Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Free Practice Session #1
1. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki, 1:42.635
2. Carlos Checa, Yamaha, 1:43.165
3. Valentino Rossi, Honda, 1:43.195
4. Steve Gibernau, Honda, 1:43.304
5. Loris Capirossi, Ducati, 1:43.374
6. John Hopkins, Suzuki, 1:43.623
7. Troy Bayliss, Ducati, 1:43.716
8. Tohru Ukawa, Honda, 1:43.818
9. Colin Edwards, Aprilia, 1:43.967
10. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha, 1:44.000
11. Alex Barros, Yamaha, 1:44.043
12. Nobuatsu Aoki, Proton, 1:44.151
13. Jeremy McWilliams, Proton, 1:44.288
14. Nicky Hayden, Honda, 1:44.464
15. Noriyuki Haga, Aprilia, 1:44.654
16. Marco Melandri, Yamaha, 1:44.743
17. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha, 1:44.756
18. Makoto Tamada, Honda, 1:44.786
19. Max Biaggi, Honda, 1:44.808
20. Andrew Pitt, Kawasaki, 1:46.095
21. Alex Hofmann, Kawasaki, 1:46.298
22. Garry McCoy, Kawasaki, 1:46.949

Qualifying Sesson #1
1. Sete Gibernau, Honda, 1:42.285
2. Tohru Ukawa, Honda, 1:42.432
3. Loris Capirossi, Ducati, 1:42.571
4. Valentino Rossi, Honda, 1:42.624
5. Troy Bayliss, Ducati, 1:42.674
6. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki, 1:43.026
7. Carlos Checa, Yamaha, 1:43.064
8. John Hopkins, Suzuki, 1:43.244
9. Nobuatsu Aoki, Proton, 1:43.367
10. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha, 1:43.417
11. Makoto Tamada, Honda, 1:43.445
12. Max Biaggi, Honda, 1:43.661
13. Alex Barros, Yamaha, 1:43.743
14. Noriyuki Haga, Aprilia, 1:43.944
15. Nicky Hayden, Honda, 1:44.017
16. Jeremy McWilliams, Proton, 1:44.036
17. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha, 1:44.100
18. Marco Melandri, Yamaha, 1:44.102
19. Colin Edwards, Aprilia, 1:44.325
20. Alex Hofmann, Kawasaki, 1:44.744
21. Andrew Pitt, Kawasaki, 1:44.945
22. Garry McCoy, Kawasaki, 1:44.945

More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service:

FRENCH SUPERSTAR BAYLE TO TEST SUZUKI

French multiple off-road champion and former GP racer Jean Michel Bayle will be testing the Suzuki GSV-R MotoGP bike in the week after the Spanish GP, to help speed up development of the all-new 2003 990cc GSV-R prototype.

Bayle, who is riding for the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (SERT) this year, will be joined by team regulars Kenny Roberts Jr. and John Hopkins for the tests, scheduled over three days at the Catalunya GP circuit outside Barcelona.

The Frenchman (33) climbs on the powerful 200-mph V4 race machine for the first time on Tuesday, when the GP machine will be run by SERT, fresh from first and second places in the Le Mans 24-Hour race.

SERT normally run the hugely successful GSX-R1000 machines, and this will be the first time their technicians have worked with the V4 GP bike. On Tuesday, they will be joined by the full GP team, to work together for two more days of testing.

“We are very pleased Jean Michel will be able to help our test programme,” said Team Manager Garry Taylor. “He has extensive knowledge of how to set up a bike, expertise in many forms of racing, and experience also on four-strokes.” As well as Motocross and Supercross titles, Bayle raced in GPs in both the 250cc and 500cc classes from 1993 to 1999.

“Our results so far this year show that the MotoGP bike is not yet at its best, especially compared with Suzuki’s successful programmes in Endurance, World, AMA and other branches of Superbike racing, and the Supersport class, as well as in Motocross.

“Our bike has all the promise, but it is packed with innovative engineering, and we are working to get some of the new ground rules established before we can move forward to realise the full potential,” said Taylor.

Bayle is looking forward to the experience, both for the interest and enjoyment of riding one of the new-generation four-stroke machines and also for the chance to help Suzuki. “I have been riding for Suzuki last year and this year, and this is a very interesting part of the job,” the French legend said.

“I know they are having some trouble with the bike. When they are racing it, the riders have the pressure to perform, and not always time to concentrate on the small details.

“They are thinking only about lap time. In racing, you try to improve the bike for the next five minutes.

“I can concentrate only on the overall picture of the machine.

“The GSV-R is completely new, and I am sure it has some very good points. I have to find them and use them 100 percent. Of course it also has weak points, and I will work to eliminate them as well.”

