FIM MotoGP World Championship Brno, Czech Republic August 19 Qualifying Results: 1. Valentino ROSSI (Yam YZR-M1), 1:56.191, Michelin 2. Loris CAPIROSSI (Duc GP06), 1:56.441, Bridgestone 3. Kenny Lee ROBERTS (Hon KR211V), 1:56.603, Michelin 4. Nicky HAYDEN (Hon RC211V), 1:56.694, Michelin 5. Shinya NAKANO (Kaw ZX-RR), 1:56.770, Bridgestone 6. Toni ELIAS (Hon RC211V), 1:56.875, Michelin 7. John HOPKINS (Suz GSV-R), 1:56.913, Bridgestone 8. Colin EDWARDS (Yam YZR-M1), 1:56.967, Michelin 9. Dani PEDROSA (Hon RC211V), 1:57.139, Michelin 10. Randy DE PUNIET (Kaw ZX-RR), 1:57.185, Bridgestone 11. Marco MELANDRI (Hon RC211V), 1:57.221, Michelin 12. Casey STONER (Hon RC211V), 1:57.679, Michelin 13. Chris VERMEULEN (Suz GSV-R), 1:57.894, Bridgestone 14. Alex HOFMANN (Duc GP06), 1:57.906, Bridgestone 15. Makoto TAMADA (Hon RC211V), 1:58.239, Michelin 16. James ELLISON (Yam YZR-M1), 1:59.011, Dunlop 17. Carlos CHECA (Yam YZR-M1), 1:59.289, Dunlop 18. Jose Luis CARDOSO (Duc GP05), 2:00.971, Dunlop 19. Ivan SILVA (Duc GP05), 2:01.433, Dunlop More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: SECOND ROW FOR NAKANO AT KAWASAKI’S FORMER ‘BOGEY TRACK’ Kawasaki’s Shinya Nakano will start tomorrow’s 22-lap Czech Grand Prix from the second row of the grid, after qualifying his Ninja ZX-RR in fifth position during this afternoon’s hotly contested timed session. The 28-year-old Japanese ace had his sights set firmly on a front row grid position, but lost out by just one tenth of a second, as a succession of fast laps right at the end of the qualifying session pushed Nakano back from third to fifth place on the timesheet. But the Kawasaki pilot is confident that he can mount an attack from the second row of the grid during tomorrow’s race. This confidence comes from finding a race set-up on his Ninja ZX-RR that allowed Nakano to run consistently in the top three on the timesheet on his preferred race tyre, before switching to super sticky qualifiers at the end of this afternoon’s timed session. Nakano’s Kawasaki teammate, Randy de Puniet, will start the second Ninja ZX-RR from the fourth row tomorrow, after finishing today’s qualifying session tenth fastest; less than a second behind pole sitter, and reigning world champion, Valentino Rossi. Although disappointed at not securing a grid position closer to that of his more experienced teammate, the 25-year-old Frenchman is still confident of putting in a strong performance in tomorrow’s race, as long he can get a good start and make up positions on the opening lap. Shinya Nakano: 5th – 1’56.770 “After three good free practice sessions here at Brno, the second row was my minimum target this afternoon. Obviously, I’d have preferred to be making my fourth front row start of the season tomorrow, but I think it’s still possible to get away with the leaders from the second row of the grid. Our Ninja ZX-RR has been working well at this circuit right from the start of free practice and, with the refinements we’ve made today, I think we’ve got the best possible combination of chassis and engine set-up for this circuit, together with a race tyre from Bridgestone that we know will also work well tomorrow. I’m confident going into the race, which is a new feeling for me at Brno, as our results here for the past two seasons haven’t been so good. I think our obvious improvement this year, at what we’ve always regarded as a bogey track for us, just goes to show how much progress Kawasaki have made with the Ninja ZX-RR since this time last year.” Randy de Puniet: 10th – 1’57.185 “While qualifying down in tenth place this afternoon was a little disappointing, more important for the race is that we have a good set-up with our Ninja ZX-RR in race trim, and I’m confident that this will allow me to make up places tomorrow. Of course, starting from the fourth row of the grid makes things difficult for the race tomorrow, as I’ve discovered already this year. The most important thing is not to lose any further places at the start. If I can get away cleanly from the line then I’m confident I can make up places early in the race, and I hope we will leave here tomorrow afternoon with a good result under our belts.” Naoya Kaneko: Technical Manager “Both riders go into tomorrow’s race confident in both their race set-up and their choice of race tyre and, as we’ve seen today, this combination of chassis, engine and tyres seems to work well here at Brno. It’s unlikely that we’ll make any further changes during warm-up tomorrow, but if we do then they’ll only be very minor adjustments. Everyone has improved since last year, but I think that, at this track in particular, we’ve made the biggest improvement overall, putting us a lot closer to the front of the grid than we have been during the previous two seasons. After today’s performance, I don’t think we will think of Brno as a difficult track for Kawasaki again.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: GREAT CAPIROSSI AT BRNO! The Ducati Marlboro Team goes into tomorrow’s Czech Grand Prix in confident mood, Loris Capirossi showing impressive speed in both today’s outings, running fastest in morning practice and second quickest in afternoon qualifying. Team-mate Alex Hofmann, subbing for the injured Sete Gibernau, qualified 14th. Capirossi, who finished a close second here last year, was delighted after his engineers made a big adjustment to his Desmosedici’s geometry to improve stability. After that he was just 0.250 seconds off pole position on qualifying tyres and also showed superb speed in race trim, clocking consistently fast times (including an amazing 1m 57.7s) on race tyres. This is his fourth front-row start of the year and his first since June’s Italian GP. Hofmann meanwhile is confident he will be much more competitive tomorrow. LORIS CAPIROSSI, 2nd fastest, 1m 56.441s “At the end of yesterday’s first practice session I felt like going home but yesterday afternoon we made some crucial adjustments to our settings that worked well. Then we had a big meeting in the evening and decided to make a big change to the geometry. Today we discovered that this radical change gave us a big improvement that could