2006 MotoGP - CATALUNYA GP

R7, CATALUNYA, SPAIN, JUNE 18, 2006

RACE RESULT    (TOP OF PAGE)

• INJURY UPDATE:
• CAPIROSSI - bruising to chest and abdomen - cleared to race next weekend
• GIBERNAU - broken collarbone and concussion - to have operation
• MELANDRI - injured neck, collarbone and concussion

YAMAHA RACE REPORT     (TOP OF PAGE)

• MotoGP : Rossi takes second successive win from dramatic Barcelona affair
• Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi emerged from a crash-strewn race at Catalunya with 25 more points to boost his world title defence, thanks to his third Grand Prix victory of the season at Montmelo today. One of the most dramatic races in recent history began to unfold from the first corner, when Sete Gibernau (Ducati) collided with his team-mate Loris Capirossi under braking and both riders went tumbling into the gravel at high speed, taking Marco Melandri (Honda) with them. All three riders were injured and unable to join the restarted race after the red flags were subsequently raised, although John Hopkins (Suzuki), Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki) and Dani Pedrosa (Honda) did make it back to the grid after also running off track during the first corner melee.
• Casey Stoner (Honda) repeated the excellent start he got at the first race start, taking the hole-shot and then leading over the first eight laps before eventually folding under constant pressure from Rossi and sliding into the gravel. With extremely high temperatures and low grip levels several other riders also crashed out, leaving Nicky Hayden (Honda) as the only man capable of chasing the Italian. With less than a second separating the pair for most of the race, Rossi turned on the style with typical flair in the closing stages and had opened out a 4.509 second advantage over the American when he took the chequered flag.
• With no fewer than eight riders failing to make it to the end of the race it was a credit to Rossi's team-mate Colin Edwards that he arrived home in fifth place, collecting some valuable championship points and more crucial data with the new version of the YZR-M1 chassis that was available to him on both bikes for the first time this season. The American's compatriots Hayden and Kenny Roberts (Team KR) completed the podium.
• Valentino Rossi (1st; 41'31.237) "The start of the race was hard for everybody because we were all very worried about the riders who crashed - especially Marco Melandri because we could see his accident was a bad one. Just before the start Doctor Costa told me that Marco was more or less ok and I was very relieved. Even then it was tough to concentrate on re-starting the race. I made a mistake at the start and Stoner came past me, but my bike was working so well that I was able to push from the beginning and when the fuel came down it was even better. I knew that some of the other riders were having trouble with their tyres but my team have done a great job with Michelin this weekend and I had lots of grip to the end. Hayden pushed very hard but I kept my pace up and was able to extend the advantage over him. The M1 has been so much fun to ride all weekend and I want to say a big thank you to the whole team for getting it to this stage. To win at two of my favourite tracks like Mugello and Catalunya is a big, big satisfaction for me."
• Colin Edwards (5th; +22.548) "I can't say I'm happy because I feel we missed a chance to finish on the podium today, but we're at an early stage with this chassis and we have made a lot of progress this weekend. We felt we had found a good compromise with the set-up in practice but the grip levels were low in the race and I kept losing the front. It's a difficult problem to ride around because it's a fine line between pushing it so hard that it folds and not pushing it enough to get the required load down to the track. I'm disappointed but I was very close to the incident in turn one and I know it could have been me in the ambulance, so things could have been worse for me. It was a big shock for all of us but thankfully nobody was seriously hurt and we all hope the injured riders can be back with us soon."
• Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "Of course we are delighted with the result and the confirmation of the progress with our bike. We now know that we have a competitive package for our riders so we hope we can fight like this every weekend until the end of the season. We said this was an important spell for us and I am delighted with the way the team, the riders and the bike have responded. Now we have just five days to the next one at Assen and we have to try and do it all over again!"
• Carlos Checa (8th, fastest lap 1'44.171) "That is one of the strangest races I have ever been in and I hope that everyone is fine. This is the sort of result I have been looking for. I am very happy with the race. It doesn't matter where we finished. What is important to me is that we have found the consistency to be able to push hard for the whole race. Also another thing that I am very happy with is the lap times that we can do now. We know now that we can keep a good pace and are able to fight for positions until the end. I had a good fight with Tamada and we were able to pass each other a few times. It is good to be back in this position. To do so many laps that are so close together means that we are improving all the time and we will be even closer as the year goes on. The other positives for us are with our lap times with Edwards and some others. We are much closer to them than a few races ago, so I hope we can improve and get some extra help from Dunlop and Yamaha for the next races ahead. This result will give everyone extra motivation to keep improving and with two races so soon it will be another chance for us to improve our consistency and race result.
• James Ellison (9th. fastest lap 1'45.108) "I'm pretty happy with the result and chuffed for my team and Dunlop. They have been working so hard all year to get this. I'm a bit disappointed that I couldn't do the same lap times as we did in warm-up but we are learning things all the time that we can use in future races. We learnt some things with suspension this weekend and I'm feeling more comfortable that I have ever felt and now I am able to slide and push hard. Because I'm feeling so much better on the bike I am not suffering from arm-pump because of hanging on so tightly, so I'm able to relax on it a bit more and let the bike do the work. We are improving the consistency of the Dunlop tyres better all the time. We still have a bit of trouble with side grip but I think with the banked corners at Assen this will not be so much of a problem. The traction of the Dunlop tyres has improved a lot as well. All these factors show that we are making progress all the time."
• Herve Poncharal - Tech3 Yamaha Team Director
  "We are very happy but are disappointed that the race had to be overshadowed by the accident that injured Loris, Marco and Sete. This is the sort of result the team and Dunlop have been working very hard to achieve and to be just over 30 seconds behind the leaders is the best news no matter what position we finished in. Clearly the work done since France and Mugello is starting to pay off and now we have found a good rhythm and consistency. We did a good race pace on Saturday and again in the warm-up this morning and to do similar ties in the race is very encouraging. Carlos did 17 laps all in the 1:44 second bracket and these continued right until the second last lap so that proves that we have the consistency we have been searching for. This is only the seventh race of the year and we have made big progress since the first round and this result with Carlos and James will motivate the team and Dunlop to work even harder. We are a bit disappointed that all the rides could not compete as I think we would've had a good result with everyone out there. To be posting similar laps to Colin is another indication that we are getting closer all the time. We now have two races back to back that will see the progress continue and hopefully we will be even closer to the leading riders.

