After the atrocious and mixed conditions yesterday most riders were happy to find much better weather at the Valencian circuit this morning for the third free practice. Although it was still relatively cold, the track was dry and there was no more rain throughout the session, giving everyone the chance to properly test their dry setups.
The improved conditions also saw the timing screens revert to “normal” with Casey Stoner again clearing off at the front ahead of teammate Dani Pedrosa who already has a gap of over half a second on Stoner, but is in turn also almost half a second quicker than surprising third-fastest rider Randy De Puniet.

Álvaro finished the session in 7th position, again starting out strongly and staying inside the top five and posting consistent laptimes until the end and just being fractionally slower than 6th-placed Valentino Rossi. However, a gap of 1.690 seconds to Stoner is a lot on a short track like Valencia and Ávaro and his team will hope to find some more improvements to the setup for qualifying this afternoon.

Pos. Rider Team Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 Casey STONER Repsol Honda Team 1’32.619
2 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 1’33.282 0.663 / 0.663
3 Randy DE PUNIET Pramac Racing Team 1’33.743 1.124 / 0.461
4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 1’33.929 1.310 / 0.186
5 Ben SPIES Yamaha Factory Racing 1’33.977 1.358 / 0.048
6 Valentino ROSSI Ducati Team 1’34.268 1.649 / 0.291
7 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’34.309 1.690 / 0.041
8 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 1’34.462 1.843 / 0.153
9 Hector BARBERA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP 1’34.676 2.057 / 0.214
10 Hiroshi AOYAMA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’34.809 2.190 / 0.133
11 Loris CAPIROSSI Pramac Racing Team 1’35.037 2.418 / 0.228
12 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 1’35.118 2.499 / 0.081
13 Cal CRUTCHLOW Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’35.326 2.707 / 0.208
14 Toni ELIAS LCR Honda MotoGP 1’35.899 3.280 / 0.573
15 Katsuyuki NAKASUGA Yamaha Factory Racing 1’36.193 3.574 / 0.294
16 Josh HAYES Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’36.256 3.637 / 0.063

Rizla Suzuki’s Álvaro Bautista led the way during this afternoon’s second free practice session at Valencia as he took first place on the timesheets at the wet Spanish circuit.

Heavy rain started to fall over the 4,005m Valencian circuit at mid-day and by the time Bautista and the rest of the MotoGP riders took to the track it was fully wet. Suzuki’s Spanish star acclimatised to the conditions well and produced consistent quick laps that consolidated his position at the top of the standings. His time of 1’47.975 was over 0.3 seconds quicker than his nearest rival and he looks to have a good set-up and a confident riding style for Sunday – if this afternoon’s weather replicates itself for the race.

This morning’s practice session started in damp conditions, with Bautista again looking impressive, but as the track started to dry out he found grip difficult to find and finished in 11th place. World Champion Casey Stoner took the honours on the drier track by recoding the fastest time of the day.

Bautista has one more free session tomorrow morning followed by an hour of qualifying in the afternoon. Sunday’s 30-lap race is the final event of the season and with inclement weather forecast it looks like being a very interesting and entertaining race.

Álvaro Bautista: “Today has been a good day for us because we have had a full wet session to get some practice in those conditions. In this morning’s session I had a good feeling at the start, but as the track became drier it wasn’t as good and I couldn’t ride at the limit. The bike moved a lot and was spinning-up all over the track, so it was very difficult. In the second session, after the heavy rain, the track was much wetter and the conditions were a lot worse than this morning for all the riders, so it was essential that you rode smoothly and carefully. We changed some settings in the bike to help me get a confident feeling in the GSV-R and at the end of the session I was able to find a good rhythm. We finished first today and although it’s only the second free practice, you cannot improve as much in the wet as you can in the dry, so this is very good for us. I hope that tomorrow we can make some improvements in drying conditions like we had earlier today, but if it is totally dry we still have plenty of work to do to get ready. I am happy with the first day and looking forward to the rest of the weekend.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager: “Winter feels like it has arrived in Valencia and it didn’t look like the most pleasant day to be on a Grand Prix bike out there. That said, cold and low grip conditions were always the situation that caused us the most problems and as we saw at Phillip Island a few weeks back – and again today – the steps that Suzuki has taken with the GSV-R have again proven to be very effective. However, improvements to the motorcycle aren’t enough because you also need a confident and capable rider and Álvaro looked very assured and smooth in the full wet conditions this afternoon – it was nice to see his name at the top of the sheets. I think Álvaro – and everyone else – would prefer some dry, sunny running over the next couple of days, but whatever the weather brings our intention is to push to the maximum and achieve the best result we can.”

