2006 MotoGP - JEREZ GP

R1, JEREZ, MARCH 26, 2006 - Gran Premio Marlboro de España

• Loris Capirossi's 12th career win. He led from the start and was never overtaken despite Pedrosa shadowing him for most of the race.
• 20 year old Dani Pedrosa finished 2nd in his MotoGP debut race.
• Valentino Rossi fell on the first corner after contact with Elias. Rossi got back on the bike and finished 14th.
• CAPIROSSI, WINNER: "I had a bit of an advantage from the beginning, but then I saw Daniel coming and I was surprised. He came closer and closer and I had to keep my rhythm. But I pushed hard with five laps to go and I saw that gap opening and I knew it was won. Ducati did a great job for me. The tyres were great and it's a perfect start to the championship."
• PEDROSA, 2ND: "It was a fantastic race ... I was a bit lucky to avoid Rossi's crash at the beginning and then when Gibernau went out it opened the door for me ... I tried to catch Capirossi but I was afraid on the front tyre so I slowed and made sure of second because there are 16 races in the championship and the win will come later."
• ROSSI, 14th: "I had a great start and I could have gone faster, then I felt a bump and fell. It happens. Toni made a mistake and I hope it's the last time"

RACE RESULT

DUCATI RACE REPORT

• Loris Capirossi won today's season-opening Spanish GP in brilliant style to put the Ducati Marlboro Team at the top of the MotoGP points table for the first time in history. But it was a day of mixed emotions for the team with Sete Gibernau withdrawing due to a gear sensor problem which affected his bike's electronics.
• Capirossi and Gibernau had qualified first and second fastest, with Gibernau quickest in this morning's warm-up session, so the team had high hopes of a double podium result. Capirossi led the race from start to finish to beat runner-up Dani Pedrosa by 4.375 seconds and completed a perfect weekend: pole position, race win and fastest lap. Today's victory was the Italian's fourth MotoGP success for the Ducati Marlboro Team, his sixth premier class triumph and his 26th career win.
• FEDERICO MINOLI, Ducati CEO and president - "Winning today's race is the perfect end to a hard winter's work. Everyone who believes in this project has worked so hard and today all that work paid off. Loris rode like a lion, he gave us an amazing race. It's a pity for Sete, he's shown that he's strong and that he's fast and I'm sure we could have had both bikes on the podium today, but he still has 16 races ahead of him."
• LIVIO SUPPO, Ducati MotoGP project manager - "It's a day of mixed emotions for us - Ducati deserved a double podium today. I'm so happy for Loris, he did a great job and rode a wonderful race, he had the situation under control. On the other hand, I'm really sorry for what happened to Sete. My thanks to our technical partners Bridgestone and Shell Advance who have done so much in contributing to this victory."
• LORIS CAPIROSSI, winner - "This is my fourth year with the Ducati Marlboro Team and this is the best start we've had to a season, today's win was just the best. The team has done a great job all winter, especially at the tests we did here two weeks ago. After that we knew we had a good opportunity to win and after practice and qualifying we were quite confident.
• "My target today was to not try too hard in the early laps, but I got away in first place, so I tried to make a gap on the others. First it was (Nicky) Hayden behind me, then Pedrosa came at me. I decided to make a good rhythm that wouldn't stress the tyres too much, then during the last six or seven laps I pushed again and was able to take the advantage once more.
• "I have to say thanks to everyone at Ducati who worked so hard for this and also to Bridgestone who have made big improvements over the winter. This is our second season with Bridgestone and our collaboration is working so well. I will try to repeat today's result as often as possible but it won't be easy!"
• SETE GIBERNAU, DNF - "I've no words really, we've all been working so hard over the last few months but we're leaving the first race with no result. It's a real pity, everything had been going so well. My congratulations to Loris and Bridgestone for a fantastic win, now we look forward to the next race in Qatar in two weeks time."

