a broken radiator cap released some hot water and caused a surprised Pedrosa to abort his final run. In view of this, the Spaniard remains confident of closing in on his rivals in tomorrow’s practice and qualifying periods. Andrea Dovizioso was just a 0.236s behind his team-mate in fifth place and was clearly enjoying riding at his home circuit – the place where he began his circuit racing career. Riding with Ohlins suspension for the first time at a MotoGP race weekend, Dovizioso was pleased with the progress he and his crew made as he brought his lap time down to 1m 36.316s. With plenty more to come in terms of set-up adjustments, Dovizioso is looking forward to a strong performance tomorrow in front of the partisan crowd that will flock to Misano over the weekend. DANI PEDROSA 3rd 1m 36.080 “My pace was quite good during this first session and I’m sure there’s still more to come tomorrow. We spent some time testing the Bridgestone tyre options and working on general set-up today, and I’m reasonably happy with how it went for most of the session. It was very hot out there and I think the temperature is due to fall later in the weekend so we’ll have to be prepared to adapt our settings for that. We can improve further I think because on my last run out we had a small problem with the radiator cap which broke and spilt some water on my hands, so I lost the final run and wasn’t able to improve my lap time at the end of the session. Still, this means we should be able to close the gap to the front tomorrow because my feeling from the machine was good today.” ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 5th 1m 36.316 “It was great to get back out on track at Misano because this place holds so many memories for me and you can feel the special atmosphere in the paddock – even on Friday. We made some good progress today and, although it’s early days, we got some useful information riding with Ohlins for the first time here. The biggest thing you notice about this circuit is the bumps because they are quite severe even on the straight, which means it takes a while to dial the machine in and prevent it from wheelieing too much. We still have plenty of work to do in a few areas to find the right set-up, but this was a positive start to the weekend and we’ll aim to keep that going tomorrow.” KAZUHIKO YAMANO – REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER “This was a decent start to the weekend for the team, and both riders can build on the work done today. After being so fast at Indianapolis, Dani was very competitive again and was at, or close to, the top for almost all the session until he had a small problem which cost him some time at the end. He’s looking very confident again here and should be able to qualify well tomorrow. Andrea also did a good job today and made a promising start to his home GP weekend. He has a lot of scope to improve too, so the Repsol Honda Team is looking in good shape.” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Edwards opens with sixth fastest time in heat wave at Misano Texan Colin Edwards posted the sixth fastest time in a hot and steamy opening free practice session at the Misano World Circuit today. Joining Edwards in the top ten was his Monster Yamaha Tech3 teammate James Toseland who was ninth and just half a second outside the top four. Both Edwards and Toseland have carried the momentum of strong performances in last Sunday’s Indianapolis GP to their early preparations for the Misano race. Edwards, who feels he can easily find another half second with a gearing change, held a top four spot until the final minutes of the session as he concentr ated on his race day set-up. Toseland was also in a buoyant mood. The Briton was sixth with five minutes remaining and is confident of maintaining that pace with further gains in rear end grip over the bumpy Misano tarmac. Track temperatures hit 45 degrees C with the hot weather forecast to continue for this late summer race, round 13 of the MotoGP world championship. Colin Edwards 6th 1.36.350 – 26 laps “We got a lot of work done, the bike was very close to begin with and with a rear setting adjustment and a switch to the hard tyres, the bike started feeling really good. But it was hot, it felt like nine million degrees. But the heat wasn’t that bad for seven laps runs but if it’s like this on Sunday then 28 laps here is going to be tough. I was sitting 4th for a long time and I know some of these guys just mess around the whole session and the catch onto somebody to ado a hot lap at the end. But my bike feels slow. I know we have the same gearing as last year but the bike is not reacting, it feels like there is no bottom end and you have to keep the RPM up and carry astronomical corner speeds. I guess it is the long life engines, we have lost some of the bottom end that Yamaha made such a good step on earlier this year. We plan to shorten the gearing for tomorrow and I reckon I have half a second in three corners just from that.” James Toseland 9th 1.36.588 – 27 laps “It didn’t seem hot on the bike but the humidity was high and that really got to you so its going be pretty physical if it is this temperature on Sunday. You need the bike to work well here because if you are battling with the bike in this temperature then it is hard work. This is one of my better Friday session this season and we started with the Indianapolis set-up and just made some small changes. The bike is a little bit aggressive on the rear over the bumps so we are working to smooth that out. The track is quite bumpy this year but it always is around here and you forget how bad the bumps are. I got up to sixth at one point and then dropped to ninth but only 0.5s off fourth. I’m pleased, a good session for a Friday.