Friday’s Combined Best MotoGP Practice Times: 1. Marco MELANDRI, Honda, 1:33.464 2. Carlos CHECA, Ducati, 1:33.506 3. Sete GIBERNAU, Honda, 1:33.523 4. Nicky HAYDEN, Honda, 1:33.722 5. Loris CAPIROSSI, Ducati, 1:33.730 6. Alex BARROS, Honda, 1:33.967 7. Valentino ROSSI, Yamaha, 1:34.040 8. Max BIAGGI, Honda, 1:34.094 9. Makoto TAMADA, Honda, 1:34.103 10. Colin EDWARDS, Yamaha, 1:34.129 11. Toni ELIAS, Yamaha, 1:34.161 12. Nobuatsu AOKI, Suzuki, 1:34.512 13. John HOPKINS, Suzuki, 1:34.651 14. Alex HOFMANN, Kawasaki, 1:34.778 15. Shinya NAKANO, Kawasaki, 1:34.832 16. Ryuichi KIYONARI, Honda, 1:35.157 17. Roberto ROLFO, Ducati, 1:35.471 18. James ELLISON, Blata, 1:35.925 19. Ruben XAUS, Yamaha, 1:36.057 20. Franco BATTAINI, Blata, 1:36.188 21. Kurtis ROBERTS, Proton, 1:36.807 More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: PAINFUL DAY FOR NAKANO AND HOFMANN IN VALENCIA The opening day of free practice for the final race of the season proved a painful one for Kawasaki riders, Shinya Nakano and Alex Hofmann, at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia today. Following two crashes in the morning free practice session, Nakano was forced to stop early in the afternoon session, suffering a painful injury to his left hand. And while Hofmann completed an impressive 53 laps across the two hours of practice, he also finished the day feeling less than 100% fit. Today was Hofmann’s first day of track action aboard the Ninja ZX-RR after a seven week injury lay-off. After completing just 11 laps in the afternoon free practice session, Nakano stopped to have further treatment on his injured hand. He finished 15th fastest, one place behind Hofmann in 14th. Nakano’s day got off to a poor start when he was bumped from his Ninja ZX-RR by Loris Capirossi’s sliding Ducati just seven minutes into the first session. Later in the session he high-sided, and suffered bruising, but no fractures, to the back of his left hand. After treatment at the Clinica Mobile, Nakano rode with painkillers in the afternoon session, but was still suffering while operating the clutch during downshifts and braking. Following further treatment Nakano expects to be fit for tomorrow’s qualifying and Sunday’s race. Hofmann made a safe and steady return to track action, while riding with two plates and 16 screws in his left ankle and foot. Hofmann was eager for track time to rebuild his confidence and speed following his crash in the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi. He worked through a range of technical set-ups and tyre evaluations for Bridgestone and will continue the programme tomorrow. Track conditions were cool and overcast for both of today’s sessions. Alex Hofmann: #66 – Fourteenth – 1’34.778 “It feels good to be back in MotoGP and I’m a little surprised that I have made it back so soon after the injuries at Motegi – no doctors thought this was possible. I’m feeling a little pain and restricted movement in my left ankle, but it’s acceptable, and I did not want to use painkillers and lose any feeling. Speed wise I’m quite happy to be just 1.3s off the best time after being away for seven weeks, but for sure I’m not in 100% condition – either physically or mentally. When you are away you realise it takes time to adjust to the speed of these bikes. Today was mainly to get some rhythm, and although I had some problems with right side grip we have different tyre options to try tomorrow, one with better edge-grip that Shinya used today.” Shinya Nakano: #56 – Fifteenth – 1’34.832 “I stopped early today to have further treatment and preserve my condition for Sunday’s race, there are still two days to go. I rode with painkillers and they did a good job, but after 10 laps I felt some sharp pain in the back of my hand, it was difficult to control the clutch during downshifts and braking. In the first crash Loris was already sliding when he pushed me off, and then I had a high-side and injured my hand. It is not a good start to the weekend, but I hope to recover some strength in my hand and be ready to race.” More, from a press release issued by Gauloises Yamaha: YAMAHA FACTORY RACING RIDERS PREPARE FOR FINAL PUSH Yamaha Factory Racing riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards began making preparations for the final round of the 2005 MotoGP World Championship at Valencia today, with the cloudy conditions at the Ricardo Tormo circuit brightened by the return of the factory’s traditional red, white and black racing colours. Both riders’ YZR-M1 machines and leathers are decorated in the famous livery, in commemoration of Yamaha’s 50th Anniversary and its extraordinarily successful year in racing this season. Rossi was seventh fastest in both sessions as he worked on adapting the set-up of his machine to the demands of a tight and twisty circuit after the fast and flowing characteristics of Phillip Island and Istanbul. There is certainly more to come from the Italian tomorrow after he ended the day with a lap time which was over 1.5 seconds outside his pole position record of 1’32.478, set two seasons ago. Colin Edwards also made a steady start to the weekend, lapping tenth fastest as he continued to work on a new riding style designed to increase his corner speed. VALENTINO ROSSI (7th – 1’34.040; 53 laps) “I like the colour scheme very much it is like going back to the 1970s. The bike and the leathers look really nice. Today we’re having a few problems with the front end and also with acceleration. We are losing a