HONDA RACE REPORT

• Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda, 2nd: “To start like this is amazing for me! I want to thank my team because they have worked really hard all this weekend and during the winter. And also a big thank you to Michelin because they gave us really good tyres. The race was difficult for me because at the end I was really tired and the tyre was spinning and sliding, so I think this result is very good. I didn’t get a good start and I had to pass many riders, which took a long time. Loris was already gone, so I had to catch him up and when I did I was already tired. I wasn’t really dreaming of the race win because I knew he was saving his tyres. He pushed hard at the end of the race and my front tyre was sliding a little bit. I was not too confident, so I had to give up because I preferred to finish the race. I’m very happy with the result today.”
• Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda, 3rd: “It wasn’t pretty with a few guys dropping out, but nonetheless we’ll take the 16 points and the podium. Last year I crashed out so it’s nice to get off and running with some momentum. We were testing here two weeks ago and at that point we didn’t have a chance. But we’ve made a big step, so thanks to the team and Honda and all my guys who worked really hard this winter. And thanks to Repsol and Michelin too because my tyres were actually really good today. We’ll be back testing here in the morning and we’ve still got a lot of work to do to improve. I was there with the leaders right at the beginning of the race but I didn’t quite have the pace. In turn one I was running a little wide and I’ve got to get some more traction and get the bike to turn better. It’s early man - it’s only round one and we’ll try and get stronger.”
• Toni Elias, Fortuna Honda, 4th: It was a really tough race, but one of the best of my life. I feel sorry for Valentino, but it was a really close start and we all reached the end of the straight bunched together. I was right next to Shinya Nakano and when I tried to avoid him I clipped Valentino. I went to apologise to him after the race although these things do happen in racing. After that I managed to find a good rhythm and was able to fight back. It was a real shame that after all that effort I could not get on to the podium, but I'm still really happy. I think the spectators really enjoyed it, but I want to thank them for being the best fans in the world."
• Marco Melandri, Fortuna Honda, 5th: "It was a very difficult race, but at least we have taken some very important points. The changes we made to the bike during the warm-up did not work as well as hoped s we took a bit of a backwards step. I made a good start but did not want to push too hard and risk the points I had. I am still not very comfortable with the front end of the bike so we'll have to work on that. I am confident and HRC are giving us lots of support, the test sessions tomorrow and the day after will help us improve my feeling with the bike."
• Casey Stoner, LCR Honda, 6th: "I honestly didn't expect this after missing nine days of testing so I'm very happy with this result and the support from the LCR team, they have done a great job this weekend. I made a great start and with the mix up at turn one with Rossi crashing I was able get away with the leading group. We had changed the set-up with different front forks after the problems in qualifying and the bike was much better in the race, but still not perfect, I was running wide in some corners. I want to congratulate Dani Pedrosa for his great ride into second place, he did a great job today. Physically, my shoulder was no problem although my first MotoGP race was hard work."
• Kenny Roberts Jnr, KR Honda: 8th. “You know how it is you always want more. I knew a top ten was possible. I saw Valentino go down I knew it would be a strong race pace I tried to stay consistent with grip but every time I pushed the front started sliding. We will improve ride ability we know what we have to do to the bike to get better. We brought a lot of stuff here to try and improve but didn’t really get the chance. I just want to thank my Dad’s team, Honda, Michelin and everybody who has helped us get where we are so far. I wouldn’t be where I am today without those guys.”

YAMAHA RACE REPORT

• Yamaha riders unable to shake off Jerez curse
  
  An eventful weekend at Jerez ended in disappointing fashion today as both Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards got caught in a first corner melee that ended their hopes of glory in the opening round of the 2006 MotoGP World Championship. The Camel Yamaha Team pair made good starts from ninth and tenth on the grid respectively but a collision between Rossi and Toni Elías (Honda) on the inside of turn one saw the Italian knocked from his YZR-M1 and sent Edwards wide into the gravel trap. 
  
