FORTUNA HONDA RIDERS HIT THE TRACK IN LOSAIL
Marco makes the provisional front row whilst team-mate Toni
Elias is eighth, less than half a second down
The FORTUNA HONDA riders today completed the first day of
practices at the 2006 Qatar Grand Prix which was blessed with
excellent weather. The lack of wind meant that conditions
were near perfect for the riders as they got to grips with
the Qatari circuit of Losail.
After his fine performance at Jerez two weeks ago, Marco
Melandri was right back on the pace as he lapped consistently.
Looking comfortable throughout, the Italian rider posted the
third best time of the day, just 0.105 of a second behind
provisional pole-sitter, Kenny Roberts Jr.
Team-mate Toni Elias, who celebrated his 23rd birthday at
Jerez last weekend where he finished in an excellent fourth
place, dedicated himself to the set-up of his Honda RC211V
and tested various Michelin tyres. In the end, the Spanish
rider was eighth, less than half a second of the pole pace.
MARCO MELANDRI (1'57"010, 3rd position, 21 laps):
"I am happy not only to have got a good result today,
but because I arrived here in Qatar feeling very relaxed and
concentrated. The test day we had in Jerez on the Monday was
very important in that sense, I want to thank the Honda technicians
for all the support they have given me to improve my feeling
with the bike. I think we are very close to getting the ideal
set-up for the bike. I have always liked this circuit a lot
and the track is in very good condition. However, we can still
improve further."
TONI ELIAS (1'57"392, 8th position, 20 laps
): "I am satisfied. In the morning I did not
feel very comfortable on the bike so we made a change to the
set-up which gave us the results we had hoped for. From then
on I lapped much more comfortably and was able to focus on
testing the Michelin tyres. The forecasts say it will be very
hot here on race day and I hope that does not affect our performance.
We still have to improve some aspects but I think we have
made an important step forward already."
THE LAP TIMES
K.Roberts jr (USA/Honda) 1'56"905
C.Stoner (AUS/Honda) 1'56"911
M.MELANDRI (Ita/Honda) 1'57"010
C.Edwards (Usa/Yamaha) 1'57"024
L.Capirossi (Ita/Ducati) 1'57"031
V.Rossi (Ita/Yamaha) 1'57"041
D.Pedrosa (Sp/Honda) 1'57"360
T.ELIAS (Sp/Honda) 1'57"392
|
