Repsol Honda trio Pedrosa, Stoner and Dovizioso dominates first practice day at Motegi – MotoGP news
Repsol Honda trio Dani Pedrosa, Casey Stoner and Andrea Dovizioso has topped the time charts for the first practice day at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit.
The 15th MotoGP race weekend for the Grand Prix of Japan recorded the start with dominance of the home team riders.
The Spanish rider was not fast enough in the first free practice session but held a fourth position in the final time sheet for the morning session. The FP1 was led by Casey Stoner, followed by teammate Andrea Dovizioso. While in the FP2, Pedrosa took the
lead ahead of his both teammates, Stoner and Dovizioso.
Pedrosa said, “We did a good job today; in the morning we took a good direction and this allowed us to improve a lot in the afternoon, by a second, and this is very important. Tomorrow we have to focus on the set up of the bike; maybe the weather will change
a little bit, so we have to be aware of the conditions and try to be fast anytime.”
Pedrosa said that if it rains on the second practice day, the dry testing conditions will be not available. The setup is good for dry conditions so the rain would force a change in the strategy, he said.
The Spaniard also commented on the resurfacing of the circuit, after its destruction during earthquakes. The new asphalt surface is providing immense grip. Fresh tarmac has let the riders to post better lap times than the 2010 event.
After leading the FP1, Casey Stoner settled for a second position by the end of FP2. The Aussie sustained the Repsol Honda trio with the help of teammate Andrea Dovizioso.
Stoner added, “The bike felt pretty good this morning and then this afternoon we started the session on pretty much the same setting that we ended on this morning, it felt ok but we felt we could improve.”
The FP1 did not have any issues but the second session of the first day was not quite promising. Stoner’s RCV was tweaked in a wrong direction which let the rider to lose time on the last two bends. However, the issue was solved and their direction became
clear.
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