QUALIFYING PRACTICE – UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX - LAGUNA
SECA
EDWARDS BOOKS FRONT-ROW START IN LAGUNA
 Camel
Yamaha rider Colin Edwards will start his home Grand Prix
from the front row of the grid tomorrow, just missing out
on pole position in a thrilling climax to this afternoon’s
qualifying practice. Held in sweltering conditions registering
38ºC, the decisive grid session saw Edwards put in his
best lap in the final few seconds – the Texan dipping
underneath the benchmark set moments earlier by eventual pole-setter
Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) in each of the first three sections
before conceding decisive tenths in the final series of turns
after the Corkscrew.
With the Laguna Seca circuit clearly suffering from the extreme
conditions and offering less grip than it had done in the
cooler morning free practice, several riders struggled to
improve their lap times in the afternoon - even on a qualifying
tyre. Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi was one of the
unlucky few, the Italian’s best effort briefly looking
good enough for a spot on the second row of the grid before
a late flurry saw him shuffled back two rows to tenth place
– the same position from which he launched a successful
charge to victory in Germany seven days ago.
COLIN EDWARDS (2nd; 1’23.321, 28 laps)
“It was seriously hot out there! I’m
really happy with my starting position, it means a lot to
me to be able to start from the front for my home race. We
might still try some changes in the morning warm-up, just
to refine the setting a bit. Our race pace is great until
the corkscrew, but after that things aren’t so good.
The second half of the lap really doesn’t feel great,
although maybe it’s not as bad as it feels. It’s
just so bumpy and it’s hard to ride in a good rhythm.
Anyway, we’re starting at the front and I’m going
to give it all I’ve got. I’ve got a special livery
tomorrow on my bike to celebrate being back here in America
and as a bit of a thank you to Yamaha US for all the work
they’ve done to help improve the safety of the track.
It’s a stars and stripes theme so let’s hope it’s
lucky for me!”
VALENTINO ROSSI (10th; 1’24.047, 26 laps)
“This year the practices have been so hard from me and
every time we have to do a lot of work. This morning we tried
some new things and the bike was better, and faster. I am
quite worried because it’s so hard to overtake here,
even harder than Sachsenring. There are only a few places
- after turn one in the first braking, turn 5, and the last
corner. Maybe the corkscrew, but I think this is an American
secret - Colin passed me here last year but it’s hard
for me to understand how! Anyway from the telemetry I can
see we’re faster through this section than last year
so maybe it’s okay this time. I need to find the lines
with the fewest bumps in order to understand where I can pass
people. It’s very hard in this heat and 33 laps will
be very difficult. We need to find the best setting to allow
me to be fast with the least energy from me! I know Hayden
is fast, of course I want to finish in front of him, but as
long as I am close to him with not too many points between
us, this is the most important thing. We have some new things
to try in the morning and we have to hope that we can make
a big improvement on Sunday to the setting, like in Sachsenring.”
DAVIDE BRIVIO – CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR
“Colin did a great job today, we’re really happy
for him. He’s got a great motivation, being here in
front of his home fans, and this has given him the extra push
to get on the front row. We still have some problems to solve,
especially with Valentino. He now has to do another hard job,
like last week, and it’s going to be a very difficult
race for him. Anyway, we still have the warm-up so let’s
see what improvements we can make there. When Colin starts
from the front he usually stays there, so let’s hope
that he can do this tomorrow, and that Valentino can fight
his way forward like he usually does.”
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