Today’s Friday practice sessions at Sachsenring were pretty eventful, not only because it miraculously stayed dry for both practices, but due to the four riders that all crashed at the now infamous turn 11 right-hander, this morning.
Luckily those riders (Stoner, Elias, Rossi and Pedrosa) that crashed, came off with just some cuts, bruises and a dent in confidence, but no broken collarbones or tibias and fibulas.
Bridgestone will be getting the brunt again; instead of the usual rear tire not coming up to temperature, this time it was the front tire, and the Japanese tire manufacturer will no doubt have its ears ringing when the situation is discussed during the Safety Commission meeting, with Valentino Rossi already voicing his opinion that the riders need more tires and at least another even softer option when track temperatures are as low as they have been this year.
Here’s what all the riders had to say:Marco Simoncelli – 1st“Everything is going well although I am not totally happy because we have some rear traction problems on the left side that we are struggling to resolve.
It seems everybody is in the same boat but we will be working mainly on this area tomorrow to try and improve the situation.
Our other main aim is to get a clear idea about tyre choice for Sunday’s race.
Thirty laps is a lot here, especially because there is barely a single straight for you to relax on.
” Jorge Lorenzo – 2nd“I am pretty satisfied because I have improved my lap times today.
I am almost faster than last year and I look forward to making another step tomorrow.
We have made some changes and I feel much better on my M1; faster and more competitive! The slow corners are tough, but in the faster ones I take some tenths, especially T3 and T4.
I hope tomorrow the temperature can be even hotter and we can fight for the first row.
”Dani Pedrosa – 3rd“We had a quite positive start despite the accident I had in the morning practice session.
I crashed in the fast downhill right hand corner, like everyone else because the tyre was very cold and I had no warning.
Fortunately I did not hurt myself which is good and in the afternoon I was able to improve my lap times because in the morning, after the crash, we didn’t have much time on track.
In the second practice, with sunshine and a little more temperature on the track, we had better grip especially in these critical turns on the right, although the track conditions are not great.
Anyway, times are pretty good compared to last year although the track conditions are worse.
We will keep working on the bike tomorrow and I will probably try the new swing arm I tested in Mugello on Monday”.
Casey Stoner – 4th“I’m not too happy with how today has gone, we had a crash second lap out in FP1 and this affected us quite a lot, we lost a lot of time coming in and changing leathers and then I had to go out on a bike that I wasn’t quite as comfortable with, so apart from the last few laps, this morning’s session was a bit of a waste for us.
Then this afternoon we tried the bike from this mornings crash but something wasn’t quite right with it so we had to come back in and get on the other bike.
We definitely made some progress, we started using hard tyres front and rear and made some positive steps but we still need to take a big step forward tomorrow.
Our confidence was knocked today and I’m feeling a little sore still but we remain positive for tomorrow and hopefully we’ll be able to close the gap a little more”.
Andrea Dovizioso – 5th“I’m happy with how we worked in both sessions today.
This is a complicated track as there are only three right corners and it’s difficult to get the right side of the tyre into temperature and there is not so much grip.
This morning it was colder than expected and we saw many crashes.
We focused on riding constantly at a good pace without being too much on the limit.
In this circuit you spend most of the time on the edge of the tyre so we tried to maintain a good rhythm to avoid stressing the tyres too much.
We started well this morning and we improved in the afternoon session.
We tried to ride consistently with race tyres as it’s hard to maintain a good rhythm for the 30 laps of the GP on Sunday.
”Nicky Hayden – 6th We had good, stable weather all day for the first time in a long time, which makes testing things quite a bit easier.
This morning we had a really good session.
I came out of the gate strong like you’re supposed to and stayed in the top five for most of the time.
It wasn’t a bad day overall.
In both sessions, we went faster with every little change, using the same set of tyres through the whole session.
We improved the lap time this afternoon, but it seemed like the improvements were a little bit harder to make.
We tried a couple things at the end that felt good but maybe need a little more time and adjustments.
We’ll see what we can do overnight and where we are tomorrow.
Ben Spies – 7th“I didn’t get my best shot at the track today, I’ve got a head cold which has left me a little fuzzy and makes it kind of hard to give it 100% and be on top form.
The changing temperature from the morning to the afternoon also meant the track conditions were pretty different to set up for.
I’m aiming for lots of sleep tonight and I’ll be ready to come back stronger in the morning.
” Randy de Puniet – 8th“I’m pretty satisfied with this first day, as it’s been since Jerez that we haven’t had such a good position in the results.
In the afternoon, we worked even better than we did in the morning.
The feeling with the bike has improved, and we also finally had some good weather.
Tomorrow we’ll work on other areas, and we hope that the whole weekend will be positive.
For me, it’s a pleasure to be in the group of riders who are currently going faster than the rest.
”Álvaro Bautista – 9th“Today has been a good day, because finally the rain didn’t make an appearance! This morning it was quite difficult because the track was cold and grip was at a minimum.
I took it careful and just got the feel of the bike because I didn’t want to crash like some of the other guys did.
This afternoon we tried different combinations of tyres to get the best mix for the bike.