QUALIFYING   (TOP OF PAGE)

GRID, JUNE 17, 2006

• ROSSI, YAMAHA, POLE "I’m very pleased because we have done a lot of hard work today and the lap times are good. Earlier in the season we were losing time in practice trying to solve the vibration problems but now we are able to work in a normal way thanks to the new chassis."

YAMAHA QUALIFYING REPORT - ROSSI ON POLE   (TOP OF PAGE)

• Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi will line up in pole position for the first time in almost a year when the MotoGP World Championship riders take their place on the grid for the seventh round of the season at Catalunya tomorrow. The Italian has been in excellent form all weekend and after continuing yesterday's job to set his YZR-M1 up for the 25-lap race, he was able to concentrate fully on a burst of quick laps at the end of this afternoon's qualifying session. His fastest lap registered a new pole record of 1'41.855 and put him at the front of the MotoGP grid for the first time since the 2005 British Grand Prix last July.
• Colin Edwards also followed up positive work on his two machines yesterday with further progress in the morning free practice, when he set the fourth fastest time on race tyres. However, slight changes to the setting of his bike and the extra grip offered by a softer rear tyre had a detrimental effect as he pushed for a quick lap time at the end of the qualifying session, the American eventually dropping to twelfth place on the grid as a host of riders posted one-off flying laps, despite not matching the consistency demonstrated by Edwards. Rossi will be joined on the front row by two of Edwards' compatriots, John Hopkins (Suzuki) and Kenny Roberts (Honda KR).
• Valentino Rossi (1st - 1'41.855; 26 laps) "I am really, really happy - it is a big satisfaction to be back on pole after such a long time. The bike has been working really well all weekend and I have to say a big 'thank you' to everybody at Yamaha and all my engineers because they have worked so hard to build this new chassis and then make it work so well in such a short space of time. I said yesterday that we have been able to work in a normal way and this meant that today I was able to focus on finding a good setting for the qualifying tyre and putting some fast laps in at the end. It is the first time I have had this pleasure in a long time and to do it at this track is amazing because it is so much fun to ride here. There are some tough riders out there but I have a special feeling in front of these fans. They always treat me so well and I want to put on a good show for them tomorrow."
• Colin Edwards (12th - 1'42.655; 26 laps) "I don't seem to be getting any kind of luck in qualifying lately. We haven't had so much time yet with the new chassis and unfortunately when I put the softer tyre on it kept folding the front end, so I couldn't push harder for a time and get the place on the grid that my pace would otherwise reflect. Also we made a couple of changes to the setting - nothing major, just a millimetre here or there - but it seemed to add to the extra force on the front so we perhaps would have been better sticking to what we found in the morning. Tomorrow we'll have to go backwards a little bit with the setting and no doubt we can go forwards a lot during the race!"
• Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "Of course it is very nice to be back on pole but the most pleasing thing is to see the constant progression we have made with the bike from Le Mans to Mugello to here. To come off the back of that win in Italy to take pole here is a reflection of the excellent work the team has done with the bike and we hope that this situation is now the 'norm' until the end of the season. It will be a difficult race tomorrow and we are still not sure of the conditions, but we know we can be involved and it will be up to Valentino to keep fighting to the end, as he always does. Colin has a good race pace but he didn't manage to get the best out of the qualifying tyres at the end. He will have another fight on his hands over the first few laps so we will see what happens."
• Carlos Checa (16th, 1'43.606, 29 laps)
  ."On race tyres we are stronger than we have ever been and during qualifying we did over 70% of the race distance to show that we now have the consistency. This is very positive but what is disappointing is the lack of performance in the qualifying tyres. We were doing the same times on the qualifying tyres as we managed on race tyres yesterday. After being 11th yesterday it is very disappointing because with qualifying tyres we should be able to go at least a second quicker...
  On race tyres we can do 1.44s and this is the pace we can run at. If we can get a good start and maintain the lap times that we have done over the last two days on race tyres it should be a good race for us. I had the best race pace today I have ever had and we were able to maintain the same lap times so I am looking forward to having a good battle with a bunch of riders that are close to me.
  When it was time for the qualifying tyres we tried three but none of them worked so we still have to work on this also. To be frustrated in this way is not the best way to understand the situation. Also on the race tyres we have found much more grip so we have to play around with the setup. To be just 1.2 seconds away from the leaders when everyone is on race tyres is very good for us but we have to improve the qualifying tyres so we may be able to get a better grid position and so be in a better place to battle with a big bunch of riders
• James Ellison (18th 1'44.727, 25 laps)
  "It hasn't been the best of days but at least - like Carlos - we are getting some consistency with the race tyres but it's pretty frustrating that our qualifying tyres aren't working too well so we drop down the field. Saying that I have a pretty good race pace and we know that we now have the Dunlop tyres that can last the distance." We are working very hard with Dunlop to come up with a solution and the hard work they have been putting in has been reflected with the improvement to the race tyres. Also we have found some improvements to the chassis and that is allowing me to ride the bike the way I like to ride. Now I can slide it and back it in with a lot more confidence that I have been able to do in previous races. Now that we have tested the tyres for almost an entire race distance it should bring us some better results."

