MotoGP: Practice Session in Sachsenring- Honda And Ducati Show Pace, Rossi back from injury, Drivers gear up for eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland
The eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland is on Sunday, while the riders took the track on Friday for the first practice session. The defending champion, Valentino Rossi, also returned to MotoGP, after sitting out for four races due to injury. Before this weekend Rapsol Honda and Ducati teams were hopeful of improvement in their speed for this track. The first practice session proved fruitful to these two teams, as Dani Pedrosa, of Rapsol Honda, recorded the fastest time, while Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden, riding their Ducati bikes, recorded second and third fastest respectively. However, it was a relatively slow day for the current leader, Jorge Lorenzo, who was sixth fastest on the track. Whereas, the champion, Valentino Rossi, looked in good shape as he was seventh fastest on the day.
Throughout the week the Honda team was blabbering about a comeback in Sachsenring, however, this story was subsided amidst the comeback of Valentino Rossi. Also, during the practice session, Valentino Rossi was the one to steal the lime-light. He was the centre of attraction of the crowd, as well as the media. At the end of the day, Rossi finished seventh, one place behind the current championship leader and his team-mate, Jorge Lorenzo. Nevertheless, it was an incredible sight for the fans, to see the reigning champion in action, after missing out a lot of action in the last four Grand Prix races.
The Rapsol Honda looked in pretty good shape, as Dani Pedrosa showed the fastest lap time of the session, with 1 minute and 22.521 seconds, in his last lap of the session. However, he led the session throughout the day, as he continued to post fastest times, lap after lap. Currently he is 52 points behind the current leader, Jorge Lorenzo, but Pedrosa would gain a lot of confidence after this show of speed. This would be encouraging for the Spaniard for the race on Sunday.
The Ducati team also came back to form, as Casey Stoner was the second fastest man on the track. He was 0.274 seconds slower than Pedrosa. Nicky Hayden, the Ducati team-mate of Stoner, remained clueless for the most part of the session. However, a good effort at the end of the session ensured him the third fastest time. Throughout the season, the Ducati team has been largely disappointing, as they have failed to produce any good results. However, Friday in Sachsenring is an encouraging sight for the Italian constructors.
Monster Yamaha Tech 3, showed better results than the FIAT Yamaha, as Ben Spies remained the fourth fastest rider by the end of the day. However, Spies had a largely disappointing session, as he took a lot of time in judging and understating the straights and corners of the Sachsenring circuit. He was even close to a crash, which he avoided just by a hair-breath. Marco Simoncelli, riding the San Carlo Honda Gresini, completed the top five of the Friday practice session.
The current championship leader, Jorge Lorenzo, on his FIAT Yamaha, was largely unimpressive throughout the practice session. Due to some odd reason he seemed to be struggling to show his pace, therefore, he ended up being sixth on the day. On the other hand, his team-mate, Valentino Rossi, did good enough to complete 29 laps on Friday, eventually ending up in seventh place. However, Rossi must be happy with his performance, as he came within the gap of 0.02seconds from Lorenzo.
Randy De Puniet, riding the LCR Honda, came eighth fastest; however, he had problems with his bike. Marco Melandri, on his San Carlo Honda Gresini, came in ninth while Andrea Divizioso, Pedrosa’s team-mate, completed the top ten of the first practice session in Sachsenring.
The practice sessions often give the hints for the race on the coming weekend. This grand prix race would be interesting in the sense that once again the battle is between four or five riders, as Pedrosa and Stoner would be trying to reduce the Lorenzo’s lead at the top. However, this weekend belongs to Valentino Rossi, as all eyes would be focused on the Italian’s performance after an early return from his injury.
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