The first day of the MotoGP Free Practices has not gone well for the pilots of the Pramac-Dántin Team. Alex Barros hasn’t found the right balance necessary to ride fast, and waits until tomorrow to make an improvement. The second pilot, Shinichi Ito, is substituting for the first time on a Ducati at this circuit, and today he made adjustments and corrections as he advanced bit by bit and got used to the machine. Tomorrow at 1:50 PM, local time, the Qualifying round will begin, to form the grid for the race on Sunday.
Alex Barros ( 22 laps 1´49´39). “Today we used two bikes with different transmissions. I found that one had a better general balance, but I wasn’t able to adapt to the gearbox. The set-up isn’t correct, and we have a margin to improve both on the front and the rear. Tomorrow I will go out with a new motor, which will give me something extra, and for sure this will be reflected in my times”.
Shinichi Ito (19 vueltas. 1´50´76). “At the moment, I don’t have the right feeling with the bike at Motegi. The settings aren’t adequate, and I don’t have confidence over both axles to ride aggressively and get everything out of the GP7. The motor goes very well, and when I have the set-up at a good point I will surely lower my times”.
Official Times:
1º Dani Pedrosa 1´47¨86
2º Randy de Puniet 1´48´25
3º Marco Melandri 1´48´35
4º John Hopkins 1´48´36
5º Casey Stoner 1´48´44
17º Alex Barros 1´49´39
20º Shinichi Ito 1´50´76
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