ROUND 9 - BETANDWIN.COM BRITISH GRAND PRIX, DONINGTON PARK
22 JULY 2005 - FREE PRACTICE

NAKANO AND HOFMANN STRUGGLE FOR GRIP AT COOL DONINGTON

Kawasaki riders Shinya Nakano and Alex Hofmann struggled to come to grips with a
day of dismal summer weather, and the Donington circuit, in today's opening free
practice sessions.

Cool and heavily overcast conditions dominated proceedings, with the afternoon
practice session interrupted by rain showers that restricted track time.

This has left Kawasaki technicians with a number of set-up issues to solve
during tomorrow's final day of practice and qualifying in advance of Sunday's
30-lap race.

Improving rear grip and tyre endurance on the Ninja ZX-RR for the unique,
two-part layout of the four-kilometre Donington circuit is the primary focus.

Other areas of interest are engine brake settings for Donington's combination of
fast flowing sections and three dead-stop hairpins turns, plus the chassis and
suspension balance to cope with these conditions.

Both Nakano and Hofmann spent much of the afternoon session in the garage as
rain showers made conditions slippery.

However, both riders were able to improve their times from the morning session,
in which an ideal set-up and tyre grip proved elusive for both Nakano and Hofmann.

Hofmann ended the day 13th fastest overall while Nakano was just 0.3s slower in
16th place.

Both riders and technicians are hoping for a day of stable weather for
tomorrow's practice and qualifying sessions to make up for lost time.

Alex Hofmann: #66 - Thirteen - 1'31.680

"Another enjoyable day of typical English weather! In any case it was as an
important day, because we struggled at this track last year and it was important
to gather information. We still have a lot of things to try to make sure we have
a set-up that will allow 30 fast laps on Sunday - there are no points for being
able to do just a couple of quick laps. We need a dry day tomorrow to find
better rear grip and balance."

Shinya Nakano: # 56 - Sixteen - 1'31.989

"The weather was very strange today, it wasn't completely wet or dry in the
afternoon and this made it difficult to find an ideal set-up. The bike was much
better in the afternoon, but I am still looking for more rear grip, I have a lot
of spinning, and also our engine brake settings are still not perfect here. But
the Ninja ZX-RR is much better in the final slow part of the track than last
year, so we are making progress. We still have a lot to do tomorrow, I hope the
weather is much better."

Ichiro Yoda: Technical Director

"Rear grip and race tyre endurance is our main consideration. The right side of
the tyre carries a heavy load here and we lost a lot of set-up time this
afternoon to evaluate tyres, chassis and engine settings for the race. We have a
lot of work to do to find an ideal set-up for 30 laps at this track."

FREE PRACTICE - COMBINED TIMES

 1. Colin Edwards (USA) Gauloises Yamaha Team  1'29.960
 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Gauloises Yamaha Team  +0.025
 3. John Hopkins (USA) Team Suzuki MotoGP        +0.138
 4. Alex Barros (BRA) Camel Honda                +0.158
 5. Marco Melandri (ITA) Movistar Honda MotoGP   +0.348
 6. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Movistar Honda MotoGP    +0.438
 7. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team Suzuki MotoGP       +0.534
 8. Troy Bayliss (AUS) Camel Honda               +0.601
 9. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda              +0.620
10. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team   +0.637
11. Carlos Checa (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team      +0.894
13. Alex Hofmann (GER) Kawasaki Racing Team      +1.720
16. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team     +2.029