DUCATI MARLBORO MEN RULE JEREZ QUALIFYING
Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau
stormed to a brilliant one-two qualifying performance at Jerez
this afternoon, putting them in the best possible position
for tomorrow's season-opening Spanish GP. The pair dominated
the session, using the speed of their Desmosedici GP6s and
the grip of their Bridgestone tyres to ride the fastest two
laps ever recorded at Jerez. Capirossi upped his pace time
and again during the outing to end the session on pole just
ahead of Gibernau, whose last and fastest lap brought him
to within 0.221 seconds of his team-mate. Today's result is
a carbon copy of the Ducati Marlboro Team's first Spanish
GP in 2003 when Capirossi was on pole and team-mate Troy Bayliss
second.
FEDERICO MINOLI, Ducati Motor Holding CEO and president
"An amazing performance, just like 2003, you couldn't
ask for a better start to the season. The bike really showed
its power in T3 and T4. Loris showed his class all around
the circuit and Sete was also great. Considering this is only
his first GP on the Desmosedici, it gives us great hope for
the future."
LORIS CAPIROSSI, pole position, 1m 39.064s
"What a fun day, I could ride the way I like to ride.
The bike was sideways as usual, but everything was under control!
I was going for a 1.38 on my last lap but I just missed it.
So far this has been a very positive weekend, following on
from the great tests we did here two weeks ago. During those
tests we weren't looking for sensational lap times, we were
working so we could come here for the race with a bike that
works consistently for a lot of laps, and we have found a
good balance. Bridgestone have improved a lot, I was a lot
faster today with soft tyres than last time here and we are
really good with race tyres too. We haven't seen Ducati first
and second in qualifying since 2003 and I think we should
also be able to make a great race too. I don't think I'll
try and leave everyone behind from the first lap because this
track is very demanding on tyres and it would be better to
save them for later. As always, my thanks to Ducati and Bridgestone."
SETE GIBERNAU, second fastest, 1m 39.285s
"I'm keeping my feet on the ground. Like I keep saying,
I'm in the middle of a learning process with the bike, the
team, the tyres, everything. My goal today was to be on the
first or the second row, but everyone's done such a great
job, the team, the factory, Bridgestone, my crew chief Juan
(Martinez), so I have to say thank you to everyone involved
in this project. They have given me back the feeling I need
to go racing. Tomorrow will be a learning race for me, my
aim is to get away with the leading group and try to be with
them all the way to the end of the race. I hope I can do it."
Temperatures: Ambient: 20 degrees. Track: 27 degrees
|
