FIM MotoGP World Championship Shanghai, China May 4, 2007 Free Practice One and Two Combined Results: 1. John HOPKINS (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 2:01.204 2. Marco MELANDRI (Honda), Bridgestone, 2:01.303 3. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), Michelin, 2:01.333 4. Nicky HAYDEN (Honda), Michelin, 2:01.346 5. Loris CAPIROSSI (Ducati), Bridgestone, 2:01.365 6. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), Michelin, 2:01.390 7. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), Michelin, 2:01.409 8. Casey STONER (Ducati), Bridgestone, 2:01.460 9. Alex HOFMANN (Ducati), Bridgestone, 2:01.771 10. Carlos CHECA (Honda), Michelin, 2:01.881 11. Randy DE PUNIET (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 2:01.896 12. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 2:01.991 13. Alex BARROS (Ducati), Bridgestone, 2:02.051 14. Toni ELIAS (Honda), Bridgestone, 2:02.114 15. Makoto TAMADA (Yamaha), Dunlop, 2:02.242 16. Kenny Lee ROBERTS (Honda), Michelin, 2:02.564 17. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Yamaha), Dunlop, 2:02.768 18. Olivier JACQUE (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 2:02.818 19. Shinya NAKANO (Honda), Michelin, 2:02.977 MotoGP Top Speeds During Free Practice Two: Alex BARROS, 329.0 kph (204.4 mph) Casey STONER, 326.4 kph (202.8 mph) Alex HOFMANN, 326.4 kph (202.8 mph) Loris CAPIROSSI, 323.8 kph (201.2 mph) Marco MELANDRI, 323.4 kph (201.0 mph) Dani PEDROSA, 322.3 kph (200.3 mph) Randy DE PUNIET, 319.1 kph (198.3 mph) Nicky HAYDEN, 318.3 kph (197.8 mph) Olivier JACQUE, 318.0 kph (197.6 mph) Sylvain GUINTOLI, 317.0 kph (197.0 mph) Valentino ROSSI, 315.7 kph (196.2 mph) Chris VERMEULEN, 314.7 kph (195.5 mph) Carlos CHECA, 314.4 kph (195.4 mph) John HOPKINS, 314.0 kph (195.1 mph) Toni ELIAS, 313.2 kph (194.6 mph) Colin EDWARDS, 312.5 kph (194.2 mph) Makoto TAMADA, 311.8 kph (193.7 mph) Kenny Lee ROBERTS, 311.6 kph (193.6 mph) Shinya NAKANO, 310.2 kph (192.7 mph) More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Hopkins and Melandri lead the way in Shanghai practice Round 04 – China Free Practice Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, China Friday 04 May 2007 Several Bridgestone-shod riders have shown themselves to be in strong contention for this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix after the opening two free practice sessions at the Shanghai International Circuit today. Suzuki’s John Hopkins, who was the top rider on Bridgestone tyres in last year’s race in fourth position, set the 800cc benchmark with a time of 2m01.204s, just 0.099s ahead of Honda Gresini’s Marco Melandri. Only one second separates the top fifteen riders after the opening day of action with a mere 0.2s splitting the top seven. The Ducati pairing of Loris Capirossi and current championship leader Casey Stoner finished the day in fifth and eighth places respectively, both comfortably setting lap times on race tyres in the mid-high 2m01s range, while Pramac d’Antin’s Alex ‘The Hoff’ Hofmann made it up to an encouraging ninth place on the last of his 16 laps this afternoon. Tyre Talk with Junichi Kawajiri Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development How was the first day of testing with 800cc bikes at the Shanghai International Circuit? “Both of today’s practice sessions were used to carry out the first runs with the new generation 800cc bikes at this track. While teams worked on tuning the bike settings for this circuit’s characteristics, we were also able to devote some time to initial evaluations of our range of tyre compounds for Shanghai. This work has been useful in determining the best direction for the weekend. It was a relatively trouble-free day with some positive results, although the field is extremely competitive with only a quarter of a second between John in first and Casey in eighth.” Did any riders conduct long runs today? “It is only the first day but some of our riders were able to carry out a longer run to assess the durability and consistency of the tyres. We are quite pleased with the outcome in terms of performance and durability, but we have more work to carry out in this area tomorrow. There is quite a difference in lap time between today and the dry weather practice times from last year. This is largely attributable to the drop in power output from 990cc to 800cc bikes and how the riders have naturally adapted their riding style to cope with the new machines at this track. Overall though, John, Marco, Loris and Casey