FIM MotoGP World Championship Jerez, Spain March 28, 2008 Free Practice One & Two Combined Results: 1. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:40.321 2. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), Bridgestone, 1:40.364 3. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:40.584 4. Nicky HAYDEN (Honda), Michelin, 1:40.673 5. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), Michelin, 1:40.815 6. Casey STONER (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:40.828, crash 7. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda), Michelin, 1:40.909 8. James TOSELAND (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:41.028, crash 9. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 1:41.157 10. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:41.189 11. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda), Michelin, 1:41.268 12. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 1:41.303 13. Shinya NAKANO (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:41.393, crash 14. John HOPKINS (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:41.519, crash 15. Marco MELANDRI (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:41.825 16. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:42.115, crash 17. Anthony WEST (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:42.181 18. Toni ELIAS (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:42.183 More, from a press release issued by Team JiR Scot Honda: First day at Jerez and the Spanish Grand Prix for Andrea Dovizioso MotoGP has returned to Europe at Jerez for the Spanish GP. After an excellent debut in the first race of the year, the target today for JiR Team Scot was to improve performance of the Honda RC212V in such a way as to target the podium on Sunday afternoon. On a sunny day and in optimum conditions Andrea Dovizioso was testing all day some new Michelin tyres, as he tried to find a better setting and configuration during the build-up to tomorrow’s qualifying session. Cirano Mularoni Team Manager, JiR Team Scot “The first day today was spent fine-tuning the setting of the bike and trying to find our first choice of Michelin tyres. The weather conditions were very good, but very different to pre-season tests here, so obviously the team has had to find a different technical configuration as we try to focus our strategy for tomorrow. To be good here at Jerez your qualifying performance and start is all-important. I see the team and rider are very motivated and always trying to improve their performance, which is all we can ask.” Andrea Dovizioso Rider, JiR Team Scot MotoGP HONDA RC212V Best time: 7th – 1′ 40.909″ “The pre-championship tests here have shown that time spent on track is vital to how well we do here this weekend. Michelin has brought some new tyres following our recent feedback, so today we tried a lot of tyres without looking specifically for the best lap time. I’m very satisfied on the tuning of the engine because the power delivery is exactly as I want it and all the electronics we have on the bike are working very well. Tomorrow I have to concentrate on finding better stability in the area of braking, which is still a little bit of a weak-point for us. This circuit is very demanding for the chassis and so this point will have to improve also, as at the moment I’m losing a little time here and there. Our potential is very high and the aim is to get the perfect set-up where I can go fast without losing concentration or fighting the bike!” Gianni Berti Technical Co-ordinator, JiR Team Scot “The main part of the day was to concentrate on the new Michelin tyres and setting the chassis up for the rigours of the Jerez circuit. The conditions were good: 30 degrees on the Tarmac, but with a fresh breeze. We’re pretty much satisfied in terms of engine tuning, but we need to work a little more on our suspension settings, but I feel we’re in the good position to support Andrea in his bid to get the best results.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has made a good start to the second round of the MotoGP World Championship at Jerez in Spain, with both Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen improving on their times from the test here last month. Capirossi recorded the ninth fastest time on his Suzuki racing debut in Europe, with a lap of 1’41.157 during this afternoon’s session. Team-mate Vermeulen’s time of 1’41.303 was fractionally behind the Italian and gave Suzuki’s Australia star 12th position on the timesheets. Today’s sessions were held in warm and sunny conditions with air temperatures reaching a comfortable 21ºC and the track surface heating up to 27. The fastest time of the day was set by reigning 250cc World Champion Jorge Lorenzo on his factory Yamaha. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has one final practice session tomorrow morning before the important hour-long qualifying session in the afternoon to decide grid positions for Sunday’s 27-lap race that gets underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT). Loris Capirossi: “It has not been too bad today! We have started the weekend quite well and we have tried some different things on the bike from what we used at the test here last month. From my side I think we are really now starting to understand what we need to do and for sure we have to improve tomorrow but already we are not too far from the first guy! We have to keep working in a positive way, but we need to improve the power delivery and also work hard with Bridgestone to try to give us a little more grip.” Chris Vermeulen: “It’s been a good start here today. We’ve changed some parts on the bike since Qatar, with some new stuff from Suzuki and also the 2007 aerodynamics. It all seems to be working quite well and it has made the bike very stable in the corners. For me it was very different riding with that bodywork on as it was the first time I’d used it in over four months. It was strange to get on at first, but it’s working well and we are consistently quicker than we were at the test here. In the last run I did 29 laps on the same front tyre and it performed well, so we seem to have good durability from the race tyres. Tomorrow we will work on getting a bit more speed out of the bike and hopefully we’ll be alright for the race.