ROSSI FACING ANOTHER TOUGH TITLE ATTEMPT IN MALAYSIA
24 September 2005 - Yamaha Racing

Gauloises Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi will launch his second attempt to seal the 2005 MotoGP World Championship in Malaysia tomorrow from the third row of the grid after setting the seventh fastest time in this afternoon''s single qualifying session.

Rossi was the third fastest Michelin rider around the Sepang circuit, lapping almost 0.6 seconds short of the pole position record he set here last year as the team once again battled to overcome set-up difficulties.

Rossi''s team-mate Colin Edwards also encountered unexpected obstacles today as he struggled to overcome tyre problems, seemingly caused by the reduced levels of grip offered by the circuit in comparison to past years. The American will start from the fourth row of the grid in tenth place. Loris Capirossi (Ducati) will start from pole position for the second successive race and is joined on the front row by Sete Gibernau (Honda) and John Hopkins (Suzuki).

Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team), 7th - 2''02.412
''We are having difficulties again. Personally it is a worse situation for me because I expected to have some problems at Motegi, but not here. Usually the bike flies here, both last year''s model and the 2005 version! We have had a big meeting with the engineers and now we will try to find a way out of this. The problem is mainly with the front. Out of twelve races this year we''ve probably used the same front nine times but then the problems started at Motegi. Anyway, it is not just an issue with the tyres. I followed Hopkins and Capirossi for a while but it was like we were doing a different sport. They were riding really well and I couldn''t ride at all. It''s now two races that Colin and I have lost feeling with the front. The good thing is that Biaggi is also having problems so my only rival for the title is behind me. Maybe we fight together for sixth or seventh place!''

Colin Edwards (Gauloises Yamaha Team), 10th - 2''02.805
''For some reason the tyres aren''t working well here, we just can''t get any load onto the front end to make it stick. I''ve probably lost the front more times today than I have all season. We had no problems in the test here even though we used basically the same tyre. The track temperature is very similar so the only thing we can put it down to is the extra amount of dirt that there seems to be on the surface this year. For whatever reason we can''t break through it and we''re having a lot of difficulty getting any grip. Today the team worked so hard and we changed pretty much every setting you could think of - higher, lower, longer, shorter, softer, harder. but nothing seemed to make a difference. We''ll keep going and see if we can make the breakthrough tomorrow but at the moment we''re struggling.''

Davide Brivio - Gauloises Yamaha Team director
''Of course it was not a brilliant day for either rider. We''ve tried some different settings but we don''t have a clear solution yet. However the team and engineers will continue to work, all night if necessary, and we will see if we can find what we are looking for. We have the warm-up to try to improve so now we wait until tomorrow.''

Toni Elias (Fortuna Yamaha Team), 14th - 2''3.397
''In the morning we performed well and finished eighth - we have to keep working like that and I feel more comfortable with the base setting we have now. It was a shame we couldn''t make more of the qualifying although we found a good rhythm with the race tyres and if we make a good start tomorrow we can be with the lead group. It will be a tough race, though, as most of the riders are going well.''

Ruben Xaus (Fortuna Yamaha Team), 16th - 2''04.010
''Yesterday we could not make full use of the practice session because of the weather. This morning I did not feel too comfortable with the set-up of the bike, but we made a few changes which helped straight away and allowed me to improve my time with every lap in the afternoon.''

Round: 13 - Malaysian MotoGP
Circuit: Sepang
Circuit Length: 5548
Lap Record: 2'' 3.253 (Valentino Rossi, 2004)
Fastest Lap Ever: 2'' 1.731 (Loris Capirossi, 2005)
Date: 24 September 2005
Temp: 40ºC

Session 1 :
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. 1st Qualifying
1 L. Capirossi Ducati ITA 2'' 1.731
2 S. Gibernau Honda ESP 2'' 1.867
3 J. Hopkins Suzuki USA 2'' 2.017
4 S. Nakano Kawasaki JPN 2'' 2.178
5 K. Roberts Suzuki USA 2'' 2.215
6 N. Hayden Honda USA 2'' 2.377
7 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA 2'' 2.412
8 C. Checa Ducati ESP 2'' 2.419
9 M. Melandri Honda ITA 2'' 2.660
10 C. Edwards Yamaha USA 2'' 2.805
11 A. Barros Honda BRA 2'' 3.013
12 M. Biaggi Honda ITA 2'' 3.210
13 O. Jacque Kawasaki FRA 2'' 3.364
14 T. Elias Yamaha ESP 2'' 3.397
15 M. Tamada Honda JPN 2'' 3.974
16 R. Xaus Yamaha ESP 2'' 4.010

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