Various and sundry press accounts from today's action at Donington Park:

HONDA RACING INFORMATION

British Grand Prix at Donington Park

Saturday July 1, 2006

DANI POWERS TO POLE WITH MARCO ON FRONT ROW

The MotoGP qualifying session was totally blitzed by the young man currently lying second overall in the World Championship - Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC211V). His 1m 27.676s lap is nearly half a second faster than second-quickest qualifier Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) could manage. Third fastest Marco Melandri (Fortuna Honda RC211V) is only 0.047s shy of Hopkins' time.

This is rookie Pedrosa's third pole of his debut premier class season and at the halfway stage of the season the Spanish sensation has chosen a perfect moment to put his considerable talents to best use. His time is also a new pole record for the track.

Dani's team-mate Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) could do no better than set the 11th fastest time of this hour-long session of timed qualifying. The American is 0.833 seconds adrift of Dani's pole time and just at a juncture when he needed a dominant performance, the Kentucky Kid has given himself substantial work to do in tomorrow's race.

Melandri, still recovering from the neck and shoulder injuries he sustained in that multi-bike turn one crash in Catalunya two weeks ago, must be congratulated on the sheer grit he has shown to get onto the front row here. This is the former 250cc World Champion's first front row start of this season.

Aussie rookie Casey Stoner (LCR Honda RC211V) put his machine on row three with a best lap of 1m 28.447s to secure the eighth fastest time here. His only front row start so far this year was his pole in Qatar. But he has proved before that a third row start has been no barrier to a podium finish. He qualified seventh in Turkey and finished second.

Alongside Stoner is Kenny Roberts (Roberts KR211V) astride the rapidly improving Honda V-5 powered machine. The American former World Champion is just under eight tenths shy of the pole time, but has proved before he can work his way through the field when the business of racing begins.

Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda RC211V) is clearly still struggling to recapture the race-winning form of 2004. The Japanese man qualified 14th fastest here, on a par with much of his pre-race work so far this season.

With the World Championship so finely balanced, Loris Capirossi's fifth-place qualifying effort could yet prove vital. The Italian, who lies third overall in the points standings, had to dig deep to even finish last week's race in Assen and secure one point for his 15th place. Like Melandri's here today, his was a valiant ride.

Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), another casualty riding with wrist and foot injuries, qualified 12th, 1.132 seconds off the pole time. His injuries have now had only one week to heal, but he proved in Holland that he could still score points when hurting. He qualified 18th and took the flag in eighth place.

Poleman Dani said, "I didn't expect to have such a big gap to the rest today, and to be honest I also didn't expect to get pole position at Donington, so it's a nice surprise. We still have to make the final decision on the race tyres, so we'll see how the weather conditions are and use the time in warm-up tomorrow. I'm pleased because we've worked really well so far this weekend, so I'd like to say thank you to my team."

Marco, third on the grid, said, "It's incredible to have set the third fastest time just two weeks after the accident. This is quite a tough circuit and it will be very difficult tomorrow. Donington requires a lot of physical effort and even though I am not at 100% I hope to finish the race and gain some points. All in all, considering the pain I am in, it was a very good result today."

Eighth fastest, Casey said, "I did my qualifying time on race tyres - and worn ones at that. I'm a little frustrated to be this far back - I should be much closer to the front. The qualifiers didn't make the bike react how I wanted and it seems that a good race set-up makes the qualifiers work worse. I'll just have to figure out where my strong points are when the race starts."

Kenny, ninth on the grid, said, "On race tyres I feel really good and the lap times are fast. I need to get off the line better and get to the front guys early in the race and I should have more chance to pass here than I did at Assen. The team has done a great job to get the chassis finished off in time for me to race it here. I caused them a little extra work when I crashed this morning but they gave me a good bike for qualifying so thanks to them again."

Nicky Hayden, down in 11th, said, "Well, on the positive side I'm only three tenths from the front row, though obviously I'm not thrilled with how qualifying went today. We had some electrical problems at the start of the session which cost me quite a lot of time but that's just the way it goes in racing sometimes. We'll put our heads together and try to get an awesome start tomorrow and recover some places quickly."

