The Repsol Honda Team enjoyed a strong start in the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix today in Monterey, California.
Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa, separated by just one tenth of a second, took the top two positions in the first free practice session at the Laguna Seca circuit, while Andrea Dovizioso was six-tenths off the Australian rider in fifth.
With colder temperatures on the ground compared to last year, the riders began working on the set up of the bikes with a softer tyre that Bridgestone brought to America. Casey’s best lap time this morning (1’22.300) is still one second slower than his circuit record lap (1’21.376 in 2010), but with higher track temperatures this afternoon, the times will soon improve in the second free practice session starting at 14h10, local time.
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MotoGP: Casey Stoner Fastest in First Practice at Laguna Seca
MotoGP: U.S. Grand Prix - First Practice Results
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MotoGP: U.S. Grand Prix - Second Practice Results
CASEY STONER – 1st 1’22.300
“This morning went ok, at the beginning of the session the tyres were working well and the grip was pretty good. We tried a few different things and got the bike working better and then the tyres started to go off quite a lot, I’m not sure if this is due to the track being cold in the first part of the session, but for sure they weren’t as good at the end of the session. It will be difficult to understand if we got any real decent data this morning and we’ll have to wait until we get onto the harder compound tyres this afternoon to see if the current setting will work with those or not. We still have a few areas to improve for sure, it’s hard after one session to really say anything certain but I suppose we’re happy enough at the moment”.
DANI PEDROSA – 2nd 1’22.402
“We had a pretty good start, we needed to make some small changes on the set up of the bike to better absorb the bumps in this circuit. Laguna is more bumpy than Sachsenring and there are many fast changes of direction, we have some wheelies and hard braking, so we have to adjust the set up according to this. Early in the session I went wide in Turn 2, I made a mistake with the gear and I couldn’t stop the bike, so I just released it, nothing else. For the rest, everything was OK. Bridgestone tyres, with a softer compound, worked well in the morning, so it’s positive. In terms of my physical condition, my back is sore and I guess I will have more pain during the weekend, but I will try to recover well during sessions and do my best”.
ANDREA DOVIZIOSO – 5th 1’22.911
“Laguna Seca is a special track, very different from any other circuit and it takes a while to find the rhythm. This morning I didn’t have too much feeling in the corner entry and I was a little slow in the middle of the corner. Considering that I was not 100% comfortable, the gap from the first riders is not too big and I’m confident that we will improve in the afternoon, when we will do a comparison between the two bikes equipped with two different set ups, a setting we thought about using in Sachsenring. This afternoon the temperatures will rise, the track will have more rubber and we will all push more. I really like to race in the U.S. because every event becomes a show. The atmosphere and the fans are incredible”.
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