Friday’s Combined MotoGP Practice Times: 1. Valentino ROSSI, Yamaha, 1:59.278 2. Loris CAPIROSSI, Ducati, 1:59.366 3. Sete GIBERNAU, Honda, 1:59.454 4. Marco MELANDRI, Honda, 1:59.469 5. Kenny ROBERTS, Suzuki, 1:59.755 6. Carlos CHECA, Ducati, 1:59.807 7. Nicky HAYDEN, Honda, 1:59.833 8. Colin EDWARDS, Yamaha, 1:59.867 9. Alex BARROS, Honda, 1:59.991 10. John HOPKINS, Suzuki, 2:00.043 11. Max BIAGGI, Honda, 2:00.058 12. Alex HOFMANN, Kawasaki, 2:00.146 13. Troy BAYLISS, Honda, 2:00.185 14. Shinya NAKANO, Kawasaki, 2:00.227 15. Toni ELIAS, Yamaha, 2:00.286 16. Nobuatsu AOKI, Suzuki, 2:00.354 17. Makoto TAMADA, Honda, 2:00.488 18. Roberto ROLFO, Ducati, 2:01.435 19. James ELLISON, Blata, 2:02.581 20. Ruben XAUS, Yamaha, 2:02.716 21. Jeremy McWILLIAMS, Proton, 2:02.889 22. Franco BATTAINI, Blata, 2:03.262 More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: HOFMANN AND NAKANO BACK ON THE PACE AT BRNO The MotoGP season resumed at Brno today, with a super-competitive opening day of practice ahead of Sunday’s Czech Republic Grand Prix. Kawasaki riders, Alex Hofmann and Shinya Nakano, were in the thick of the action and finished the day 12th and 14th respectively on the time sheets. Fourteen riders were within one second of the fastest lap set by Valentino Rossi. It was a day of intense work for Nakano and Hofmann, combining the challenging task of finding speed for the front-end sensitive Brno circuit and tyre test duties for Bridgestone. There are a range of evolution rear tyres at Brno, combining revised compounds and constructions, with the aim of improved edge grip and race consistency. Nakano and Hofmann were enthused to be back on their Ninja ZX-RR machines after the holiday break and made dramatic improvements to their lap times between the morning and afternoon sessions. Both riders suffered from a lack of front end feel and tyre response especially through the fast chicanes and turn one. Revisions to front spring balance and chassis geometry proved to be the right direction, and further changes are expected to provide a more precise set-up for Sunday’s 22-lap race. Nakano improved his time by 1.3s between morning and afternoon sessions, while Hofmann went 0.7s faster. The notorious Brno bumps are also proving to be a set-up challenge, especially in the fast corners. Alex Hofmann: #66 – Twelfth – 2’00.146 “It’s great to be back riding and I found some good speed this afternoon, although I’m struggling through the first section of the lap, especially turn one. The front set-up is not perfect and I’m not completely confident of the front feeling, especially as you come off the brakes and turn-in. The track is getting old, like everyone I guess, and there seem to be more patches and bumps than last year. Even so I enjoy Brno and I think we can find an even better balance tomorrow.” Shinya Nakano: #56 – Fourteenth – 2’00.227 “I was happy to be back on the bike, but not very comfortable in the morning session – I couldn’t feel the grip level at the front end. But I had better front contact response in the afternoon, although we are still not at 100% with the bike. I need better settings for the high-speed changes of direction and perhaps the bumps, worse than last year, are also making the bike unsettled. Even so, the times are close and I think that by Sunday I will have a chance for a good result.” Ichiro Yoda: Technical Manager “Both riders had a problem with front feeling and grip today, more a set-up problem than tyres. This track requires very agile handling for the fast changes of direction and that perhaps is a weak point for us at the moment. But, we have some set-up ideas for tomorrow, both for the chassis and mid-range engine response, and will continue to improve. We also have a lot of work to do to fully evaluate the new Bridgestone tyres.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Sports: Rossi back with a bang at Brno Valentino Rossi showed that he has lost none of his sharpness over the summer break as he clocked the fastest time on the first day of action at the Gauloises Grand Prix Ceske republiky today. Rossi’s time of 1’59.278 on the very final lap of this afternoon’s second free practice at Brno ousted Loris Capirossi from the top of the time sheets by just 0.088 seconds and spoiled an otherwise perfect day for the Ducati rider, who had set the quickest time during the morning session as Rossi suffered his second crash in as many meetings. “Today was a strange day because we all came back from the holidays and it felt like everybody was still in the beach rhythm!” said Rossi, who holds the pole record at this circuit with a time of 1’58.769 set two years ago. “The crash this morning was not the perfect way to start. Troy was pushing hard but he suddenly decided to come in to the pit and braked in the middle of the last