EDWARDS AND ROSSI GET TO GRIPS WITH LAGUNA SECA
Yamaha Factory Racing riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards
began their preparations for the eighth round of the MotoGP
World Championship in front of a bumper crowd today as the
series returned to Laguna Seca after an exile of more than
a decade. It was a day of contrasting experiences for the
Yamaha pair, with the reigning World Champion paying his first
visit to the legendary Californian circuit whilst his American
team-mate made an exciting homecoming to a track he grew up
on in the national AMA series. Whilst Rossi tentatively found
his bearings at the rollercoaster track, Edwards benefited
from his previous knowledge of its intricate layout to immediately
begin set-up work in this morning’s first free practice,
which was split into two extended sessions of 55 minutes.
The Texan lapped consistently amongst the fastest riders as
he ran through a series of suspension and tyre tests, clocking
the sixth quickest time of the day in the afternoon’s
hour-long second free practice. Rossi, one of ten riders in
the MotoGP class to have no previous race experience at Laguna
Seca, set his best time in the morning and lies ninth fastest
on the combined time sheets. Nicky Hayden (Honda) clocked
the fastest time of the day with a lap of 1’24.228 after
overturning Troy Bayliss (Honda) in the afternoon session.
COLIN EDWARDS (6th; 1’24.696 – 55 laps)
“It’s great to be back here at Laguna Seca and
the support I’ve had even today has been awesome. With
this being my home Grand Prix and having Valentino as my team-mate,
the backing for the whole team has been incredible. As far
as the bike is concerned, we’ve already got the rear
end working probably better than anything I’ve ever
ridden around this circuit and generally it feels great. The
only thing I’m having a little trouble with is keeping
the front on the ground and turning into the corners, so we
have a few areas that we need to strengthen. I’m really
happy with my pace and my lap time because I know there is
a lot more to come from us tomorrow.”
VALENTINO ROSSI (9th; 1’24.969 – 72 laps)
“This is an ‘old style’ track and to be
honest I think maybe our bike is a little too fast for it,
so today I haven’t been able to push to the limit. It
is hard to find the right set-up in these circumstances and
at the moment we still have a lot work to do. We need more
time on the track and more kilometres with the bike to find
out where we can push harder, make up some time and be stronger.
I am a little concerned about the safety of the track and
today we will have a meeting with the other riders to discuss
it. Anyway, I have enjoyed riding at Laguna Seca, especially
the Corkscrew, because in the past I have only seen it on
the television. The big crowds here show that MotoGP should
be in America, but we also need to make sure it is safe.”
DANIELE ROMAGNOLI – COLIN EDWARDS’ CREW
CHIEF
“It has been quite a challenge for us to find a set-up
for the bike at this track but thankfully we have the perfect
rider to give us the feedback we need because there are not
many people who know this circuit like Colin does. The first
step for us this morning was to find the gearbox setting,
which we were able to do quite quickly, and then start to
work on the front and rear suspension. We have got the rear
working quite well but we have some more work to do adjusting
the front spring settings which should give Colin more confidence
in the bike and push for a much better time tomorrow.”
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