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “The results today don’t really reflect it but the second round of the championship has started a lot better for the team than the first round in Qatar. The positions the guys are in today isn’t where we want to be but the gap to the front has been reduced significantly, and whilst we weren’t able to produce a headline lap on fresh tyres, the pace of both guys on worn tyres was consistent which promises good things for the race. “We’ve still got a lot of details to work on, but basically the bikes are working well and the riders are able to concentrate on the settings that will allow them to go fast on Sunday. Today was a decent start, but we will be looking to step it up tomorrow and get the best out of the qualifiers in readiness for Sunday’s race.” More, from a press release Marlboro Ducati: Casey Stoner and Marco Melandri lapped sixth and fifteenth fastest respectively on the first day of free practice at Jerez de la Frontera in Spain. Stoner suffered a small crash in the afternoon but he escaped injury and was able to return to action shortly afterwards. However, the incident was a setback to the World Champion’s set-up work at a circuit that has proved to be one of the most challenging on the calendar for the Ducati Marlboro Team and his fastest time of the day was set in the morning practice when he was a close second. Melandri remains a long way from the ideal set-up after working with the race setting he found so effective in Qatar, which has proved to be less so at the Spanish circuit. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 6th fastest – 1’40.828 “We knew before we started that this isn’t the best circuit for us and we struggled from the first session this morning to find the ideal setting. During the first practice we were struggling a lot getting the bike to enter the corner under heavy braking, which we finally fixed this afternoon, but then we started to get a lot more problems in the rear – it was pumping and moving around a lot. We went forwards in one area and backwards in another so we need to sort both things out and come up with a new gameplan tomorrow. We’ll concentrate on the front setting first because that was giving us the most problems and then we’ll try to fix the rear after that. We really don’t know what happened with the crash. There was no reason for it. The front’s been a little bit nervous all day but not terrible and I just tipped it into the corner, it started to go and there was no way I could save it”. MARCO MELANDRI (Ducati Marlboro Team) 15th fastest – 1’41.825 “It hasn’t been an easy day because the settings from the race in Qatar, which I’d had a really good feeling with, haven’t worked here. We tried to make only a few modifications to find some grip and improve the bike under braking but we’re still not managing it. I know this isn’t the best circuit for our bike but today I was still hoping to do a lot better. All we can do is keep working hard and hope that the weather stays good for tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Valentino Rossi sets competitive pace in Jerez practice Round 2: Spain Free Practice Circuito de Jerez, Friday 28 March 2008 Fiat Yamaha team rider Valentino Rossi has ended the opening day of free practice at the Jerez circuit in southern Spain with a competitive second quickest time, six-tenths-of-a-second faster than his fastest race lap from last year’s event, after a closely-fought opening day saw the top thirteen riders separated by just one second. A mid-session crash interrupted Qatar GP race winner Casey Stoner’s afternoon, but the Australian, who was second quickest in the morning hour, still ended the opening day with the sixth best time. Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi and Honda Gresini’s Alex de Angelis rounded out the top ten to give top ten places to four Bridgestone-shod teams ahead of this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix. Bridgestone has further work to carry out with its teams and riders in tomorrow’s practice sessions in order to complete a thorough evaluation of the different specification tyres that have been brought to this weekend’s event. Some teams will then conduct longer runs in the afternoon session before the qualifying shoot-out takes place. Tyre Talk with Tohru Ubukata – Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development How would you assess the results from today’s first practice sessions? “It has been a standard opening day for us with the usual tyre evaluation procedures in both sessions. The pace in this afternoon’s session was much quicker compared to the morning session, mainly as a result of improving track conditions, and it was a very competitive day overall. This morning the track was quite dusty in contrast to the conditions we faced at the IRTA test one month ago, but as the conditions got better during the day, riders were able to drop their lap times considerably. The performance is certainly close across the entire field with only one second separating thirteen riders.” Have you been pleased with the performance of the Bridgestone tyres today? “We have brought some new specification tyres