Friday Afternoon MotoGP Qualifying Results: 1. Sete GIBERNAU, Honda, 1:50.662 2. Max BIAGGI, Honda, 1:50.680 3. Carlos CHECA, Ducati, 1:50.818 4. Valentino ROSSI, Yamaha, 1:50.854 5. Loris CAPIROSSI, Ducati, 1:50.912 6. Alex BARROS, Honda, 1:50.966 7. Nicky HAYDEN, Honda, 1:51.239 8. Colin EDWARDS, Yamaha, 1:51.371 9. Marco MELANDRI, Honda, 1:51.535 10. Makoto TAMADA, Honda, 1:51.673 11. Shinya NAKANO, Kawasaki, 1:52.010 12. Kenny ROBERTS, Suzuki, 1:52.070 13. John HOPKINS, Suzuki, 1:52.407 14. Ruben XAUS, Yamaha, 1:52.750 15. Alex HOFMANN, Kawasaki, 1:52.938 16. Troy BAYLISS, Honda, 1:53.298 17. David CHECA, Yamaha, 1:53.769 18. Shane BYRNE, Proton KR, 1:53.921 19. Roberto ROLFO, Ducati, 1:54.314 20. Franco BATTAINI, Blata WCM, 1:56.158 21. James ELLISON, Blata WCM, 1:57.214 Friday’s Combined MotoGP Practice Times: 1. GIBERNAU, Honda, 1:50.662 2. BIAGGI, Honda, 1:50.680 3. ROSSI, Yamaha, 1:50.778 4. CHECA, Ducati, 1:50.818 5. CAPIROSSI, Ducati, 1:50.912 6. BARROS, Honda, 1:50.966 7. HAYDEN, Honda, 1:51.158 8. MELANDRI, Honda, 1:51.234 9. EDWARDS, Yamaha, 1:51.320 10. NAKANO, Kawasaki, 1:51.494 11. TAMADA, Honda, 1:51.673 12. ROBERTS, Suzuki, 1:52.070 13. HOPKINS, Suzuki, 1:52.190 14. BAYLISS, Honda, 1:52.345 15. HOFMANN, Kawasaki, 1:52.357 16. XAUS, Yamaha, 1:52.750 17. CHECA, Yamaha, 1:53.769 18. BYRNE, Proton KR, 1:53.921 19. ROLFO, Ducati, 1:54.314 20. BATTAINI, Blata WCM, 1:55.774 21. ELLISON, Blata WCM, 1:57.214 More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: Italian Grand Prix, Mugello Practice, Friday June 3 2005 DUCATI MARLBORO MEN UP FRONT AT MUGELLO Ducati Marlboro Team riders Carlos Checa and Loris Capirossi made a superb start to the team’s home GP at Mugello today, running one-two during the early stages of this afternoon’s session and ending the day a close-run fourth and fifth quickest. The two men were consistently fast throughout the hour-long outing, putting the lessons learned during their recent two-day Le Mans test to excellent use. Capirossi is already less than two tenths off his best time during qualifying for last year’s Italian Grand Prix. “In fact we’ve made no big changes to the bikes, just small adjustments,” said Ducati Corse director Filippo Preziosi. “We proved at the last three races that we’re already very fast on race tyres but we lacked the right luck and the right weather to really prove that. The last few GPs have all been affected by rain but the weather is much more consistent here, which helps us to work more effectively on bike set-up and tyre choice. So far we have been making the usual small changes to chassis settings, as well as trying different fork offsets because we are looking for the best balance between high-speed stability and manoeuvrability through all the chicanes.” CHECA JUST 0.156 SECONDS OFF ‘POLE’ Carlos Checa was flying this afternoon, lapping just 0.156 seconds than fastest-in-session Sete Gibernau. The Ducati Marlboro Team rider has already shown his impressive speed on several occasions so far this season, now he wants to turn that speed into a great result on Ducati’s home tarmac. “Overall I’m quite happy,” said the Spaniard, riding the Desmosedici for the first time at Mugello. “After the morning session we improved front-end stability and the overall balance of the bike. We are building on the progress we made during our Le Mans tests. During the Le Mans GP I used a new chassis configuration (to improve turn-in), but I wasn’t able to confirm that on Sunday because I had such a short race! The two-day test allowed us to confirm that this new set-up is taking us in a good direction. Now we need to find the right front tyre for this track and work more on race-distance performance.” CAPIROSSI A CLOSE FIFTH FASTEST Loris Capirossi was fifth fastest today in a closely bunched leading group, just 0.250 seconds down on the fastest time of the day. Like team-mate Checa, the Ducati Marlboro Team man is hoping for a storming result at Mugello, where the Ducatisti are much in evidence, especially in Ducati’s own grandstand at Correntaio. “I’m happy, things are going very well,” said the Italian. “I’m consistently fast and right on the pace. Those tests we did at Le Mans were very useful. I was able to do a lot of work on bike set-up. I also worked on my riding style, which is never easy, but what I learned there should allow me to make better use of the tyres over race distance. This afternoon I did around 20 laps on a front tyre which is really important because the front is so crucial here. I tried several rears and will choose my race tyre tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing: HOFMANN BACK ON TRACK IN MUGELLO For the first time in two months Alex Hofmann joined his factory Kawasaki teammate Shinya Nakano on the track in today’s free practice sessions at Mugello. It was a successful return from injury for the 25-year-old German rider, who completed a total of 36 laps during the two, one-hour sessions. Hofmann finished 15th on the time sheets, with Nakano impressively tenth fastest and less than a second behind the quickest time posted by Sete Gibernau. Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix will only be Hofmann’s second race of the season after being sidelined with a fractured ulna and scaphoid in his left wrist, suffered when he fell in a MotoGP parade in Portugal in April. An operation was required to insert a pin to repair the injury and Hofmann has been undergoing intense physiotherapy treatment since the plaster cast was removed only last week. Hofmann completed today’s practise session in a buoyant mood as he rebuilt his confidence aboard his Ninja ZX-RR. Meanwhile Nakano spent much of today evaluating race tyres and tried four different rear tyre options from Bridgestone. The Japanese ace feels he has two excellent race options on which he will complete further tests tomorrow. The 5.2 km Mugello circuit places a huge demand on front-end feel and steering response and this was the main area of set-up work by both riders and factory technicians today. The set-up work will continue tomorrow in advance of the afternoon one-hour qualifying session to decide grid positions for Sunday’s 23-lap race. Also on the agenda tomorrow is the evaluation of a revised exhaust system supplied by Kawasaki’s technical partner Akrapovic. Shinya Nakano: #56 – Tenth – (1’51.494) “It wasn’t such an easy day, it was quite hot and in the morning session I had some set-up problems with braking stability and turn-in for the fast changes of direction. We still need to fine-tune the front-end set-up and engine braking to improve this area. The bike felt better in the afternoon session when I concentrated on testing race tyres and I have identified two excellent options from Bridgestone. I’m feeling good about being back on the ZX-RR after a three week break and I’m not worried about my problems with the big crash here last year.” Alex Hofmann: #66 – Fifteenth (1’52.357) “It’s a really cool feeling to be back riding the ZX-RR, it’s been a long and difficult time away, especially watching the races on television. I’m still not completely comfortable with my suspension set-up especially in the fast corners, which is where you can attack on this track and pick-up time. But I’m sure that will come with more time on the bike as I build my confidence. I can still feel an occasional twinge in my wrist and this was only to be expected, but I was able to ride this afternoon without any strapping and I know that come two o’clock on Sunday and the race start I won’t be thinking about it.” Ichiro Yoda: Technical Director “I’m very happy to see Alex back on his ZX-RR and riding strongly. I thought it may have been difficult for him after such a long time off the bike, but he has displayed a good feeling in both sessions today. Our main challenge here is front and rear chassis balance for all the fast changes of direction. A smooth transition is critical to a fast lap time. Bridgestone have a new specification front tyre here and so far it is performing impressively. Tomorrow we will continue our evaluation of suspension and tyre combinations for the race, plus a revised exhaust system.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Gibernau sets the pace on enemy territory Sete Gibernau braved the wrath of the passionate home supporters at Mugello this afternoon with the fastest lap on the opening day of free practice at the Gran Premio Alice d’Italia. In searing afternoon temperatures the Spaniard lapped almost half a second inside his own circuit record, clocking a best time of 1’50.662 despite a technical problem at the end of the session to dislodge Valentino Rossi from the top of the time sheets after the local hero had dominated the morning practice. “On my last run the pit-lane speed limiter got stuck so I did the whole lap at 80km/h,” explained Gibernau. “I went back into the box and they saw what it was straight away but there wasn’t enough time to go back out for a fast lap. The rhythm we set today wasn’t bad but I’m hopeful of improving it tomorrow if the weather stays good. We also have to choose which tyre we’re going to use, which will be very important for the race.” Whilst Rossi was unable to improve on his morning time as the summer sunshine scorched the Mugello asphalt in the afternoon, the only other rider to move above him on the day’s combined time sheets was his fellow Italian Max Biaggi. The Honda rider’s best effort fell just 0.018 seconds short of factory colleague Gibernau and provides his army of fans, banked