After yesterday's disastrous incident, where Alex Hofmann was the victim of a collision with another rider that resulted in a bad accident, the Pramac d’Antin Team readied itself to contest the qualifying session for the race that will take place tomorrow. Hofmann was confirmed to miss at least the next five weeks, recovering from hand surgery, and so the Italo-Spanish Team chose to support young Briton, Chaz Davies, who will substitute in Hofmann's place. Much of the Team's hopes and focus will be on the Brazilian, Alex Barros, who is currently in the top ten in the World Championship classification and who is looking for important championship points tomorrow.
Unfortunately for Barros, he was still hurting from the Sachsenring crash, and with his damaged throttle and brake hand, was unable to set a good qualifying lap. The surprise of the session was Chaz Davies, who's pleasant demeanor and calm and c ool manner made working together a pleasure. Using a qualifying tire for the first time, Chaz almost set a good laptime, but a small mistake in the last section of the track prevented him from acheiving a higher grid position.
Alex Barros (1’23.557 – 35 laps): “Even today wasn’t a good day for me, and I’m very disappointed about this. Even if my hand wasn't painful, the bike didn’t give me any help. I wasn’t able to find a good bike set-up that would make me able to ride with confidence. For this reason I had a lot of difficulties, especially in the turns where I couldn't be fast as I wanted. I think that the main problem was coming from the front which was shaking so much I couldn't possibly control the bike well. I'm worried for tomorrow, because even though I know during the race anything can happen, it's still very penalizing to start from the last row on grid.
Chaz Davies (1’24.098 - 27 laps):
“ ’m very happy, because I couldn't have imagined a week-end like this. My feeling with the bike is a lot better than yesterday because I succeeded in understanding how to drive the Ducati Desmosedici quite well. Today was my first time with qualifying tires and I had a really good sensation; Bridgestone tires work very well. For tomorrow I'm not sure what will happen, but for sure I will rest this evening to be at my best for the race and to try and be constant with the race pace. I know that it will be a very difficult race because I don't have the right athletic training to ride this kind of bike, but I will give my best”.
Official Times: 1. Casey Stoner: 1’22.292
2. Dani Pedrosa: 1’22.501
3. Chris Vermeulen: 1’22.590
4. Nicky Hayden: 1’22.624
5. Valentino Rossi: 1’22.683
17. Alex Barros: 1’23.557
20. Chaz Davies: 1’24.098
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