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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Another 3-day test session at Mugello has concluded in a positive fashion for Sete Gibernau, with his clocking around 800km on track.

Sete Gibernau, Former Ducati World Championship rider has spent another 3 days successfully testing with the Italian brand in hot sunshine, at their main testing venue of Mugello, in the stunning Tuscan countryside.

Gibernau spent time on both the Desmosedici GP8 and GP9 bikes as he continued to familiarise himself with 800cc riding, following a break of more than a year and a half away from MotoGP machinery.

He undertook numerous 4 and 5 lap runs, demonstrating a high level of physical fitness, in view of the difficult climatic conditions, with air temperatures of over 30°C and track temperatures exceeding 50°C. Despite this, the Spanish rider kept up an excellent pace, lapping consistently in the low 1´51 region.
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After topping the timesheet on the first day of the historic MotoGP Indianapolis test on Tuesday, Niccolo Canepa, Ducati´s rider, analysed his day´s work at the famous American venue.

Having set the fastest time on the first ever day of testing at the new Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) MotoGP track on Tuesday, with a best effort of 1´44.176 on the 81st of 83 laps undertaken, Italian test rider Niccolo Canepa provided his perspective on the proceedings.

Canepa explain :

We did a lot of laps this morning, but in the evening the grip was better, and we found a good set-up and good tyres to do a good lap time. I´m also happy because I was faster today than Ben Spies, the American. Tomorrow we have a lot of work to do, although I think that the lap times will be better.

I don´t know what I did better than the other guys, but I have learned the secret better! I´m younger, so I think I´m ready to be more crazy than the others.

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Loris Capirossi is determined to be back at Sachsenring following his DNF at Barcelona and two subsequent races missed due to injury.

After his ill-fated comeback attempt at the A-Style TT Assen, Loris Capirossi is recovering quickly from the forearm injury he sustained in the Netherlands and is highly motivated to return at the next round of the World Championship in Germany.

Miss the trip to Donington

Capirossi has now gone three rounds without being able to score points, after an accident which resulted in a DNF and a fractured a bone in his right hand in Barcelona, causing him to miss the trip to Donington, only for him to crash again in practice last Thursday at Assen and subsequently miss the rest of the weekend due to a nasty puncture wound in his right forearm.

Healed and Return
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After claiming 20 important points to maintain his general standings lead at the Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya, Valentino Rossi left Barcelona after a successful test on Monday.

Rossi and his Fiat Yamaha crew continued their work at the Circuit de Catalunya on Monday afternoon, following up Sunday´s crucial second place finish in the Barcelona race with five hours of testing at the Montmelo track.

Although he`s undoubtedly one of the greatest riders in the history of the sport, even he has certain weaknesses and is the first to admit that race starts are not his strongest point.

Fought Back

Rossi fought back from ninth position on the grid to finish second on Sunday having had set-up problems earlier in the weekend so the test was an important opportunity to work on settings, race starts and qualifying tyres.
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