James Toseland continued where he left off in Qatar by fighting off a chest infection to finish eighth fastest after two practice session for the bwin.com Grand Prix of Spain at Jerez this afternoon. The Yorshireman was just seven tenths of one second behind Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo who led the dramatic second practice session that saw World Champion Casey Stoner crash without injury.
“To finish eighth after the first day was fine especially as we spent a lot of time setting up the bike and a chest infection drained my energy,” said the Tech 3 Yamaha rider who was sixth on his MotoGP debut in Qatar three weeks ago. “We used a different chassis from the one we used at the two Jerez tests which threw us off course slightly but it’s been a good day for me and Yamaha. The chest infection is clearing up and I will have plenty of energy for practice and qualifying tomorrow.”
Stoner crashed half way through the second session when he lost the front end of his Marlboro Ducati at the turn seven left hander. He was unhurt as were the three other fallers in the session, Sylvan Guintoli, John Hopkins and Shinya Nakano.
To the delight of the big Friday afternoon crowd, the 250cc World Champion Lorenzo fought off the challenge of Fiat Yamaha team-mate and seven times winner at Jerez Italian Valentino Rossi. Former World Superbike Champion Colin Edwards completed a great day for Yamaha by finishing third in front of the Repsol Hondas of former World Champion Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa with Stoner in sixth place.
Smith On Provisional Front Row Despite problems on the last lap Bradley Smith was third fastest in the first 125 cc qualifying session while fellow British teenagers Scott Redding and Danny Webb set themselves up for the second and final session tomorrow afternoon.
Seventeen year old Smith spent the morning practice running in the engine of his Polaris World Aprilia and in the afternoon qualifying session also spent time setting up the machine. He moved into second place with five minutes remaining and was third going into his final lap. He was forced to dive underneath a slower rider at turn two and ran off the track without crashing but held onto third place.
“My guys know what they are doing and we have spent a lot of time setting up the bike,” explained Smith, who has led the two pre-season test sessions at Jerez.” We are very happy with the day despite those problems on the last lap and we are confident about tomorrow and the race on Sunday.”
Fifteen year old Scott Redding once again was in superb form in just his second grand prix. The Gloucester-based rider was ninth fastest, two in front of World Champion Gabor Talmacsi and less than three quarters of one second behind fastest qualifier Spaniard Nicolas Terol. Sixteen year old Kent teenager Danny Webb ran off the track on the Degraaf Grand Prix Aprilia early in the session. He did not crash and finally qualified 14th, less than one second behind Terol.
In the first 250cc qualifying session Ulsterman Eugene Laverty, who scored his first ever World Championship points in Jerez last year, was 18th riding the Blusens Aprilia.
