Aoyama tenth but close to the frontrunners

DANI PEDROSA

(1st-1:46.744): “The two sessions were very positive. I believe we are doing a good job and have made a lot of progress. Here everything is a little easier than at the rest of the circuits because we were testing here in the winter and we already have some information that has allowed us to find our rhythm quite quickly. I have knocked a second off my times from the IRTA tests, but at those everything was new for me. The circuit is very bumpy which makes tyre choices very important.”

HIROSHI AOYAMA

(10th-1:48.299): “I am looking for settings that will make me feel comfortable, and we have not yet found the keys. This afternoon we made some changes that have improved my feeling on the bike a lot, and I have lowered my time by a second. This makes me feel optimistic about tomorrow. Here it will be important to get a good position on the grid, and I feel I am capable of doing that.”

ALBERTO PUIG

(Team manager): “In general everything has gone very well. The lap times were fast and Dani set a particularly quick time. We concentrated on trying out a few different tyre compounds, following our pan of preparing for Sunday’s race, which is sure to be tough because of the heat. As far as Hiro is concerned, his position is not great but I am verfy satisfied with his performance because he has set a good time and he is up there with the lead riders.”

LAP TIMES

1. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1:46.744

2. Randy de Puniet Aprilia 1:46.820

3. Sebastian Porto Aprilia 1:47.100

4. Toni Elías Honda 1:47.541

5   Alex de Angelis Aprilia 1:47.741

6   Franco Battaini Aprilia 1:48.115

7   Fonsi Nieto Aprilia 1:48.184

8   Roberto Rolfo Honda 1:48.189

9   Manuel Poggiali Aprilia 1:48.283