Rain again at Sachsenring |
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| Saturday, 07 July 2012 16:54 | |||
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The German weather forecasters could have just relied on a photocopy of yesterday's reading at Sachsenring this afternoon as another afternoon downpour ruined any hopes of dry track time for the MotoGP teams and riders. Alvaro Bautista already knew he would be starting from the back of the grid before this afternoon's session, as a penalty for his part in the first corner accident at Assen a week ago, so his only focus was to find a good wet setting for tomorrow's race in case of similar conditions. Michele Pirro escaped unhurt from his first big crash of the season although he struggled to rediscover his confidence when he returned to the track, having set the fastest time in mixed conditions during this morning's final free practice. Alvaro Bautista ( 11th 1’ 34” 088 ) “There was no point trying to set a fast lap this afternoon so we just focused on our wet set-up. The track conditions were really tricky, especially in the middle two sectors, and I didn't have a good feeling with the bike. Hopefully we get a dry warm-up in the morning so that we can prepare for the race. If it's wet we'll have to try something to improve my confidence with the bike. I'll start from the back of the grid so I'll just have to stay calm at the start and try to recover positions throughout the race to finish as high as we can. Right now it is impossible to make any predictions.” Michele Pirro (17th 1’ 35” 595) “The rain ruined our plans today and I crashed after just three laps. I just hit a part of the track where there was a lot of standing water, the bike aquaplaned and I lost control so it was a heavy crash. I went back out but I struggled to get my pace together again so that is disappointing and I am sorry for the guys in the team because without the crash I am sure we could have done much better. We'll try to make up for it tomorrow and if it doesn't rain we'll have a much better chance.” Fausto Gresini “Another rain affected session although that mattered little to Alvaro because his grid position was already decided by the sanction so he just focused on finding a good setting for the conditions. It was a shame for Michele because the crash was a setback in terms of his programme but also because he lost feeling and confidence. It was his first big crash this season but I am still confident for tomorrow because he and the bike have been making great progress in recent weeks.” 1 1 Casey STONER AUS Repsol Honda Team Honda 271.2 1'31.796 2 11 Ben SPIES USA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 276.6 1'31.989 3 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 271.0 1'32.081 4 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 273.8 1'32.288 5 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 276.4 1'32.381 6 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 269.7 1'32.510 7 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 272.7 1'32.795 8 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 272.8 9 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Ducati Team Ducati 273.1 1'33.217 10 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Power Electronics Aspar ART 263.5 11 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 260.7 12 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 263.5 1'34.542 13 5 Colin EDWARDS USA NGM Mobile Forward Racing Suter 252.8 1'34.649 14 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Power Electronics Aspar ART 259.6 1'34.651 15 54 Mattia PASINI ITA Speed Master ART 256.6 1'34.938 16 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Came IodaRacing Project Ioda 250.1 1'35.590 17 51 Michele PIRRO ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini FTR 257.8 1'35.595 18 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Avintia Blusens BQR 259.1 1'35.962 19 22 Ivan SILVA SPA Avintia Blusens BQR 256.4 1'36.183 20 77 James ELLISON GBR Paul Bird Motorsport ART 253.7 1'36.355 21 2 Franco BATTAINI ITA Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati 254.1 1'36.438 Article source: Gresini Racing
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