Bayle is well-respected as an analytical rider, his wide experience off-road and on circuits giving him a unique portfolio of expertise on which to draw. “I have ridden so many different bikes with different behaviour and settings. It was always a good point of mine to have a feeling for the bike, and to explain what is happening to the bike.

“For me, it’s just natural,” he concluded.



More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

Marlboro Spanish GP, Jerez
First Qualifying
Friday, May 9 2003

DUCATI MARLBORO MEN IN THE HEAT OF THE BATTLE AGAIN

Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss got their Jerez weekend off to a great start today, posting third- and fifth-fastest times in this afternoon’s opening qualifying session. Riding in brilliant Spanish sunshine, the Australian and the Italian were running first and second just five minutes to go.

“We’re very happy, but not as happy as we were five minutes ago!” smiled Ducati Marlboro Team technical director Corrado Cecchinelli. “We’re pleased that we’re already up with the fastest riders and the race isn’t until Sunday. As usual, we’re changing the set-up as little as possible to allow the riders to be confident and comfortable, so we’re only really working on gearing and suspension. I hope we’re now finished with basic set-up, so we can dedicate tomorrow to choosing the right race tyres.

“Our overall pace is faster than when we came here in February, when we had some traction problems. We’re getting much better grip now, though still not perfect, and maybe a little more wheelspin than we had at Welkom because we’re back to full power here (Welkom’s 1350m altitude robs engines of up to 20 per cent of their horsepower) and there’s a lot of corners here through which you’re opening and closing the throttle at high lean angles.”


CAPIROSSI ON PROVISIONAL FRONT ROW

Loris Capirossi ended the day just 0.286 seconds off provisional pole, the Ducati Marlboro Team rider convinced that he can up the pace some more tomorrow, if he improves the feel he’s getting from his Desmosedici.

“I’m satisfied with third for today, but not quite so satisfied with my settings,” said the former 125 and 250 champ. “Tomorrow we’ll be working to improve the feeling, because that’s what you need for a long and hard race. The good thing is that we are once again up front, but we still need more time to fully develop the bike. We know this track well from our winter tests, but the weather conditions are very different now, with the track temperature over 40 degrees, so it’s not so easy to go faster. But the bike is definitely much better than when we were last here, the overall set-up is improved, and it’s still getting better day by day.”


BAYLISS FIVE HUNDREDTHS OFF THE FRONT ROW

Ducati Marlboro Team rider Troy Bayliss led the final stages of this afternoon’s qualifier, slipping to fifth at the close, a slender 0.389 seconds adrift of pole. But that wasn’t enough to bring more than an average-sized grin to the Aussie’s face.

“This afternoon’s session was a bit of a disaster,” said the ever-determined former World Superbike champ who is using a heavily drilled fairing upper to keep him cool. “One of the bike’s set-up wasn’t so good, the other’s was pretty good but it had a problem, which turned out to be the footrest hanger jamming under the swingarm. Once we had worked that one out – boom – the times were there! I started going good but we blew it at the end – I came in a little late to get a new rear tyre for my final run, so we didn’t get to go as fast as we wanted to go.”

Bayliss had a minor fall today, in the first few minutes of this morning’s practice session. “It was a bit of a strange one,” he added. “But I think it was mostly due to a dirty track, because a couple of other guys also crashed at around the same time.”



More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Yamaha:

Spanish Grand Prix
Friday, 9 May 2003
Jerez, Spain

FORTUNA YAMAHA TEAM HAVE SOLID START IN SPAIN

Today saw the beginning of the European leg of the 2003 MotoGP World Championship where Fortuna Yamaha Team rider Carlos Checa kicked off proceedings with a solid morning free practice performance in front of his home crowd. The Spaniard set the second fastest time during the session on his YZR-M1, before producing a 1:43.064 in the afternoon qualifier to finish the day seventh overall. Although not completely happy with his final placing on the time sheet this afternoon, Checa was satisfied with the improvement in lap times made since the morning free practice. He is more than confident that he has the base chassis package to reduce the 0.741 second deficit over provisional pole and will focus his efforts tomorrow on fine tuning the suspension package to improve drive.

Riding on the crest of his South African success fellow Spaniard Sete Gibernau (Honda) set the quickest time of the day, dislodging Tohru Ukawa (Honda, 1:42.432) and Loris Capirossi (Ducati, 1:42.571) from the number one slot with a 1:42.285, while defending MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi (Honda, 1:42.624) was left to complete the front row.

