Forty five minutes on a dry track and forty five in the wet, characterized the first Friday practice at the new Motorland Aragon circuit where morning practice was reinstated for the first time since 2008.
Most of the riders were enthusiastic about the flowing and fast Spanish track and here’s what they had to say after tackling it for the first time, which saw Dani Pedrosa dominate in the morning and Casey Stoner take the top of the timesheets in the afternoon.
Dani Pedrosa“In general this has been a good first day of practice for us at a brand new circuit for MotoGP.
This morning we started well and got into a rhythm quickly, which was important because it makes a big difference going from the one hour practice sessions we’re familiar with to 45 minutes.
It’s necessary to stay out on track for longer runs and not spend too long in the garage, and this morning we did a good job to maximise our time.
This afternoon in the wet we also started pretty well when it was raining properly, but then we had a small electrical problem with one bike and the other machine wasn’t ready to go out, so we lost some time in the garage and I wasn’t on track when the surface was improving at the end.
The track is quite technical; it has some difficult turns and you really have to find a good line and also to set up the gearbox properly to be able to make a good lap time.
The grip from the track surface feels good and the Bridgestone tyres are also working well so far.
I hope we can continue in this positive way tomorrow.
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