The Telefónica Movistar Honda 250cc team are hopeful of a starring role in the German Grand Prix, where Dani Pedrosa took one of his most convincing victories of the season and Aoyama finished just a few tenths off the podium last year.
The double World Champion continued to improve his lap times and his feeling with the bike in the second official qualifying session today and, after setting the second fastest time, he will line-up on the front row of the grid for the eighth time this season – he only missed out at Mugello, where he went on to win. Dani worked intensively on both bike and conceded pole by just 0.096 seconds to Alex De Angelis. The Movistar rider says he is ready for an intense and long race, with the only question mark being over the weather.
Hiroshi Aoyama starts from the head of the second row – an improvement of six tenths of a second on his lap time from yesterday moving him up to fifth position. Hiro wants to make the most of a good start to stay with the group and fight for the podium after his disappointment in England.
DANI PEDROSA (2nd, 1’24”714): “Today we’ve improved the set-up of the bike and the race pace. This step forward gives me confidence that we can perform to our best tomorrow although we will have to pay attention to a lot of riders because there is a big group within only a few tenths. The bike configuration is good so I’m completely confident about my chances. Now the only unknown is the weather. It would be a shame if it rains because we haven’t had chance to rid in the wet here but we’ll just have to be prepared for anything”.
HIROSHI AOYAMA (5th, 1’25”433): “The front row escaped me by very little but the important thing is the race. The weekend hasn’t gone badly and now it’s time to follow that up. I feel good on the bike and I still think we can improve it a little more in the warm up. I’m very motivated and I want to fight for the podium. Normally I get good starts so I hope to get involved with the lead group from the start and hang on until the end”.
LAP TIMES
1. Alex De Angelis (RSM/Aprilia)1’24”618
2. Dani Pedrosa (Esp/Honda)+ 0”096
3. Jorge Lorenzo (Esp/Honda)+ 0”287
4. Sebastián Porto (Arg/Aprilia)+ 0”575
5. Hiroshi Aoyama (Jap/Honda) + 0”815
6. Yuki Takahashi (Jap/Honda)+ 0”851
7. Casey Stoner (Aus/Aprilia) + 0”852
8. Randy De Puniet (Fra/Aprilia)+ 0”999
9. Héctor Barberá (Esp/Honda) + 1”025
10. Andrea Dovizioso (Ita/Aprilia) + 1”051