MotoGP
US GP: Bridgestone Friday practice report
Rossi fastest with last lap effort on hard Bridgestone slicks Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Medium, Hard. Rear: Medium, Hard Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi used his hard front and rear Bridgestone slicks to best effect today by ...
Published: Oct 2, 2009, 4:40 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Rossi fastest with last lap effort on hard Bridgestone slicks
Bridgestone slick compounds available:
Front: Medium, Hard.
Rear: Medium, Hard
Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi used his hard front and rear Bridgestone slicks to best effect today by topping the timesheets of the first free practice session on his last lap.
It was close at the top with the fastest three riders split by just 0.077 seconds until Rossi's best effort put him 0.112 ahead of teammate Jorge Lorenzo, whose best lap was also set on hard front and rear slicks. Ducati Team's Casey Stoner finished 0.077 further adrift, recording his best lap using a hard front with a medium rear Bridgestone slick.
This weekend, Bridgestone's medium compound slicks are marked by the white line around the tyre's sidewall, as they are the softer of the two options brought to the US GP.
As predicted, the temperature at Laguna Seca today was deceptive, with an ambient of only 19 degrees Celsius but a track temperature of 49 degrees, making it a tough test for Bridgestone's slicks.
Most riders started the hour-long session on Bridgestone's medium compound slicks but by the finish the hard compound was the favoured choice.
Lorenzo completed the most number of laps, circulating the 3.61km circuit 38 times. The Spaniard completed 16 laps using Bridgestone's medium compound slicks, before riding an impressively consistent 22 lap stint using a hard compound front and rear.
Rossi, Lorenzo and Pramac Racing's Niccolo Canepa were the only riders to cover a race distance during the session, although Dani Pedrosa, Andrea Dovizioso, Marco Melandri, Randy de Puniet, James Toseland and Nicky Hayden all completed 31 laps, just one lap short.
Tohru Ubukata - Bridgestone Motorsport - Manager Motorcycle Race Tyre Development
"Today we saw almost the same temperatures as last year. We expected dusty conditions but the track was clean from the start so this didn't cause us any problems. Most of the riders started on the softer option slicks because of the expected dust, but everyone saw that the conditions were good so most changed to the hard compound slicks. Both of our compound offerings were used today, so teams will already have a good idea of what their race strategy will be if conditions stay the same. However, if the wind is high tonight the track may be dusty again in the morning."
-credit: bridgestone
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article US GP: LCR Honda Friday practice report
Next article US GP: Practice 2 times
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Randy de Puniet
Former LCR MotoGP rider joins team in MotoE
MotoE
MotoE
Former LCR MotoGP rider joins team in MotoE
De Puniet becomes KTM tester for rest of 2018
MotoGP
MotoGP
Austrian GP
De Puniet becomes KTM tester for rest of 2018
KTM's MotoGP bike completes Jerez test
MotoGP
MotoGP
KTM's MotoGP bike completes Jerez test
More from
Ducati Team
Alex Marquez says overtaking Marc Marquez was “too risky” in Australian GP sprint
MotoGP
MotoGP
Australian GP
3 h
Alex Marquez says overtaking Marc Marquez was “too risky” in Australian GP sprint
Marc Marquez: Jorge Martin was faster but overriding in Australian GP sprint
MotoGP
MotoGP
Australian GP
4 h
Marc Marquez: Jorge Martin was faster but overriding in Australian GP sprint
Latest news
"Just undriveable" – Isack Hadjar looking for answers after "massive" struggles in Austin practice
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
41 min
"Just undriveable" – Isack Hadjar looking for answers after "massive" struggles in Austin practice
Maverick Vinales: “If I stay at home, I don’t get paid”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
Maverick Vinales: “If I stay at home, I don’t get paid”
The unexpected problem Honda encountered despite its second F1 power unit upgrade
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
1 h
The unexpected problem Honda encountered despite its second F1 power unit upgrade
MotoGP Australian GP: Full starting grid as four riders forced out of Phillip Island race
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
MotoGP Australian GP: Full starting grid as four riders forced out of Phillip Island race
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe