The opening day of practice for the Alice Grand Prix of Germany shaped up with the top three riders in the MotoGP World Championship standings leading the way at the Sachsenring. Current series leader Casey Stoner clocked the fastest time of the day at the German track, setting out his stall early with a 1’22.737 lap of the tight and twisty circuit. He was the only rider to go round in under 1’23, showing his rivals that they will have to be on their toes to keep up with the young Australian’s pace.
Race winner at Sachsenring for the past two years, Valentino Rossi was the second quickest rider in the opening preparations, two and a half tenths of a second slower than his World Championship rival. Circuit record holder Dani Pedrosa in turn trailed Rossi by the same margin in third.
Given the luxury of exemption from tyre limits on his Dunlop rubber, Yamaha satellite rider Sylvain Guintoli put in an impressive time onboard the M1 which came from using a qualifier. The Frenchman was little over half a second slower than Stoner’s time, a gap that he would be pleased to maintain during tomorrow’s timed sessions.
Carlos Checa and Marco Melandri completed a top six containing three Honda riders, ahead of walking wounded rider Alex Barros. The Brazilian suffered a nasty-looking crash during the opening practice session, opening up a cut in his hand which required stitches before he returned for his second ride of the day.
‘Texan Tornado’ Colin Edwards, new Kawasaki signing John Hopkins and present ‘Team Green’ rider Randy de Puniet completed the top ten, with the latter two both crashing today.
World Champion Nicky Hayden was another crasher in the morning, and had to deal with mechanical problems at the end of the afternoon session, parking his bike up when it reacted angrily down the start/finish straight.
Regular poleman and race winner Jorge Lorenzo wasted no time in asserting his authority in the 250cc qualifying session, laying down the gauntlet for the rest of the field with a 1’24.857 lap. The reigning quarter litre World Champion was matched for pace by Metis Gilera’s Marco Simoncelli, the Italian less than a tenth of a second behind.
A new circuit best lap of 1’26.930 gave Gabor Talmacsi the provisional 125cc pole position at Sachsenring, over half a second quicker than last year’s race winner and current form rider Mattia Pasini on the Polaris World Aprilia.
Results: 1 Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati 1'22.737,
2 Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 1'23.083,
3 Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 1'23.366,
4 Sylvain GuintolI (FRA) Yamaha 1'23.387,
5 Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda 1'23.413,
6 Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda 1'23.430,
7 Alex Barros (BRA) Ducati 1'23.548,
8 Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 1'23.613,
9 John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki 1'23.645,
10 Randy De Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki 1'23.667.
Smith Back With A BangBradley Smith may have arrived at the Sachsenring on crutches yesterday but the 16 year-old Oxfordshire rider threw them away today to finish a superb seventh fastest in the first 125cc qualifying session.
Riding the Repsol Honda, he completed 17 laps in the 30-minute session held in dry conditions completing his best time on his penultimate lap.
“A good start to the weekend and it was great to be back on a bike after missing Assen,” explained Smith, who finished 12th at the Sachsenring last year. “The ankle and leg are sore but they will be OK and I completed 34 laps today. The race on Sunday is 27 laps and so I should be fine.”
Just 15 days ago Smith broke a bone in both his left hand and foot and cracked his tibia in a collision while practising for the Dutch TT in Assen. The offending leg and arm were put in plaster which was only fully removed earlier this week before setting off for Germany.
Kent-based Danny Webb returned from his Assen disappointments to qualify 34th riding the De Graaf Honda on his Sachsenring debut.
Both Dan Linfoot and Eugene Laverty also made their Sachsenring debuts in the 250cc class, finishing 24th and 26th respectively in the first qualifying session again held in dry conditions.
The weather forecast for qualifying tomorrow (Saturday) and race day (Sunday) is both hot and sunny – the paddock will believe it when they see it, after a rain hit season.
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