Bridgestone Pleased With Qatar Progress Round 01 Qatar – Qualifying Losail International Circuit Friday 9 March 2007 Six Bridgestone-shod riders ended this afternoon’s Qatar qualifying session in the top ten. All four manufacturers on Bridgestone tyres will be represented by at least one of its bikes in the top eight on tomorrow afternoon’s grid. Ducati’s Casey Stoner nearly pulled off a remarkable repeat performance of his Qatar pole position from 2006, finishing in the runner up spot for the 2007 GP, a mere 0.005s from pole sitter Valentino Rossi. Stoner’s ultimate time of 1m55.007s marked a 0.6s improvement over his previous pole record. Toni Elias was the highest placed Honda rider in a sensational fourth place. His team-mate Marco Melandri ended his qualifying session in tenth place, but both can draw confidence from encouraging pace on race tyres in free practice. Melandri posted a best time of 1m56.529s in his earlier run on race tyres. Other performances of note from Suzuki’s John Hopkins in sixth, Ducati’s Loris Capirossi in seventh and Kawasaki’s Randy de Puniet in eighth underline the improved competitiveness of the Bridgestone qualifying tyres at the Losail International Circuit, a direct result of data acquired from February’s test. Consistently quick times in long run simulations during this morning’s free practice session leave Bridgestone riders in good shape ahead of tomorrow’s 22-lap GP, where the Japanese tyre manufacturer will be looking to capitalise on its hard work over the winter. Tyre Talk with Tohru Ubukata Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development Were you pleased with the performance of the Bridgestone qualifying tyres in today’s session? “Yes, we were very happy with the performance of our tyres today, both race specification and qualifiers. Over the winter we developed a specific plan to improve the competitiveness of our qualifying tyres and today’s results would indicate that our general direction was correct. We used the results of the Qatar and Jerez test to make the most recent steps ahead in this area and the fact that we have four manufacturers on Bridgestone tyres in the top eight of the Qatar grid is very satisfying. Our work is ongoing though and we plan race-by-race developments.” What conclusions have been drawn by the long run simulations today? “This morning, each of our teams conducted important work on the preferred tyre specification from yesterday’s sessions. The lap times were much quicker than those seen in the Qatar test, which demonstrates how far we have come in just a few weeks. We have seen competitive and consistent lap times today. Casey’s long run was particularly impressive, posting times in the high 1m56s over a 19 lap run, proving that he can challenge at the front tomorrow afternoon.” Riding Perspective – Casey Stoner Ducati 2nd Place “The whole day has been quite good, we had a real good qualifying session and I managed to do a good lap time. This morning we did a really good race run, doing some consistent fast times. We seem to have been pretty competitive the whole weekend, in the top three, so I’m really happy. I’m really confident with the tyres and the team and the whole bike, so I think we can have a good result here.” Bridgestone Qualifying Practice Session Results Pos Rider Team Best Lap Gap P2 Casey Stoner Ducati 1m55.007s +0.005s P4 Toni Elias Honda Gresini 1m55.358s +0.356s P6 John Hopkins Suzuki 1m55.833s +0.831s P7 Loris Capirossi Ducati 1m55.851s +0.849s P8 Randy de Puniet Kawasaki 1m55.933s +0.931s P10 Marco Melandri Honda Gresini 1m56.222s +1.220s P13 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m56.639s +1.637s P14 Olivier Jacque Kawasaki 1m56.754s +1.752s P15 Alex Barros Pramac D’Antin 1m56.814s +1.812s P17 Alex Hofmann Pramac D’Antin 1m57.274s +2.272s Weather: Dry – Air 27°C, Track 47°C, Humidity 14% More, from a press release issued by Konica Minolta Honda: High-speed crash compromises KONICA MINOLTA Honda grid slot A fall for KONICA MINOLTA Honda rider Shinya Nakano hampered the Team’s effort to find a good grid position during today’s final qualifying session for the opening race of the 2007 season. With just twenty-one minutes to go in the final timed session before tomorrow’s race, Shinya suffered a dramatic high-speed crash while in fourth-gear at turn 13. Watching from the pits, his KONICA MINOLTA Honda Team immediately prepared Nakano’s second Honda RC212V while the 29-year-old Japanese rider got a lift back to the pits to resume qualifying. With the new tyre rules in place, each Michelin and Bridgestone-shod rider had only two super-sticky qualifying tyres available to him and despite moving back up to seventh position with just minutes to go, a series of record-breaking laps from the front-runners saw Shinya demoted to 11th place overall. Gianluca Montiron Team Manager KONICA MINOLTA Honda “Shinya-san’s situation was not so bad and then not so good! Just before the crash we sent him out on a new rear tyre and he was making a good lap time, improving again with a personal best lap when maybe he pushed too much and lost the front at high speed. This compromised the rest of the session for us. Psychologically it’s difficult to go straight back out on a bike and go fast, especially on a qualifying tyre and on the second bike so I think perhaps we couldn’t use 100% of our potential today. Tomorrow is another day so we have to work in warm-up to refine our set-up and choose a race tyre for tomorrow. We could have wished for better today, but it’s a long championship.” Shinya Nakano Rider, KONICA MINOLTA Honda (46 laps 1’56.306″ 11th position) “Despite the crash I feel OK and I’m not hurt. It was a fast crash on one of the right-hand corners, so I was lucky. Compared to my crash down the Mugello straight a few years ago, it was a slow one! I was trying to improve my lap time and was adjusting my riding style a little but perhaps it was the wrong thing to do as I lost the front. I’m obviously a little disappointed, as I wanted something better from today for the Team and myself. After the crash I could improve my lap time with a qualifying tyre, but now we have to look forward to tomorrow and use morning warm-up to choose a tyre for the race.” Giulio Bernardelle