READY FOR THE RUN-IN
FORTUNA YAMAHA team riders, Toni Elías and Rubén
Xaus, are eager to start their engines for the Czech Republic
Grand Prix. The Brno race is, after a summer break, the race
that sets the tone for the final run-in to the end of the
season. After this weekend’s race, the World Championship
sets sail to the intercontinental races, from which they will
not return until the final race of the season at Valencia
in November. This morning TONI ELIAS tried various solutions
offered to him by Michelin. In the afternoon, during the qualifying
session, he improved his times gradually once again, following
the pattern of his weekend so far. Meanwhile, RUBEN XAUS continued
to experience problems in the front end of his bike, which
have prevented him from riding with the confidence needed
to set fast lap times on a circuit as technical as this one.
TONI ELIAS (24):
Free Practice-3: 15th -2.00.057 +2.261 (20/24 laps)
Qualifying: 15th -1.58.815 +1.311 (23/23 laps)
“I’m happy with my lap time, but not about my
position. We are making steady steps forward every time I
go out on track, but everyone has made progress here and I
hoped to be a bit further forward today. We are solving all
the problems which keep getting thrown up, but not enough
to be able to be a bit higher up the order. We will continue
to work hard, and perhaps in the warm-up tomorrow we can improve
the bike for the race. The most positive thing today is that
for the first time this year, I was able to make the most
of the advantage given to you by the qualifying tyres, something
I hadn’t managed yet.”
RUBEN XAUS (11):
Free Practice -3: 19th-2.02.716 +4.520 (6/23 laps)
Qualifying: 20th-2.01.535 +4.031 (20/22 laps)
“I won’t throw in the towel, but on such a technical
track I haven’t ridden a lot, things are hard, especially
on one of the most difficult weekends of the year, at least
for me. The main problem is my lack of confidence going into
corners. When we put a soft tyre on, the bike gives me back
this confidence, but if we put the race tyre on, the problems
come back and I can’t get comfortable. If I choose a
soft tyre, for certain it wouldn’t last the race, not
at the required time and pace anyway. So the problem is with
stability on the brakes going into bends, and it’s really
hard to solve at the moment.”
HERVE PONCHARAL, FORTUNA YAMAHA team director:
“Toni has worked hard. It’s a shame that he was
a little held up on his fast lap, because he could have made
it onto the third row of the grid I think. If we take into
account the fact that eleven riders are within a second, we
have to be happy with Toni’s job and of all the team
in general, moreover if we take into account that it hasn’t
really been a day for any Yamaha rider (Rossi 4th y Edwards
9th). I think we can now say that Elías is once more
back in the shape he was in before the accident in Le Mans.
In Ruben’s case the situation is more difficult: rumours,
speculation, gossip about whether he will continue in the
team… He told me that with all this around him he is
finding it hard to concentrate on his work. I want to help
him because that’s my job, and there are two riders
in this team, him being one of them. My idea is to create
the most peaceful atmosphere possible around him, but it’s
obvious that some of the things written about his future don’t
help create this.”
POLE ‘05: S.Gibernau, 1.57.504
CIRCUIT RECORD: A.Barros, 1.59.302 (2004)
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