From a press release issued by Pramac Honda Pons:

Ukawa and Biaggi just the off front row in a sweltering qualifying session

The MotoGP World Championship was back in action again together in Welkom where the second race of the season, the Africa’s Grand Prix, will take place this Sunday. The Camel Pramac Pons riders spent the day working on the settings of their bikes in sweltering conditions with temperatures exceeding 30 degrees centigrade. A fall in the morning session affected the performance of Tohru Ukawa, who was not one hundred percent fit for the afternoon’s qualifying session. Max Biaggi, on the other hand, suffered engine problems which did not allow him to get the best out of his Honda RC211V. The two Camel Pramac Pons riders managed to qualify, however, just outside the front row of the provisional grid and hope to be able to challenge tomorrow for the pole position. In homage to Daijiro Kato, the team’s bikes carried a number 74 next to the names of Max and Tohru and both riders wore black arm bands during qualifying.

5th Tohru Ukawa (1:34.334):
“The fall in the morning has affected the whole day because I was not able to work on the set-up of the bike and I feel quite sore. I have not yet found the right settings and so I must change some things to improve tomorrow. After the resurfacing work carried out at the circuit, the track surface is a little better, but there are still many bumps”.

6th Max Biaggi (1:34.364):
“This morning the bike was running perfectly, but this afternoon I had a technical problem with the engine on both bikes which I suppose must have been electronic. When I rode in low gears the bike was losing power, but it was fine from the fourth gear upwards. This problem has affected our work on the bike set-up because when you have an important problem like this you cannot concentrate on solving the small problems. I am confident and I hope that tomorrow will be a better day”.

Antonio Cobas (Technical Director):
“We did not have any references for the four-stroke bike from this circuit and, although we are not starting from scratch, we have more work to do than at other circuits. As far as Tohru is concerned, the fact that he is not fully fit after this morning’s fall has put back our work on the set-up of his bike. Max, on the other hand, had a small problem with the engine settings that we are analyzing and we are sure that we will be able to fix it before tomorrow”.

Sito Pons:
“We have many good memories of this race and it is clear that both Ukawa and Biaggi have the potential to win. We have not found the perfect settings yet but I am not too worried because we have a full day’s work ahead of us tomorrow”.


More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team:

Tough Start for McCoy and Pitt

Welkom, South Africa– Friday April 25th 2003, Kawasaki’s first visit to the Phakisa Freeway, venue for this weekend’s South African MotoGP in Welkom, kicked off in tough fashion today.

Pitt found himself in 20th place on his first appearance at the 2.636 miles circuit, while his fellow Australian McCoy was one place further back on the provisional grid.

Pitt was content with his steady progress and is looking for overnight set-up improvements to bump him further up the grid in tomorrow’s all-important final qualifying session.

McCoy found himself in unfamiliar territory at Welkom, ending the day in 21st, his best time coming on his 13th of 21 laps.

McCoy is no stranger to success at Welkom having won claimed his maiden premier class victory in brilliant fashion at the circuit in 2000.

The Welkom circuit has been renowned in the past for its bumpy surface and unpredictable grip levels. A new surface for 2003 has improved the conditions and lap times considerably, but the fact that today was the first time the ZX-RR has encountered Welkom made it a tricky baptism.

Andrew Pitt – 20th – 1:36.274
The bike feels a bit better than it did around Suzuka, but I’m still guessing a bit with things like braking markers because this is the first time I’ve been here. I like the circuit, a lot of people said it was pretty bumpy but I only found a couple and I’ve raced on a lot bumpier tracks. We had a few problems with the front tyres and we need to find some more grip. The grip is really strange and I lost the front quite a few times out there. It’s a feeling you don’t get at any other track because the front just goes on you really slowly. We made a change and got the bike to steer a bit better. Looking at last year’s times I set myself a target of where I wanted to be and I’ve done better than that, but everyone’s going a lot faster.

