Press Release
(2005 FIM Road Racing World Championship)
YRC News
MotoGP : Rossi scorches to new pole position record at Mugello

Round: 5 - Mugello MotoGP
Circuit: Mugello
Date: 4 June 2005
Temp: 26ēC
Weather: Sunny

Gauloises Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi delighted his army of fans at the
Mugello circuit in Italy today with a stunning final lap that saw him seal a new
pole position record and the front slot on the grid for tomorrow's fifth round
of the MotoGP World Championship. The reigning World Champion was in second
place behind Sete Gibernau (Honda, 1'49.361) with just two minutes remaining but
made a last-gasp tyre change before returning to the track and clocking a time
of 1'49.223 at the chequered flag.

The session did not end quite as spectacularly for his Gauloises Yamaha
team-mate Colin Edwards, who set a decent race pace throughout the session but
again struggled for rear grip when pushing for a fast time. Despite lapping less
than a second off Rossi's pole lap the American rider, who qualified second at
the last round at Le Mans before taking third in the race, will have to settle
for a place on the fourth row of the grid tomorrow as he plots another
characteristic charge through the field from 12th place. Rossi will be joined on
the front row by Gibernau and Max Biaggi (Honda, 1'49.458).

Despite a couple of falls for the Fortuna Yamaha Team during qualifying - one a
piece for Ruben Xaus and David Checa - both riders ended the session happy with
their times in what was a very close qualifying session. Xaus produced a
1'51.585 to be 15th fastest and Checa finished the day 16th with a 1'51.610 in
his first MotoGP qualifier.

Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team) 1st, 1'49.223

"It was a very difficult session but at the end very good - I'm happy. It was a
great practice and a hard battle for this important pole position. At the
beginning we started to work on the bike for tomorrow and at the end I tried
with a qualifying tyre. I was already quite fast with the first one but then I
took the second one and went a little bit faster. I saw I was in second position
and I knew I didn't have much time to stop but I came in two and a half minutes
from the end and the team did a great job to change the tyre in a short time. It
gave me the chance to use the last lap and I was able to improve a little bit
and take pole - it was a great job from the team. Tomorrow will be a hard race
for everybody. There are a lot of riders near to me so we need to set the bike
to the maximum in the morning."

Colin Edwards (Gauloises Yamaha Team) 12th, 1'50.176

"We've tried everything today but we just weren't able to squeeze the extra bit
of speed out that we needed. The temperature change from the morning to the
afternoon is incredible and the grip levels change so much that the rear was
even moving around on the qualifying tyre - we couldn't make anything stick.
It's definitely not for a lack of trying and it's frustrating to see the team
working so hard for 12th place. We're less than a second off pole and still on
the fourth row, which is amazing really, but we'll see what we can come up with
in the warm-up and take it from there."

Jeremy Burgess, Valentino Rossi's crew chief

"I suppose you could say it was business as usual! Valentino came in at the
perfect time for the tyre change and put in another wonderful lap, which is what
we expect from him. We started the weekend with more or less the bike we wanted
after the Le Mans test and have only had to make minor adjustments, such as
changing the spring settings to cope with the extra G-force in the corners here.
It is always really useful to test after a race and the bike is getting better
and better with every Grand Prix. We enjoyed this afternoon but it's always fun
when you're winning!"

Ruben Xaus (Fortuna Yamaha Team) 15th, 1'51.585

"I'm really happy with our performance this weekend. I am giving everything I
have, trying to give my best every time I go out on the track. I didn't look at
my times during that session, I just focused on my riding and concentrated on
getting the bike to work the way I wanted. My strategy tomorrow is simple - get
as many points as I can."

David Checa (Fortuna Yamaha Team) 16th, 1'51.610

"I went out with a new base set-up and suddenly I felt very comfortable on the
bike. I still need to understand these MotoGP race tyres better, but I am
feeling very confident on the softer tyres we used in qualifying. A few minutes
from the end of the session I saw Carlos (Checa), my brother, come by and I
tried to follow him. Unfortunately I fell. Yesterday this happened because of a
silly mistake, today it was because I was pushing hard. I can manage to do the
odd fast lap, but I am struggling a little with doing them consistently. It
means the race will be tough tomorrow, but I am still looking forward to it."

Round: 5 - Mugello MotoGP

Circuit: Mugello
Circuit Length: 5245m
Lap Record: 1' 51.133 (Sete Gibernau, 2004)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 49.553 (Sete Gibernau, 2004)
Date: 4 June 2005
Temp: 26ēC

Session 1 :

Pos.Rider         Manufacturer  Nat.  1st Qualifying
 1  V. Rossi      Yamaha        ITA   1'49.223
 2  S. Gibernau   Honda         ESP   1'49.361
 3  M. Biaggi     Honda         ITA   1'49.458
 4  N. Hayden     Honda         USA   1'49.546
 5  J. Hopkins    Suzuki        USA   1'49.556
 6  L. Capirossi  Ducati        ITA   1'49.633
 7  M. Melandri   Honda         ITA   1'49.805
 8  C. Checa      Ducati        ESP   1'49.811
 9  S. Nakano     Kawasaki      JPN   1'49.856
10  M. Tamada     Honda         JPN   1'49.951
11  K. Roberts    Suzuki        USA   1'50.052
12  C. Edwards    Yamaha        USA   1'50.176
13  A. Barros     Honda         BRA   1'50.281
14  A. Hofman     Kawasaki      GER   1'51.056
15  R. Xaus       Yamaha        ESP   1'51.585
16  D. Checa      Yamaha        ESP   1'51.610
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