have already shown they could be strong contenders this weekend, while all our riders were starting to get into a good rhythm and set good lap times towards the end of the second session.” What is the weather forecast for the rest of the weekend? “It has been very overcast today but has thankfully stayed dry. There is still a chance of some rain tomorrow morning, so it is good that we gained some useful data in today’s two dry sessions because the rain should stay away for Sunday’s race based on the current forecast. I hope we have another dry session tomorrow morning in order to properly prepare for Sunday’s race, but we will be ready with the wet weather tyres just in case.” Bridgestone Combined Free Practice Session Results Pos Rider Team Session 1 (pos) Session 2 (pos) Gap P1 John Hopkins Suzuki 2m01.603s (2) 2m01.204s (1) Fastest P2 Marco Melandri Honda Gresini 2m02.268s (10) 2m01.303s (2) +0.099s P5 Loris Capirossi Ducati 2m02.083s (6) 2m01.365s (5) +0.161s P8 Casey Stoner Ducati 2m01.538s (1) 2m01.460s (8) +0.256s P9 Alex Hofmann Pramac d’Antin 2m02.873s (14) 2m01.771s (9) +0.567s P11 Randy de Puniet Kawasaki 2m02.262s (9) 2m01.896s (11) +0.682s P12 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 2m02.082s (5) 2m01.991s (12) +0.787s P13 Alex Barros Pramac d’Antin 2m03.400s (16) 2m02.051s (13) +0.847s P14 Toni Elias Honda Gresini 2m02.370s (11) 2m02.114s (14) +0.910s P18 Olivier Jacque Kawasaki 2m03.290s (15) 2m02.818s (18) +1.614s Weather: Dry track – Air 23°C, Track 25°C, Humidity 49% (Session 1) Dry track – Air 24°C, Track 26°C, Humidity 36% (Session 2) More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: After a misty morning session, John Hopkins came out strongest for the second MotoGP free practice to top the timesheets on the first day of preparation for the Sinopec Great Wall Lubricants Grand Prix of China. The Anglo-American was on the front row at last year’s race, and set the fastest time of 2007 at the Shanghai International with a late 2’01.204 lap. Perhaps indicating that another extremely close qualifying session is on the cards for tomorrow, the entire top eight were separated by just half a second. Marco Melandri headed the Honda charge in China, just under a tenth of a second behind Hopkins, whilst last year’s poleman and race winner Dani Pedrosa was third quickest in a second session where every rider improved their times. Nicky Hayden was close behind his team-mate, the World Champion as determined as ever to get results after an opening three races that haven’t sat well with the ‘Kentucky Kid’. A resurgent Loris Capirossi came out strong as the fastest Ducati on day one, with the straight-line power of the Desmosedici GP7 being used by other riders to attempt to tow themselves to quicker laps much to the annoyance of eighth-placed Casey Stoner who waved on a few ‘hangers on’ during both sessions. The Ducatis were the four fastest bikes out on track in terms of top speed, with Alex Barros top of the pile after recording a best of 329 km/h (204 mph) in the afternoon. Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards occupied the sixth and seventh highest positions, respectively, with the former running on harder Michelin tyres in an attempt to avoid the problems experienced both in Turkey and at last year’s race in Shanghai. Alex Hofmann and Carlos Checa rounded off the top ten on the opening day in China, and will be looking for further improvements in qualifying tomorrow. One rider who possibly won’t be joining them is Kawasaki’s Olivier Jacque, who crashed midway through the afternoon session and opened up a large wound in his inner forearm. The Frenchman may not have the chance to attempt a repeat of his 2005 wild card second place on Sunday, after having been taken to the medical centre and then to hospital to be stitched up. 250cc Jorge Lorenzo celebrated his 20th birthday in style in Shanghai, coming back in his first appearance since losing his 100% pole and win record last time out. The Spaniard drew first blood in the opening qualifying session for Sunday’s race with a flying lap of 2’05.276, ahead of his countrymen Julian Simon and Alvaro Bautista in a Spanish trio separated by under four tenths of a second. The early title contenders continued to rise to the top, with Andrea Dovizioso, 2006 winner in Shanghai Hector Barbera and Alex de Angelis completing the top six. The latter suffered a late crash more spectacular than damaging, and suffered no ill-effects from the incident. Marco Simoncelli, Thomas Luthi, Fabrizio Lai and Alex Espargaro completed the top ten in the quarter litre class. 