American John Hopkins was the fastest rider when MotoGP practice ended Friday at Motegi, and was the only rider in the 1:47 bracket. The fastest Honda rider at the Honda-owned racetrack was Sete Gibernau, in fifth. Times from the second Friday practice session, and top speeds in kph, follow: 1. John Hopkins, Suzuki, 1:47.952, 291 kph 2. Loris Capirossi, Ducati, 1:48.053, 303.3 kph 3. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki, 1:48.263, 284.0 kph 4. Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, 1:48.574, 293.3 kph 5. Sete Gibernau, Honda, 1:48.582, 296.5 kph 6. Nicky Hayden, Honda, 1:48.646, 290.2 kph 7. Max Biaggi, Honda, 1:48.718, 295.8 kph 8. Marco Melandri, Honda, 1:48.751, 297.0 kph 9. Makoto Tamada, Honda, 1:48.776, 293.1 kph 10. Alex Barros, Honda, 1:48.782, 293.2 kph 11. Colin Edwards, Yamaha, 1:48.985, 292.3 kph 12. Carlos Checa, Ducati, 1:49.062, 292.9 kph 13. Tohru Ukawa, Honda, 1:49.238, 293.0 kph 14. Alex Hofmann, Kawasaki, 1:49.504, 286.1 kph 15. Shinya Nakano, Kawasaki, 1:49.566, 286.1 kph 16. Toni Elias, Yamaha, 1:49.842, 290.8 kph 17. Roberto Rolfo, Ducati, 1:50.490, 301.5 kph 18. Naoki Matsudo, Moriwaki, 1:50.577, 276.7 kph 19. Ruben Xaus, Yamaha, 1:51.358, 286.4 kph 20. Franco Battaini, Blata, 1:52.491, 277.2 kph 21. James Ellison, Blata, 1:55.245, 247.6 kph Combined times from the two Friday sessions follow: 1. John Hopkins, Suzuki, Bridgestone, 1:47.952 2. Loris Capirossi, Ducati, Bridgestone, 1:48.053 3. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki, Bridgestone, 1:48.263 4. Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, Michelin, 1:48.574 5. Sete Gibernau, Honda, Michelin, 1:48.582 6. Alex Barros, Honda, Michelin, 1:48.620 7. Nicky Hayden, Honda, Michelin, 1:48.646 8. Max Biaggi, Honda, Michelin, 1:48.718 9. Carlos Checa, Ducati, Bridgestone, 1:48.730 10. Marco Melandri, Honda, Michelin, 1:48.751 11. Makoto Tamada, Honda, Michelin, 1:48.776 12. Colin Edwards, Yamaha, Michelin, 1:48.898 13. Tohru Ukawa, Honda, Michelin, 1:49.238 14. Alex Hofmann, Kawasaki, Bridgestone, 1:49.504 15. Shinya Nakano, Kawasaki, Bridgestone, 1:49.584 16. Toni Elias, Yamaha, Michelin, 1:49.584 17. Roberto Rolfo, Ducati, Dunlop, 1:50.490 18. Naoki Matsudo, Moriwaki, Michelin, 1:50.577 19. Ruben Xaus, Yamaha, Michelin, 1:51.358 20. Franco Battaini, Blata, Dunlop, 1:55.245 21. James Ellison, Blata, Dunlop, 1:55.245 Times from the first 125cc Grand Prix qualifying session: 1. Mika Kallio, KTM, 1:59.137 2. Marco Simoncelli, Aprilia, 1:59.682 3. Manuel Poggiali, Gilera, 1:59.698 4. Mattia Pasini, Aprilia, 1:59.821 5. Gabor Talmacsi, KTM, 1:59.862 6. Hector Faubel, Aprilia, 1:59.937 7. Fabrizio Lai, Honda, 1:59.982 8. Tomoyoshi Koyama, Honda, 1:59.984 9. Alvaro Bautista, Honda, 2:00.142 10. Thomas Luthi, Honda, 2:00.272 Times from the first 250cc Grand Prix qualifying session: 1. Hiroshi Aoyama, Honda, 1:52.556 2. Alex deAngelis, Aprilia, 1:52.733 3. Shuhei Aoyama, Honda, 1:52.810 4. Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, 1:53.036 5. Sebastian Porto, Aprilia, 1:53.126 6. Jorge Lorenzo, Honda, 1:53.308 7. Casey Stoner, Aprilia, 1:53.471 8. Yuki Takahashi, Honda, 1:53.690 9. Sylvain Guintoli, Aprilia, 1:53.803 10. Hector Barbera, Honda, 1:53.955 More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Hopkins heads Bridgestone treble top at Motegi Suzuki rider John Hopkins set the fastest time during a day of free practice dominated by local tyre manufacturers Bridgestone at Motegi on Friday. The first day of the Grand Prix of Japan saw Hopkins follow up his impressive qualifying performance from last season, when he lined up on the front row of the grid for the only time in his career, with a lap of 1’47.952, over half a second inside the lap record held by Makoto Tamada. “Suzuki have brought some new parts here, and added to that Bridgestone seem to have an excellent race tyre so I am confident of sticking the race out at the front,” said Hopkins, who was one of six riders to crash in the first corner of last year’s event here. “I am really looking forward to Sunday because I think can go well and I’m feeling confident of getting on that podium at last. The last two years at this track haven’t been good for me here but hopefully that can all change.” Loris Capirossi celebrated a newly signed one-year contract with Ducati with the second fastest time of the day after dominating for much of the afternoon session. Meanwhile Hopkins’ team-mate Kenny Roberts was almost as impressive, lapping just 0.311 seconds short of the youngster’s best time as he looks to convert some impressive wet performances earlier in the season into a dry result at a crucially important home race for Suzuki. Valentino Rossi was the fastest rider on Michelin tyres, the World Champion clocking the fourth quickest time overall ahead of