corner. I was lucky because my front brake made contact and I went down at 149km/h but I am not hurt. Tomorrow we need to work on the suspension to find more grip but so far I am quite happy.” Last year’s winner Sete Gibernau was third fastest today as he begins his quest to record his first victory of the season. The Spaniard also has one eye on second place in the championship as he currently lies in third place, just one point behind his Honda team-mate Marco Melandri. The Italian youngster, who has won three times at this track in the smaller Grand Prix classes, was fourth fastest today ahead of Suzuki rider Kenny Roberts and Ducati’s Carlos Checa. Nicky Hayden was seventh fastest whilst Colin Edwards was the only rider that failed to improve from the morning to the afternoon session as he slipped to eighth. Alex Barros, the lap record holder, completes the theoretical front three rows in ninth place ahead of tomorrow’s definitive qualifying session. Veteran rider Jeremy McWilliams made an impressive return to MotoGP action with Proton Team KR today, lapping just 3.611 seconds slower than Rossi on the 2004 version machine he rode last season. The team have rolled out their V5 motor for the first time this year after Austrian engine suppliers KTM decided to end their involvement in the joint MotoGP project last week. Daniel Pedrosa produced a late lap inside his own circuit record to snatch provisional pole position for the 250cc race from Jorge Lorenzo. The pair have been the subject of a speculative war of words in the Spanish press during the summer break but they did their talking on the track today with an entertaining battle for top spot. Lorenzo ended the session in second place after Pedrosa clocked 2’03.184 with his last of 17 laps. Hiroshi Aoyama and Casey Stoner, who trails Pedrosa by 50 points in the championship, complete the provisional front row. Mika Kallio set the early pace in the 125cc class, clocking the fastest time in the morning free practice before clinching provisional pole position in the afternoon with a lap of 2’08.875. Kallio’s KTM team-mate Gabor Talmacsi was second fastest in both sessions as the factory aim to take their fourth consecutive victory in the series. Mattia Pasini and Sandro Cortese complete the provisional front row ahead of series leader Thomas Lüthi who was fifth fastest. More, from a press release issued by Gauloises Yamaha: Czech Republic Grand Prix Brno, Czech Republic Friday 26th August ROSSI RULES FREE PRACTICE AS MOTOGP RETURNS AT BRNO Gauloises Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi continued his domination of the MotoGP World Championship at the Brno circuit today, as the series returned to the Czech circuit after its traditional summer break. Rossi needs just two more victories to clinch the title for the fifth successive season and he started this weekend’s mission encouragingly, clocking under lap record pace with the fastest time over two hours of free practice. After falling from his Yamaha YZR-M1 machine in a collision with Troy Bayliss (Honda) during the morning session, Rossi squeezed every available minute out of the rest of the day’s action as he worked on Michelin tyre combinations and race set-up for Sunday’s eleventh Grand Prix of the season, setting his fastest time on his final lap of the day. Rossi’s Gauloises Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards, riding the YZR-M1 here for the first time, was satisfied with his performance after posting the seventh fastest time. The American immediately felt comfortable with the base set-up of his machine and set his best lap of the day in the morning session, before focusing much of his day’s work on a variety of tyre tests. VALENTINO ROSSI (1st 1’59.278; 39 laps) “Today was a strange day because we all came back from the holidays and it felt like everybody was still in the beach rhythm! The crash this morning was not the perfect way to start. Troy was pushing hard but he suddenly decided to come in to the pit and braked in the middle of the corner. I was lucky because my front brake made contact and I went down at 149km/h but I am not hurt. I think we need to modify the pit entry for next season because at the moment it is dangerous; I will talk about it with the Safety Commission. Anyway, my mechanics did a great job to virtually rebuild the whole bike in just three hours and this afternoon I was able to do a lot of tyre tests. In the end we went back to the first tyre and I was able to go fastest. Tomorrow we need to work on the suspension to find more grip but so far I am quite happy.” COLIN EDWARDS (7th 1’59.867; 46 laps) “The base set-up we started out with this morning was probably as good as I have felt with the bike all season, it did exactly what I wanted it to do. The Yamaha definitely suits this