125cc Mattia Pasini seems determined not to crumble under the pressure of his unfortunate start to 2007, once again taking provisional pole in the 125cc class. The winner of the inaugural race at the Shanghai International circuit clocked a 2’11.946 lap in the afternoon session to put himself in the driving seat for tomorrow’s shootout, ahead of Lukas Pesek by just under half a second. World Championship leader Gabor Talmacsi headed a trio of Bancaja Aspar riders in the opening session, ahead of team-mates Sergio Gadea and Hector Faubel. The latter heads a provisional front row that also includes Simone Corsi racewinner at the last round in Turkey, fastest Honda rider Bradley Smith and Emmi Caffe Latte’s Sandro Cortese. More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Hopkins on top in Shanghai John Hopkins stormed his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R to the top of the timesheets on the first day of practice for Sunday’s Grand Prix of China. Hopkins (2’01.204, 44 laps) showed his intentions for this weekend’s race during this morning’s first practice session, as the Anglo-American ace was consistently in first place only being edged into second in the closing moments by Championship leader Casey Stoner. During the afternoon session Hopkins only used one set of Bridgestone race tyres and his times continued to come down. He recorded his fastest time on his 21st lap of the 5.281km Shanghai International Circuit, as the new generation of Bridgestone tyres continued their impressive performance. Chris Vermeulen (P12, 2’01.991, 43 laps) was pleased that he was able to get a full day’s dry practice in today. The 24-year-old Australian is at Shanghai for only the second time and the amount of dry practice he had last year was minimal. He continued to improve on his lap times throughout the day and although he was in 12th place overall just over 0.7 seconds off team-mate Hopkins he knows that he can improve tomorrow and make a serious challenge over the weekend. Today’s practice sessions were held in warm, humid and hazy conditions. Weather forecasts for the rest of the weekend vary from thunderstorms to bright sunshine with very high humidity – Rizla Suzuki MotoGP must cover all eventualities during tomorrow’s final free practice session and afternoon qualifying. The team will do all it can to make sure that Hopkins and Vermeulen are in the best shape possible in readiness for Sunday’s 22-lap race that gets underway at 15.00hrs local time (07.00hrs GMT). John Hopkins: “First of all I want to say hats off to Bridgestone! We have been using really good tyres straight away; they have really done their research from last year and stepped right up to the plate! The Suzuki is also doing really good things. I knew it was going to be a track that would suit the 800, as Shanghai has some good flowing corners and we spend a lot of the time on the edge of the tyres and have to do quite a bit of late braking. At the moment I am just going from kerb to kerb and the mix of the bike and tyres makes it feel like I’m on rails! We have made some improvements over the day and we still have a couple of little bits to sort out tomorrow. Competition is really close again and we need to find every tenth of a second we can and keep our heads down. Regardless of what the weather brings tomorrow we’ll be up for it and come out swinging!” Chris Vermeulen: “It was alright out there today! China is probably the GP circuit that I know the least, because last year we had a lot of wet sessions and I only did three laps in the race before I crashed. It was good that we got a full dry day in today; I have managed to learn a lot about my riding around here and find my lines. The bike is working well and I can consistently do the lap-times. We do have a couple of problems in two corners and we hope we will be able to get them solved tomorrow and be on the pace. It’s tight in the top 10, so I need to be up in there and make sure that I have a chance of a good race on Sunday.