Sete Gibernau’s shoulder responded better than expected in the first day of free practice for the Portuguese Grand Prix today, with the Spaniard lapping second fastest behind Honda colleague Alex Barros.

Gibernau took the morning session calmly, with weather conditions making it dangerous to take any unnecessary risks. Ultrasound and ice treatment have helped to reduce the swelling of his left shoulder tendon and, even though he finished the day feeling more tired than usual as he was forced to put more effort into his right arm, he is already feeling more optimistic than when he arrived at Estoril.

 Rain showers ruined the morning session and Marco Melandri ran out of time to push for a fast lap as he got to grips with the Portuguese circuit on his first visit here with the Honda. The Italian is confident of improving his feeling and his lap times tomorrow. 

SETE GIBERNAU (2^nd, 1’39”065): “I’ve been looking forward to this Grand Prix. This morning the weather wasn’t on our side and with my shoulder problems I preferred not to push it. The pain is bearable, I’m suffering less than I expected and the only thing I am worried about is that I don’t have much strength in my left shoulder. I’ll have more treatment this evening from the doctors here and we’ll see if it improves tomorrow.” 

MARCO MELANDRI (14^th, 1’40”020): “We’re starting from scratch at this circuit and the rain this morning ruined the first session, so an hour this afternoon wasn’t enough to find the perfect set-up. We started off with the same setting as Jerez and my feeling wasn’t perfect so I decided not to risk it. We’re still working on the bike and we know exactly what we have to change tomorrow.”

LAP TIMES
Alex  Barros (Bra/Honda) 1’38”516
Sete Gibernau (Esp/Honda) + 0”549
Nicky Hayden (USA/Honda) + 0”556
Colin Edwards (USA/Yamaha) + 0”628
Carlos Checa (Esp/Ducati) + 0”684
14. Marco Melandri (Ita/Honda) + 1”504