SUZUKI QUALIFYING REPORT - HOPKINS 2ND   (TOP OF PAGE)

• Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racer John Hopkins has qualified a superb second for tomorrow’s Gran Premi Cinzano De Catalunya, with team-mate Chris Vermeulen securing his best dry conditions qualifying result to head the second row in fourth position.
• Hopkins (2ND, 1m 41.984, 26 laps) powered his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R to second place on the front row just 0.129 seconds behind pole setter Valentino Rossi. Hopkins could possibly have been on pole, but a yellow flag being shown on his final lap forced him to back off the power slightly and cost him the valuable fractions of a second that may have given him his first-ever pole position. During this morning’s final free practice session Hopkins worked hard with his crew to get the best set-up for Sunday’s race and headed the leaderboard for the majority of the session.
• Vermeulen (P4, 1’42.211, 26 laps) will start the race directly behind Hopkins, from the front of the second row. His fourth place is his best qualifying position since his pole in Turkey and he will be looking to capitalise on this result during tomorrow’s race. He recorded long runs on his Suzuki GSV-R in search of the optimum combination of set-up and Bridgestone tyres for Sunday afternoon.
• Today’s qualifying was held in very warm and sunny conditions with air temperatures reaching 28°C and track surface temperatures a scorching 46°C, making tyre choice for tomorrow’s 25 lap race an important factor. The lights will change to go for round seven of the MotoGP World Championship at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT) when both Rizla Suzuki riders will be aiming for glory.
• John Hopkins: “Yeah, I can’t say that I’m unhappy with the result today. We’ve been working really hard with Bridgestone, and the Suzuki has come along very well – especially from where we were here last year. Right now we have been trying to put in as much effort as possible on the race tyres and things aren’t looking too bad. It’s going to be a hard race for us tomorrow with the heat and everything but we are looking to get the maximum out of myself, the bike and the tyres. Front row is where I wanted to be so we just have to get off the line good and go for it.
• “With the qualifying tyres this afternoon I just went out, turned my brain off and went for it! Luckily I got on the front row, but it’s about time I got that watch for pole position – we’ll certainly be going all out to get that the next two or three races, that’s for sure.”
• Chris Vermeulen: “Things have gone well this afternoon; we’ve made a lot of changes to the bike today. We learned a lot this morning, we tried to do lots of laps with a race tyre and we have found one that is quite consistent. I did 19 laps this afternoon on it and my last lap was reasonably quick. Obviously with the qualifiers on we improved the times dramatically and almost got to the front row – but we’ll work on that for the next time!”
• Paul Denning - Team Manager: “Today has been the best qualifying result for the team as a whole all season, and that’s a result of the outstanding efforts of Suzuki, the full crew and of course John and Chris. To get into the 1min 41 second lap times in this heat is hell of an effort and John’s commitment was there for all to see today. Second is a fantastic result but it surely can’t be long before he gets that pole position that he wants! Today was Chris’ first run on a qualifying tyre around the Catalunya circuit, and to put his Rizla Suzuki anywhere near the front row is an amazing achievement and to be only 0.356 off pole is fantastic.
• “As far as the race goes, when you consider the difficulties that Bridgestone suffered here in 2005, the step they have made this year is superb, but it’s going to be hard work in these temperatures to maintain durability and the lap time of which the bike and riders are both capable. Having said that the starting positions help a great deal and I’m sure both riders will get their heads down to run as close to the front group as possible.”

