WORK CONTINUES FOR CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM IN DOHA Following Valentino Rossi’s hard-fought victory in yesterday’s Grand Prix of Qatar, the Italian was back out on track today alongside his Camel Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards for a one-day test today. Despite Rossi’s win, the team still saw remnants of their vibration problem arise during the weekend and today’s test was aimed once again at working to understand and finally eliminate this problem from the 2006 YZR-M1. As at the last one-day test in Jerez, Valentino Rossi completed a few laps on the 2005 M1 in order to compare its performance with the current bike and gather more information. Besides this Rossi and Edwards, who completed 58 and 66 laps respectively, spent the day trying out various different settings and both riders made some encouraging improvements with some consistently fast lap times. Just a small group of MotoGP riders stayed on to test alongside the Yamaha riders and the fastest unofficial lap was set by Marco Melandri (Honda) in a time of 1’55.95. Rossi was second quickest with a lap of 1’56.25 and Edwards third in a time of 1’56.35. The MotoGP paddock now has a two and a half week break before the third Grand Prix of the season in Istanbul commences on April 28th. DAVIDE BRIVIO CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR “It’s always quite hard to get up early and go testing the morning after a victory, but today was really important for us and the riders; the whole team has worked hard all day and made the most of the time we had available. In truth we still haven’t completely solved our problem, but we’ve been able to gather a lot more important information and now we have to use this in the best possible way between now and Istanbul. We’ve definitely made some big improvements today, for both riders. We’ve tried many different settings which have made the problem much less critical, allowing the riders to ride the bike at a better level. Valentino was obviously able to win yesterday and in the race the problems virtually disappeared, but we knew that they were still there and today we managed to make some good steps forward. Colin had a difficult race and this test has been really important for him; he’s finished the day in a much better situation. “Valentino once again tested the 2005 bike so we could make some comparisons. We know that with this bike the situation is different and we don’t have vibration, but we also know that the 2006 bike is better in most other ways and has more potential. We also tested a qualifying tyre today as this was when the problem was at its worst during the race weekend, so this was interesting also. Overall it’s been a good day for us and hopefully Yamaha can use all this information to our advantage so that we are ready to fight with both riders at the front in Turkey.” Unofficial Lap Times: Marco Melandri (ITA) Fortuna Honda, 1’55.95 VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1’56.25 COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1’56.35 Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team, 1’56.36 Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1’56.61 Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team,1’56.77 Toni Elias (SPA) Fortuna Honda, 1’56.86 More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: NON-STOP WORK FOR THE DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM Motivated by the extremely positive result in the Qatar GP, a circuit considered to be the most difficult in the MotoGP World Championship (3rd place for Loris Capirossi and 4th place for Sete Gibernau), the Ducati Marlboro Team men today continued their unrelenting development work on the Ducati Desmosedici GP6 and Bridgestone tyres. With less wind than yesterday’s race day, a very determined Loris Capirossi, the current Championship leader, started to test the engine, chassis set-up and tyres to prepare his Desmosedici for the Turkish GP. Sete Gibernau (Laps: 64 – Best lap time: 1’56.616) “It was a highly positive day. We worked to solve the front end chattering problem that I suffered with yesterday and to improve stability on the straights. The bike has improved and we have learnt one or two things which will be useful on those circuits where we have to race without having tested, like Turkey. We also continued our brilliant work with Bridgestone and today, my pace was better than yesterday. My feeling with my bike improves each time and I’m very happy.” Loris Capirossi (Laps: 40 – Best lap time: 1’56.770) “Another good day. We did several tests on the engine mapping and chassis, introducing small improvements which will be useful in the coming races. With the Bridgestone engineers, we also carried out some tyre tests and collected useful data to improve on similar tracks that lack grip. Yesterday my tyres were working well but we never stop trying to improve! This is a really positive time and we’ll do whatever it takes to continue being strong and competitive!” The Ducati Marlboro Team men are flying home feeling extremely positive about the opening two races of the season, looking forward to the next 15 races and determined to work hard to maintain the high level of competitiveness and equally high position in the World Championship standings. Temperatures: air: 32 ° – track: 35°/47 ° Today’s unofficial lap times: 1) Marco Melandri (Honda)1’55.95 2) Valentino Rossi (yamaha) 1’56.22 3) Colin Edwards (Yamaha)1’56.35 4) Nicky Hayden (Honda) 1’56.36 5) Sete Gibernau (Ducati) 1’56.61 6) Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 1’56.77 7) Toni Elias (Honda) 1’56.86 8) James Elison (Yamaha)1’58.18 More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Honda/Gresini Racing: MELANDRI SETS THE FASTEST TIME AT LOSAIL Work continues for Fortuna Honda team in Doha Losail (Qatar), Sunday, 9th April 2006, Motogp Test The Fortuna Honda riders were back out on track today for a one-day test today. Marco Melandri worked on the weight distribution in order to improve his feeling with the bike. Together with the Team, the Italian rider found some good solutions that allowed him to be fast and consistent. He made a very fast lap with race tyres (1’55″95) and lapped with a good pace. Very positive day also for his team mate Toni Elias who started from the race setting and worked on suspensions in order to improve his pace. The Spaniard leaves Qatar very satisfied for the work done. MARCO MELANDRI (1’55″95): “Today we did a very good job. We worked on weight distribution and tested some radical solutions that gave us a very positive result. We have found a good base that worked very well on this track and that we will verify on other tracks. I had fun riding and I found a good feeling with the bike. I’m very satisfied because today I could ride with the right feeling. I look forward to the next race, that will take place in Istabul, a track very dear to me.” TONI ELIAS (1’56″86): “This morning the weather and track conditions were similar to those of the race so that we could confirm the work done during the race weekend. We worked on suspensions in order to improve my pace and I can say that we have done another step forward. I’m very motivated for the next race.” The MotoGP paddock now has a two and a half week break before the third Grand Prix of the season in Istanbul commences on April 28th. UNOFFICIAL LAP TIMES : 1) Marco Melandri (Honda) 1’55.95 2) Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1’56.22 3) Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 1’56.35 4) Nicky Hayden (Honda) 1’56.36 5) Sete Gibernau (Ducati) 1’56.61 6) Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 1’56.77 7) Toni Elias (Honda) 1’56.86 8) James Ellison (Yamaha)1’58.18