ROSSI TAKES FIRST POLE OF 2005 IN SIZZLING STYLE
09 April 2005 - Yamaha Racing

Gauloises Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi and his YZR-M1 machine will start from pole position at the opening round of the 2005 MotoGP World Championship after a breathtaking performance in this afternoon''s single session qualifier for the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez.

Rossi smashed his own pole position record from last season by almost 1.5 seconds as he stormed to a time of 1''39.419, holding off the challenge of closest rival Sete Gibernau (Honda, 1''39.915) by a comfortable 0.496 seconds.

Colin Edwards (1''41.176) was left with contrasting fortunes to his Gauloises Yamaha team-mate, struggling to convert his pre-season pace to a qualifying lap and lining up 15th on the grid. Edwards has shown good consistency all weekend but suffered from grip problems with the front-end of his YZR-M1 machine when using Michelin''s excellent rear qualifier and now faces a fight through the pack when Sunday''s race gets underway at 2pm local time.

Young MotoGP Rookie Toni Elias enjoyed his first official qualifying session with a consistent performance which saw him top the time sheets in the early stages, eventually finishing the one hour session with a 1''41.029 for 13th fastest. He placed the Fortuna Yamaha YZR-M1 ahead of Kenny Roberts (Suzuki, 1''41.058) and Edwards.

Rossi and Gibernau are joined on the front row of the grid by Marco Melandri (Honda, 1''40.179), who posted his best time on the final lap to relegate Nicky Hayden (Honda, 1''40.465) to the second row alongside Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki, 1''40.542) and Loris Capirossi (Ducati, 1''40.648).

Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team) - 1st, 1''39.419
''My fast lap was incredible! Michelin made a great job with the qualifying tyres - my first one was good but the second was even better. There is a big question mark over the tyre choice for the race tomorrow because after a few laps they start to slide a lot, but it''s the same situation for everyone. Now we''re just looking for good weather tomorrow and hopefully it will be a beautiful race.''

Colin Edwards (Gauloises Yamaha Team) - 15th, 1''41.176
''I was really confident that I would be able to lap in the mid-1''40 mark but it just didn''t happen today. The basic problem is that the rear qualifying tyre has so much grip that it pushes a lot of load on to the front and it keeps tucking under. I was losing the front all over the place and we just couldn''t come up with an answer in time. The good thing is that on race tyres I''m not having this problem and my pace is pretty good. I''ve been in the mid-41s fairly consistently and if I can grit my teeth together and squeeze a couple more tenths out then I should be enough to stay with the front group. The hardest thing will be to make sure I don''t get blocked in so I''ll be going out there to pass as many riders as I can from the first corner.''

Davide Brivio, Gauloises Yamaha Team Director
''Valentino did an incredible lap and for a few minutes afterwards the garage was in shocked silence! Michelin have made a big step forward with the qualifying tyre and it allowed Valentino to exploit his full potential. But this is only pole position and our focus now is on the race. It will be a different matter altogether because tyre durability could become a major issue. Colin will start with a disadvantage because of his grid position but he has shown this weekend that he has good pace and I am looking forward to seeing him improve his position in the race. We''ll see what happens tomorrow but I''m confident that both our riders will be competitive.''

Toni Elias (Fortuna Yamaha Team) - 13th, 1''41.029
''I''m quite happy with today. In the tests we were improving all the time and it all came together in that session. I''m very comfortable with the bike in race trim, but I need more time to get used to pushing hard on the softer tyres when it counts in qualifying. I''m very happy with the time, just not the position, but I need to remind myself that I am still learning. It''s important to be there and learn from these fast guys tomorrow.''

Ruben Xaus (Fortuna Yamaha Team) - 17th, 1''42.286
''We need to improve, but we need to do this progressively. It''s getting tough out there, especially with the pressure of qualifying, but we are making progress step by step. I''ve always been better in the race than I have in qualifying, so I hope that I can get a good start and put in a good show for my home crowd.''

Round: 1 - Jerez MotoGP
Circuit: Jerez
Circuit Length: 4423
Lap Record: 1'' 42.788 (Valentino Rossi, 2003)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1'' 41.900 (Valentino Rossi, 2003)
Date: 9 April 2005
Temp: 20ºC

Session 1 :
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. 1st Qualifying
1 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'' 39.419
2 S. Gibernau Honda ESP 1'' 39.915
3 M. Melandri Honda ITA 1'' 40.179
4 N. Hayden Honda USA 1'' 40.465
5 S. Nakano Kawasaki JPN 1'' 40.542
6 L. Capirossi Ducati ITA 1'' 40.648
7 M. Tamada Honda JPN 1'' 40.707
8 A. Barros Honda BRA 1'' 40.720
9 T. Bayliss Honda AUS 1'' 40.774
10 A. Hofman Kawasaki GER 1'' 40.812
11 J. Hopkins Suzuki USA 1'' 40.825
12 C. Checa Ducati ESP 1'' 40.948
13 T. Elias Yamaha ESP 1'' 41.029
14 K. Roberts Suzuki USA 1'' 41.058
15 C. Edwards Yamaha USA 1'' 41.176
16 M. Biaggi Honda ITA 1'' 41.233
17 R. Xaus Yamaha ESP 1'' 42.286

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