ROUND 15 - POLINI AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX, PHILLIP ISLAND
14 OCTOBER 2005 - FREE PRACTICE

KAWASAKI RIDERS BATTLE TRICKY CONDITIONS AT PHILLIP ISLAND

Mainly sunny, but cool, conditions greeted Kawasaki riders, Shinya Nakano and
Olivier Jacque, at the ultra-fast Phillip island circuit for today's two hours
of free practice in preparation for the Australian Grand Prix.

It was an intense day, with the riders and Kawasaki technicians working to
improve tyre grip and chassis balance in the tricky conditions. Nakano posted
the 12th fastest time, with Jacque 0.7s behind in 16th position.

Jacque was back on track after missing last week's Qatar Grand Prix because of
back pain following a crash in practice. The 32-year-old Frenchman completed 28
laps across two sessions today without problems.

After brief showers made the track damp early in the morning session, conditions
were clear and dry with only a slight wind in the afternoon.

Today's spring time track temperatures, around 28 degrees, were lower than for
pre-season testing at the Island. Both Nakano and Jacque had to work hard to
build-up tyre temperature for their fast laps.

Jacque had a couple of scary, 315 kph moments with rear-end slides entering turn
one at the end of the downhill front straight. The layout of the Phillip Island
circuit, with its predominance of fast, left-hand turns, means lower right-side
rubber temperatures and reduced grip.

Both Nakano and Jacque are confident of a more responsive set-up and increased
grip for tomorrow's practice and qualifying sessions, but are looking for
significant improvement to close the gap to their rivals.

Shinya Nakano: #56 - Twelfth - 1'32.667

"I'm losing most of my time in the first and second sectors, compared to the top
guys and it was very difficult to go any faster today. The main problem is
braking stability, at the front, and the bike feels heavy in the fast changes of
direction. But the latest engine spec feels strong here, good top end revs, so
that is an improvement compared to last year at this track. With the tyres I
don't have enough grip on the right side, which is always a problem here because
the track is mainly left turns. We need to find some more grip to help improve
the lap time."

Olivier Jacque: #19 - Sixteenth - 1'33.346

"Finally, at the end of the session I gained a lot of confidence and I did my
fastest time at the end of a four lap run - and I felt no pain in my back. I
think I have a good base setting now, we just need to improve the balance of the
bike for the hard braking and fast sections. And I would prefer a little more
tyre grip, it was cool today and difficult to get temperature into the tyres.
Early in the session I nearly lost the rear going into turn one a couple of
times, but then we switched to a different spec rear tyre and that was much
better. I think we can improve more over the weekend and hopefully have a
competitive race package."

FREE PRACTICE - COMBINED TIMES

 1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Gauloises Yamaha Team  1'30.349
 2. Carlos Checa (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team        +0.270
 3. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda                +0.667
 4. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Movistar Honda MotoGP      +0.967
 5. Alex Barros (BRA) Camel Honda                  +1.110
 6. Marco Melandri (ITA) Movistar Honda MotoGP     +1.181
 7. Colin Edwards (USA) Gauloises Yamaha Team      +1.551
 8. Toni Elias (SPA) Fortuna Yamaha Team           +1.602
 9. Max Biaggi (ITA) Repsol Honda                  +1.639
10. John Hopkins (USA) Team Suzuki MotoGP          +1.716
11. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda       +2.015
12. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team       +2.318
16. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team      +2.997