  Despite some damage to his bike, Rossi showed the character of a true World Champion as he returned to the track, battling his way back into the field and picking off several riders to secure two championship points in fourteenth place. Edwards, meanwhile, fought from second last to eleventh by the end of the 27-lap encounter. Victory went to pole setter Loris Capirossi (Ducati) in a race time of 45'57.733, but he was pushed hard by second-placed Dani Pedrosa (Honda) on his debut in the MotoGP class. Nicky Hayden (Honda) completed the podium.
  
  Colin Edwards (11th; + 37.930) "I probably made the best race start of my whole life, Valentino got away well too and we went together into the first bend. Elias came up on the inside and I actually saw everything happen but to be honest I thought Vale would be able to stay on the bike so I kept my corner speed and tried to just run it around the outside. Unfortunately he went down and I had nowhere to go but the gravel. It really capped the weekend off for us but the truth is that we weren't fast enough to challenge today. This track has been a real pain for us and I can't wait to get away. We've got a test tomorrow but I'll be happy when we get to Qatar, where the bike worked really well in testing."
  
  Valentino Rossi (14th; + 1'05.766) "We knew this was going to be a difficult race but maybe not so difficult! I saw Toni come up on the inside and he hit me; this is racing and these things happen. I have known Toni for many years and he is a good rider. He apologised to me after the race so I told him not to worry - only to remember to brake next time and if it is too late then to hit another bike instead of me! Anyway I came back on the track and had a nice battle with Alex Hofmann. I am disappointed because I wanted to win the first race of the season but there is nothing we can do now. Only work hard to make sure we don't have these problems again and look forward to the next race in Qatar."
  
  Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "It seems that everything that could go wrong did go wrong for us this weekend. On Friday morning when we needed the time to test it rained and things have gone continually against us since then. We obviously still have a lot of work to do and for some reason our bike clearly doesn't work at this circuit so we are keen to find out why, if we can, in tomorrow's test. The engineers have a lot of data and everyone is working at 100% to find a solution. We were fast at Sepang, Qatar and Catalunya so there is no need to panic and we can look forward to the next race. On a positive note I thought both riders showed character to fight back after the first corner incident and hopefully they will have better luck next time."

QUALIFYING

DUCATI QUALIFYING REPORT

• FEDERICO MINOLI, Ducati CEO- "An amazing performance, just like 2003, you couldn't ask for a better start to the season. The bike really showed its power in T3 and T4. Loris showed his class all around the circuit and Sete was also great. Considering this is only his first GP on the Desmosedici, it gives us great hope for the future."
• LORIS CAPIROSSI, pole position, 1m 39.064s:"What a fun day, I could ride the way I like to ride. The bike was sideways as usual, but everything was under control! I was going for a 1.38 on my last lap but I just missed it. So far this has been a very positive weekend, following on from the great tests we did here two weeks ago. During those tests we weren't looking for sensational lap times, we were working so we could come here for the race with a bike that works consistently for a lot of laps, and we have found a good balance. Bridgestone have improved a lot, I was a lot faster today with soft tyres than last time here and we are really good with race tyres too. We haven't seen Ducati first and second in qualifying since 2003 and I think we should also be able to make a great race too. I don't think I'll try and leave everyone behind from the first lap because this track is very demanding on tyres and it would be better to save them for later. As always, my thanks to Ducati and Bridgestone."
• SETE GIBERNAU, second fastest,: "I'm keeping my feet on the ground. Like I keep saying, I'm in the middle of a learning process with the bike, the team, the tyres, everything. My goal today was to be on the first or the second row, but everyone's done such a great job, the team, the factory, Bridgestone, my crew chief Juan (Martinez), so I have to say thank you to everyone involved in this project. They have given me back the feeling I need to go racing. Tomorrow will be a learning race for me, my aim is to get away with the leading group and try to be with them all the way to the end of the race. I hope I can do it."

