Read what the riders had to say after today’s free practice. After the jump more quotes and first images from Catalunya.

Valentino Rossi - 1st 1′43.038

“We made some changes to our base setting here and already it feels much better to ride. This practice went very well for us, we were strong from start to finish and to be in first position feels good. We have found out some very interesting things, especially about my feeling with the bike, but we need to keep on working because there are still some parts that we want to make better for tomorrow. I am really happy to be able to ride the bike how I want to finally but there is still plenty more work to continue with to make sure we’re in the best possible shape for tomorrow afternoon and Sunday.”

Jorge Lorenzo -2nd 1′43.320

“I always have a few doubts coming to each new track but today everything felt really good, my bike and my Bridgestone tyres. I feel very comfortable and we can see that we have the potential to put on a really good performance here. We have a few things which we can improve so we will try to do that tomorrow but this is another good start for us. It’s very early to be making any conclusions about who will be fighting on Sunday though and for now we just have to stay focused. It feels great to be out in front of all my home fans here and I am really happy to have the FC Barcelona stickers on my bike!”

Continue reading: Rider Quotes after Catalunya FP1

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Today’s free pratice 1 at the Montmelò circuit in Spain saw Valentino Rossi take first place with a best lap time of 1′43.038, with team mate Jorge Lorenzo who kept matching Rossi’s times, but in the end lost out by three tenths of second. Casey Stoner was third, off by 0.598s, but suffered a lowside with 15 minutes left in free practice and had to use his spare bike to complete the session.

The big surprise in this weekend’s GP was Gabor Talmacsi who debuted today with the Scot Racing Team. Talmacsi abandonded his 250cc team and Aspar Martinez over image rights before LeMans. He and his manager Stefano Favaro worked hard to find a new ride and the backing of sponsors MOL has allowed Talmacsi to join the Scot Racing alongside Yuki Takahashi. Talmacsi finished 19th on his first outing with the Honda RC212V, four seconds from Rossi.

Repsol Hond’s Andrea Dovizioso was fourth on the timesheet, while team-mate Dani Pedrosa was 14th place riding with painkiller injections to treat his injured hip that he picked up at Mugello.

Continue reading: Catalunya FP1 - Valentino Rossi Fastest

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