to this race based on the results from the IRTA test back in February and I think we can be reasonably content with their performance after the opening day. Of course there is more work to be done tomorrow morning and the competition is so close it is actually difficult to make any firm conclusions at this stage. Some of our teams will carry out longer runs tomorrow afternoon, when the track conditions are more representative of what will be faced during the race.” Bridgestone-shod Riders’ Combined Practice Session Results Pos. Rider Team Session 1 (pos) Session 2 (pos) Gap P2 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1m40.918s (P3) 1m40.364s (P2) +0.043s P6 Casey Stoner Ducati Corse 1m40.828s (P2) 1m40.877s (P6) +0.556s P9 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m41.746s (P12) 1m41.157s (P9) +0.836s P10 Alex de Angelis San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m41.579s (P9) 1m41.189s (P10) +0.868s P12 Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m41.443s (P8) 1m41.303s (P12) +0.982s P13 Shinya Nakano San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m41.599s (P10) 1m41.393s (P13) +1.072s P14 John Hopkins Kawasaki Racing Team 1m41.944s (P13) 1m41.519s (P14) +1.198s P15 Marco Melandri Ducati Corse 1m41.980s (P14) 1m41.825s (P15) +1.504s P16 Sylvain Guintoli Alice Team 1m42.868s (P17) 1m42.115s (P16) +1.794s P17 Anthony West Kawasaki Racing Team 1m42.300s (P15) 1m42.181s (P17) +1.860s P18 Toni Elias Alice Team 1m43.206s (P18) 1m42.183s (P18) +1.862s Weather: Session 1 / Dry Air 18°C, Track 23°C, Humidity 46% (taken from official MotoGP timing) Session 2 / Dry Air 21°C, Track 27°C, Humidity 37% (taken from official MotoGP timing) More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: He may have traded in his gold boots, helmet and gloves for a more restrained red attire, but Fiat Yamaha´s Jorge Lorenzo is showing no signs of settling for anything less than the best in his rookie MotoGP season. The Spaniard cut a second off his morning time to head the timesheets at his home track in the afternoon session, clocking a 1´40.321 lap of the circuit at which he has won the last two 250cc Grands Prix. Lorenzo is on a roll after his pole position and second place at the opening race of the season in Qatar, flying high with his Michelin-shod Yamaha M1. Bringing the self-titled `Lorenshow´ to European soil for the first time this weekend since his move up to the premier class, the 20 year-old has an extremely healthy following already filling up the grandstands at the Circuito de Jerez. Also mirroring the Qatar visit, the top three was an all-Yamaha affair, with Lorenzo’s team-mate and five-time World Champion Valentino Rossi trailing his youthful factory team counterpart by just four hundredths of a second. Rossi has a proven pedigree at Jerez, including victory in last year’s race, and has started well in his quest to catch up with series leader and current title-holder Casey Stoner. Colin Edwards completes the Yamaha triumvirate onboard the Tech 3 satellite version of the M1, down on power but high on enthusiasm in Jerez. Behind him, countryman and former World Champion Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa lead the Honda charge on their factory machinery. Hayden is using the same chassis run by Pedrosa at Losail, with some modifications to suit his riding style, after an unsuccessful experiment with the 2007 HRC212V in Qatar. Jerez is not one of the tracks favoured by Ducati Marlboro’s reigning MotoGP World Champion Stoner, who suffered a lowside crash at turn seven. Luckily for the Australian he escaped uninjured in the incident, although he was unable to improve upon his morning time and rounded off the top six. Behind Stoner, two of the impressive MotoGP rookies took further strides onboard their respective satellite machinery. JiR Team Scot’s Andrea Dovizioso and Tech 3 Yamaha star James Toseland were seventh and eighth in the standings, although the latter took a hit in the first MotoGP crash of the day on turn three. Unlike at the Official Test in February, at which the Briton picked up an ankle injury, Toseland escaped unscathed and was back in the saddle a few minutes later. Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi and San Carlo Honda Gresini rookie Alex de Angelis propped up the top ten, whilst there were additional crashes for Alice Team rider Sylvain Guintoli, De Angelis´ team-mate Shinya Nakano and Kawasaki’s John Hopkins. 250cc The quickest rider in this year’s 250cc testing visits to the Circuito de Jerez, Red Bull KTM’s Mika Kallio put himself on provisional pole for Sunday’s Gran Premio bwin.com de España with a 1’43.111 lap of the Spanish track. Kallio’s time was recorded on his eighteenth lap of the afternoon session, putting the Finn ahead of the morning’s fastest rider, Lotus Aprilia returnee Alex Debon, by two tenths of a second. Debon was the only Aprilia representative to place on the provisional front row, dominated by KTM with further representation from home rider Julian Simon and Kallio’s team-mate, Hiroshi Aoyama. Emmi-Caffe Latte rider Thomas Luthi is pencilled in to head the second row, joined by Mapfre Aspar’s crowd favourite Alvaro Bautista, 250cc newcomer Lukas Pesek and Pepe Team Toth´s Hector Barbera. Winner of the opening Grand Prix of the season, Mattia Pasini had a slow start to his Jerez visit. The Polaris World Aprilia rider was over a second down on Kallio’s lap time to finish ninth, with the top ten completed by Yuki Takahashi. There were crashes for, amongst others, Marco Simoncelli and Karel Abraham over the course of a frantic 250cc session. Simoncelli also jostled elbows with Kallio in the early going. 