Valentino Rossi set the fastest time in the first free practice session at Jerez yesterday, Loris Capirossi was 2nd just 0,364 behind the Fiat Yamaha.
Casey Stoner lapped third fastest, and championship leader Jorge Lorenzo 4th, 0.
794s slower than his team-mate.
Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) 1st“Today there’s no prize, like at the test here, but anyway it’s really good for our work to start in such a positive way.
During the first two races we’ve had a couple of small problems and today we made a change in our setting in order to improve things and straight away we could see it was working.
I could ride how I wanted with both the soft Bridgestone tyre and the hard one, and I was the fastest for the whole session.
It’s very hot today, which is for sure better than the rain of recent races but it means if it’s like this on Sunday then the race will be quite hard on the tyres, so tomorrow we need to concentrate on refining our setting to help them as much as possible.
”Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) 2nd“It was not too bad today, but we still have a lot of work to do.
We still have a bit of a problem with getting the right tyres for here.
We have already used the hardest tyre we have – but it is not hard enough for us! We will have to adjust the bike a bit so that we use a bit less tyre.
”Casey Stoner (Malboro Ducati) 3rd“We started with the setting from the test and everything felt quite good.
We’re struggling with some small issues in a couple of areas but I think it was mainly because the tyre pressure was too high and we just need to drop it down a little,” said Stoner, who finished eleventh at Jerez last year and fifth during his title winning 2007 season.
We tried the second bike but unfortunately had a technical issue so I went back to my first one and tried a few things without improving the set-up a heck of a lot.
The bike was turning really well but I lost the front a couple of times and we couldn’t really understand why.
We tried a setting that helped front stability but the turning was much worse.
We need to work on getting it back tomorrow by finding the right balance.
Anyway it is nice to be back in Europe and working under ‘normal’ conditions, with this great weather.
It felt good to have to use my dark visor again! Hopefully it will stay like this because I’m sure we can make the right changes to the bike tonight and make lots of progress tomorrow.
”Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha) 4th“It’s nice to be back in Spain and in the sunshine, but I am a bit disappointed about the day.
I had a problem at the start with my helmet and we were delayed to go out on track.
Once I got started I felt good with the soft Bridgestone tyre, but when we tried the hard one later we had a few problems and the bike didn’t feel completely stable.
Tomorrow we need to come back to a different setting and I hope things will be better.
Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) 5th“Today the conditions of the track and the weather were perfect and I was able to ride fast from the beginning of the session.
For part of the practice I was trying some new parts and I was impressed with the lap times I could do without a lot of set-up time.
Time is very limited with only 45 minutes per session but we’ve found some potential.
We need to do quite a lot of work to maximise this potential, but I’m satisfied of this first test session for Spanish Grand Prix.
”Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) 6th“That was a good solid start and I’m happy with the bike.
Yamaha has done a great job because we seem to go from track to track and be right up with the leaders from the start.
There are a couple of things with the electronics and chassis set-up that we can definitely find at least another half-a-second to go consistently quicker around the 40.
3 area.
That’s not going to trouble Valentino (Rossi) but that would be a big step for us and put us in contention.
With the electronics we just need to get the anti-wheelie working a bit better.
Yamaha did a great job with that in the winter and we needed that improvement on a track like this where you accelerate hard out of a lot of slow hairpins.
I’m losing a little bit of time on acceleration and we can still make it better, but my guys at Tech 3 know what they are doing and I know we’ll make a big step for tomorrow.
I’m doing those lap times and I’m not 100 per cent comfortable, so that bodes well for the weekend knowing we’ve got a lot of room for improvement.
”Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) 7th“One bike was set up as we tested it during pre season official test and the other one was set up as we raced in Japan but we fixed several issues.
I compared both bikes and my pace was pretty fast from the beginning of the session.
I was happy with my package and at the end I lapped on a hard set of tyres which will be our race tyre if the track temperature remains the same.
Unfortunately on the last lap a bee stung just below my left eye, but I am OK.
Our to-do list for tomorrow includes engine mapping and chassis set up, but basically we have already had a very positive start.
”Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki) 8th“We had the two bikes set up a little bit different to try a couple of different things geometry wise.
Basically it was to help with front feeling – which I struggled a bit with at the test here – and we definitely took a step forward,” revealed the Australian.
“We have the same compound tyres this weekend as we did at the test and at the moment they seem to be working a bit different.
I think the most important thing is to make the tyres last the race distance and keep them in a reasonable condition, so that is what we are going to be working on tomorrow.
”Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) 10th“It’s a good feeling to be back in Europe and especially to be riding at Jerez again.
It’s only Friday but there are already a lot of fans out on the banking so I know it’s going to be another special weekend for the Spanish riders.
