Friday Jun 18 2010
05 British GP - Free Practice

Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden made their debut at the new Silverstone circuit today, as the British Grand Prix got underway beneath grey and cloudy skies, with light rainfall appearing at the end of the opening free practice. The pair set about finding a setting for the fast and spectacular track, which remains bumpy in the first couple of sections, which are part of the old layout and have not been relaid.
Stoner and Hayden finished the session with the second and tenth fastest lap times respectively after trying a variety of set-up solutions, with more work to do tomorrow.



CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team)  2nd (2’06.133)
“The layout of the track is simply fantastic. It is great fun to ride and some of the corners are awesome. Unfortunately there are a few bumps on the ‘old’ part of the track where the asphalt hasn’t been relaid but when they get around to doing it I think we can safely say it will be one of the best circuits in the world. We’ve worked hard on the set-up today and for the moment we are still looking for the right solution. The bike was a little too stiff for the bumps and it was difficult to find the limit or understand how fast we can really go. We’ll make some changes tomorrow and hope the weather is good to us.”
 
NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team) 10th (2’08.300)
“The first impressions of the circuit are good I just do not like that much the first chicanes and we need to make the bike a bit more manageable there. The surface is more smooth on the second half of the lap where the grip also is better. I was on the pace for the first part of the session, then we tried some set-up changes on the second bike and they didn’t work out how we planned. We dropped back so I got back on my first bike but only got a couple of laps in before the rain came. I would have preferred the opportunity to stay out there until the very end to keep learning the track but all in all I think it was a positive enough first day for us.”