Tricky weather conditions with dry and wet periods in rapid succession made life difficult for both Pramac d’Antin riders in today’s final qualifying session for the Italian Grand Prix.
Alex Barros felt very good during the last free practice session in the morning and took a strong fifth position, but then ran into difficulties in the qualifying session in the afternoon. The Brazilian rider was able to achieve only the tenth position and he will start his race from fourth row on the starting grid. A good start will be his only chance to run within the top contenders and to achieve a good race result.
German Hofmann, who will line up alongside his team-mate on the starting grid, was reasonably happy with his performance on the second day in Mugello, and is confident for the race.
Alex Barros (2.03.025 - 21 laps ): “Unfortunately today wasn’t very good for me, I’m not satisfied with my result. It’s crucial to have a good qualifying time if you want to do well in the race, therefore I can’t be happy with only tenth position. I don’t really know what the problem is. With dry race configuration we are satisfied and competitive, but with rain setting I’m not as fast as I want; we need to work hard, if we want to improve for tomorrow. During the qualifying session we tried two different kind of tires, a harder and a softer compound, but I didn’t get the right feeling with either of them. I’m very displeased for that, and also quite worried for the race. I just hope that somehow we can turn things around tomorrow. ”
Alex Hofmann (2.03.920 – 20 laps): “Today’s qualifying session was like a lottery until the end. Like yesterday, the rain interrupted our search for a good set-up. We started with a harder rain tyre compound, and when the rain eased, we continued with a softer set. After just a couple of laps, I came in for another pit stop to re-fuel and to go on a longer run, but when I went out again, the rain came back with a vengeance. It really bucketed down, and there was little we could do. Only a few minutes from the end I finally managed to do my best lap, and I’m sure that I could have further improved if the session had continued for a little while. The race tomorrow will be difficult, because we don’t know what the track conditions will be like. But my motivation is very strong and I will give my best to confirm the result of Le Mans. ”
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