Sete Gibernau and Nicky Hayden. Rossi could retain his title this weekend and will be satisfied with his form today as none of his direct championship rivals were able to record a faster lap time than the Italian. Although Rossi has won each of his previous premier-class world titles with a victory, a similar result to today on Sunday would guarantee championship honours for the fifth successive season. Max Biaggi was seventh fastest at the circuit where he celebrated victory two years ago riding the Honda RC211V, whilst last year’s winner Makoto Tamada could only manage ninth place behind Marco Melandri. Alex Barros, who took victory here in 2002, completed the top ten ahead of Colin Edwards, Carlos Checa, Tohru Ukawa, Alex Hofmann and Shinya Nakano. There was a dramatic start to the weekend for the 250cc class as current series leader Dani Pedrosa crashed out of both the morning and afternoon sessions, injuring his left wrist. His Honda team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama made an exciting start to his home Grand Prix, meanwhile, taking provisional pole position ahead of Alex de Angelis and his brother Shuhei, who was third fastest. Andrea Dovizioso completes the provisional front row at a circuit where he celebrated a clear victory in the 125cc race last season. Sebastián Porto, Jorge Lorenzo, Casey Stoner and Yuki Takahashi make up the second row, with Takahashi’s younger brother Kouki provisionally qualifying in 28th place. Mika Kallio sent out a warning shot to 125cc World Championship leader Thomas Lüthi with the fastest time in the first qualifying session for the minor class, clocking a best lap of 1’59.137. KTM rider Kallio was over half a second faster than nearest challenger Marco Simoncelli, with former World Champion Manuel Poggiali and Mattia Pasini completing the provisional front row. Lüthi provisionally qualified in tenth place as he aims to defend an eight-point lead at the top of the standings. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing: MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2005 ROUND 12 – GRAND PRIX OF JAPAN, MOTEGI 16 SEPTEMBER 2005 – FREE PRACTICE HOT DAY AT HOME FOR KAWASAKI RACING TEAM Kawasaki riders, Shinya Nakano and Alex Hofmann, battled warm and humid conditions during a busy opening day of practice in preparation for Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix. The race is an all-important home event for Kawasaki, with both riders and technicians focussed on demonstrating the full potential of the Ninja ZX-RR in the presence of corporate staff and fans alike. In the build-up to Sunday’s 24-lap race Hofmann and Nakano finished the opening two hours of free practice 14th and 15th fastest respectively. The pair were separated by just six hundredths of a second. Nakano spent an intense day evaluating the latest specification ZX-RR motor and Akrapovic exhaust system, which is expected to make its race debut at Motegi. The motor is the latest step in the non-stop search for higher top end performance, with increased engine revs, while maintaining rider friendly mid-range acceleration and throttle connection. Kawasaki engineers have collected a mass of data today and will continue the set-up work with both engine electronics, gearbox and the impressive range of new Bridgestone tyres tomorrow. With a tight production deadline only Nakano will use the latest specification engine this weekend, while Hofmann sticks with the Ninja ZX-RR machine he has raced in recent Grand Prix events. The stop-go Motegi circuit, with a lap distance of 4.8 kms and six heavy braking points, is a difficult set-up compromise with its tricky combination of slow and some fast corners. Today’s warm and humid conditions are forecast to continue for Sunday’s 12th round of the MotoGP World Championship. Alex Hofmann: #66 – Fourteenth – 1’49.504 “I’m not happy to be 14th. This is our home race and I want to be able to put on a better show for all the Kawasaki and Bridgestone fans. I have a good rhythm for 1’49s laps, but unless you are doing 1’48s on Sunday you will be nowhere. I knew before coming here that I did not have the option of using the new motor, that’s not a problem. The positive point is that the ZX-RR is much more stable on the brakes and front-end, which is important here. The problem is finding a compromise between the stop-go and the faster corners, I don’t yet have the balance right; there is still a lot to be done.” Shinya Nakano: #56 – Fifteenth – 1’49.566 “I expected more today. It seems the latest engine parts have a lot of potential, but we need more time for set-up. This is especially true of the electronic mapping and gearbox ratios, which are different because we now have more revs and top end performance. There is no big problem, but many small things to find the maximum combination, especially with the new Bridgestone race tyres. I was 19th on Friday last year and finished on the podium, so I’m ahead so far!” Ichiro Yoda: Technical Manager “We have a new specification engine and exhaust system for Shinya to use this weekend, with more revs and top-end power available. Today we concentrated on evaluating set-up – engine mapping, gearbox and tyre combinations to suit this track – and we will keep working on those areas. The latest front brake discs from Brembo offer more endurance and stability in the heat and heavy braking at Motegi.” FREE PRACTICE – COMBINED TIMES 1. John Hopkins (USA) Team Suzuki MotoGP 1’47.952; 2. