Various and sundry press release accounts from today's action at Estoril:

DAZZLING STONER KEEPS DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM ON TOP AT ESTORIL, CAPIROSSI SEVENTH SO FAR

Ducati Marlboro Team rider Casey Stoner continued his dazzling form in Portugal today, leading both morning and afternoon practice sessions around the tortuous and bumpy Estoril circuit. Team-mate Loris Capirossi ended the day in seventh spot, half a second behind the Australian.
World Championship leader Stoner, who has topped practice and qualifying at the last four MotoGP events and won the last three races, worked with his usual precision to achieve an impressive pace, his best run averaging low 1m 38s. His closest rival today was Makoto Tamada who used a qualifying tyre to get within 0.039 seconds of Stoner, who used race tyres throughout the day.

Capirossi improved during the afternoon but still has more work to do to get the best out of his Desmosedici GP7 at this challenging racetrack.

CASEY STONER, fastest, 1m 37.950s

"We're reasonably happy with the way today went, we struggled a little bit this morning and also a little bit in the last part of this afternoon's session but apart fro that we're very happy with the settings we've got for this track, which is one of the most difficult circuits of the year with a lot bumps and some very technical corners. We've nearly done race distance on the tyres, so everything is thing going very well, we just need to try and improve the traction for tomorrow. If we can do that then we should be able to push to improve our lap times and also our pace for the race."

LORIS CAPIROSSI, 7th fastest, 1m 38.481s

"I'm struggling a lot here. During the final phase of the afternoon session I was able to find a better set-up and I did some not so bad laps, but we aren't okay yet. The engine delivery is too aggressive, so I'm having a lot of trouble, most of all in the slow parts of the track. We need to work on the engine management system and the electronics. This is a particular track where you need a perfect bike, because if the engine delivery isn't right, then the chassis won't work well and it's difficult to find the problem. Anyway, we made a step forward at the end of the day and we are hoping to improve some more tomorrow."

***************

Rossi makes promising start in Portugal, Edwards struggles in thirteenth

Valentino Rossi was quick to put his recent disappointments behind him today, finding a good pace early on in Estoril and finishing the first day third in the combined standings. Rossi has an excellent record at the Portuguese track, having finished on the podium in all seven of his premier-class visits here, and he was quick to make the most of his experience to find a good base setting for his M1. Colin Edwards had a more difficult day and finished 13th in the combined standings, which were topped by Casey Stoner.

A sunny and warm morning's practice saw both Valentino and Colin lapping consistently in the top four places, finishing the session second and fourth respectively. This afternoon the good weather continued and Rossi put in some steady progress, improving slightly on his time and finishing only 0.170 behind Stoner, with second place filled by Yamaha Tech 3 rider Makoto Tamada. Edwards meanwhile ran into problems after his promising start and was unable to improve on his time from this morning, finishing 0.727 second down in 13th.

Valentino Rossi - Position: 3rdTime: 1'38.120Laps: 55

"Today I am quite happy because we've made some improvements to the new engine and it's going well for us, plus the new tyres that we found at the last test are also working quite well. We have a few small problems to fix, but I was able to ride a lot better today; I was quite fast from the start and we did some good work to find the right setting. Also this afternoon Tamada used a qualifying tyre so in reality we were second fastest on race tyres and quite close to Stoner; this is a good result. The bike is not so bad and it feels like we've made a good step forward. At the moment we need to think about the second part of the race, because this is where we expect more problems, but tomorrow the condition of the asphalt should be improved so hopefully this will also help our tyre performance."

Colin Edwards - Position: 13thTime: 1'38.677Laps: 50

"This morning things were quite good, definitely not perfect but we didn't make a bad start. We had an idea about where we wanted to go this afternoon but unfortunately it didn't work out and we found ourselves in a worse position. I was lacking in traction and felt like I couldn't make the bike go where I wanted to go, which was pretty frustrating. We lost some time this afternoon but we'll have a good look at all the data tonight and go back towards this morning's setting tomorrow and see how it goes. I'm confident that we can find the right way so we're in a position to fight for a good grid spot tomorrow."

