CAPIROSSI TAKES FIRST MOTOGP POLE OF 2006
25 March 2006 - Moto GP

Gran Premio betandwin.com de España - Saturday 25th March 2006

With the 2006 MotoGP World Championship’s first race, the Gran Premio betandwin.com de España, just hours away, today saw an exciting qualifying session in front of a packed crowd of racing fans. The weather was excellent throughout the afternoon qualifying session at the Jerez Circuit in southern Spain, after slightly overcast skies dulled the morning practice hour.

Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau will start tomorrow’s season-opening Grand Prix as the top two on the grid, whilst reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi will surprisingly start from the third row in ninth. The Ducati riders continued their excellent preseason form, which included their topping the timesheets nearly two weeks ago at Jerez testing, Capirossi putting in a fastest lap of 1’39.064 to take the pole position.

The Italian’s team-mate Sete Gibernau will be looking to take the win at his home circuit after last year’s unforgettable final lap drama. Kawasaki’s Shinya Nakano, so impressive at the final test, completed an all-Bridgestone top three on his boss Harald Eckl’s 50th birthday.

Honda will occupy the entire second row of the grid, with official factory riders Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa ahead of satellite rider Toni Elias. Elias'' team-mate Marco Melandri had headed the timesheets during the final free practice, but slipped down to seventh in the running for tomorrow’s race.

Kawasaki’s young rookie Randy de Puniet will start from eighth, despite being part of a number of riders involved in crashes caused by oil left behind by Alex Hofmann’s bike. De Puniet, Rossi, Nakano, Kenny Roberts Jr. and Elias all fell foul of the slick, which had halted proceedings early on in the hour as the area was cleaned.

Rossi, fastest yesterday in free practice, will start from the third row in ninth in his quest for a sixth consecutive opening-race victory. The Italian’s third row start places him alongside team-mate Colin Edwards, who completes the top ten.

Suzuki were unable to continue their good run of results during the session, but will hope to push for high finishes with Chris Vermeulen and John Hopkins starting from eleventh and Hopkins from twelfth.

Jorge Lorenzo will start tomorrow’s 250cc race from pole, after riding a lap of 1’43.270 onboard his Aprilia. The Spaniard will begin the race ahead of Yuki Takahashi and team-mate Hector Barbera. Shuhei Aoyama completes the front row, whilst a mixed grid sees touted title challengers Sebas Porto and Andrea Dovizioso outside the front three rows. Alex de Angelis completes the top five, with Anthony West, Hiroshi Aoyama, Marco Simoncelli, Alex Baldolini and Roberto Locatelli behind him.


Today was an historic occasion for Mattia Pasini and the Master MVA Aspar team. The Italian earned his first career pole position, clocking a fantastic 1’46.937 lap at the Circuito de Jerez. The Italian bested Marco Simoncelli’s 2005 pole time, which took the Italian to victory, by nearly six hundredths of a second.

Pasini’s team-mate and yesterday’s fastest 125cc rider in free practice, Alvaro Bautista will line up second on the grid for tomorrow’s Grand Prix. Lukas Pesek was unable to maintain his provisional pole and will start in third, ahead of Julian Simon on the front row.

1st, Loris Capirossi, 1''39.064: ''What a fun day, I could ride the way I like to ride. The bike was sideways as usual, but everything was under control! So far this has been a very positive weekend, following on from the great tests we did here two weeks ago. During those tests we weren''t looking for sensational lap times, we were working so we could come here for the race with a bike that works consistently for a lot of laps, and we have found a good balance. Bridgestone have improved a lot, I was a lot faster today with soft tyres than last time here and we are really good with race tyres too. I think we should also be able to make a great race. I don''t think I''ll try and leave everyone behind from the first lap because this track is very demanding on tyres and it would be better to save them for later.''

2nd, Sete Gibernau, 1''39.285: ''I''m keeping my feet on the ground. Like I keep saying, I''m in the middle of a learning process with the bike, the team, the tyres, everything. My goal today was to be on the first or the second row, but everyone''s done such a great job, the team, the factory, Bridgestone, my crew chief Juan Martinez, so I have to say thank you to everyone involved in this project. They have given me back the feeling I need to go racing. Tomorrow will be a learning race for me, my aim is to get away with the leading group and try to be with them all the way to the end of the race. I hope I can do it.''

3rd, Shinya Nakano, 1''39.526: ''Qualifying on the front row was one of our targets for this year, but to do it at the first race is fantastic. We knew that Kawasaki and Bridgestone had made a big step forward during winter testing, but you''re never sure exactly how competitive you''re going to be until you get to the first race. I think this result confirms that our feeling during pre-season testing was correct. To be honest, I was quite surprised when I looked down at the dash because it didn''t feel like a fast lap and I was expecting the other riders to make bigger improvements. But they didn''t, so I''m on the front row of the grid for the first race and I''m happy with that.''

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