YAMAHA QUALIFYING REPORT (TOP OF PAGE)

• MotoGP : Yamaha riders face Jerez challenge after difficult session
   Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards face an uphill battle in the opening round of the MotoGP World Championship tomorrow after vibration problems returned in this afternoon's qualifying practice at Jerez. After making progress with his YZR-M1 machine in yesterday's free practice, Rossi's cause was not helped by an incident early in today's session, when he became the first of five riders to end up in the gravel after oil was spilled on the track by another competitor.
  
  The red flags were duly raised and when the pit-lane reopened both Rossi and Edwards worked against the clock to solve their difficulties ahead of tomorrow's 27-lap race. However, bad luck struck for Edwards when he suffered a puncture to his rear tyre and the American was only able to qualify tenth fastest, one place behind his Italian team-mate.
  
  Pole position went to Loris Capirossi (Ducati) in an outright circuit record time of 1'39.064 and the Italian will be joined on the front row by his team-mate Sete Gibernau and Japanese rider Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki).
  
  Valentino Rossi (9th - 1'40.160, 28 laps) "I thought we had solved a lot of the problems yesterday but today they came back. The bike is still vibrating and with the qualifying tyre the problem became worse because the extra grip on the rear pushed the front even harder. Basically we are losing time in every part of the corner. Also the crash at the start of the session didn't help but we can't use that as an excuse. I have won the first race of the season every year since 2001 but it is going to be difficult tomorrow. I have always found that it helps to start the season with a win so I will still be going for it!"
  
  Colin Edwards (10th - 1'40.181, 23 laps) "I suppose you could say we are up the creek but the important day is tomorrow so we still have a paddle! Just when we thought we had the problem sorted out it has come creeping back. We've had three days of tests here and now two days this weekend but we just can't get on top of it. The vibration in the corners comes in at a certain speed so the effect is like having a speed limiter on the bike. To make things worse I had a puncture in my first qualifying tyre so we lost time at the end of the session too. Things don't look to be going too well for us at the moment but we'll try to pull a rabbit out of the hat tomorrow."
  
  Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "We still have some work to do to solve the problems completely. It has been a strange weekend because yesterday we lost a whole session because of the weather and then today we had another setback when Valentino crashed on the oil left by Alex Hofmann's bike. It didn't help because we had some solutions we wanted to try on that bike. It seems things are conspiring to make life difficult for us but we won't give up. It is clearly not a good situation with regard to the starting grid but the pace of the front riders is not too far from our own. If we can make some slight improvements in the morning then I think we will be in the right shape for a good race."

YAMAHA PRACTICE REPORT (TOP OF PAGE)

• MotoGP : Rossi makes perfect start at Jerez
  
• Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi kicked off his MotoGP World Championship defence in fine style today, setting the fastest lap time in the first free practice sessions for the opening round of the 2006 season at Jerez. After light rain showers hit the track this morning, when Rossi decided not to ride and his team-mate Colin Edwards put in just two laps, both riders were able to work without interruption in the afternoon as they aimed to iron out set-up difficulties encountered in recent pre-season tests at this circuit.
• Whilst Rossi was able to overcome the majority of his problems, immediately finding the right direction to work with the team's engineers and technicians, Edwards suffered a minor setback today but he is confident that he can recover lost ground in tomorrow morning's final free practice before the crucial afternoon qualifying session. The American clocked the seventh fastest time today as Loris Capirossi (Ducati) produced the strongest challenge to Rossi's dominance, lapping 0.012 seconds slower than his Italian compatriot.
• Valentino Rossi (1'41.613, 24 laps) "We haven't fixed everything just yet but the Yamaha engineers came up with a few ideas to solve the vibrations we suffered during the test and they all worked. So far we have come up with a setting that allows me to ride in a better way to control the bike and, even though we still have some small vibrations, it is giving us less problems. This is the perfect way to start the season and I am really happy with the way the team have worked. This afternoon the track conditions were still not perfect so the times weren't so fast, but I think tomorrow it will be better. Tomorrow we have to keep working hard to come up with some more solutions and I am sure we will be in good shape for the race. There is already a good atmosphere and I can't wait until Sunday!"