Davide Brivio - Team Director

"Today was positive for Valentino but more difficult for Colin. With Valentino we're continuing to use the new engine, we have found some positive things with it and it's working well. Plus the new tyres we have here are an improvement for us. We can see that Valentino is already able to ride quite well and his pace is close to the top so we will keep working in the same direction. With Colin we have some more work to do and we have to check very carefully tonight the information we gathered today in order to find a better set-up for him tomorrow. We know he can improve because this morning he was quite fast, so we need to go back in that direction tomorrow."

************

SPLIT SECOND SEPARATES LEADERS AT ESTORIL

The 14th round of the MotoGP World Championship got underway today as the first practice sessions of the Portuguese Grand Prix took place at Estoril.

Dry and sunny weather welcomed the bikes on track and Kawasaki riders, Randy de Puniet and Anthony West, climbed aboard their 800cc Ninja ZX-RRs with the aim of conquering the 4.182km circuit. Both were using the new specification engine they've been testing recently and, judging by their performances today, it's offering them no shortage of accessible power.

After both sessions, de Puniet claimed fifth place on the leader board with a fastest lap of 1'38.287 and a top speed of 313.9kmh. The 26-year-old Frenchman and his crew succeeded in finding a good set up almost immediately and, with promising results from the start, he came home just 0.337 seconds off the day's fastest man, Casey Stoner.

He was also fortunate with his early tyre choice as the Bridgestones he used in the morning performed admirably, despite Estoril's punishing series of corners, including the famously fast and long Parabolica. The day's progress was hugely encouraging for de Puniet and, despite riding with a broken rib sustained at the last round at Misano, he's upbeat about his chances in tomorrow's crucial qualifying session.

His team mate, West, was also fabulously fast on his Ninja today. His final placement on combined times was 14th but that figure disguises the fact he was well under a second behind Stoner: just 0.773 seconds, in fact. He has still struggled somewhat with set up, generally getting used to the bike and varying his riding style to suit its numerous demands but, with a top speed of 313.2kmh, fifth on the time sheets, he wasn't hanging about. Furthermore, he found the new spec engine really came in to its own on the long Estoril start/finish straight: the first time either rider has really seen what it can do at full chat.

The Australian completed 56 laps in total today with his fastest time being recorded just before the end of the final session: an indication his progression to confident and capable MotoGP rider is unwavering as he rides through a steep learning curve and, generally, comes up trumps. Certainly, with times so close to riders far more experienced on this machinery, West's advancement shows no sign of letting up.

Randy de Puniet
#14 - 5th - Best Lap 1'38.287

"I've been happy with the bike since this morning, when we immediately found a good setting. In the first session, I did 24 laps with the same rear tyre and my times were very good. I tried a harder compound but was sliding a bit so I went back to the first one. I didn't realise my rib was broken until I got it checked out last week and, this morning, it was a bit painful to move on the bike; I was much more confident this afternoon after it had subsided a bit. We'll try to improve the ZX-RR a little for Saturday but it's already very good for the race. We just need to perfect some little bits."

Anthony West
#13 - 14th - Best Lap 1'38.723

"I'm still struggling a bit with chatter and rear grip but I'm sure we can improve things tomorrow. And I've been trying to change the position of the bike in corners and shifting my weight around to make it feel more stable. It feels like it's moving around a lot in the Parabolica, so I don't feel too confident through there, but I'm not losing much time through the rest of the track, just little parts here and there. Once we can fix that I can move up and be more consistent. The top speed down the straight's pretty good and, overall, the new engine felt great: really strong."

************

REPSOL HONDA RIDERS IN FOURTH AND EIGHTH ON CLOSE FIRST DAY AT ESTORIL

The top 17 MotoGP riders were separated by less than a second on a very close first day of practice for the Grand Prix of Portugal at Estoril today. Repsol Honda duo Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden looked competitive, finishing in fourth and eighth places with Pedrosa recording a lap just 0.251s from the fastest time and Hayden ending up a mere 0.317s behind his team-mate.

