ROSSI ON FRONT ROW TO CLAIM FASTEST QUALIFIER AWARD
30 October 2004 - Yamaha Racing

In bright and sunny conditions Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi earned a front row grid position for Sunday''s 30-lap MotoGP race, riding his YZR-M1 to a time of 1''32.913.

Carlos Checa earned a third row start in what will be his final ride for the team, having recovered from the effects of a fall in this morning''s free practice. Pole man was Japanese rider, Makoto Tamada (Honda) from his team-mate Max Biaggi.

Rossi, going for pole position after his outstanding championship-winning season, ran off track half way through the session, on the second corner of the track. He almost brought the M1 to a halt unscathed, but toppled over at walking pace and returned to the pit to allow the machine to be checked over. His mishap caused him to drop through the order for a time, but the final exchanges of the lead put him third overall, gaining an all-important front row start and securing himself the award for the fastest qualifier of the year.

Checa, who had rested after his morning session fall, went to tenth place after 20 minutes of the final session had elapsed, and he ultimately earned a ninth place on the grid. His third row start came courtesy of his last lap, 1''33.504s, an improvement on his previous times, despite his slow-speed off.

Meanwhile the Fortuna Gauloises Tech3 duo of Norick Abe (1''34.175) and Marco Melandri (1''34.209) qualified in 15th and 16th positions respectively for tomorrow''s 30-lap race. In warmer conditions than yesterday Abe soon had his YZR-M1 set up to his liking, and although he didn''t get the best from his super-sticky qualifying tyre in this final session, the Japanese ace is happy with his race pace. But his fifth row start remains something of a handicap.

Marco struggled with rear grip and the Italian was brave enough to admit he just couldn''t push any harder without his rear tyre hooking-up properly. He remains positive, however, that overnight work from his crew can transform his machine for tomorrow.

Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha) third - 1''32.913
''I hope we are ready for the last race of the season. We had a lot of problems during practice, it was a difficult one. I thought my M1 would be very good straight away on this track, but we have had more problems than we expected. Even with that I am happy because the bike is better, the feeling is not so bad, I am on the front row and we have worked very well. I think we are not at 100% yet but we still have tomorrow morning. I think we will have the same good weather as today so I hope we can make a good race.''

Carlos Checa (Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha) ninth - 1''33.504
''It was a slow crash I had this morning at turn two but I fell quite hard on the asphalt. I didn''t lose consciousness or anything, but it was a good idea to take a little bit of a rest before the afternoon. We went a bit better in this session and for tomorrow I suppose I will feel better than today. I''m on the third row and that''s not too bad a position to be in. My pace on race setting is not too bad either but it will be hard tomorrow with 30 laps of this track. You always like to feel well on the eve of the race but right now I have a little bit of a headache. I want to finish well here, it''s my home race and my last for Yamaha, and I want to finish with the best possible feeling.''

Davide Brivio, Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha team director ''Valentino ran on while trying for a good lap time with one particular tyre choice and he went in just a little bit too fast. He fell over but it was not really a crash. We still have some problems with his bike but really it is a case of studying the situation to fix the settings. I think it''s a normal situation we have every weekend. It''s a shame that Carlos fell. He seems to be OK but it is not a perfect preparation. He showed determination because he improved his time afterwards anyway. We all wish him well in his last race for us. Another point we must look at this weekend is that Valentino has won another BMW car, thanks to his success in the combined pole position competition. That is significant, I think, so thanks again to everyone in the team, it has been a big effort this season. Our results come from all their jobs.''

Norick Abe (Fortuna Gauloises Tech3) 15th - 1''34.175
''The bike feels good, but again I couldn''t get the best out of a qualifying tyre. But on a race tyre I could do 1''34.5 laps and that''s encouraging. My grid position''s not too good but if I can get a fast start and stay with the leaders we''ll see what happens. And we shouldn''t need to make any changes in the warm-up - the bike feels that good!''

Marco Melandri (Fortuna Gauloises Tech3) 16th - 1''34.209 ''Another bad day. We changed so much and only improved a little bit. I can''t seem to get enough traction and even on a qualifying tyre the rear was spinning-up a lot. I can''t push any harder because I''ll just end up making a mistake with the bike like it is at the moment. We''ll see what we can do in the warm-up tomorrow.''

Hervé Poncharal, Fortuna Gauloises Tech3 team director
''Not what we wanted at all. We''re aiming much higher than this. But the lap times are quite close and that gives us a bit of hope for the race. We''re quite confident about tomorrow because it''s a long, hard race and we know Norick always has extra in him on race day. Marco''s got the warm-up to get more comfortable on the bike, so we''ve got some work to do for him.''

Round: 16 - Valencia Grand Prix
Circuit: Valencia
Circuit Length: 4005
Lap Record: 1'' 33.317 (Valentino Rossi, 2003)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1'' 32.478 (Valentino Rossi, 2003)
Date: 30 October 2004
Temp: 20ºC

Session 2 :
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. 1st Qualifying 2nd Qualifying
1 M. Tamada Honda JPN 1'' 33.534 1'' 32.815
2 M. Biaggi Honda ITA 1'' 34.299 1'' 32.831
3 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'' 33.795 1'' 32.913
4 S. Gibernau Honda ESP 1'' 33.531 1'' 32.936
5 N. Hayden Honda USA 1'' 34.938 1'' 32.999
6 T. Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'' 34.102 1'' 33.083
7 J. Hopkins Suzuki USA 1'' 34.420 1'' 33.422
8 C. Edwards Honda USA 1'' 34.394 1'' 33.438
9 C. Checa Yamaha ESP 1'' 34.500 1'' 33.504
10 S. Nakano Kawasaki JPN 1'' 34.475 1'' 33.557
11 A. Hofman Kawasaki GER 1'' 34.599 1'' 33.723
12 A. Barros Honda BRA 1'' 34.500 1'' 33.773
13 L. Capirossi Ducati ITA 1'' 34.324 1'' 33.781
14 J. McWilliams Aprilia GBR 1'' 35.177 1'' 34.104
15 N. Abe Yamaha JPN 1'' 35.072 1'' 34.175
16 M. Melandri Yamaha ITA 1'' 35.374 1'' 34.209

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