DIFFICULT WEEKEND FOR TECH 3 TEAM
22 August 2006 - Yamaha Racing

Fifteenth place for Carlos Checa on his Yamaha YZF-M1 may not be the position that the Tech 3 Yamaha Team desired

But after the difficulties of Saturday, the team is satisfied with the result attained in the Czech Republic Grand Prix at the Brno circuit in a race won by Loris Capirossi (Ducati) as teammate James Ellison struggled with his own problems to finish 17th.

With a difficult race now behind them, the Tech 3 Yamaha Team is looking ahead to the two-day test at the circuit to endeavour to eliminate the problems that have surfaced after the positive results of the previous two races in the USA and Germany.

Carlos Checa (15th, Fastest lap 1''59.630)
''Considering yesterday nothing worked, today we should be satisfied with the job we did. We changed quite a lot on the bike but we were not too radical with the alterations we made. This morning the bike felt a lot better but in the different conditions this afternoon after a few laps we again had chattering and it increased during the race so by the end we had quite a lot. The tyre wasn''t so bad even though I was getting some movement in the acceleration area but the chattering was the main limitation.

''We knew it was going to be difficult today because many were doing 1'' 58s lap times and we were struggling to match those times but we did quite a lot of laps in the 59 sec bracket and to keep that pace until the end was the most positive thing we can take from here. Also keeping in mind that we couldn''t race with the tyres we have been using for the last two races, with the chattering problems we are having, today''s race was fine.''

James Ellison (17thFastest lap 2''00.608)
''That result was not what I wanted at all. I''m really disappointed. After yesterday I was definitely hoping for a top 15 finish but I was secretly thinking that a top 10 might happen. To finish 17th is a huge let down. I know I can do it - that''s the frustrating thing to me. My lap times to Carlos weren''t too bad for a few laps. He could keep that consistency with his times but after four or five laps my times dropped off. I lost traction on the rear exactly like what happened at Donington. I was getting a little bit of chatter but it was mainly rear wheel grip making it spin up everywhere.

Tomorrow during this test I will get to test the frame Carlos is running so hopefully, we will be able to find a cure to these problems we have been having and move forwards pretty quickly so I can score some decent results that I know I''m capable of getting

Herve Poncharal - Tech 3 Yamaha Team Director
Truthfully after the very average qualifying session yesterday, it was quite a good race. We had a lot of problems during the weekend that didn''t help for the race but it is always a big handicap to start from so far back. We lost many seconds during the first two laps but we were able to fight back so Carlos was nine seconds behind Colin (Edwards) at the end of the race. Our pace was quick enough to be with the group fighting for 10th position so we''re not happy with the position but we are happy that we were consistent with our lap times until the end. The bike still chattered but not as much as during practice and the gap to the guys in front of us was not that big. 15th is not a great result but there were no crashes and guys in front of us stopped so it''s reasonable. The work we have done here is going to be helpful for Dunlop. Let''s hope we can qualify better so we can have he results of the previous meetings. A positive point for Carlos is that he has scored points in every race but before going to the next three Grands Prix on the other side of the world, we have two days testing here to find solutions to these new problems and finish off the year on a good note.

Circuit Length: 5403
Temp: 23
Crowd: 81.000
Weather: Dry


2006 MotoGP Brno 20/08/2006
Race 1 - 22 Laps
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 43''40.145
2 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 0''4.902
3 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 0''8.012
4 Kenny Roberts Team Robert KR USA 0''14.800
5 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 0''15.025
6 Casey Stoner Honda AUS 0''15.699
7 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 0''16.775
8 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki JPN 0''16.942
9 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 0''17.061
10 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 0''19.435
11 Toni Elias Honda ESP 0''22.215
12 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 0''23.978
13 Makato Tamada Honda JPN 0''24.967
14 Randy De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 0''28.961
15 Carlos Checa Yamaha ESP 0''29.296
17 James Ellison Yamaha GBR 1''2.982

Best Lap
Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 1''58.157

Rider Standings 20/08/2006

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points
1. Nicky Hayden Honda USA 201
2. Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 176
3. Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 163
4. Marco Melandri Honda ITA 161
5. Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 151
6. Casey Stoner Honda AUS 101
7. Kenny Roberts Team Robert KR USA 92
8. Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 90
9. John Hopkins Suzuki USA 83
10. Shinya Nakano Kawasaki JPN 75
11. Makato Tamada Honda JPN 67
12. Toni Elias Honda ESP 64
13. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 61
14. Sete Gibernau Ducati ESP 58
15. Carlos Checa Yamaha ESP 54
18. James Ellison Yamaha GBR 20

Team Standings 20/08/2006

Pos. Team Points
1. Repsol Honda Team 377
2. Camel Yamaha Team 253
3. Fortuna Honda Team 225
4. Ducati Marlboro Team 216
5. Rizla Suzuki 144
6. Honda LCR 101
7. Kawasaki Racing Team 98
8. Team Roberts KR 92
9. Tech3 Yamaha 74
10. Konica Minolta Honda 67
11. Pramac D''Antin 22

Manufacturer Standings 20/08/2006

Pos. Manufacturer Points
1. Honda 262
2. Yamaha 201
3. Ducati 160
4. Suzuki 101
5. Team Robert KR 92
6. Kawasaki 83

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