Technical Director, KONICA MINOLTA Honda “Were expecting much more from today, so we are a little disappointed, but I think we are not yet seeing the full potential of our rider and the bike. We have some small details to solve on our machine settings and we also need to finalise our choice for rear tyre tomorrow morning as the crash has set us back a little. After the morning session we discussed about trying to increase our corner entry speed and on turn 13 Shinya was testing this theory. The telemetry showed a small mistake with a gear-shift so maybe this caused the crash. The second bike that Shinya had to use isn’t his favourite and the rear settings were a little different so again our potential wasn’t realised. For tomorrow the set-up of our machine is 95% there. We just need to make some small adjustments on rear suspension and then we will test a couple of tyres to find our best combination for the race.” MotoGP final qualifying times 1) Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1′ 55.002″ 2) Casey Stoner Ducati 1′ 55.007″ 3) Colin Edwards Yamaha 1′ 55.233″ 4) Toni Elias Honda 1′ 55.238″ 5) Dani Pedrosa Honda 1′ 55.361″ 11) Shinya Nakano Honda 1’56.306″ More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: STONER JUST FIVE THOUSANTHS OF A SECOND OFF POLE POSITION! Casey Stoner will start his first race for Ducati Marlboro Team from the front row of the grid after taking a thrillingly close second place in this afternoon’s qualifying session with a superbly ridden lap of the twisting Losail circuit. Team-mate Loris Capirossi will start the first race of MotoGP’s new 800cc era from the third row of the grid but feels he will be able to challenge for a podium finish. Stoner, who was Bridgestone’s fastest rider today, ended the session just five thousandths of a second off pole position. His speed on Ducati’s new 800cc Desmosedici GP7 confirmed both his impressive pace in winter testing and the amazing performance of the new 800s, with today’s fastest five riders all inside last year’s Qatar GP pole time. Capirossi was fast in race trim but his qualifying tyre spec proved too soft for the conditions, so he wasn’t able to complete a full lap at maximum speed. Nevertheless the Italian was quick enough to finish the session less than two hundredths of a second off the second row. CASEY STONER, 2nd fastest, 1m 55.007s “Pretty much the whole day’s been quite good, we had a real good qualifying session, I managed to do a good lap time, and this morning we did a really good race run, doing some consistent fast times. We seem to have been pretty competitive the whole weekend, in the top three, so I’m really happy. We did have a couple more dramas today, like this morning when I was pulling out of pit lane going into the first corner and the bike just went away before I’d even entered the corner. It was quite strange, we’re not sure what happened. I’m going to go into tomorrow’s race and do my best, I’m not expecting anything, I just hope things turn out the way I plan them to because sometimes they don’t. I’m really confident with the tyres and the team and the whole bike, so I think we can have a good result here.” LORIS CAPIROSSI, 7th fastest, 1m 55.851s “I’m very happy. I’ll start the race from the right side of the track and I think we’ll be able to fight for the podium. I’m feeling confident for several reasons. We have a very good rhythm in race trim – I did a 1m 56s on my 15th lap with the same tyres – and today we recovered from a situation that could have been very negative for the tomorrow’s starting grid. I chose a soft qualifying tyre which wouldn’t finish a lap at maximum pace and in fact during my first run with qualifiers I almost lost control at the last corner and had to get back to the pit. Of course, with the new tyre regulations my second qualifying tyre was identical, so I asked Casey, who had a harder qualifier, if I could follow him to give me a reference through the first two splits. It worked out because I was very, very fast in the first part of the lap and when the tyre began to go off I slowed down, thinking only to complete the lap with the best possible time. Seventh isn’t too bad and I feel really confident for the race.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing: THIRD ROW START FOR KAWASAKI’S YOUNG GUN Kawasaki young gun, Randy de Puniet, will start tomorrow’s opening race of the season from the third row of the grid, after qualifying his Ninja ZX-RR in eighth place for the Grand Prix of Qatar. The first qualifying session of the season, during which de Puniet held provisional pole for almost 20 minutes, was a success for Kawasaki’s tyre partner, Bridgestone, with six of their riders filling the top ten positions. This morning de Puniet again focussed on race tyre evaluation, confirming his selection with a half-distance race run during the hour-long practice period. With conditions changing ahead of this afternoon’s qualifying session, de Puniet reconfirmed his race tyre choice, after declaring himself satisfied with the set-up of his Ninja ZX-RR. The 26-year-old Frenchman was one of the few riders to run three qualifying tyres this afternoon, improving his lap time with each one, on his way to qualifying eighth fastest with a time of 1’55.933s, less than one second behind today’s pole sitter, Valentino Rossi. For Olivier Jacque, today was a difficult one. The 33-year-old Frenchman struggled with a lack of both feeling and feedback from the front end of his Ninja ZX-RR during the morning practice, before eventually overcoming the problem early in this afternoon’s qualifying session. Jacque concentrated on evaluating race tyres, before fitting the first of two qualifiers in the rear of his Ninja ZX-RR with just ten minutes of the timed session remaining. The Kawasaki pilot faces a tough opening race tomorrow, as he will start from the fifth row of the grid after qualifying in 14th position this afternoon. Although the characteristics of the Losail circuit are not well suited to Kawasaki’s Ninja ZX-RR, both riders are confident of starting the season tomorrow with a points scoring finish. Randy de Puniet: 8th – 43 Laps – Best Lap 1’55.933 “This morning we tried different tyre options and I managed a fast and consistent simulation. We