Checa commented on his day’s performance with some optimism, “This afternoon we improved our time a little bit over this morning. The temperature has changed since then however; it’s much hotter, so we have lost some grip. I have been testing both of my bikes which vary slightly in suspension set-up. At the end of the session I could not improve my lap time very much. Even so I am quite optimistic about tomorrow – our position was second this morning and seventh this afternoon. We are in a better position now than we have been at the last two rounds, we will have to make some more changes and see what we can do.”

Returning to the fray for the first time since his Suzuka practice crash, where he suffered a double fracture of his ankle and a small chipped fracture of the femur in the high-speed crash, Marco Melandri (Fortuna Yamaha Team) approached the opening qualifier progressively in an effort to build up his momentum without the risk of aggravating his recent injury. The young Italian suffered slight discomfort while riding the factory YZR-M1 and felt that he lacked the physical strength to attack the circuit in the same aggressive manner he did during pre-season tests, held earlier this year.

However Melandri was still in an upbeat mood at the end of the session,”I don’t feel too bad but I got quite a bit of back pain in the last 15 minutes of the session,” said the 250cc World Champion. “I have felt some back pain before now since my accident but it feels sore today after all the riding I have done, although it was fine this morning. I am having difficult riding because normally I use the rear brake a lot but I cannot do that now when I enter the corners so I had to modify my style a little bit. I am going to go to the Clinica Mobile for some treatment now and hopefully I will feel better tomorrow. The track feels more slippery as well which doesn’t help – the asphalt is so hot compared to when we tested here in the winter.”

Fortuna Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio feels that the team had a reasonable first qualifying session, “Carlos is on an upwards climb,” said the Italian. “I am satisfied to see him improve like that. We can still make another step up with the bike, but it seems like the weekend is starting in a good way. If we can do a good job tomorrow we might be in a position to fight for a result.

“Marco was feeling some pain during the practice and is now going back to the Clinica Mobile. Hopefully he will be feeling better by tomorrow. We asked Marco not to push too hard today and the same for tomorrow. We need to make sure that he doesn’t push himself too hard now as there are many races left in the season.”



More, from another press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service:

ROBERTS AND HOPKINS ENJOY JEREZ

Jerez de la Frontera, Spain – May 9, 2003

Team Suzuki rider Kenny Roberts Jr. challenged for the front row of the provisional grid in today’s first qualifying session for Sunday’s Spanish GP, setting fastest time in morning free training, and placing a close sixth in the timed session in the afternoon.

Team-mate John Hopkins was just two places and two tenths of a second slower, after switching to his spare bike at the end of the session.

The strong positions and lap times were welcomed by team and riders after a down-beat start to the season at the two flyaway GPs in Japan and South Africa. The marked improvement did not, however, reflect significant changes to the all-new GSV-R 990cc V4 prototype racer. The machines are substantially the same as raced in South Africa; the difference comes from the different nature of the Jerez circuit.

Proof of this was that Roberts was faster in the cooler conditions in the morning, when he was able to exploit the track grip to make up for other aspects of performance.

Of course, detail changes take place constantly, especially to the sophisticated machine’s electronic systems. But while there are new parts from the factory, these will be tested next week, after the Spanish GP, in three-day tests at the Catalunya GP circuit outside Barcelona.

Practice took place in fine, sunny conditions. The Spanish GP is the third of 16 World Championship rounds this year, and the start of the European season. There is one more day of qualifying, with one free practice and another one-hour timed session to establish final grid positions.

KENNY ROBERTS – Sixth Position, 1:43.028
It was nice this morning to be able to ride at 100 percent and be rewarded with fastest time, instead of tenth or worse. As I’ve said before, if the bike is capable of winning, then I can win. If not, then I won’t. In the afternoon the track gained a little temperature, and that hurt us a little more than the other guys, because we need the grip to accelerate faster out of the corners and get more speed on the straightaway. When it got warmer, the engine as running hotter and turn-in becoming a little unpredictable, as well as losing a bit of acceleration … it’s hard to make that up, and you have to push to the limit. Other than qualifying, we’re in much the same position as the previous races. For tomorrow the engineers will be trying to come up with things to help us in those areas. I hope they find something that allows us to race hard.

JOHN HOPKINS – Eighth Position, 1:43.244
I started out today with a bike with a slightly different chassis, and I felt pretty comfortable with that this morning, doing better times than previously. It was looking pretty decent. It’s better on the corner entry. In the afternoon I wanted to continue, but something went wrong in the gearbox and I had to switch to my other bike with the older chassis. There were only about 15 minutes left, and we made some minor adjustments, did some consistent laps, then did my fastest lap yet. Things are going up. Tomorrow I hope to switch back to the newer chassis, and keep on getting better.

