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MOTOGP SEASON UNDERWAY WITH ROSSI FASTEST AT JEREZ Gran Premio betandwin.com de España - Friday 24th March 2006 With the 2006 season’s curtain-raising Gran Premio betandwin.com de España just two days away, the MotoGP riders were out on the track today for two sessions of free practice. The grandstands already had a healthy turnout of motorbike aficionados despite some early rainfall, with the weekend figure expected to reach over 200,000. The weather cleared up for the gathered throng in time for the exciting action of the afternoon’s free practice. World Champion Valentino Rossi has won the last five season-opening Grands Prix, and showed his intention to make it six with the fastest time in today’s free practice sessions at the Jerez Circuit. The Italian went round in a time of 1’41.613, topping the timesheets just over a hundredth of a second ahead of Loris Capirossi. The Ducati rider has had a strong series of test showings at the Andalusian track, form he will be hoping to continue through the final sessions and into the race. The Spanish crowd had much to cheer about on this the first day of practice in Jerez. With an all-Italian top two, home riders Dani Pedrosa and Sete Gibernau completed the top four with inseparable times. The young rookie and the experienced veteran are both making new starts, Pedrosa of course debuting in the category for Honda and Gibernau riding a Ducati for the first time. The final rider to go round in under 1’42, Shinya Nakano highlighted the dramatic improvement of the Kawasaki by coming in fifth. The Japanese rider had already had an impressive final test at the Jerez Circuit nearly two weeks ago, one which seems to suit the Bridgestone tyres and brand new engine of his 2006 bike. With the cloudy skies which had put a dampener on the morning’s free practice not bringing rain to the circuit, the uninterrupted second session was a chance for the riders to learn the finer points of the track in the dry. Marco Melandri and Colin Edwards were two of the riders to put in the most laps, their best times just over half a second off Rossi’s pace. With his teammate in the Honda Factory team in the top three, Nicky Hayden trailed him by four tenths at the end of today’s qualifying. The top ten was completed by two rookies in the MotoGP premier class, Kawasaki’s Randy de Puniet and Honda’s Toni Elias, who only put in eleven laps of the track after missing the morning practice. Kiefer Racing’s two riders Dirk Heidolf and Anthony West took sixth and seventh respectively, adding to the extensive Aprilia presence. Japanese riders Hiroshi Aoyama and Yuki Takahashi completed the top ten alongside Italian Alex Baldolini. Mattia Pasini, fastest at the final test of the preseason at the Andalusian track, headed a host of title contenders. Mika Kallio, Gabor Talmacsi, Sergio Gadea and Aleix Espargaro were all in the top ten, with reigning World Champion Thomas Luthi completing the top ten. 1st, Valentino Rossi, 1''41.613: ''We haven’t fixed everything just yet but the Yamaha engineers came up with a few ideas to solve the vibrations we suffered during the test and they all worked. This is the perfect way to start the season and I am really happy with the way the team have worked. Tomorrow we have to keep working hard to come up with some more solutions and I am sure we will be in good shape for the race. There is already a good atmosphere and I can’t wait until Sunday!'' 2nd, Loris Capirossi, 1''41.625: ''This afternoon was the first real practice session, although the track was still damp in places, so I couldn''t use my usual lines everywhere. The damp bothered me more than I expected. Furthermore, no rubber has been laid down, which means the track conditions are very different from the tests we did here two weeks ago. But overall I''m very, very happy with today. I''m only 12 hundredths behind the fastest guy which is nothing, and we were fast in the wet, so we are ready whatever the weather.'' 3rd, Dani Pedrosa, 1''41.798: ''It was a real shame about the weather this morning, which meant we couldn''t do what we wanted. This afternoon we managed to put in some good work though, and to be honest I didn''t expect to be so high up the timesheets at this stage. There''s obviously lots of pressure on me from the fans and the media, but I''m just concentrating on doing my job.'' 1st (250cc), Hector Barbera, 1''44.561: ''I think my provisional pole position was a surprise for nearly everyone, except for me. I believe in my chances and think I am capable of being up at the front even though my results last year left me in the second tier of riders. If I do that, people will have to start taking notice of me, although it''s always easier to ride without pressure rather than with the obligation of having to win like the others. Technically we are at a high level, we had two sessions without any problems and ended up in first. Tomorrow I hope to stay in pole and prepare for the race without any difficulties.'' 1st (125cc), Lukas Pesek, 1''47.734: ''I am very happy with this current position, but I’m well aware that it is only provisional and that nothing can be celebrated right now. The results of the previous tests have given me a lot of confidence and useful information, the bike and team are at a good level and I can concentrate on getting the best out of my riding.''
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