lot of time in the slow corners and we are not strong at the end of the lap in general. We have some problems and some of the others are very fast but I am not too worried. We’ve had difficulties before on a Friday and worked them out for Saturday so I am confident we can overcome them on this occasion too. Everybody is tired because seventeen races in a season is a lot but we will keep pushing until the end.” COLIN EDWARDS (10th 1’34.129; 57 laps) “I am getting to grips with this new riding style and I feel I have made a big step forward already this weekend. Every time I go out on the track I make progress and the team has been very helpful. My Crew Chief Daniele is showing me where I can be faster and where I can be later on the brakes, which is really helping there’s definitely a team effort going on. I feel the times are there this weekend but I now have to find the confidence in myself to push on and keep moving forward. We will see what else we can come up with tomorrow.” DAVIDE BRIVIO GAULOISES YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR “It was another slow start to the weekend for us, something we have become used to this season! The positions don’t look good but there are a lot of riders who are close together and if we make the improvements we know we are capable of, then both our riders should be much higher up tomorrow. As usual on a Friday we analyse the information and try to find as many solutions before practice continues tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Melandri takes winning form to Valencia Two weeks after taking his maiden MotoGP win in Turkey, Marco Melandri was back on the charge today with the fastest lap on the first day of free practice of the Gran Premio betandwin.com de la Comunitat Valenciana. Melandri set a best lap of 1’33.464 on Friday afternoon to conclude the day just 0.042s ahead of Carlos Checa, who had set the pace in the morning’s opening session, and raise hopes of a grandstand finish to the season as he aims to hold off Nicky Hayden in the chase for the runner-up spot in the championship. “I felt comfortable on the bike from the first minute,” commented Melandri, who holds a nine-point advantage over his Honda colleague in the current standings. “We have started out with a hybrid set-up using the data from the winter tests here and the last race in Turkey and it has worked well but I know the times will be closer tomorrow. I want to finish on the podium but I am more bothered about taking second in the championship than I am about winning this race.” Checa, who is almost certainly making his last appearance with Ducati this weekend, was closely followed by his Spanish compatriot Sete Gibernau a potential replacement in the Italian factory team. The 2003 and 2004 runner-up has yet to win a race this year but he is on course to sign off in style at the scene of his maiden victory, lapping just 0.059 seconds adrift of Melandri today. Hayden was fourth fastest followed by current Ducati rider Loris Capirossi, back on track after missing the last two races through injury. Capirossi finished 0.237 seconds ahead of sixth-placed Alex Barros, who was the final rider under the 1’34 mark today. Valentino Rossi was the highest placed Yamaha rider but the Italian had a lacklustre day on the YZR-M1, this weekend sporting the Japanese manufacturer’s red, white and black vintage paint scheme. Honda mounted riders Max Biaggi and Makoto Tamada took eighth and ninth respectively, ahead of Rossi’s team-mate Colin Edwards, who completed the top ten. Casey Stoner clinched provisional pole position in the 250cc class, beating World Champion and home favourite Dani Pedrosa by just 0.002 seconds on his penultimate lap. The session had been dominated by Pedrosa, who steadily improved until Stoner posted his best lap in the latter stages to become the only Aprilia rider on the front row of the provisional grid. Pedrosa was followed by Honda factory colleagues Héctor Barberá and Hiroshi Aoyama, third and fourth fastest respectively. Mattia Pasini set the pace in the 125cc class after lapping just 0.065 seconds quicker than Gabor Talmacsi. Julián Simón was third fastest whilst Thomas Lüthi, who can win the title by scoring three points in Sunday’s race, completes the front row in fourth. Mika Kallio, the only man capable of stopping Lüthi, qualified at the head of the provisional second row in fifth place. More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: DUCATI MARLBORO MEN MAKE FAST START AT VALENCIA Ducati Marlboro Team riders Carlos Checa and Loris Capirossi made a strong start to this weekend’s season-ending Valencia Grand Prix, ending the day second and fifth fastest. It was a particularly impressive performance from Capirossi, who has been out of racing since last month’s Australian Grand Prix, where he crashed heavily, sustaining chest injuries. This afternoon’s session was one of the closest in MotoGP history, Checa just 0.042 seconds off pole, Capirossi 0.266 seconds down, and the fastest 11 riders covered by a mere 0.697 seconds. “We’ve made a good start to the weekend,” said Ducati MotoGP project manager Livio Suppo. “Most of all, it’s amazing to see Loris back on a bike and immediately riding so well. We’re very happy about that and we’d like to offer our thanks to Dr Claudio Costa and the staff of the Clinica Mobile. Carlos is doing a good job out there, he was second this afternoon and fastest this morning, when he did a 17 lap run, mostly in the 