Garry McCoy – 21st – 1:36.583
It’s pretty tough out there and I’m definitely not happy with where I’m sitting at the moment. We are trying everything we can but as the track gets better it seems to help everybody else. When the track is wet or slippery we are not too far behind, but once it gets a bit of grip on the track everybody starts creeping away. The track isn’t too bad. It’s still bumpy, maybe the same as it has ever been, with some parts a little bit worse. There’s a little bit better grip for exiting turns, but it is still quite slippery for the front in mid-corner. The front has always pushed at this track and it still does that. We are struggling with these bikes at the moment. It is only the second race and we can’t be expected to do anything at the moment.

Harald Eckl – Team Manager
The problem we had for Garry and Andrew today was in the middle of the corner with front end grip. Our main focus is going to be working on the geometry to make some improvements in that area.


More, from a press release issued by Yamaha:

Day one of the South African MotoGP, held at the Welkom Phakisa Freeway on April 25, proved to be a challenging venture for the Yamaha contingent, with the injured Alex Barros (Gauloises Yamaha Team) setting his fastest time on the final lap of the hour-long session. His best, a 1’34.426, placed him eighth on the grid – less than a second behind provisional polesitter and defending MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi (Honda, 1’33.442). Despite his Suzuka injuries – ligament damage to his left knee – which were the result of a high speed crash in the opening round morning warm-up, Barros ended today as the fastest M1 rider. Although it was a determined result he was, however, unable to challenge for a front row position. The three remaining places behind Rossi were left to Loris Capirossi (Ducati, 1’33.586), Sete Gibernau (Honda, 1’33.961) and Troy Bayliss (Ducati, 1’34.322) to fight over – the trio finishing second to fourth respectively.

Although recently resurfaced the notoriously bumpy circuit has still retained some of its former character, and combined with the dusty surrounding, hindered many rider’s attempts at finding a balanced chassis set-up during the morning free practice. However, as the circuit conditions gradually improved so did the times, with Shinya Nakano (d’Antin Yamaha Team) also improving in the final few minutes of the session. The likeable Japanese finished the day ninth, only 0.109 seconds behind Barros, after producing a 1’34.535 lap.

Carlos Checa (Fortuna Yamaha Team, 1’34.806) overcame his initial concerns after reverting back to a base set-up he used last season at this venue and closed proceedings in 13th place – 1.364 seconds shy of the provisional pole time. His teammate, for the Welkom event, Norick Abe (1’35.156) – filling in for the injured Marco Melandri – ended his first competitive outing on the 2003 spec YZR-M1 in 18th.

Gauloises Yamaha Team
Alex Barros 8th, 1’34.426: “I worked really hard on improving the strength in my knee while I was back in Brazil – up to eight hours a day – and while it is much better than it was it’s still not perfect. I’m surprised by the pain behind the knee, and I only did short runs, no more than 8 laps so as not to aggravate the problem.

“Concerning the bike, the set-up isn’t too bad and we have a few small changes to try tomorrow that should improve it a little more. As it is we’re not far behind the times of the front guys, and given my level of fitness I’m reasonably satisfied with that. Our main problem is that we are down on power; hopefully Yamaha will have something for us when we get to Jerez.”


Olivier Jacque 15th, 1’34.963: “Our position isn’t so good but as for our time we are not too far behind the leaders. I’m not too concerned because I think we should be able to make good progress tomorrow. Already today we made good progress with the chassis in the afternoon session – now we need to look at improving the engine characteristics so as to improve the chassis still further.”

D’Antin Yamaha Team
Shinya Nakano 9th, 1’34.535: “Today was not so bad. We have been working on the bike set-up and the tyre choices, and I think we’re close. The track is still bumpy and with a light film of dust over the surface, but this afternoon the conditions had improved dramatically. Tomorrow should be even better.”