also be useful in the future. This morning I was fastest on race tyres and this afternoon we rode full-race distance and I did a 57.7, also on race tyres. We used a new rear today, softer than yesterday’s tyre and similar to last year’s Brno tyre, but better. I am really happy and confident because the bike and the tyres are working well, so I expect a good race, though we will have to see what happens. Of course, it’s a pity not to have pole but at the end of the session I preferred not to take big risks that might ruin all our good work. Second fastest and on the front row is enough, because no one remembers what happens on Saturday, it’s the race that matters.” ALEX HOFMANN, 14th fastest, 1m 57.906s “Today was much better than yesterday, even if the results don’t really show it. Yesterday and this morning we couldn’t work the way we wanted because I got my first chance to run some proper laps on my race rear tyre this afternoon which was a shame because I didn’t have so much time to work on race set-up with these tyres. Then after that we were straight away into the soft qualifying tyres. We will try to improve the bike a little tomorrow morning and I am really looking forward to the race. I feel pretty confident because I can make much bigger steps forward than the other guys. The weekend didn’t start the way we wanted, so let’s hope it will finish the way we want.” Temperatures: Ambient: 25 degrees. Track: 39 degrees More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Capirossi leads Bridgestone’s Brno charge Czech Republic Grand Prix – Qualifying Brno, Saturday 19 August 2006 Loris Capirossi will lead the charge for Bridgestone in tomorrow’s Czech Republic Grand Prix starting from second place on the grid for the third time this season. The Italian rider only missed out on his second pole of the year by 0.25s in a tantalising finish to this afternoon’s qualifying session which saw Valentino Rossi take pole position. Capirossi’s lap of 1m56.441s represents a 1.2s increase over his qualifying time from 2005, which demonstrates the huge strides made by Bridgestone year-on-year. The previous pole position record was held by Sete Gibernau, who is being replaced by Alex Hofmann in the Ducati Corse team this weekend due to his recent shoulder surgery. Hofmann finished in 14th position after this afternoon’s qualifying hour, but will be looking to make headway in the 22-lap race. Shinya Nakano took his Kawasaki to fifth on the grid extending his unbeaten run of consecutive top ten qualifying positions. In a strong performance for the team, Randy de Puniet made it two Kawasakis in the top ten by claiming tenth place. John Hopkins’ seventh place for tomorrow’s event produced a quartet of Bridgestone riders to frequent to the top ten, but his Suzuki team-mate Chris Vermeulen will start further back from 13th. Bridgestone’s race preparations this weekend have extended beyond simply bringing the most recently-developed family of compounds. The tyre manufacturer’s diligence in learning lessons from previous GPs has also resulted in the production of more Brno-oriented tyres, which have proven to be competitive over the course of the weekend. Shinji Aoki Bridgestone Motorsport – Assistant Manager Motorcycle Race Tire Development “We are very pleased with the outcome of today’s qualifying, although it is unfortunate that Loris was pipped to pole at the very last minute. We have four Bridgestone riders in the top ten, but I actually draw more confidence from our performance over the long runs we carried out in free practice. We developed a new compound family which we have tried for the first time this weekend. Some of our teams have found these tyres to work well with their machines and in the case of Kawasaki has resulted in some encouraging lap times in race trim. Some riders have not found these tyres to their liking at this track and have instead preferred an alternative compound which we purposely produced and brought to the Czech Republic based on previous experience and analysis results. Brno is a demanding track technically and the bike set-up and handling can be a hugely influential factor on the performance of the tyre. We are working closely with each of our teams to select the most competitive Bridgestone tyre for their package. Looking at the long runs, I think we can see a Bridgestone-shod bike race at the front tomorrow. Loris completed 15 laps on race tyres this morning and has been one of the quickest all weekend, so my initial caution is gradually turning into more solid confidence for tomorrow, despite the threat of rain.” Loris Capirossi Ducati Corse: “At the end of yesterday’s first practice session, I felt like going home but yesterday afternoon we made some crucial adjustments to our settings that worked well. Then we had a big meeting in the evening and decided to make a big change to the geometry. Today we discovered that this radical change gave us a big improvement that could also be useful in the future. This morning I was fastest on race tyres and this afternoon we rode full race-distance and I did a 57.7 also on race tyres. We used a new rear today, softer than yesterday’s tyre and similar to last year’s Brno tyre, but better. I am really happy and confident because the bike and tyres are working well, so I expect a good race, though we will have to see what happens. Of course, it is a pity not to have pole but at the end of the session I preferred not to take big risks that might ruin all our good work. Second fastest and on the front row is enough, because no-one remembers what happens on Saturday, it is the race that matters.” Bridgestone Qualifying Session Results P2 Loris Capirossi Ducati 1m56.441s +0.250s P5 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki 1m56.770s +0.579s P7 John Hopkins Suzuki 1m56.913s +0.772s P10 Randy de Puniet Kawasaki 1m57.185s +0.994s P13 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m57.894s +1.703s P14 Alex Hofmann Ducati 1m57.906s +1.715s Weather: Dry, Hot, Some cloud – Air 25°C, Track 39°C, Humidity 18% (afternoon session) More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP makes big steps at Brno