ROSSI TO START FROM FRONT ROW AT SACHSENRING
17 July 2004 - Yamaha Racing

Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha riders Valentino Rossi and Carlos Checa earned themselves a first and third row start respectively after an intense final qualifying session at Sachsenring today, with Rossi just missing out on pole position itself by a mere 0.084 seconds.

Rossi, a winner of four MotoGP races so far this year, was one of the last riders to make significant improvements on his Friday time, jumping into second place behind eventual pole position man Max Biaggi (Honda, 1’22.756), thanks to his personal Sachsenring best of 1’22.840. Such is the pace of improvement this season that almost one second has been taken off the circuit best lap time, a significant amount at this largely tight and twisty circuit. Kenny Roberts (Suzuki, 1’22.961) completed the front row.

For Checa, another late charger up the order, seventh means a third row start, but the Catalan rider feels confident in his race set-up after much hard work in finding optimum settings to tackle the tricky Sachsen circuit. His time of 1’23.336 was only 0.580 from pole, despite losing time at more than one point on the 3.671km lap.

The hot conditions played havoc with the final qualifying efforts of Fortuna Gauloises Tech 3 teamsters Marco Melandri and Norick Abe. After both riders looked in good shape in this morning’s free training session, neither was able to improve their Friday provisional qualifying times against the clock this afternoon.

Both riders will start the race tomorrow from row five – Marco (1’23.692) in 14th and Norick (1’24.151) alongside him in 15th. Neither rider is remotely content with their grid position, but both have proved that they have enough consistent speed to perform well under what might prove to be equally gruelling race conditions.

This morning the track temperature was at 26 degrees and this afternoon it soared to 34 degrees. Tomorrow morning’s 20-minute warm-up session will offer a chance to seek solutions – but it might be of limited value if temperatures change as significantly as they did today.

With no fewer than 14 riders within one second of Biaggi’s pole time, qualifying was a melee towards the final few minutes, with four different manufacturer’s machines represented in the top five starting positions.

Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha), second – 1’22.840
''I made one little mistake at the last corner and lost some time. A 30-lap race with so many riders within one second of the pole time is going to be very hard. I expect it to be a big battle at the front. It’s good to be on the front row especially as it’s so difficult to overtake here. We’ve worked hard, solved some problems and I’ve got more rear grip than in Rio. For me, Max has slightly better rhythm here and he will get a good start from pole. Tyre choice will be really important but I hope to have a good battle with Max. Because the Yamaha is quite difficult to slide here with the wider tyres, it feels wild, and I think I need a lion tamer!''

Carlos Checa (Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha), seventh –1’23.336
''I am satisfied with the pace today, it was not bad at all. At the end with a soft tyre fitted, we lost some tenths and that was just enough to stop us from getting a starting position on the first or second row. Anyway we cannot expect to improve that much on one day, as everyone else is also pushing hard. For the race I know my limitations, I know it will be hard but we are not so far away. With a good start we can be competitive and we can stay inside the fight.”

Davide Brivio, Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha team director
''Final qualifying was better for us than the last races and for Valentino to start on the front row is really good. He has a very good pace and I believe we can be with all the other riders. There will be a lot of them at a track like this but with a good start Valentino can stay in front. Seventh was a good result for Carlos as there is so little time between the top rides here. He also has a good pace and I’m sure he can stay in the top places.”

Marco Melandri (Fortuna Gauloises Tech 3), 14th – 1’23.692
“I’m not happy with row five. I was expecting so much better. We’re working hard but we seem so far from the right settings. There was very little grip and if you don’t take advantage of qualifying tyres you’re lost.”

Norick Abe (Fortuna Gauloises Tech 3) 15th – 1’24.151
“It doesn’t seem to be happening for me here. This morning the bike felt really good but the higher temperatures this afternoon changed that. At the end of the session I put on my qualifying tyres and really pushed – but I think I must have been too tense and trying too hard. I’ll try to relax a bit more tomorrow and see how I go.”

Hervé Poncharal, Fortuna Gauloises Tech 3 team director
“Marco was faster on race tyres than yesterday and his average times today were a lot better, but we were expecting an improvement in his outright lap time. The temperature was a lot higher this afternoon and he just couldn’t push as hard as he wanted. It’s very strange because the front qualifying tyre didn’t seem to work with the rear. Marco was on row two yesterday, and now it’s row five. The start is so important here, but it’s a 30-lap race and so if he can maintain a high average time we’ll see what happens. It’s a shame Norick could not improve because he was impressive this morning.”

Round: 8 - Veltins MotoGP Germany
Circuit: Sachsenring
Circuit Length: 3671
Lap Record: 1'' 24.630 (Max Biaggi, 2003)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1'' 23.734 (Max Biaggi, 2003)
Date: 17 July 2004
Temp: 26ºC

Session 2 :
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. 1st Qualifying 2nd Qualifying
1 M. Biaggi Honda ITA 1'' 23.884 1'' 22.756
2 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'' 23.539 1'' 22.840
3 K. Roberts Suzuki USA 1'' 23.684 1'' 22.961
4 S. Gibernau Honda ESP 1'' 23.247 1'' 22.969
5 S. Nakano Kawasaki JPN 1'' 23.009 N/A
6 A. Barros Honda BRA 1'' 23.625 1'' 23.154
7 C. Checa Yamaha ESP 1'' 23.831 1'' 23.336
8 T. Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'' 24.122 1'' 23.372
9 N. Hayden Honda USA 1'' 23.453 1'' 23.732
10 L. Capirossi Ducati ITA 1'' 24.061 1'' 23.475
11 C. Edwards Honda USA 1'' 24.416 1'' 23.583
12 J. Hopkins Suzuki USA 1'' 23.753 1'' 23.622
13 M. Tamada Honda JPN 1'' 24.096 1'' 23.623
14 M. Melandri Yamaha ITA 1'' 23.692 1'' 24.075
15 N. Abe Yamaha JPN 1'' 24.151 1'' 24.356

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