HONDA QUALIFYING REPORT - HAYDEN 7TH, PEDROSA 11TH   (TOP OF PAGE)

• Kenny Roberts (Roberts KR211V) was the star of MotoGP qualifying here in Catalonia as he put his Honda-powered machine on the front row. Only Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) on pole and second fastest qualifier John Hopkins
  (Suzuki) outpaced the former World Champion.
• In searing heat, with track temperatures at an elevated 43 degrees, this was a punishing hour of final qualifying that proved tough for Honda’s regular front-runners. Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) could only manage seventh on the grid, Casey Stoner (LCR Honda RC211V) eighth, Marco Melandri (Fortuna Honda RC211V) ninth, and local hero Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda
  RC211V) 11th.
• Stoner had been showing his speed in the previous three sessions, but could not up his pace to the level required in this timed hour. Although he topped the timesheet very early on, the Aussie rookie slipped back as the clock ticked down and he will have work to do in tomorrow’s race.
• Pedrosa showed well early on too with a 1m 43.227s lap, until Hayden dislodged the rookie revelation with a 1m 43.189s time to take an early provisional pole. But Dani had more in store and ran a 1m 42.926s time to take back the lead in the standings.
• But as the half-hour mark approached Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki) made his presence felt with a 1m 42.806s lap to head the grid. Marco Melandri (Fortuna Honda RC211V), Toni Elias (Fortuna Honda RC211V) and Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda RC211V) were languishing in 14th, 15th and 16th at this stage.
• The Montmelo track is notorious for its changing levels of grip according to variations in temperature and this hour had all the hallmarks of a typical Barcelona afternoon – as the thermometer climbed – so the grip level varied and made choosing a possible race tyre and getting in a hot lap on qualifying rubber a difficult operation.
• Nakano’s Kawasaki team-mate Randy de Puniet briefly occupied pole with 20 minutes to go, as did Suzuki’s John Hopkins, but with 13 minutes left Rossi turned a 1m 42.264s lap to head the standings. Sete Gibernau (Ducati) then deprived his bitter rival of pole before Rossi regained it with the 1m 41.855s lap that was not to be beaten in the remaining minutes.
• But if the pole remained off limits for the rest of the field, the fight for the remainder of the grid placings was compelling. Roberts went fourth with ten minutes to go and recent history suggested that the American would soon lose out as rivals upped the pace.
• Sure enough, Hayden slotted into second with six minutes left, but his time of 1m 42.368s would not prove quick enough for the joint World Championship points leader to remain on the front row. And it was Hopkins who first nudged him off.
• Then as Hayden’s bid for the front places lost its shine, Kenny Roberts upped his game to place the KR machine on the front row as fastest Honda qualifier. With Vermeulen, Nakano and Loris Capirossi occupying the second row, Hayden heads row three next to Stoner and Melandri, who fell without injury at the hairpin in the final minutes.
• Roberts said, “We were pretty close at Mugello and we learned a lot at the test on the Monday after the race and we just put it altogether here. If we had a second rider in the team we would improve even faster than we have done these past few weeks. Thanks to the input we had from Honda at China and our own design team I'm pretty sure I can run a fast race pace tomorrow.”
• Hayden said, “We were alright this afternoon on race tyres, we were up there close to the front, though we’ve definitely still got some work to do if I want to be a contender tomorrow. It hasn’t been the most silky smooth day of my life. This morning I was going quite well when I had a little crash on the brakes when I tipped it in at the end of the back straight. I was just pushing hard and I was in a bit hot – it was a little bit of rider error.”
• Stoner, who showed no ill effects from his crash at Mugello two weeks ago, said, “I’m relaxed about today and not bothered that I’m not starting closer to the front, I have a very strong race set-up. On the qualifying tyre I didn’t have a good feeling and I’ll have to make up some positions at the start of the race. We made a big step with the rear-end and race tyre set-up today which has improved rear grip.”
• Melandri, 9th fastest, said, “It wasn’t an easy day for us. In the afternoon we improved the rear feeling with the bike a little but and I put in a good time on a qualifying tyre. Unfortunately when I tried to improve on that I crashed. Tomorrow we’ll see another great race and I’m looking forward to it because I really like this track
• Pedrosa, down in 11th, said, “My team has done a really good job from the beginning of this weekend and we’ve been quick and consistent in the other sessions. But unfortunately we didn’t make such a good plan for the qualifying tyres and at the end of the session I had a lot of traffic. On the warm up lap with my last set of qualifiers there were four riders who were slowing down from their flying laps in the middle of the track. This cost me a lot of time and I couldn’t make a fast lap.”
• Elias, 14th fastest qualifier, said, “We’ve done a good job throughout the day, gathered a lot of information and now we have to check the data and react to it because that is the only way to head into tomorrow’s race with any sort of guarantee. We still have a traction problem but hopefully the heat from the crowd can eliminate that! It will be an exciting start and I’ll be trying to make up as many positions as possible.”
• Tamada was downbeat about his 15th place on the grid, more than one second shy of the pole time. The Japanese said, “I’m not happy about my grid position. I’ve got rear grip problems and what disturbs me most is the rear tyre movements are starting early during acceleration and not allowing me to check the slides.”

