Chinese GP
First day / GAULOISES YAMAHA TEAM GATHER KEY DATA
ON DAMP FIRST DAY IN CHINA
Gauloises Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards
got their first true taste of the Shanghai International Circuit
on a tentative first day of action at the inaugural Grand
Prix of China today. With the riders using the first free
practice session to learn the track layout in the morning,
they were denied the opportunity to improve their set-up and
lap times in the afternoon due to damp and muggy conditions.
Both Rossi and Edwards took things carefully in the second
session, with a spell of light rain, ambient temperatures
reaching 31ºC and humidity levels of 76% making grip
levels unpredictable. The pair set the sixth and eighth fastest
times respectively this afternoon, with the constantly changing
conditions making life difficult for their Gauloises Yamaha
engineers but providing a valuable opportunity to collect
a wide range of data with a variable weather forecast for
the rest of the weekend. A dry line did begin to form at the
end of the session but never enough to allow the riders to
challenge Nicky Hayden (Honda) for the best time of the day.
Hayden clocked a lap of 2’02.327 in the morning session,
which was delayed by two and a half hours due to a technical
problem with the circuit’s medical helicopter, although
this is sure to be improved on if the conditions are dry for
the third free practice and single qualifying sessions tomorrow.
VALENTINO ROSSI – (2’02.677, 39 laps)
"My first impressions of the circuit yesterday were
very good but after riding on it today I must admit it wasn’t
as much fun as I expected. It is actually quite tight and
technical and is very much a Formula 1 track, so all the riders
have a lot of hard work to do finding the right setting for
the bikes here. It is not ideal for a MotoGP bike. Also the
conditions in the afternoon were strange because the track
was warm but it woulnd’t dry, so it was like half and
half. It was a shame because the asphalt is good and there
is plenty of grip in the dry. As far as the setting is concerned
we are having some problems in the fast corners. We hope it
is dry tomorrow because we have a bit of work to do and also
some of my rivals are very fast in the wet. Personally I would
really prefer it if it doesn’t rain on Sunday. ”
COLIN EDWARDS (2’03.799, 38 laps)
“I spent the morning just trying to find my braking
markers and pick the best racing line, but when I got fired
up and went for a fast lap I ran off the track, so my time
wasn’t as good as it could have been. The conditions
completely changed in the afternoon but it looks like we haven’t
seen the last of the rain this weekend so I guess it was a
good chance for us to make some preparations for a wet race.
This is an awesome place but the track is not what I expected.
It doesn’t really link together and it’s kind
of split up into four separate sections. This is probably
as good a result as we could have expected at this stage of
the weekend – there’s plenty more to come. "
DAVIDE BRIVIO – TEAM DIRECTOR
“We know the conditions are the same for everybody
but at the same time the weather today made our job a lot
more difficult because it’s a new circuit and we’re
just trying to find a basic set-up. Anyway, there is a good
possibility it will rain on Sunday so this was a good chance
for us to try some different conditions. Apart from the long
back straight the circuit is tighter and slower than we expected.
We made some changes to the setting of the bike and the gearbox,
from the morning to the afternoon but it was impossible to
compare the data because of the change in conditions. Hopefully
they’ll be more consistent tomorrow.”
|
