Pedrosa on provisional pole in Estoril

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa was in impressive form at windswept Estoril today, heading a closely bunched leading group on the first day of practice, team-mate Nicky Hayden just 0.181 seconds down in fourth place.

Strong, blustery winds and a morning rain shower complicated the day’s proceedings, but once the track was mostly dry World Championship leader and Spanish GP winner Pedrosa quickly got into the groove to set the pace, recording the fastest lap of the day and establishing a good rhythm.

2006 MotoGP World Champion Hayden was also happy with his day’s work, making only minor changes to his RC212V’s setup, and is looking forward to further progress tomorrow. Last year Hayden got pole position and the lap record here, while Pedrosa finished the race in second place.

Dani Pedrosa, fastest, 1m 38.507s
“We started today using the base setup we used at Jerez and we didn’t need to make too many changes. This morning’s session was quite complicated because it had been raining, so conditions were constantly changing as the track dried, then we had a minor technical issue with one of my bikes, so we had to stop before the end of the hour. This afternoon we had a dry session which allowed us to start doing some tire testing in preparation for the race, which is especially important considering the changeable weather during the weekend. After a few laps this afternoon I began to get into the rhythm of Estoril again."

Weather conditions being quite complicated, with this morning’s session half wet and strong

Qualifying session results
1 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1'38.507
2 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 1'38.547
3 Colin EDWARDS USA Tech 3 Yamaha YAMAHA 1'38.632
4 Nicky HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1'38.688
5 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 1'38.868
6 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP HONDA 1'39.171
7 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 1'39.202
8 Shinya NAKANO JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 1'39.309
9 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP HONDA 1'39.332
10 John HOPKINS USA Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 1'39.474
11 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 1'39.591
12 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 1'39.946
13 James TOSELAND GBR Tech 3 Yamaha YAMAHA 1'40.055
14 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 1'41.033
15 Marco MELANDRI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 1'41.112
16 Anthony WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 1'41.572
17 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA Alice Team DUCATI 1'41.875
18 Toni ELIAS SPA Alice Team DUCATI 1'43.262