Pedrosa on top at Le Mans

From Repsol Honda

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa made a great start to his French GP weekend by setting the pace in Friday’s opening practice sessions aboard his RC212V. Teammate Nicky Hayden had a more difficult day, ending up 12th fastest, but the American is confident of improvement Saturday, so long as the forecast rain stays away.

With showers predicted for Saturday, there was extra pressure on the team to find the best possible set-up during Friday’s two one-hour outings. Pedrosa looked superbly smooth and controlled around the historic French circuit, while Hayden worked to improve corner-entry performance.

Le Mans has been slightly modified for this year’s event. The Garage Vert hairpin at the bottom of the circuit been adapted to improve run-off.

“We worked very hard today because we heard that the weather forecast for tomorrow isn’t so good," said Pedrosa, who turned a 1:34.227. "At least we did get two hours of dry track time, which we dedicated to quickly finding a good basic set-up and then doing some work on tire choice for Sunday’s race.

"The revised part of the circuit seems quite bumpy, so I ran straight on there several times during the day, same as a few other riders.”

“Things didn’t go as smooth as we’d have liked today," said Hayden, whose best lap was a 1:35.378. "Braking at this track is so important and I don’t have a good feeling when I’m braking. Straight line or leaned over, the front end doesn’t feel so good. I don’t know why, but I was hurting a little bit in that area in China too."

Free Practice 2 Results
1. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 1:34.227
2. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team +0.049
3. Colin Edwards USA Tech 3 Yamaha +0.060
4. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team +0.260
5. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +0.403
6. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team +0.732
7. Shinya Nakano JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini +0.820
8. Randy De Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP +0.846
9. John Hopkins USA Kawasaki Racing Team +0.906
10. Alex De Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini +1.012
11. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +1.029
12. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team +1.151
13. Andrea Dovizioso ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP +1.223
14. Marco Melandri ITA Ducati Marlboro Team +1.451
15. James Toseland GBR Tech 3 Yamaha +1.621
16. Anthony West AUS Kawasaki Racing Team +1.650
17. Toni Elias SPA Alice Team +1.812
18. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Alice Team +2.187