Dani Pedrosa missed three races earlier this season after he broke his collarbone during a crash at Le Mans. Since his return, Pedrosa has had to deal with constant pain in his arms and shoulders. Well, it looks like that pain is finally leaving as the Repsol Honda rider gets closer to 100%.
No one came close to catching Pedrosa during the opening day of practice at the Czech GP at BRNO. Pedrosa put in a 1'56.328 lap time today during the first free practice session, missing Valentino Rossi's 2009 lap record by just two tenths of a second.
But even more impressive, Pedrosa was more than a half second faster than the rest of the field.
"The feeling was very good today from the beginning," Pedrosa said. "The bike was working well from the first round and we could move ahead, improving little by little in both practice sessions.
"I think the main difference I felt is that I'm fresh after the summer break. The rest I had has helped me a lot, I can feel the energy I didn't have in the races before the break, so I hope I can keep the pace for Saturday and Sunday and be strong for the race.
"I'm very happy with the job we did in both sessions and I think we can still improve and be ready for both the qualifying practice and the race. I guess the other rivals will also do the same, so we have to keep focused. Today I rode alone all the time, maybe tomorrow I can compare a little with other riders to see where are they stronger or weaker than me."
Pedrosa was the only rider to lap under 1'57 in the morning session, but the Repsol Honda rider was joined by his teammate Casey Stoner under 1'57 during FP2.
"Today hasn't been that positive to be honest, we seem to be having a similar start to our weekend in Laguna and aren't sure which direction to take at the moment," Stoner said. "The feeling in the front is very vague, our corner entry and mid-turn isn't that great. We also need to find a lot more grip in the rear as I'm struggling on the edge of the tyre and exit of the corner. We have a long way to go before I feel happy with the set up and there are many areas we can improve, so tomorrow we will be trying a lot of different things on both bikes and prepare as best we can for Qualifying."
