Day one of the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland at the Sachsenring circuit started with sunny and blazing weather in the morning session, but with a fully wet track in the afternoon’s free practice after a briefly torrential downpour.
With the track surface wet, compared to the morning session, lap times were slower as a result. Ducati Pramac Racing rider Hèctor Barberà had two positive sessions both in the wet and in the dry, and he worked with his team to find the best race setup possible for the different surface conditions.
The 25-year-old rider finished today's sessions in tenth place at the twisty German circuit, setting a best time of 1’23.091 in the dry and stopping the clock with a time of 1’33.147 during the wet session. Tomorrow’s final practice and qualifying sessions are expected to be run in dry conditions, but a light rain has been forecast for Sunday's 30 lap-race.
Hèctor Barberà
“It was an encouraging start: I felt competitive and I had great confidence with my Ducati whether it was rain or not. I had a fast pace and during the afternoon session, with the wet track surface, I enjoyed a lot to ride on this circuit. We found a good setup for our bike and we were only 0.6 seconds from the fastest Ducati Factory rider, Valentino Rossi. Tomorrow we will start from the positive work of today to achieve the best grid position possible”.
Francesco Guidotti – Pramac Racing Team Manager
“We were satisfied with the work done today. We found two great starting points for our machine's setup, both with dry and wet weather conditions. We're confident about our potential and now we'll see where we can get tomorrow."
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