Rizla Suzuki racer John Hopkins will start from the front of the third row for tomorrow’s Czech Grand Prix, as he and team-mate Chris Vermeulen worked hard to put Friday’s difficult day behind them. Hopkins (P7, 1’56.913) and Vermeulen (P13, 1’57.894) worked thoroughly with their respective crews last night and during today’s practice sessions to eradicate the vibration problem that had hampered them yesterday. Hopkins was in pole position for a while during the qualifying session but a tyre gamble stopped the Anglo-American star from improving significantly on his time as the session wore on. Vermeulen will start from the front of row five, but was equally pleased with his improvement over the day and will be looking to find that extra performance in Sunday morning’s warm-up session to give him that bit more confidence in the race. Today’s qualifying was held in warm and sunny conditions and the fastest time was set by World Champion Valentino Rossi on his works Yamaha. Tomorrow’s race is round 12 of the 17 race season and the action for the 22-lap event gets underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT). John Hopkins: “I would like to have started higher but the final qualifying tyre I used was too soft and I suffered with some front end chatter, so unfortunately that limited my performance. As far as race set-up goes we are working really hard with it and we made a big step forward from yesterday. From what I hear through the grapevine we may have rain tomorrow for the race, if it does we would really have liked to have started from the front so we have a clear track ahead of us. We have just got to make sure that we are ready for tomorrow, come rain or shine!” Chris Vermeulen: “We made a lot of progress today and I am happy with what we have achieved with the bike. Yesterday we had a big chatter problem but the guys worked really hard and between us we managed to solve it. I got in a good qualifying lap late on in the session and I was happy with the time, but I was surprised by how fast everyone else was going! It’s not an ideal starting position but the bike is getting better and better and the aim will be to get a good start and try to get in amongst the front group and see how we go.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “We needed a good step forward today after struggling a bit yesterday and this morning we found it. We made some setting changes to eliminate the vibration problems that were hampering the riders yesterday and they certainly worked in our favour. John’s performance on race tyres this morning was up with the top five and he also showed good pace this afternoon. As a whole we are a bit more positive for the race than we were this time yesterday. I think John got all he could out of the qualifier and seventh position is not too bad at all – it gives him a decent opportunity tomorrow. “Chris’ biggest problem today was simply a reflection of yesterday’s difficulties and the fact that he wasn’t able to make any movement forward on Friday. That changed today and his potential has improved significantly, but he wasn’t quite able to find that bit extra to get him in the top 10. “I am sure that both Stuart and Tom will be looking to make more improvements during tomorrow’s morning warm-up and with the threat of rain forecast it could be a very different story when the race starts.” More, from a press release issued by Camel Yamaha: ROSSI SMASHES POLE RECORD AT BRNO Valentino Rossi will start a MotoGP race from the front of the grid for only the second time this season in tomorrow’s Czech Republic Grand Prix after clocking an incredible pole record time in today’s single qualifying session at Brno. Rossi’s time of 1’56.191 was almost 1.5 seconds inside the previous best lap at this track and followed up an impressive performance yesterday, when he also set the pace. A trial run on a qualifying tyre in those first free practice sessions paid dividends today as the Italian defined his race set-up for the YZR-M1 machine before setting a devastating pace which knocked Loris Capirossi (Ducati) off the top spot in the dying moments of the session. Capirossi will line up in second place whilst Kenny Roberts (Team KR) completes the front row. Rossi’s Camel Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards also enjoyed a productive day working on his race setting and was on course to challenge for a place on the front two rows before a minor mistake in the first section of his fast lap cost him vital tenths. It meant that his final effort recorded 1’56.967 on the stopwatch enough for eighth place and a third row start. Tomorrow’s race is the first of a final run of six, which will determine whether Rossi can cut back a 51-point gap to series leader Nicky Hayden (Honda) and defend the title of MotoGP World Champion for a fifth successive season. VALENTINO ROSSI (1st 1’56.191; 25 laps) “I think the practice today was a great emotion for everybody but especially for us! We worked well on the bike, especially the tyres, because we have suffered too much this season during the practice sessions and my team and Michelin did a great job today. When I saw Loris’ time I thought it was very fast and didn’t know if I could beat it but I was very determined and I pushed hard on all three qualifying tyres. In the end the final lap was great and to set a 1’56.1 was unbelievable! For tomorrow pole position is definitely better than starting from the fifth row like in other races so for this I am very happy. We still need to decide two or three things about the setting before the race, but I am quite competitive.” COLIN EDWARDS (8th 1’56.967; 24 laps) “I really don’t know what to think about today! Our race pace is okay, we’re doing 58.6 which looks like it could compete for the top five, but I won’t be happy with that! I think we need to make some more changes for tomorrow morning to the setting and see if we can find another three-tenths. With the setting we were using today, the race tyre was working well for 3 or 4 laps and then it was starting to lose grip and then the lap times were going. So we’ve got a few ideas and we’ll fiddle with the setting