Silverstone Friday Sessions: Hayden showing promise, Rossi struggles

Weather conditions at Silverstone resulted in mixed for the Ducati factory duo. While the cold weather in the morning and rain in the afternoon made life difficult for Valentino, Hayden on the other hand found it strangely favorable. Nicky was 4th in FP1 with a time of 2:04.407, and Rossi 12th with a time of 2:07.075. In the wet FP2 (free practice 2), Nicky was 3rd with a time of 2:17.070, and Rossi 9th with a time of 2:19.435. Below are their thoughts.

Nicky Hayden

“This was our best Friday of the season so far. The conditions were difficult, especially this afternoon, with different surfaces and different amounts of water, but the bike worked quite well. We know it’s great in the wet, but we were also competitive in the dry this morning. We had to be careful not to destroy the rain tyres this afternoon, because we only have four sets for the whole weekend. You really need to save two for qualifying and one for the race, so this might be the only set we have for practice. I hope today sets us up for a good weekend. The team expects better than what we’ve been doing, and so do I. There’s a long way to go until Sunday, but we’re off to a good start. I’m very happy with the bike and the team today.”

Valentino Rossi

“Today was a bit difficult. The weather was bad for the most part, and that didn’t help us. We knew we were beginning with a handicap, because compared to the others I lack the experience of last year. We’re a little bit behind. We’re currently trying to find a good balance for the bike, but considering that we still take time on the tracks that we know well, of course it’s even more challenging in these conditions. We even had trouble in the wet, where normally we’re immediately quite strong, so there’s obviously still much work to be done. We know that the bike can go well because today Nicky was fast in both conditions, and that’s positive. I like Silverstone a lot. It’s a great track—a little old-school, beautiful and fast. We hope we can have more fun riding here tomorrow.”

Via MotoGP.com

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