CARDION AB GRAND PRIX CESKE REPUBLIKY

Reigning World Champion Casey Stoner opened the practice action for the MotoGP class in Sachsenring with a 1´22.318 lap.

Frequently impressing in practice, if not quite mirroring the results in the races themselves, Alex de Angelis once again attracted attention onboard the San Carlo Gresini Honda. The San Marino rider recorded a late lap just under three-tenths of a second slower than Stoner´s marker, relegating Valentino Rossi to third on the timing screen.

The winner of the past two Grands Prix, and the dominant rider in free practice and qualifying at said events, continued to impose his will on the premier class in Sachsenring. Casey Stoner emerged from the opening practice session for the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland with the fastest time of the morning, a 1´22.318 turn of the German circuit.

Tech 3 Yamaha´s Colin Edwards headed countryman Nicky Hayden, LCR Honda rider Randy de Puniet and Fiat Yamaha´s Jorge Lorenzo in the top ten, whilst returning rider Loris Capirossi experienced a slow start in Sachsenring as he tested out his forearm condition fllowing his Assen crash.
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Dani Pedrosa the World Championship leader and Casey Stoner the MotoGP title holder took centre stage at the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland on Thursday afternoon’s pre-event press conference.

Pedrosa commented reflecting on his excellent record of three wins from his last four visits to the German track in the MotoGP and 250cc classes,

Well I have done pretty well here in the past few years and it is a track that I try to enjoy. It is a difficult track for the bike and for the rider´s body because you are on your left side for quite a long time. The first part is quite tricky but then it gets a bit better.

Pedrosa looked forward to back-to-back races this weekend and at Laguna Seca a week, when asked about the task of staying ahead of the chasing pack having leapfrogged Valentino Rossi in the standings at Assen,

It would be nice to stay in the lead but we have two difficult races now. They are very important races and we have to face the challenge to do the best we can and try to focus on the two races before the break.

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Fiat Yamaha´s Valentino Rossi hopes that his Assen crash marked his final error of the 2008 season.

Rossi conceded his lead in the MotoGP World Championship with a crash in Assen, coincidentally when trying to pass Randy de Puniet -the same rider whom he attempted a pass before crashing out of the 2007 Sachsenring showdown. The circumstances are not lost on the Italian in the run-up to the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, and Rossi is hopeful of having used up his yearly crash quota.

Rossi said,

Last year in Sachsenring I made a mistake and crashed, and at the last race in Assen I also made a mistake, so I hope that I´ve now had my bad moment for this year!

Sachsenring has been a great track for me in the past and it´s a great place to race at; it´s very tight and twisty but it generally suits the Yamaha very well and in 2006 I had a fantastic race there, winning from 11th. We are going there having lost our championship lead but we’re only four points behind so the situation is certainly much better than it was at this point last season.

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Despite a runaway victory by over 13 seconds in last year´s German race, Pedrosa is not expecting a routine win in 2008.

Leader of the MotoGP World Championship and the winner of last year´s famed Sachsenring circuit race, Dani Pedrosa is one of the heavy favourites for victory at the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland this weekend. The Repsol Honda rider is not taking a win for granted, however, fully aware that his rivals also have a strong history at the German track.

He will once again be using the standard spring-valve version of the RC212V engine, having used the motor to take podium finishes at all but one race thus far in 2008. Team-mate Nicky Hayden is using the pneumatic valve engine that Pedrosa has only briefly tested in preseason and post-race runs.
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Nicky Hayden is not fearing a repeat of his Assen engine problem at Sachsenring, putting his faith in HRC´s electronic expertise.

Hayden has been using the pneumatic valve version of the RC212V engine over the past two races and, whilst the motor has experienced a couple of blips, an upturn in performance has convinced Hayden that it is a direction certainly worth pursuing.

Assen `s Slow Drag

His slow drag to the line at Assen may have been reminiscent of his Indianapolis inauguration lap - onboard the 1909 Indian in April of this year - but there was only one man smiling at his low-speed run towards the chequered flag in the Netherlands. Colin Edwards was the beneficiary of the Repsol Honda rider´s mechanical woe less than two weeks ago, but Hayden is confident that a repeat of such a scenario is not on the cards at Sachsenring.
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John Hopkins is to undergo surgery to help him recover from the leg injuries he sustained in his crash at the A-Style TT Assen and is definitely ruled out for Laguna Seca.

Kawasaki have confirmed that John Hopkins´ injuries, sustained last weekend in a high-speed crash in the Netherlands, will require surgery and will definitely rule him out of the Sachsenring and Laguna Seca, as had been widely anticipated.

Following consultations with Dr Arthur Ting the California-based orthopaedic specialist, who helped Hopkins´ to recover from his groin injury earlier this year, he has been told he will need to go under the knife in order to rectify the damage of his Assen accident.
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