in the morning a bit to see if we can sort that out. On the positive side, I think we’re finally figuring out what we need to do with the setting in order to make the tyres work better with our bike, and today the qualifier especially worked really well for me. Unfortunately I lost half a second on the first split but the tyre was perfect so that’s pretty encouraging after some of the problems we’ve had with qualifiers so far this season!” DAVIDE BRIVIO CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR “It is very nice to be back in pole position our first target for the weekend was to qualify on the front two rows so we are delighted that Valentino has gone one better! The last three races have all been complicated for us because of the starting position but hopefully now this should not be a problem for us tomorrow. Now we need to fix a few things with the bike and find the best combination of the different settings we have tried over the course of the weekend so far. There are a few riders with a good pace so it will be a difficult race but we expect Valentino to be up there and if Colin can get a decent start then I believe he also has the pace to stay with the leaders and end the weekend with a good result. For Valentino this is a very important race because the championship could be a lot clearer tomorrow night.” More, from a press release issued by Gresini Racing/Fortuna Honda: SECOND ROW FOR TONI ELIAS AT THE CZECH REPUBLIC GP Superb ride from the Spaniard while Melandri will start from the fourth row after finishing a good race rhythm Fortuna Honda riders Toni Elias and Marco Melandri secured sixth and eleventh places in the second qualifying session for the Czech Republic GP and will start Sunday’s race in Brno on the second and fourth rows respectively. Qualifying proved a very tight affair with the top eleven riders all within a second of each other. It was a fine result for Elias who, after the injury problems caused by his fall at Assen, will be able to fight for victory tomorrow. Marco Melandri was relatively satisfied with his eleventh place and is confident of being a major protagonist in tomorrow’s race. TONI ELIAS (1’56″875, 6th): “I am very happy with this result. After a good start to the season, we had a series of races which were made difficult by injury. But this is the result of a lot of hard work by the team. There is a great spirit in the team and i want to thank everyone for their effort. It will be important to make a good start tomorrow and try to stay with the lead group.” MARCO MELANDRI ( 1’58″221, 11th): “In the two practice sessions I was able to set a good race pace and that means I can look forward confidently to the race. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get the full potential out of the RC211V with qualifying tyre. I am disappointed by the eleventh position but I think I have found a good race rhythm. It will be important to make a good start tomorrow and try to make up positions and get to the lead group. The forecasts are saying there will be rain but I hope to have a dry race.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: ROCKING ROBERTS POWERS ONTO FRONT ROW AGAIN As MotoGP geared up for the big run-in to the end of the end of the season, final qualifying here at Brno produced a grid that promises a pulsating race here tomorrow. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) took pole, Loris Capirossi (Ducati) lines up alongside him as second fastest man, with Kenny Roberts (Roberts KR211V) completing the front row. In dry conditions with track temperature at 39-degrees and ambient at a comfortable 25-degrees, riders embarked on this final hour of timed qualifying. It was Capirossi who showed the way from the outset by topping the table for the first half of the session. His lap of 1m 57.713s was merely an exploratory maker before he was forced to up the pace after John Hopkins (Suzuki) made an early bid for pole on qualifying rubber to record a lap of 1m 57.006s. This time was nearly half a second faster than Sete Gibernau’s 2005 pole time, but only for a few brief moments. While times were tumbling at the top, eventual front row man Kenny Roberts was enduring fuel trouble on his stuttering RC211V-powered KR machine. These would be remedied in time for him to record his fourth front row performance of the season and his third consecutive visit to the front line of the grid. Capirossi scorched to a 1m 56.441s lap with 20 minutes to go to obliterate Hopkins’s time and it began to look as if the Italian would see out the session at the top of the tree with that new time, the fastest ever lap (for a time) of this imposing Czech track. Bridgestone riders began to use their sticky qualifying rubber earlier than the Michelin men, but it was only Capirossi and Hopkins that seemed able to make the most of the Japanese firm’s tyres. With ten minutes to go Capirossi held pole and Hopkins lay fourth on the grid. Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) was sitting comfortably in second with Rossi lurking in third, while Marco Melandri (Fortuna Honda RC211V) was sixth fastest behind Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki) in fifth. As the pace got hotter Marco would suffer, but his team-mate, the rejuvenated Toni Elias (Fortuna Honda RC211V), fully fit after his Assen shoulder injury, would hit form, storming onto the second row with a time just 0.684 seconds off the eventual pole time. With two minutes to go, the order was Capirossi, Hayden, Rossi at the sharp end of the grid. Then with a final flurry of qualifying tyres, the last struggle for grid supremacy began. Casey Stoner (LCR Honda RC211V) only just ran out of time for a second bite at a flying lap as the clock hit zero and had to be content with 12th on the grid. But Rossi crossed the line in time for another stab at pole. He made it with a scorching lap of 1m 56.191s a quarter of a second faster than Capirossi’s best. Then it was Roberts’ turn to deprive Nicky of what would have been his third front row start of the year as he stole third from the World Championship points leader. But Nicky has shown this year, he only