RACE PREVIEW (TOP OF PAGE)

HONDA

• NICKY HAYDEN: “I can’t wait for the season opener – I’m really excited about the first race. As if the racing isn’t enough, the Jerez crowd gets into the whole thing and that place really goes off. I love racing in Spain, and Jerez is a good track. Everybody involved in the Repsol Honda Team has worked really hard and we’ve got a committed group of guys here. I hope to reward them for all their efforts over the winter. We are going to bring all we’ve got!”
• DANI PEDROSA: “I’m longing to begin the season and Jerez is the best place to do it. The atmosphere is very special, particularly for Spanish riders. My first aim is to finish the race and then to finish as high as possible. Races are always different to testing and I’ve never competed with these guys yet.”
• MARCO MELANDRI: “I can’t wait to get out onto the track at Jerez, it’s technical and flowing and I like it a lot. There is so much expectation for the start of the Championship and it’s guaranteed to be a real spectacle. Jerez will be a very combative race with so many riders in the right shape to challenge for a win. And I’m ready for it. I can already feel the adrenaline.”
• CASEY STONER: “Now I can start the season knowing my shoulder is fixed and just concentrate on riding. But I don't have any big expectations for Jerez and the early races of the season. The Spanish GP will be really be like a test session for me to get the feel of the Honda V5 again, after missing much of the winter testing. I won't be 100% race fit but it’s a long season, and a learning year for me, so I have time on my side.”
• KENNY ROBERTS JR.: “We’ve made good progress. I'm much more comfortable on the bike now and feel I have a better balance. Up until now have been making big changes to make improvements but now it’s just small things. Generally I’m happy with everything the team has done. We can see the future is bright, there’s lots more to come."

YAMAHA (TOP OF PAGE)