125cc Spanish rider Nico Terol maintained his position at the head of the 125cc timesheets in Jerez to take provisional pole for the 125cc Gran Premio bwin.com de Jerez, onboard the Jack&Jones WRB bike new to the 19 year-old this season. If Terol can hold on in tomorrow´s second timed classification session, then it would be his first pole position for a World Championship race. Terol cut a second off his morning practice time, laying down a 1’48.078 lap of his home track. In doing so, he edged out new team-mate for 2008 Simone Corsi by two tenths of a second. The remaining Jack&Jones WRB rider participating in this weekend’s race is Axel Pons, son of former World Championship star Sito and debutant in Jerez. Polaris World’s Bradley Smith was once again amongst the frontrunners after only managing to finish 23rd in the morning session, moving up to a provisional front row position late on in the opening qualifying run. The Briton overcooked an attempt at a potential pole lap on one of his final sprints, running wide with two minutes remaining on the clock. The provisional front row is completed by German Stefan Bradl, who sneaked into fourth place much as he did in the opening race of the season in Qatar. Behind him, Belson Derbi’s local boy Pol Espargaro, American sophomore Stevie Bonsey, Ajo Motorsport newcomer Mike di Meglio and Italian maestro Raffaele de Rosa make up row two. Youngest top five finisher in Grand Prix history Scott Redding and current series leader Sergio Gadea complete the top ten, with the latter still sore after braving a dislocated collarbone en route to victory at Losail three weeks ago. His Bancaja team-mate and reigning World Champion Gabor Talmacsi finished eleventh. More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: GOOD FIRST DAY FOR ROSSI AS YAMAHA FILL TOP THREE SPOTS IN JEREZ MotoGP’s return to Europe began in promising fashion for the Fiat Yamaha Team and Valentino Rossi today, as the Italian finished the day second fastest with Yamaha riders filling the first three spots on the time sheets. Rossi, who won this race for Yamaha in 2005 and 2007, got straight down to business this morning, working on a variety of improvements to bike and tyres following his tricky season-opening race in Qatar and finishing the first session third. It was immediately clear that things were improving for him and this afternoon he continued in the same vein, lapping consistently fast and finishing the day with a best time of 1’40.364. His team-mate Jorge Lorenzo finished the day just 0.043 seconds in front of him and third place was filled by Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards, with the Yamaha trio the only riders to dip under the existing lap record pace. Valentino Rossi Position: 2nd Time: 1’40.364 Laps: 44 “After Qatar, to be third this morning and second this afternoon on just the first day makes me quite happy! I feel comfortable on the bike and tyres, although we need to work a little bit harder to find the perfect race rhythm for Sunday. I had fun on the bike today and I am quite fast so I think we have a good base to build on. To have three Yamaha’s at the top again is great and once again shows how good our bike is. With the Bridgestones it feels quite good and I think we’re improving the package all the time but we can’t afford to stop working so tomorrow we will do the maximum once again. It’s great to be riding here in the sunshine and I think it’s going to be a great show this weekend for everyone!” Davide Brivio Team Manager “Today the team did a very good job. After the Qatar race our engineers have made a deep analysis of the issues we had there and they and have come here with some different ideas to try and they seem to be working well. It looks like we’ve found the right way to combine our bike and the tyres together and so we have a good base on which to build for the rest of the weekend. Now we have to concentrate on making the best tyre choice for the race, we already have a good pace but it’s going to be very competitive on Sunday so we need to be in the best possible shape!” More, from another press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: PERFECT HOMECOMING FOR LORENZO AT JEREZ Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo began his first ever MotoGP race on home soil in perfect fashion today, finishing the first day of practice in Jerez in first position at the front of an all-Yamaha top three. The young rookie, who lies second in the championship after an impressive debut in Qatar, was under lap record pace in the afternoon session and looks on-course to give his passionate home fans an exciting weekend. Lorenzo was fifth fastest in the morning session but gradual work on his set-up, starting from a good base following the February test here, led to an improved pace in the warmer afternoon session and a best time of 1.40.321. It was a good day for Yamaha as Lorenzo’s team-mate Valentino Rossi was just 0.043 seconds behind him, with Yamaha Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards in third. Jorge Lorenzo Position: 1st Time: 1’40.321 Laps: 51 “The first day has gone very well and I’m really happy to have had a day like this here at Jerez. My bike feels great and it’s a huge emotion for me to be here riding ‘at home’ in front of all the Spanish fans. I feel like all of Spain is watching us this weekend and I hope that we’re going to be able to give them a great show here over the weekend. We have a good base setting after the test here and the first race and, although of course we have more work to do, I think that we’re on the right track. My team is working well, the bike and the Michelin tyres also are very good and I feel that there is great energy, excitement and motivation in our garage. After today I think we’re in good shape for the weekend and my hope is that we will be able to fight at the front. The weather today was fantastic and I really hope this continues, for the fans and for us! Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “It’s been a very important and perfect first day in Spain for us. Jorge has done many laps at a very good pace throughout and we’re very happy with our performance on this first day. We’re still not at our full potential but we’ve got a good base setting from the test and so we will keep working like this and keep improving. The set-up is okay but we need to concentrate a little bit on the front feeling, so this will be one of the main targets tomorrow. Anyway, a great first day and let’s hope we can continue with more of the same tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Media Service: Nicky Hayden, fourth, Dani Pedrosa, fifth, and Julián Simón third in the 250cc category wrap up a good first day of training sessions in the Spanish Grand Prix After the uncommon inaugural 2008 World Championship test held during the night in Qatar, the Continental Circus has landed in the Old Continent, to attend the first trainng sessions on the Jerez Circuit. It was a particularly positive day for Nicky Hayden, who was using a new chassis in his Repsol Honda RC212V 2008, and finished the day in fourth position. Dani Pedrosa did not perform quite as well by the end of the day, and is aware that a fifth position still falls short of the desired result and that there is still a lot of work ahead for himself and the technical team. The first MotoGP free training sessions, dominated by American Colin Edwards, were a good starting point for Nicky Hayden, finally finishing fourth, as he soon managed to get much better performance out of his bike than in Qatar. The Repsol rider has put aside the 2007 version he used in Qatar and went onto the track with the Repsol Honda RC212V 2008, equipped with a new chassis. The improvement was soon noticeable, and he rode consistently among the fastest in the category. In the afternoon he managed a final fourth position, satisfied with the improved performance on the Andalusian track. Dani Pedrosa maintained his choice with the same bike he used in Qatar for the race, the Repsol Honda RC212V 2008. Along with his team, Pedrosa spent two hours during the trainng sessions working mainly on the setup of the front suspension and searching for tyres to use for the race. Although he is very well recovered from the injury he received in his right hand in mid-January in Malaysia, the Repsol Honda Team rider still feels occasional pain in it, though he does not think it will prevent him from performing 100% next Sunday on the Spanish track. Good start today for Julián Simón in the 250cc category, after running the third best time in the timed session. The Repsol rider stopped the chronometer at 1’43,830, 0,719 seconds away from Mika Kallio, rider who receives technical support from Repsol and who today was the fastest on the Jerez track. Simón spent the day adjusting his bike to the particularities of the track in Jerez, starting with the setup he used in Qatar three weeks ago and also the one he used on this same track little over a month ago. During the free session, the Repsol rider suffered again from problems in his forearm, though after a visit to the Clinica Mobile his discomfort was reduced thanks to the assistance received. Hiroshi Aoyama, Kallio’s teammate, confirmed the prominent role of the KTM’s and finished in fourth position. Things did not go quite so well in the quarter-litre category, where Esteve Rabat took eighteenth position at the end of a tight timed session, where up to twenty riders finished in the space of a second and a half. During the first free training session, the Repsol rider finished sixteenth, after running the fifth best time halfway through the session. However, he is confident that tomorrow he can improve his position on the grid, thanks to the good performance of his bike and the work by the team. Young Marc Márquez and his team, after assessing the state of his right arm with the doctors before riding, finally chose not to take unnecessary risks and to wait until Portugal to compete again. The Repsol KTM Team 125cc rider hopes to ride his debut race in two weeks’ time at the Portugal Grand Prix, next event in the World Motorcycling Championship 2008 calendar. Quotes MotoGP Dani Pedrosa >> 40.813 secs., 51 laps, 226 Km. “Today we worked firstly on tyres and then on suspension. We started from our Qatar setup, though the real point of comparison was the tests we did here last month, and we’ve made a great step forward since then. We need to do a lot of work on tyres, not only for the race, but for this machine in general, because it is still quite a new machine for us. We will work very closely with Michelin when we test here after the race. We still need to make some improvements for Sunday, though I am feeling quite confident. My right hand still swells up whenever I ride the bike but it’s better than it was in Qatar and it’s constantly improving, which is the important thing.” Nicky Hayden >> 40.673 secs., 55 laps, 243 km. “We’re certainly a lot closer than we were at Qatar, which makes it a lot more fun. We were on top for part of the session, stayed up near the front a lot and we made a pretty big step between morning and afternoon, almost a half second. Overall the bikes seem not so bad and Michelins always work good at Jerez. We had a pretty good set-up from when we here for the tests in February, so tyre-wise, bike -wise, it’s not a lot different, though I did try a new chassis that definitely seemed to help, and I made my best lap times with it. We’re going to talk about running both bikes with the new chassis tomorrow. Everything’s pretty smooth so far, so big thanks to HRC for bringing me an improvement and to the team for everything. But it’s still early, there’s a lot of guys going fast, so we’ll see where we’re at come Sunday.” 