needs to be among the top six to figure strongly in races. Roberts said, “If I’m not fighting for the win, it automatically means we need to make the bike better. We’ve been within ten seconds of so of the leader over the last few races, and we need to shrink that gap. We had a fuel supply problem with a new shorter tank we’re using today. We’ll fix that problem tonight and with this package, our race pace should be strong.If you’d asked me this morning, I’d have said we should be good for the top six. Now, I believe we should be OK for the podium.” “I think that was the best session we’ve had all weekend as far as consistency is concerned,” said Nicky. “The front row would have been nice but I feel like my guys have done a really good job and we’ve made some good progress we found a nice direction so we’ll see how it goes tomorrow. I’m looking forward to race day and getting back in the ring with the boys. I feel like we’ve got a decent bike right now. If we can just tweak the bike and rider a little we should go OK.” Tony Elias said, “I am very happy with this result. After a good start to the season, we had a series of races which were made difficult by injury. But this is the result of a lot of hard work by the team. There is a great spirit in the team and I want to thank everyone for their effort. It will be important to make a good start tomorrow and try to stay with the lead group.” Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC211V), ninth fastest, said, “In the morning we did a good job and improved a lot from yesterday, and the grip from the track was better too which helped. Also we made a good step on the machine set-up. This afternoon we had some problems finalising the gear ratios and I had to swap machines during practice, so I lost some time there. The bike set-up is not so bad but I think we can still improve it. Let’s see what the weather does for the race I hope it stays dry.” Marco, 11th on row four, said, “In the two practice sessions I was able to set a good race pace and that means I can look forward confidently to the race. Unfortunately I was not able to get the best out of the qualifying tyres and therefore I wasn’t able to get the full potential out of the RC211V. I am not too disappointed by eleventh position as i think I have found a good race rhythm. It will be important to make a good start tomorrow and try to make up positions and get to the lead group. The forecasts are saying there will be rain but I hope to have a dry race.” Casey, in 12th, said, “I made a good step forward today and found a much better set-up and feeling for this track. This makes me confident for the race and even though I haven’t raced a MotoGP bike here there are some good passing spots. In qualifying I had the option of two qualifying tyres and I did the time I thought I could do, although it may have been quicker if I had been able to run my final lap. In race trim the lap times are fast and consistent although I would still like a little more feeling from the front-end.” Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda RC211V) could only manage 15th, more than two seconds adrift of the pole time. He said, “Today’s plan was to decide the tyre choice between the two we tested this morning. But I didn’t get the same feeling during the qualifying session. The problem was corner-entries where I started to struggle. We have to get to the bottom of the problems by tomorrow morning.” In the 250cc class Jorge Lorenzo (Aprilia) grabbed his seventh pole of the season with a lap of 2m 02.292s. The indomitable Andrea Dovizioso (Humangest Racing Honda RS250RW) was second fastest, with Hiro Aoyama (KTM) third quickest, with Hector Barbera (Aprilia) completing the front row. Shuhei Aoyama (Repsol Honda RS250RW) heads the second row of the grid, 1.478 seconds off the pole time, while Aleix Espargaro (Würth Honda RS250RW) will start from ninth and Martin Cardenas (Repsol Honda RS250RW) from 11th. Dovi said, “I believed we could do better than this. We’ve made a step forward compared to yesterday and we’re not too far from the best set-up. But we still have some small problems with the front-end that won’t let me ride like I want. However, the pace is good and we know where to work on the bike, so tomorrow in the warm-up it’ll be very important to make those last adjustments. Lorenzo is strong and he takes full advantage of his bike, but tomorrow I’ll fight for a victory.” Aoyama said, “I’m happy with how things went today, definitely better than yesterday. We improved the suspension and chosen the race tyres. I’ve been pushing hard throughout the qualifying session. My brother and I had a small talk before the practice and decided to help each other during the session. First he would follow me and then I would follow him, but he passed me and I tried to keep up with him. It was difficult because he was very fast today, but it was fun.” In the 125cc class Mika Kallio (KTM) secured pole with a lap of 2m 07.874s. Series points leader Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia) qualified in second place, while home hope Lukas Pesek (Derbi) was third fastest. Sergio Gadea (Aprilia) completes the front row line-up. This is the Finn’s third pole of the season and with a 64-point deficit to make up on Bautista, he needs to make it pay with a win if the title is not to go to the Spanish man. Less than 0.5 seconds covers the front row qualifiers, but Gabor Talmacsi (Humangest Honda RS125R), fastest Honda qualifier, lies ninth, 1.184 seconds off pole. Fabrizio Lai (Seedorf Racing Honda RS125R) qualified tenth for a third row start, while reigning World Champion Thomas Luthi (Elit Grand Prix Honda RS125R) could only manage 15th fastest time, 1.4 seconds off the pole lap. Bradley Smith (Repsol Honda RS125R) crashed in this final half-hour session and broke an arm. The rapidly improving rookie rider is expected to be out of action for several weeks. Talmacsi said, “We’ve progress in the chassis set-up and now it’s OK. Unfortunately, temperatures got higher in the afternoon and so the engine wasn’t as fast as in the morning session. In general, though, we’re ready for tomorrow and