as always in the hillside above the Casanova and Savelli corners, with plenty of reason for optimism as he guns for his first premier-class victory at this circuit on Sunday. Carlos Checa may be Spanish but he is also counting on huge backing this weekend as a grandstand of 3,000 Ducati fans at the Correntaio corner lend their support to himself and his team-mate Loris Capirossi. The pair warmed up with the fourth and fifth fastest times today after both leading the session for brief spells. Alex Barros, the only rider to finish a race ahead of Rossi so far this season, shook off the effects of a back injury sustained in a crash at Le Mans three weeks ago to clock the sixth fastest time as he looks to repeat his victory here from 2001. Nicky Hayden was unable to improve his time this afternoon after lapping fourth fastest in the morning, dropping to seventh overall ahead of Marco Melandri, who escaped unhurt from a crash in the second session. Makoto Tamada and Alex Hofmann both made a successful return to action today after missing the last three rounds with wrist injuries, completing 22 and 36 laps respectively and clocking the 11th and 15th fastest times. David Checa, riding as a replacement for the injured Toni Elías, made an impressive MotoGP debut with the 17th fastest time just over a second behind his temporary Yamaha team-mate Rubén Xaus despite also crashing after just three laps in the afternoon. Casey Stoner took provisional pole position for the 250cc class after a string of fast laps that saw him establish a comfortable advantage of 0.254 seconds over Alex de Angelis. Sebastián Porto dropped to third fastest after briefly leading the standings in the closing stages whilst Daniel Pedrosa, who leads the World Championship by four points from Andrea Dovizioso, completes the provisional front row in fourth place. Dovizioso provisionally qualified on the third row in ninth place as Jorge Lorenzo, Randy de Puniet, Héctor Barberá and Hiroshi Aoyama all sealed potential second row slots. Series leader Mika Kallio celebrated provisional pole position for the 125cc race after holding off the challenge of local rider Mattia Pasini, who made an impressive comeback after missing the last round with a fractured arm. Kallio, who currently leads the World Championship by 12 points from Thomas Lüthi, set a scorching final lap of 1’59.288 to remain out of reach of Pasini by 0.488 seconds. Héctor Faubel and Fabrizio Lai complete the provisional front row, with Lüthi qualifying on the outside of second row in eighth place. The surprise of the session was local wildcard Michele Conti, who was ninth fastest. More, from a press release issued by Gauloises Yamaha: Italian Grand Prix Mugello Circuit, Italy Friday 3rd June QUEST FOR HOME GLORY BEGINS FOR GAULOISES YAMAHA TEAM The Gauloises Yamaha Team’s challenge for success at the Italian Grand Prix began with a day of hard work at Mugello today as riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards completed valuable set-up work with their YZR-M1 machines. Following on from successful tests with the base setting of the machines at Le Mans after the last round, the riders quickly found their feet today and began making minor refinements to suit the fast and flowing Mugello circuit. After making a positive start to the morning free practice, when they set the 1st and 6th fastest times respectively, Rossi and Edwards suffered from the increasing track temperatures in the scorching afternoon sunshine and were unable to improve their times in the second free practice session, dropping to 3rd and 9th overall as they encountered minor rear traction problems. However, both riders are confident of making the necessary improvements tomorrow. Sete Gibernau (Honda) and Max Biaggi (Honda) were the only riders capable of bettering Rossi’s morning time, with Gibernau clocking the fastest effort of the day with a lap of 1’50.662. VALENTINO ROSSI (1’50.778, 34 laps) “The bike was good in the morning which makes me very happy because it seems we now have a base setting that works at every track. The conditions were perfect for our sport no wind, some sunshine but not too hot. In the afternoon it was much warmer and we had some problems because the tyre was moving around a lot more. Anyway, I’m very happy to be third fastest overall today and it’s a good start to the weekend for us. I hope the weather stays like this because the rain has followed us around for the first part of the season. There are a lot of people here already and we want to put on a good show for them!” COLIN EDWARDS (1’51.320, 30 laps) “We picked up where we left off at Le Mans and tried a few different things with the setting of the bike. We’ve decided to go down a particular avenue, which we still