COLD AND WINDY FIRST DAY IN AUSTRALIA
Toni Elias and Rubén Xaus had to take a strong wind
into account as they began work today at Phillip Island. Elías
was satisfied with 8th place provisionally after the first
day, whilst Xaus wants to rediscover his form from previous
visits to the track, where he has appeared on the podium on
various occasions. A half-hour rain shower hit the start of
the first free MotoGP session, and not until 30 minutes of
the session had gone did the riders manage to get full on
the throttle. It was a complicated day due the cold and wind,
and it saw Loris Capirossi taken to hospital with a severe
contusion to his chest after a crash, ruling him out of Sunday’s
race, whilst Kenny Roberts Jr will also miss the event after
breaking his left wrist.
TONI ELIAS
First free practice: 12th, 1’33.314, + 1.763 from Gibernau
Second free practice (Combined): 8th, 1’31.951, + 1.602
from Rossi
“It’s not at all bad. In the morning we began
by having a few problems, because it’s a much quicker
track than the previous few. We got through those problems
though, until more came along in the afternoon. I’m
happy though because we’ve made some progress and 8th
is good for the time being. It’s very cold and there’s
a lot of wind, but everyone has to deal with that I suppose.”
RUBEN XAUS
First free practice: 16th, 1’34.362, + 2.811 from Gibernau
Second free practice (Combined): 14th, 1’33.098, + 2.749
from Rossi
“I feel much stranger than I wanted to at this track.
I’ve had some great experiences here, and have been
on the podium on many occasions after some great races. I’d
like to be able to ride differently. There are areas where
I was quicker last year, or where I rode quicker before. It’s
because of my riding style though, because when I try to anticipate
opening the throttle the tyre doesn’t absorb the power
and it slides much more than it should. My position isn’t
too bad, the track conditions make it very difficult, and
we still need to test a few tyres. The track was cold today
and to be honest, when you slow down to follow somebody, it’s
a risk afterwards.”
Antonio Jiménez, Toni Elías’
Chief Mechanic
“It has been a tough day. In the morning we were only
able to test for half an hour because the track was wet. But
I think we reacted quickly and we anticipated the circumstances;
what we tested worked out. We are quite happy now, but we
shouldn’t rest on our laurels because everyone will
improve further tomorrow.”
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