Donington Park is heaving this weekend with the buzz that is MotoGP. With a rain soaked start to Friday's practice sessions and a sunny day on Saturday, all is left open for race day on Sunday. Pleased with Saturday's practice, the Honda teams are ready and waiting, here are quotes from the Honda riders who are racing at the British Grand Prix being held at Donington Park, UK.
MotoGP
Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda (3rd)
"Today went pretty well and I'm very pleased to be on the front row for the race because this is always important. The practice sessions were ok and stayed dry which meant we could find a good set-up and work up to a fairly consistent race pace, though I had a big moment this morning when the temperature was colder. The qualifying laps at the end of the afternoon session were a little difficult for me and I made a few little mistakes with both qualifiers which may have cost me a shot at pole position. With my second qualifier I tried to do a second fast lap and the time was quite good until the last split when the tyre began to go off - but this was not a big surprise because they're only designed to do one lap. I hope it stays dry tomorrow but we've had the chance to practice in both wet and dry conditions so we should be ready whatever happens with the weather. There are a few riders with a good pace here so it will be an interesting race. I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda (4th)
"The session went pretty well and fourth is definitely my best qualifying position for a while so I've got to be happy with that. It felt good to be fastest this morning too, although I didn't really improve a lot this afternoon and I'd have liked to have gone a little bit quicker. Also I only improved by two tenths on my second qualifying tyre and you've got to do more than that to get on the front row. Regardless, this has been the closest we've been for a while and I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's race. With a decent start I can at least get in there at the front, see what I've been missing and learn some stuff from the boys. So far every race this season they've just disappeared after the first corner and I haven't really learned much, but hopefully tomorrow I can go to school and stick right with them. I've felt pretty good straight away this weekend. The chassis changes really have not made a huge amount of difference - we just tried a lot of different stuff in the two days of testing after Barcelona, and not just settings. We took away some of the traction control and now the bike's working well and seems to suit me better so that I can control it more with the throttle. A really big thanks to the guys on my team for working so hard and making a few changes on the bike to give me a better feeling."
Carlos Checa, LCR Honda (7th)
"I think I can be competitive in the race here because like at Jerez top speed is not critical and I have a very good feeling in the dry. I didn't get the best from my qualifying tyres - my time was only 0.2 seconds better than on my race tyre, which is very positive for tomorrow. Yesterday I had no feeling, today I'm back in the top ten after switching to the base settings we know work on this bike."
Marco Melandri, Gresini Honda (9th)
"Today we worked on the dry setting but the forecast is for more rain tomorrow so I don't really know what to expect for the race. In the fast sections I can let the bikes run and I am fast but we're still struggling to set the bike up for the long braking. It's a problem we've had since the start of the season and it doesn't allow me to ride as I like. It will be a tough race tomorrow - even more so if it rains, because the track here is very slippery."
Toni Elias, Gresini Honda (10th)
"We tried to make the most of the two hours we had on a dry track to prepare as best as possible for a dry race. We struggled a bit this morning because we couldn't get the tyres up to optimum temperature. In the afternoon the situation improved and we're quite ready if it is dry tomorrow. Unfortunately we had a technical problem at the end and only got chance to use only one qualifying tyre, which means I was unable to set a good lap. I'm disappointed by that but I'm hoping for a dry race tomorrow."
Shinya Nakano, Konica Minolta Honda (11th)
"More changeable weather conditions! But saying that I have been pleased that it's been dry. This morning we tried three new tyres for the first time and we struggled a little. This is because this is our first time here with the 800cc Honda and my first time here on Michelin tyres in the dry, so it took time to adjust. We made some gearbox adjustments also, we normally do this on the first day, but the conditions have been so different we needed to do it again. I am a little disappointed with the final grid position, we are still not up with the top group, but we have closed the gap a little and that is important. When you have a bike that works well around Donington, it's one of the most exciting tracks to ride around, so it should be a very thrilling race!"
Kurtis Roberts, KR212V (19th)
"We made a lot of improvements today. The wet yesterday hurt us, because I'm still trying to get used to this bike, as well as the track. I've been here twice in ten years ... once in '97 and once in '04. It's kind of tough having to relearn the track in just one day. But this afternoon we got closer to the guys the machine has been running with lately. A lot of that's just me learning where I'm going.
I'm still missing the line sometimes, going in a little late, because I'm trying to do it all so fast." "I don't know how the weather's going to be tomorrow. I think either way we will be up a little higher than we are in qualifying, just by being able to think about the track tonight. I like this track. It's just getting the corner speeds and stuff down. You've got to figure that out. Wet or dry, we're going to have to put our heads down and race for it. Everyone's on the same track."
Chuck Aksland - Team Manager
"Bike-wise, we're running what we've had all year. There won't be any significant changes until the new chassis comes. Kurtis is doing a good job. He picked up a lot of time from this morning to the afternoon in the dry sessions. I think he was just starting to get confidence with the race tyres when we had to throw in the qualifying tyres. That puts a whole different element in. On race tyres, he generally picked up the pace. We'll see how he goes tomorrow."
