FIM MotoGP World Championship Sachsenring, Germany July 11, 2008 Free Practice Two Results: 1. Casey STONER (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:21.582, crash 2. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:21.993 3. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:22.463, crash 4. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), Bridgestone, 1:22.796 5. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:22.894 6. Shinya NAKANO (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:22.922 7. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), Michelin, 1:22.974, crash 8. Nicky HAYDEN (Honda), Michelin, 1:22.975 9. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda), Michelin, 1:23.093, crash 10. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda), Michelin, 1:23.116 11. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:23.209 12. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 1:23.274 13. Toni ELIAS (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:23.366 14. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 1:23.411 15. Anthony WEST (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:23.452 16. Marco MELANDRI (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:23.698 17. James TOSELAND (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:23.864 Best Practice Times Combined: 1. Stoner, 1:21.582 2. De Angelis, 1:21.993 3. Edwards, 1:22.463 4. Rossi, 1:22.617 5. Pedrosa, 1:22.759 6. Lorenzo, 1:22.894 7. Nakano, 1:22.922 8. Hayden, 1:22.975 9. Dovizioso, 1:22.999 10. De Puniet, 1:23.116 11. Guintoli, 1:23.209 12. Capirossi, 1:23.274 13. Elias, 1:23.366 14. Vermeulen, 1:23.411 15. West, 1:23.452 16. Melandri, 1:23.698 17. Toseland, 1:23.864 More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Capirossi battles through the pain at Sachsenring Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racer Loris Capirossi made his comeback from injury at Sachsenring in Germany today and immediately set about his work with the same determination and conviction that he has shown all season. Capirossi (P12, 1’23.274, 56 laps) is still suffering from the puncture wound he sustained last time out in Assen, but the courageous Italian showed little sign on the track of the injury hampering his performance, as he completed as many laps of the 3,671m German circuit in the afternoon session as any other rider present. He will continue to have further medical assistance to help with his recovery tonight to ensure he is in the best possible condition for tomorrow’s qualifying and Sunday’s race. Chris Vermeulen (P14, 1’23.411, 58 laps) had a mixed couple of practice sessions today. He was very satisfied with the progress he and his crew made in the morning period, but was not as pleased with how things went during the afternoon. He made a number of changes to his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R during the hour-long session but just couldn’t find the setting he was looking for and although he clocked a quicker time he eventually reverted back to the morning’s set-up to try and find the best way forward. Today’s practice was held in dry and very warm conditions with track temperatures reaching 46ºC. The fastest time was set by World Champion Casey Stoner on his Bridgestone-shod Ducati. Rizla Suzuki has one more practice session tomorrow morning followed by the qualifying in the afternoon. Sunday’s 30-lap race is round 10 of the season and gets underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT). Loris Capirossi: “First of all I want to say I’m really sorry to the whole team, because today I have had to fight with myself as well as the bike due to my condition still being not as good as it could be – but I am happy to be here and happy to be fighting to get back to fitness. The thing that I want is to have is my condition 100% because the bike is not too bad here and it is working very well around this track. The team have made a really good job and they improved the bike a lot from this morning. We have to keep working in the same way tomorrow and I am sure we can still be more competitive!” Chris Vermeulen: “It has not been a good day overall even though we did make a good start this morning and the bike worked well straight out of the box. We only used one set of tyres in the morning session and the durability seemed really good while the track was cooler. This afternoon it was much warmer, but we seemed to go nowhere with the bike. We tried a few things but still went back to the same setting as we had this morning. We just couldn’t seem to make it better so we have a lot of work to do overnight to make it happen tomorrow.