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Fiat Yamaha’s reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi began his quest to repeat his 2008 Misano victory with Friday’s fastest practice time at the Gran Premio Cinzano di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, ahead of his young Spanish team-mate Jorge Lorenzo. Rossi’s 1’35.304s lap at the end of the hour-long practice was not matched by any of his rivals, with Lorenzo coming closest as he lapped 0.126s behind the Italian. Lorenzo was second at Misano last season and he will need to beat his illustrious colleague if he wishes to keep up the pressure in the title race. Repsol Honda pair Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso were third and fifth respectively on the timesheet on their RC212V factory machines. Pedrosa trailed Rossi by 0.776s as the MotoGP big guns flexed their muscles on the opening day, though the Spaniard appeared to suffer a technical fault at the end of the practice and was taken back to his pit-box by a steward. San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Alex de Angelis continued his good rhythm from last weekend to lap fourth fastest overall, the San Marino rider still aiming to secure a ride for 2010. De Angelis recovered well from a minor crash earlier in the session to mark his best time late on. Also riding at his home track Dovizioso was around a second off the pace and will therefore aim to step it up on Saturday, as his strives to challenge for the podium this weekend. Also featuring in the Friday top ten were Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Mika Kallio (Ducati Marlboro), Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki), James Toseland (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro), who all went round within 1.5s of Rossi’s best time. 250cc Héctor Barberá (Pepe World Team) topped the 250cc timesheet by a considerable margin. The Spanish rider produced a best time of 1’39.212 on the 24th of his 28 laps, with only Mattia Pasini (Team Toth Aprilia) able to get within half a second of Barberá’s pace. The category’s leading two riders Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Racing Team) and Álvaro Bautista (Mapfre Aspar Team) both marked their best times with their final laps, the pair of them going round just under a second slower than Barberá. Bautista’s team-mate Mike di Meglio was fifth fastest, ahead of seventh placed World Champion Marco Simoncelli (Metis Gilera). The top ten also comprised the names of Héctor Faubel (Valencia CF – Honda SAG), Alex Debon (Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens), Jules Cluzel (Matteoni Racing) and Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT SAG). 125cc In the 125cc class Bancaja Aspar’s teenage British rider Bradley Smith started the weekend on the front foot, when he put down a 1’45.297 marker in the final seconds of the first free practice. The 18 year-old from Oxfordshire – who was second in the 125cc Misano race last season – put in several fast laps at the end of the session to leapfrog his team-mate Julián Simón on the timesheet, with a 0.323s gap separating the pair as proceedings drew to a close. Andrea Iannone (Ongetta Team I.S.P.A.) was 0.158s behind standings leader Simón, whilst Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) and Efrén Vázquez (Derbi Racing Team) were not far behind. A session which was held in perfect riding conditions also featured Sergio Gadea (Bancaja Aspar), Indianapolis winner Pol Espargaró (Derbi Racing Team), Simone Corsi (Fontana Racing), wildcard Riccardo Moretti (Ellegi Racing) and Dominique Aegerter (Ajo Interwetten) in the top ten. More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing Team: PROMISING DEBUT FOR THE PRAMAC RACING TEAM IN MISANO Notwithstanding today’s final positions, Espargaro thirteenth and Canepa fifteenth, the Pramac Racing Team is trustful for the rest of the weekend on the Misano Adriatico circuit to fight for better positions. The Spanish rider, at his second appearance on the Ducati Desmosedici GP9 Sat, has worked well notwithstanding some mistakes in the firsts laps, but in the final part of the free session he made it to register the thirteenth best lap time only eight tenths of a second from the fifth position. Niccolò Canepa has instead registered the fifteenth best lap time two tenth of a second from his teammate. Tomorrow two more hours of work for the white and red riders looking for better