• Camel Yamaha Team ready to begin title defence at Jerez
• The Camel Yamaha Team returns to southern Spain next weekend to begin the defence of its MotoGP World Championship titles. With Valentino Rossi taking the riders' crown for the fifth successive season, adding to both the team and manufacturers' titles in the year of Yamaha's 50th Anniversary, the factory outfit faces a tough challenge to live up to its 2005 success but the team is approaching the new campaign with optimism and fresh motivation.
• This will be the 20th consecutive Grand Prix at Jerez since the circuit was first used in 1987 - Assen and Donington are the only other current venues boasting a longer association with the series - and this year's opening round sees Rossi hunting for his seventh win there in all classes. Victory next Sunday would be his fifth in the premier-class and make him the most successful MotoGP rider ever at Jerez; with one more win than the legendary Mick Doohan.
• Colin Edwards has enjoyed limited success at the Andalucian track since racing there for the first time in 2003. His best result is a seventh-place finish two years ago but an encouraging pre-season with the 2006 version YZR-M1 has given the 'Texas Tornado' realistic hopes of producing his best form this time around.
• Valentino Rossi: New arrivals and new rivals
  Valentino Rossi defends his MotoGP title from a host of new riders this year after an influx of young talent from the 250cc and World Superbike categories. Dani Pedrosa (Honda), Casey Stoner (Honda), Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki) and Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) have all demonstrated rapid progress during the pre-season tests and Rossi is looking forward to the fresh challenges they will present.
• "This year my main rivals have changed and the average age is much younger, so I will have to work out their strengths and weaknesses," said Rossi. "I have watched the career of Dani Pedrosa very closely since he was in 125cc and I have always been impressed by him and I expect him to be strong from the first race. Besides him, there are many different riders, manufacturers and teams that have been fast at different times throughout the pre-season so I hope that we can have some really good battles for the fans!"
• If Rossi needs further motivation to open his fifth consecutive title defence with a victory, he has the added target of protecting an impressive record of opening-round successes in recent years. The Italian has been victorious in round one of each of the last five seasons, all of which have ended with championship success, but he says that work must be done to improve the performance of his 2006-specification YZR-M1 at Jerez after recent tests at the same circuit.
• "We need to find more grip when the tyre is on the side," he explains. "At the test our speed in the corner was down considerably in some places so, where we usually have an advantage with the Yamaha, we were behind. Anyway, now the Yamaha engineers understand what has happened and they have a lot of data and information to fix it for the race. I have confidence in them, in Jeremy Burgess and in Michelin and I know that when we can use our bike at 100%, as we showed in Barcelona, it is the best bike on the grid. I love racing in Spain and I have many fans there, so I always look forward to the race in Jerez!"
• Colin Edwards: Driving towards success
  Colin Edwards is entering his second season with Yamaha, the first for him in MotoGP without a switch of team and bike during the winter. Lengthy pre-season tests, as well as valuable data gathered last year, have given the American a crucial platform for the new campaign - as evidenced by his form at the Official Test in Barcelona two weeks ago when he set the fastest time in the 'Qualifying' practice and drove away with the prize of a new car.
• "It's been a pretty intense few months testing and I am really happy that we've finally made it to the first race - this is where the fun starts!" smiled Edwards. "The great result at the Barcelona Test was a massive confidence boost to me and a validation of all the hard work that everyone's put in, but we have to use it as a trampoline to bigger and better things. As everyone knows, we had a bit of a setback at the Jerez test but I've said from the first time I rode the new M1 that it's a great bike and pretty much better in every way to the old one, so I have confidence that we will be okay come the race.
• "Jerez is a great race, it's a fantastic place to kick off the season and the atmosphere is always something special. As for the season in general, I have said that I am ready to win races and I stand by that. Of course, I've got to beat my team-mate and that's the hardest part! This is the first time in MotoGP that I've begun the season on the same bike and with the same team so I'm way ahead of where I have been every other year. I'm really looking forward to the new season!"
• Davide Brivio: Motivated and excited
  Camel Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio has enjoyed a busy winter, with new title-sponsor Camel coming on board as well as an intense pre-season testing schedule in Malaysia and Qatar. The Italian has been pleased with the form shown by his riders despite recent problems at Jerez and says he is expecting another exciting and successful season.
• "Our winter programme went quite well, apart from the most recent session at Jerez when we faced a few problems," admits Brivio. "We weren't able to use the bike to its full potential but, thankfully, that was only a test and we were able to collect a lot of data that will be useful to us as we try to iron out those problems for the race. We have some ideas so hopefully they will turn into solutions on Friday morning. In any case we are very aware that this is just the first race of seventeen and it will be another long season.
  
• "As far as the team is concerned I would say they are even more motivated than last season. Obviously Valentino wants to win the title again and Colin is also very happy with the way the bike has performed in the winter. It is his second year in the team and we all want to take advantage of that. I would say that altogether the team is motivated, excited and very much looking forward to the start of the new season next weekend."
• Technically speaking: Daniele Romagnoli on Jerez
  With few hard braking points and little opportunity to fully open the throttle, the key to Jerez is about the rider's skill in picking the most effective racing line. The 4.423km track features five left and eight right hand corners with regular and quick changes in direction, meaning that the rider requires a responsive overall package and, above all, precise chassis set-up.
• "The most important and difficult aspect of set-up at Jerez is the chassis," explains Daniele Romagnoli, Chief Mechanic to Colin Edwards. "It is a particular circuit because the bike spends a lot of time at maximum lean and there are very few points that require maximum throttle, so the engine and the gearbox settings are not as important here as they are at other tracks. There are many high-speed corners with fast entry so the chassis has to be good, as do the suspension and the tyres. The riders need good grip at maximum lean so we work on the weight balance, spring rates and finding a good tyre."