FRI PRACTICE, JUNE 16, 2006

• 1 VALENTINO ROSSI, YAMAHA, 1M 42.837
  2 KENNY ROBERTS JR, HONDA +0.093S
  3 DANI PEDROSA, HONDA 1M 43.036S
  4 EDWARDS, YAMAHA
  5 VERMEULEN, SUZUKI
  6 STONER, HONDA
  7 HOPKINS, SUZUKI
  8 CAPIROSSI, DUCATI
  9 MELANDRI, HONDA
  10 HAYDEN, HONDA
  11 CHECA, HONDA
  12 GIBERNAU, DUCATI
  13 DE PUNIET, HONDA
  14 ELIAS, HONDA
  15 NAKANO, KAWASAKI

FRI REPORT - DORNA    (TOP OF PAGE)

• Despite the appearance of the rain which seems to follow the MotoGP tour the world over this year, the World Championship’s passionate fans still flocked to the Circuit de Catalunya today to witness the excitement of the buzzing paddock. With the Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya taking place on Sunday, today’s sessions served to establish the early pace-setters in all three categories.
• Valentino Rossi continued on the comeback trail on the first day of practice, finishing as the fastest rider with a lap of 1’42.837. The Camel Yamaha man has been one of the most successful riders in the history of the Circuit de Catalunya, and knows that a win is essential for his championship aspirations.
• The second practice session went ahead without interruptions, although the track was slowly drying after a sudden downpour soaked 125cc practice. Having put in the fastest lap of the first free practice, Kenny Roberts Jr. benefited from the slower second session to finish the day in second position overall. The American was just ahead of home rider Dani Pedrosa, another rider with a formidable record in Catalunya.
• The last time Colin Edwards came to the Montmelo Circuit he left as the proud owner of a brand new BMW M ZX Roadster, courtesy of a victory in a special qualifying session back at the Official Test in March. On day one of practice the Texan Tornado clocked the fourth fastest time, ahead of Australian duo Chris Vermeulen and Casey Stoner. John Hopkins continued the impressive form of the Suzuki team, with a seventh place in the combined standings.
• Championship leader Loris Capirossi clocked the eighth fastest time of the day, with third and second placed championship riders Marco Melandri and Nicky Hayden completing the top ten.
• The paddock also welcomed two of Spain’s biggest rallying stars this afternoon, with Citroen driver Xevi Pons and KTM Dakar rider Isidre Esteve experiencing some of the excitement of the World Championship. The raid and rally drivers made the most of their time at the track, shooting the breeze with fellow countryman Toni Elias in the Fortuna Honda box.
• The 250cc category saw something of a fairytale first point of contact for Alex Debon. Stepping in for injured rider Hector Barbera in the Fortuna Aprilia team, Debon grabbed a last-gasp provisional pole to complete a dream start for him as part of the Spanish outfit. The stand-in’s lap of 1’47.231 saw him place ahead of championship leader Andrea Dovizioso and Hiroshi Aoyama, with title contender and fellow Fortuna Aprilia rider Jorge Lorenzo the only other rider to break the 1’47s barrier.
• Marco Simoncelli, Shuhei Aoyama, Alex de Angelis and Yuki Takahashi all placed in the top eight, ahead of Roberto Locatelli and Jules Cluzel.
• Finn Mika Kallio took provisional pole in the 125cc category today after a rain-hit qualifying session. He set his lap just before there was an intense downpour at the Circuit de Catalunya, and all riders headed to their boxes to make the necessary changes to their bikes and leathers.
• With the KTM rider first on the provisional grid, he lies ahead of Thomas Luthi, Michele Conti, Mike di Meglio and the surprise package of Joey Litjens and Bradley Smith.
• 1st, Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), 1'42.837 : "I’m very pleased because we have done a lot of hard work today and the lap times are good. Earlier in the season we were losing time in practice trying to solve the vibration problems but now we are able to work in a normal way thanks to the new chassis. It means we can use every minute of the session to work on the tyres and the set-up for the race. Really this bike is only four hours old so for it to already be working so well is a big encouragement and a good sign for the future. I love this circuit and it is great fun to ride the M1 here but we still have some work to do tomorrow, especially on finding some more front grip. There are two or three riders looking very strong at this track and it looks like it will be another great battle on Sunday."

