From a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

PRESS INFORMATION
Africa’s GP, Welkom
First Qualifying

Friday, April 25 2003

BOTH DUCATI MARLBORO MEN ON PROVISIONAL FRONT ROW!
Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss were once again on stunning form today, clocking second- and fourth-quickest times in this afternoon’s opening qualifying session at Welkom.

The Ducati Marlboro Team is the only top MotoGP squad never to have competed at the South African circuit, but this didn’t prevent the crew immediately getting their Desmosedecis on the pace. Capirossi even held provisional pole for a few moments before the end of the session, completing the hour-long outing just 0.144 seconds behind World Champion Valentino Rossi (Honda).

“We made some changes to Troy’s front-end set-up when we tested at Mugello last week,” explained Ducati Marlboro Team technical director Corrado Cecchinelli. “And we applied those changes to Loris’ machine for this race. We’ve adjusted the geometry – this is still early stages with this bike – so we’re still making some big changes, but it seems that front-end confidence isn’t a problem any more. But we’re not totally happy because we’re now having some rear-grip problems here, especially in the afternoon heat. The guys are lacking grip going into and through the turns, so we need to work on that.”

Welkom is the highest track in GP racing, with an altitude of 1350 metres, which reduces horsepower by between 15 and 20 per cent – about a 125’s worth! But this requires no adjustments to the Desmosedici – the bike’s Magneti Marelli engine-management system takes care of everything. “It’s a big difference and both riders feel it at first,” added Cecchinelli. “But we don’t need to touch anything on the bikes, and the riders soon adjust to it.”

CAPIROSSI CHALLENGES FOR WELKOM POLE

Loris Capirossi rode a storming first qualifying session at Welkom, challenging for pole position during the final ten minutes. With seven minutes to go the Ducati Marlboro Team man was just 0.101 seconds off pole, then he went fastest with seconds to go, slipping to second in the final order.

“Second fastest is great for us at this stage but I’m not really happy!” said Capirossi, who’s already lapping inside the track record. “We’ve only had two one-hour sessions here with this bike, so we still have a lot of work to do. I’d say we’re at 70 per cent of our potential for this track. Of course, I was pushing more than 100 per cent this afternoon, but if we keep improving the set-up step by step we can make the bike, and the results, even better. We are already very competitive, and Troy’s results prove that, but you must never forget that this project is still very young!

“The circuit is much better than before; the tarmac is smoother and less slippery, which is one reason that the pace is already faster than before. I think I can improve my speed through the final section, I was faster through there last year, so we need to take a look at that.”

BAYLISS ROMPS TO FOURTH
Ducati Marlboro Team rider Troy Bayliss gave the MotoGP paddock another indication of his talent and determination by going fourth fastest this afternoon, even though he’d never ridden the Welkom circuit before this morning. During last week’s Mugello tests the Aussie made significant improvements to front-end set-up, which have made him feel much more at home on his Desmosedici.

“Now it feels like my bike,” he smiled. “We’ve improved the front which makes things better, mainly for corner entry and mid-corner. But I think this race is going to be hard, it’s a nice track, but it’s definitely a lot of work. This afternoon we started off testing quite hard tyres, then we tried something a little different, but we didn’t really get going until the end. Overall it’s not too bad. This morning I forgot about the altitude – I went out and thought something was wrong with the bike, but then I remembered it’s the same at Kyalami, which is also pretty high.”