Dani Pedrosa returned from his holidays to take provisional pole position for the Czech Republic Grand Prix but he wasn’t the only rider to have benefited from the break.

His team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama also sealed a place on the provisional front row of the grid with the third fastest time of the day and showed he has potential for even further improvement tomorrow.

The double World Champion took things easily in the morning free practice as he loosened his limbs after three weeks without straddling a motorcycle and, like every Friday, he began to gather precise data for his Honda. Dani, fourth fastest in the morning, knocked a second and a half off his fastest time in the afternoon as he moved to the front of the grid. His lap of 2’03”184 was just two tenths of a second off the Brno lap record he set last season.

In the morning session Hiroshi Aoyama already showed glimpses of the determination he has demonstrated in the last few rounds, lapping just two tenths of a second off the provisional pole time set by his team-mate.

DANI PEDROSA (1^st, 2’03”184): “I was looking forward to getting back on the bike and the feeling was good on this first day of the Grand Prix. A few raindrops fell at the start of the afternoon qualifying session but we were able to work well and we took several steps forward with some quality laps. This morning I wanted to take things steady and recover my feeling after resting for three weeks. The bike is running well, I can’t complain, and we have a good base set-up. Tomorrow we have to keep adjusting it to improve my confidence on the bike and choose the right tyres for the race.”

HIROSHI AOYAMA (3^rd, 2’03”471): “I’ve felt really good on the bike after coming back from the holidays and that is very positive because it means we’re still on the upward curve we started on before the break. Tomorrow we want to make some small changes but not too many because I know we are on the right line. When I set my fastest lap I wasn’t quite on the limit so hopefully I can keep improving. We’ll have to lower my lap time if I want to stay on the front row, which is very important at this circuit.”

 LAP TIMES

1. Dani Pedrosa (Esp/Honda)2’03”184
2. Jorge Lorenzo (Esp/Honda) + 0”148
3. Hiroshi Aoyama (Jap/Honda) + 0”287
4. Casey Stoner (Aus/Aprilia) + 0”336
5. Andrea Dovizioso (Ita/Honda) + 0”393
6. Sebastián Porto (Arg/Aprilia) + 0”427
7. Alex De Angelis (RSM/Aprilia) + 0”451
8. Randy De Puniet (Fra/Aprilia) + 1”107
9. Héctor Barberá (Esp/Honda) + 1”380
10. Simone Corsi (Ita/Aprilia) + 1”498