Under good weather circumstances the Bwin.com British Grand Prix started today. Danny Webb started the weekend at his home Grand Prix with a provisional 14th position and teammate Stevie Bonsey managed to qualify also on the 4th row on the 16th position. Hugo van den Berg was searching today for his rhythm and wasn’t happy with the provisional 8th row on a 29th spot.
The free practice session on the Friday morning went well for British rider Danny Webb. From the beginning till the end Webb was riding good lap times and ended up on a nice 7th position. Stevie Bonsey and Hugo van den Berg had more difficulties in this session. Stevie Bonsey didn’t have a good feeling in the rear tyre and ended up on a 26th position. Hugo van den Berg realized a 29th position.
The qualifying session on the Friday afternoon was dry despite the dark clouds above the circuit. The wind was much stronger than in the morning session but most of the riders were faster than the lap times in the morning session. Danny Webb qualified on a provisional 14th position. In the first half of the session Webb was in the top 10 but unfortunally he dropped back to the 14th position within a second of the provisional pole position.
The problems Stevie Bonsey had in the morning were almost gone in the qualification. Bonsey managed to improve his lap time with more than 2 seconds of his lap time in the morning. Bonsey is still not satisfied because he is down to 16th position. Tomorrow Bonsey wants to improve a lot and hopes on the 3rd starting row.
Also Hugo van den Berg was nearly 2 seconds faster than his lap time in the morning but he stayed on the 29th positon. Van den Berg was not totally satisfied about the set-up of his bike but the team will adjust a couple of things so he can be up the time sheets tomorrow.
Hugo van den Berg (29th, 1:40,357):”The first qualifying wasn’t a great one for me. I pushed very hard and the lap times went faster but I didn’t improve my position. I’m 2.8 seconds down from pole and I want to close that gap within the 2 seconds. I know I can do it but I think everything has to be perfect. We will do some adjustments to my bike tonight which will help me to improve my lap times. I hope there will be no rain tomorrow so that I have the change to make it up.”
Danny Webb (14th, 1:38,473): “It wasn’t the qualifying I hoped for. I started good and most of the time in was in the top 10. I have been held up by an other rider which spoiled my fastest lap. Anyway, I’m not happy with the 14th position. In the beginning I wasn’t relax enough and it was difficult to ride fast lap times. After we switched the rear tyre it went better. If it isn’t raining tomorrow for sure I can be faster and I will be faster!”
Stevie Bonsey (16th, 1:38,606): “Today was a shock for me. The morning conditions were unbelievable. It was so slippery on the track that I had to watch out for crashing. I struggled with the feeling in the rear tyre. For the qualifying we made some adjustments and it went better than the morning session. I’m still not happy with my lap times but for it will be better tomorrow.”