GARRY TAYLOR – Team Manager
People keep asking if we have anything new, but there is nothing radical. We’re trying little things all the time, but nothing substantial. This circuit plays to our strengths, and suits our bike in its current state of development better than the previous two. We’re trying hard to maximise that. I think today was a good day, because we have a sniff of being competitive, and the change in both riders is remarkable. I’m not saying they weren’t trying hard before … but give the dog a sight of the rabbit, and he’ll go after it every time.


More, from a press release issued by Pramac Honda Racing:

A DETERMINED MAKOTO TAMADA AT JEREZ

Successful first day of practice for Makoto Tamada and the Pramac Honda Team at Jerez. Without being the slightest overawed by the historic Spanish circuit that he was approaching for the first time, Tamada concentrated on the set-up of his bike during the free practice in the morning, and then aimed for a good position in the official qualifying in the afternoon.

He was certainly helped by the long hours he spent watching the monitor in the pits, where he repeatedly viewed a replay of last year’s race.

Starting out from the set-up used at Welkom, Makoto and the team technicians worked in the morning on the settings of the Honda RC211V, adapting them to the characteristics of the Jerez circuit. Towards the end of the afternoon session, Tamada was satisfied with the front tyre he tried out today, so he completed his choice by opting for a soft rear race tyre, and obtained eleventh place in the ratings, putting himself on provisional third row: 1:43.445, just one second and 160 thousandths from the leader.

Tamada could have decided to use Bridgestone tyres that are even softer, but the Japanese considered that today’s selection was the best for starting out this long and challenging weekend at Jerez.

Makoto Tamada (Pramac Honda Team): 11th – 1:43,445

“I really like the track and I immediately got a feel for it. It’s one that’s simple to remember and this helps the development work, making it easier to improve performance. I’m trying to find the best solution to make sure I have good grip on the corner of the tyre. But we’re also trying to eliminate the slight vibrations that prevent me from finding exactly the right moment in some of the most crucial corners on the circuit. I’m pleased with the way things have gone today at Jerez, and tomorrow I want to improve even more. We’ve got the set-up of the bike worked out, so now we can concentrate all our efforts on development and on the choice of the race tyres.”



More, from a press release issued by Proton Team KR:

PROTON KR MACHINES GET AMONG FOUR-STROKES AT JEREZ

Round 3: Spanish GP, Jerez de la Frontera First Qualifying: Friday, May 9, 2003

Nobuatsu Aoki: Ninth, 1:43.367
Jeremy McWilliams: 16th, 1:44.036

Proton Team KR riders Nobuatsu Aoki and Jeremy McWilliams were ninth and 16th in today’s sun-drenched first qualifying session for Sunday’s Spanish GP – first round of the European season – with both riders in the thick of the action with the more powerful but heavier 990cc four-stroke MotoGP machines.

Both are riding last year’s 500cc two-stroke lightweight for another race while the team’s own radical V5 four-stroke nears completion. But the relative lack of power of the two-stroke is less of a disadvantage at the Spanish circuit, where almost continuous bends weight the dice in favour of the superior braking and cornering performance of the KR3.

Another strength is the improvement over the past 12 months in the team’s Bridgestone tyres, now starting their second full season in the premier motorcycle racing class.

Aoki had a similar result, running only three tenths of a second faster on his soft tyres – enough to put him in the top ten. But the positive side is that it shows how good the race tyres have become; a more important aspect of performance than single lap times in qualifying.

McWilliams had been well up in the top ten in the middle of the session, but lost position as rival riders put on soft-compound qualifying tyres for fast single lap times. His own bid on qualifying tyres did not work out.

There is one more day of qualifying to finalise grid positions before Sunday’s race.

NOBUATSU AOKI
“Today was pretty good – particularly the Bridgestone front tyre, which is working really well. Last year we were struggling with front grip here. After one year, they have improved a lot. That is good for us, because it improves braking and turn in to the corner, which is where our bike is already strong. My time came on a qualifying tyre, but it was only a little faster than my race tyre. That is also good, because it means I can push hard for the race. Tomorrow we will try a shallower steering head angle, to try and make the front feeling better still.”

JEREMY McWILLIAMS
“I was quite happy, running 1:44s comfortably. Everything looked about right and I was holding my top ten position. My only problem was when everybody else put on qualifying tyres, which everyone is obviously beginning to rely on, and went faster. I put them on too, but for some reason they didn’t work out for me. Perhaps they were too soft for the track temperature or something. It’ll get better tomorrow. I also had a small set-up problem, with the bike wheelying too much, so there is a little bit to come from that as well.”

KENNY ROBERTS – Team Owner
“It’s going better than we expected. Maybe this racetrack is not suiting the other guys’ tyres. As for the four-stroke, it looks like we are solving most of the teething problems. We’re hoping to have the new bikes here on Sunday, and start testing on Monday.”