The Repsol Honda riders’ had mixed performances after the two Friday practice sessions for the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal. Dani Pedrosa finished third quickest, with Casey Stoner in fifth and Andrea Dovizioso in 12th.

After the extended break following the race in Jerez, MotoGP returned to Estoril. It was a Honda that led the way in both practice sessions, but it was Marco Simoncelli for San Carlo Honda Gresini Team who was the initial pace setter. Stoner was second fastest in the morning, but missed a lot of track time throughout the day due to bike issues, which then dropped him to fifth in the second session.

Pedrosa was positive after his first day on the bike after his surgery and was consistent with the third quickest laps in both practices. Dovizioso wasn’t happy after finishing sixth in the morning session and then a further six places lower with 12th in the afternoon, after struggling with the feeling of the front end.

Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda

"To be honest I'm not very happy with how the day has gone. We had a few small issues with the bike that took quite a lot of time out of our sessions today. We could have had a much more productive day than we did, as we didn't really find any improvements. We have to wait for tomorrow and hope for some dry weather, because at this moment we're not too happy with the setting of the bike. We need to improve it a little under the braking point and in the middle of the corner, where we seem to be struggling to get the bike to turn, so if there is some good weather tomorrow, we should be able to improve the situation and not be so far off".

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda

"I think the first day of practice has been positive, it's the first race after a major operation, so it's only logical that I feel sore and I understand that with a little more time and treatment this will disappear. The pain I feel are some cramps which are caused by tension I have in the shoulder area. The last round of laps this afternoon, I wanted to extend a little longer to see how I felt, but I made seven laps in a row, which would be about 15 minutes. This is not enough to make a definitive judgement. If it rains tomorrow, it will be important to have a positive practice to get a good position on the grid".

Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda

“Today I had two difficult practice sessions and I can’t be happy. I had no feeling with the front so we made several runs to test the modifications, but the situation in general didn’t improve in the afternoon. I struggled to make lap times. Today was dry and I hope that tomorrow we can continue to work in the same conditions. According to the weather forecast, it should rain and this would complicate the situation”.