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “It hasn’t been the easiest of days for a variety of reasons but at least the weather has held and that has enabled us to get a lot of laps ridden and a lot of information gathered. I think that Loris is in more pain and is physically struggling more than he expected – and certainly more than he is admitting to! We can only say thank-you for his enthusiasm and commitment to get back on the bike and continue to push things in the right direction. His 31-laps in this afternoon’s session show that he is certainly not scared of enduring the pain and that he wants to make the bike the best it can be in time for Sunday’s race. “Chris and his crew have some work to do to find the right feeling, and he is really struggling to get confidence and grip in the fast corners. It’s going to be a case of burning the midnight oil and making sure we’ve got all the options covered to improve tomorrow, he certainly has the ability to be a lot closer to the front.” More, from another press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Rizla Suzuki takes the flag early Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racers Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi unveiled a huge flag at the Sachsenring circuit in Germany this morning that will be seen flying over the crowd just before Sunday’s race. The massive 20m x 10m flag has been presented to the Rizla Suzuki Fans and will be used by them in conjunction with Suzuki Deutschland during this weekend’s event. The flag will be unrolled over the Suzuki grandstand at Sachsenring and will be moved over the 3000 spectators expected to gather there just as Vermeulen and Capirossi start the warm-up lap for Sunday’s 30-lap race at approximately 13.55 local time. More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Stoner and De Angelis quickest in Sachsenring practice Round 10: Germany Free Practice Sachsenring Circuit, Friday 11 July 2008 Ducati’s Casey Stoner topped both of today’s free practice sessions at the Sachsenring circuit in Germany, breaking the existing pole position record on Bridgestone race tyres this afternoon. Stoner, winner of the last two grands prix at Donington Park and Assen, was consistently the quickest man on track today and ended the day 0.4s clear of the rest of the field. The closest rider to Stoner’s standard was San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Alex De Angelis who was the only other rider to dip under the 1m22s mark today. De Angelis was second in both practice sessions and has an enviable record at Sachsenring, having finished on the podium each year since 2002 in both 125cc and 250cc classes. Backing up Honda Gresini’s strong form today, De Angelis’s team-mate Shinya Nakano ended the day in seventh position on the combined standings. Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi ensured three Bridgestone-shod riders were in the top four with fourth place overall in the combined classification. Rossi’s fastest time of the day was set in the morning practice hour in which he finished third. Several other Bridgestone-shod riders were among the tightly-packed midfield which sees just over half-a-second separating sixth and fifteenth positions. Tyre Talk with Tohru Ubukata – Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development How were today’s two sessions from Bridgestone’s perspective? “It has been a productive day and we were able to enjoy two dry sessions in order to evaluate the tyres we have here this weekend. We looked at both medium and hard compounds for both front and rear and were able to see quite a good performance level from both. Casey is again proving to be untouchable, and his performance today was really incredible. Both Gresini riders were on strong form today, especially Alex who was the top Honda rider of the day, and it is really encouraging to see the team and riders performing so well on our tyres. “ How sure can you be about the durability of the tyres for this weekend? “It is difficult to say much about durability today because we were looking at initial performance of the different compounds, and we did not carry out any long runs. This is something that we plan to look at during tomorrow’s two sessions, but we have to hope the weather remains dry for us to verify this important aspect of our race preparations. This track is very tough on the left hand side of the tyre, and puts a lot of focus on front tyre performance, so these are things we need to look at more closely ahead of the race. For day one, though, I am quite satisfied.” Bridgestone-shod Riders’ Combined Practice Session Results Pos. Rider Team Session 1 (pos) Session 2 (pos) Gap P1 Casey Stoner Ducati Corse 1m22.318s (P1) 1m21.582s (P1) Fastest P2 Alex de Angelis San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m22.582s (P2) 1m21.993s (P2) +0.411s P4 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1m22.617s (P3) 1m22.796s (P4) +1.035s P7 Shinya Nakano San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m23.038s (P6) 1m22.922s (P7) +1.340s P11 Sylvain Guintoli Alice Team 1m23.728s (P13) 1m23.209s (P11) +1.627s P12 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m24.646s (P17) 1m23.274s (P12) +1.692s P13 Toni Elias Alice Team 1m24.086s (P14) 1m23.366s (P13) +1.784s P14 Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m23.462s (P11) 1m23.411s (P14) +1.829s P15 Anthony West Kawasaki Racing Team 1m23.627s (P12) 1m23.452s (P15) +1.870s P16 Marco Melandri Ducati Corse 1m24.117s (P15) 1m23.698s (P16) +2.116s Weather: Session 1 / Dry Air 24°C, Track 31°C (Bridgestone measurement) Session 2 / Dry Air 29°C, Track 44°C (Bridgestone measurement) More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: WEST HAMPERED BY CRASH AT SACHSENRING Kawasaki’s Anthony West bounced back from a high-speed crash this morning, to finish the opening day of practice for Sunday’s German Grand Prix at Sachsenring 15th fastest on combined times. The 26-year-old Australian had been lapping consistently throughout the hour-long morning session, as he worked with his crew to improve the braking stability of his Ninja ZX-RR. But as the session drew to a close, West lost the front of his Kawasaki on the entry to the 230 km/h left-hander at turn six, crashing heavily. The Kawasaki pilot suffered injuries to his back and left forearm as he tumbled through the gravel trap, with the result that he returned to the track for this afternoon’s free practice session more than a little battered and bruised. West was also restricted to just one bike for afternoon practice, as his number one machine was almost completely destroyed in the crash and there was too little time between sessions for the Australian’s crew to rebuild a spare bike from the ground up. While West and his crew made significant improvements to the set-up of his Ninja ZX-RR throughout the hour-long second practice session, the Kawasaki rider struggled with changing direction through the high-speed sections of the track, due mainly to the back injury restricting his movement on the bike. West will receive treatment on his injured back tonight, and he remains confident that a top ten grid position is a realistic target for tomorrow’s qualifying session. Anthony West #13 – 15th – 1’23.452 “We had some problems with braking stability this morning, but the biggest problem was the crash right at the end of the session. When I hit the gravel trap something must have dug in, because I started tumbling and that’s what damaged my back. It was a bit painful during the afternoon session, especially through the high-speed sections where you need to use your bodyweight to get the bike to change direction. We made some definite improvements to the bike this afternoon, especially with the braking stability. Through some sections of the track it’s working really well, but we still need to look at improving drive out of the turns; specifically at the last corner which leads onto the start finish straight. I will get some treatment on my back tonight, and I’m pretty sure it won’t be an issue tomorrow. This track is really difficult to pass at, so qualifying in the top ten is essential tomorrow afternoon.” Naoya Kaneko Kawasaki Technical Manager “This morning we had some problems with braking stability, especially in a straight line, but we made significant improvements in this area during the afternoon. Anthony is still saying that he lacks some feeling through certain parts of the track, so we need to look at altering the balance of the bike for tomorrow. We also need to improve drive stability, especially out of the last corner, as the bike is moving around too much under acceleration and that makes it difficult for Anthony to get on the gas early. Because we’re not sure what the weather will do tomorrow we tested all of our tyre options today. If the conditions on Sunday are the same as today then we know we have a good tyre for the race.” More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: ROSSI LOOKING TO IMPROVE PACE IN GERMANY The MotoGP paddock returned to action today at the Sachsenring in eastern Germany and Valentino Rossi and his crew were quick to get back to work, with the aim of recouping the points they lost last time out in Assen. The hot and sunny weather today was a welcome respite from the rain that has been following the paddock around Europe, and a full day of dry set-up time left the Fiat Yamaha rider 4th in the combined standings. Rossi, who currently lies second in the championship, made a good start this morning and finished the first session in third, just 0.299 off Casey Stoner. He was confident of making more improvement this afternoon but a small set-up change failed to reap the expected rewards and he was unable to improve on his time from this morning. He still finished the practice in fourth place but a second’s gap to the lead rider means that Rossi and his crew face a hard day’s work tomorrow to make up for the time they lost this afternoon. His team-mate Jorge Lorenzo meanwhile made an improvement of almost half a second this afternoon and finished the day in sixth. Valentino Rossi Position: 4th Time: 1’22.617 Laps: 63 “For sure I’m not happy after today’s practice! This afternoon we tried some modifications to the setting and we decided to try a softer set-up, but things didn’t work how we hoped and we couldn’t