believe is the right way, but we’ve just got to stick at it to make sure it works. At the moment I’m getting into the corners okay but I’m having a bit of difficulty getting out again, which is crucial at this track particularly the last corner coming onto the straight. We’re trying to understand a lot of things but we’re getting there and I’m confident we can take the steps we need tomorrow. I’m lapping in mid 1’51s on the current setting but I reckon a good race pace is going to be in the 1’50s, so we need to take at least half a second off more would be nice!” DAVIDE BRIVIO TEAM DIRECTOR “This morning was not so bad for both riders and it shows that we have definitely made steps forward with the base setting of the bike coming from Le Mans, which means the engineers and the team crews have been doing a great job. Unfortunately in the afternoon we had some traction problems because of the high temperatures but that is to be expected. It is only Friday and it is the day for collecting information, checking the performance of the tyres and making some decisions to refine the setting of the bike for the race. If it stays this hot for the whole weekend it will make it a very demanding race for the riders and I think their physical condition will prove to be very important. “ COMBINED FREE PRACTICE TIMES: Sete Gibernau (SPA) Movistar Honda MotoGP 1’50.662 Max Biaggi (ITA) Repsol Honda Team 1’50.680 VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Gauloises Yamaha Team 1’50.778 Carlos Checa (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team 1’50.818 Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team 1’50.912 Alex Barros (BRA) Camel Honda 1’50.966 Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team 1’51.158 Marco Melandri (ITA) Movistar Honda MotoGP 1’51.234 COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Gauloises Yamaha Team 1’51.320 Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team 1’51.494 More, from a press release issued by Camel Honda: Useful day’s work for Camel Honda The first day of practice at the Italian Grand Prix was run in perfect, sunny conditions and the Camel Honda made the most of it to work mainly on their set-ups. Both Alex and Troy never touched the soft tyres, instead focusing on race settings. The Brazilian even managed to recover some of his smoothness on the RC211V after two weeks of enforced rest following his injuries from the crash in Le Mans. Sito Pons Camel Honda “Alex is still not physically at 100 percent after his crash in the French GP but I know he will give his maximum, as he always does. It shows by the fact that he is only three tenths behind the fastest time today, and that at a circuit which is nearly two minutes long. He is already picking up his rhythm once more and on Sunday he will start amongst the top riders. Troy still has to find the positive feeling he found at the Le Mans test two weeks ago perhaps. We will try to understand why by looking at the data we have collected today and obviously we will do everything to try and get him in the best shape possible for tomorrow and for Sunday.” Alex Barros Camel Honda 1’51.158 6th fastest “I didn’t feel too much pain today, but it took me a while to shake off the rustiness after two weeks of being immobilised. I’m used to training regularly between one race and another, and when I can’t do it, I can feel the difference straight away. Nevertheless it has been quite a good day, because in comparison to this morning we have improved the set-up of the bike. In the first session it was tough to turn, and to round off the corners well, but luckily we have quickly found the right direction to go in. There is still work to be done, but in the last minutes of this afternoon the bike was riding well, and I was able to be more incisive. Tomorrow we need to choose the tyre for the race and to try and improve our pace. I’m confident that we are on the right track.” Troy Bayliss Camel Honda 1’52.357 14th fastest “Today wasn’t the best of days. We’re finding it hard to single out the bike’s set-up. In the Le Mans test we had found a few solutions which we are now trying to adapt to this track, but whilst it didn’t go too badly this morning, in the afternoon we were unable to make the necessary steps forward. It’s not been easy with this bike so far this season, but I will continue to do my best, as ever, to try and make things better.