ROUND 3 - SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT, CHINA
29 APRIL 2005 - FREE PRACTICE

DELAYED START TO HISTORIC FIRST DAY OF MOTOGP IN CHINA

Kawasaki riders, Shinya Nakano and Olivier Jacque, finished the  first day of
free practice in the build-up to Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix in 12th and 15th
positions respectively.

The race will be the first-ever road race GP to be staged in China, with the
all-new Shanghai International Circuit providing space-age facilities for this
historic MotoGP event.

However, the combination of unpredictable weather and the delayed arrival of the
medical helicopter proved to be a frustrating mix, as the riders and team
engineers tried to understand the all-new 5.4 km circuit.

The morning free practice session was delayed by two and half hours awaiting the
helicopter arrival. This meant that the second session did not start until 4pm,
two hours later than usual.

By this time rain had hit the Shanghai circuit, which had been dry and humid in
the morning when no bikes could take to the track.

All the fast times were posted in session one, with times in the mainly damp but
drying second session up to 15 seconds slower. A narrow dry line appeared late
in the session, although there were still patches of wet track.

After spending session one learning the track and checking set-up on his Ninja
ZX-RR, Nakano spent the second free practice session trying to second-guess the
track conditions without success.

Temporary teammate Jacque, subbing for the injured Alex Hofmann, made an
impressive debut on his first official day of competition aboard the
four-stroke, 990cc Ninja ZX-RR.

Initially shocked by the impressive power and performance of Kawasaki's MotoGP
machine in wet conditions the experienced Frenchman, winner of the 250cc world
title in 2000,  quickly justified the decision by team management to engage his
services.

Shinya Nakano: #56 - Twelfth - (2'03.687)

"That was a difficult afternoon session in the conditions; starting wet and then
drying out. I tried a cut slick on the rear too early in the session, the track
was not dry enough, and that was a mistake. I then switched back to rain tyres,
but the track was too dry, so it was difficult to evaluate tyre performance. The
surface grip feels okay, although I am still lacking some confidence in the slow
corners, but I think the correct tyre choice is the answer to that problem. The
surface and some corners remind me of the Sepang circuit in Malaysia."

Olivier Jacque: #19 - Fifteenth - (2'05.165)

"That was a very scary comeback to MotoGP for me. It is so long since I have
raced and I am not used to this amount of power in rain! Also this is my first
GP on Bridgestone tyres and I am still adapting to them. But overall the bike is
feeling very good, the team have given me an excellent set-up and the track has
good grip, even in the rain, and this has helped build my confidence. I'm keen
to move forward from here."

Ichiro Yoda: Technical Director

"Tyre performance has been difficult to understand in these conditions and
normally as the track dries out lap times reduce. The rain specification front
tyre was very stable, but at the moment the rear tyre is the limiting factor for
us. Tomorrow we will try some different specification tyres, which Bridgestone
have brought to China, as we try to gather more data on our first visit to this
track. We had no technical problems today."

FREE PRACTICE - FINAL TIMES

 1. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda            2'02.327
 2. Marco Melandri (ITA) Movistar Honda MotoGP   +0.158
 3. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Movistar Honda MotoGP    +0.230
 4. Carlos Checa (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team      +0.337
 5. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Gauloises Yamaha Team  +0.350
 6. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team   +0.378
 7. Alex Barros (BRA) Camel Honda                +0.489
 8. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team Suzuki MotoGP       +0.948
 9. John Hopkins (USA) Team Suzuki MotoGP        +1.093
10. Troy Bayliss (AUS) Camel Honda               +1.199
11. Max Biaggi (ITA) Repsol Honda                +1.290
12. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team     +1.360
15. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team    +2.838