ROSSI BACK ON TOP AS THE ACTION HEATS UP IN QATAR
29 September 2005 - Yamaha Racing

Newly-crowned World Champion Valentino Rossi returned to the MotoGP paddock in dominant fashion today as he clocked a record lap of the Losail International Circuit to top the time sheets on the opening day of action at the Grand Prix of Qatar.

Rossi arrived in the country last night but shook off any trace of jetlag with 19 laps of the 5.380km circuit in the first free practice, with temperatures already touching 34ºC during the morning session.

The heat rose several degrees in the afternoon but so did Rossi''s pace, the Italian eventually dipping under Carlos Checa''s (Ducati) pole record time, set on the Yamaha YZR-M1 at last year''s inaugural Qatar Grand Prix. After spending much of last weekend at Sepang trying to solve front-end grip problems with the current version of the machine, Rossi today reported major progress and admitted to enjoying riding without the pressure of a potential World Championship success hanging over him.

Rossi''s Gauloises Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards also showed signs of returning to his best form today, topping the time sheets for much of the afternoon session before eventually dropping to sixth place. The American had also struggled with front grip problems in Malaysia but reaped the benefits of a new range of Michelin tyres today at a circuit that saw him equal his best ever MotoGP finish of second place last season.

Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team), 1st - 1''58.714
''For sure myself and the whole team are more relaxed now that we have won the World Championship. We have had a lot of problems for the past two races - it has been difficult and we have never found a good setting for the bike, but here in the afternoon we found the right way. Now we have returned to the level we were at two or three races ago, I have a better feeling for the front and rear of the bike. The track conditions are better than they were last season - they''re still not 100% but compared to the first practice last year there is much more grip. As long as there is no wind or rain overnight it should improve a lot more by Saturday.''

Colin Edwards (Gauloises Yamaha Team), 6th - 1''59.493
''I don''t know what it is about this place. At flat tracks I usually tend to struggle to get any kind of feel for the front but here it''s as flat as a pancake and for some reason it works for me. We spent most of the day testing front tyres and we had a lot of help from Michelin. At the end we tried out a new front tyre but it didn''t have the effect we hoped for so the lap time could have been much better than it was. I''m still having a little trouble between the braking point and the apex but this track doesn''t accentuate that as much as circuits like Motegi and Sepang, so it''s not so much of a worry. The main thing is that we''ve got grip, and when you''ve got grip it makes everything else much easier.''

Daniele Romagnoli - Colin Edwards'' Crew Chief
''Michelin have given us a lot of different tyres to choose from here and they''ve really helped us out. We already had a good base set-up for the bike from last season and it seems to have worked for Colin. We have obviously had some problems at the last few races - at Sepang the conditions were very different from the tests and we were unable to use a lot of the data and at Motegi we had some front-end difficulties that we were unable to solve. We''re using a different range of front tyres here and things are looking much better. When a rider doesn''t have feeling with the front it makes it very difficult to set the bike up, particularly with Colin because he is so sensitive in this aspect. Hopefully this can be the start of a good weekend for us.''

Toni Elias (Fortuna Yamaha Team), 2nd - 1''58.860
''After Japan I was not really happy and in Malaysia we did a good job as we decided to try something new. The radical change really helped and so we have carried it on here. MotoGP is a difficult class and things change a lot from one circuit to the next, but I am hoping to continue to develop like this. When you begin to ride well you enjoy yourself and things become easier. When you find a good centre of gravity you can go fast. Also second today does not guarantee me anything so I will keep on working hard.''

Ruben Xaus (Fortuna Yamaha Team), 16th - 2''02.089
''It will be difficult to repeat my podium from last year here considering the situation we are in now, but we are still working hard so that I can enjoy myself on the bike and improve. All I can say is that we are doing everything to get the best out of myself and the bike.''

Round: 14 - Qatar MotoGP
Circuit: Losail Circuit
Circuit Length: 5380
Lap Record: 1'' 59.293 (Colin Edwards, 2004)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1'' 58.714 (Valentino Rossi, 2005)
Date: 29 September 2005
Temp: 37ºC

Free Practice :
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Free Practice
1 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'' 58.714
2 T. Elias Yamaha ESP 1'' 58.860
3 N. Hayden Honda USA 1'' 59.044
4 L. Capirossi Ducati ITA 1'' 59.152
5 C. Checa Ducati ESP 1'' 59.466
6 C. Edwards Yamaha USA 1'' 59.493
7 M. Melandri Honda ITA 1'' 59.568
8 J. Hopkins Suzuki USA 1'' 59.814
9 M. Biaggi Honda ITA 1'' 59.978
10 A. Barros Honda BRA 2'' 0.084
11 K. Roberts Suzuki USA 2'' 0.276
12 S. Gibernau Honda ESP 2'' 0.280
13 S. Nakano Kawasaki JPN 2'' 0.425
14 M. Tamada Honda JPN 2'' 0.878
15 R. Rolfo Ducati ITA 2'' 1.820
16 R. Xaus Yamaha ESP 2'' 2.089

www.yamaha-racing.com

More News
  For September 2005
  From Yamaha Racing
  For Moto GP
  Biker247.com Home Page