SPANIARDS DOMINATE ON DAY ONE AT DONINGTON
30 June 2006 - Moto GP

GAS British Grand Prix - Friday 30th June 2006

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa was the fastest out of the blocks at Donington Park, topping the timesheets in both free practice sessions for Sunday’s GAS British Grand Prix.

The young Spaniard clocked his quickest lap in his second session on the track, a lap of 1’28.970. John Hopkins was close behind, on the back of a string of strong qualifying performances. Casey Stoner completed the top three at a track where he finished third last year in the 250cc category.

Marco Melandri continued his miraculous recovery from injuries suffered in Catalunya, putting in a time less than two tenths of a second slower than that of Pedrosa, and Shinya Nakano and Colin Edwards rounded off a top six comprising of six different teams.

Valentino Rossi was less than half a second off the pace despite a continuing to suffer from a hand injury, ahead of Kenny Roberts Jr, Nicky Hayden and Loris Capirossi, who decided against making an appearance in the second practice session due to consistent pain from injuries he picked up in the Catalunya race two weeks ago.

The day’s events took place under warm temperatures, with occasional appearances from the British summer sunshine. There was also some welcome news from yesterday’s Riders For Health Day of Champions, where the final total raised from the event was confirmed at ₤191,000.

Jorge Lorenzo continues his quest to regain a stronghold on the 250cc category, earning provisional pole today. The Spaniard was over half a second faster than second placed rider Alex de Angelis, carrying on from his morning practice lead.

Lorenzo’s returning team-mate Hector Barbera showed no ill effects of the wrist injury which has kept him out of the previous two races, putting himself in third ahead of World Championship leader Andrea Dovizioso. Hiroshi Aoyama was the only other rider to go round in under 1’33, followed by Roberto Locatelli, Marco Simoncelli, Shuhei Aoyama, Jakub Smrz and Yuki Takahashi.

Bautista took provisional pole for Sunday’s 125cc race in a session which saw a number of changes to the leadership. The Master MVA Aspar rider, fastest in this morning’s free practice, earned a fastest time of 1’37.228, putting him ahead of Mika Kallio by over a tenth of a second and beating the Finn’s 2005 pole. Italian riders Mattia Pasini and Fabrizio Lai completed the provisional front row.

Fifth and sixth place went to Derbi Racing, with their riders Lukas Pesek and Nico Terol followed by Simone Corsi, Sergio Gadea, Andrea Iannone and Thomas Luthi completing the top ten.

Michele Pirro meanwhile suffered a spectacular highside during the session.

Dani Pedrosa (Honda):

''Yes, the day was not so bad and we still have to work. I think today was good; good weather with sunshine and the tyres worked very well. There was a good grip on the ground and that was perfect for us. My priority is to be as competitive as possible, we try this every race. In some races is difficult but we''re always giving the maximum.''

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