improve our time. In the fast corners I wasn’t fast enough, and I was always a little bit wide. This afternoon I couldn’t ride how I wanted to. Obviously this afternoon’s choice is not the right way for us at this circuit and therefore tomorrow morning we will return to this morning’s set-up and try to close the gap to Casey. I didn’t try the new electronics today and actually at the moment it’s more likely that we won’t this weekend, but I did try some different Bridgestone tyres and we found one which we think will be okay for the race. I am confident that our potential is more than today so we will do our best to improve tomorrow.” Davide Brivio Team Manager “We started well this morning but unfortunately we weren’t able to improve our lap times this afternoon. We tried something different for the second session and it didn’t have the right result so now we have to analyse all of today’s information to make sure that we make up for this tomorrow. We had a chance to test some tyres and they’re not so bad here but of course we need more time to improve the package as a whole at this tricky track.” More, from another press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: LORENZO MAKES IMPROVEMENTS AS SUN SHINES AT SACHSENRING Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo made the most of the sunshine at the Sachsenring today to make some good progress on the set-up of his YZR-M1, finishing the first day of practice for the German Grand Prix sixth in the combined standings. The 21-year-old has finally been able to return to his full training schedule following his recent spate of injuries and proved he’s feeling fitter and more confident by improving his lap times steadily throughout today. Lorenzo, who has never won at this track, struggled a little in the cooler morning practice, lacking some rear grip and finishing tenth. This afternoon however it was a different story and, with temperatures touching 30 degrees, the Michelin-shod rider improved his time by nearly half a second to finish fifth in the session and sixth in the combined standings. His team-mate Valentino Rossi was just 0.098 seconds ahead of him this afternoon but with a gap of over a second to the lead rider, both Lorenzo and Rossi will be looking to make more significant progress tomorrow. Jorge Lorenzo Position: 6th Time: 1’22.894 Laps: 65 “I feel like I have a lot of confidence here compared to the last few races, and this is a nice feeling because it’s enabling me to ride much more aggressively. We had some problems with the rear grip this morning and I was happy about the improvements that we made this afternoon, but the bike setting is still not perfect and I feel like we should be going faster. The problem is that, although I was in fifth place this afternoon, the gap to Stoner in front is very big and it’s hard for us to understand how he is going so much faster than us! From this it is clear, even though I have a good feeling, that the bike is not performing exactly as it should and therefore we need to try to improve our package more. Of course I also need to keep building my confidence and improving my riding as I get more used to a MotoGP bike at this track. I hope that tomorrow we can close the gap to the front.” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “To start with in the morning session we had some problems; specifically we didn’t have enough rear grip. This afternoon however things were much better and we were able to improve our pace by about half a second, which made everyone much happier. We still have some work to do because we still need to improve the rear grip; it’s not a problem that can be attributed to either the bike or the tyres, it’s just to do with our package as a whole. Now we hope that the weather continues like this tomorrow and this will enable the team to prepare some other solutions to try in order to fine-tune things further.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: A new circuit record and a 1´21.582 lap of the Sachsenring circuit confirmed Casey Stoner´s credentials ahead of the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, with the reigning World Champion heading both practice sessions and going round faster than the pole position record at the German track. The reigning World Champion and winner of the past two MotoGP rounds, Stoner was once again the dominant force in the premier class on Friday, with his nearest rival some 0.745 slower than the Ducati Marlboro rider´s storming early afternoon lap. Only a brief run-off and a lowside in the final ten minutes of the day showed any signs of limits for the Australian, as Stoner kept up a fearsome pace throughout the entire day. Alex de Angelis also confirmed his morning performance was no one-off, the San Carlo Honda Gresini rider the closest to Stoner´s rhythm with satellite machinery. The MotoGP rookie on the 250cc podium at Sachsenring for the past three years- will tomorrow be expecting to qualify on one of the front three rows for the first time