The first day of free practice at Motegi was a satisfactory one for both Marco Simoncelli and Hiroshi Aoyama. “Super Sic” finished fourth fastest, in touch with the pace of Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner and with a solid race pace that improved significantly from the morning to the afternoon. The Italian still has some set-up changes to make tomorrow but already feels he is in good shape for qualifying and the race. Aoyama lapped seventh fastest on the opening day at his home circuit and showed the potential for further improvements tomorrow, when a potential change in weather conditions could make the good job already done by Team San Carlo Honda Gresini even more important.
Marco Simoncelli (4th 1’ 47” 188): “The day went quite well and we improved from the morning to the afternoon and established a pretty good feeling with the bike. We did some tests this afternoon to try and improve it under braking but after making some wrong choices with the front forks we know to go in the opposite direction tomorrow. We still have some problems with tyre wear so we will try to work on a solution to last us the whole race. At the moment I need to find three tenths to stay the pace with Pedrosa and Stoner so that is the goal tomorrow.”
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MotoGP: Casey Stoner Fastest in First Practice at Motegi
MotoGP: Japanese Grand Prix - First Practice Results
MotoGP: Dani Pedrosa Fastest in Second Practice at Motegi
MotoGP: Japanese Grand Prix - Second Practice Results
Hiroshi Aoyama (7th 1’ 47” 785): “A positive start although at the moment I am lacking some rear grip. We will try to improve this tomorrow and find a setting that gives me a bit more confidence. That is our objective and if we can manage it I am confident we will be able to get a good position on the starting grid for Sunday. I am happy because I think we have started on the right foot which is important for me at my home race.
Fausto Gresini: “I would say this has been a more than positive day. Marco has started out on the right foot despite the crash this morning. It has been a while since he crashed so we were looking forward to it! I am joking of course! Marco was fast today and made some big improvements in the afternoon to close the gap to the top. Overall we have to be confident. He has worked with different set-ups on his two bikes and the data we have gathered should put him in a position to take another step forward tomorrow. Hiroshi also went well, perhaps with the added inspiration of racing at home, and he is not far off the top guys. He is showing that he can have a strong finish to the season because after Motegi there are some other good tracks for him.”
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