Pedrosa leads first day at Sachsenring

Round 8: German Grand Prix – Free Practice One and Two

Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa topped both practice sessions to finish fastest on the first day of action at Sachsenring as once again unpredictable weather had its say during a MotoGP™ race weekend.

• Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium, Extra-Hard. Rear: Medium, Hard (Asymmetric)
• Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Soft (Main), Hard (Alternative)
• Weather: Dry/Wet. Ambient 24-26°C; Track 26-36°C (Bridgestone measurement)

All riders set their personal best times today during the dry FP1 session, with Pedrosa showing his potential around the German circuit with a best time of 1:22.357 to claim first day honours ahead of teammate Casey Stoner. Third fastest today was Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo who despite nursing an injured ankle clocked an impressive time of 1:22.647.
 
Warm and dry weather provided good track conditions for this morning’s FP1 session with track temperatures in the mid 30°C range, while rain began to fall right at the start of FP2 meaning team mechanics had to frantically reconfigure the bikes for wet conditions, and riders having to ride out the whole session on wet tyres. In the dry conditions this morning, most riders opted for the medium compound rear slick, while both the medium and extra-hard front slick tyres were utilised as riders took to the tight confines of Sachsenring for the first time on their 1000cc machines. More variation in tyre choice is expected tomorrow as teams try to refine their dry setup and evaluate both rear slick tyre options during race simulations.
 
MotoGP™ action returns to Sachsenring at 1010 tomorrow morning local time (GMT +2) for Free Practice 3, with the one hour qualifying session starting at 1355.
 
Shinji Aoki – General Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department
“It seems we cannot get a race weekend without some rain falling and today at the German Grand Prix was no exception! However, as wet conditions are a possibility for Sunday, at least today’s rain allowed teams to try out a wet setup ahead of the race, so the data gathered by teams in FP2 was of value.
 
“This morning’s FP1 session was dry and most riders used the medium compound rear slick in combination with the medium and hard front slicks to get a feel for grip levels and establish a base dry setup. Sachsenring requires good edge grip for the long left hand corners and for when riders go from full lean to full lean during quick changes of direction, so I expect riders will do longer runs tomorrow to evaluate which tyre combination provides the best balance between edge grip and durability.”