circuit and my pace in the first session was good. From there we concentrated on tyre tests, although it turned out that the one we tried first was the best of the lot. When we put that back on at the end I immediately felt comfortable again. When Valentino put the same tyre on he set the fastest time of the session, so we know what works. Tomorrow we’ll have to focus more on the bike set-up and I’m confident we’ll improve the lap time and the position.” JEREMY BURGESS VALENTINO ROSSI’S CREW CHIEF “The track is quite dirty and there’s not much grip so we have some work to do to try and adjust the bike. It’s early days yet, but the setting we’ve found so far is quite good and, as always, we’ll be looking to improve on it tomorrow. The guys did a good job to repair the damage to Valentino’s bike, although they strip it down after every session anyway so it doesn’t make much of a difference whether they put the same parts back on or fetch new ones!” COMBINED FREE PRACTICE TIMES: 1. VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Gauloises Yamaha Team 1’59.278 2. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team 1’59.366 3. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Movistar Honda MotoGP 1’59.454 4. Marco Melandri (ITA) Movistar Honda 1’59.469 5. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team Suzuki MotoGP 1’59.755 6. Carlos Checa (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team 1’59.807 7. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team 1’59.833 8. COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Gauloises Yamaha Team 1’59.867 9. Alex Barros (BRA) Camel Honda 1’59.991 10. John Hopkins (USA) Team Suzuki MotoGP 2’00.043 More, from a press release issued by Camel Honda: FREE PRACTICE CZECH REPUBLIC GRAND PRIX 28/08/05 BRNO FOURTEEN RIDERS WITHIN ONE SECOND AT BRNO The MotoGP riders brought a sparkle to dull skies in Brno on the first day of practice, so much so that at the end of the two free sessions, fourteen of them lay within less than a second of each other, an incredible feat considering the five-kilometre long circuit. So the lap times of the Camel Honda duo weren’t too far from the top riders in the class today, with both Barros and Bayliss satisfied with the progress they have made with their bikes between the morning and afternoon sessions. Sito Pons Camel Honda “This is a very technical circuit, it’s also very long and tests the teams out, but a good draught can be a real help in getting your lap-times down, although by the end most riders manage to get the bike right and go fast here. Lots of riders did similar lap-times today, and there is not much to choose between them. We are working hard towards the decisive qualifying tomorrow afternoon and we’re on the road to improving the set-up. We still have to work through a few things, but we are working well and in full harmony.” Alex Barros Camel Honda 1’59.991 – 9th fastest “This morning I felt a little rusty after four weeks off, but by this afternoon I had got into the groove. We have already made big improvements to the bike compared to this morning, especially in the suspension, but there is still work to do to pick out the right set-up and get up to speed, which should be a lap around the low 1’59s. We set the two bikes up differently and now understand a few more things. Tomorrow we will work a bit on the geometry to improve the bike’s performance in the corners, as well as the tyres, because I still haven’t found a completely suitable rear tyre; However we have improved gradually today and I think we will do the same tomorrow.” Troy Bayliss Camel Honda 2’00.185 – 13th fastest “I’m really happy with the progress we made between the morning and afternoon sessions, because the bike is considerably better and I managed to lower the lap-time by about a second and a half. Nine-tenths here at Brno isn’t too much really for the first day of practice and I’m confident in the work we are doing, also because in the afternoon session I managed several laps on the same tyre at a pretty decent pace. Even though the last two races haven’t gone as I would have liked, my feeling with the bike has improved considerably and this weekend has got off to a good start. We’ve found a good direction to work in and I hope to make some improvements tomorrow too.