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Roberts Jr sets a quicker time in the Mugello heat Team SUZUKI MotoGP racer Kenny Roberts Jr was one of only a handful of riders to improve on their morning free practice time in this afternoon’s second session at Mugello in Italy. Roberts Jr clocked a fastest time of 1’52.070 to give him twelfth place overall in the first day’s classification. He said: “We are concentrating solely on the race. We have been able to go through some new Bridgestone tyres today. “We had some issues that we were able to overcome, but we were unable to try another setting that I needed to try, but we will attempt to do that in the morning.” Both of today’s sessions for the Gran Premio Alice d’Italia were held in brilliant sunshine and clear skies. Track surface temperatures reached in excess of 40 degrees Celsius causing surface adhesion to be a major factor over the 5.2km circuit. The fastest time of the day was set by Sete Gibernau in this afternoon’s practice. John Hopkins (1’52.190) was just one place behind his team-mate in the final classification. He commented: “We are not where we want to be. It’s disappointing and we’re struggling a bit, but we know the areas that we need to work on tomorrow. “We need to perfect normal set-up stuff and I basically have some lines to go over in my head and smooth the whole place out. “We just need to improve tomorrow because right now we are nowhere near where we want to be and I know we can be better than this.” Team SUZUKI MotoGP were testing new parts in the Suzuki GSV-R during today’s sessions including new fuel injectors and a new shorter exhaust silencer both designed to increase throttle response and torque. Team Manager Paul Denning said: “Both guys were definitely trying hard today but as yet we haven’t got anywhere close to the best combination of engine, control and chassis setting, that we would have liked to have done. “We are struggling in all areas of the track at the moment and Mugello is the kind of place that punishes a lack of performance, but we will keep working hard at things and hope for better tomorrow.” Saturday morning will see a further practice session before the afternoon timed qualifying for the fifth round of the MotoGP World Championship. The race takes place on Sunday at 14.00hrs CET. Grand Premio Alice d’Italia Combined Free Practice Times 1. Sete Gibernau (Honda) 1’50.662: 2. Max Biaggi (Honda) +0.018: 3. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +0.116: 4. Carlos Checa (Ducati) +0.156: 5. Loris Capirossi (Ducati) +0.250: 6. Alex Barros (Honda) +0.304: 7. Nicky Hayden (Honda) +0.496: 8. Marco Melandri (Honda) +0.572: 9. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +0.658: 10. Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki) +0.832: 12. KENNY ROBERTS JR (TEAM SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.408: 13. JOHN HOPKINS (TEAM SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.528: More, from a press release issued by Telefonica Movistar Honda: SETE KICKS OFF WITH PROVISIONAL POLE Marco Melandri crashes out of fifth place halfway through the session but escapes without injury ITALIAN GP – MOTOGP FREE PRACTICE Sete Gibernau took provisional pole position on the first day of free practice for the MotoGP Italian Grand Prix. The Spaniard kicked off at Mugello by confirming the progress made in a day of tests after the last round at Le Mans and set his fastest time on just his ninth lap (1’50″662) to move straight to the top of the time sheets. Sete lapped half a second inside the circuit record he set last season, when he clocked a 1’51″133 during the race. With a fast time already in his pocket, the Spaniard was then able to concentrate on finding a good race pace. Marco Melandri began his home Grand Prix with ninth place overall after escaping unhurt from a crash with 38 minutes of the session still remaining. At that point the Italian rider was lying fifth on the time sheets and he is confident of finding a good race pace when the action resumes tomorrow. SETE GIBERNAU (1st, 1’50″662): “It was important to confirm the work that we completed on the day of tests after the race at Le Mans and we were able to do that despite a small problem we had with the bike at the end of the session. On my last run the pit-lane speed limiter got stuck so I did the whole lap at 80km/h. I went back into the box and they saw what it was straight away but there wasn’t enough time to go back out for a fast lap. The rhythm we set today wasn’t bad but I’m hopeful of improving it tomorrow if the weather stays good. We also have to choose which tyre we’re going to use, which will be very important for the race.” MARCO MELANDRI (9th, 1’51″535): “When I crashed I was testing a few minor modifications to the front fork. I opened the throttle on the exit of Arrabiata 1 and suddenly hit a bump, which caused me to crash. I was fine but it set us back a little bit in terms of the work programme we had scheduled for the two bi! kes. I went back out afterwards to try a few different tyres, even though I was happy with the one I was using before the crash”.