EDWARDS DRIVES AWAY IN NEW CAR AFTER CATALUNYA SUCCESS
Camel Yamaha Team rider Colin Edwards clinched the first
MotoGP accolade of 2006 as he charged through treacherously
wet conditions at the Catalunya Circuit to the fastest time
of the MotoGP Official Practice and the prize of a brand new
car. After a brief appearance in this morning’s dry
free practice, Edwards emerged with a string of fast laps
at the end of the afternoon session to usurp his otherwise
dominant team-mate Valentino Rossi, who was unable to respond
with a late effort of his own after a falling whilst leading
the time sheets on his twelfth lap.
Today’s success concludes a positive weekend for Yamaha,
which saw Rossi set the pace in dry conditions on Friday and
Saturday, with Edwards and Carlos Checa (Yamaha Tech 3) in
close attendance. The surprise of today’s session was
Checa’s team-mate James Ellison, who showed his prowess
in the wet with the fourth fastest time as he continues to
adapt to the YZR-M1 machine. Checa also challenged for the
car today but, like Rossi, slid out of the session in turn
ten, where Kenny Roberts Junior’s (Team KR) efforts
also ended as he too mounted a challenge for the fastest lap.
The exciting curtain raiser to the season now gives way to
three more days of official tests at Jerez, starting next
Friday, before the season proper gets underway at the same
circuit in three weeks’ time.
COLIN EDWARDS (1’57.102, 15 laps)
"When I saw the weather before the session started I
thought to myself that the car would end up in the hands of
whoever was prepared to take the most risks. In the end the
times came quite comfortably and we were able to keep chipping
away throughout the session, just getting faster and faster,
and to be honest I think I could have knocked even more time
off with another couple of laps. This is a confidence boost
for me but I have been saying since the last couple of tests
that we are in good shape and this proves it. The team have
been working so hard to come up with a bike that works out
of the box and I believe we have that now. When you have a
bike like that and then see that it works in the rain too
then you know you have something special. It is nice to win
the car but every rider out there wants to win races. I feel
I am in a position to do that this season.”
VALENTINO ROSSI (1’59.360, 11 laps)
"After I saw that I could not win the car I thought
the best thing was for Colin to win it so I am really happy
for him. We have been working hard together over the winter
and he deserves this success. I was setting some fast lap
times and my pace was good but I made a mistake in braking
and unfortunately that was the end of my practice. Anyway
the most important thing from this weekend is the way the
bike performed in the dry on Friday and Saturday and also
in the wet today. This gives us a lot of confidence for the
season. Now we go to Jerez for another test and it will be
interesting to see if we have solved the problem we had with
the vibration. If we do that then we are ready for the first
race."
DAVIDE BRIVIO – CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR
“It is nice for the team to start the season by winning
the first ‘trophy’ available. It was a pity there
wasn’t a closer battle at the end between Colin and
Vale but the important thing is that the car ended up at Yamaha.
We have had a good winter of testing and now we head to Jerez
to make the final preparations before the first race.”
Timed session official lap times*
1. COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Camel Yamaha 1.57.102; 2. Nicky Hayden
(USA)
Honda 1.58.921; 3. VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Camel Yamaha 1.59.360;
4.
James Ellison (GBR) Yamaha 1.59.619; 5. Chris Vermeulen (AUS)
Suzuki
2.00.001; 6. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda 2.00.218; 7. Kenny
Roberts
(USA) KR-Honda 2.00.225; 8. Carlos Checa (SPA) Yamaha
2.00.551; 9.
John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki 2.00.621; 10. Randy De Puniet (FRA)
Kawasaki
2.01.249; 11. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki 2.02177; 12. Makoto
Tamada
(JPN) Honda 2.02.177; 13. Alex Hofmann (GER) Pramac-Ducati
2.04.003;
14. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati 2.05.073; 15. Toni Elias
(SPA) Honda
2.05.961; 16. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati 2.06.724; 17. Josè
Cardoso
(SPA) Pramac-Ducati 2.06.846; 18. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda
2.07.326.
*Wet conditions
Catalunya Lap Record: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 –
1’43.195 Catalunya Best Lap: Sete Gibernau (Honda) 2005
– 1’42.337
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