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ROSSI ON FRONT ROW IN WET BRNO FINAL QUALIFIER
21 August 2004 - Yamaha Racing
Unfortunate weather conditions at Brno meant today’s final qualifying took place in the wet, despite a dry practice session in the morning.
Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi secured a front row start whilst his team-mate Carlos Checa, the overnight pole position holder, took the final spot on the second row, ending his second day in sixth position. Checa suffered a fall late in the session and, although unhurt, he could not get back on track in time to make another assault on pole.
A weather-affected final hour started on a damp track, continued with a deluge of rain at the half way point and then slowly dried from then on to the end. Rossi, who made incremental improvements of time and position from the outset, took third place with a time of 2’10.470. Checa, unable to improve on his Friday best of 2’11.188, will nonetheless make a valuable second row start tomorrow. Sete Gibernau (Honda) secured pole with a time of 2’09.782 from Alex Barros, (Honda) with a time of 2’10.090.
The Fortuna Gauloises Tech 3 rider pairing of Marco Melandri (2’12.685) and Norick Abe (2’13.327) did a typically gutsy job of qualifying in today’s soaking-wet hour of final qualifying with 11th and 13th places respectively for tomorrow’s 22-lap race. Marco is still riding through the pain barrier with his injured right hand and the doughty Italian will start from the fourth row of the grid. A wet race would place less strain on the hand. And Marco admits a dry race, as forecast, will be something of a struggle for him. Norick put himself on row five and the durable Japanese is ready to race, wet or dry, tomorrow. After a storming performance at Donington Park last month, sadly curtailed by a crash, Norick is keen to build on his form and get back into the thick of the action. Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha) third – 2’10.470
''This qualifying result is very important for us. I did not expect it because we had a lot of problems with our Yamaha in wet conditions yesterday. But between then and today we have been able to work on the bike for two hours in completely wet conditions, and we did a great job with the team, so a big thanks to them. The bike is now very much better in these conditions. We are third, and in the first row, so this was a surprise for us. I hope tomorrow will be dry because it’s better for everybody, but we could have a good result even in wet conditions. We are maybe not yet at the level of Honda and Gibernau, but we are not far away.'' Carlos Checa (Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha) sixth – 2’11.188
''I was pushing to improve my lap time from yesterday. At the beginning I couldn’t get the same traction, but the track w aswetter.ThetractionwasgettingbetterandbetterbutunfortunatelyIcrashedandcouldnotfinishthatlap,whichcouldhavebeengood.IlosttherearontheentrancewhenIwasoffthegasanditwas impossible to control. I still managed to keep second row. I think if it’s wet, we’ll do well, I’m not as positive if it’s dry. We’ve got five tyres so far and we’ve only tested two, so if it’s dry in morning warm-up we’ll have to test two of them.” Davide Brivio, Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha team director
''There was no time to fix Carlos’ bike so he cold try again, and because it happened towards the end of the session everyone else was going to improve. He missed the chance but he remains on the second row. We are pleased about Valentino as well. Both riders have shown that we have improved a lot in the wet conditions. To have even one rider on the front row in these conditions shows that the team and the engineers have done a very good job to improve our situation.” Marco Melandri (Fortuna Gauloises Tech 3) 11th – 2’12.685 “Session by session I was getting better and I’m happy about the way my hand is holding up. But I’m a bit disappointed I stayed out too late to change tyres, even though I did my best lap with a half-worn tyre. I only got one lap in with a fresh tyre and I don’t know how much I could have improved. But one thing I do know, if it’s a dry race tomorrow it will be difficult for me.” Norick Abe (Fortuna Gauloises Tech 3) 13th – 2’13.327
“We kept going with the base set-up we used yesterday but today we went softer on the springs. I’ve now got the best feel in wet conditions that I’ve had so far this season and this is my best qualifying performance too. If it’s dry tomorrow that will suit me fine because the set-up I had in the dry free training this morning was pretty good as well.” Hervé Poncharal, Fortuna Gauloises Tech 3 team director
“A difficult weekend so far on account of the conditions, but we are doing okay. Norick’s 13th position is his best qualifying result so far this year and if he can show the same aggressive riding he put together at Donington, this could be a good race for him. Marco is on the fourth row and it’s a shame he didn’t get enough continuity in his sessions because he was improving all the time. The only thing we can hope for now is more stable conditions tomorrow.”
Round: 10 - Brno Grand Prix
Circuit: Brno
Circuit Length: 5403
Lap Record: 1'' 59.966 (Valentino Rossi, 2003)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1'' 58.769 (Valentino Rossi, 2003)
Date: 21 August 2004
Temp: 14ºC
Session 2 :
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. 1st Qualifying 2nd Qualifying
1 S. Gibernau Honda ESP 2'' 12.261 2'' 9.782
2 A. Barros Honda BRA 2'' 13.286 2'' 10.090
3 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA 2'' 13.754 2'' 10.470
4 T. Bayliss Ducati AUS 2'' 11.969 2'' 10.923
5 C. Edwards Honda USA 2'' 13.949 2'' 11.096
6 C. Checa Yamaha ESP 2'' 11.188 2'' 11.912
7 N. Hayden Honda USA 2'' 14.628 2'' 11.662
8 M. Biaggi Honda ITA 2'' 14.797 2'' 11.737
9 L. Capirossi Ducati ITA 2'' 12.785 2'' 11.810
10 R. Xaus Ducati ESP 2'' 13.840 2'' 12.073
11 M. Melandri Yamaha ITA 2'' 14.037 2'' 12.685
12 N. Hodgson Ducati GBR 2'' 13.870 2'' 13.008
13 N. Abe Yamaha JPN 2'' 16.424 2'' 13.327
14 K. Roberts Proton KR USA 2'' 13.345 2'' 14.087
15 J. McWilliams Aprilia GBR 2'' 15.801 2'' 13.781
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