Troy Bayliss, who in the morning free session rode a good pace to set the sixth fastest time, crashed in the afternoon hour whilst on a fast lap, bashing his left shoulder and head against the ground. Nevertheless, with the determination and courage which has become his trademark, he returned straight to the pit garage only to immediately get back out on track for the rest of the session with his second bike. At the end of the session, given that he didn’t remember the incident, he visited Doctor Ruggiero Mattioli’s mobile clinic, who after consultation with the circuit medical centre, decided there was no need for a CAT scan, and will simply visit the Camel Honda rider tomorrow morning before the third free practice session. Troy’s left shoulder is hurting him slightly and he also had some memory loss from the hours prior to the crash, which is thankfully now coming back to him.
Sito Pons - Camel Honda "I'm happy with how today's practices went, although I'm sorry for Troy's crash. However I know he's okay now, that he went straight back out on the track and I'm sure he'll be out there again tomorrow. Alex went really well, as we expect from him, consistent and quick. I hope that tomorrow he continues at this pace, so we can see him have the ride that everyone expects from him in the race."
Alex Barros – Camel Honda – 1’38.516 1st position "I’m very happy, not only because of setting the fastest time, but also because our rhythm today was very consistent. We did some good work, getting a good base set-up for the bike, even though the conditions aren’t perfect; it’s cold and the asphalt hasn’t got much grip. This morning we had fifteen minutes maximum on a completely dry track, while it was better in the afternoon, if a little cold. You had to be careful because it was hard to keep the tyre warm, especially on the left hand side, seeing as the track has ten right turns and only four left. However, we’ve started off better than in Jerez, that’s for sure, and even though I still haven’t seen the others’ pace, I can easily say that ours is faster than during last year’s race. Tomorrow the forecast is for better weather and the others will also improve, but we will try and do so too, working through some of the finer details of the set-up. I think that a good race pace would be in the low 1’38s, with a few laps in 1’37 perhaps. I’m sorry that Troy crashed, I didn’t realise until the end of the session because I saw him riding right to the end."
Troy Bayliss – Camel Honda – 1’40.639 16th position "I can’t really say much about today because I don’t remember too much! I crashed, and then returned to the box, but don’t remember the incident. I hit the ground with my left shoulder, it was a big hit, but as it wasn’t hurting that much I went out again. I think I need a bit of a rest, but tomorrow I’ll ride again because this morning we did a good job, riding consistently fast and I want to make some good progress also tomorrow".
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