confirmed it in the afternoon and we will use Bridgestone’s medium option. I’m satisfied with the qualifying, as I improved my lap time with each of the three qualifying tyres used. I pushed as hard as I could; it would have been difficult to be faster. The race will depend on the start and if I do well I think I can defend my position.” Olivier Jacque: 14th – 40 Laps – Best Lap 1’56.754 “Today I began with the same set up I finished with yesterday to corroborate the improvement that I felt. But, unfortunately, it didn’t work. We then worked hard on chassis balance and front suspension and finally, in the afternoon, we found a better set up. I’m not yet 100% used to the qualifiers and I lost a lot of time at the first split as I don’t warm up properly the tyre. However, I went fast through the other three sectors and that made me feel good. I’m so excited and I will do my best to finish in the points tomorrow.” Ichiro Yoda: Kawasaki Racing Director “Randy’s lap times improved session after session and his race simulation, even though it wasn’t a whole race one, was consistent. Compared with the previous tests, he has made an important step forward and we really appreciate his effort. We expected a better position on the grid, maybe second, but this is not a bad result. Olivier improved, but didn’t find the optimal setup. On Sunday, after the race, we will probably try Randy’s set up with Olivier and compare. Our expectations for the race are Randy to finish among the first eight and Olivier in the top ten.” QUALIFYING PRACTICE – FINAL TIMES 1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha Factory Racing 1’55.002; 2. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team +0.005; 3. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha Factory Racing +0.231; 4. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda Gresini +0.356; 5. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team +0.359; 6. John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +0.831; 7. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team +0.849; 8. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team +0.931; 9. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team +1.039; 10. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda Gresini +1.220; 14. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team +1.752 More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: Fiat Yamaha Riders Seal Front Row Starts For Desert Challenge Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards carried on from where they left off yesterday on day two of the season-opening Grand Prix of Qatar, topping the time sheets again in this morning’s free practice before taking first and third in a gripping Qualifying session this afternoon. Rossi will start from pole for the 46th time in his Grand Prix career with his team mate two places away from him, the pair separated only by the Ducati of Casey Stoner who was just five-thousandths of a second slower than the Italian. With the new tyre restrictions meaning the Yamaha duo had only two qualifying tyres to work with in the session, the first forty minutes were focused on perfecting the set-ups of their 800cc M1s and both continued to show a consistently strong pace on race tyres. Already holding the top spot after a string of fast laps inside the last twenty minutes, Edwards’ first qualifying tyre saw him consolidate first place with ten minutes to go, his team-mate moving into second place behind him a few minutes later. The last five minutes saw a flurry of activity with Rossi, Edwards, Stoner, Toni Elias and Dani Pedrosa (both Honda) all putting in quick flying laps in a tense finale. All five riders lapped under last year’s pole time but it was Rossi who took the honours with a lap of 1’55.002, over half a second faster than the existing record. 46 Valentino Rossi Position: 1st Time: 1’55.002 Laps: 26 “It’s great to have my first pole of the season at the very first race and it’s extra special for me because it’s pole number 46 of my career! I hope this is a good omen for tomorrow. I’m really happy for this pole position because everyone has worked so hard; all my mechanics, engineers, Michelin”¦everyone involved. Yamaha has built us a great bike. Anyway tomorrow is another day and the real race, but we’re starting from first and also Colin is on the front row too so I hope we can put in a good Yamaha show! We have a couple of things to check in morning practice but we’re more or less ready. I really like this track, the grip is great, it’s fast and technical and it’s possible to have a lot of fun with the new Yamaha. It’s also quite quiet here, with not too many people and this is a nice atmosphere in which to start the season as I can focus completely on racing without too many other distractions! I think tomorrow there are three or four riders who can fight at the top with Colin and me, but we’re feeling confident in our garage.” 5 Colin Edwards Position: 3rd Time: 1’55.233 Laps: 24 “Yamaha, Michelin, Valentino and I have all worked so hard and it’s really exciting to be up there together on the front row…although of course I would like to try to reverse the order tomorrow! Our bike is going so well so far this year, everywhere we go we’ve got a plan and it seems to work and the lap times are just amazing. It’s a great feeling. I love this track and the set-up we have seems to be spot-on, really we don’t have anything left to do tomorrow morning except double-check everything and make our final tyre choice. I’ve got a choice of two but honestly I’m not too worried, they both work well and I don’t think either will be the difference between winning and losing Michelin seem to have it all under control for us! It’s going to be a matter of getting a good start and seeing how it goes. I think there’s a few that can run with us but our race pace is pretty good so I am confident I can be up there fighting!” Fiat Yamaha Team Davide Bribio Team Director “It’s a very good start for us and we’re very happy! The weekend so far has been very good for us and both riders are working in a very smooth, confident way. Tomorrow is the important test and it will be the final proof of where we are, but we feel that we’re ready to race and I hope we’ll be able to enjoy a great result together with both Colin and Valentino.