HONDA FRIDAY REPORT   (TOP OF PAGE)

• The first day of practice for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Catalunya saw Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa make a promising start to his home race as he finished the day in third place, just 0.199s behind the fastest time. As the splendid Catalunya circuit began to fill with fans, the Spaniard quickly worked up to speed to set a time of 1m 43.036s – faster than last year’s race lap record.
• Having ridden here at the IRTA tests in March, Pedrosa was in the unusual position this season of having previous experience of the circuit on a MotoGP bike. The reigning 250cc World Champion made the most of it, setting the third quickest time in both the morning and afternoon sessions on his RC211V.
• His team-mate Nicky Hayden, who sits equal on points at the head of the riders’ world championship, struggled a little with grip in Catalunya’s long corners and finished the day in tenth place, with a lap-time just 0.685s from the fastest time. But with a plan for tomorrow, the 24-year-old American star remained positive about making big improvements before Sunday’s 25-lap race and continuing his brilliant start to the 2006 campaign.
• Once again this season the weather interrupted proceedings with a rain shower at lunchtime causing a slow start to the afternoon session. The circuit dried quickly in the 25 degree heat and after fifteen minutes the riders were back up to speed, yet the lost track time contributed to several riders, including Hayden, being unable to improve their times from the morning session.
• Nicky Hayden 10th – 1m 43.522s: “Obviously we’re not thrilled with our position today and the bottom line is we’re not fast enough here right now. I think we kind of went down a bit of a wrong path this morning so we’ll go back to something different tomorrow morning. Actually I’ve been in this position a lot on Friday and I definitely believe in the guys around me so we’ll come up with some ideas to help us a lot tomorrow. It’s mainly in the long corners that I don’t have enough corner speed – the front feels like it wants to run wide and the rear wants to spin a lot. There are a lot of long corners here and if you’re slow in those corners you lose a lot of time. So we’ll sit down and try to make a big step up in the morning. I think we’ll have a good package come Sunday.”
• Dani Pedrosa 3rd – 1m 43.036s: “Today went ok, and we were lucky because it was raining at lunchtime but we had almost a full dry practice this afternoon. We’ll see if the weather stays sunshine. Normally on Friday I’m not so fast so I’m happy with where we are – the fact that I’ve ridden the bike here before probably helps. Still, we have a long way to go and a lot of work to do tomorrow because for sure everyone will improve. I think the set-up is not so bad and the lap-times are good but we’ll have to see how the lap-times improve tomorrow, and see what the weather does too. The conditions are much better than the test here in March, because then it was very cold. There are already many fans here, and tomorrow I think we’ll see the grandstands will be almost full - I think they will enjoy it!”
• Makoto Tanaka - Team Manager
  “Our biggest problem this season has been with the weather! I’m really hoping that the rest of the weekend will be fine. Dani was able to improve much quicker than usual on the first day, which was good for the local supporters. He put in some longer runs and his lap-times were promising. He needs more machine set-up time, but tomorrow I think he could spring a surprise. Nicky wasn’t able to improve from the morning to the afternoon and we have to improve his rear edge grip, yet the machine balance is not too bad. I think tomorrow he’ll make a big improvement as usual.”
• Fortuna Honda
• Team FORTUNA HONDA returned to the track today for the first day of practice ahead of the seventh round of the MotoGP season at the Montmelò circuit in Barcelona. Marco Melandri and Toni Elias made the most of the opening two free practice sessions for the Grand Prix of Catalunya, a special race for both of the Fortuna riders. Toni Elias, who hails from the local town of Manresa, has arrived for his home race with plenty of motivation, whilst Marco Melandri is also in good shape after finishing on the podium in his own home Grand Prix at Mugello two weeks ago. The Italian has been on the podium here in Barcelona for the past two years.
• MARCO MELANDRI (1’43”500, 9th): “We’ve worked well during both free practice sessions today and I am happy with the data we gathered. We started out with thye same base setting as Mugello, making just a few small changes. We did some tyre tests and gathered some good information so I am feeling calm and motivated. We have made good progress so I am not worried about being in ninth place. We have worked well for the race and now I am feeling confident and looking forward to being competitive in qualifying tomorrow.”
• TONI ELIAS (1’43”937, 14th): “We’ve tried a few different solutions with the setting over the course of the two sessions. We’ve made another step forward since Mugello and my feeling with the bike has improved. I’m looking forward to the race and I’m sure the team can help me find the right compromise to adapt the bike better to my home circuit. This is a very important GP for me – your home race is always special and I would like to put on a good show for the Spanish fans.”
• Konica Minolta Honda
• The KONICA MINOLTA Honda Team ended the first day of free practice of the Catalunya Grand Prix with Makoto Tamada settling for fourteenth place on the provisional time sheets with a lap of 1’43.944” realized during the second half of this afternoon free practice.
• The day started with summer weather, interrupted around midday by a sudden rain shower stopped a few minutes before the beginning of the second session of free practice.
• Gianluca Montiron – KONICA MINOLTA Honda General Director
  “The first sixteen riders are all contained in one second. A hard battle is expected for the qualifying session of tomorrow defining the starting grid of the seventh round of the 2006 MotoGP World Championship.
• Today we noticed Makoto’s lack of feeling with tyres. During the two sessions of today, he tested different kind of tyres but he did not find the necessary feeling permitting him to have good performances in the second and fourth sector.
• The changeable weather conditions did not definitely help Makoto. The rain fell just before the beginning of the second session of free practice probably modified the ground grip condition and Makoto was not able to adapt to this change.
• I must really thank all members of the KONICA MINOLTA Honda Team who, as usual, are giving their best to permit Makoto to ride in the best conditions.”
• Makoto Tamada – KONICA MINOLTA Honda Rider:
  “Here I counted to find again the same positive sensations I had in Mugello during the test held after the Italian GP. Up to now, I did not have the conditions to be able to ride incisively in the acceleration phases when exiting the long corners characterizing in particular the second and fourth sector of this track. Now we have to deeply analyse our data to understand how to improve.”

