DRIVE M7 Aspar Team Press Release:
Sixteen degrees and constant rain were not the conditions the MotoGP riders were hoping for as the series landed on the Adriatic coast of Italy today but it proved to be a cold and wet start to the GP of San Marino.
More than half the riders in the field suffered crashes today, seemingly due to the fact that they were forced to use the harder wet tire due to there not being sufficient quantities of the soft option.
As a result, Bridgestone have resolved to bring more soft tires for tomorrow. Yonny Hernández set the pace in the morning session and he looked set to stay on top in the afternoon until fellow Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso put in a late lap to seal top spot.
There was little for the DRIVE M7 Aspar Team riders to take from a day that saw Hiroshi Aoyama crash early in the opening session at Misano. The Japanese rider was one of several riders to scuff their leathers today but thankfully he escaped without injury, whilst his team-mate Leon Camier gradually built his confidence and speed to clock his fastest lap right at the end of the afternoon session. With qualifying to come tomorrow, Aoyama lies fifteenth on the overnight time-sheets with Camier in nineteenth.
Hiroshi Aoyama #7:
15th - 1.52.584 (23 laps)
“The track conditions were dreadful today here at Misano and the bike had no grip. I also crashed early in the first session and didn't do as many laps as I would have liked. The mechanics did a great job and we improved the feeling in the afternoon but the rear tire still didn't seem to be working properly. It looks like we weren't the only ones with this problem because there were lot of crashes today. The positive thing is that despite the lack of grip out there we were able to improve significantly from the morning to the afternoon.”
Leon Camier #2:
19th - 1.53.699 (22 laps)
“It's strange because usually I am fast in the wet but today I struggled. At the start the bike had no grip at all but then I built my confidence and feeling. There are some points on the track where there is rubber from the car racing here. Some corners have quite good grips but others don't have any at all so you have to be careful even putting your knee down. If the weather is like this again tomorrow we have some changes planned and if not we'll push ahead with the original idea for today. We made some mistakes at Silverstone but we won't be making them again here.”
For more information: www.teamaspar.com
