YRC News
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MotoGP : Yamaha Factory Racing riders prepare for final push
Round: 17 - MotoGP Valencia
Circuit: Valencia
Date: 4 November 2005
Temp: 21ēC
Weather: Dry
Yamaha Factory Racing riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards began making
preparations for the final round of the 2005 MotoGP World Championship at
Valencia today, with the cloudy conditions at the Ricardo Tormo circuit
brightened by the return of the factory's traditional red, white and black
racing colours. Both riders' YZR-M1 machines and leathers are decorated in the
famous livery, in commemoration of Yamaha's 50th Anniversary and its
extraordinarily successful year in racing this season.
Rossi was seventh fastest in both sessions as he worked on adapting the set-up
of his machine to the demands of a tight and twisty circuit after the fast and
flowing characteristics of Phillip Island and Istanbul. There is certainly more
to come from the Italian tomorrow after he ended the day with a lap time which
was over 1.5 seconds outside his pole position record of 1'32.478, set two
seasons ago. Colin Edwards also made a steady start to the weekend, lapping
tenth fastest as he continued to work on a new riding style designed to increase
his corner speed.
Valentino Rossi (Yamaha Factory Team), 7th - 1'34.040
"I like the colour scheme very much - it is like going back to the 1970s. The
bike and the leathers look really nice. Today we're having a few problems with
the front end and also with acceleration. We are losing a lot of time in the
slow corners and we are not strong at the end of the lap in general. We have
some problems and some of the others are very fast but I am not too worried.
We've had difficulties before on a Friday and worked them out for Saturday so I
am confident we can overcome them on this occasion too. Everybody is tired
because seventeen races in a season is a lot but we will keep pushing until the
end."
Colin Edwards (Yamaha Factory Team), 10th - 1'34.129
"I am getting to grips with this new riding style and I feel I have made a big
step forward already this weekend. Every time I go out on the track I make
progress and the team has been very helpful. My Crew Chief Daniele is showing me
where I can be faster and where I can be later on the brakes, which is really
helping - there's definitely a team effort going on. I feel the times are there
this weekend but I now have to find the confidence in myself to push on and keep
moving forward. We will see what else we can come up with tomorrow."
Davide Brivio - Yamaha Factory Team director
"It was another slow start to the weekend for us, something we have become used
to this season! The positions don't look good but there are a lot of riders who
are close together and if we make the improvements we know we are capable of,
then both our riders should be much higher up tomorrow. As usual on a Friday we
analyse the information and try to find as many solutions before practice
continues tomorrow."
Toni Elias (Fortuna Yamaha Team), 11th - 1'34.161
"We've been improving in the right direction though this circuit is really
difficult and there are riders with many different riding styles. If you make
one small mistake you can lose a lot of time here. The race will be very
difficult and we cannot do big steps from all the problems we've had this
season. We give our best, trying to improve for a good result on Sunday."
Ruben Xaus (Fortuna Yamaha Team), 19th - 1'36.057
"This morning were not sure about the condition of one of our engines so we
really had only one bike left, so our morning practice was a little bit
different than usual. In the afternoon we've been improving step-by-step even
though we still need some extra corner speed. The bike is working quite good
here and I hope to leave Valencia with a good result."
Round: 17 - MotoGP Valencia
Circuit: Valencia
Circuit Length: 4005m
Lap Record: 1' 33.317 (Valentino Rossi, 2003)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 32.478 (Valentino Rossi, 2003)
Date: 4 November 2005
Temp: 21ēC
Free Practice :
Pos.Rider Manufacturer Nat. Free Practice
1 M. Melandri Honda ITA 1'33.464
2 C. Checa Ducati ESP 1'33.506
3 S. Gibernau Honda ESP 1'33.523
4 N. Hayden Honda USA 1'33.722
5 L. Capirossi Ducati ITA 1'33.730
6 A. Barros Honda BRA 1'33.967
7 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'34.040
8 M. Biaggi Honda ITA 1'34.094
9 M. Tamada Honda JPN 1'34.103
10 C. Edwards Yamaha USA 1'34.129
11 T. Elias Yamaha ESP 1'34.161
12 N. Aoki Suzuki JPN 1'34.512
13 J. Hopkins Suzuki USA 1'34.651
14 A. Hofman Kawasaki GER 1'34.778
15 S. Nakano Kawasaki JPN 1'34.832
16 R. Kiyonari Honda JPN 1'35.157
19 R. Xaus Yamaha ESP 1'36.057
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