DANIEL PEDROSA
(4th, 1’53”227): “I am really happy with my time - it was only my second session on the 250 at Rio and I am under last year’s pole. That is also a reflection of the standard of the category this year. Rio is the bumpiest circuit on the calendar and I never feel comfortable in these conditions. It alters your plans because the circuit is also very critical in terms of tyre choice and a bad choice for the race can throw all your work over the weekend down the drain. There are a lot of things to sort out in just four sessions so I have to concentrate hard on the performance of the bike to get the right choice. At the moment my reflections are positive.”
HIROSHI AOYAMA
(14º, 1’54”782): “The track is very dirty – like a beach! Also, there are bumps everywhere. If you stay on the line you can more or less ride but off the line there is absolutely no grip. I dropped my times by two seconds from the morning to the afternoon session but I am not too happy with the way we have worked because we haven’t found a setting which allows me to feel safe when there is that lack of grip. I am sure we can take a good step forward tomorrow”.
ALBERTO PUIG
(Team manager): “There is not much to say about the session today. The track is really bumpy so it is making the chassis set-up very complicated. Dani and Hiro should both improve tomorrow and that is what we’re working on.”
LAP TIMES
- Randy de Puniet (Fra/Aprilia) 1’52¨929
- Manuel Poggiali (Rsm/Aprilia) 1’52¨981
- Sebastián Porto (Arg/Aprilia) 1’53¨076
- Daniel Pedrosa (Spa/Honda) 1’53¨227
- Toni Elias (Spa/Honda) 1’53¨313
- Sylvain Guintoli (Fra/Aprilia) 1’53¨602
……
14. Hiroshi Aoyama (Jap/Honda) 1’54¨782