250cc Julián Simón >> 1’43.830 secs., 44 laps, 195 Km. “Today the conditions were good, and in spite of the slight wind, we were able to enjoy a good training session. We worked with two completely different bikes, one with the adjustments made in Qatar, and the other with those we did after the tests here. In the end I went for the bike we used here, though we used a combination of what we set up in Qatar, and that helped us get a good time. We are evidently still far behind Kallio, who rode a very good time. We’ll try to reduce that gap tomorrow. We are going to work a lot on the tyres, as we now have many new options. The truth is that Dunlop is treating us very well. As to my physical condition, my arm gave me some problems this morning, but they gave me some good treatment at the Clinica Mobile. Thanks to that I felt less pain in the afternoon and was able to finish the session in good shape. I’m happy about that side of things and hope that tomorrow goes just as well, or better.” 125cc Esteve Rabat >> 1’49.353 secs, 35 laps, 155 Km. “We had many problems and I still can’t manage to ride fast enough. In the morning the track was very cold and there were still a few damp spots, while in the afternoon it was much better, though I had the odd problem with the fifth curve. The problem is just mine, because I can’t seem to manage to ride smoothly. Let’s hope I can improve tomorrow, though the final result surprised me quite a bit, as the whole grid is spaced over a second and a half. Here you have to get your act together and keep your wits about you.” Marc Márquez >> did not ride. “In the end I didn’t ride, because I tried getting up on the bike at the box, and noticed that my hand still hurts when I pull the brake. I was looking forward and was very excited about riding in a race like this one, but the injury prevented me from going out onto the track. Now what we have to do is wait until the Portugal Grand Prix; see if I am completely recovered in order to compete there and give it 100%.” More, from a press release issued by Team Alice Ducati: FIRST EUROPEAN WORKING DAY FOR THE 2008 MOTOGP SEASON Sunny day in Andalusia, Spain, on the Jerez de la Frontera circuit, where MotoGP World Championship riders have ridden for the firsts kilometres of the season in the old continent. Alice Team Riders, Sylvain Guintoli and Toni Elias, have tried hard to conquer a good position in the standing, concluding respectively in sixteenth and eighteenth place. The French rider has started well the afternoon session, improving his best morning lap time than almost a second straight away, but a fall in the fifth lap has compromised his work with more than half of the session left. Toni Elias has tried to work on both bikes at his disposal, not finding the right setting to reach higher positions. Tomorrow another hour of free practice for the French-Hispanic duo, before qualifying session that will determine the starting grid of the Spanish Grand Prix 2008, the twenty-second ridden in Jerez. Sergio Verbena — Sylvain Guintoli track engineer “This afternoon we started well after the modifications done at the end of the first session of the day, in fact, since the firsts laps Sylvain (Guintoli) looked really fast, but the fall at the fifth lap has slowed our work down. We made him go out with the second bike, but he couldn’t find the same feeling. In this way we have used a lot of minutes to try to prepare the bike like the damaged one, but he could has ridden only for two laps in the last few minutes. Anyway, seen the good lap time he has registered only at the fourth lap, we are trustful to be able to improve our actual position.” Sylvain Guintoli — Alice Team Rider (16th best lap time in 1:42.115; Total laps 30) “This morning has been really hard for us. We have tried different solutions, modifying a lot the bike, but without finding the right setting. In the afternoon the bike was fantastic. Unluckily, maybe because I was too eager to do well, I pushed too hard and slipped at turn five. Luckily I didn’t hurt my self. I have ridden some laps with Nicky (Hayden) and my bike seemed very competitive. I hope that thanks to the work done by my technicians, we will be able to find the same setting I had on bike one, being able to get back the right feeling with the bike and improve my self in tomorrow qualifying.” Toni Elias — Alice Team Rider (18th best lap time in 1:42.183; Total laps 43) “It’s not easy, but we have to continue to work hard. We have meet the same problem we had during last February IRTA test done here. The only way out is to give 100%, together with Ducati and Bridgestone. By doing so I am sure results will begin to come. Now we have to analyze the data to understand where we can make a big step forward.