Dutch TT, Assen - Free Practice
DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM LEADS THE WAY AT ASSEN
Ducati Marlboro Team rider Loris Capirossi rode a stunning
final lap to outpace Valentino Rossi at sun-blessed Assen
today, bettering the reigning World Champion by 0.083 seconds.
Team-mate Carlos Checa was just seven tenths slower than Capirossi,
ending the two sessions in seventh spot.
"It's only Thursday, so this doesn't mean much but it's
always nice to be fastest," said Ducati MotoGP project
manager Livio Suppo. "The Desmosedici has always worked
well at Assen, and Loris really loves this track. Two years
ago here he got pole position for us and last year he ran
a good pace in our first race with the Twin Pulse engine.
Carlos is also going pretty well, once again he's having to
learn a new track with the Ducati. We have some new engine
parts for this race, which we tested after the race at Barcelona;
they are designed to improve midrange driveability."
CAPIROSSI FASTEST WITH RACE TYRES
Loris Capirossi grabbed 'pole position' on his final lap of
the day. And the Ducati Marlboro Team rider set the pace while
riding his number-two bike with race tyres, not a super-soft
qualifying tyre.
"We are in a much better situation than we were at Barcelona
two weeks ago but we still need to work on bike set-up to
get more out of the tyres," said Capirossi. "The
front is fine but we're still trying to find a good rear for
the race. I did my fastest lap right at the end of the session
on my number two bike with a race rear I hadn't used before,
so we'll test that tyre for more laps tomorrow. At the moment
we're not super-competitive in race trim, but Bridgestone
are working so hard that we have a lot of new tyres to try
here.
"I don't like the new part of the track. I preferred
the original layout they got rid of a few years ago. It was
very fast, you could really make a difference through there."
CHECA FEELING CONFIDENT IN SEVENTH
Carlos Checa enjoyed his first day on a Ducati at Assen, making
excellent progress into this afternoon's session after a steady
start this morning.
"This morning I didn't feel so comfortable on the bike
but I felt much more confident this afternoon," said
the Ducati Marlboro Team man. "At first the rear was
moving around too much and the front end felt unstable in
the fast sections, so it was difficult to keep the front on
the ground. The team worked well to make some good improvements
on the overall balance of the bike, so now we just need to
keep working. But the faster you go, the more difficult it
is to improve.
"The new chicane is quite delicate - there's not much
room and it's easy to run off the track. Usually when you
modify something you should make it better, but I think they've
made it worse. It's a shame."
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