Mixed start for Tech 3 Yamaha in Germany
The second half of the 2008 MotoGP world championship got
off to a mixed start for the Tech 3 Yamaha team in Germany
today.
Colin Edwards once again impressed with the third fastest
time as he looks to continue his own superb run of form. Working
on improving front tyre grip, Edwards' best lap of 1.22.463
saw him finish top Michelin rider as he goes in search of
sixth successive top five finish in Sunday's 30-lap race.
The Texan's confidence wasn't dented by a crash at the final
corner when he was lying second, and he believes further improvements
to front tyre grip will help him mount a serious challenge
for a third podium finish of the season.
Today's opening free practice sessions though proved a much
tougher affair for rookie James Toseland. After finding himself
on familiar territory at Donington and Assen, Toseland again
faced the challenging prospect of learning the technical Sachsenring
track from scratch.
The 27-year-old, who walked away from an early crash this
morning, is confident he can significantly lower his lap times
tomorrow having made big strides in improving the set-up of
his YZR-M1 machine.
Colin Edwards 3rd 1.22.463 - 51 laps
"This morning I went out and I didn't have a lot of feeling
from the front. I thought it was a small issue with grip so
we played around with the bike and it didn't really get any
better. The feeling I'm always looking for just wasn't there
and I'm a front-end guy. I just couldn't get the front to
gel with me. I tried a different front tyre this afternoon
- a harder one - and that felt better but it is something
that we never use. This place is so hard on front tyres and
what we normally use race after race wouldn't have the durability,
so Michelin have had to improvise a little bit and it was
just a feeling that I'm not used to. I went out there and
got going and did a couple of good laps and the next thing
I crashed. I braked for the last corner and that was it. You
know when you do something wrong because when you get in they're
too hot and your eyes bulge out, you know you are not going
to make it. But I didn't even do that. I just cruised into
the corner like normal and I was down. I had zero warning.
Michelin and the team came up with some ideas to try and create
some more front feel and I went out on the spare bike and
at the end I wasn't even really pushing and I did a 22 and
it seemed easy because I had some feel. So a big thanks to
Michelin and my guys for the improvements we found. Honestly
though this is the best package I've ever rolled out of the
truck on a Friday at this circuit. I normally come here and
it is a nightmare for me to get the bike working. But today
it worked like a charm and Michelin have done a great job
with the rear tyres. They are awesome, so with more feel now
from the front I'm really confident."
James Toseland 17th 1.23.864 - 55 laps
"It is quite a difficult track to learn and really technical.
It is one of those tracks where it is blind in a lot of places
and you need to keep on the throttle. So you really need to
know where you're going. We have tried a lot of things today,
which has been interesting and right at the end I finally
found a bit of rhythm in the 23s but then the chequered flag
came out. We've been working between two settings to see which
one is more comfortable and now at least we know the direction
to go in to make the bike more rideable. It looks a lot worse
on paper than it is and I'm still upbeat. I'm bottom of the
list but at the end I saw a bit of a light at the end of the
tunnel, so fingers crossed it will be dry tomorrow. The problem
is we are struggling to find the set-up for the shorter bike.
It is much easier to find with the longer bike but that one
has a few issues. With the shorter bike it is the same problem
as before, there is too much weight transition on that bike
under braking and I've not got much feel from the rear tyre
on the entry. The crash on the third lap this morning put
me off a bit. That was my mistake. I just touched the white
line going into that lefthander and it just lost traction
as I got back onto the tarmac and down I went. Both of my
arms are black and blue because the stones are quite big in
the gravel. I went in backwards and dug my arms in a bit and
it has really battered them."
Circuit Length: 3671
Weather: Dry
2008 MotoGP Germany - Sachsenring 11/07/2008
Free Practice
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 1'21.582
2 Alex De Angelis Honda SMR 1'21.993
3 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 1'22.463
4 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'22.617
5 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 1'22.759
6 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 1'22.894
6 Shinya Nakano Honda JPN 1'22.922
8 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 1'22.975
9 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 1'22.999
10 Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 1'23.116
11 Sylvain Guintoli Ducati FRA 1'23.209
12 Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA 1'23.274
13 Toni Elias Ducati ESP 1'23.366
14 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 1'23.411
15 Anthony West Kawasaki AUS 1'23.452
17 James Toseland Yamaha GBR 1'23.864
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