Sepang Test - January 2008

MotoGP 2008 - Round Three - Estoril (Portugal) - Day 1 - Dorna Report

Dani Pedrosa rose from sixteenth to first in the free practice standings after the Estoril Circuit dried out after a rainy start to the day. As such Spain's current World Championship leader concluded the opening sessions of the bwin.com Grande Premio de Portugal in positive fashion.

The Repsol Honda rider and winner of the last round in Jerez, Pedrosa laid down a fastest time of 1´38.507 to lead the way, edging out Fiat Yamaha´s Valentino Rossi by under a tenth of a second.

Rossi was the sole Bridgestone rider in a Michelin-dominated top six, in direct contrast to the wet morning session where Japanese rubber reigned supreme. The disparity between the two manufacturers under different conditions could make the weather one of the crucial factors of both Saturday´s qualifying session and Sunday´s all-important race.

Thankfully for Rossi, he showed no after-effects from a morning crash which flung him from his Yamaha M1, and he was able to run a respectable pace over the course of his 26 lap stint on track. The second fastest Yamaha was just under four-tenths of a second slower, that of Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards. The Texan has some new firepower at his disposal this weekend, namely the pneumatic valve engine given to both he and teammate James Toseland at Estoril.

Edwards' countryman and 2007 Portugal poleman Nicky Hayden was fourth fastest, despite taking a couple of wide lines in the afternoon session. He was in turn just quicker than Jorge Lorenzo, the Fiat Yamaha rookie who has taken pole position for the first two races of the current season.

Andrea Dovizioso was once again the fastest satellite Honda rider, onboard his JiR Team Scot RC212V, whilst there were signs of problems for reigning World Champion Casey Stoner as he languished in seventh place. The Australian had been quickest in the damp morning conditions, but a few wobbles onboard his Ducati Desmosedici GP8, including an innocuous lowside on his opening run meant he was down the order at the end of the day.

San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda´s Shinya Nakano, LCR Honda´s Randy de Puniet and Kawasaki star John Hopkins were the final riders to go round within a second of Pedrosa´s time, with Loris Capirossi completing the top ten with his Suzuki GSV-R.

De Puniet ran off track during the session, whilst there were bigger problems for Toni Elias. The Alice Team rider had steam pouring out of his satellite Ducati down the home straight, and was unable to complete any more than 10 laps of the circuit at which he took his only MotoGP victory to date in 2006. A flu-stricken Alex de Angelis added to his woes with a spectacular highside in the afternoon.

On a mission after his Jerez heartbreak, Marco Simoncelli took provisional pole for the 250cc race in Estoril in an assured afternoon display.

The Metis Gilera rider clocked a time of 1´41.427, just 0.047 ahead of second placed rider Alex Debon. The duo make up a strong factory Aprilia presence on the quarter litre front row, with Mapfre Aspar´s Alvaro Bautista also on the first line of attack with his top of the range RSA.

Separating the Italian factory representatives was Mika Kallio, the Red Bull KTM rider who is on an impressive podium streak in the category. Having finished third and first in Qatar and Jerez respectively, this weekend could see the Finn at the top of the 250cc classification for the first time in his career, and a start from an equal or better position than today´s third place would put him in a great position to do so.

The man whom he will have to usurp is current leader Mattia Pasini, who thus far heads the second row ahead of Repsol KTM´s Julian Simon, Red Bull KTM´s Hiroshi Aoyama and Pepe Team Toth Aprilia´s Hector Barbera.

There was a small crash for Jerez podium finisher Yuki Takahashi, who put his JiR Team Scot Honda into the gravel during the session.

A renowned wet weather specialist, Mike di Meglio showed his dry skills in the opening qualifying session for the 125cc race in Estoril. The Frenchman recorded a time of 1´47.990 to give him the early advantage of a provisional pole at the Portuguese track, nearly four tenths ahead of Nico Terol.

Two weeks on from his first ever front row and podium, Jack&Jones WRB rider Terol continued to shine as the Estoril circuit dried out, with the second fastest time of the afternoon in the class. Michael Ranseder pencilled his name on the grid sheet for the front row onboard his I.C. Team Aprilia, with series leader Simone Corsi joining teammate Terol on the frontline.

Tomoyoshi Koyama heads the provisional second row, but his fast times came at a cost. The Japanese rider suffered a huge highside late in the session, flinging him into the gravel and bruising a toe. Sandro Cortese and the Bancaja Aspar duo of Sergio Gadea and Gabor Talmacsi also put themselves on an initial second row.

The rider who has taken pole position at the opening two races, Bradley Smith was off the pace in the first qualifying run. The Polaris World man could only clock the 23rd fastest time, and the Briton will be praying that the rain stays away from Estoril tomorrow as he looks to make a significant improvement.