The first day of this year’s bwin Czech Republic Grand Prix saw Karel Abraham finishing in eleventh place – 2. 393 seconds behind the fastest rider Dani Pedrosa.
Karel Abraham
“The day didn’t start out too bad, but unfortunately we didn’t manage to make any progress as the day went on. The changes we made to improve the bike in the afternoon had precisely the opposite effect – things got worse in the afternoon. At the end of the second training session we tried out the second bike with the new engine, but it had real problems with the front end. In fact, it was so dodgy I didn’t fancy finishing the last lap and rode it straight to the pits. I don’t like to say it, but compared to the last two races I feel less confident on the bike. At the same time, though, I believe I’m riding near enough close to the limit.”
Marco Grana, chief mechanic, team Cardion AB Motoracing
“We’ve got two problems that need sorting out. The main one is that we are slow entering almost every corner; the other problem is that the bike is really unstable on the rear wheel. The first problem is also up to Karel to solve: he has to start braking later – because this is where we’re losing out. On the other hand, we’ve got a really good top speed of 305 kph, and our lap times are comparable to last year’s; this year, though, that won’t be enough. Tomorrow we’ll try completely resetting the chassis, which hopefully will help Karel feel a bit surer of himself on the bike when entering corners. This is the area we need to focus on if we’re to improve our times.”
Cardion AB Ducati Press Release
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