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team +0.101; 3. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team Suzuki MotoGP +0.311; 4. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Gauloises Yamaha Team +0.622; 5. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Movistar Honda MotoGP +0.630; 6. Alex Barros (BRA) Camel Honda +0.668; 7. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda +0.694; 8. Max Biaggi (ITA) Repsol Honda +0.766; 9. Carlos Checa (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team +0.778; 10. Marco Melandri (ITA) Movistar Honda MotoGP +0.799; 14. Alex Hofmann (GER) Kawasaki Racing Team +1.552; 15. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team +1.614 More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki MotoGP: Hopkins and Roberts Jr put Suzuki in the top three at Motegi John Hopkins topped the time sheets for the first time in 2005 as he set the fastest time during today’s free practice sessions at the Grand Prix of Japan, with team-mate Kenny Roberts Jr just behind in third place. Hopkins (1’47.952, 46 laps) set the quickest time of the day at the end of the afternoon session – after finishing second in the morning. The hard riding style of the young Suzuki star seemed well suited to the Motegi circuit as he put in consistently fast times in front of many Factory VIP’s. Roberts Jr (1’48.263, 37 laps) will be racing in his 100th Grand Prix for Suzuki this weekend and produced his best first day of the season so far to record third place. His fastest time was only 0.311 seconds behind Hopkins and also quicker than the current lap record. Today’s sessions gave the riders a chance to try the latest generation Bridgestone race tyres and both were delighted with the performance. Motegi is the home Grand Prix for the Japanese tyre manufacturer and it will be as determined as Team SUZUKI MotoGP to get a good result on Sunday. Both sessions were held in warm and sunny conditions with air temperatures reaching 34 degrees and a track surface temperature of 39 degrees. Tomorrow will see both Team SUZUKI MotoGP racers take part in a further free practice session before the hour long timed qualifying period in the afternoon. Sunday’s race is round 12 of the MotoGP World Championship and 24 lap race will get underway at 14.00hrs (local time), 08.00hrs CET. John Hopkins: “I’m extremely pleased with everything that Suzuki and Bridgestone have brought here, I’m pretty happy with the way things went. I had a minor problem that we were able to sort out quickly and got straight back out on track, we only lost about three laps so it wasn’t anything serious. “Right now I’m really happy with the progress Suzuki has made with the engine parts, the GSV-R has got a lot cleaner feel off of the corners and the throttle management feels a lot better. I am really excited about the new rear tyre that Bridgestone has produced. The race is definitely something to look forward to on Sunday!” Kenny Roberts Jr: “I think we are relatively similar to where we were at Brno in or around the top five or six. We will have to wait and see how qualifying goes tomorrow and see if we can get a decent start in the race. We have our backs up against the wall here with acceleration and that’s really the biggest key. As a rider you always want the bike to go round the corner faster, but in reality the thing that would help us most at the moment would be ten to twelve bike lengths extra speed down the back straight. It’s not a negative thing it’s just something we have to work through, and do the best with what we’ve got.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “A good day’s work! We have two very committed riders and a motorcycle which as a package is evolving week by week. We used qualifying tyres to set those times because we have new compounds from Bridgestone and just wanted to check that in the right conditions they will work well which they obviously did. “On race tyres, and particularly when grip reduces, it will be a battle to live with some of the other bikes on acceleration, but for now we will take the positives from today’s result and look forward to another good day tomorrow.” Grand Prix of Japan Free Practice Classification: 1. JOHN HOPKINS (TEAM SUZUKI MOTOGP) 1’47.952: 2. Loris Capirossi (Ducati) +0.101: 3. KENNY ROBERTS JR (TEAM SUZUKI MOTOGP) +0.311: 4. