DUCATI LOOK GOOD IN THE RAIN
09 September 2006 - Ducati Marlboro Team

Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau will start tomorrow''s Marlboro Malaysian Grand Prix from the first and second rows of the grid.

Their qualifying positions were taken from the first three practice sessions after this afternoon''s qualifying session was cancelled following a monumental tropical monsoon. The session was delayed while track workers tried to clear standing water from the track but at 4.15pm the decision was taken to call off the outing for safety reasons.

Despite the interruption to their usual race preparation schedule, Capirossi and Gibernau are quietly confident about tomorrow''s race. Capirossi clocked his quickest lap this morning, confirming his impressive race pace with a lightning-fast run. Gibernau, ready for his first race in seven weeks, also rode his best lap this morning and also completed a consistently fast run.
LORIS CAPIROSSI, 3rd fastest, 2m 01.167s
''The Race Direction took the correct decision to cancel qualifying because the conditions were too bad. Although the track was dry in some places, the water was deep in other areas of the track where the ground was so waterlogged that it couldn''t absorb the rain. We do over 300km/h at this circuit, so to ride in these conditions would have been too dangerous. Anyway, I''m happy because I ran a consistently fast pace on race tyres this morning, including 12 consecutive laps inside last year lap record. I have a very good package for the dry and if it''s raining it will be the same for everyone. I haven''t had any problems in the rain so far this year, so I don''t see why we should have any worries here.''

SETE GIBERNAU, 6th fastest, 2m 02.181s
''That was a really tough qualifying session, I''m totally beat! But seriously, this morning wasn''t so bad, we were in the leading pack until a few guys threw in qualifiers, but I didn''t use one. The race is going to be physically hard, because I''m a little out of shape and I can''t really stress the bone. I''ve not been able to ride a bike for a couple of months, so I need all the sessions I could get because riding is my training! My goal is to try and finish the race, I can do four or five laps not so bad, then I start struggling.''

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