Sunny skies and beautiful weather masked what was a very dark day for the Pramac Dántin riders. After an intense two hour morning free practice, due to the cancellation of two free sessions yesterday afternoon following a tremendous rain storm, the riders quickly recovered their strength and went back out in the afternoon for the Qualifying session. The goal was to find the optimum settings for the bike, but with the time lost because of the yesterday’s weather, what resulted was a not what the team had hoped for.
During the Qualifying practice, the two members of the Italo-Spanish team underwent a variety of problems and weren’t able to secure the grid positions that they wanted. Alex Barros wasn’t able to find a good feeling with the qualifying tyres and will be forced to fight from the sixth row, while Alex Hofmann, in only his first race back after the catastrophic accident in Laguna Seca, will aim to gather as many important points as possible as he re-adapts to his Bologna Bullet.
Alex Barros (24 laps. 1´35,89):
"Obviously, I am very dissatisfied with my place on the grid, but I know that with the race tyre I can get into a good rhythm. Starting from this far back, it doesn’t bode well for the race, but I’m committed to getting as good a result as I can, because the I know that the team, the bike, and my skills are much better than 19th".
Alex Hofmann (23 laps. 1´36,65):
"I am happy to be racing again after the serious accident that I suffered in Laguna Seca. It is normal that after several weeks of inactivity and an intense rehabilitation of my hand, that I would tyre after a few laps. Tomorrow I expect to improve my result in the race because the race tyre behaves better for me than the qualification tyre”.
Luis d´Antin (General Manager).
"For us it’s been a difficult weekend, and losing all that time on Friday didn’t help us to find the best race settings for the race.The only positive thing is that with the race configuration we found we are competitive and we know we can definitely improve on the results of today".
Official Times:
1. Casey Stoner 1´33.91
2. Valentino Rossi 1´34,09
3. Nicky Hayden 1´34,46
4. Randy De Puniet 1´34,50
5. John Hopkins 1´34,53
17. Alex Barros 1´35,89
19. Alex Hofmann 1´36,65
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