Donington Park: Free practice times (1).

Altough it's only FP1 Casey is already close to last year's pole time..
Good job..

Gå på Casey, du er helt konge!

Stoner looks very quick, wonder if any bits from the GP9 have
come across early..

I think we'll see people catch the ducati's time up over the
next few sessions, rossi got his fastest lap at the end like
a lot of people so they have some settings to work with this
afternoon...

Was dry tho, which is only a good thing, lets hope it holds off
all weekend!

Ben is going to be faster then the Ducati back markers, already at this session he was challenging Marco..... Marco Marco what do you do wrong or else then Casey? Too much/little wine? Too much/little espresso?? I can't remember last time a factory bike was constantly slow/slower/slowest!!

Awesome to see that Westy's trip to Japan was not in vain. Finally, he isn't last!!

Westy only .2 of Hopper. Maybe the trip to Japan has done some good. Would love to see him do well even if it is just to make his way out the door more positive and allow him to get a good ride in WSS. I still think he is a good rider who was in the right place at the right time which ended up being the wrong place at the right time. Kawasaki have not helped his career.

Dry today but forecast for tomorrow p*****g down & also Sunday very unsettled. So could make for some intersting racing though!

Go Aussie - Kawasaki have bent over backwards to assist West, what an odd statement to make !!

Hi guys, could u tell me why stoner looked so fast, was that because he used qualifying tire???

go go JT best of luck for your first home gp

He's on the GP9.....

First session, would not be on a qualifier yet Cing, probably just had a fairly good base setting out of the box.
I'd expect the others to get closer once they get a better setting.

Hey Tim Bo. I agree they have. Not having a go at them personally. More commenting on the bike. The bike obviously has some big problems because Hopper is not as slow as he has been made to look. The Kawasaki looked like this could be the season for it late last year and it just hasn't panned out that way.

I don't think that Westy has ever been treated better in his whole career it is just the bike that is bad timing.

And because the bike has not performed up to expectation it is easy for the rider to be blamed. Similar deal for Melandri who is not a bad rider but is being made to look bad and it is damaging his career. Same for West.

Its because he is getting his bike sorted slowly but surely.
Of course he is World Champion too.

Hi Go Aussie, aye fair enough, it does appear to be lacking somewhat compared to last season, i'm sure they'll turn it around though.
Anthony does tend to go better @ Donington which does show today for sure and if it rains of course, not that it does often in England, he may surprise a few people!

Hayden was half a second faster but 2kph less top speed than Dani's bike. I wonder if they have geared NH's bike slightly lower to give him more punch out of corners but using the pheu/vavle engine higher RPM down the straight, or is it just DP light weight which makes his bike faster?

When it's only 2 kph, I believe it's because Pedrosa is a light weight.

The Kawasaki has problems with it spinning up, a lack of traction, Hopkins has the same problem.
As for the Ducati it is best termed as a loose bike, some riders like a loose bike and some never
seem able to come to terms with riding one, but that does not make them bad riders, its like saying to one rider in a 2 man team, well the setting work for "him" so they should work for "you",
and the fact is most of todays riders are unable to deliver the goods on a loose bike the same as most of the top riders who rode 500cc GP bikes could,as most of the top ones had ridden dirt track competitively or at the likes of KR's ranch practicing it to perfection.

Or put another way some riders have grown to trust their own ability and have difficulty adapting to a bike that has as much control as the rider....which dispite protestations it is now common knowledge that the duke uses slightly more power control shal we say than the majority of the others...

hgv, It is not at all common knowledge that the Duke uses more electronics. It is purely speculation by those looking to find a reason why a certain rider was destroyed last year.

What is common knowledge is that the more electronic control or traction control used the slower you go. The best mechanic in the history of the sport (Jeremy Burgess) has more then put that little bit of miss information to bed.

All the bikes are using electronics and traction control. Yes even Rossi. As Burgess put it: you need to get right up to the edge before electronics slow it all down if you want to be fast. Once you go past it you go slow.