Promising first day for Rizla Suzuki at Brno
 Rizla
Suzuki MotoGP began the first day back after the mid-season
break in fine form at Brno in the Czech Republic today, with
both riders in the top-six.
Loris Capirossi led the way for the boys in blue as he clocked
a time of 1’58.000 from his 46 laps to give him third
place on the timesheets at the end of day one. Capirossi is
still nursing the injury he sustained in Assen in June, but
he appeared untroubled by the wound as he consistently improved
his times around the newly re-surfaced 5,403m Brno circuit.
Chris Vermeulen continued with his good run of form - which
has seen him take two podiums in the last two races –
at the Czech track today. He was constantly in touch with
the leaders in both sessions before finishing in sixth place
with a time of 1’58.462 from his 46 laps, just over
a second behind today’s fastest time set by current
World Champion Casey Stoner on his Bridgestone shod Ducati.
The new surface at Brno looked likely to be a severe test
for the Bridgestone tyres as little data about performance
was available before this weekend, but the Japanese tyres
certainly got to grips with the recently laid asphalt, as
the top-eight bikes were on Bridgestones.
Today’s practice was held in warm but overcast conditions
with the ground temperatures reaching the mid 30ºC mark,
but that could all change when Capirossi and Vermeulen take
to the track for tomorrow’s final practice session in
the morning and the qualifying in the afternoon, with rain
forecast over the weekend.
Sunday’s race is round 12 of the MotoGP season and
the race gets underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT).
Loris Capirossi:
‘I am really happy with today’s performance because
after the first couple of laps this morning I was a bit worried,
because we just hadn’t got the setting right. I think
that was mostly down to the new surface and it was a bit dirty
and made it very difficult to control the bike. I came into
the box and we made some changes to the bike and by the end
of this morning’s session the feeling was good. We made
a lot more changes this afternoon and with the new setting
I felt really good on the bike. My lap-time is not too bad,
but I think we can improve on that, we have the power and
I need to work on my rhythm a bit. One of the best things
today is that I am nearly at 100% after the injury, my condition
is great and this weekend I want to give the team something
good because after recent races they really need it!”
Chris Vermeulen:
“I really enjoy it here and it was great to get back
on the bike because the last week or so I’ve started
to get itchy feet. The bike worked well straight out of the
crate and we used the base setting that we have had success
with at the last couple of races. We are working on a few
modifications and doing some longer runs on the tyres to test
the durability on the new surface. It seems to be going really
well and we have a couple more things to work on tomorrow.
I’m quite looking forward to the weekend and just hope
the weather stays good.”
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“The first thing I have to say is that it’s great
to have the original spec Loris back in the garage! His arm
is still causing him some pain and it doesn’t look too
good, but it is at a level now where it isn’t restricting
his riding and he is able to concentrate on the bike and his
own performance. Being in the top-three today is a great encouragement
for the team and tremendous personal boost for Loris after
all the pain of the recent Grands Prix.
“Chris has also been on the pace all day, he’s
been consistently quick and able to maintain a very good lap-time
– even on tyres that have done more than race distance.
I think he’s still got a bit more left in him and his
crew will be looking to make the job easier with a few detailed
changes to the bike overnight.
“Bridgestone has done a fabulous job to prepare tyres
for this completely new surface. We expected some abrasion
problems with the front, but this is now reasonably well under
control and the rear tyre is working very well and very consistently.
The front two guys – as in Laguna – are a bit
ahead, but the rest of the field is very close and we will
need to keep our focus to stay in the fight for the podium
positions.”
Cardion AB Grand Prix Ceske Republicky Free Practice
Classification:
1. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 1’57.231: 2. Valentino Rossi
(Yamaha) +0.179: 3. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP)
+0.769: 4. Shinya Nakano (Honda) +0.997: 5. Alex de Angelis
(Honda) +1.033: 6. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTPGP) +1.231:
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