I’m happy about the way I rode and about the feeling with the bike. I’m the best Honda rider on the starting grid and tomorrow I’ll do my best to get a good result.” Luthi said, “That was a bad session, not good at all. This morning we had some suspension problems but the team fixed them for the qualifying session and the bike felt much better. Basically we softened up the suspension front and rear and also found a better balance for the chassis. When I went out I was looking for a fast rider to follow. I was following Pasini but not close enough to get a slipstream. I’d hoped for better grid positions in the final part of the season but today I just didn’t get a good run, I’m not happy but I’ll give it 100% tomorrow.” Honda GP rider quotes: Final qualifying GP Czech Republic August 19, 2006. MotoGP: Kenny Roberts Jnr, KR Honda: 3rd. “With this combination, as long as we are setting the chassis right, the bike should be competitive. We’re still sneaking up on the chassis, and we’re understanding more about what we need to do to fix it.” “If I am not fighting for the win, it automatically means we need to make the bike better. We’ve been within ten seconds of so of the leader over the last few races, and we need to shrink that gap.” “We stopped progress after Germany, because with the track at Laguna as it was, we couldn’t do nothing. When we came here yesterday, I was really struggling. The bike didn’t want to turn in. But we made adjustments, and whatever I told Warren (Willing, team engineer), he was able to make it better.” “In the qualifying session, we had a fuel supply problem with a new shorter tank we’re using. I had the problem on one bike, then also on the other – so that’s why I was gesturing while I was riding round. I was using being on camera to signal the team to change the tank on the other bike.” “We’ll try and fix that problem tonight. With this package, our race pace should be strong. If you’d have asked me this morning, I’d have said we should be good for the top six. Now, I believe we should be okay for the podium.” Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda, 4th: “I think that was the best session we’ve had all weekend as far as consistency is concerned. The front row would have been nice but I feel like my guys have done a really good job and we’ve made some good progress – we found a nice direction so we’ll see how it goes tomorrow. I’m looking forward to race day and getting back in the ring with the boys. We’ve had a few weeks off but race day is the fun day. If it’s going to be dry we’ll definitely need all 20 minutes of warm-up to sharpen it up a bit more but I feel like we’ve got a decent bike right now. If we can just tweak the bike and rider a little we should go ok.” Toni Elias, Fortuna Honda, 6th: ): “I am very happy with this result. After a good start to the season, we had a series of races which were made difficult by injury. But this is the result of a lot of hard work by the team. There is a great spirit in the team and i want to thank everyone for their effort. It will be important to make a good start tomorrow and try to stay with the lead group.” Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda, 9th: “In the morning we did a good job and improved a lot from yesterday, and the grip from the track was better too which helped. Also we made a good step on the machine set-up. This afternoon we had some problems finalising the gear ratios and I had to swap machines during practice, so I lost some time there. With the qualifying tyres I was on the limit to get that lap time but I couldn’t be quite as fast this time as I have in other qualifying sessions. Ninth is not perfect but let’s hope tomorrow I can make a great start and get away with the leaders. The bike set-up is not so bad but I think we can still improve it. Let’s see what the weather does for the race I hope it stays dry.” Marco Melandri, Fortuna Honda, 11th: “In the two practice sessions I was able to set a good race pace and that means I can look forward confidently to the race. Unfortunately I was not able to get the best out of the qualifying tyres and therefore I wasn’t able to get the full potential out of the RC211V. I am not too disappointed by eleventh position as i think I have found a good race rhythm. It will be important to make a good start tomorrow and try to make up positions and get to the lead group. The forecasts are saying there will be rain but I hope to have a dry race.” Casey Stoner, LCR Honda, 12th: “I made a good step forward today and found a much better set-up and feeling for this track, while some other riders used qualifying tyres for a fast lap. This makes me reasonably confident for the race and even though I haven’t raced a MotoGP bike here there are some good passing spots. In qualifying I had the option of two qualifying tyres and I did the time I thought Icould do, although it may have been quicker if I had been able to run my final lap. But in race trim the lap times are fast and consistent although I would still like a little more feeling from the front end.” Makoto Tamada, Konica Minolta Honda, 15th: . “We are still running the same base set up as Donington Park with the 16.5 inch wheels but I am still finding it difficult to run the corner speed I need to. This morning, we obtained a remarkable performance improvement in respect to yesterday and today’s afternoon plan was to define the tyres choice between the two best tested this morning. However, the same material did not permit me to have the same feeling during the qualifying session. The problem was when entering the corners where I was not able to be so effective. We must understand the reasons why and try to solve the problem tomorrow morning.” 