33s, which shows that the Bridgestones are working well here.” CHECA SECOND, JUST 0.042s OFF ‘POLE’ Carlos Checa was a superb second quickest in this afternoon’s second practice session, a fraction behind Marco Melandri, after heading this morning’s session, just ahead of Sete Gibernau. The Ducati Marlboro Team man, who has scored two podium finishes in the last four races, is aiming to end the season with another top-three podium in front of his home fans. “It’s been quite a positive day for us but we still have some work to do for race pace,” said Checa. “This morning I did a fast run but the temperature came up this afternoon, which gave me more movement from the rear tyre. I was losing stability from the rear quite early, so that’s what we’ll be focusing on tomorrow, when we’ll keep working our way through the tyres and trying a few minor suspension adjustments to find more traction. The rest of the bike is fine, I’d say the power delivery is better than when I first rode the bike here last year.” COURAGEOUS CAPIROSSI FIFTH FASTEST Loris Capirossi made a courageous return to racing at Valencia today, exactly three weeks after his 200kmh/125mph tumble at Phillip Island. Riding in some pain, and experiencing breathing difficulties from the chest injuries he suffered in the crash, the tough little Italian didn’t even let a slow-speed tumble (after a collision with Shinya Nakano) prevent him from riding within a fraction of a second of ‘pole position’. “The last three weeks haven’t been the best of my life, but riding here and trying hard is what’s important to me,” said the Ducati Marlboro Team rider. “My thanks to Dr Claudio Costa and the Clinica Mobile staff, who’ve been very close to me since my accident. I knew it would be difficult to ride here but I asked Claudio to help me, and here we are. This morning Nakano and I made contact with each other, we both crashed but it was nothing serious. This afternoon was better, because the track temperature was higher, and I was able to ride more laps, making some useful adjustments. Unfortunately it’s harder than I thought it would be, I can feel the wound in my chest when I’m riding. This makes me breathe faster and shorter which makes riding quite difficult. Anyway, I wanted to ride here and I’m not too slow! My target for the weekend was to understand my condition. Today I made runs of just five or six laps, tomorrow I’ll try 15 laps together, then I should be ready for 30 laps on Sunday.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Aoki leads the way for Team SUZUKI MotoGP at Valencia Nobuatsu Aoki was the fastest Suzuki rider after today’s free practice sessions for this weekend’s Gran Premio betandwin.com de la Comunitat Valenciana in Spain, with team-mate John Hopkins just a tenth of a second behind. Aoki (P12, 1’34.512) is riding in only his second MotoGP race of the season and is deputing for the injured Kenny Roberts Jr this weekend. The experienced Japanese rider used the morning session to re-acquaint himself with the GSV-R and quickly settled into a smooth rhythm. In the second free practice period Aoki was testing some of the latest engine management software and was very pleased with the improvement in performance. His lap times showed that his enthusiasm was justified as he took nearly two and a half seconds off the best time he had done in the morning. Hopkins (P13, 1’34.651) was equally pleased with the day’s practice as he was able to put together some consistent runs at a near-competitive pace. The Anglo-American star believes that he can still get more from his GSV-R and is certain that the latest generation of Bridgestone tyres will give him the edge-grip he requires to do just that. Today’s practice was held in dry but cloudy conditions, with track and surface temperatures both in the low 20’s. The fastest time of the day was set by Marco Melandri. Tomorrow will see both Suzuki racers take to the track for another free practice session before the excitement of the qualifying takes place in the afternoon. Sunday’s event is the final round of the MotoGP World Championship and the 30-lap race will get underway at 14.00hrs CET. Nobuatsu Aoki: “In the morning I struggled a bit because I was riding what was still Kenny’s bike. But this afternoon the guys adjusted the suspension and settings for me, which made it feel more like mine. This gave me more feeling and more confidence. I have tested tyres today to find out what I will need for Sunday and we have also tried many other things. The biggest step this afternoon though was the new software which I can’t say much about as it is pretty secret but it certainly made the torque of the bike easier and more comfortable to use. We still need to make adjustments and if we can make the right ones I am sure well can improve more.” John Hopkins: “Today we have been trying to sort everything out with bike. We have put in a lot of race laps at a consistent pace. We are struggling a bit with edge grip at the moment and need to get that right, but Bridgestone have brought some newer tyres and hopefully we can choose the right one for Sunday. We are doing consistent times but we need to be doing them a second below what they are at the moment if we are to challenge in the race.