Tamada, back on row five, said, "I lost the front-end at the very end of the qualifying session, going into the last slow corner. The front-end turned in and I crashed. We've been
using the 16.5-inch tyres here at Donington, basically because Michelin don't have the 16-inch available in many compounds and the asphalt here is completely different to Assen."

Former WCM rider, Michel Fabrizio, was meant to be standing in for the injured Toni Elias (Fortuna Honda RC211V) here, but broke his right collarbone during free training and he will not start.

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MotoGP : Rossi and Edwards encounter second day problems at Donington
Round: 9 - British Grand Prix
Circuit: Donington
Date: 1 July 2006
Temp: 29ºC
Weather: Sunny

Camel Yamaha team-mates Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards will both start from the fourth row of the grid in tomorrow's British Grand Prix, after running into set-up problems during the second day of practice at Donington Park. Whilst Rossi continued to ride through the pain from the ankle and wrist injuries he sustained at Assen nine days ago, he also struggled to adapt his machine to the demands of the British track, where he has taken victory for five of the last six seasons.

Edwards was equally baffled by the lack of progress he made today after making positive initial steps yesterday. The base setting of the YZR-M1 machine has adapted swiftly to the fast and flowing nature of recent circuits such as Assen and Catalunya, but with only the morning warm-up remaining before tomorrow's 30-lap race the team still have plenty of room for improvement. A small consolation for Rossi was that Nicky Hayden (Honda), the current series leader, was also unable to challenge for a top grid position and will start in between the Yamaha pair on the fourth row in 11th spot.

Colin Edwards (10th - 1'28.481; 30 laps)
"The bike is really not working as well as we would like and to be perfectly honest we're not sure why. The things that worked so well last weekend don't seem to be having the same effect here and we're struggling to come up with an alternative at the moment. It's not for a lack of trying because my crew have worked really hard all day - we played about with the springs and the ride height but kept running down a blind alley. This is one of my favourite tracks and I'm used to turning up here and being in the top three from the first session - like I have for the past two years. In theory it should have been the same today but it's just not happening. Now we have to hope we can find something good in the morning, make a great start and just fight our way through!"

Valentino Rossi (12th - 1'28.808; 28 laps)
"We didn't expect to have so many problems here in Donington because last year our bike worked really well. It's a track where I've always been able to be really fast and go very well from the start, so it's quite disappointing. The situation with the wrist isn't so bad, but I've got some problems in the hard braking areas. For sure I can't ride how I would like to; we're not at the maximum.
We've been quite confident because, since the new chassis in Le Mans, the bike has worked very well and been fast from the start, but here we can't find a good setting for some reason. Tomorrow we will try to find a way to make the situation a little better. Today with Dr Costa I decided to try with some painkillers, to understand better what we need to do for the race tomorrow. With these painkillers it seems I can ride more or less normally. Tomorrow me and my team will try to find the best possible setting to enable me to ride a good race and I will also do some more work with Dr Costa after warm-up in order to be in the best possible shape to ride."

Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director
"It is a strange grid because nobody expects to see Colin, Valentino and Nicky all together on the fourth row. For sure the starting position will be the first problem for our riders to overcome tomorrow. I think with Colin has shown that he has the possibility to run a good race pace if we can just refine the setting a little more, and for Valentino we need to analyse things tonight and see if we can make it a little more comfortable - especially for his wrist.
Today he was feeling stronger but he is clearly not at 100% yet so we will have to wait and see how he is tomorrow. But his problem is not just the injury - the bike setting is not where it should be yet and we are still unclear about the tyre choice for the race."

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Saturday Jul 1 2006
Qualifying Practices - Donington

CAPIROSSI SHRUGS OFF PAIN TO QUALIFY FIFTH

Ducati Marlboro Team rider Loris Capirossi put in a storming qualifying performance at Donington Park today, going fifth quickest despite suffering from the chest injuries he sustained in the turn-one crash at Catalunya two weeks ago. Alex Hofmann, substituting for Sete Gibernau who broke a collarbone in the same accident, was 15th fastest in this afternoon's warm, muggy conditions.