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: KAWASAKI PILOTS MAKE A STEADY START IN SPAIN Kawasaki’s John Hopkins and Anthony West were disappointed to finish today’s free practice at Jerez in 14th and 17th place respectively, after encountering rear traction problems during the two hour-long sessions. Having missed out on the opportunity for extensive tyre testing during the IRTA test at Jerez, due to the injury he sustained in Phillip Island, Hopkins initially found himself at a disadvantage compared to his factory rivals, all of whom had identified suitable race tyres during their last visit to the 4.423km Circuito de Jerez back in February. Undeterred, the Anglo-American worked his way through the front and rear tyre combinations available to him, as well as working with his crew to refine the set-up of his Ninja ZX-RR to suit specifically the tyre options selected for this race. Towards the end of this afternoon’s session Hopkins was set to post his fastest lap, and move back into the top ten on the timesheet, until a mistake at the end of the back straight saw him crash without injury. Despite the crash, the 24-year-old Kawasaki pilot is confident that he has a clear direction for tomorrow’s practice and qualifying sessions, in which he’s determined to improve his grid position for Sunday’s 27-lap Spanish Grand Prix. Team mate, West, continued working to eliminate the issues he’s suffered throughout testing and the first race in Qatar, where a lack of stability under braking and rear traction on corner exit is hampering his progress. The 26-year-old Australian remains focussed and determined that more is to come, as he aims to put the opening round of the season behind him, by working tirelessly with his crew to find a solution to his machine handling problems ahead of the second race of the 2008 season on Sunday. John Hopkins 14th – 1’41.519 “The focus today has been on improving the rear grip and we’ve tried many different tyre combinations. I did have a small crash at the end of the back straight when I started to push; I braked a bit too hard and lost the front but thankfully it hasn’t aggravated my injury. Unfortunately we’ve found that the tyre that is working the best for us is one we’ve allocated the least of. This is due to us not being able to put many laps in during the test here because of my injury. This is a track I’ve always enjoyed throughout my Grand Prix career so I’d like to get the Kawasaki working well here; we’re making good progress despite starting out with a bit of a disadvantage. Tomorrow we have to continue with working on the rear traction, although we don’t have the option to run with our preferred tyre all day, as we need to save some of our allocation for the race.” Anthony West 17th – 1’42.181 “Although I’ve come here with a relatively fresh look on things, we’re still suffering with the same difficulties we’ve had during testing. The rear of the bike just isn’t sticking well enough, which means we’re not getting the drive out of the corners. Today we used a different clutch to see if that would improve the situation but it hasn’t worked and we’ve tried many things, including altering my body position on the bike to improve this. We’ve also come across corner entry problems here and the bike feels quite nervous when braking. I am determined to find a solution for these problems, as with a bit more grip we have the potential to go much faster.” Juan Martinez West Crew Chief “Clearly we are still having the rear traction problems that have plagued us throughout pre-season testing. Now we have tried many different combinations of settings, and Anthony has adapted his riding style to try and get the rear to hook up better out of the turns. But, while we’ve definitely seen an improvement in this area, today’s result shows that we still have some work left to do. From the two practice sessions today, we have identified a couple of key changes that we want to make tonight, again to try and improve the feeling for Anthony. It’s a complicated process, but once we eliminate this problem then I’m confident that Anthony will quickly reclaim his rightful position in the top ten.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Perfect start for Lorenzo while Rossi follows in second Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo began his first ever MotoGP race on home soil in perfect fashion today, finishing the first day of practice in Jerez in first position at the front of an all-Yamaha top three. The young rookie, who lies second in the championship after an impressive debut in Qatar, was under lap record pace in the afternoon session and looks on-course to give his passionate home fans an exciting weekend. Lorenzo was fifth fastest in the morning session but gradual work on his set-up, starting from a good base following the February test here, led to an improved pace in the warmer afternoon session and a best time of 1.40.321. It was a good day for Yamaha as Lorenzo’s team-mate Valentino Rossi was just 0.043 seconds behind him, with Yamaha Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards in third. Jorge Lorenzo – 1st – 1.40.321 “The first day has gone very well and I’m really happy to have had a day like this here at Jerez. My bike feels great and it’s a huge emotion for me to be here riding ‘at home’ in front of all the Spanish fans. I feel like all of Spain is watching us this weekend and I hope that we’re going to be able to give them a great show here over the weekend. We have a good base setting after the test here and the first race and, although of course we have more work to do, I think that we’re on the right track. My team is working well, the bike and the Michelin tyres also are very good and I feel that there is great energy, excitement and motivation in our garage. After today I think we’re in good shape for the weekend and my hope is that we will be able to fight at the front. The weather today was fantastic and I really hope this continues, for the fans and for us! Danielle Romagnoli – Team Manager It’s been a very important and perfect first day in Spain for us. Jorge has done many laps at a very good pace throughout and we’re very happy with our performance on this first day. We’re still not at our full potential but we’ve got a good base setting from the test and so we will keep working like this and keep improving. The set-up is okay but we need to concentrate a little bit on the front feeling, so this will be one of the main targets tomorrow. Anyway, a great first day and