Source: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
Photo Copyright: Ben Davies / © Smartfotos.co.uk

It’s been an excellent second practice session for Álvaro at the Valencian Grand Prix this afternoon, finishing the session as the fastest rider – the first time he managed that feat since moving to the MotoGP class. Not so excellent were the weather conditions, throwing up a few surprises throughout the day.

Álvaro had already been quick this morning in treacherous conditions where he stayed within the top five for most of the session, but dropped down the order in the final minutes.
This afternoon for the second practice conditions were even worse as rain was pouring down heavily at the start of the session, but at least providing the riders with a more stable weather where they could anticipate the track conditions a little better.

Throughout the practice Álvaro was well up the order, staying in second for much of the time before posting a laptime of 1’47.975 which none of the other riders was able to match anymore until the chequered flag was waved, opening a gap of 0.341 seconds to Hayden in second.

The weather forecast for the rest of the weekend doesn’t look much better, so it remains to be seen if the normal order might be jumbled around a bit more.

Pos. Rider Team Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’47.975
2 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 1’48.316 0.341 / 0.341
3 Randy DE PUNIET Pramac Racing Team 1’48.684 0.709 / 0.368
4 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 1’49.021 1.046 / 0.337
5 Cal CRUTCHLOW Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’49.350 1.375 / 0.329
6 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 1’49.422 1.447 / 0.072
7 Valentino ROSSI Ducati Team 1’49.613 1.638 / 0.191
8 Casey STONER Repsol Honda Team 1’49.674 1.699 / 0.061
9 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 1’49.820 1.845 / 0.146
10 Josh HAYES Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’50.509 2.534 / 0.689
11 Katsuyuki NAKASUGA Yamaha Factory Racing 1’51.277 3.302 / 0.768
12 Loris CAPIROSSI Pramac Racing Team 1’51.838 3.863 / 0.561
13 Hector BARBERA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP 1’51.932 3.957 / 0.094
14 Ben SPIES Yamaha Factory Racing 1’52.072 4.097 / 0.140
15 Hiroshi AOYAMA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’53.286 5.311 / 1.214
16 Toni ELIAS LCR Honda MotoGP 1’54.342 6.367 / 1.056

It’s been slightly unusual first practice session at the Valencian circuit this morning, certainly when looking at the results.
Track conditions were rather treacherous, the asphalt being partly wet but drying up in other places and generally not providing much grip. In the 125cc practice right before the MotoGP practice there’s been a plethora of crashes and certainly most MotoGP riders weren’t going to take unnecessary risks first time out on track.
Subsequently and due to the conditions the laptimes were a good 13 seconds slower than the circuit record and the practice saw some unusual names up front for most of the session until finally Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa somewhat restored the “normal order” by taking over first and second. Behind them the Ducatis seem to go well again in these kind of conditions with Rossi, Hayden and Capirossi leading the armada.

Álvaro finished the session down in 11th position after leading the field and staying in second for quite a long time until about 15 minutes before the chequered flag. However, considering the track conditions it’s understandable most riders didn’t take too much risk and we’ll likely see a revised results list in FP2 this afternoon.

