GAULOISES YAMAHA PAIR TAKE FRONT TWO GRID SLOTS AT LE MANS
 Gauloises
Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards took
the front two positions on the starting grid for the French
Grand Prix in a grandstand finale to today’s qualifying
session. After a wet morning practice the thick clouds were
broken by bright sunshine that warmed the Le Mans circuit
in the afternoon, giving the riders a crucial opportunity
to work on their race set-up for tomorrow’s fourth round
of the MotoGP World Championship. It was the most intense
practice session of the season so far as the teams worked
frantically in the pit boxes and the riders pushed harder
and harder towards a dramatic climax. After setting the fastest
time in the only other dry practice so far this weekend, which
took place in cool conditions yesterday morning, it was no
surprise when Edwards surged to the top of the time sheets
with eight minutes remaining. Having used a softer compound
Michelin tyre for that lap, Edwards then moved on to his qualifying
tyres and posted two more scorching times, only to be denied
pole position by his irrepressible team-mate with a pair of
stunning laps of his own. Rossi’s first effort proved
decisive as he stopped the clock at 1’33.226, some 0.199
seconds inside the pole position record, before setting a
second lap within a tenth of that time.
VALENTINO ROSSI – (1’33.226, 29 laps)
“This track wasn’t so good for me last year so
this pole position is very important. We suffered a little
bit in the practice but we did a great job in the hour we
had this afternoon. The weather was good, the track surface
was good and we were able to take advantage of every available
second, working a lot on the tyres and the suspension. The
race configuration is not bad. I put in a qualifying tyre
and I wasn’t at 100% on the first lap, but the second
lap was perfect and the grip was excellent. I’m really
happy for Yamaha because Colin is second today. He is a fast
rider and his performance shows the potential of the YZR-M1.
I think we can both have a good race tomorrow.”
 COLIN
EDWARDS (1’33.449, 28 laps)
"At last our hard work in the preseason and over the
first three races is paying off! We pulled the bikes off the
truck on Friday morning and basically they worked straight
away. One of them had a simple base set-up and we dialled
a few things into the other one that we thought would work
here, and they turned out to be perfect. My race pace was
really good and Michelin had the idea of putting a slightly
softer tyre on before switching to the qualifiers, which really
helped. The whole team have worked tremendously hard so far
this season so this is a welcome boost. The first corner should
be a bit gnarly but I’m feeling confident and, as I
said yesterday, I’m ready to race whatever the weather.”
DAVIDE BRIVIO – TEAM DIRECTOR
“The team did a great job today, especially the riders.
It is only Saturday but we’re very happy to have the
top two places on the grid. We’ve worked hard for the
race and it seems both riders can keep a good pace and use
all of the potential of the bike. We’ll see how it goes
tomorrow but my dream is for the same result!”
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