since his arrival in the premier class. Tech 3 Yamaha´s Colin Edwards was the only other rider within a second of Stoner´s time, and he himself suffered a crash at the midway point of the session. The American feigned injury from the fall when cameras cut to him in the garage, before quickly revealing that no damage had been done. Fourth on the timesheets was Valentino Rossi, the Fiat Yamaha rider once again fast but playing catch-up with Stoner. Rossi was some 1.214 slower than his title rival, and will need to find an extra second from somewhere between now and Sunday afternoon as he looks to keep up with the current pacesetter. He was unable to improve his time in the second Friday session. The 2007 racewinner did not have an easy time of things. Dani Pedrosa was also unable to better his morning showing, and crashed his Repsol Honda RC212V after losing the front end early on in the session. Second Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo made a late leap up in the standings in the final minute of the afternoon session, back to full fitness after a catalogue of injuries and looking to further regain confidence with his Yamaha M1. The Spaniard was sixth quickest on Friday, behind Pedrosa. Shinya Nakano, Nicky Hayden, Andrea Dovizioso and Randy de Puniet completed the top ten in the opening practice sessions for the Sunday race, with Dovizioso taking a high-speed lowside in the afternoon from which he emerged unscathed. Returning to action in Sachsenring was Loris Capirossi, who picked up his pace before the end of the day, whilst James Toseland´s attempts to familiarise himself with the track were dealt a blow when he crashed in the morning session. 250cc Continuing the record-breaking theme of the Friday Sachsenring sessions, Marco Simoncelli set a new pole position milestone in the 250cc class with a 1´23.953 lap. The Italian continued his run of good form to take provisional pole for the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland. He conceded the top spot for a matter of seconds to persistent rival Hector Barbera at the end of the opening qualifying session, quickly regaining it on his own amazing lap. Barbera had been experiencing front end problems with his Team Toth Aprilia during the afternoon, particularly when pushing hard for the front row places. The duo were separated by just under two-tenths of a second, with series leader Mika Kallio a further half-second down as his lap record was broken. Both Kallio and Red Bull KTM teammate Hiroshi Aoyama also put their names into the hat for the front row places. Fabrizio Lai, and Hector Faubel occupy positions on the provisional second row, alongside Julian Simon and Yuki Takahashi. Assen racewinner and poleman at the past three Grands Prix, Mapfre Aspar´s Alvaro Bautista could only manage the eleventh fastest time of the afternoon. 125cc Having returned to form with victory at Assen, reigning 125cc World Champion Gabor Talmacsi continued from whence he left off with provisional pole for the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland. Last year´s poleman and racewinner at the Sachsenring, Talmacsi´s 1´26.623 lap may have been some way off his pole record, but it was enough to give the Mapfre Aspar rider the provisional top spot in the first lower cylinder category qualifying session. The Hungarian took provisional pole ahead of Polaris World rider Bradley Smith, three tenths of a second faster than his British rival. Home competitor Stefan Bradl had been the fastest rider in the morning practice, but his hopes of repeating the feat in the afternoon run were ended by a last minute crash when chasing Talmacsi´s time. He also pencilled his name onto the front row, alongside title contender Simone Corsi. Assen runner-up Joan Olive heads the second line after the first of two qualifying sessions, joined by Tomoyoshi Koyama, Esteve Rabat and World Championship leader Mike di Meglio. More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: STONER FASTEST ON DAY ONE AS MELANDRI MAKES PROGRESS Casey Stoner was at his brilliant best again at the Sachsenring today, starting the German GP at a blistering pace as he lapped inside the circuit record in morning free practice before dipping inside pole record time during the afternoon, all on race tyres. The Australian’s total domination was blighted only by a crash at the start of his final run, although his work at that point was virtually done, after a day spent adapting front-end set-up to optimise performance of his Bridgestone tyres. Marco Melandri took a small step forward this afternoon, which allowed him to increase his pace in certain sections of the track. He is hoping for similarly good weather tomorrow as he looks to continue in the same vein. Continued collaboration between Ducati Marlboro Team and its technical partners has been particularly fruitful today in finding the optimum set-up for the bike and tyres, with the team’s engineers working closely alongside Bridgestone’s own technicians and representatives from Shell. For the first time in MotoGP, the Ducati Marlboro Team has been joined in the paddock by the Shell truck lab, a mobile facility in which samples of Shell V-Power race fuel and Shell Advance race oil can be tested during the race weekend. In fact, Shell technicians will test the Ducati riders’ race oil and fuel right after the final free practice on Saturday, carrying out research that is usually conducted between races back at their main laboratories, enabling the fuels and the lubricants to be optimized for the race bikes first, and consequently for the road bikes. