Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa...
Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa scorched to a quick lap time in the morning practice session that withstood all assaults in the afternoon on Friday at Brno.
Dani Pedrosa came charging out of the gate during Friday’s free practice sessions for the Czech Republic MotoGP at Brno, cutting a blazing lap in the morning practice session that he was unable to improve upon in the afternoon—but neither were any of the other riders in the MotoGP field, including Repsol Honda teammate Casey Stoner, who could only get within .503 seconds of Pedrosa’s morning lap despite improving from his morning time by .436 seconds. San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Marco Simoncelli rebounded from a crash in the morning session to improve by a little under three-tenths of a second to come third, another .305 seconds back from Pedrosa, with reigning MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo on the factory Yamaha just a gnat’s eyelash (actually .038 seconds) behind in fourth.
First American was Lorenzo’s teammate Ben Spies, who ended the day in sixth spot despite suffering from numbness in his left arm due to a pinched nerve, with Ducati’s Valentino Rossi improving by over a second from his morning time to come in seventh. American John Hopkins continued his trifecta of championship racing (having competed in the World Superbike race at Silverstone two weeks ago, followed by the British Superbike series event at Brands Hatch last weekend, with the wildcard ride on the Rizla Suzuki this weekend) by ending up in 10th spot. Monster Tech 3 Yamaha’s Colin Edwards carded the 12th quickest time, while Ducati’s Nicky Hayden was 14th.
“Today I was feeling good, of course the bike was working well also,” said Pedrosa. “The rest from the summer break has helped my shoulder strength, so I hope I can keep this rhythm for Saturday and Sunday. I’m not 100% fit of course, but that energy from the rest is what I need for the race.”
Casey Stoner came in second...
Casey Stoner came in second quickest on Friday at Brno, some .503 seconds back from Pedrosa.
“We’re finding some similar problems to what we had in Laguna,” revealed Stoner, “we’re feeling that the front of the bike isn’t giving us a lot of feedback, and at the same time we’re not able to get the bike hooked up on the exit, we’re not finding the drive that we need. We’ve got quite a lot of work to do before tomorrow. The fact that we’ve got a lot of time left in the bike is a good sign for us, but Dani was riding really well today, obviously he feels really comfortable with the bike, and he’s quite a lot faster than us, so we’ve got something to chase, something to aim at, but we also know we’ve got a long way to go with our own setup.”
John Hopkins recorded an impressive...
John Hopkins recorded an impressive 10th quickest time on Friday at Brno during his second wildcard ride for the Rizla Suzuki MotoGP team.
“Feels good to back in baby blue,” said Hopkins about his second wildcard ride with the Rizla Suzuki MotoGP squad, “just a big thanks to all the Rizla Suzuki guys, Paul Denning and everyone, and obviously Suzuki for making this happen. It’s my favorite circuit here, Brno, one of my favorites around the world, so getting comfortable on this circuit isn’t too big of a drama. But as far as what I’ve been racing and having to completely adapt my style to the superbike this year, the MotoGP bike is a completely different animal. It’s going to take a little bit of time to get used to it, but I think we adapted pretty quickly. Having a night to sleep on it, hopefully I’ll come back a little bit stronger tomorrow.” When asked about how he feels to be back on a MotoGP bike for the second time this season (he subbed for the injured Alvaro Bautista back at Jerez), Hopkins replied, “Well, it feels like home. It just feels nice to be back on a real, real racebike, the prototype machinery that I’ve spent the majority of my career on. It’s just two completely different disciplines. I really enjoy riding the superbike, but at the end of the day, I
really enjoy riding the MotoGP bike. Obviously this is my goal, to get a full-time ride back in MotoGP, so I’m basically trying to earn my spot and just enjoying the heck out of it, really having a good time.”
Yamaha Factory Racing's Ben...
Yamaha Factory Racing's Ben Spies came in sixth as he struggled with numbness in his left arm as a result of a pinched nerve in his neck.
“It’s been a struggle today,” admitted Spies about his Friday, as the Texan tried to overcome the problems caused by the pinched nerve. “I’ve got a little bit of a pinched nerve in my neck. I’m not completely happy with how I’m feeling on the bike, but I’m trying as hard as I can. I’m just having a little bit of issues, but the bike seems to be working good, I’m a little behind the 8-ball, I’m not able to ride at 100% right now; I’m just not able to put too many laps together in a row. For the way yesterday and how I felt this morning, to be in the top ten, pretty happy actually. We’re going to do a lot of physio over the next couple of days, and hopefully by Sunday I’ll be feeling a lot better.”
Ducati's Nicky Hayden struggled...
Ducati's Nicky Hayden struggled on Friday at Brno, languishing down in 14th spot on the timesheets.
Hayden pulled no punches about how his Friday went as he struggled to get the Ducati dialed in. “Yeah, it was not a good start, I’d say probably the worst day of the year, and as far as just how I felt, maybe the worst day in a couple of years for me,” lamented the Kentuckian. “I felt terrible out there. Couldn’t get the bike to do anything I wanted, was all over the place and going quite slow. Luckily it’s just Friday, hopefully we can do a big step tomorrow. I was only one tenth slower than I went in the race last year, but it’s clear this year everyone’s going a lot faster; Dani’s in the 56s, and everybody up front’s going fast, so I gotta lot of work to do.” Hayden went on to describe a litany of problems with the Ducati. “On the brakes it’s not so good; especially in midcorner the front is pushing, and it’s spinning a lot in places, especially on the drive out of turn 10, last corner, places where it’s important to get a good drive, it’s just not gettin’ it. We pretty well need to improve everywhere.”
Brno MotoGP Friday practice results:
1. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 1:56.328
2. Casey Stoner (AUS) Honda 1:56.831
3. Marco Simoncelli (ITA) Honda 1:57.136
4. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Yamaha 1:57.174
5. Andrea Dovisioso (ITA) Honda 1:57.535
6. Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha 1:57.631
7. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Ducati 1:57.745
8. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Suzuki 1:57.857
9. Cal Crutchlow (GBR) Yamaha 1:57.859
10. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki 1:57.880
11. Hector Barbera (SPA) Ducati 1:58.120
12. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 1:58.313
13. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Ducati 1:58.454
14. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati 1:58.568
15. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati 1:58.573
16. Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN) Honda 1:58.607
17. Karel Abraham (CZE) Ducati 1:58.999
18. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda 1:59.157