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “The Rizla Suzuki was certainly part of the action at the Turkish GP a couple of weeks ago and it looks like we’ve got the potential to again challenge at the front. It’s incredibly close with at least eight riders seeming to be capable of running in the low 2’01s. The encouraging thing for us is that John ran the same set of tyres during the whole afternoon session and was able to continually increase his speed and bring down his times. “Chris has a bit of a problem through the last section of the track just two corners and if we can get that sorted tomorrow I am sure he will be taking steps towards the front of the pack!” More, from a press release issued by Konica Minolta Honda: KONICA MINOLTA Honda completes first practice in China KONICA MINOLTA Honda struggled to find a perfect set-up to their Honda RC212V MotoGP machine in today’s practice session for Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix. Shinya Nakano and his Team tried a number of different settings but couldn’t find a setting that suited him in the morning practice session. Reverting to a previous combination in the afternoon was an improvement, but then time was against them to improve further. Shinya and the Team are confident of an improvement during qualifying tomorrow for Sunday’s 22-lap race. Gianluca Montiron Team Manager KONICA MINOLTA Honda “We started with two different settings on the bikes in a bid to find a solution for Shinya to have the performance from the machine that he needs and basically we spent both practice sessions trying to find a base set-up. Perhaps we made too many changes on both bikes, as Shinya needs clear feedback from the machine before he can push 100% so it’s important for us to have clear vision about the direction we take with the machine now. Tonight we will analyse the data with the support of HRC and decide which direction we will move in tomorrow. The weather forecast isn’t good tomorrow, but if it rains and we don’t get any dry track time it will be even harder to find our optimum dry set-up. We have to be positive and I trust in the skill and dedication of the Team, so whatever happens I’m confident we can improve our performance in final qualifying.” Shinya Nakano Rider, KONICA MINOLTA Honda (40 laps 2′ 02.977″) “We tried hard to find a new setting this morning but it was not a good way to go and I didn’t have a good feeling from the front tyre. In the afternoon we went back to a previous setting and it was an improvement, but thanks to the time we lost in the morning we couldn’t improve things from there. Perhaps we changed too many things today, but now I know the track and I know we can improve in qualifying. We have two hours tomorrow and a warm-up session on Sunday before the race and it’s the race that matters. Tomorrow we’re going to put maximum effort in so we can improve our position.” Giulio Bernardelle Technical Director, KONICA MINOLTA Honda “We set up our machine with completely different settings from before but we’ve not seen any good result at the end of the day and Shinya prefers the standard setting on the bike which we used in Istanbul. Tomorrow we will change the front geometry of the RC212V as Shinya says that the bike doesn’t turn how he likes in the first part of the corner and he loses speed and the best line through the turns. It’s going to be difficult to make all the changes and analyse them, as time is precious in tomorrow’s two sessions. Today we also used a new front tyre with a new construction made by Michelin, but that didn’t help us with the settings we used today. With the very long straight we could see that we were not so good on acceleration so we’ve altered the gearing to improve that, but this also makes the bike harder to ride for Shinya in certain parts of the track.” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM CLOSE TO THE FRONT AT SHANGHAI Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Casey Stoner made a steady start to this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, ending the first day of practice in fifth and eighth positions. The first day of practice was intensely competitive, with just one second covering the fastest 15 riders, even though Shanghai is MotoGP’s longest lap at more than two minutes. Capirossi, who scored his first podium of the year in Turkey two weeks ago, found good settings for his Desmosedici GP7 this afternoon to put him just 0.161 seconds off ‘provisional pole’. World Championship leader Stoner led this morning’s session and did a long run in the mid-2m 01s this afternoon, his best lap only 0.256 seconds off pole LORIS CAPIROSSI, 5th fastest, 2m 01.365s “We are all really, really close, it’s a bit like a 125 session! This morning I didn’t feel so good, we had a few problems but we were able to work very well on set-up, so a big thank you to my team for that. We chose a configuration with quite a lot of weight on the front end and I feel