Malaysian Grand Prix
Sepang, Malaysia
Saturday 24th September 2005

ROSSI FACING ANOTHER TOUGH TITLE ATTEMPT IN MALAYSIA

Gauloises Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi will launch his second attempt to
seal the 2005 MotoGP World Championship in Malaysia tomorrow from the third row
of the grid after setting the seventh fastest time in this afternoon's single
qualifying session. Rossi was the third fastest Michelin rider around the Sepang
circuit, lapping almost 0.6 seconds short of the pole position record he set
here last year as the team once again battled to overcome set-up difficulties.

Rossi's team-mate Colin Edwards also encountered unexpected obstacles today as
he struggled to overcome tyre problems, seemingly caused by the reduced levels
of grip offered by the circuit in comparison to past years. The American will
start from the fourth row of the grid in tenth place. Loris Capirossi (Ducati)
will start from pole position for the second successive race and is joined on
the front row by Sete Gibernau (Honda) and John Hopkins (Suzuki).

VALENTINO ROSSI (7th - 2'02.412; 23 laps)

"We are having difficulties again. Personally it is a worse situation for me
because I expected to have some problems at Motegi, but not here. Usually the
bike flies here, both last year's model and the 2005 version! We have had a big
meeting with the engineers and now we will try to find a way out of this. The
problem is mainly with the front. Out of twelve races this year we've probably
used the same front nine times but then the problems started at Motegi. Anyway,
it is not just an issue with the tyres. I followed Hopkins and Capirossi for a
while but it was like we were doing a different sport. They were riding really
well and I couldn't ride at all. It's now two races that Colin and I have lost
feeling with the front. The good thing is that Biaggi is also having problems so
my only rival for the title is behind me. Maybe we fight together for sixth or
seventh place!"

COLIN EDWARDS (10th - 2'02.805; 20 laps)

"For some reason the tyres aren't working well here, we just can't get any load
onto the front end to make it stick. I've probably lost the front more times
today than I have all season. We had no problems in the test here even though we
used basically the same tyre. The track temperature is very similar so the only
thing we can put it down to is the extra amount of dirt that there seems to be
on the surface this year. For whatever reason we can't break through it and
we're having a lot of difficulty getting any grip. Today the team worked so hard
and we changed pretty much every setting you could think of - higher, lower,
longer, shorter, softer, harder... but nothing seemed to make a difference.
We'll keep going and see if we can make the breakthrough tomorrow but at the
moment we're struggling."

DAVIDE BRIVIO - GAULOISES YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR

"Of course it was not a brilliant day for either rider. We've tried some
different settings but we don't have a clear solution yet. However the team and
engineers will continue to work, all night if necessary, and we will see if we
can find what we are looking for. We have the warm-up to try to improve so now
we wait until tomorrow."

FRONT ROW:

 1. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team   2'01.731
 2. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Movistar Honda MotoGP    2'01.867
 3. John Hopkins (USA) Team Suzuki MotoGP        2'02.017

SECOND ROW:

 4. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team     2'02.178
 5. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team Suzuki MotoGP       2'02.215
 6. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team,        2'02.377

THIRD ROW:

 7. VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Gauloises Yamaha Team  2'02.412
 8. Carlos Checa (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team      2'02.419
 9. Marco Melandri (ITA) Movistar Honda MotoGP   2'02.66

10. COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Gauloises Yamaha Team    2'02.805