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 1st: 1’21.585 “We got reasonably lucky today with the crash – my right ankle is a little sore but it’s nothing major. I hadn’t had any warnings from the front end that it was going to try and flick me off down there so I really wasn’t ready for it. At that point of the circuit the bike isn’t at maximum lean and you don’t normally expect to lose the front, so I certainly didn’t see it coming and I didn’t even have chance to dig my knee in and try to save it. It was a bit strange but anyway sometimes it goes like that and there are plenty of positives to take from today. This morning we were struggling with front tyre life but we completely changed the bike around for the afternoon, fixed that particular problem before then focusing on making the bike faster and more comfortable to ride. We managed to do that and the bike was working really well.” MARCO MELANDRI (Ducati Marlboro Team) 16th: 1’23.698 “From this morning we managed to improve the bike in the fast sections of the track although in the slow parts we’re still not competitive. We have to work mainly in T1 and T2 because I’m struggling to get the bike to turn in there. Hopefully the weather stays stable over the next two days, be it wet or dry, so that we can get lots of work in on corner entry.” More, from a press release issued by JiR Team Scot Honda: Andrea Dovizioso in the top ten of the first day of tests at Sachsenring The first day of practice for the German Grand Prix ended with a positive result for Andrea Dovizioso who is comfortably in the top ten. Despite a fast, but innocuous crash early in the second session at the penultimate corner a scene of many crashes today JiR Team Scot has collected important data, which will be used to further improve the situation tomorrow. After completing the fifth best time of the morning, the increase in temperature from the morning to the afternoon from 30 to 40 degrees meant that it was not possible to improve, but Andrea Dovizioso and the team are confident of moving forward tomorrow. Cirano Mularoni – Team Manager JiR Team Scot “With regard to practice today the result is positive but we have to improve. We are in a very positive position to do better and I expect an improvement in practice tomorrow. We did slip down the order in the afternoon, but looking at the standings there’s a large group of riders separated by only a little bit of time, so even a small difference will vary your position in the group. It will also be important that the weather conditions remain stable for tomorrow in order to build on what has been done today.” Andrea Dovizioso – Pilot JiR Team Scot MotoGP HONDA RC212V 9th best time: 1’23 “093 “The first day of tests at Sachsenring ended positively, because this morning we went well, and I was fifth, while in the afternoon we have been slowed by the crash and the weather conditions. The fall was unexpected, because I just lost the front with no real warning, but thankfully the crash had no physical consequences for me. As regards the time, however, the track temperature had risen by about ten degrees making it difficult to improve the provisional lap time. Despite the crash, I was still satisfied thanks to the work we had done in the morning. After the crash, inevitably we lost precious minutes and it took time to return to the feeling with the bike we had in the morning, but there were no problems and we were able to make comparisons and suspension settings that have given us some clear indications of the right direction to head in. My feelings are the same on the track though, it’s too narrow and slow!” Gianni Berti – Technical Coordinator JiR Team Scot “Today was a day of intense work that we used to perform all the routine work we generally complete on the first day, but also to make some comparisons on the circuit. This is important as at the Sachsenring there are constant changes of elevation. Overall we completed almost the entire day’s programme that we had set ourselves and the crash has only partly slowed this work. Tomorrow we will have to finalise the choice of tyres for the race.