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Camel Yamaha enjoy again a victory
MotoGP 09/04/06

Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi returned to the top
step of the podium after a stunning ride in today’s Grand Prix of
Qatar. Rossi’s 54th career MotoGP victory was sealed with a
perfectly timed run in the second half of the race, passing early
leader Casey Stoner (Honda) on lap 10 of 22 and holding off a
late attack from Nicky Hayden (Honda) and Loris Capirossi
(Ducati), who completed the podium. The win brings Rossi’s
premier-class tally level with that of Mick Doohan, with only the
legendary Giacomo Agostini now ahead of him on 68 victories.

`That was a great race – it was hard but that is what made it
such fun. My M1 worked really well today - as the race went on
the grip went down and the vibration completely disappeared,
so I was able to go fast at the end´, recognises the Italian rider.

` Also I set the fastest lap of the race on lap three, so this
shows how well my M1 was working. This win is important for
the championship but even more so from a mental point of view
for me and the team. It was windy but the grip was good and I
was able to chase Stoner, who was very fast at the start. When
his tyres went down I was able to pass him and I thought I
could escape but Nicky stayed with me. Then I looked back and
saw Loris was coming too so I began to get worried about the
last few laps. Anyway, I pushed hard and managed to hold on.

`It is great to be level with Mick Doohan, now only Giacomo
Agostini is ahead of me. Records are not the most important
thing but they are always nice! This feels like the start of the
championship for me. Jerez was a nightmare but here we woke
up! Big thanks to Jeremy and all the guys because they stayed
focused during a difficult time and this is their reward´.
Colin Edwards endured a difficult afternoon after front-end
problems that appeared throughout the weekend returned to
haunt him in the race. The American started from eighth on the
grid and made a good start, moving up to sixth place by lap
five, but he was unable to maintain the fast and consistent pace
he showed in practice and he eventually dropped to ninth.
Rossi’s victory moves him up to fourth in the championship,
fourteen points behind early leader Capirossi after two rounds of
seventeen.

`I made a good start and over the first five laps I felt fine – the
bike was good and I was able to ride aggressively´, said
Edwards. `I thought: ‘okay, let’s go for it.’ Then on lap six I lost
the front three times in a row and I almost crashed on each one
of them. I thought it was a bit early in the race for that to
happen so I pushed on and got going again but the front kept
going and I had to ride slower and slower. In the practice
simulation I ran a 1’57.2 on my last lap but in the race it was
three seconds slower so clearly something is not right.
Thankfully we have a test tomorrow to find out what it was and
make sure that we are in better shape for Turkey´.

Source: MotoGP

 

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Rossi wins in Qatar

Rossi wins in Qatar
MotoGP 08/04/06

Valentino Rossi took the win in the Commercialbank Grand Prix
of Qatar today, on a hot but windy day at the Losail Circuit.
The seven times World Champion came from seventh on the
grid to win at the circuit for the second time in his career,
taking the lead from pole-man Casey Stoner on lap ten.
Nicky Hayden briefly led the race, before Rossi took back the
lead and put some distance between the two, nearly a second
at the end of the race.

Loris Capirossi was once again on the podium, leaving him as
the series leader after adding to his win in the opening race of
the season. Team-mate Sete Gibernau was fourth, ahead of
Casey Stoner. Stoner couldn’t quite manage to hold on for a
podium place having led for a third of the race.

A fierce battle raged behind the young Australian for sixth. Dani
Pedrosa and Marco Melandri involved in a back-and-forth tussle
from start to finish, ahead of Toni Elias.

Source: MotoGP

 

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Quotes from MotoGP top three

Quotes from MotoGP top three
MotoGP 08/04/06

Valentino Rossi
“I’m very happy, it is a pleasure to equal Mick Doohan’s record
of wins, numbers are always important. We came out of this
difficult situation with the chattering problem so I need to thank
Jeremy Burgess, all my mechanics and the Japanese engineers,
who helped fix the bike. Today is for me the first race, after
what happened in Jerez. Today the M1 was very good and I
could push hard like I wanted. I was able to come back from a
lower position on the grid and battle with Stoner and Nicky.
Nicky had a great race, and I also saw Loris coming on strong
so I thought I’d really have to push for the last two laps.”