Courageous Capirossi ended the session just 0.718 seconds off pole position and is particularly happy with his pace on race tyres. Practice and qualifying for tomorrow's race, which will be the 20th Donington Park motorcycle Grand Prix, underlined the immense progress made by Bridgestone tyres during the past year. Last July Bridgestone struggled in dry conditions at Donington; today the Japanese manufacturer had five riders in the top seven.
LORIS CAPIROSSI, 5th fastest, 1m 28.394s
"It was a very good idea to miss yesterday's second free practice session because when I am rested and relaxed I can ride much better. I rode both sessions today because Alex uses different tyres, so the work he does with tyres isn't so useful to me. As usual, my chest started to hurt after about 30 minutes of riding. I did do a 14-lap run but the race is 30 laps, so I've decided to miss morning warm-up to save myself for the race. I won't use pain-killers and I think I will be able to run a good race pace. If I was 100 per cent fit I would have done better today but considering my condition fifth place is not so bad. I'm happy with Bridgestone because last year we had some problems here but they've made good progress since then. I only did a half race-distance run but I'm happy with our race tyres. I'm quite confident for tomorrow, I'll just try and relax as much as I can before the race."

ALEX HOFMANN, 15th fastest, 1m 29.479s
"Fifteenth place obviously isn't what I was looking for today but I almost did my fastest laps on race tyres, not qualifiers. We didn't start so good yesterday and we've been behind ever since, so we were still working on set-up in the afternoon session. I'm happy I found a way to do 29s on race tyres, we just need to make it a bit more comfortable so I can do that over race distance. At the end of the session I tried three specs of qualifying tyre, the first two didn't suit my style and that lost me some confidence at a crucial moment. The third made me faster than on race tyres but we missed the chance to do a second run on another of that tyre by just a few seconds, so we were a bit unlucky. The start of the race will be extra important because it's not easy to overtake here. Everybody is going to be very keen to make some passes on the first lap."

Temperatures: Ambient: 29 degrees. Track: 47 degrees

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01/07/2006 17:53:39
Vermeulen blasts to front row start in Donington heatwave

Chris Vermeulen powered his way to his best dry qualifying position by bringing his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R home in second place during today's session at a blisteringly hot Donington.

Vermeulen (1'28.158, 30 laps) improved consistently during the day and his lap times started to come down as he found more confidence from his bike and the Bridgestone tyres. The rookie Australian had previously struggled to get the best from himself but a study of the data with his crew pointed out a number of things that he was able to change with great effect. His time was only bettered by Dani Pedrosa on his factory Honda.

Anglo-American John Hopkins (1'28.252, 30 laps) also looked set for a front row start but just missed out on a top three place by 0.047 seconds. Hopkins suffered a high speed crash in this morning's session, but he was able to walk away from the accident and get back to the pits and out on his spare bike.

Today's sessions were held in very hot and dry conditions with air temperatures hitting 29°C and track surfaces reaching 47°C. Tomorrow's race will get underway at 13.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT) and both Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racers will be aiming for glory on British soil.

Chris Vermeulen:

"I'm very happy with today's result and being on the front row of the grid. All the guys have worked really hard this week and all credit to all of them. The Bridgestone qualifier worked excellent and it gave me fantastic grip for the lap. Tomorrow's race is 30 laps long and that is going to be hard work around here. As I said before the last time I was here was on a 600 and it's a lot different trying to muscle one of these bikes around, especially in this heat. The thing tomorrow is going to be trying to make a tyre last and be competitive for the whole race distance - that will be the tricky bit! We have given ourselves the best chance by getting a front row start, so hopefully I can get away well and stay with the lead group."

John Hopkins:

"I'm a bit frustrated with myself really! I feel that I could have got another front row start, if not pole position. I feel in myself that I was riding a little timid after this morning's crash. At the end of the day though we are starting fourth and we have got a good set-up for tomorrow with the bike and the tyres. I think we are ready to go racing in this heat. Cheers to my team, they have done an excellent job this weekend. Well done to Chris, it's good to see him starting up on the front row. We're really looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully both of the Rizla Suzukis and Bridgestone tyres will have a good race."

Paul Denning - Team Manager:

"Yet again both the Rizla Suzuki riders have demonstrated their commitment by riding their machines to the limit today. Chris has struggled a bit with coming to terms with this track so seeing him pushing that hard in qualifying is particularly pleasing and I am sure that will give him added confidence for tomorrow's race. John is a bit disappointed with fourth, but putting things into context he shouldn't be because he has given himself a great opportunity at the start of the race to get away with the front group.