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Rossi looking to improve pace in Germany The MotoGP paddock returned to action today at the Sachsenring in eastern Germany and Valentino Rossi and his crew were quick to get back to work, with the aim of recouping the points they lost last time out in Assen. The hot and sunny weather today was a welcome respite from the rain that has been following the paddock around Europe, and a full day of dry set-up time left the Fiat Yamaha rider 4th in the combined standings. Rossi, who currently lies second in the championship, made a good start this morning and finished the first session in third, just 0.299 off Casey Stoner. He was confident of making more improvement this afternoon but a small set-up change failed to reap the expected rewards and he was unable to improve on his time from this morning. He still finished the practice in fourth place but a second’s gap to the lead rider means that Rossi and his crew face a hard day’s work tomorrow to make up for the time they lost this afternoon. His team-mate Jorge Lorenzo meanwhile made an improvement of almost half a second this afternoon and finished the day in sixth. Valentino Rossi – Position: 4th Time: 1’22.617 Laps: 63 “For sure I’m not happy after today’s practice! This afternoon we tried some modifications to the setting and we decided to try a softer set-up, but things didn’t work how we hoped and we couldn’t improve our time. In the fast corners I wasn’t fast enough, and I was always a little bit wide. This afternoon I couldn’t ride how I wanted to. Obviously this afternoon’s choice is not the right way for us at this circuit and therefore tomorrow morning we will return to this morning’s set-up and try to close the gap to Casey. I didn’t try the new electronics today and actually at the moment it’s more likely that we won’t this weekend, but I did try some different Bridgestone tyres and we found one which we think will be okay for the race. I am confident that our potential is more than today so we will do our best to improve tomorrow.” Davide Brivio – Team Manager “We started well this morning but unfortunately we weren’t able to improve our lap times this afternoon. We tried something different for the second session and it didn’t have the right result so now we have to analyse all of today’s information to make sure that we make up for this tomorrow. We had a chance to test some tyres and they’re not so bad here but of course we need more time to improve the package as a whole at this tricky track.” Lorenzo makes improvesments as sun shines at Sachsenring Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo made the most of the sunshine at the Sachsenring today to make some good progress on the set-up of his YZR-M1, finishing the first day of practice for the German Grand Prix sixth in the combined standings. The 21-year-old has finally been able to return to his full training schedule following his recent spate of injuries and proved he’s feeling fitter and more confident by improving his lap times steadily throughout today. Lorenzo, who has never won at this track, struggled a little in the cooler morning practice, lacking some rear grip and finishing tenth. This afternoon however it was a different story and, with temperatures touching 30 degrees, the Michelin-shod rider improved his time by nearly half a second to finish fifth in the session and sixth in the combined standings. His team-mate Valentino Rossi was just 0.098 seconds ahead of him this afternoon but with a gap of over a second to the lead rider, both Lorenzo and Rossi will be looking to make more significant progress tomorrow. Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 6th Time: 1’22.894 Laps: 65 “I feel like I have a lot of confidence here compared to the last few races, and this is a nice feeling because it’s enabling me to ride much more aggressively. We had some problems with the rear grip this morning and I was happy about the improvements that we made this afternoon, but the bike setting is still not perfect and I feel like we should be going faster. The problem is that, although I was in fifth place this afternoon, the gap to Stoner in front is very big and it’s hard for us to understand how he is going so much faster than us! From this it is clear, even though I have a good feeling, that the bike is not performing exactly as it should and therefore we need to try to improve our package more. Of course I also need to keep building my confidence and improving my riding as I get more used to a MotoGP bike at this track. I hope that tomorrow we can close the gap to the front.” Daniele Romagnoli – Team Manager “To start with in the morning session we had some problems; specifically we didn’t have enough rear grip. This afternoon however things were much better and we were able to improve our pace by about half a second, which made everyone much happier. We still have some work to do because we still need to improve the rear grip; it’s not a problem that can be attributed to either the bike or the tyres, it’s just to do with our package as a whole. Now we hope that the weather continues like this tomorrow and this will enable the team to prepare some other solutions to try in order to fine-tune things further.” 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.”