Pos. Rider Team Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 Casey STONER Repsol Honda Team 1’45.513
2 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 1’45.736 0.223 / 0.223
3 Valentino ROSSI Ducati Team 1’45.828 0.315 / 0.092
4 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 1’46.073 0.560 / 0.245
5 Loris CAPIROSSI Pramac Racing Team 1’46.108 0.595 / 0.035
6 Ben SPIES Yamaha Factory Racing 1’46.259 0.746 / 0.151
7 Randy DE PUNIET Pramac Racing Team 1’46.371 0.858 / 0.112
8 Toni ELIAS LCR Honda MotoGP 1’46.393 0.880 / 0.022
9 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 1’46.402 0.889 / 0.009
10 Cal CRUTCHLOW Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’46.581 1.068 / 0.179
11 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’46.922 1.409 / 0.341
12 Hector BARBERA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP 1’46.967 1.454 / 0.045
13 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 1’47.079 1.566 / 0.112
14 Hiroshi AOYAMA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’47.581 2.068 / 0.502
15 Josh HAYES Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’48.037 2.524 / 0.456
16 Katsuyuki NAKASUGA Yamaha Factory Racing 1’48.382 2.869 / 0.345

Again a good session for Alvaro at the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang. He started the warmup on the right foot, taking over at the front early and staying there until about eight minutes to end, still posting laptimes close to the lead for the rest of the session. He eventually finished the session in fifth position.

Pos. Rider Team Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 Casey STONER Repsol Honda Team 2’02.338
2 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 2’02.610 0.272 / 0.272
3 Hiroshi AOYAMA San Carlo Honda Gresini 2’02.890 0.552 / 0.280
4 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 2’03.043 0.705 / 0.153
5 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2’03.175 0.837 / 0.132
6 Colin EDWARDS Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2’03.194 0.856 / 0.019
7 Marco SIMONCELLI San Carlo Honda Gresini 2’03.206 0.868 / 0.012
8 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 2’03.403 1.065 / 0.197
9 Hector BARBERA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP 2’03.532 1.194 / 0.129
10 Loris CAPIROSSI Pramac Racing Team 2’03.789 1.451 / 0.257
11 Randy DE PUNIET Pramac Racing Team 2’03.867 1.529 / 0.078
12 Cal CRUTCHLOW Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2’03.902 1.564 / 0.035
13 Valentino ROSSI Ducati Team 2’03.960 1.622 / 0.058
14 Toni ELIAS LCR Honda MotoGP 2’04.414 2.076 / 0.454
15 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 2’04.615 2.277 / 0.201
16 Katsuyuki NAKASUGA Yamaha Factory Racing 2’05.246 2.908 / 0.631
Ben SPIES Yamaha Factory Racing

It’s been a good start for Alvaro to the third free practice this morning, placing himself on top of the pile right away and taking his time to stay there.
Not a good start however for his temporary teammate John Hopkins who again had to abandon his MotoGP wildcard ride after fracturing his hand last time out in Brno and re-injuring it yesterday, being unable to hold on the handlebars and forced to abandon the rest of the weekend.

Álvaro now as the sole representative for Suzuki again did another good session at Sepang, finishing the final free practice in sixth position. He set his fastest laptime very early, his third out of 16, which was already a good 0.8 seconds quicker than his best time from yesterday. The most encouraging sight however are the tighter gaps at the front, with Alvaro just 0.574 seconds behind Pedrosa’s fastest lap.

Pos. Rider Team Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 2’01.769
2 Marco SIMONCELLI San Carlo Honda Gresini 2’02.034 0.265 / 0.265
3 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 2’02.081 0.312 / 0.047
4 Casey STONER Repsol Honda Team 2’02.169 0.400 / 0.088
5 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 2’02.249 0.480 / 0.080
6 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2’02.343 0.574 / 0.094
7 Colin EDWARDS Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2’02.463 0.694 / 0.120
8 Valentino ROSSI Ducati Team 2’02.614 0.845 / 0.151
9 Hiroshi AOYAMA San Carlo Honda Gresini 2’02.744 0.975 / 0.130
10 Loris CAPIROSSI Pramac Racing Team 2’02.825 1.056 / 0.081
11 Randy DE PUNIET Pramac Racing Team 2’03.019 1.250 / 0.194
12 Cal CRUTCHLOW Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2’03.414 1.645 / 0.395
13 Hector BARBERA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP 2’03.554 1.785 / 0.140
14 Ben SPIES Yamaha Factory Racing 2’03.772 2.003 / 0.218
15 Toni ELIAS LCR Honda MotoGP 2’03.823 2.054 / 0.051
16 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 2’03.952 2.183 / 0.129
17 Katsuyuki NAKASUGA Yamaha Factory Racing 2’04.629 2.860 / 0.677

Álvaro Bautista and John Hopkins began their preparations for Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix with a positive performance from both at Sepang today.