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki Second-row start for Hopkins and Rizla Suzuki MotoGP at season opener Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racer John Hopkins will start the first Grand Prix of the season at Doha in Qatar tomorrow from sixth place on the grid. Hopkins (P6, 1’55.833, 45 laps) continued to battle against the pain he is suffering from his recent crash and was never outside the top-six on the timesheets during this afternoon’s qualifying session. He actually topped the leader board early on in the session and was on target for a front row start right up until the final minutes of the hour. Suzuki’s Anglo-American performed very positively all day on Bridgestone’s race tyres and was fourth quickest overall before qualifying tyres were used – a position that that gives the Team great confidence for tomorrow’s race. Chris Vermeulen also performed well on race tyres and moved up to eighth place overall, as his crew worked hard to get his Suzuki GSV-R set-up for the demanding conditions of the 5.380km desert circuit. Unfortunately for Vermeulen his qualifying tyre choice that was made on Wednesday in line with the new tyre rule proved costly. He was unable to capitalise on his improving form during the qualifying session, mainly due to the hard compound tyre not suiting his style or bike settings as track temperatures reached 47°C. Vermeulen (P13, 1’56.639, 47 laps) will start from the front of the fifth row. Today’s pole position was set by former World Champion Valentino Rossi on his Factory Yamaha, with a new circuit record of 1’55.002. Tomorrow’s 22 -lap race will get underway at 15.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT) as both Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racers will be aiming to score valuable points from the inaugural race of the season. John Hopkins: “From where we started the weekend I’ve got to say that I am pretty happy to be starting from the second row. We’ve got a lot of work done over the last two days and the set-up of the bike is really good right now. We have a good race tyre that should go the distance and has lots of grip, so cheers to Bridgestone for that and for making the improvements that were needed. As far as qualifying goes I think we chose a bit too hard a compound on Wednesday but I guess that is all part of the new rule. We had a bit of movement and it wasn’t stuck to the track like the Bridgestone qualifiers usually are. Considering the pain I’ve been in this weekend I’m pleased with where we are and I’m sure that the adrenaline will kick in come race time. I can’t wait to be racing and trying to run at the front – I’m sure I’ll have a good time out there!” Chris Vermeulen: “This afternoon the wind changed direction and it made it a bit more difficult out there. For the tests and up until this afternoon it had been a strong headwind down the straight, but then it turned around and was not as strong so it was all a bit different than what we were used to. I got up to speed on the race tyre and felt quite comfortable. I moved into the top 10 and think I will be able to find a bit more speed tomorrow. The qualifiers just didn’t give me the right grip and I wasn’t able to go much faster than I had been already. It’ll make it a bit harder tomorrow having to start from 13th, but that’s racing and we’ll try our best to get closer to the front.” Paul Denning: “Considering John started the weekend not knowing if he would be able to race at all, a second row start is a fantastic result and a good reward for his bravery and commitment. He hasn’t put a race distance together so far this week, but I’m sure come race day the adrenaline will see him through to the end. John has a good race pace and I think he has the capacity to go a bit quicker when the time comes and situations dictate it. “It’s been a difficult weekend for Chris up to yet, and whilst his race pace has improved step-by-step it just didn’t work for him on the qualifiers today. Fifth row is not an ideal place to start but he can do some good times on the race tyres and I know he will be giving it everything he can come tomorrow afternoon. He’s always been a great racer even if qualifying doesn’t go so well! “The tyres seem to have decent durability and we are hoping for a good solid Grand Prix from both riders tomorrow, and to get some respectable points under our belts. Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar Qualifying Classification: 1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1’55.002: 2. Casey Stoner (Ducati) +0.005: 3. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +0.231: 4. Toni Elias (Honda) +0.356: 5. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) +0.359: 6. JOHN HOPKINS (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +0.831: 13. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.637: More, from a press release issued by Dorna Sports: Rossi snatches pole number 46 in Qatar with new record Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar Friday 9th March Report Day 2 motogp The first race of the 2007 MotoGP World Championship season takes place tomorrow in Qatar, with the riders today attempting to secure a good start in qualifying. Conditions at the Losail International Circuit were near perfect for riding, with a comfortable heat and little wind to contend with. Valentino Rossi will begin his attempt to regain the MotoGP world title from pole position tomorrow, after a scorching lap at the end of the MotoGP session. The Italian put an incredible 1’55.002 lap on the board, edging out last year’s poleman Casey Stoner by five thousandths of a second and smashing his pole record time of 1’55.683. It is Rossi’s 46th career pole, and an ideal start to the 800cc era for the Italian. After fast times yesterday and this morning, Colin Edwards set the pace early on, before eventually taking the final spot on the front row. Toni Elias, Dani Pedrosa and John Hopkins completed the top six, the latter surprising many with his great ride at less than 100% fitness. Loris Capirossi will start from the head of row three tomorrow, holding off Randy de Puniet and reigning World Champion Nicky