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “After all the trials and tribulations of the last two races it is good to have a full day’s practice with two riders under our belts. Nobu has performed great considering this is only his second race of the year! He showed the biggest improvement by any rider this afternoon by shaving over two seconds from his best morning lap time. He used his crew to its full extent to get the GSV-R how he wanted it and his afternoon performance showed that. He has been testing some new engine management software and has given very good feedback on the difference it has made the bike’s characteristics. “John is still looking for some extra grip to give him the chance to show what he can do around this circuit. It is certainly a real racers track and should be suited to his all out style and I’m sure that between himself, his crew chief and Bridgestone they will find the best solution for tomorrow’s practice and Sunday’s race.” More, from a press release issued by Camel Honda: POSITIVE FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE FOR CAMEL HONDA IN VALENCIA The last Grand Prix of the 2006 season got away well for the Camel Honda team today. By the end of the second free practice, Alex Barros was one of only six riders able to get under one minute thirty-four. The experienced Brazilian made the most of the base setting the team found here in winter testing, leaving tomorrow to fine-tune things. Youngster Kiyonari began well in the morning, closing in on the top ten riders as he finished the session in twelfth place, but in the afternoon he was held back by trying a few changes which didn’t pay off as desired. The Japanese rider is confident of improvement in tomorrow’s available two hours. Sito Pons Camel Honda “As a first day of practice things didn’t go too badly today, with Alex showing he had a good pace going and finishing in the top three in the morning and then in the top six in the afternoon when he rode in the 1’33 bracket. The settings he found here with the team in winter tests have worked well and tomorrow he can calmly focus on getting things just right and choosing the right tyres. Ryuichi got away well this morning, but in the afternoon instead of making steps forward as we expected, he found out that the changes they made weren’t giving the required results. Nevertheless the technical briefing he had with the team has helped decide which way they will go tomorrow. I think he can massively improve on today.” Alex Barros Camel Honda 1’33.967 6th fastest “this is a short track and it’s not too quick either, so it doesn’t need a great deal of power, especially in the first three gears. This morning we focused on the electronics to cut a bit of power out of the lower gears and avoid the bike rearing up. We had a good base set-up from the pre-season tests, and tomorrow we will work to make it even better. We need to find some better grip in the rear because it’s sliding a bit too much. The grip from the asphalt improved during the morning hour, but then in the afternoon it didn’t change too much and after trying lots of rear tyres, I still couldn’t find the most suitable one. Tomorrow we will work on this and on the rear shock too. In general though I’m happy with this first day of practice.” Ryuichi Kyionari Camel Honda 1’35.579 17th fastest “My position today doesn’t reflect my potential, nor the team’s nor the bike’s too, and I’m the only rider who didn’t’ improve on the time set in the morning session. It’s my fault because I still haven’t rediscovered the technical sensitivity that’s required in MotoGP and I chose some changes to the set-up which ultimately worsened the bike rather than improved it. We have checked the data with the team and tomorrow morning will go back and try several more solutions. I’m sure we can do better than this because this morning I felt very good with the RC211V.” More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Yamaha: XAUS AND ELIAS RIDE AT HOME After his sixth place in the last round of the championship his best result since joining the MotoGP class TONI ELIAS will look to end the season in style with a performance to delight his legion of Spanish fans. The FORTUNA YAMAHA rider has scored in each of his last nine races after the injury that kept him out for three rounds. Valencia is one of Elias’ favourite circuits having won the last two 250cc races at the circuit, but today both he and team-mate Ruben Xaus struggled. Elias was seventh fastest in the second free session, but ended the day in 11th overall after a disappointing showing in the morning. However, he remains only sixth tenths behind provisional poleman Marco Melandri. Xaus suffered with engine problems in the morning but resolved them in the afternoon to finish up in 19th. TONI ELIAS (24): Free session 1: 13th – 1.35.455 + 1.618 (20/28 laps) Free session 2: 11th – 1.34.161 + 1.048 (5/26 laps) “Although we have progressed well recently, it’s difficult for riders to make a difference here, which means if you have problems with the bike they are hard to overcome. It will be a difficult race in which we will have to try and overcome the problems we have had all year. But we will give it our all as always and see if we can improve.” RUBEN XAUS (11): Free session 1: 21st – 1.37.466 + 3.629 (21/27 laps) Free session 2: 19th – 1.36.057 + 2.593 (6/28 laps) “We thought the engine was broken in teh morning which meant we had to work with just one bike and that made things difficult. We improved in the afternoon, although at this circuit the bike lacks a bit of speed through corners. I hope to leave Valencia with good feelings and to enjoy myself on the bike which is something I haven’t done for a while.”