let’s hope we can continue with more of the same tomorrow.” MotoGP’s return to Europe began in promising fashion for the Fiat Yamaha Team and Valentino Rossi today, as the Italian finished the day second fastest with Yamaha riders filling the first three spots on the time sheets. Rossi, who won this race for Yamaha in 2005 and 2007, got straight down to business this morning, working on a variety of improvements to bike and tyres following his tricky season-opening race in Qatar and finishing the first session third. It was immediately clear that things were improving for him and this afternoon he continued in the same vein, lapping consistently fast and finishing the day with a best time of 1’40.364. Valentino Rossi – 2nd 1.40.364 “After Qatar, to be third this morning and second this afternoon on just the first day makes me quite happy! I feel comfortable on the bike and tyres, although we need to work a little bit harder to find the perfect race rhythm for Sunday. I had fun on the bike today and I am quite fast so I think we have a good base to build on. To have three Yamaha’s at the top again is great and once again shows how good our bike is. With the Bridgestones it feels quite good and I think we’re improving the package all the time but we can’t afford to stop working so tomorrow we will do the maximum once again. It’s great to be riding here in the sunshine and I think it’s going to be a great show this weekend for everyone!” Davide Brivio – Team Manager “Today the team did a very good job. After the Qatar race our engineers have made a deep analysis of the issues we had there and they and have come here with some different ideas to try and they seem to be working well. It looks like we’ve found the right way to combine our bike and the tyres together and so we have a good base on which to build for the rest of the weekend. Now we have to concentrate on making the best tyre choice for the race, we already have a good pace but it’s going to be very competitive on Sunday so we need to be in the best possible shape!” Colin Edwards right behind Fiat Yamaha duo An impressive performance from American Colin Edwards saw the Tech 3 rider help Yamaha make a dominant startto the Spanish GP in Jerez today. Edwards was a central figure throughout the opening day’s free practice, claiming the third fastest overall time. Edwards, who was third in last year’s Spanish GP, showed impressive form earlier when he posted the fastest time this morning as the European leg of the 2008 season got underway. Edwards bettered his morning time of 1.40.714 with a 1.40.584 this afternoon, and was only beaten by factory Yamaha duo Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi on combined times. Team-mate James Toseland had a tough start to his first European MotoGP clash. Fresh from his stunning debut in Qatar when he claimed a front row start and top six finish, the British rider was badly hampered by a severe bout of bronchitis. But despite a small crash at the second corner this afternoon, Toseland showed his battling qualities again, finishing just 0.707s off the fastest time in eighth. He underwent lengthy treatment in the Clinica Mobile after this afternoon’s session, and is confident he will be close to full fitness for Sunday’s 27-lap race. Colin Edwards 3rd 1.40.584 “I’m really happy with today. I started well this morning with the fastest time, which was good as it showed the work the team did in testing during the winter has paid off. All we really did this morning was work on the electronics tying to make it as consistent as we can. As far as the chassis goes we really didn’t do much, but we’ve got another setting option to try tomorrow just to confirm we are going in the right direction. But I’m happy because instantly I had a good feeling with the bike and was able to do some good lap times. Today just confirmed that this is a really strong track for Yamaha. Valentino and I were on the podium here last year and the bike has a good record in the past. We’ve got three Yamahas in the top three here today and it was the same in qualifying for Qatar, so Yamaha has really worked hard on improving the bike for this season. I’ve got one more rear tyre from Michelin to try tomorrow but I think I’ve already found something decent for the race. Hopefully the tyre for tomorrow will be another step. As far as the front goes I couldn’t be happier with that. Michelin has really improved the front and I’ve got a lot of confidence.” James Toseland 8th 1.41.028 “Unfortunately I have come down with bronchitis which is just what I need for my second race. I was really bad yesterday and honestly I don’t think I’d have been able to ride. I woke up this morning a bit better but after riding twice I’ve hit a brick wall. I’m drained of energy and my temperature got up to 38.7 degrees, so they were a bit worried about that and put me on a drip in the Clinica Mobile. The problem is I can’t take a full breath and just riding breathing at half the normal rate really tires you out quickly because of the lack of oxygen going to your brain. Considering how I feel, to be only 0.7s off is pretty good. I just need to find half-a-second and that can come from me just feeling better. We are in the ballpark and Colin has proved how competitive the package is at this track. The crash was a small mistake. I just pushed a bit too hard on the front in turn two and went down. The grip was better on the front tyre I was using and it just bottomed out on the forks under braking. I should have done a couple of laps and then changed the front suspension setting to cope with the better grip.” Jerez lap Record – V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2005, 1’40.596 Jerez best Lap – L. Capirossi (Ducati) 2006, 1’39.064