FREE PRACTICE – ITALIAN GRAND PRIX - MUGELLO
ROSSI MAKES ENCOURAGING START TO HOME GRAND PRIX
Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi kicked off his preparations
for the Italian Grand Prix in positive fashion today as he
set the fastest lap time in both of the opening free practice
sessions of the weekend. After a dry morning practice, when
the Italian topped the time sheets with a lap of 1’51.238,
a heavy rain shower just before the afternoon session played
havoc with the team’s work programme, hindering Colin
Edwards’ adaptation to the new chassis and preventing
either rider from improving their best times despite drying
track conditions towards the end. It meant that Edwards
was forced to settle for tenth place on the provisional time
sheets but a more pressing issue for the Texan is the remaining
set-up work to be done before Sunday’s eagerly anticipated
23-lap race. The most likely scenario is that he will revert
to the original chassis, used to excellent effect at Le Mans
two weeks ago, before continuing development on the modified
version with a view to the next race in Catalunya. Rossi only
completed eight laps in the afternoon but it was enough to
fend off the close attentions of fellow local Loris Capirossi
(Ducati), who was second fastest.
VALENTINO ROSSI (1st – 1’51.238; 25 laps)
“We have had a good start to the weekend, especially
this morning. Unfortunately the rain in the afternoon meant
that we only got four good laps in but even in that short
time we were able to see that the base setting of the bike
is good. It is basically the same as the bike we had at Le
Mans so I’m pleased to see it working well at such a
different circuit. We still need to make some improvements
to the setting but we are working in the right way and that
is the most positive thing about today. We definitely
need to work hard tomorrow but hopefully we can continue to
improve. Now I just hope it doesn’t rain, this
is a very special race for all the Italians, both the riders
and the people who come to watch, and we need the weather
to be on our side!”
COLIN EDWARDS (10th – 1’52.513; 34 laps)
“We’ve been playing around a little bit with
the new chassis but I need more time in the dry to set it
up before we can start to work with it properly. We didn’t
get enough of a chance at the Le Mans test because of the
weather and it seems to have chased us over here. I don’t
want to have to start all over again in the morning so I think
the best thing for us is to go back to what we know for tomorrow.
It worked well for us in France and it seems ok here too so
there is no point wasting time trying to use the new chassis
here just for the sake of it. Hopefully the weather will hold
out for us tomorrow so we can get through the set-up work
we missed out on today and get ready for what promises to
be a really tough but exciting race on Sunday.”
DAVIDE BRIVIO – CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR
“Today was not so bad, even though we had only one
session in the dry, and Valentino was able to confirm that
the bike he used so well in Le Mans is also working here.
Unfortunately we haven’t had enough time in the dry
for Colin to make the adequate comparisons so it seems that
the situation for tomorrow will be that our riders will be
working in different directions. Anyway this is not such a
problem because we know Colin is comfortable on the original
chassis and worked well with it in France, so it is just a
case of him concentrating on getting a good result here and
waiting a little longer for his opportunity. Despite the weather
it has been a good day, we’ve done a good job and in
general we have made a promising start to what is an important
weekend for us.”
Combined Free Practice Times:
VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1’51.238
Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1’51.599
Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1’51.907
John Hopkins (USA) Team Suzuki MotoGP, 1’52.082
Casey Stoner (AUS) Honda LCR, 1’52.101
Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team, 1’52.177
Marco Melandri (ITA) Fortuna Honda, 1’52.339
Kenny Roberts JR (USA) Team Roberts, 1’52.350
Makoto Tamada (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda, 1’52.466
COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1’52.513
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