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: Czech Grand Prix, Brno Practice, Friday August 26 2005 DUCATI MARLBORO MEN FAST & CONSISTENT AT BRNO Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Carlos Checa were in the thick of the action at Brno today, both men in the top four during the closing stages of this afternoon’s session. They ended the day second and sixth, confident of a good weekend ahead, thanks to sterling work by Bridgestone during MotoGP’s summer recess. Both Capirossi and Checa rode their fastest laps on Bridgestone race tyres, not qualifiers, Capirossi comfortably the most consistently quick rider on the grid. “Bridgestone did a great job during the break, today’s results prove that,” said Ducati MotoGP project manager Livio Suppo. “Loris wasn’t only quick on his best laps, he was also very fast during his race simulation. This morning Carlos struggled a bit with set-up but this afternoon he found the right way. We are feeling happy and confident about the rest of the weekend.” CAPIROSSI JUST 0.088 SECONDS OFF POLE Loris Capirossi was flying in the latter stages of this afternoon’s second practice session, holding provisional pole until the dying moments of the outing when World Champion Valentino Rossi bettered him by just 0.088 seconds. Nonetheless the Ducati Marlboro Team rider is delighted with his day’s work, praising Bridgestone’s latest tyres which offer better endurance as well as extra edge grip, vital for the Italian’s high-corner-speed style. “All day we’ve focused on race set-up, not really worrying about lap times,” said Capirossi who was fastest in this morning’s first session. “During my last run I did 11 consecutive laps in the low 59s, so I’m happy but I know we’ve more work to do. The bike, which is pretty competitive everywhere, works really well here, as usual. Bridgestone have been working hard during the break because they’ve brought some interesting new tyres here. This morning I started with Sachsenring-spec tyres and I only switched to the new tyres halfway through this afternoon’s session. I rode a lot of laps with them and I can say that Bridgestone are definitely working in the right direction. So far we are up with the best and I’m confident, but we must keep working and see what happens over the rest of the weekend.” CHECA GETS UP TO SPEED Carlos Checa had his first ride at Brno aboard his Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP5 today and took his time making set-up adjustments before raising himself to the front-running pace. Fifteenth this morning, Checa ran as high as fourth this afternoon, ending the day just 0.529 seconds off ‘pole’. “Not so bad,” he said. “This morning I felt a bit lost, we couldn’t find the way to get up to speed. But this afternoon we found the way. I had been having trouble with the front pushing as I entered the turns, so we adjusted the balance of the bike with small changes to ride height and suspension settings. This is my first time here on this bike, so the progress we’ve already made suggests that our base set-up is pretty good. The latest Bridgestones are a useful improvement, they seem to offer both better performance and consistency. We still need to work some more at refining our settings but so far I’m fairly happy.” More, from a press release issued by Suzuki Racing: Roberts Jr leads the way for Team SUZUKI MotoGP at Brno Kenny Roberts Jr was the fastest of the three Suzuki GSV-R racers after today’s free practice sessions at the Gauloises Grand Prix Ceske Republic. Roberts Jr (1’59.755, 39 laps) finished in fifth place in the overall classification with team-mates John Hopkins and wild-card entry Nobuatsu Aoki in 10th and 16th places respectively. Roberts Jr found the new generation Bridgestone tyres to his liking and finished in his highest first day position of the season. Hopkins (2’00.043, 41 laps) was riding for the first time since an operation on his left foot to repair the broken bone he sustained at the last Grand Prix just over three weeks ago. The gutsy Anglo-American led the time-sheets three times during the two practice sessions and would have posted a better time late on in the afternoon, but a small problem with his GSV-R prototype race bike caused him to stop on the circuit and lose valuable time. He managed to get back to the pit-box and change to his second bike but was unable to better the time he had already set. Aoki (2’00.354, 37 laps) is making his first Grand Prix appearance of the season and was only just over a second off the day’s fastest time set by World Champion and current series leader Valentino Rossi. Aoki has joined Team SUZUKI MotoGP regulars Roberts Jr and Hopkins this weekend to continue the testing of the Suzuki GSV-R and Bridgestone tyres in a highly charged and competitive race environment. Today’s sessions were held in sunny and warm conditions with track temperatures reaching 38 degrees. Tomorrow the three Team SUZUKI MotoGP racers will have another practice session before the qualifying gets going in the afternoon. Sunday’s race will be round 11 of the season and will begin at 14.00hrs CET. Kenny Roberts Jr: “Everybody is real close today. The bike feels good. The new rear tyre felt that it was a big step in line with the character of the GSV-R. I was able to ride the bike and the lap times were