QUALIFYING PRACTICE – AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX - PHILLIP
ISLAND
CAMEL YAMAHA PAIR CHARGE UP THE TIME SHEETS IN QUALIFYING
Valentino Rossi will start from the front row of the grid
in third place with his Camel Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards
just two spots behind him in fifth when the Australian Grand
Prix gets underway tomorrow, thanks to a much improved performance
on the second day of action at Phillip Island. After initially
struggling to find an adequate set-up for their YZR-M1 machines
in yesterday’s opening free practice sessions due to
the cool spring temperatures, both riders worked effectively
with their pit crews to find better grip for the rear tyre
- improving their best lap times by almost two seconds and
securing prime starting positions for tomorrow’s crucial
round in the process.
For Rossi the target is a sixth victory of the season as
he looks to pull even closer to series leader Nicky Hayden
(Honda). After an excellent run of recent form the Italian
lies just 26 points short of the American and tomorrow promises
to be another mouth-watering duel between the pair, with Hayden
starting from pole position thanks to a record lap this afternoon.
Edwards is also targeting his best finish of the season in
front of a bumper Phillip Island crowd including many of his
Australian family members and friends.
VALENTINO ROSSI (3rd – 1’29.271; 28 laps)
“The team did a really good job today because we had
some difficulties setting the bike up yesterday, but today
it worked really well and I was able to qualify on the front
row, which is very important at this circuit. Because of the
temperatures here we are finding it hard to get heat into
the rear tyre and we struggled a bit again today, which is
why I had to leave it so late before trying for the fast time
on the qualifying tyre. We still have some work to do in this
aspect on the race setting but with the qualifying tyre the
grip was there and I was able to go third fastest, even though
I ran off the track on my out lap and then my bike did a small
wheelie in the last corner on my flying lap. Anyway I am happy
and want to say a big thank you to my team and to Michelin
for the excellent progress we made today. I’m surprised
that Capirossi and Gibernau are so far back because they have
got a very strong race pace so I suppose me and Nicky will
be pushing hard from the start to try and escape.”
COLIN EDWARDS (5th – 1’29.680; 29 laps)
“I don’t think I’ve ever gone from one
extreme to the other to this extent in my whole career! From
being totally miserable yesterday I’m now really happy
and content with our set-up and today’s work. It’s
a good feeling! We’ve actually made a big move with
the setting, back towards what we had at China and Le Mans
and it seems to be working. The thing is we had a different
chassis back then and we were suffering with chatter at the
time so we never went back to that but the guys worked overtime
and came up with a concoction that worked. I’ve really
got to thank my team; we’ve changed almost everything
possible since yesterday, from electronics to suspension and,
bar the engine and the chassis, it’s hardly the same
bike today. They’ve put in the hours and it’s
clearly worked so I really am seriously grateful to them.
I’m really happy with my race tyre and the set-up we
used through the session and then the qualifier I used was
like superglue! It’s no secret that we were struggling
in the tyre area too yesterday so I want to say thanks to
Michelin, they’ve pulled something out overnight and
it’s looking good. I can’t wait for tomorrow;
it feels good to be starting at the right end of the grid
for my favourite race of the year!
DAVIDE BRIVIO – CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR
“It’s been a very good day for us. Firstly we’re
all really pleased to see Colin back near the top again and
feeling so much better with the bike. Then with Valentino
we achieved our main target of starting on the front row and
this is very important for tomorrow’s race. I think
it’s going to be a very interesting race tomorrow! The
race pace of both Valentino and Colin is very good and I think
it’s going to be a great fight, as it always is at Phillip
Island, with a lot of overtaking. I hope that we will be in
that fight with both our riders!”
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