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2005 VALLELUNGA WORLD ENDURANCE MOTORCYCLE CHAMPIONSHIP

Suzuki Castrol on Pole

2005 WORLD ENDURANCE MOTORCYCLE CHAMPIONSHIP

2005 VALLELUNGA 200

QUALIFYING

• Suzuki Castrol Pole, But Philippe Out of Race
  Saturday, September 24, 2005 - World Endurance
• Provisional pole position for tomorrow's Vallelunga round of the FIM World Endurance Championship has been taken by Suzuki Castrol's Vincent Philippe but the French rider high-sided while returning to the pits, injuring his wrist and ruling himself out of tomorrow's race. Philippe's best time was 1:39.975; he was the only rider to drop below 1:40. Keiichi Kitagawa and Matthieu Lagrive will ride for Suzuki Castrol tomorrow; both were fastest in their own qualifying sessions.
• Kawasaki Bolliger's David Morillon was second fastest overall with a time of 1:41.805, despite a crash on oil by his team mate Marcel Kellenberger. Third place went to Ducati Spring Team, with Matteo Colombo lapping in 1:41.990 during this morning's slightly cooler session.
• Yamaha Austria's Gwen Giabbani also crashed today, and he will not start the race tomorrow. His team mates Igor Jerman and Thomas Hinterreiter have been working on different set-ups through the day but are now a lot happier with the bike. Igor Jerman posted the fourth quickest time of the day.
• Despite this being the final round of the season, the pace has been ultra- competitive all weekend, with a record number of wildcard entries packing the entry list and mere hundredths of a second separating positions further down the grid.
• Qualifying Quotes
• Vincent Philippe, Suzuki Castrol, first place: "I cannot ride tomorrow; I have too much pain in my wrist. I'm very angry because I don't know why I crashed - maybe I lost concentration for a minute."
• Keiichi Kitagawa, Suzuki Castrol: "There was too much traffic to do a clear lap. The bike is not so bad, there is no grip at this track though. This morning was better; it's too hot now and the tyre is spinning everywhere."
• David Morillon, Kawasaki Bolliger, second place: "The bike is going well. We've had to do some work with the chassis and the tyres since we got here, but I'm happy with my qualifying time and we're aiming to still be in second place in the championship at the end of the race tomorrow afternoon."
• Igor Jerman, Yamaha Austria, fourth place: "We have some work to do to find a race tyre, but the bike is getting better and better. We had a problem at the front so we are changing the forks; we'll see what happens tomorrow in warm-up."
• Warwick Nowland, Yamaha Phase One Endurance, sixth place: "We've been riding round on race tyres all weekend. We haven't been using qualifiers so we can do these times in the race. I think it's possible to do 1:41s if we get a clear track. All the guys are falling down around us at the moment. Gwen [Giabanni, Yamaha Austria] was trying hard, but Vincent [Philippe, Suzuki Castrol] was on a slow-down lap. It's a tricky track with fast sections and then back to walking place, but I'm looking forward to it tomorrow."
• Qualifying - Top Ten
• 1 Suzuki Castrol Team , FRA , Suzuki GSX, R1000 , V.Philippe , 1m 39.975
  2 Bolliger Team Switzerland , SUI , Kawasaki ZX10R , D.Morillon , 1m 41.805
  3 Ducati Team Spring , ITA , Ducati 999RS , M.Colombo , 1m 41.990
  4 Yamaha Austria 7 , AUT , Yamaha YZF, R1 , I:Jerman , 1m 42.206
  5 Team Spring Running , ITA , Suzuki GSX, R1000 , L.Pedersoli , 1m 42.390
  6 Yamaha Phase One , GBR , Yamaha YZF, R1 , W.Nowland , 1m 42.551
  7 Shell Endurance Academy , GBR , Yamaha YZF, R1 , M.Rohtlaan , 1m 43.186
  8 Suzuki No Limits & RT , ITA , Suzuki GSX, R1000 , R. Ruozi , 1m 43.378
  9 Kawasaki Diablo 666 , GBR , Kawasaki ZX10R , J.Hutchins , 1m 43.815
  10 Suzuki Fagersjo 2 , SWE , Suzuki GSX, R1000 , T.Andersson , 1m 43.921

PREVIEW:

Vallelunga 200: Season Climax

• Final Fight for Endurance Championship Honour
  The final round of the 2005 FIM World Endurance Championship will take place this
  Sunday, September 25th, at Vallelunga, just outside Rome.
• The 200 mile race will see teams from Switzerland, Great Britain, Austria and Italy
  fighting for final championship honours behind French squad Suzuki Castrol, who
  already have an unassailable 45 point lead. Kawasaki Bolliger (SUI), Kawasaki Diablo
  (GBR) and Yamaha Austria (AUT) could all claim second place in the championship.
  Only two points separates the next three teams; the Shell Endurance Academy (GBR)
  junior team, Yamaha Phase One Endurance (GBR) and Suzuki No Limits & RT Racing
  Team (ITA) are all within reach of third place in the championship.
• As this is the Italian round of the championship, Aprilia and Ducati and MV Agusta will all
  be chasing a good home round result. The Aprilia Motociclismo Test Team will field
  Federico Alverti, Daniele Veghini, and Samuela De Nardi; the same rider line up that
  they ran at Suzuka 8 Hours race.
• But European Women’s championship winning De Nardi won’t be the only female
  competitor at Valleunga. An SBK class Factory Ducati 999 will be ridden by Italian
  Women’s championship winner Paola Cazzola, Chara Valentini (third in the Italian
  Women’s championship) and male rider Gian Maria Liverani.
• The Vallelunga 200 will be the first international event to be held on the redesigned
  circuit. It will also be the last chance this year for the rest of the permanent
  championship teams to prove that they can better Suzuki Castrol on track. It’s not all
  over yet…