Kenny Roberts Jnr, KR212V - Will not race at the British GP and is replaced by younger brother Kurtis.
250cc
Julian Simon, Repsol Honda (3rd)
"My time is not so bad I have a good second row grid position. The only problem I have is getting the bike to hold the racing line in some corners. But I'm sure we will be OK for the morning warm up. The engine is OK and if I get a good start I can run with the leading group then we will see what happens in the race. "
Andrea Dovizioso, Kopron Scot Honda (6th)
"We are not OK with the balance of the bike. It was not at all good this morning but we managed to make small improvements this afternoon. We are still far away but it's just a mistake on chassis and suspension settings. It's not fun but if we can improve before the warm up then I might be OK. The engine I cannot really say too much because I was never with the fastest riders. But if we do not improve before the warm up I am not confident about my chances."
Yukio Takahashi, Kopron Scot Honda (11th)
"The bike is very good. This morning in the dry conditions I found really good chassis and suspension settings or this track and this afternoon we only had small things to change. I ran my best lap times with a hard tyre that didn't have much grip. On my last lap I was running with Bautista but I made a small mistake with the front but I have a good race set up and I hope to have a good race. I am slowly regaining feeling in my injured foot and my wrist is much better - so the important thing is not to crash tomorrow."
Shuhei Aoyama, Repsol Honda (12th)
"That was not so good - I crashed on the last lap of qualifying. The front end just turned in and I was down. We have never had that problem with this bike but all day I felt the front end wanting to turn in. Now I think it is a problem with the suspension because we tried many settings and different tyres but it was still a problem. The engine is good but we must fix the front end if I am to have a good race. "
Eugene Laverty, LCR Honda (15th)
"This qualifying session shows what I can do when I know the circuit and the bike set up, I think it shows my potential in grands prix. My lap times are very consistent and I think I can race for a top 12 position in the dry. If it rains the race is wide open."
Ratthapark Wilairot, Thai Honda PTT-SAG (17th)
"Today's result shows that I only had one a day of dry practice on this track, but in those circumstances, it's not too bad. What really matters is the fact that I gained some experience in the wet yesterday, which could prove crucial tomorrow as the weather forecast is uncertain. I feel confident for the race, regardless of the weather conditions."
125cc
Alexis Masbou, FFM Honda (8th)
"Not so bad today. My engine is really fast, the same as the KTM I was running with. The only small disadvantage is on acceleration off the Melbourne loop. I have some front end chatter but it's nothing much and I am sure we can fix that before the warm up tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to the race."
Bradley Smith, Repsol Honda (9th)
"Its been difficult today because we needed to get a move on after loosing so much time to the weather yesterday. We had many different things to try but didn't have a perfect set up. I high-sided of the bike coming out of Coppice and landed on my back and foot I'm a bit sore but I will be OK to race. My team mate Tito (Rabat) and me have three bikes between us and we have both crashed today so the team have a lot to do to get us ready for tomorrow."
Mike Di Meglio, Kopron Scot Honda (15th)
"After the Catalunya GP we stayed on at the circuit to test various set up changes and found some improvements. We started practice here with the new settings but nothing worked. The team soon gave me a good bike and I felt OK. Everything was normal, very good this morning and I started the qualifying session with the same settings as this morning on an old tyre. When I came into the box to new change tyres the team adjusted the front and rear suspension trying for a little more grip but the feeling from the bike was not so good. We will go back to the original setting for the warm up and hope to find the same feeling I had this morning."
Enrique Jerez replacement rider for the injured Dino Lombardi, Kopron Scot Honda (24th)
"I am very pleased with the experience I am gaining here in the GP. The team have worked really hard for me and have fixed the suspension problems I have had. I think that tomorrow I will have a good race because today I found a good feeling with the bike and the track."
Tito Rabat, Repsol Honda (28th)
"I didn't have a very good feeling on the bike in practice today. Then on the second lap of qualifying I clashed with another rider and crashed. My bike ran straight n and hit the wall. I went back to the pit box to take the second bike that I share with my team-mate Bradley (Smith) but the bike was set up for his riding style so I could not really set a fast time. I just used the time to learn the track in dry conditions."
Joey Litjens, Molenaar Honda (29th)
"I am loosing too much time off the sow corners particularly coming off the Melbourne loop I have no bottom end power - many riders pull away from me at those points and it is impossible to try and make up ground on the brakes every lap. Pity because on top speed the bike is very good and the handling is also good. I hope it rains for the race tomorrow then I will have a better result than in dry conditions."
Danny Webb, Molenaar Honda (32nd)
"I could be faster than I was, even if I have improved my lap time with every session. The bike is good but the circuit doesn't have much grip. I am running constant 1m 41.1 lap times but I need to be inside 1m 40s, but I set my time riding alone so that's a good thing. Just one tenth of a second faster in qualifying and I would b four places higher up the grid - that's how competitive it is. I have to push a little harder in the race than I did today. I am English but I have only ever riding two 20 minute training sessions at Donington"
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