RACE PREVIEW    (TOP OF PAGE)

YAMAHA RACE PREVIEW

• Camel Yamaha Team aim to continue revival at Catalunya
• Next weekend the Circuit de Catalunya hosts the MotoGP World Championship for the fifteenth successive season since opening to coincide with the Olympic Games in 1992 and sees the Camel Yamaha Team looking to strike gold for the second consecutive race. Following on from Valentino Rossi's epic victory at his home Grand Prix in Italy less than two weeks ago, and backed up by encouraging data from a subsequent day of testing at the Mugello circuit, confidence could not be higher for a repeat result as the team look to close down the points gap to joint series leaders Loris Capirossi (Ducati) and Nicky Hayden (Honda).
• Rossi travels to Barcelona, one of his favourite cities in the world, having reached several milestones thanks to his 55th career MotoGP victory at Mugello. As well as taking him above Mick Doohan to second place in the all-time winners list behind Giacomo Agostini, it was also his 22nd success with Yamaha - the same number achieved by Kenny Roberts and bettered only by Wayne Rainey and Eddie Lawson - and it made Rossi the second highest points-scorer of all time behind Doohan. He will join the Australian as one of only two riders ever to pass 2000 career points if he finishes first or second at Catalunya.
• Rossi's team-mate Colin Edwards has also been making his mark in the history books despite not yet hitting his best form this season. Despite running into the gravel early in the race at Mugello, the Texan managed to fight his way back to finish in twelfth place to extend his run of successive points scoring finishes to 27. Only Mick Doohan, Wayne Gardner, Eddie Lawson and Valentino Rossi himself have ever put together a longer run. Edwards' target this weekend is to celebrate number 28 on the podium.
• Virtually 57 years to the day since the first ever World Championship Grand Prix at the Isle of Man TT in 1949, this weekend's event will provide the latest chapter in one of the most exciting and unpredictable eras in the history of the sport. After six rounds there are just 34 points covering the top six riders.
• Valentino Rossi: Lucky seven?
  Catalunya is one of Valentino Rossi's most successful events, being one of three circuits where he has already stood on the top step of the podium on seven occasions - the others being Donington and Phillip Island. For the past two seasons he has taken victory for Yamaha and he is hopeful of repeating that feat as he aims to reduce a 34-point deficit to the championship summit.
• "Barcelona is always a great race for me and I've won there the last two years with Yamaha, so hopefully we can do it again," says Rossi. "Last year Gibernau set a fast pace and I tried 100% to follow him. Then I set the fastest lap three laps from the end, which at a track like Catalunya is amazing. Hopefully we can get this level of performance out of the bike and tyres again. Also I get a really good reception in Spain and it is always a pleasure to ride there.
• "I am looking forward to this weekend because now I think we have finally arrived where we should be with the bike. It worked really well at the Mugello test and now I think we've really shown that we can fight at the front again and win. From a technical point of view, since the new chassis has been available we've been able to ride like in the past. Now we're very fast but it's still hard to win races! This championship is very balanced between Ducati and Honda and Yamaha and the other riders are at a great level so it was very important for us to win at Mugello. Now we have an eleven race championship and we have to be on the podium at every round."
• Colin Edwards: Double chassis bonus
  After a week's break with his family on the beaches near Barcelona, Colin Edwards tackles the seventh round of the campaign in refreshed and determined mood following an indifferent run of early season results. The American has been hindered by a series of unfortunate incidents in recent races but the news that two units of the updated YZR-M1 chassis, which he tested with positive results at Mugello, will be at his disposal from the opening practice of the Spanish round has given him a vital boost.