Hayden. Elias, Capirossi and Marco Melandri were amongst the riders to take a trip onto the gravel during the session, whilst there were crashes for Shinya Nakano and Jeremy McWilliams. The Ilmor GP rider will be in action tomorrow, having been examined for further damage to his injured leg. 250cc Jorge Lorenzo, the reigning 250cc World Champion out to retain his crown this season, will begin his title defence from the front spot at the Commercialbank Grand Prix Of Qatar. The Spaniard led the way at the final qualifying session for tomorrow’s race, just over three tenths of a second faster than former team-mate Hector Barbera with a lap of 1’59.432. The duo will be joined on the front row by the Aspar team duo of Alex de Angelis and Alvaro Bautista, with the 125cc World Champion and previous winner in the category at Losail starting his first quarter litre race tomorrow. Fellow 250cc debutant Thomas Luthi rounded off an all-Aprilia top five, ahead of KTM rider Hiroshi Aoyama, Andrea Dovizioso and Mika Kallio. Yuki Takahashi and Julian Simon, two riders coming back from leg and shoulder injuries respectively, completed the top ten. 125cc In today’s final 125cc qualifying practice, Gabor Talmacsi took the first pole position of the 2007 season. The Hungarian’s hot lap came right at the end of the session, a time of 2’06.011 putting him ahead of Aspar team-mate Hector Faubel by less than one tenth of a second. Mattia Pasini, last year also a member of the Aspar team and now riding for Polaris World, was also close to the pole-setting lap, and starts from a front row completed by Derbi rider Lukas Pesek. Raffaele de Rosa, Sergio Gadea, Tomoyoshi Koyama and Esteve Rabat completed the top eight, with the latter qualifying faster than new team-mate Bradley Smith on his first attempt. The Briton himself had an impressive session, knocking a second off his first qualifying time to qualify ninth in a top ten rounded off by Simone Corsi. The Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar starts tomorrow from 12pm local time (GMT+3), with the MotoGP race kicking off at 3pm. More, from a press release issued by Gresini Racing: TONI ELIAS FOURTH ON THE GRID The Spanish rider will start from the second row in Qatar whilst Melandri will aim to recover positions with a good start. Toni Elias will start the opening race of the 2007 MotoGP World Championship from the second row of the grid after qualifying in fourth place for the Grand Prix of Qatar. After suffering during winter testing, Toni has worked hard on the set-up of his Honda RC212V this weekend and was able to get the best out of his Bridgestone qualifying tyre. Just over three tenths of a second behind pole man Valentino Rossi, Toni was also three tenths inside Casey Stoner’s previous pole record set last year on the 990cc Honda. Marco Melandri, finished 10th, is hopeful of a good start as he aims to make up important positions in the race. The Gresini Honda rider set a good pace in practice and has faith in the Honda – Bridgestone tandem as he starts from the fourth row. TONI ELIAS (4th , 1’55″358): “I’m really happy with this result after such a difficult winter. We’ve worked hard on the set-up of the bike to try and create a solid base with the Bridgestone tyres. This afternoon we just worked right to the end of qualifying and found a compromise that allowed me to make the most of the qualifying tyre. Te be in fourth place, at the front of the second row, is important for the race – especially at a circuit where it is difficult to overtake. Hopefully I can get a good start! We still have a little work to do to improve the race pace.” MARCO MELANDRI (10th, 1’56″222): “I am satisfied with the bike and the tyre choice for the race. Unfortunately I made a mistake with my choice of qualifying tyre, which is why I haven’t qualified a little closer to the front. We didn’t find the right feeling with the first qualifier and I didn’t feel comfortable, which meant I couldn’t get the best out of the second tyre. Hopefully I can get a good start and make a few passes over the opening laps to make up positions. I’m confident about it all because we’ve worked hard towards the race and the rhythm is good. In the test on Sunday I’ll work on the qualifying tyres because it is always important to start near the front if you want to battle for a top position.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: ELIAS HEADS SECOND ROW WITH DANI ALONGSIDE Under new tyre regulations and with an 800cc capacity limit MotoGP 2007 got underway at a sunny Losail circuit with a pole for Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), second place on the grid for Casey Stoner (Ducati) with the final front row slot going to Colin Edwards (Yamaha). With an ambient temperature of a modest 23 degrees, and with the track at 27 degrees, conditions were ripe for riders to make the most of this benign weather. They ripped around this 5.4km track without suffering the customary privations of heat exhaustion when this race was held in October here in the Qatar desert. The circuit was also relatively dust free owing to the Superbike race held here two weeks ago and a series of local events that have laid down rubber on the tarmac and made the track a much grippier proposition than it has been in recent years. As the hour long MotoGP qualifying session got underway it was Marco Melandri (Fortuna Honda RC212V) who headed the timesheet before Carlos Checa (LCR Honda RC212V) snatched pole away from him, only for John Hopkins (Suzuki) to then temporarily wrest number slot from them both. But this was mere early skirmishing as riders put in laps on prospective race rubber while conserving a limited number of qualifying tyres for the final minutes. With only 14 front tyres and 17 rears available for each rider, longer stints on track without constant returns to the pits for changes were the norm. Twenty minutes into the session the order was Edwards, Rossi, Hopkins, Loris Capirossi (Ducati), Melandri and Checa. Then as per last season Kawasaki was the first team to fit a qualifier as Randy de Puniet sped to a 1m 56.331s lap to hit pole with 30 minutes remaining. Within the last twenty minutes Shinya Nakano (Konica Minolta Honda RC212V), who had been running in ninth spot, slid off at high speed without injury. Meanwhile Stoner had hoisted himself to second with Melandri third fastest and Edwards on pole with a time of 1m 56.156s. Stoner then upped the pace to go pole with a 1m 55.794s lap ahead of de Puniet, Hopkins and Edwards who had now been bumped down to fourth on row two. Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V) who had been struggling here so far elevated himself to fifth with a prodigious effort, before ending up ninth overall. But Edwards was comfortable enough to squeeze yet more speed from his bike and with seven minutes left he managed a 1m 55.654s time to go pole again. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) had not been finding things easy here and his ride to sixth with just five minutes to go was as much as he could manage before ending up fifth overall with a 1m 55.361s time on his very last lap. It was Toni Elias (Fortuna Honda RC212V) who found the most speed from his RC212V in the closing moments when he flew to a 1m 55.358s time, just 0.356s off the pole time, to head the second row of the grid as fourth fastest qualifier. Kenny Roberts (Roberts KR212V) could do no better than 18th fastest, nearly two and a half seconds shy of Rossi’s 1m 55.002s pole time. Many Honda runners will be aiming to find more speed in the warm-up session tomorrow before the race. Elias, fourth fastest, said, “I’m really happy with this result after such a difficult winter. We’ve worked hard on the set-up of the bike to try and create a solid base with the Bridgestone tyres. This afternoon we just worked right to the end of qualifying and found a compromise that allowed me to make the most of the qualifying tyre. To be in fourth place, at the front of the second row, is important for the race especially at a circuit where it is difficult to overtake.” “Starting from fifth position is OK,” said Dani. “Though obviously I would have preferred to be on the front row. We continued to work on the set-up of the bike in both sessions and I was able to improve my speed from yesterday. The set-up for the race is just about there, though we still have to make the final decision on the race tyre, so we’ll use the warm-up tomorrow morning for that. My qualifying runs went quite well the first one was calm and not so quick and on the second one I was pushing more and improved the time quite a lot.” Nicky, ninth quickest, said, “My last Michelin qualifier felt really good and my first three splits were not bad, but in the last split I didn’t quite put it together and I actually went a little bit slower in that split. Up until that point I had a pretty decent lap going. The third row isn’t really where I hoped to be starting the first race of the year and we’re just trying to get the front end right so that I’m able to roll around these corners and not have to do so much stop-and-go riding. We’ve got a few little issues with some chatter but the bottom line is that I’ve got to come in here tomorrow, do my part and get the most out of the bike.” Marco Melandri, tenth fastest man, said, “I am satisfied with the bike and the tyre choice for the race. Unfortunately I made a mistake with my choice of qualifying tyre, which is why I haven’t qualified a little closer to the front. We didn’t find the right feeling with the first qualifier and I didn’t feel comfortable, which meant I couldn’t get the best out of the second tyre.” Shinya Nakano ended the session 11th fastest, and said, “Despite the crash I feel OK and I’m not hurt. It was a fast crash on one of the right-hand corners, so I was lucky. Compared to my crash down the Mugello straight a few years ago, it was a slow one! I’m obviously a little disappointed, as I wanted something better from today for the team and myself. After the crash I could improve my lap time with a qualifying tyre, but now we have to look forward to tomorrow and use morning warm-up to choose a tyre for the race.” “I knew qualifying would be difficult,” said Carlos Checa, 12th fastest, “The team had expected front-end chatter using the softer tyres, front and rear, but I did not expect the problem to be quite so bad. By the final two corners of my fast lap I had a big problem on the brakes turning into the corners. But I’m happy with my pace in race trim and I am quite confident, the rear is stable with our race tyre. We need to understand the qualifying chatter for the future but my main focus now is a good start and a strong race.” Roberts struggled in 18th spot. He said, “I tried a hard-compound race tyre in the middle of the session, and had a real close call from the left side going into a corner. Confidence-wise, it’s one of those things where you get a real bad feeling and it takes away your momentum. Then when I put the qualifying tyre on, there was basically no advantage. I couldn’t keep my corner speed up. I got more grip, but I couldn’t do a thing with it.” Reigning World 250cc Champion Jorge Lorenzo dominated the 45-minute qualifying session for the class and netted the first pole of the season. The front row was an all-Aprilia affair with Hector Barbera second quickest, Alex de Angelis third fastest man and with 2006 World 125cc Champion Alvaro Bautista completing the front row. Just 0.2 seconds cover the front row qualifiers while 2006 series runner-up Andrea Dovizioso (Humangest Racing Honda RS250RW) qualified seventh fastest, 1.270 seconds off the pole time. Next fastest Honda qualifier was Dovi’s team-mate Yuki Takahashi (Humangest Racing Honda RS250RW) in ninth. Julian Simon (Repsol Honda RS250RW) qualified tenth. Dovi said, “I’m not totally satisfied. We made a good job and improved my lap time, but the other riders have done the same and the first four have made very good lap times. We have to make some little improvements to my bike; in warm up tomorrow morning we’ll look for perfection and with more work I think we have a good chance of doing well.” Takahashi said, “I’m very happy about my lap time. Today I raced quickly but not right on the edge, not risking too much. On this track it isn’t easy to pass the other riders because of the sand off the racing line. It’s essential to make a good start in order to be among the first riders.” Simon said, We didn’t have much time left towards the end