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ROSSI BACK ON TOP ON FIRST DAY AT MUGELLO Gran Premio d''Italia Alice - Friday June 2nd 2006 With a flood of spectators in the paddock at the Mugello Circuit, not even the weather could dampen the first practice day of MotoGP’s annual Italian visit. Reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi showed the reason why he has won the past four Grands Prix at Mugello, dominating both the morning and afternoon Free Practice sessions. After announcing yesterday that he would stay in the sport for at least another year, Rossi put in a fastest time of 1’51.238 to demonstrate his mastery of his home track, coming in ahead of home Ducati’s duo of Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau. The top three all clocked their fastest laps during the first Free Practice in the morning. John Hopkins continued his efforts to push his Suzuki bike to the next level with a flying afternoon session. Hopkins took fourth place ahead of Australian rookie Casey Stoner and World Championship leader Nicky Hayden. Marco Melandri, Kenny Roberts Jr, Makoto Tamada and Colin Edwards completed the top ten, with the Camel Yamaha rider trying out the new chassis used by team-mate Rossi in Le Mans for the first time. Czech rider Jakub Smrz put in his best display so far this season to take the 250cc provisional pole at the Mugello Circuit. The Cardion AB rider showed great promise in preseason and has earned a series of top ten finishes, and the Italian Circuit seems to be one in which Smrz will be hoping to step up to the first podium of his career. The 1’55.412 lap from the Czech was less than a tenth faster than Hector Barbera and Andrea Dovizioso, who was fastest in this morning’s session. Alex de Angelis came in ahead of Aprilia factory test rider Alex Debon, who had a sensational day in fourth, and the early season leader Jorge Lorenzo. Julian Simon braved the driving rain at the Mugello Circuit to put himself on provisional pole for Sunday’s 125cc race. Simon’s time of 2’15.953 put him ahead of a shock duo of Michele Pirro and Karel Abraham. Fabrizio Lai rounds off the provisional front row ahead of Mika Kallio and Alvaro Bautista. On the end of row two, 15 year old British rookie Bradley Smith scored his highest placing to date, with his eighth place seeing one of MotoGP''s youngest riders on a temporary second row, something he would be more than happy to hold onto for Sunday’s race. ''We have had a good start to the weekend, especially this morning. Unfortunately the rain in the afternoon meant that we only got four good laps in but even in that short time we were able to see that the base setting of the bike is good. It is basically the same as the bike we had at Le Mans so I’m pleased to see it working well at such a different circuit. We still need to make some improvements to the setting but we are working in the right way and that is the most positive thing about today. We definitely need to work hard tomorrow but hopefully we can continue to improve. Now I just hope it doesn’t rain, this is a very special race for all the Italians, both the riders and the people who come to watch, and we need the weather to be on our side!''
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