The first session didn’t go quite according to plan for us though and I think we can go faster than this tomorrow.
We had an issue with one of my bikes and our general machine set-up still needs some work.
The Bridgestone tyres seem to be working pretty well though, so set-up will be the main issue for us tomorrow.
”James Toseland (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) 11th“We went for a harder setting on the front fork to help with some of the heavy braking points but it didn’t really work as we’d liked.
We also changed the rear a bit from Japan and the balance wasn’t really there.
We didn’t really have time to go back to plan B but even with a couple of small issues I’m not too displeased with my time and I know my potential is much higher.
I think what is going to be crucial is to conserve the tyre here over race distance and that’s something I’ll work out with my team.
I ran the harder rear today because of the hot conditions and even that was sliding around a little after about eight laps.
I could see a few other people were having the same problems, so a decent race set-up will be critical.
A bit more time would have put me in the top eight and it wouldn’t have been a bad afternoon, but we know where we can improve on the setting and be much stronger tomorrow.
”Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing) 14th “Not a happy day for us.
We started with two different set up on the two bikes: one like Motegi and the other like the one used during last March winter test.
We have found some complications that didn’t allow us to be fast enough, but we remain trustful to be able to improve tomorrow.
I didn’t manage to use the soft rear tyre and maybe also this didn’t allow me to lower my lap times.
”Alex DeAngelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) 13th“After Motegi it would be silly to try and predict what could happen at Jerez but we definitely won’t struggle as much as we did in Japan.
We really need to work hard on finding some traction because this is the only area we are missing – other than that my feeling with the bike is great.
We didn’t have a great preseason test at Jerez but hopefully it can be a similar situation to Qatar, where we had a poor test but the higher temperature and extra base setting data helped us to improve the situation for the race.
After two very strange races in Qatar and Japan it will be nice to be back in Europe, where hopefully things will be a little more back to normal!”Toni Elias ( San Carlo Honda Gresini) 15th“We improved at Motegi but not as much as I would have liked and we’re not in the ideal situation going into my home Grand Prix at Jerez.
However, the important thing is that I believe we are on the right path and by continuing to work hard in the way we are doing, along with a bit of help from Honda, we should be there soon.
I’ve had some great races at Jerez in the past, the crowd there definitely give the Spanish riders a big lift and with the data we have from preseason testing there is no reason not to go into this Grand Prix feeling excited and optimistic.
Jerez is a special event for any rider in the championship but especially for a Spaniard.
It is a unique Grand Prix because of the passion you can feel from the fans – there are so many of them and they are so close that when I was riding in 125 and 250 I could hear them cheering through my helmet! I’ve always felt something really special riding at this track.
”Nicky Hayden (Malboro Ducati) 17th“It wasn’t a particularly great first session for us but it’s not as bad as it looks either.
The bike is a little different from how we had it at the test but not hugely so.
We didn’t have a great set-up at the test so we’ve made a couple of changes and tried the hard tyre on both bikes just to try and understand it a bit more.
I’ve struggled with the harder tyre recently so we just stuck at it today and tried to make the bike work with it.
The lap time isn’t what we were looking for at this stage but my feeling with the bike was actually okay.
I was a bit unsure about how I might feel physically and to be honest I didn’t feel great out there but it is possible to ride.
We’ve got a few things to talk about with the team and hopefully tomorrow I can make a big step.
I just need to be faster!”Niccolò Canepa (Pramac Racing) 18th“Today we started with a totally different solution on the bike and I found my self at ease during the firsts laps.
My body structure is completely different compared to the other Ducati riders and today, working a lot with the weight balance on the bike, I think we have found the right way to follow.
I am very trustful that tomorrow we will be able to improve so that we could start from a good position in the race.
”Times:1.
Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 1min 39.
647 sec2.
Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1min 40.
011 sec3.
Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 40.
268 sec4.
Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 1min 40.
441 sec5.
Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 1min 40.
601 sec6.
Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1min 40.
703 sec7.
Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 1min 40.
866 sec8.
Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1min 41.
063 sec9.
Marco Melandri ITA Hayate Racing Team 1min 41.
182 sec10.
Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 1min 41.
208 sec11.
James Toseland GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1min 41.
461 sec12.
Sete Gibernau SPA Grupo Francisco Hernando 1min 41.
531 sec13.
Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini 1min 41.
557 sec14.
Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing 1min 41.
584 sec15.
Toni Elias SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1min 41.
736 sec16.
Yuki Takahashi JPN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 1min 41.
898 sec17.
Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 41.
916 sec18.
Niccolo Canepa ITA Pramac Racing 1min 42.
063 sec