final positions. Aleix Espargaro – Pramac Racing rider “I didn’t start well today, actually, I made many mistakes in the firsts laps. Maybe I was a bit too aggressive and I often finished long while turning. Then, when I entered the box, I calm down a bit and thanks to the suggestions of my technical staff I found the right way to follow to work in the best way possible. We have registered interesting lap times even if this is only the second time in MotoGP. I remain really trustful for tomorrow where if we’ll make it to improve the set up of the bike we can reach a better position in the classification.” Niccolò Canepa – Pramac Racing rider “It has been an intense session where we have worked a lot on the bike setting up the electronic system. I am sure that tomorrow we will see the result of today’s work. I like the track and we will only have to adapt our Ducati to the circuit characteristic. The Team is working well and I confide that tomorrow we can complete good sessions of work.” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: DUCATI MARLBORO RIDERS CONTINUE POSITIVE TREND AT MISANO Ducati Marlboro Team riders Mika Kallio and Nicky Hayden were satisfied with their day’s work following the opening free practice session for the San Marino Grand Prix today, having both continued their positive recent progress with the set-up of the Desmosedici GP9 machines. Kallio recovered his recent lost confidence in the front end of his bike to lap seventh fastest whilst Hayden, who signed a one-year extension to his deal with the team yesterday, was also inside the top ten despite being held up by a slower rider on his quickest lap. MIKA KALLIO (Ducati Marlboro Team) (7th; 1’36.419) “There have been a couple of occasions this season when we have been in this position on the opening day and obviously I’m happy to be here again today. I said at Brno and Indy that I wasn’t feeling confident for some reason but here I felt a lot better from the first run. We set the bike up a little bit differently from the start and it was a step forward, which allowed me to push harder. We’re back to the level we were at before and now we need to build on it. My feeling with the front is still not as good as I would like, especially in the first section, where I was second slowest. I’m losing more than half a second in that sector alone so if we can improve the bike through those slow corners we can make up a lot of ground. We didn’t manage to fix it today so that is our target for tomorrow.” NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team) (10th; 1’36.608) “It wasn’t a bad first day actually. I mean, the position doesn’t look good but the reality is that we’re in the thick of the second group. The beginning was quite a struggle but we had a different set-up on the other bike, which immediately felt better in terms of turning and grip. We made progress from there basically but on my last lap, my fast one, I had to make a pass in T3 that cost me a couple of tenths. If it wasn’t for that, overall I think I would have been much higher up the order. The bike is working well in some sections of the track; in T2 I’m fourth and in T4 I’m third but T1 isn’t very good and T3 ain’t good at all – I’m third last and that won’t get it. So we certainly need to understand what’s going on over there in the fast rights and also improve our top speed a bit but we got a good direction and my feeling for both the softer and harder tyres is quite good. We’ll see if we can take another step tomorrow but this is not a bad start.” More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: BURNING OPENING DAY AT MISANO RACE TRACK Misano, 4 September: In a hot and crowded opening day of San Marino and Riviera di Rimini Grand Prix with ambience temperature of 35°C, LCR Honda MotoGP racer Randy de Puniet set the 11th fastest time at the 4.226 km track which hosts the thirteenth round of the calendar. Just one week after their last outing at Indianapolis in the US, the premier class riders had to battle hard against the hot conditions including the Frenchman which is still recovering from the left ankle fracture. De Puniet has failed to finish the first lap on both previous visits to Misano after qualifying well in fourth on the grid both times but the 28-year-old is a fan of the Italian track and arrived in Italy full of confidence despite his injured ankle. The Frenchman riding the Honda RC212V completed 26 laps clocking his fastest lap time of 1’37.056. Today’s pacesetter Valentino Rossi headed the classification with a best lap time of 1’35.304. De Puniet 11th 1’37.056 De Puniet 11th: “It has been a positive beginning for me compared with the last two races. I am still not fit but my ankle is getting better. From the beginning the machine overall package seemed ok so we could move on the engine brake set up. I am struggling in the corners because the bike does not turn as I would like so we worked on the engine mapping to get some adjustments for tomorrow’s session. Our position is not so bad considering my conditions and the heat: we are less than seven tenths off the sixth fastest”.