MotoGP : Yamaha riders face Jerez challenge after difficult
session
Round: 1 - 2006 MotoGP Jerez
Circuit: Jerez
Date: 25 March 2006
Temp: 20ºC
Weather: Dry
Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards
face an uphill battle in the opening round of the MotoGP World
Championship tomorrow after vibration problems returned in
this afternoon's qualifying practice at Jerez. After making
progress with his YZR-M1 machine in yesterday's free practice,
Rossi's cause was not helped by an incident early in today's
session, when he became the first of five riders to end up
in the gravel after oil was spilled on the track by another
competitor.
The red flags were duly raised and when the pit-lane reopened
both Rossi and Edwards worked against the clock to solve their
difficulties ahead of tomorrow's 27-lap race. However, bad
luck struck for Edwards when he suffered a puncture to his
rear tyre and the American was only able to qualify tenth
fastest, one place behind his Italian team-mate.
Pole position went to Loris Capirossi (Ducati) in an outright
circuit record time of 1'39.064 and the Italian will be joined
on the front row by his team-mate Sete Gibernau and Japanese
rider Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki).
Valentino Rossi (9th - 1'40.160, 28 laps)
"I thought we had solved a lot of the problems yesterday
but today they came back. The bike is still vibrating and
with the qualifying tyre the problem became worse because
the extra grip on the rear pushed the front even harder. Basically
we are losing time in every part of the corner. Also the crash
at the start of the session didn't help but we can't use that
as an excuse. I have won the first race of the season every
year since 2001 but it is going to be difficult tomorrow.
I have always found that it helps to start the season with
a win so I will still be going for it!"
Colin Edwards (10th - 1'40.181, 23 laps)
"I suppose you could say we are up the creek but the
important day is tomorrow so we still have a paddle! Just
when we thought we had the problem sorted out it has come
creeping back. We've had three days of tests here and now
two days this weekend but we just can't get on top of it.
The vibration in the corners comes in at a certain speed so
the effect is like having a speed limiter on the bike. To
make things worse I had a puncture in my first qualifying
tyre so we lost time at the end of the session too. Things
don't look to be going too well for us at the moment but we'll
try to pull a rabbit out of the hat tomorrow."
Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director
"We still have some work to do to solve the problems
completely. It has been a strange weekend because yesterday
we lost a whole session because of the weather and then today
we had another setback when Valentino crashed on the oil left
by Alex Hofmann's bike. It didn't help because we had some
solutions we wanted to try on that bike. It seems things are
conspiring to make life difficult for us but we won't give
up. It is clearly not a good situation with regard to the
starting grid but the pace of the front riders is not too
far from our own. If we can make some slight improvements
in the morning then I think we will be in the right shape
for a good race."
Round: 1 - 2006 MotoGP Jerez
Circuit: Jerez
Circuit Length: 4423
Lap Record: 1' 40.596 (Valentino Rossi, 2005)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 39.064 (Loris Capirossi, 2006)
Date: 25 March 2006
Temp: 20ºC
Session 1 :
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. 1st Qualifying
1 L. Capirossi Ducati ITA 1' 39.064
2 S. Gibernau Ducati ESP 1' 39.285
3 S. Nakano Kawasaki JPN 1' 39.526
4 N. Hayden Honda USA 1' 39.666
5 D. Pedrosa Honda ESP 1' 39.734
6 T. Elias Honda ESP 1' 39.875
7 M. Melandri Honda ITA 1' 39.932
8 R. De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 1' 40.146
9 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA 1' 40.160
10 C. Edwards Yamaha USA 1' 40.181
11 C. Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 1' 40.215
12 J. Hopkins Suzuki USA 1' 40.340
13 K. Roberts Team Roberts KR USA 1' 40.497
14 C. Checa Yamaha ESP 1' 40.851
15 C. Stoner Honda AUS 1' 40.982
16 M. Tamada Honda JPN 1' 41.119
18 J. Ellison Yamaha GBR 1' 42.267
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