FIRST PRACTICE FOR FORTUNA RACING RIDERS
The Fortuna MotoGP riders today went out in the first practice
sessions for the Japanese Grand Prix, where Valentino Rossi
could proclaim himself World Champion on board his Yamaha
M1 on Sunday. Elias and Xaus have begun to look for the ideal
set-up at a very different type of track. Elias already knows
how to win in Japan, having done it in 125 and 250 and on
two different manufacturers’ machines. For Xaus, he
finished 9th here last year and this time his aim is to improve
on that.
Toni Elias
16th, +1’632 seconds on John Hopkins best time
1st free practice 1’49.584
2nd free practice 1’49.842
Toni Elias today rode the MotoGP Yamaha M1 bike for the first
time at Motegi. The Spaniard explained his feelings after
day one: “With the M1 this track is much harder, although
it’s still a track with a lot of braking, and you need
a set-up focused on those areas where you need to stop the
bike. We began well this morning, with a good rhythm, and
I think we have improved compared to the last GP in the Czech
Republic. In the afternoon, things went badly, I think we
maybe took two steps backwards in our tests. Tomorrow we will
return to the right way, and I hope to improve. Regarding
these three races over the next weeks, I hope to have finally
overcome my scaphoid injury and get amongst the top ten, beginning
with this Sunday.”
Rubén Xaus
19th + 3’406 seconds off pole
1st free practice 1’51.441
2nd free practice 1’51.358
“It’s still a new circuit for me, because I only
rode it for the first time last year. It’s complicated
with the Yamaha, as it has been all season really, I’m
looking to enjoy myself on the bike and find the right feeling.
I didn’t have a good night’s sleep and that has
affected my performance. We have managed to make some changes
to both of my bikes and now the hard work is fitting together
what goes well and get the bike set-up so I can lower my lap-times.
I’m confident because I will not give up on trying to
get the best out of this Yamaha.”
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