comfortable, so I can ride quite well. I’ve still got a few problems with the bumps here, so we are working on that to get the best out of the bike with the power delivery I prefer. We still have a few ideas to test tomorrow, but if it does rain and we can’t try them out, we aren’t so bad on race set-up, so I’m pretty confident for Sunday, which should be sunny, according to the forecast. The Bridgestone tyres are fine, the front is really good and the rear is pretty good too.” CASEY STONER, 8th fastest, 2m 01.460s “This morning we started with a set-up similar to Turkey and we didn’t make any big changes during the day. We worked in order to better the settings step by step. So far we are not so bad, and tomorrow we have to focus on making the bike turn better and we need to find some more rear grip. In the afternoon we did a positive long run and we aren’t worried about tyres, we are pretty comfortable from that point of view. It looks as if a lot of riders are able to go pretty fast out there, and we need to be able to stay amongst them. Generally, we’re going not so bad, we are working to improve and we hope to make good progress tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Gresini Racing Honda: MARCO MELANDRI SETS FRONT ROW PACE IN CHINA Toni Elias just 9 tenths off top spot The fourth round of the MotoGP World Championship promises to be a close affair after fourteen riders lapped within just 0.9 seconds at the Shanghai International Circuit today on the first day of the Grand Prix of China. Marco Melandri made a great start to the weekend, using his base setting from test session after Turkey GP to find an immediate feeling with his Honda at another of the circuits designed by German architect Herman Tilke. Marco is happy with the work he’s completed and is confident of making the most of his qualifying tyre to secure a top position on the grid. Toni Elias also remains confident, if not particularly satisfied, after lapping 14th fastest today, just nine tenths of a second off pace setter John Hopkins. The Spaniard also plans to return to his base setting from Turkey and save his best tyre from today, so that he can get the most out of it tomorrow and on Sunday in the race. The weather forecast for tomorrow promises rain, leaving the Honda Gresini facing a waiting game to see whether they can further adapt the setting of their RC212V machines to the demands of Shanghai. MARCO MELANDRI (2nd, 2’01″204): “I’m satisfied with this result. We started out with the base we found during the test on the day after the race in Turkey and the feeling was good straight away. The bike is working well and I’ve rediscovered my feeling with the front. I’m happy because I’m having fun on the bike again. I’m also confident about the tyre choice. Today I tried the different options available to us and I’m hopeful of making the most of the qualifying tyre tomorrow to make sure of a good position on the grid. I have to stay focused and improve my own performance on the qualifying tyre. We’re all very close so it looks like being a tight and combative race.” TONI ELIAS (14th,2’02″114): “I can’t say I’m happy. We still have a lot of work to do but we’re not that far off where we need to be. Today we did some tests with the setting, which didn’t give the desired results, so tomorrow we’ll go back to the base from Turkey. We’ve worked out which is the best tyre for the race so we’re saving that for tomorrow and Sunday. I just hope that practice is in the dry tomorrow so that we can continue working on the bike.” More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: ROSSI AND EDWARDS MAKE SOLID START IN SHANGHAI A weekend of close racing beckons at the Grand Prix of China as the first day of practice finished with the top fourteen MotoGP riders separated by less than a second in Shanghai today. Fiat Yamaha team-mates Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards were right in the mix and ended the day sixth and seventh fastest respectively in the combined standings, with Edwards just 0.2 seconds off the day’s fastest time, set by John Hopkins. With rain forecast for the afternoon this morning’s Free Practice looked like being a crucial one and Rossi got things off to a strong start by finishing third fastest. Despite overcast skies and humid conditions however the rain stayed away and this afternoon’s practice remained dry throughout, giving the riders further time to concentrate on set-up and tyre work with Michelin, conscious that bad weather could still arrive tomorrow to