The 4.182km (2.597-mile) Estoril circuit provides the challenge for round 14 of the MotoGP World Championship, with the Repsol Honda Team spending today's two one-hour sessions adjusting the 800cc RC212Vs to the demands of the tight and bumpy track. Pedrosa declared himself reasonably happy with the day's progress, and will be looking to further improve the stability his factory Honda on Saturday. Hayden too was positive after taking a useful step forward from the morning to the afternoon session and will be determined to secure his third successive front row start in tomorrow afternoon's one-hour qualifying session.

Any advantage in the ongoing battle between tyre manufacturers in the year's championship was not clear cut today, with Casey Stoner topping the time sheets on Bridgestone tyres, followed by Makoto Tamada on qualifying Dunlops and Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa close behind on Michelins. With the track surface conditions expected to further improve, tomorrow's practice and qualifying sessions promise to be close, exciting and unpredictable.

Sunday's 28-lap MotoGP race begins at 15.00hrs local time.

"I'm reasonably happy with how today has gone. The track was a little dirty this morning and so we took some time to work up to full pace. In the afternoon the condition of the surface improved quite a lot and this helped us to take nearly a second off the morning's fastest lap. In the morning we had some trouble finding a tyre that worked very well but this afternoon we quickly found something that gave us more speed, which is good. We must continue to test the endurance of this one to check that it could be usable in the race. We will also work to improve the stability of the machine because the bumps at this circuit mean the bike always moves around quite a lot, so we'll have to reach the best combination of grip of stability. Let's hope we can move things on further tomorrow."

Nicky Hayden - 8th 1m 38.518s

"This was a pretty routine Friday for us. The position is obviously down a little bit from where we would like to be, and half a second is quite a lot, but time-wise it's not as far back as we've been at some tracks on Friday. We made a good step from the morning to the afternoon session and I've got a few clear ideas on direction for the machine set-up, so that's encouraging. I need to improve in T3 - that's my biggest problem area at the moment - but overall we've made some good progress today. The track conditions were pretty perfect in both sessions and the surface wasn't too dirty to start with this morning. That little flip-flop chicane is probably the trickiest part of this track so we need to make sure we're getting through there a little better tomorrow."

Makoto Tanaka - Team Manager

"Our situation at the moment is not too bad. The times were very close today and I think we can expect this situation to continue for the weekend. Dani has found some of his tyres work well and some are not so good but his position is looking quite promising. Nicky is also pretty close too. He has commented on a lack of traction in certain places of the circuit so we must work to improve this. I think the track surface conditions will improve over the next two days and so we must focus on getting the best out of this situation."
**************

Bridgestone-shod Stoner sets Portuguese pace

Round 14 - Portugal - Free Practice
Estoril Circuit, Friday 14 September 2007

A mere 1.1 seconds separates the top eighteen riders after the opening day of free practice for Sunday's Portuguese Grand Prix with Bridgestone-shod Casey Stoner leading the way around the Estoril circuit.

Ducati's Stoner was one of only two riders to lap under 1m38s, setting his quickest lap midway through the afternoon session, and his best lap time of 1m37.950s was just marginally short of the fastest lap in last year's race (1m37.914s Kenny Roberts Junior).

Five Bridgestone-shod riders made it into the top ten of the combined practice times with Kawasaki's Randy de Puniet on fine form in fifth, Suzuki's John Hopkins in sixth, Ducati's Loris Capirossi in seventh and Pramac d'Antin rider Alex Barros, winner of the 2005 Portuguese MotoGP at Estoril, in ninth place.

Bridgestone's work on this opening day was focussed as usual on conducting an initial evaluation of the different tyre specifications that the teams have within their allocation of 14 front tyres and 17 rear tyres this weekend. With under one second difference in the best lap times between 17 riders, it has been one of the most fiercely contested Fridays of the season so far and looks set to offer a thrilling battle over the 28-lap race distance at the later than usual start time of 15.00 local time on Sunday afternoon.

Tyre Talk with Tohru Ubukata - Bridgestone Motorsport - Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development

How did Bridgestone tyres perform on today's return to the tricky Estoril circuit? "Iam pleased with our results from today's practice, especially considering the difficulties we faced at this Estoril circuit last season. We evaluated medium and hard specification tyres today and the performance of both specs has been promising. Estoril is a very technical circuit with a disproportion of left and right hand turns and the long start-finish straight also demands a lot from the machine, so our teams have also worked a lot on the settings for their bikes while we look at our tyre options for the coming weekend."

