Valencia Moto GP

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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."

[Bakkertjedeeg]

Vet he die kleurstelling. 8)  Jammer dat Vermeulen niet mee rijdt op de Soes van Roberts. Zal wel iets met contract van Honda te maken hebben. ma en di mag hij wel testen op Valencia. Ik ben benieuwd naar de 125 ontknoping. Luthi GoGoGoGo....

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125cc top ten - first qualifying:

1. Pasini (Aprilia)
2. Talmacsi (KTM) +0.065secs
3. Simon (KTM) +0.386secs
4. Luthi (Honda) +0.449secs
5. Kallio (KTM) +0.633secs
6. Gadea (Aprilia) +0.661secs
7. di Meglio (Honda) +0.759secs
8. Koyama (Honda) +0.773secs
9. Simoncelli (Aprilia) +0.788secs
10. Faubel (Aprilia) +0.837secs


250cc top ten - first qualifying:

1. Stoner (Aprilia)
2. Pedrosa (Honda) +0.002secs
3. Barbera (Honda) +0.300secs
4. Aoyama (Honda) +0.366secs
5. Porto (Aprilia) +0.379secs
6. Lorenzo (Honda) +0.380secs
7. de Puniet (Aprilia) +0.545secs
8. Takahashi (Honda) +0.747secs
9. Dovizioso (Honda) +0.786secs
10. de Angelis (Aprilia) +1.100secs

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Yamaha Factory Racing rider Valentino Rossi faces an uphill battle in the final round of the 2005 MotoGP World Championship tomorrow after qualifying fifteenth fastest at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia. Rossi slid from his YZR-M1 machine just over eleven minutes from the end of this afternoon's qualifying session and, despite returning to the track on his second machine, he lost several positions in the final push for times. The Italian will start from the fifth row of the grid as he aims to score his twelfth victory of the season and repeat the success he has enjoyed at this circuit for the past two years.

Rossi's Yamaha Factory team-mate Colin Edwards benefited from a more productive afternoon, making major progress with his new riding style and knocking almost two seconds off his best practice time from yesterday. For the second successive race the American will start from the second row of the grid in sixth place as he aims to improve his championship position with a good finish tomorrow. Pole position went to Sete Gibernau (Honda) in a new record time of 1'31.874 and the Spaniard is joined on the front row by Marco Melandri and Nicky Hayden (both Honda), who will fight for the runner-up spot behind Rossi in the championship in tomorrow's race.

Colin Edwards (Yamaha Factory Team), 6th - 1'32.456
"I'm halfway happy with the result. We had a few problems early in the session but we worked things out and I was able to set a decent time on a qualifying tyre. The second row isn't terrible but we have work to do to find a better race pace. We made more progress with the new riding style but in reality I need 100 laps to perfect it, so I can't wait for winter testing! It takes me five or six laps to get going and we just need to get it ingrained in my system. The team has worked hard today and Michelin has given us some good options for tomorrow - I am determined to finish the season on a high. The stadium style atmosphere here is always fantastic so I'm looking forward to tomorrow."

Valentino Rossi (Yamaha Factory Team), 15th - 1'33.503
"When I crashed I was pushing hard with the qualifying tyre and honestly I felt confident that I could do a good time. I was maybe a little too aggressive and when I touched the brake I just lost the front and went down. I was going fast and I have some small bruises on my elbow and on my leg, but I will be fine tomorrow for the race. I was lucky. The grid position is not so good, my worst for a very long time! The situation on the track is actually not so bad; the rhythm is okay, although we do have some problems and for sure I am slower than some of the other riders. The main problem is that it's hard to overtake at this circuit. A lot will depend on how many riders I can pass at the start and in the first lap. Anyway, we will try to make some progress tomorrow morning and see what happens in the race. My target is to be in the top five, any higher is maybe too difficult, but it's going to be a good battle!"

Davide Brivio - Yamaha Factory Team director
"We are in a strange situation. Colin is on the second row but his race pace is not as good as we would like, whilst Valentino is on the fifth row with a better race pace than his team-mate. We need to combine the two! Valentino's starting position is going to make it very difficult for him and it will not be his easiest race, but that is the reality of the situation and we have to deal with it. Luckily we have already won everything but we still want to have a good last race. It's going to be tough but we'll work hard in the morning and see what the race brings."

Toni Elias (Fortuna Yamaha Team), 13th - 1'33.005
"This morning I had a spectacular crash without getting any injuries. Unfortunately this afternoon we did not have the same pace as in the morning session. Throughout the day we've been working with a full fuel tank and a race tyre and we've got a good pace even though we do not have a top position. This will make the race more difficult for me but I hope I will have a good start and will be able to get in touch with the top group as fast as I can."

Ruben Xaus (Fortuna Yamaha Team), 17th - 1'34.874
"It's hard to do things right when you're in a difficult situation like now, but I'm not looking for excuses. I'm working hard to get a good feeling and the bike itself is working fine. Tomorrow I hope to find a good rhythm and to score some points."