GAULOISES YAMAHA PAIR SEAL TOP FIVE STARTS AT PHILLIP ISLAND
Gauloises Yamaha riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards
both lapped inside the previous pole record time at Phillip
Island today in a highly competitive battle for grid positions
ahead of tomorrow’s Australian Grand Prix. Rossi shaved
almost six tenths off the record time he set here two years
ago to secure a front row start in second place behind pole
setter Nicky Hayden (Honda). Team-mate Edwards was in equally
impressive form, knocking almost two seconds off his best
effort from yesterday as he became one of only five riders
to dip under the 1’30 mark at the legendary track. After
tussling with Carlos Checa (Ducati) at the top of the time
sheets for the majority of the session, Rossi launched his
attack for pole in the final few minutes but was held up by
another rider in the final two corners of his fastest lap.
The Italian chose not to finish the lap and came in to switch
to a fresh tyre for one last attempt, which didn’t quite
match the pace of his first and fell 0.106 seconds short of
Hayden’s record-breaking effort of 1’29.337. Edwards
improved as the session progressed, ironing out some set-up
difficulties with the YZR-M1 before clocking his personal
best time at this circuit and sealing a second row start in
fifth place.
VALENTINO ROSSI (2nd – 1’29.443 31 laps)
“I was quite confident for pole position because the
team have done a great job with the bike this weekend and
it worked well from yesterday. I lost my best opportunity
to take pole when I was held up by Xaus in the final corner;
I tried to overtake him but I wasn’t able to so I came
in and tried again with another tyre. Anyway, sometimes that
happens. I tried my best and my lap time was very fast but
in the end Nicky was faster so congratulations to him –
it was a great ride. I am quite happy because the bike is
good and second place is not so bad. It will be a hard race,
especially for the tyres, but hopefully the good weather will
continue tomorrow!”
COLIN EDWARDS (5th – 1’29.943 28 laps)
“When you look back to yesterday the situation today
is miles better. It looked like we were going to have a rough
weekend but the team have worked really hard and we’ve
worked the majority of the problems out. The truth is that
we’ve still got room for improvement but if we can make
progress in tomorrow’s warm-up in the same way we moved
forward today then we should be in even better shape for the
race. I must admit that I’m a little relieved because
it’s a big race for me and after the first couple of
practice sessions I wasn’t too confident. Now I’m
looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully I can put on a good
show for the family, friends and fans who have come down to
support me.”
DAVIDE BRIVIO – GAULOISES YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR
“There was a lot of traffic on the track today and
a lot of riders trying to follow Valentino to set a good time.
The penultimate tyre he used was probably the best, but he
got held up by Xaus and he was very sensible to come in and
take a fresh tyre for another attempt. Anyway, even without
the pole position Valentino has shown himself to be very strong
today and he has a good race pace. Colin has also taken some
big steps forward since yesterday, so we are confident both
our riders can have a good day tomorrow. We have already won
the Riders’ and Teams’ titles and we hope we can
complete the trio with the Manufacturers’ championship
tomorrow.”
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