I started with a used set of soft ones from this morning’s session and then changed to harder ones on the front and rear.
These didn’t give me such a good feeling and I swapped the front for a soft and this was better.
The rear worked well, but I still had some sliding from the left side and found it difficult to get a good line through the corners.
I felt I had a good rhythm throughout the whole practice and I think that I can certainly improve quite a bit tomorrow, especially if the conditions are better as this will give us more grip from the rear and we will have a good opportunity to move forward.
”Karel Abraham – 10th“I think .
that we can be satisfied with this result.
When the heat increased, the tires began to be more and more slippery.
Tomorrow we will try to make some changes on the set-up of the motorcycle and then we will see.
”Colin Edwards – 11th“I’ve definitely had easier Friday’s than this that’s for sure.
I don’t really know why but I never seem to get on with this track.
My relationship with this track didn’t exactly get the best start back in 2003 with the barbecue at the bottom of the hill, and since then I’ve always found it difficult here.
I always seem to have to end up turning the bike inside out to get a setting that works.
This morning was pretty difficult because I couldn’t generate enough heat in the right side of the front tyre and I guess I just wasn’t willing to push that hard and risk crashing.
We saw what happened to the likes of Valentino and Dani and I felt that was going to happen to me with the way the right side of the front felt.
But it was cold and windy and definitely not ideal conditions.
I used the hard front and rear compound this afternoon for the whole session and we made the bike better.
But I still need more rear traction.
That’s been my biggest struggle.
It feels like I’m just skating on top of the tarmac but we’ve got some ideas to try tomorrow and I know we are going in the right direction to be closer to the front guys.
”Valentino Rossi – 12th“This morning’s crash caused a hole in my right arm that looks like a little anatomy lesson because you can see inside’ as far as the muscle, but I also took a hit on my shoulder the right one, which was operated on, and which now hurts a little.
It’s nothing too bad, and I wasn’t really affected much today.
Let’s hope that’s also true for tomorrow, especially the shoulder.
We did lose some time for working on the bike’s setup, also because I got stranded in the second session.
It wasn’t due to technical troubles but rather to a small bit of debris that was stuck, causing a precautionary engine shutdown.
I think that tomorrow we’ll be able to improve because we’re working on a setting that’s halfway between the Mugello one and the standard one, and we think it will be good for this track.
At the moment we’re losing a lot of time in some sections because although the rear of the GP11.
1 is much more stable under acceleration, which is important, we still haven’t found a good balance with the front.
If we manage to find a compromise, I’ll be able to do much better.
” Hector Barbera – 13th“We started out quite well this morning but we did some tyre tests this afternoon and lost a little time.
Once we had the bike sorted and I was ready to push at the end of the session I crashed, which was the first time in quite a while.
I think we are doing a good job and can improve.
I am struggling in two points within the opening half of the lap but I am sure that together with the team we can fix it.
I was only 0.
8 seconds off the fastest time when I crashed so it looks like things are in place and we have started well.
The Ducati is working well at this track so I I hope we can confirm our progress tomorrow.
”Cal Crutchlow – 14th“It doesn’t look good at all on paper but it is a lot better than it looks and I’m not too concerned.
The times are pretty close and I was consistent at the end of the session when I was running a really old rear tyre after the crash.
I lost precious time with the crash, which I can’t really afford when I’m trying to learn the track.
I went slow at the start of the lap and then I saw Stoner in the distance and tried to follow his line but just ran a bit wide in Turn 9.
It is pretty fast and I ran onto the grass but hit the biggest pothole I’ve ever seen and I couldn’t hold on.
At least I tested the left shoulder out that I broke at Silverstone and it survived with no issues.
This track is really tight and twisty and not that easy to learn, even though it is one of the shortest on the calendar.
We worked a lot on improving the front-end feel today and we are making some progress but you always want more.
Finishing 14th is not our usual position because normally I’ve been around eighth to sixth, but I know with some more improvements we can move higher up the timesheets.
”Hiroshi Aoyama – 15th “I had never ridden a MotoGP bike at Sachsenring before but I quite like the track.
Unfortunately I am still in quite a lot of pain from the Assen crash but little by little I am gaining confidence.
Grip levels are not high so we will have to try and work in this area as much as possible to make up ground and positions tomorrow.
”Toni Elias – 16th“First I feel very lucky because I am in a good shape after this morning crashes.
Both accidents have been heavy as I was lapping at over 200km/h but I have only suffered a small abrasion in the right arm.
I love this track but I am starting to hate that turn (11) because I crashed many times there in the past.
Anyway in the afternoon we could continue with our planning but I had some little issues about the front feeling and the rear edge grip.
It’s important to improve the turning of the bike following the twisty nature of this track and this is our main target for tomorrow”.
Sylvain Guintoli – 17th “Apart from my lap time, I can’t complain.
The goal for this weekend is to improve session by session in order to find the right feeling with the bike heading into the race.
I had some difficulties, of course, but I’m happy to be here and to be racing in MotoGP.
It was fun, and I’m sure that tomorrow I’ll improve my time and position.
”