Bautista (P7, 2’03.123, 33 laps) was never outside the top-10 in either session today as he carried on with the impressive form that he showed last week at Australia. He tested the two tyre compounds available to him for this weekend, as he worked with his crew to find the best configuration for his Suzuki GSV-R around the 5,543m Sepang circuit.

Today’s sessions were held in the hot and humid conditions that are so commonplace in Malaysia. The fastest time was set by Dani Pedrosa on a Honda.

Rizla Suzuki has one more free practice session tomorrow morning followed by an hour of qualifying in the afternoon when Bautista and Hopkins will be going all out to get the best grid positions for Sunday’s 20-lap race.

Álvaro Bautista: “Today has been quite a good day for us and I am in seventh position, which is not too bad for a Friday. This morning we tried a different setting on the bike, similar to the one we used in Australia, and we preferred that one so we carried on with that this afternoon. We continued with the soft tyres we had been using this morning during this afternoon’s session and I did more than race distance with them, and the rhythm felt good. In the middle of the second practice I tried a harder rear tyre, but I didn’t feel too much initial grip and it didn’t give me as much feedback as the softer one. We have got some good information on the tyres now and I think we will use the softer one for the race, if the conditions are similar to today. I will try to improve tomorrow in FP3 and then get a good lap in qualifying, so I am in the best possible position for the race.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager: “The first day at Sepang and it has been great to see two Rizla Suzuki out on the track! Álvaro’s pace is better than his position, he equalled his best lap with race distance on the tyres and I think he can go a lot quicker tomorrow. The GSV-R is working well and if everything goes in the right direction I think Álvaro has a chance to fight for the podium on Sunday.”

Source: Rizla Suzuki

Another good session for Alvaro which he finished in 7th position. Dani Pedrosa completely dominated the proceedings, lapping almost a second faster than the rest of the field. Alvaro’s fastest lap was 1.873 seconds slower than Pedrosa’s, but just over a second slower than Stoner. Only eight riders lapped within two seconds of Pedrosa’s fastest time.

Pos. Rider Team Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 2’01.250
2 Casey STONER Repsol Honda Team 2’02.070 0.820 / 0.820
3 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 2’02.664 1.414 / 0.594
4 Marco SIMONCELLI San Carlo Honda Gresini 2’02.823 1.573 / 0.159
5 Hiroshi AOYAMA San Carlo Honda Gresini 2’02.951 1.701 / 0.128
6 Colin EDWARDS Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2’02.991 1.741 / 0.040
7 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2’03.123 1.873 / 0.132
8 Randy DE PUNIET Pramac Racing Team 2’03.159 1.909 / 0.036
9 Ben SPIES Yamaha Factory Racing 2’03.312 2.062 / 0.153
10 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 2’03.318 2.068 / 0.006
11 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 2’03.445 2.195 / 0.127
12 Loris CAPIROSSI Pramac Racing Team 2’03.595 2.345 / 0.150
13 Valentino ROSSI Ducati Team 2’03.677 2.427 / 0.082
14 John HOPKINS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2’03.885 2.635 / 0.208
15 Cal CRUTCHLOW Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2’03.901 2.651 / 0.016
16 Toni ELIAS LCR Honda MotoGP 2’04.071 2.821 / 0.170
17 Hector BARBERA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP 2’04.603 3.353 / 0.532
18 Katsuyuki NAKASUGA Yamaha Factory Racing 2’05.996 4.746 / 1.393