Ducati riders Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden made a disappointing start to the team's second home Grand Prix with both finishing outside the top ten in Friday Practice at Misano. A lack of grip seemed to be the issue with Rossi struggling with the rear end of the GP11.1 on the hard tyre.
“Fortunately, I managed to do two or three good laps at the end of the session, and to make up a few positions”, he commented. “We struggled because we wanted to ride with the hard tyre in order to work for the race, but unfortunately, following a promising start, I found it more difficult as the pace steadily improved. We lacked rear grip, especially with the bike leaned over, so we mounted the softer tyre at the end of the session. Today I did a '35.3, but tomorrow we'll try to cut at least half a second, working to also improve the feeling with the front under braking. We'll start with the base setting from Brno and Laguna, and we'll try some difference changes on the second bike.”
By contrast, Hayden's troubles were at the front end of the bike as he found it difficult to find any consistency. If the hot weather persists, the American accepts he is going to struggle but will continue in his attempts to overcome the problem.
“This obviously isn't how we hoped to come out of the gate here. I like this track okay, but it seems like every time I come here, it's very hard to get up to speed. Basically, I'm pushing the front on corner entry and can't get it stopped. My ideal time is '35.0, but I can't be consistent and put laps together. The track isn't bad, but it's hot and slippery and a little bit bumpy, and those things really don't favour me on this bike. We're definitely up against it but we'll try a different solution for tomorrow.”