Nicky Hayden
“We are definitely consistent but it would be nice to win along
the way. This morning conditions were bad, a red flag in the
warmup as well, so today we rolled the dice. Unfortunately we
just couldn’t quite manage to get the win after I battled with
Valentino for a while. Hopefully we can get stronger and we’ll be
back testing this morning.”

Loris Capirossi
It’s a great weekend for me and the team. Qatar is not one of
our best tracks and I was fighting a lot. Stoner was hard to
overtake, and when I got past I tried to chase the front two.
After a while I was pushing too hard, so I thought I’d slow it
down and preserve the position. I think we are in great shape
for this season, so I’m very happy.”

Source: MotoGP

 

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Consitent performances again for Repsol Honda

Consitent performances again for Repsol Honda
MotoGP 09/04/06

Repsol Honda take another consistent performancesA gripping
Qatar Grand Prix at the 5.383km (3.343 mile) Losail circuit
today saw the Repsol Honda team both pleased with their
performance and frustrated at what might have been. Nicky
Hayden battled to a close second place to record his sixth
podium finish on the trot and move to second in the world
championship standings after two rounds. And his team-mate,
Dani Pedrosa, put in another blistering come-back performance
to finish sixth after a wheelie at the start dropped him down the
field.

Hayden made the most of his fourth-place grid position to get
away at the front as pole-sitter Casey Stoner set the early pace.
When Stoner faded, the 24-year-old American hot-shot
engaged in a thrilling battle with World Champion Valentino
Rossi, trading the lead several times before a slide on the last
lap forced the Repsol Honda rider to settle for second, just 0.9s
adrift.

`Battling for the win is so much more fun than battling for
fourth place! I pushed Valentino hard and I pushed myself
about as hard as I could too. We had the bike that could win,
but on the last lap in a left-hander I got into a nice little slide,
Valentino gapped me pretty good and it was hard to recover.
We gambled a bit with set up, we rolled the dice, and it worked
well for me in the race, helping a lot in the fast corners. So a
big thanks to my crew.´

`It’s my second year with my crew chief and we’re working
really well together´, added the American. `All the guys have
been working hard and making some good improvements on
the bike. We’ve still got some work to do and we’ll be back here
in the morning testing, but the new bike’s definitely getting
better and we’re heading in the right direction. Six podiums on
the trot is cool, but it would be nice to get a few wins along the
way!´.

Pedrosa suffered a bad start from 5th on the grid as a clutch
problem saw the 20-year-old Spaniard wheelie off the line and
drop to 13th . His climb back through the field was hampered
when fluid from another bike coated his visor, forcing him to
back off momentarily and lose time on the leaders. A fierce
battle with Marco Melandri for sixth place saw the pair
exchanging places time after time, before Pedrosa made the
decisive move on the penultimate lap to round off the top six.

`It’s easy to say this now, but I believe I could have finished
further up, at least in 4th, if I’d made a better start´, explained
the Spanish rookie. `We had a problem with the clutch, like
Nicky when he was practising his starts yesterday. At first I
thought the wheel was spinning but actually it was the clutch.
Then, when I was behind Elias and we were both overtaking
Hopkins his bike put oil on our visors. Elias closed the throttle
and we lost a lot of time on the leaders – at least 3 or 4
seconds. When I caught Melandri we had a big battle. My bike
was really fast and I could overtake him, but he was braking so
late!´.

` I’m not angry with the result, but I’m upset because today I
lost a good opportunity to be battling at the front. In the race I
learned a lot of things and I know I performed as well as I could have.
Although I’m frustrated today, the two races so far have
been really positive.´

Source: MotoGP

 

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