Were track conditions as Bridgestone expected? "The track was quite dusty today but this is something that we expect on the first day There was also quite a big difference in track temperature between the morning and afternoon sessions, in fact the track was perhaps hotter than we expected this afternoon. Nevertheless, our tyres still demonstrated a competitive level of performance."

How indicative do you think today's practice will be for the rest of the weekend? "I am pleased that we have enjoyed a trouble-free opening day, but we must remember that it is only the first day of practice. The field is very close with only one second separating most riders. Our rivals appear to have a strong pace but teams have been working a lot on bike settings so tomorrow will give a clearer picture of relative performance. Even so, I am more satisfied with the improvement that we have shown compared to last season and I hope that we can continue in this way for the rest of the weekend."

***********

Steady start for Rizla Suzuki MotoGP in Portugal

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racers John Hopkins and Chris Vermeulen were sixth and eleventh quickest respectively after today's free practice sessions, in preparation for Sunday's Portuguese Grand Prix in Estoril.

Hopkins (1'38.471, 49 laps) and Vermeulen (1'38.655, 52 laps) both worked hard to achieve the optimum settings for their respective Suzuki GSV-Rs at the demanding and technically difficult Estoril circuit. The two Rizla Suzuki men were separated by less than two-tenths of a second at the end of the day, as the top 17 riders were covered by only 0.969 seconds, with championship leader Casey Stoner on the Bridgestone-shod Ducati the fastest.

Vermeulen showed a marked improvement throughout the day and in the second session took over eight-tenths of a second from his fastest time this morning. He believes there is more to come and is very comfortable with the way the bike and his tyres are working.

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has one more practice session on Saturday morning, followed by an hour of qualifying in the afternoon to determine grid positions for Sunday's 28-lap race that gets underway at 15.00hrs local time (14.00hrs GMT).

John Hopkins:

"Going into this morning was all about working our way through our tyre allocation with Bridgestone and getting the best results for the cooler conditions. We changed some gearbox and suspension settings because the set-up for this track is not as easy as it has been at some of the circuits recently. But we've got our heads down and Stuart and the crew have done a good job in finding what we need. This afternoon we had a couple of minor mechanical glitches, but we got them all sorted out by the end and we're confident about what we can do tomorrow. If we can continue from how we ended this afternoon's session we will make some serious improvements tomorrow!"

Chris Vermeulen:

"This is only my second time here, but I do feel a lot more comfortable now that I know my way around a bit more. The track felt slippery to me, especially after the last few circuits we've been to. Bridgestone has done a fantastic job here - compared to what we had last year - and the tyres are working really well. I'm feeling very comfortable with the bike and our base set-up seems to be working well. Although I am only in 11th place, all the lap times are quite close so I'm sure I can make up some places tomorrow. We still have a few changes to make on Saturday and with it being so close it will be important to get a good grid position so I can be up towards the front right from the start on Sunday."

Stuart Shenton - Chief Technician for John Hopkins:

"We had to change a couple of little things today to get the set-up right for this circuit. We worked closely with Bridgestone to try and get the best pairing of tyres for the track and they have certainly made a huge step-up with the tyres from last year - I think we are pretty close to our tyre choice for Sunday's race. This afternoon we had a small mechanical problem with John's bike, but we identified it before the end of the session. He did finish the afternoon on his other bike and although it was set-up the same as his first bike John felt some small differences that we will be working on tomorrow. We need to tidy up some of the details and make sure we are ready for Sunday afternoon."

Tom O'Kane - Chief Technician for Chris Vermeulen:

"Chris worked through chassis and tyre settings all day as we needed to get in as much work today as we could, because some of the weather forecasts show rain for tomorrow. He improved on his times throughout the day and he knows there is still a bit more to come tomorrow. We will be working well into this evening to analyse all the data from today to make sure that we make the correct choices in time for the race."

*************