250cc: Andrea Dovizioso, Humangest Honda, 2nd: “Actually, I believe we could do better than this. We have made a step forward compared to yesterday and we are not too far from the best set-up. But we still have some small problems on the front-end that doesn’t let me ride as I would. However, the pace is good and we know where to work on the bike, so tomorrow in the warm up it will be very important to make the last adjustments. Lorenzo is strong and he takes full advantage of his bike, but for sure tomorrow I’ll fight for victory”. Yuki Takahashi, Humangest Honda: ( will not race due to injury sustained at the Suzuka 8 hours) Shuhei Aoyama, Repsol Honda, 6th: “I’m happy with how things went today, it was definitely better than yesterday. We improved the setting of the suspensions and we’ve also chosen the race tyres. I’ve been pushing hard throughout the qualifying session. My brother and I had a small talk before the practice and decided to help each other during the session. First he would follow me and then I would follow him, but he passed me and I tried to keep up with him. It was difficult because he was very fast today, but it was fun! I will try to get a good result in the race tomorrow, but the most important thing is to finish the race.” Aleix Espargaro, Wurth Honda BQR, 9th: “Good, really good the bike is really fast, not only that but the engine but the chassis and suspension are working perfectly. I am very plased with qualifying because I set my best lap riding alone. It was very important or me to do that because before today I had always needed to run with a fast rider to get a good qualifying time. The team have worked very hard for me and I hope I can give them a good result in the race tomorrow.” Martin Cardenas, Repsol Honda, 11th: “Today things went a bit better. We changed a few things to improve the position on the bike which worked well. In the afternoon I managed to improve my time by almost half a second. I was hoping to improve it further but it hasn’t been possible, although the feelings on the bike are very good now. Tomorrow I’ll start from the third row of the grid, but the most important thing will be to finish race. My aim is to finish among the top ten, but the main thing is to finish.” Fabrizio Perren, Stop and Go Racing, 20th: “The team fixed the problem I had yesterday when the engine would not rev over 13,000rpm and I was immediately able to go faster. I guess I lost half the practice time of yesterday and I still have to get to know the circuit better than now but I like it very much. The suspension and tyres are good but I am not completely happy with my riding. I have to do better in the race.” Arnaud Vincent, Molenaar Honda, 21st: “Yesterday we were not so bad the bike was good. Today the handling is better and the chassis and suspension are working really good. But we need to work on the engine tonight and try to improve before the warm up. In qualifying I was faster than yesterday and set my time alone Arturo Tizon, Wurth Honda BQR, 22th: “I just can’t find a good chassis and suspension set up for this track. Particularly on the downhill sections I cannot get the bike to hold the ideal line. We have improved from the morning free practice session but we still have to work in the warm up to improve things. I am disappointed because the engine is very good but if we can get the bike to turn as I want it to I will have a good race tomorrow.” 125cc: Gabor Talmacsi, Humangest Honda: 9th. ” “We have made further progress in the chassis set-up and I can say that now it is okay. Unfortunately, temperatures got higher in the afternoon and so the engine wasn’t as fast as in the morning session. In general, though, we are ready for tomorrow and I’m happy about the way I rode and about the feeling with the bike. I’m the best Honda rider on the starting grid and tomorrow I’ll do my best to get a good result”. Fabrizio Lai, Seedorf Racing World: “10th. We have improved compared with the last races and yesterday. My Honda has good performances and the set up is ok. I’m tenth but only one second behind the poleman and on this track, that I don’t like very much, it is not a bad result. At Sachsenring with this performances I could have reached a different result. Tomorrow I hope to make a good race: not to win but to do a better result than the last races. I have resigned myself to the fact that Honda is not competitive this year: now the most important thing is to obtain the best result with this kind of bike “. Thomas Luthi, Elit Honda: 18th. “That was a bad session, not good at all. This morning we had some suspension problems but the team fixed them for the qualifying session and the bike felt much better. Basically we softened up the suspension front and rear and also found a better balance for the chassis. When I went out I was looking for a fast rider I was following Pasini but not close enough to get a slipstream. I had hoped for better grid positions in the final part of the season but today I just didn’t get a good run, I’m not very happy but I will give it 100% tomorrow.” Sandro Cortese, Elit Honda: 19th. “I’m not really happy with my time or position on the grid. I had a strange problem with the number one bike today When I changed up into second the bike was juddering, but all the way up to fifth gear it was OK. I came into the box and we checked everything in the gearbox but can’t find a problem. I took my second bike out but I had lost seven minutes and I had to find my rhythm and wait for a fast rider but I didn’t find one so I set my time alone. Pity about the problem because the bike is very fast and the handling is good.” Tito Rabat, Wurth Honda BQR: 22nd. “The first part of qualifying was very good but in the second part I just got caught up in slower traffic and could not find a faster rider to run wit. The bike is very fast and the suspension perfect and I was confident I could get a really fast qualifying time. I kept looking over my shoulder but there was nobody so I went for it alone.” Mike Di Meglio, FFM Honda: 25th. ” “This morning, during free practice, I worked a lot on the way I ride; I chose a different path on the track and especially at the exit of corners to be in a better position to accelerate and I quickly improved of almost 2 seconds compare to yesterday. This afternoon, we tried another tyre that suited me quite well but the setting needed to be changed; unfortunately we didn’t have time enough for this so I finished with the tyre I used at the beginning of the session. We will set the bike tomorrow morning in order to use this tyre