"In terms of the ability of our tyre and bike package for race day it's difficult to know what pace we can run over the full 30 laps. But irrespective of that both the guys have given themselves the best opportunity and all we can ask them to do tomorrow is to get the maximum out of themselves and their machines and I have no doubt they will do just that!"

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DE PUNIET LEADS THE KAWASAKI CHARGE AT DONINGTON

Randy de Puniet was quick to thank his crew today, after changes made to his Ninja ZX-RR overnight all but eliminated the chatter problems that plagued the Frenchman yesterday, allowing him to secure a second row start for tomorrow's British Grand Prix during this afternoon's hour-long qualifying session.

The Kawasaki rider finished yesterday's free practice sessions down in a disappointing 14th position on the timesheet, but with his confidence restored in the front-end of his Ninja ZX-RR this morning, de Puniet was able to up the pace and claim a place in the top ten.

The 25-year-old Frenchman remained in the top ten on race tyres for the first 45 minutes of this afternoon's all-important qualifying session, as his crew continued to improve the set-up of his Ninja ZX-RR, before claiming fifth position, and a place on the second row, with his final flying lap on a qualifying tyre.

De Puniet's qualifying prowess has been evident all season, but the Kawasaki pilot is determined to finally realise his full potential by translating today's outstanding qualifying performance into a good result in tomorrow's 30-lap race.

Starting tomorrow's race one place, and one row, behind de Puniet will be the Frenchman's Kawasaki teammate, Shinya Nakano.

The 28-year-old Japanese rider looked all set to repeat the qualifying performance that put him on the front row last time out at Assen, until a minor mechanical problem with the gearbox on his Ninja ZX-RR meant that he was unable to take advantage of his two remaining qualifying tyres.

Despite his qualifying setback, which will see him start from the third row of the grid, Nakano is confident that the length of tomorrow's race - which will run over 30 laps of the 4.023 km Donington Park circuit - will provide plenty of opportunities to make up places as the race progresses.

Randy de Puniet: 6th - 1'28.428
"I'm very happy to secure a second row start today, especially after the problems we had during free practice yesterday. Our technical people did a fantastic job on transforming the bike overnight; the chatter hasn't been completely eliminated, but as my lap time today shows, the bike is a lot easier to ride than it was yesterday. Just as important as my qualifying time is the fact that I was able to put in consistently fast laps on the tyre that we'll run in tomorrow's race. I'm not so keen on the Donington Park circuit, especially the final sector from the Fogarty Esses to the finish line, but this is the area I concentrated on today, and I'm glad to say we've made an improvement through this section. Starting from the second row of the grid, and with a race tyre that we know works well around this circuit, we have put ourselves in the best possible position for tomorrow's race. Today was a real team effort, so I'd like to thank everyone in the team, and the guys at Bridgestone, for their help. I just hope now that I can translate today's performance into a good race result tomorrow to repay them for all their hard work."

Shinya Nakano: 7th - 1'28.431
"I'm a little bit disappointed, as I was expecting better after two good free practice sessions yesterday. Tomorrow's race is 30 laps, which will place a high demand on tyres, so we've concentrated today on confirming our tyre choice for the race. I'm happy to say that, once again, Bridgestone have come up with the goods, and I'm confident the tyre we've selected will perform consistently throughout the race tomorrow. During qualifying I had a small problem with the gearbox on the bike, which meant I missed the chance to use two of my qualifying tyres. For sure I'd rather be starting from the front or even the second row, but the race is long so I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities to make up places as the race progresses."

Christophe Bourguignon: Crew Chief, Randy de Puniet
"Randy didn't have confidence in the front of the bike yesterday because of the chattering problems, which meant that he wasn't able to release the brakes on corner entry where he wanted to and, as a result, lost a considerable amount of time. Overnight we changed a little bit the balance of the bike, moving slightly more weight to the front to improve Randy's confidence in the front-end, and it seems to have worked. He was really pleased with the set-up from the start this morning, and this afternoon we improved it even further with some fine-tuning of both chassis and suspension settings. Randy has put in some consistently fast laps on race tyres, and by qualifying on the second row of the grid he's given himself the best possible chance to show his true potential."
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