• "I've been run into the gravel for the last two rounds but we've come out of them both in the points so I have to use that as springboard to better things over the next few races," admits Edwards. "There is no use lamenting about what could have been - I have never done that and I won't start now. The positive thing to come out of Mugello was the performance of the new chassis and I'm really looking forward to adapting the setting even more at Barcelona. It's another fast circuit so hopefully the bike adapts quickly and we can be on the pace from the start."
• Like Rossi, Edwards has positive memories of the Catalunya circuit thanks to his performance there in the official pre-season tests, when he drove home in a new car as a prize for setting the fastest time. "That seems a long time ago now but it's true that we went well there with an early version of this year's bike. We've made progress since then but the conditions will be very different so we'll have to wait and see."
• Davide Brivio: Triple target
  Camel Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio is targeting a three-pronged attack on the MotoGP World Championship this weekend as he leads a continued revival for his team following a mixed start to the season. As well as building on positive recent development with the YZR-M1 machines, the Italian is hoping for another maximum points return from Valentino Rossi and a second podium of the season for Colin Edwards.
• "Before Mugello I said that our mission for the next few races was to recover points for Valentino and we had the perfect start to that with the victory," says Brivio. "Now we have an extremely important run at Barcelona, Assen and Donington where we must continue with this job and try to win every race. Valentino likes all three tracks and this is another reason why he was still so upbeat and optimistic after the disappointments in China and Le Mans.
• "For Colin this is also an important weekend because he found a good way with the new chassis at Mugello and we have high hopes that he can make a lot of progress with it in Barcelona. Both riders will be on the same specification bikes, with two units of the new chassis each, so we are starting from a good point. Continuing evolution with the bike, recovering more points for Valentino and getting Colin back on the podium; these are our three targets for Catalunya."
• Technically speaking: Catalunya according to Nicolas Goubert
  The Circuit de Catalunya offers a main straight capable of encouraging speeds exceeding 335kmh, and is completed by a sequence of long radius, medium/high speed sweepers and two tight left-hand hairpins. The combination of long radius corners riddled with a variety of cambers makes it demanding on chassis balance and means front-end feel is a key concern for every rider. These characteristics also mean that tyre life is a key topic in many pit box discussions between riders, crew chiefs and tyre technicians.
• "Catalunya can be very demanding on the front because there are a lot of downhill corner entries," explains Nicolas Goubert, Michelin's chief of motorcycle competition. "For the rain we've got only one specification, one profile with different programs depending on the conditions we have. For the slicks it is much more interesting because we have two different profiles. One has a smaller width, which means that the tyre is lighter and it's easier to tilt the bike from one side to the other. We have also started to work with a bigger size but the Yamaha riders prefer the small one. The reason is because they want to keep the character of having durability for the bike. For them it is an advantage and it is suited to their needs on their bike."
• "We are quite confident with both types of tyre from last year because we had very good results at Catalunya. It was the first time ever that the surface was new, the lap time was really good and Valentino set a new lap record at the very end of the race with a time that would have put him tenth on the grid. It was the first time ever that this happened so we are very happy with that and we just hope that our Yamaha riders will be as fast or faster this year."