Gibernau sets dry pace as weather turns at Sepang

Sete Gibernau topped the time sheets on the opening day of free practice for the
Marlboro Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix with a fastest lap just 0.046 seconds
outside Valentino Rossi's current circuit record. The Honda rider cut through
33% humidity in the morning session to record a time of 2'03.299, holding off
the challenge of his former Suzuki team-mate Kenny Roberts and Ducati's Loris
Capirossi. Local weather forecasts predicting intermittent rain for the majority
of this weekend proved to be disturbingly accurate in the afternoon as the grey
clouds hanging over Kuala Lumpur briefly gave way before the start of the second
session, meaning none of the riders were able to improve on the Spaniard's best
time.

"We started off by basing our work on the information we gathered here in the
preseason, which was a big help," said Gibernau. "We haven't made too many
changes and the problems we have had with the front end at other circuits
haven't been too bad here. It was a shame that the afternoon session was wet
because we weren't able to continue with the set-up of the bike. The wet is no
use to anybody so hopefully we can have some dry weather tomorrow to try and
prepare for the race."

Gibernau's team-mate Marco Melandri made a surprise return to action just five
days after undergoing surgery on the foot injury he sustained in a collision
with Valentino Rossi at Motegi. Melandri has spent the week in a wheelchair but
was bravely back on a motorcycle today, setting the fourteenth quickest time
despite heavy stitching in his foot. Rossi was ten places above his compatriot
with a lap time just 0.186 seconds short of Gibernau as he launches his second
attempt to seal the MotoGP World Championship, with a top four finish the
minimum requirement for the Italian.

Whilst Melandri looked certain to miss out on this round after the last race in
Japan, Shane Byrne and Olivier Jacque were probably even more grateful to be
involved here as they replaced injury victims Troy Bayliss and Alex Hofmann
respectively. Byrne lapped 18th fastest in his first ever session aboard the
Honda RC211V whilst Jacque, making only his third appearance of the season for
Kawasaki, was two places higher up the order in 16th.

After demonstrating his dry pace in the morning session Roberts proved to be
equally adept in the greasy conditions during the afternoon as he dominated the
second session. The track did begin to dry midway through but was still
extremely slippery in places and Roberts was unable to get within twelve seconds
of Gibernau's morning effort, clocking a best time of 2'15.954. Shinya Nakano
almost dislodged the American in the dying seconds but his flying lap faltered
in the final section. Despite Michelin's dominance of this circuit in past
seasons, the performance of Roberts, Capirossi and Nakano today suggests that
rival tyre manufacturers Bridgestone could again be a force to be reckoned with
after taking their first win of the season in Japan with Capirossi last Sunday.

The last time Alex de Angelis was on a racetrack he could not have come any
closer to Jorge Lorenzo but today the fortunes of the two riders couldn't have
been further apart. With Lorenzo suspended for his part in the collision between
the pair at Motegi five days ago, De Angelis set pole position for the 250cc
race at Sepang with a final lap that left him a convincing 0.754 seconds clear
of his nearest rival. With the track conditions having fully dried out after the
MotoGP session, De Angelis clocked a time of 2'08.195 to hold off the challenge
of Andrea Dovizioso, who clinched the 125cc title at this track last year. Casey
Stoner and Sebastian Porto complete the provisional front row, with series
leader Dani Pedrosa lapping seventh fastest.

Having been the first class to ride in the afternoon the 125cc riders also
benefited from completely dry conditions as they battled for positions on the
provisional grid until the heavens opened just moments before the end of their
first qualifying session. Mike Di Meglio saw his place at the top of the time
sheets effectively converted to provisional pole position as the riders took
cover, the French teenager being joined on the provisional front row by Marco
Simoncelli, Tomoyoshi Koyama and Mattia Pasini. Thomas Luthi, who leads the
World Championship by three points from Mika Kallio, was sixth fastest despite
dislocating his shoulder five days ago whilst Kallio provisionally lines up in
tenth.

INFO 2005/140. 23-09-2005
DORNA COMMUNICATIONS
www.motogp.com