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +0.622: 5. Sete Gibernau (Honda) +0.630: 6. Alex Barros (Honda) +0.668: 7. Nicky Hayden (Honda) +0.694: 8. Max Biaggi (Honda) +0.766: 9. Carlos Checa (Ducati) +0.778: 10. Marco Melandri (Honda) +0.799: More, from a press release issued by Camel Honda: FREE PRACTICE – JAPANESE GRAND PRIX – 18/09/05 MOTEGI FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE FOR CAMEL HONDA IN JAPAN Alex Barros and Tohru Ukawa, substitute for the unfortunate Troy Bayliss in the Japanese GP, both made the most of the first day of practice at Motegi, the former focusing on set-up and tyre choice in particular, whilst the latter quickly slipped back into the rhythm of working with his old team (having ridden for Camel Honda in 2003), and the fast pace required nowadays in MotoGP. Sito Pons Camel Honda “As always on Friday we are focusing on bike set-up and on choosing the tyres. I think that Alex’s rhythm is really good, and I can see that he’s comfortably amongst the fastest from the beginning of each session and I’m sure he and the team will manage to fine-tune the settings and pick the right tyre. Tomorrow afternoon he will be there fighting for a top spot on the grid with the fastest riders out there. As regards Tohru, we are delighted to have him back on our bike here in Japan, because he is a really pleasant person to work with, he’s easy-goig and a great professional. He hasn’t ridden in MotoGP for two years, but in just two hours he has already found his rivals’ rhythm, and they’re in the twelfth race this year, and he’s also working well with the team. We are lucky that he works with Honda still and he knows this track well, so I hope that tomorrow he will continue to make progress like today.” Alex Barros Camel Honda 1’48.620 – 6th fastest “This morning we did along test with a rear race tyre and we were quite quick. In the afternoon we tried a different one, doing the same amount of laps too, but it didn’t go well. If we had used this morning’s I would have been quicker but this was just a test we had to do and meant we could rule out various options. Tomorrow we will probably work with Michelin and try to set the forks up better because that’s important here, they are worked hard. From this morning we made some modifications which meant we didn’t improve, but we have ideas of things to test tomorrow after having studied the data we have collected.” Tohru Ukawa Camel Honda 1’49.238 – 13th fastest “I’m delighted to be here with my old team. This morning we started with the base set-up I use at this track and at the beginning I focused mainly on improving my feeling with the bike. Lap after lap I’m getting more comfortable but there isn’t enough time and tomorrow we will quickly have to define the set-up of the bike to get it ready for qualifying.” More, from a press release issued by Gauloises Yamaha. Grand Prix of Japan Motegi, Japan Friday 16th September EVENTFUL FIRST DAY FOR GAULOISES YAMAHA TEAM AT MOTEGI Gauloises Yamaha riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards tackled the opening day of action at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit today as high temperatures and bright sunshine provided ideal track conditions for the first free practice sessions of the Grand Prix of Japan. Rossi was the fastest Michelin rider on a day otherwise dominated by local tyre manufacturer Bridgestone, the Italian just 0.054 seconds off lap record pace in the afternoon despite suffering from a gearbox problem in the morning session. Colin Edwards also had a problematic first day at the difficult Japanese circuit, suffering only his second crash of the season in the morning and then struggling to regain confidence in the afternoon. Nevertheless the American ended the day having established a good feeling for the YZR-M1 machine and he is confident of making major progress with more time on the bike tomorrow. With John Hopkins (Suzuki) setting the pace ahead of Loris Capirossi (Ducati) and Kenny Roberts (Suzuki), none of Rossi’s championship rivals are ahead of him on today’s time sheets as the Italian looks to seal his fifth consecutive title on Sunday. VALENTINO ROSSI (4th 1’48.574; 47 laps) “We had a gearbox problem this morning with one of the bikes not downshifting properly so we probably lost about 15 minutes of the session. Also, for the first time in some years, we are having difficulty with the tyres and we need to address that. Michelin have always worked very well for us and now they are working very hard to find a way forward. Taking that into consideration, fourth place