Pedrosa fights back on Saturday morning

Back on his main bike after a Friday crash and subsequent ride on his No.2 Honda RC212V, Dani Pedrosa found improvement at the Sachsenring circuit ahead of this afternoon´s crucial qualifying session.

The 2006 poleman and 2007 racewinner at the German track, Pedrosa took advantage of a track dried out after early rainfall to record the fastest lap of the third and final practice session, a 1´22.343. The Spaniard did so on the last of 28 laps of the circuit, making up for time lost in setting up his second machine yesterday.

Yesterday´s quickest competitor and still the fastest rider of the weekend, Casey Stoner undertook just half the laps of his title rival. The Ducati Marlboro rider had headed the timesheets until the final minute of the session, Pedrosa cutting his lap time by just 0.034.

Second Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden was looking for improvements after an uninspiring opening day, and shaved nearly a tenth of a second off his Friday hot lap. It was enough to put the American third on the morning timesheet.

Alex de Angelis continued to show himself to be suited to Sachsenring, leading the satellite Honda charge. He was however over a second down on his opening day marker, which remains the closest to rivalling Stoner´s pace. JiR Team Scot rider Andrea Dovizioso´s morning showing made it four Hondas in the top five, although both he and De Angelis found their limits with light run-offs.

Alice Team´s Sylvain Guintoli picked himself up from an early crash to clock the sixth fastest time of the morning, ahead of Randy de Puniet, Toni Elias, Valentino Rossi and Chris Vermeulen. Anthony West also hit the ground, and was unable to complete any more than eight laps in the session.