because I stopped a bit late. We put on a softer compound and I was only able to do one more lap. I had a problem with Simoncelli on that lap. I passed him and then he passed me back and then I went off the track. But the overall result is positive because I’m still a bit bruised after the crash in Jerez. Let’s hope that I’ll be able to finish the race.” Gabor Talmacsi netted the first pole of the 125cc series with a last gasp lap of 2m 06.011s to deny his team-mate Hector Faubel the number one grid slot for tomorrow’s 18-lap encounter. Mattia Pasini qualified third fastest (all Aprilia) while Lukas Pesek (Derbi) completes the front row. Esteve Rabat (Repsol Honda RS125R) qualified eighth fastest with his team-mate Bradley Smith (Repsol Honda RS125R) ninth overall for a third row start. Alex Masbou (FFM Racing Honda RS125R) will start from 15th while Mike di Meglio (Humangest Honda RS125R) lines up in 18th spot. Rabat said, “This morning was a bit of a disaster and I had a few problems. But then, around noon, I was able to keep a good pace. Then I was able to lap behind another rider and make two good laps. There are still a few things to decide, like the tyres and some set-up elements, but things are more or less clear for tomorrow.” Smith said, “We tested some new settings that did not work out and then we went back to the beginning. It’s a bit late now, but I’ve done better work than yesterday. I feel confident for tomorrow because I know that I can be fast all by myself and I don’t need to follow anyone else. I know I could have done better, but we only have thirty minutes to clock a good lap time, get a good pace and find good settings, so I’m happy.” Honda rider quotes final qualifying Friday March 9, 2007. MotoGP: Toni Elias, Gresini Honda: 4th: “I’m really happy with this result after such a difficult winter. We’ve worked hard on the set-up of the bike to try and create a solid base with the Bridgestone tyres. This afternoon we just worked right to the end of qualifying and found a compromise that allowed me to make the most of the qualifying tyre. Te be in fourth place, at the front of the second row, is important for the race especially at a circuit where it is difficult to overtake. Hopefully I can get a good start! We still have a little work to do to improve the race pace.” Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 5th: “Starting from fifth position is ok, though obviously I would have preferred to be on the front row. We continued to work on the set-up of the bike in both sessions and I was able to improve my speed from yesterday. The set-up for the race is just about there, though we still have to make the final decision on the race tyre, so we’ll use the warm-up tomorrow morning for this. My qualifying runs went quite well – the first one was calm and not so quick and on the second one I was pushing more and improved the time quite a lot. For the race I hope to be fighting at the front, though some of the other riders are looking pretty fast so it may be difficult. I’m on the middle of the second row so the track may be a little bit dirty there – still, I’ll be aiming to get a good start in the race tomorrow.” Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 9th: “My last Michelin qualifier felt really good and my first three splits were not bad, but in the last split I didn’t quite put it together and I actually went a little bit slower in that split. Up until that point I had a pretty decent lap going. The third row isn’t really where I hoped to be starting the first race of the year and we’re just trying to get the front end right so that I’m able to roll around these corners and not have to do so much stop-and-go riding. We’ve got a few little issues with some chatter but the bottom line is that I’ve got to come in here tomorrow, do my part and get the most out of the bike. The team’s working hard and I’ve got faith in the boys in my corner. It’s going to be a big day tomorrow. We’ll bring all we’ve got, try to get a smokin’ start and not got pinched down there on the inside of the third row. I’m definitely looking forward to going racing again.” Marco Melandri, Gresini Honda: 10th: “I am satisfied with the bike and the tyre choice for the race. Unfortunately I made a mistake with my choice of qualifying tyre, which is why I haven’t qualified a little closer to the front. We didn’t find the right feeling with the first qualifier and I didn’t feel comfortable, which meant I couldn’t get the best out of the second tyre. Hopefully I can get a good start and make a few passes over the opening laps to make up positions. I’m confident about it all because we’ve worked hard towards the race and the rhythm is good. In the test on Sunday I’ll work on the qualifying tyres because it is always important to start near the front if you want to battle for a top position.” Shinya Nakano, Konica Minolta Honda: 11th: “Despite the crash I feel OK and I’m not hurt. It was a fast crash on one of the right-hand corners, so I was lucky. Compared to my crash down the Mugello straight a few years ago, it was a slow one! I was trying to improve my lap time and was adjusting my riding style a little but perhaps it was the wrong thing to do as I lost the front. I’m obviously a little disappointed, as I wanted something better from today for the team and myself. After the crash I could improve my lap time with a qualifying tyre, but now we have to look forward to tomorrow and use morning warm-up to choose a tyre for the race.” Carlos Checa, LCR Honda: 13th: “I knew qualifying would be difficult because the team had expected front-end chatter using the softer tyres, front and rear, but I did not expect the problem to be at such a high level. By the final two corners of my fast lap I had a big problem on the brakes turning into the corners. But I’m happy with my pace in race trim and I am quite confident, the rear is stable with our race tyre. We need to understand the qualifying chatter for the future but my main focus now is a good start and a strong race.” Kenny Roberts Jnr: 18th: “I tried a hard-compound race tyre in the middle of the session, and had a real close call from the left side going into a corner. Confidence-wise, it’s one of them things where you get a real