for the race.” Bradley Smith, Repsol Honda: 29th. “Basically we used a too hard rear tyre. We were trying to find the right tyre for the race, is nineteen laps long and we didn’t know what the weather would be like. In Germany we had a little bit of a problem with the rear tyre so we just tried more for the race and never really got the heat in the rear tyre. I kept on making little mistakes but I insisted on pushing because I knew that with more laps it would get better. I actually made my fastest lap of the weekend with no grip; I felt there was no grip and I had no confidence but I kept on pushing and when I saw my lap time was good I thought maybe I could try and push a little bit more. Unfortunately I lost the rear in corner ten and I went over. My hand got stuck under the bike and it was broken. I don’t know for the moment, maybe will be back in Malaysia, but I definitely want to come back so we’ll try to get it fixed and keep our spirits up.” Michele Conti, Seedorf Racing World: 36th. ” It is not easy to learn the best line and to be competitive in few sessions. I tried to follow Fabrizio but his ride style is too different from mine. The riders with my pace are all Aprilia riders but Aprilia are too different from Honda. Tomorrow it will be an hard race.” Joey Litjens, Molenaar Honda: 37th. “I was not so good yesterday because it was my first visit here, I missed the Brno test because of injury and it shows by the riders in front of me. The bike is working really good and today I was much better, I beat my time of yesterday by 2.5 seconds. Not fast enough so I am a little disappointed with myself. Still the race is tomorrow and if I get a good start I will have a good race.” Stefano Musco, replacement rider for Lorenzo Baroni at Humangest Honda, 44th: “I fell a lit bit of pain after the crash I had yesterday, but I’m okay and I can ride without any problems. This morning I was very happy, but then, in the afternoon the bike was moving too much and I couldn’t ride as I hoped. Anyway, I’m very happy I was able to qualify for tomorrow’s race: it is a beautiful feeling”. More, from a press release issued by Dorna Sports: Gauloises Grand Prix Ceske republiky – Saturday 19th August 2006 Valentino Rossi scorches to pole position A heaving paddock at Brno received a double treat today, with fine weather and some spectacular riding as the riders took part in qualifying for tomorrow’s Gauloises Grand Prix Ceske republiky. Valentino Rossi set the stage for an epic race at the Central European track, taking pole position with a late surge in the dying stages of the qualifying hour. The Camel Yamaha rider, also fastest in practice this morning, cut an incredible 1.3 seconds off Sete Gibernau’s 2005 pole time, and made a huge statement of intent as he looks to return to winning ways. Second place on the grid went to Loris Capirossi, who had looked to be on course for pole having broken the 1’57 barrier. The Ducati rider will be joined on the front row by Kenny Roberts Jr. who set a quick fast last lap to sneak in front of his compatriot Nicky Hayden. Championship leader Hayden will therefore need to nurse his 34-point advantage from fourth place on the grid, on row two alongside Shinya Nakano and an impressive Toni Elias rounding off the top six. The third row comprises John Hopkins, Colin Edwards and Dani Pedrosa, all less than a second off Rossi’s time. It promises to be yet another exciting battle at the front, as seen on so many occasions this season, with plenty of twists and turns both on the track and in the championship saga. 250cc Jorge Lorenzo stepped up to the challenge laid down by 250cc title rival Andrea Dovizioso in today’s free practice session, firing back to consolidate the provisional pole that he earned yesterday. A time of 2’02.292, just 30 thousandths of a second off his own pole time last season, gave the Spaniard his eighth pole of 2006. Dovizioso was six tenths further behind Lorenzo, and will line up alongside his persistent rival on the front row as both attempt to grab the championship by the horns. Just two points separate the duo, and Hiroshi Aoyama and Hector Barbera join them on the front line for the battle of Brno. Row 2 is headed by Alex de Angelis, 1.3 seconds off Lorenzo’s time, with Shuhei Aoyama, Roberto Locatelli and local rider Jakub Smrz close behind. Aleix Espargaro and Alex Debon, who suffered a crash late on, hold ninth and tenth respectively. Shortly before the qualifying session, Aprilia confirmed to the gathered media that Lorenzo had extended his contract, in a move which delighted Racing Manager Giampero Saachi, who described the Spaniard as “like one of the family.” 125cc Mika Kallio took pole position for tomorrow’s 125cc Gauloises Grand Prix Ceske republiky, his third of the season and with a time of 2’07.874 which came close to the circuit record. Kallio’s lap was enough to beat World Championship leader Alvaro Bautista’s by an extremely small margin, with Czech rider Lukas Pesek and Spaniard Hector Faubel completing the front row. Row two will be comprised of Mattia Pasini, Nico Terol, Sergio Gadea and Julian Simon. Young Briton Bradley Smith suffered a crash which fractured the 15 year old’s left wrist, leaving him out of the race at Brno. Pole: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha): “I am really happy with this pole position, and it is much better to start from here than tenth like in recent races. I saw Loris’ time and thought that it might be too fast for me to beat, but I tried my hardest and managed to take pole, I think the race will be very exciting tomorrow.” Second: Loris Capirossi (Ducati): “It is a fantastic second position, especially considering that we started practicing yesterday and things were going terribly. We made some changes and tomorrow’s race could be a good one for the team and Bridgestone.” Third: Kenny Roberts (Team Roberts): “We had some problems with the fuel distribution systems, and I had to signal through the television cameras that we needed to change back to the old one. It didn’t feel as comfortable but we still got a great front row and hopefully the race will go the same way.”