play havoc during Qualifying. Both riders were pleased with how quickly they were able to adapt their YZR-M1’s to the demands of the stop-and-go circuit and will aim to make further improvements tomorrow, aware that every tiny advantage here could spell the key to success over their rivals. Valentino Rossi Position: 6th Time: 2’01.390 Laps: 47 “I’m not so happy with sixth position but the difference from the top is very small, only 0.18 seconds, and so the actual time is not so bad. All the riders are very close and already you can see that it’s going to be a hard battle. For this reason we have to find every millimetre of difference in every corner of the track in order to have an advantage and it’s also going to be important to start from the front. We’re working hard to get the bike in the best possible shape but I can already ride my M1 quite well. We are missing a little bit of top speed on the straight but we’re obviously making it up in other areas of the track where our bike is strong, because our overall times are similar to our rivals. Of course we’ve also been working closely with Michelin on the tyres and tomorrow we have a few more things to try; a couple of possibilities remain for us and from them we will decide our final race tyre. We were lucky with the weather today because we were waiting for rain but now it looks like it will come tomorrow or on Sunday instead. It’s a pity; of course it’s always better to race in the dry but we have had success here before under the rain and I think our bike is fast in the wet this year so lets wait and see.” Colin Edwards Position: 7th Time: 2’01.409 Laps: 46 “I’ve got a small engine modification to try here but actually I only managed a few laps with it at the end of the second session today. Tomorrow we’ll use it a bit more and see how we get on with that. Anyway my time wasn’t too bad today; it’s ridiculously close amongst the top group so it looks like we could see some pretty exciting racing this weekend! I feel pretty good overall – we made a small modification to the geometry this afternoon and that’s improved things a bit and we’ve got a couple more ideas just to finally tweak the setting a little more tomorrow. As for the tyres, we’ve found something good but we’ve got a couple more things to check before we make our final decision about the race tyre. However what we can do tomorrow might well depend on the weather!” Davide Brivio Fiat Yamaha Team Director “All the riders are very close today so it’s going to be very important to really fine-tune the bike and try to find the perfect setting. We’ve got both Valentino and Colin in the first group of riders and so far the bike seems to be working quite well for both of them. Now we need to work on the final tyre selection for both riders. Today we were expecting some rain but luckily it didn’t come and we were able to use all the practice time we had. Now it looks like tomorrow could be wet so the information we got today is going to be very important for us.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: JACQUE SIDELINED WHILE DE PUNIET SHOWS HIS SPEED IN SHANGHAI Kawasaki’s Randy de Puniet got his Chinese Grand Prix weekend off to a solid start, finishing today’s opening free practice sessions eleventh fastest, but confident of improving his lap times further tomorrow. De Puniet had his first opportunity today to evaluate the latest evolution of Kawasaki’s Ninja ZX-RR engine, in the revised chassis that he tested in Istanbul immediately after the Turkish Grand Prix. The latest engine combines higher revs with more top end power and a much smoother delivery, which de Puniet put to good use this morning to record the fifth fastest speed through the speed trap at the end of Shanghai’s 1200 metre straight. The 26-year-old Frenchman is confident that the combination of new engine and revised chassis will allow him to further improve his lap time with more track time tomorrow. De Puniet will be Kawasaki’s only rider on track tomorrow, after Olivier Jacque crashed out of this afternoon’s second free practice session just 17 minutes from the end. The 33-year-old Frenchman went down hard in the final turn and, while the crash didn’t look to be serious at first, the Kawasaki pilot suffered a deep, open wound to the inside of his right forearm, which was bleeding profusely by the time Jacque had walked from the corner to the medical centre. After an initial examination of the wound by Clinica Mobile staff, Jacque was airlifted to the Huashan hospital in Shanghai, where