bad feeling and it takes away your momentum. Then when I put the qualifying tyre on, there was basically no advantage. I couldn’t keep my corner speed up. I got more grip, but I couldn’t do a thing with it.” “Overall, I haven’t been matching the times I did here in the test. I keep thinking we’re making the bike better, and my feeling keeps getting better, but the times are tough to do. I put 90 percent of it down to me, not being able to give the guys feedback good enough to find the right direction. The bike’s still no good in the areas I’ve been struggling. There’s a better bike in the garage. We’ve just got to figure out what needs doing and what I’m doing. Sometimes you ride 100 percent and the bike’s doing the right things and it’s fine. Sometimes if it’s doing the right things at the wrong time, then you’re off, and then you look bad, as we look now.” Kenny Roberts Senior Team Owner: “We haven’t kept up with it. Just before we get there, we go backwards. So it’s been a very frustrating weekend so far. Of course we are ready to make big changes to the bike. It’s up to Junior. We can change everything on it if he wants to. We need to set down and find out why we are so slow.” 250cc. Andrea Dovizioso, Humangest Honda: 7th: “I’m not totally satisfied. We made a good job and shift after shift we have improved my lap time, but also the other rider have made the same improvement and the first four have made a very good lap time. We have to make some little improvements to my bike: in warm up tomorrow morning we’ll look for perfection and with more fighting I think we have good possibility of a good finish.” Yukio Takahashi, Humangest Honda: 9th: “I’m very happy about my lap time. Today I raced quickly but not at my edge, in order not to risk too much. On this track it isn’t easy to pass the other riders because of the sand beside the track. It’s essential to make a good start in order to be among the leading riders. I’ll do my best!” Julian Simon, Repsol Honda: 10th: “The practices were OK. I’ve tried to get a good pace quickly to be able to focus only on riding, because this afternoon we used a bit stronger pain-killers than yesterday. It’s been good because they really stopped the pain. I pushed from the beginning and was able to improve my lap-time. Then we made some adjustments to the bike and the times were even better. We had not much time left towards the end because I stopped a bit late. We put on a softer compound and I was only able to do one more lap. I had a problem with Simoncelli in that lap. I passed him and then he passed me back and then I went off the track. But, well, the result is positive because I’m still a bit bruised after the crash in Jerez. Let’s hope that I’ll be able to stand the race well tomorrow. My aim is actually to finish it.” Shuhei Aoyama, Repsol Honda: 13th: “I don’t really know what happened today. I have to improve for the race. The feelings are not perfect, but not really bad either. I lack a bit of concentration and I don’t know what kind of a pace I’ll be able to keep, but what I know is that I’m going to give it all in every lap.” Ratthapark Wilairot, Thai Honda PTT SAG: 22nd: “I couldn’t improve as much as I wanted, but overall it was a positive day and there’s only a little gap with the guys ahead of me. We were able to refine the set-up of the bike, we worked on the gearbox and chose a tyre for tomorrow’s race. My goal is to score a few points, but I know it will be tough because the 250cc class is very competitive this year. We did some good work and I hope our effort will be rewarded in this first Grand Prix of the year.” Eugene Laverty, LCR Honda: 24th: “It hasn’t been the smoothest weekend so far and 24th is not where I want to be, I’m looking forward to a better race performance. I lost track time in the morning session with an engine problem and the chassis set-up is not perfect — the rear is sliding and the front moving around too much.” 125cc: Tito Rabat, Repsol Honda: 8th: “This morning was a bit of a disaster and I had a few problems. But then, around noon, I was able to keep a good pace. Then I was able to lap behind another rider and make two good laps. There are still a few things to decide, like the tyres and some set-ups, but we have more or less everything clear for tomorrow.” Bradley Smith, Repsol Honda: 9th: “Well, we are a bit behind compared to the results we had during the previous tests. We tested some new settings that did not work out and then we went back to the beginning. It’s a bit late now, but I’ve done better work than before. I feel confident for tomorrow because I know that I can be fast all by myself and that I don’t need to follow anyone else. I know that I could have done better, but we only have thirty minutes to clock a good laptime, get a good pace and find good settings. I’m happy.” Alexis Masbou, FFM Honda: 15th: “The problem for me is the rear tyre, its sliding a lot and making it difficult to get on the gas. The front end is good and the engine also but we have to find a solution to the sliding. Tonight we will speak with Dunlop about tyres for tomorrow and then change the suspension if necessary. The warm up will be important for us.” Mike Di Meglio, Humangest Honda: 18th: “Today I’m not happy at all. We tried a bigger tyre and that gave me more stability solving the problems I had until yesterday, in particular where there were holes in the track. But anyway I’m not been ever able to make a good lap time and now my technicians are trying to understand what could have slowed me. For sure tomorrow will be very difficult to recover so many positions, but I try to give my very best.” Joey Litjens, Molenaar Honda: 25th: “I was running well for almost the complete training and qualifying then broke piston! Pity because we had found a good engine setting. The team know what to do and I’m confident I will go faster tomorrow. The chassis set up is pretty close to what we ran at the test here last week so I’m not worried.” Danny Webb, Molenaar Honda: 26th: “This morning I had a slide off but I’m OK, I it a bump running into the corner. In the afternoon I just didn’t have confidence with the front end. The set up is good so I should be OK tomorrow. I have a good engine and that gives me some confidence.”