is not so bad but we still have a lot to do. My rivals for the title are behind me but at the moment I am not thinking about that too much. My target for Sunday is to finish on the podium and then we’ll have a look at where everybody else has finished. Motegi is not my favourite circuit but there are some sections that I like, such as the right-hander after the bridge.” COLIN EDWARDS (11th 1’48.985; 47 laps) “I’ve got no excuses for the crash, it was completely my fault. I got into the corner too hot. I ran about half a metre off line and lost the front end, trying to force it back into the corner. Thankfully I’m not used to crashing this season and you forget how fast these bikes are moving until you jump off! We lost a bit of time because of it and needed the afternoon to play with the setting and tyres, but it probably took me four or five laps to get my confidence back up. By that time I’d used the best part of the tyre and wasn’t able to put a fast lap in at the end. We came here with the setting we found in the Brno test and it works great at this track. The only problem I had today was trying to keep the front wheel on the ground so we’ll work on that and see what we can come up with tomorrow.” DAVIDE BRIVIO GAULOISES YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR “As with many Fridays this season we have some work to do with both riders. We need to understand the bike setting and work hard with Michelin to try understand the tyres, and it is always hard to do both these things at the same time. Tonight we will analyse the data and the information that we have gathered so that we can come up with some solutions tomorrow this is always the way on a Friday, it is what they are for! In that respect you could say it was just ‘another day at the office’ for us!” COMBINED FREE PRACTICE TIMES: 1. John Hopkins (USA) Team Suzuki MotoGP 1’47.952 2. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team 1’48.053 3. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team Suzuki MotoGP 1’48.263 4. VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Gauloises Yamaha Team 1’48.574 5. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Movistar Honda MotoGP 1’48.582 6. Alex Barros (BRA) Camel Honda 1’48.620 7. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team 1’48.646 8. Max Biaggi (ITA) Repsol Honda Team 1’48.718 9. Carlos Checa (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team 1’48.730 10. Marco Melandri (ITA) Movistar Honda 1’48.751 12. COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Gauloises Yamaha Team 1’48.898 More, from a press release issued by Telefonica Honda: GOOD START FOR THE MOVISTAR RIDERS GP OF JAPAN – MOTOGP FREE PRACTICE Sete Gibernau and his team of mechanics dedicated the first day of free practice at the Motegi circuit in Japan working principally on the front end set-up of his Honda. Last year’s World Championship runner-up reckons that the key to Motegi is finding a front tyre that offers stability under hard braking and the team were able to find a good compromise today. Sete ended with the fifth time of the day, lapping just six tenths of a second slower than today’s pacesetter, Suzuki rider John Hopkins. Marco Melandri today tried out the new chassis currently used by his team-mate and his initial feeling was positive. The Italian managed the tenth fastest time on the combined sheets over the two practice sessions. SETE GIBERNAU (5th, 1’48″582): “We have always had certain problems at Motegi and today it was important to find a good base to work from. The front tyre is working quite well and that gives us more stability in the hard-braking corners, so! mething which is key at this circuit. We have to remain concentrated on the front end of the bike to try and continue improving it. But for the time being this is the most comfortable I have ever felt on the first day of practice at Motegi”. MARCO MELANDRI (10th, 1’48″751): “We arrived in Japan in pretty relaxed mood and we’re keen to get a good result. The two days of practice at Brno have allowed us to take a step forward, particularly with the traction problem I’ve been having. Today I used the new chassis and the feeling was very positive. I spent a lot of time on tyre tests and working on the gearbox but we needed to do it and I’m satisfied with the work we have done.” LAP TIMES 1. John Hopkins (USA/Suzuki) 1’47″952 2. Loris Capirossi (Ita/Ducati) + 0″101 3. Kenny Roberts (USA/Suzuki) + 0″311 4. Valentino Rossi (Ita/Yamaha) + 0″622 5. Sete Gibernau (Esp/Honda) + 0″630 6. Alex Bar! ros (Bra/Honda) + 0″668 7. Nicky Hayden (USA/Honda) + 0″694 8. Max Biaggi (Ita/Honda) + 0″766 9. Carlos Checa (Esp/Ducati) + 0″778 10. Marco Melandri (Ita/Honda) + 0″799 More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: Japanese Grand Prix, Motegi