KONICA MINOLTA Honda make steady improvements at Le Mans
KONICA MINOLTA Honda made solid improvements today during
qualifying for tomorrow’s French Grand Prix. Shinya
Nakano was again evaluating new Michelin front tyres following
yesterday’s rain-hit sessions. The 29-year-old Japanese
rider tried to make the most of the qualifying hour and managed
to shave a further two seconds off his lap time, moving up
to 2nd place with 22 minutes to go. Unfortunately during his
second stint on qualifying tyres he made a mistake and couldn’t
improve further while other riders moved ahead. There’s
a chance that tomorrow’s 28-lap race at the 2.6mile
Bugatti circuit could be hit by rain.
Gianluca Montiron – Team Manager KONICA MINOLTA
Honda
“It’s a shame that Shinya made a mistake during
his last quick lap, as he was fastest in the first sector
before the error. Maybe he pushed too much, but I’m
satisfied that we can see our rider has the potential to be
nearer the top, but we have to work harder and put more pressure
on each other to get results. This means the Team and rider
need to focus more on making improvements during all the practice
sessions so we’re further up the grid for the race.
We have faith in our technical package and it’s important
that every time we go out on track we push hard and give 100%.
Tomorrow is the race and I’m sure that Shinya will get
to show to us that he’s got the ability to run nearer
the front.”
Shinya Nakano – Rider, KONICA MINOLTA Honda
(53 laps – 1’ 34.834”)
“This morning we had a good session and did a fast run
and then we made some changes to the clutch which helped reduce
chatter from the front a little. The new Michelin front tyres
are helping to give me more confidence in the front-end of
the bike, which is an improvement. Our tyre choice for the
race is decided, but in the morning tomorrow we will make
some changes to the front suspension to see if we can reduce
chatter still further. I don’t give up – the start
here will be vitally important, as will who gets through the
first chicane.”
Giulio Bernardelle – Technical Director, KONICA
MINOLTA Honda
“The situation was better for us this morning and afternoon
compared to yesterday as Shinya felt better with race tyres
and in the afternoon session we found what we hope will be
a good compromise for tomorrow’s race. We will have
to reduce the chatter we do seem to encounter after a few
laps. With qualifying tyres it isn’t so bad, but our
last attempt on a lap time with the qualifying tyres was affected
by a mistake when the bike had a slide. Our position is 14th
but our situation is better than in China thanks to the fact
that the contact feeling with the front is coming better and
Shinya is able to ride much more like he prefers. This afternoon
we did some work on the rear suspension and clutch to help
reduce the chatter a little. We may now test something different
on the front suspension tomorrow morning to see if that helps.”
GP of France – Qualifying practice classification
1) Colin Edwards Yamaha 1’ 33.616”
2) Casey Stoner Ducati 1’ 33.710”
3) Carlos Checa Honda 1’ 33.859”
4) Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1’ 33.875”
5) John Hopkins Suzuki 1’ 34.102”
14) Shinya Nakano Honda 1’ 34.834”
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