decent. If it’s warmer tomorrow I’ll just try to continue to keep the same amount of grip level and rideability and we should be alright for the race.” John Hopkins: “I feel encouraged by our performance here so far. I had a small problem with my favoured bike and I had to leave it out on the circuit in the second session. That took some of my rhythm especially as the tyre I was using was the best I had tried so far. I got out again but I couldn’t improve my time as the spare bike and tyre combination wasn’t quite to my liking. My foot is hurting a bit after the two sessions but it didn’t cause me any problems out on the track, I seemed able to go quick from early on in the sessions and if we can build on that tomorrow I hope we can end up in a better position.” Nobuatsu Aoki: “I am feeling good. I am excited about racing and happy to be here. We some front grip problems, but I have the old spec front suspension. We are going to try the new spec tomorrow and that will bring me more feeling on the braking. Hopefully that will be a big help for me. I am looking forward to tomorrow and to the race.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “An encouraging day, based on the fact that Bridgestone have reacted positively in the summer break and have brought a number of new constructions to try in the search for increased competitiveness. The latest two generations of tyre that we have run have helped in bike feeling and in lap time and if we can verify tomorrow that that tyre has the durability to do 22 laps then certainly it is a step forward. “The GSV-R seems to handling quite well around Brno. John still needs to go through some settings and to confirm which of the new generation tyres is best for him. Kenny’s bike felt a lot more natural and he managed to achieve a very good lap-time without pushing too hard. “Nobu did well today, he was just over a second from the fastest time of the day but the overall competitiveness of MotoGP meant that he was in 16th place. All three riders are capable of making improvements tomorrow and it looks like the weekend is going to be very interesting.” Gauloises Grand Prix Ceske Republic Free Practice Classification: 1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1’59.278: 2. Loris Capirossi (Ducati) +0.088: 3. Sete Gibernau (Honda) +0.176: 4. Marco Melandri (Honda) +0.191: 5. KENNY ROBERTS JR (TEAM SUZUKI MOTOGP) +0.477: 6. Carlos Checa (Ducati) +0.529: 7. Nicky Hayden (Honda) +0.555: 8. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 0.589: 9. Alex Barros (Honda) +0.713: 10. JOHN HOPKINS (TEAM SUZUKI MOTOGP) +0.765: 16. NOBUATSU AOKI (TEAM SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.076: More, from a press release issued by Movistar Honda: 2005-08-26 CZECH REPUBLIC GP MOTOGP FREE PRACTICE NO HOLIDAY HANGOVER FOR GIBERNAU OR MELANDRI The Movistar Honda MotoGP team get back to work at Brno after the summer break with Gibernau and Melandri setting the pace Sete Gibernau announced in Germany that he would be back to win races in the second half of the MotoGP World Championship whilst Marco Melandri aimed to return as fresh as he had started the season. Today’s return to action in the Czech Republic confirmed that both riders are ready to give their best in the seven races remaining of the current campaign. The pair immediately felt comfortable at the Czech circuit in the first free practice and after today’s two sessions they lie in third and fourth place respectively after both taking turns at the top of the time sheets. Both riders set a good and consistent pace in the mid 1’59 mark, which is only a couple of tenths off the circuit record set here by Alex Barros in 2003. SETE GIBERNAU (3rd, 1’59″454): “The holidays were really good but I was looking forward to coming back. I want to end the season with the best possible results and my aim is to have a good boost at Brno. I already felt good in the morning and this afternoon we made careful progress. The rhythm is good and basically tomorrow we just need to adjust a few small things and choose the tyres for the race.” MARCO MELANDRI (4th, 1’59″469): “We’ve made a good start after the summer break, working from a good base setting and making small steps forward. The track is a little more bumpy compared to last year and we’ve had to work hard to improve the way the bike handles the track surface with the help of Michelin. I’m happy with this first day of work”. LAP TIMES 1. Valentino Rossi (Ita/Yamaha) 1’59″278 2. Loris Capirossi (Ita/Ducati) + 0″088 3. Sete Gibernau (Esp/Honda) + 0″176 4. Marco Melandri (Ita/Honda) + 0″19! 1 5. Kenny Roberts (USA/Suzuki) + 0″477 6. Carlos Checa (Esp/Ducati) + 0″529 7. Nicky Hayden (USA/Honda) + 0″555 8. Colin Edwards (USA/Yamaha) + 0″589 9. Alex Barros (Bra/Honda) + 0″713 10. John Hopkins (USA/Suzuki) + 0″765