Practice, Friday September 16 2005 MARLBORO RIDER CAPIROSSI IN THE VANGUARD AT MOTEGI Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Carlos Checa had differing first day experiences at the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, with Capirossi fast on race tyres in each of the first two unofficial one hour sessions, ending his day second quickest. Checa worked hard on set-up for this often-tortuous circuit and ended his opening account ninth on the time sheets. Capirossi laid an early claim to the top Friday position of all then with 30 minutes remaining he posted a series of blistering laps, leading his peers by over half a second for a long period. Only John Hopkins was to overtake his time, with his final throw. Checa stopped out on track with an electrical problem in the morning session, but nonetheless posted his fastest single lap of the day in that period. Motegi has a good pedigree for Bridgestone riders, with the top three runners on day one all using Bridgestone tyres. “Loris had a unbelievable session here today,” said Ducati MotoGP Project Manager Livio Suppo. “He was consistently very fast and his rhythm is unbelievable. He did almost half a session with the same back tyre. We can say that the package works very well and thanks to Bridgestone, they have made an unbelievable job. Carlos is struggling a little bit more with the set-up of the bike, but this morning was very good, so let’s see for tomorrow. We are confident.” CAPIROSSI FAST AND CONSISTENT ON RACE TYRES Loris Capirossi made no fewer than 11 laps under the previous best qualifying time, set in 2004, in what was a highly positive opening day at Motegi. “I am really very pleased with the job we did today and we started working well with the tyres this morning,” said Capirossi. “We continued that in the afternoon session and in all regards we worked in the best way we have done this year. The rhythm is fantastic and I did my best lap of 1’48.053 after ten laps on the same tyres. I went out again on the same rubber and did a mid-1’48”. Not bad at all for the first day.” CHECA LOOKS FOR OPTIMUM SET-UP Carlos Checa spent day one looking for an ideal race set-up, setting his best time in the morning session and ending up ninth fastest on combined times. He knows there is still work to do on day two, and is focused on finding improvements. “So far what we have done has not improved the set-up of the bike,” said Carlos, “I am finding some limitations and they have carried on and so far we are not able to improve. Tomorrow I hope we will get faster and move up. I will try to work as well as possible. At the moment we are quite behind the other Bridgestone guys here, and we are losing something we need to find.” More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Yamaha: First day / FIRST PRACTICE FOR FORTUNA RACING RIDERS The Fortuna MotoGP riders today went out in the first practice sessions for the Japanese Grand Prix, where Valentino Rossi could proclaim himself World Champion on board his Yamaha M1 on Sunday. Elias and Xaus have begun to look for the ideal set-up at a very different type of track. Elias already knows how to win in Japan, having done it in 125 and 250 and on two different manufacturers’ machines. For Xaus, he finished 9th here last year and this time his aim is to improve on that. Toni Elias 16th, +1’632 seconds on John Hopkins best time 1st free practice 1’49.584 2nd free practice 1’49.842 Toni Elias today rode the MotoGP Yamaha M1 bike for the first time at Motegi. The Spaniard explained his feelings after day one: “With the M1 this track is much harder, although it’s still a track with a lot of braking, and you need a set-up focused on those areas where you need to stop the bike. We began well this morning, with a good rhythm, and I think we have improved compared to the last GP in the Czech Republic. In the afternoon, things went badly, I think we maybe took two steps backwards in our tests. Tomorrow we will return to the right way, and I hope to improve. Regarding these three races over the next weeks, I hope to have finally overcome my scaphoid injury and get amongst the top ten, beginning with this Sunday.” Rubén Xaus 19th + 3’406 seconds off pole 1st free practice 1’51.441 2nd free practice 1’51.358 “It’s still a new circuit for me, because I only rode it for the first time last year. It’s complicated with the Yamaha, as it has been all season really, I’m looking to enjoy myself on the bike and find the right feeling. I didn’t have a good night’s sleep and that has affected my performance. We have managed to make some changes to both of my bikes and now the hard work is fitting together what goes well and get the bike set-up so I can lower my lap-times. I’m confident because I will not give up on trying to get the best out of this Yamaha.”