Portuguese GP - Round 2 - MotoGP
Estoril- Friday April 15th 2005 - Free Practices

Barros improves eleven times, Bayliss the lionheart

Fastest in the morning free practice and also fastest from start to finish in
the afternoon second free practice session, improving his own fastest time
eleven times in the process, Alex Barros stamped his authority on the first day
of practice at the Portuguese Grand Prix, setting the fastest time of 1'38.516
on race tyres. Troy Bayliss, who in the morning free session rode a good pace to
set the sixth fastest time, crashed in the afternoon hour whilst on a fast lap,
bashing his left shoulder and head against the ground. Nevertheless, with the
determination and courage which has become his trademark, he returned straight
to the pit garage only to immediately get back out on track for the rest of the
session with his second bike. At the end of the session, given that he didn't
remember the incident, he visited Doctor Ruggiero Mattioli's mobile clinic, who
after consultation with the circuit medical centre, decided there was no need
for a CAT scan, and will simply visit the Camel Honda rider tomorrow morning
before the third free practice session. Troy's left shoulder is hurting him
slightly and he also had some memory loss from the hours prior to the crash,
which is thankfully now coming back to him.

Sito Pons - Camel Honda

"I'm happy with how today's practices went, although I'm sorry for Troy's crash.
However I know he's okay now, that he went straight back out on the track and
I'm sure he'll be out there again tomorrow. Alex went really well, as we expect
from him, consistent and quick. I hope that tomorrow he continues at this pace,
so we can see him have the ride that everyone expects from him in the race."

Alex Barros - Camel Honda - 1'38.516  1st position

"I'm very happy, not only because of setting the fastest time, but also because
our rhythm today was very consistent. We did some good work, getting a good base
set-up for the bike, even though the conditions aren't perfect; it's cold and
the asphalt hasn't got much grip. This morning we had fifteen minutes maximum on
a completely dry track, while it was better in the afternoon, if a little cold.
You had to be careful because it was hard to keep the tyre warm, especially on
the left hand side, seeing as the track has ten right turns and only four left.
However, we've started off better than in Jerez, that's for sure, and even
though I still haven't seen the others' pace, I can easily say that ours is
faster than during last year's race. Tomorrow the forecast is for better weather
and the others will also improve, but we will try and do so too, working through
some of the finer details of the set-up. I think that a good race pace would be
in the low 1'38s, with a few laps in 1'37 perhaps. I'm sorry that Troy crashed,
I didn't realise until the end of the session because I saw him riding right to
the end."

Troy Bayliss - Camel Honda - 1'40.639  16th position

"I can't really say much about today because I don't remember too much! I
crashed, and then returned to the box, but don't remember the incident. I hit
the ground with my left shoulder, it was a big hit, but as it wasn't hurting
that much I went out again. I think I need a bit of a rest, but tomorrow I'll
ride again because this morning we did a good job, riding consistently fast and
I want to make some good progress also tomorrow".