QUALIFYING PRACTICE - DUTCH TT - ASSEN
EDWARDS SEALS FRONT ROW START AS ROSSI STRUGGLES
FOR FITNESS
Camel Yamaha Team team-mates Colin Edwards and Valentino
Rossi will start from opposite ends of the grid in tomorrow’s
76th edition of the Dutch TT after enjoying contrasting fortunes
in qualifying practice. Whilst Edwards was consistently amongst
the fastest riders on track throughout the day, topping the
time sheets in morning free practice before clocking the third
quickest time to seal a front row start in the decisive afternoon
session, Rossi continued to suffer from the effects of a heavy
crash yesterday and was only able to complete fourteen laps
in qualifying.
The Italian’s best effort was almost four seconds off
the pole position time of 1’36.411 set by John Hopkins
(Suzuki) and he now faces an anxious wait to see if he will
be able to take his place at the very back of the grid for
the eighth round of a luckless season. Rossi will undergo
further therapy this evening but his participation in the
event will not be 100% confirmed until after tomorrow’s
morning warm-up, when he will make a final assessment of his
fitness along with the Clinica Mobile doctors.
COLIN EDWARDS (3rd – 1’36.755; 27 laps)
“Obviously I would have liked to be on pole position
and I felt with the pace we were setting that we had a good
shot. I went out there at the start of the session and ran
a couple of tyres. On my final race tyre I was really happy
with the pace and then we started throwing some qualifiers
on but I don’t know if I had a 1’36.4 in my bag.
I was pretty happy with 36.7 that I did but for Hopkins and
Nakano to do a 36.4 was pretty impressive so it would have
been a case of taking my brain out and setting it on one side
to try and match that! Anyway, right there at the end Stoner
and Pedrosa were just sitting in the middle of the track on
my last lap so we’ll never know. As I say my race pace
is good so I’m looking forward to tomorrow and I just
hope Valentino can make the best possible recovery overnight
to try and salvage something from the weekend.”
VALENTINO ROSSI (18th – 1’40.298; 14
laps)
“This afternoon I tried using some painkillers but
the fracture in my right wrist hurts a lot. Truly it was very
difficult to ride - the hand is very swollen and I don’t
have much strength. Together with Marco Montanari and Doctor
Claudio Costa we have done the best that was possible, I’ve
had a lot of treatment and I was able to ride for a few laps,
but the strong pain stopped me from finishing the qualifying
session. Tomorrow we will see how I am and depending on what
happens in the warm-up, we will decide whether I will ride
or not. Anyway it’s going to be very difficult. We tried
to move the brake lever a little bit down and we’re
now looking at the possibility of making a bigger brake lever
to see if this is better for me.”
DAVIDE BRIVIO – CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR
“Colin did a good job – he was consistently
fast in every practice session and qualified on the front
row so we couldn’t ask for much more. The omens are
good for the race for him and starting from the front row
makes him one of the contenders to win the race. Unfortunately
that is not the case for Valentino. He had to be very strong
just to complete a few laps this afternoon and now it is just
a case of letting him rest and seeing how his condition develops
overnight. Obviously we want him to race but our first concern
is his physical condition. Thankfully the Clinica Mobile are
doing a fantastic job, as always, and we know he is in good
hands.”
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