Fortuna Yamaha Team
Carlos Checa 13th, 1’34.806: “Overall I felt better this afternoon compared to this morning. We changed the balance and chassis set-up a little since this morning’s practice session, so it feels more like last year’s set-up. The progress we made today is good, we have a better and clearer direction, and I have already got a better lap time than last year. However I am still a step behind the others so we might need to adjust the balance again. We need to use all the resources we have to progress further. The circuit feels a bit better than last year because of the new asphalt; it’s still bumpy but I quite like that, and I like the racing line of this circuit.”

Norick Abe 18th, 1’35.156: “We went step by step today. It was almost the first time on this bike for me as I was only able to ride it for about three hours at the Suzuka test due to the rain. My feeling on the bike is not too bad, but I do need to get a better lap time. It’s not easy with such a small time separating the riders. For tomorrow we are going to change the front geometry slightly, and take it from there. Hopefully I will be able to improve.”


More, from a press release issued by Proton Team KR:

Two-Stroke Rebel McWilliams in Welkom Top Ten

Jeremy McWilliams: 10th, 1:34.617
Nobuatsu Aoki: 16th, 1:35.061

Proton Team KR rider Jeremy McWilliams scorched to his fastest-ever lap time round the Phakisa Freeway circuit outside Welkom today, putting his 500cc two-stroke Proton KR3 firmly up among the supposedly much faster 990cc four-stroke machines in what might easily be the last ever GP where a two-stroke 500 will race.

The Proton team’s own 990cc four-stroke prototype – a ground-breaking V5 design – is nearing completion back at base in England, and the team’s current target is to debut the new machine at the next race, the Spanish GP in two weeks, consigning the three-cylinder lightweight KR3 to history. The KR3 is the last two-stroke MotoGP machine still racing.

McWilliams ran a lap time faster than the 4.242km circuit’s official lap record, set by the winning four-stroke Honda in last year’s race. The rider from Northern Ireland also cut 1.3 seconds off his best qualifying lap at the track last year.

Team-mate Nobu Aoki was less than half-a-second slower, but six positions down the order, although still ahead of five full factory four-stroke racers.

While the team is anxiously awaiting the chance to start developing the new bike, they were also able to measure progress at a track that is friendly to the nimble KR3 machine. With only one fast straight, the rest of the track is mainly flowing and technical, so that the Proton riders have a chance to exploit their better braking, handling and roadholding to regain time lost in a straight line.

Today’s practice took place in warm, sunny conditions on the fully resurfaced circuit. Provisional pole time was set by defending champion Valentino Rossi (Honda). There is one more free practice session and another one-hour timed qualifying session tomorrow, before Sunday’s race.

Jeremy McWilliams
“That’s about as quick as the bike is going to go round here. It’s a great flowing circuit, and I’m working on keeping the flow going. You can really feel how the altitude and heat affect the power. I kept thinking it was running rich, but it’s just the power loss. I have to wring the bike’s neck even harder than usual – I felt quite sorry for her. But it was good fun. It’s nice to be among the four-strokes. It must be frustrating for teams that have spent a lot of money to build a four-stroke, and we’re going quicker on our old bike. I’d love to say there are a couple of places where I could find more speed tomorrow, but I’m already pushing it to the limit.”

Nobuatsu Aoki
“In Suzuka we went to very stiff suspension springs, but it doesn’t work here, because there is much less grip. Today we’ve been making the suspension softer, and it’s coming better. I am getting more feeling, and tomorrow I think we will make it softer again, and work on improving speed through the corners before and after the straight, which are really important for lap time. The new surface has helped the four-strokes more than us. It has more grip than last year, and is much smoother. Where the heavier four-strokes were struggling over the bumps, we could catch them up. Not any more.”

Chuck Aksland – Team Manager
“There wasn’t a lot expected this weekend, but we’re more competitive than we thought. Both riders are working really hard, and the improvement in surface and tyres means were a lot quicker than last year … with the same bike, which is good progress. Times are quite close, and anything can happen.”