ROSSI TAKES PROVISIONAL POLE IN PORTUGAL
03 September 2004 - Yamaha Racing

Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi made a successful start to the Portuguese Grand Prix today by taking provisional pole on day one in Estoril with a 1’38.036.

His team-mate Carlos Checa (1’39.163) finished the afternoon 11th fastest, spending much of the session in the top five. Meanwhile Fortuna Gauloises Tech3 riders Marco Melandri (1’38.710) and Norick Abe (1’40.049) went about their business with typical resolve in today’s first hour of timed practice. Marco finished the day in a respectable sixth, while Norick ended the session in 15th.

With dry patches of sunshine, making for a fast qualifying session with eight riders posting times under 1’39s, Rossi went to the top of the time sheets only ten minutes into the hour-long session. Checa moved into second shortly after. With fifteen minutes remaining Sete Gibernau (Honda) went ahead of Rossi, surrendering the lead to Alex Barros (Honda, 1’38.215) half a minute later. Gibernau then stole the top spot back again with his fastest lap of the day of 1’38.067.

This was only good enough for second, however, as Rossi then put in a flying lap of with just over a minute remaining. Barros finished third fastest, followed by Honda riders Makoto Tamada (1’38.342), Max Biaggi (1’38.609) and Melandri. Checa was unable to better his earlier time as he touched tyres with Gibernau on his flying lap and could not pass him.

With Marco now very close to full fitness the Italian charger is now recapturing the form that has made him such a hot prospect in the premier class. His encouraging start to this Grand Prix has boosted his confidence and he is convinced there is more to come in tomorrow’s final qualifying session.

Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha) first – 1’38.036
“We are ahead now but there is still more work to do, although we did some really good work today and finished first. It’s difficult to set-up the bike here because it’s an old style track; very tight and full of bumps. For sure it will be tough, especially against Gibernau and Barros who are looking strong. We have found the right tyre today and this was very important. It’s going to be a hard race.”

Carlos Checa (Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha) 11th – 1’39.163
“Everything is working well so far, but there’s room for improvement. We’re losing time on a few parts of the track but the bike feels quite good. I touched tyres with Gibernau on my last lap when I had qualifying tyres on and couldn’t pass him. This meant I missed my chance to improve my best lap time. I hope the weather stays okay tomorrow. At the Brno test we changed the balance of the bike slightly and it feels more comfortable, so I am confident for the weekend.”

Jeremy Burgess, Rossi’s crew chief
“It was imperative for us to get on the front row, and that’s what we did. In Brno we had limited dry track time during the race weekend, but in the test there on Monday we had some time to test Michelin tyres and the ones we selected were ready for here. Our priority here today was front row, especially because it might rain tomorrow.”

Marco Melandri (Fortuna Gauloises Tech3) sixth – 1’38.710
“I’m quite happy. My hand was so-so this morning but this afternoon it felt much better and it still feels good – which is even better. We made some small steps from this morning in the suspension settings and we changed the engine mapping slightly. I think there might be even more to come tomorrow because both me and the bike can get better still.”

Norick Abe (Fortuna Gauloises Tech3) 15th – 1’40.049
“I haven’t found the right set-up, yet, and as a result the lap times won’t come. The bike needs to be easier to ride because I’m a bit short of traction and the bumps are a problem at the moment. I need to do better than my usual 15th or 16th place in qualifying and we should have a solution for tomorrow.”

Hervé Poncharal, Fortuna Gauloises Tech3 team director
“It’s great to see Marco back to full fitness and now we can put Donington and Brno behind us and get back to the level we were at in Barcelona and Assen. Marco feels good, the bike feels good here and it’s good to be on the provisional second row. We’ve got another day to go and we’ll see what happens, but Marco was putting in some very consistent laps so things look good. Norick rode well and seems confident and we’ll see what else he can do tomorrow.”

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