surgeons operated to clean debris from the wound and repair damage to the brachioraliasis and flexor muscles in his forearm. The former World 250cc Champion will return home to France this evening, where he will undergo further surgery to close the wound, which may require minor skin grafts. Randy De Puniet 11th – 2’01.896 “We’ve had a successful start to the weekend, although my final position on the timesheet doesn’t really reflect that. The new engine is a definite improvement, especially at the very top of the rev range where we’ve maybe lost out to the competition in the past. Now the top speed is good, although riders always want more, and I was happy to see us top five through the speed trap this morning. For most of today we’ve concentrated on finding a good suspension set-up for the race, and we will continue to work on this ahead of qualifying tomorrow. I’m pretty confident that, even with the set-up we have now, it’s possible to improve my lap time further tomorrow ahead of the all-important qualifying session.” Naoya Kaneko Kawasaki Technical Manager “We have suffered a setback with Olivier’s crash but overall the assessment of this first practice sessions has been positive. We tried different set-ups with Randy and Olivier and found a good direction to work for tomorrow. The new rear suspension parts have meant a positive step forward as well as the engine evolution. But we are 0.7 seconds from the top, which means that we have to find out which are our weakest points and work on them tomorrow. We are not sure of the weather conditions tomorrow, though we have a clear plan regardless of the prevailing conditions. Olivier was trying some new chassis components as well and improving his lap times. Unfortunately, he crashed almost at the end of the afternoon’s session and now I can only say that I wish him a speedy recovery.” Ian Wheeler Kawasaki Communications Manager “At the moment it’s not clear how Olivier received the injury to his forearm, but the most likely cause is that his arm was trapped under the bike in the crash. While the injury is not serious, it is certainly painful and it’s likely to cause Olivier some discomfort over the next few weeks. At the moment it’s impossible to say how long the injury will keep him off the bike, but we should have a better idea once he’s undergone further surgery in France to close the wound. Of course, we hope that Olivier will be fit to ride in his home race at Le Mans in two weeks time, but at the moment it looks unlikely that this will be the case. If it proves impossible for him to ride then we will have to look at the possibility of fielding a temporary replacement at Le Mans, as the French Grand Prix is a very important race for Kawasaki.” More, from another press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: JACQUE ALREADY ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY AFTER SUCCESSFUL OPERATION Olivier Jacque underwent an operation at Shanghai’s Huashan hospital this afternoon to repair the damage to his right forearm, sustained in a crash during the second free practice session at the Shanghai International circuit today. During the course of the operation doctors from the Clinica Mobile made the decision to close fully the wound, after ascertaining that no skin grafts were necessary. As a result, Jacque’s chances of racing at Le Mans have improved significantly, but the 33-year-old Frenchman faces an uncertain two weeks as he waits to see if the injury will recover sufficiently to allow him to take his place on the starting grid at his home race. Jacque will return to Barcelona tomorrow afternoon, where he will consult with his own doctors in a bid to accelerate the rehabilitation of his injury. The Kawasaki Racing Team will monitor closely Jacque’s physical condition in the run up to the French Grand Prix at Le Mans, before making a decision about his fitness to race. Michael Bartholemy Kawasaki Competition Manager “The fact that the wound could be closed with a single operation today is good news for Olivier, because this will reduce the recovery time to the point where it could be possible for him to ride at Le Mans. For sure, he is motivated to come back for his home Grand Prix, and I hope that this will be the case, but we need to be sure that when he does return he does so in a condition that will allow him to race at 100%. For this reason we will continue to assess Olivier’s recovery over the next week or so before making a decision as to whether he will ride at Le Mans or not.”