Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Final MotoGP Qualifying
Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
May 10, 2003

1. Loris Capirossi, Italy, Ducati, 1:41.983
2. Troy Bayliss, Australia, Ducati, 1:41.993
3. Max Biaggi, Italy, Honda, 1:42.124
4. Tohro Ukawa, Japan, Honda, 1:42.258
5. Valentino Rossi, Italy, Honda, 1:42.276
6. Sete Gibernau, Spain, Honda, 1:42.322
7. John Hopkins, USA, Suzuki, 1:42.579
8. Nobuatsu Aoki, Japan, Proton, 1:42.609
9. Olivier Jacque, France, Yamaha, 1:42.643
10. Carlos Checa, Spain, Yamaha, 1:42.711
11. Colin Edwards, USA, Aprila, 1:42.761
12. Makoto Tamada, Japan, Honda, 1:42.827
13. Shinya Nakano, Japan, Yamaha, 1:4.906
14. Jeremy McWilliams, UK, Proton, 1:42.985
15. Alex Barros, Brazil, Yamaha, 1:42.988
16. Marco Melandri, Italy, Yamaha, 1:43.020
17. Kenny Roberts, USA, Suzuki, 1:43.069
18. Noriyuki Haga, Japan, Aprilia, 1:43.269
19. Nicky Hayden, USA, Honda, 1:43.474
20. Andrew Pitt, Australia, Kawasaki, 1:43.889
21. Alex Hofmann, Germany, Kawasaki, 1:44.702
22. Garry McCoy, Australia, Kawasaki, 1:45.461



250cc Final Qualifying Order
1. Randy De Puniet, Aprilia, 1:44.723
2. Manuel Poggiali, Aprilia, 1:44.897
3. F. Battaini, Aprilia, 1:44.899
4. Roberto Rolfo, Honda,1:45.688
5. Fonsi Nieto, Aprilia, 1:45.836
6. Toni Elias, Aprilia, 1:45.968
7. Anthony West, Aprilia, 1:46.119
8. Sebastian Porto, Honda, 1:46.122
9. S. Guintoli, Aprilia, 1:46.246
10. N. Matsudo, Yamaha, 1:46.307
Did Not Qualify: Katja Poensgen, Honda, 1:52.287

125cc Final Qualifying Order
1. Pablo Nieto, Aprilia, 1:47.711
2. L. Cecchinello, Aprilia, 1:48.059
3. A. De Angelis, Aprilia, 1:48.269
4. D. Pedrosa, Honda, 1:48.319
5. Steve Jenkner, Aprilia, 1:48.482
6. Y. Ui, Aprilia, 1:48.655
7. H. Barbera, 1:48.904
8. A. Dovizioso, Honda, 1:48.909
9. M. Giansanti, Aprilia, 1:48.942
10. N. Simoncelli, Aprilia, 1:49.075


Editorial Note: Team press releases are posted in the order they are received.


More, from a press release issued by John Hopkins’ publicist:

Hopkins qualifies on second row at Jerez

JEREZ, Spain – John Hopkins turned in his best qualifying run of the young 2003 Motorcycle Grand Prix season Saturday in Jerez, Spain, when he put the factory Suzuki GSV-R on the second row for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Spain. Hopkins clocked in a lap of 1:42.579 on the GSV-R late in Saturday’s session, qualifying him seventh.

The fast run surprised the 19-year-old Californian.

“We ended up making that run on the old chassis,” said Hopkins, the youngest rider in MotoGP. “With about six minutes left in the session we put on a soft tire and I went for it. When I came around and saw the 42.5 on the board I had a big smile on my face. That’s by far the fastest I’ve ever gone around Jerez.”

Hopkins tested a new chassis for the GSV-R and liked it, but the A-bike had a lot of engine and electrical gremlins, so the team decided to concentrate on setting up the B-bike with the old chassis.

“The new chassis is stiffer and it holds a lot better line through the turns,” Hopkins explained. “I like it so the team is going to switch everything over from by B-bike to the new A-chassis for the race.”

The Suzuki team got a great morale boost when Hopkins’ teammate Kenny Roberts, Jr., turned in the fastest time in the first practice session on Friday. The team’s turnaround was so dramatic this weekend that many speculated that Suzuki had flown in special motors for Jerez, but team manager Garry Taylor said that was not the case and gave his explanation of the squad’s sudden improvement.

“People keep asking if we have anything new, but there is nothing radical,” said Taylor. “We’re trying little things all the time, but nothing substantial. This circuit plays to our strengths, and suits our bike in its current state of development better than the previous two. We’re trying hard to maximize that. I think Friday was a good day, because we have a sniff of being competitive, and the change in both riders is remarkable. I’m not saying they weren’t trying hard before, but give the dog a sight of the rabbit and he’ll go after it every time.”

Hopkins is eager for the race, but realistic about his chances.

“Our bike is proving to be pretty strong running sticky qualifying tires,” he explained, “but not as good on harder race tires, especially when they start to wear out late in the race. My plan is to get a good start and stay in the lead group. Hopefully we can gap the rest of the field so that I’ll have enough of a cushion for when the tires start to go off. I’ll need that early cushion to have a good result.”




More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

Marlboro Spanish GP, Jerez
Final Qualifying
Saturday, May 10 2003

BRILLIANT DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM DO THE ONE-TWO AT JEREZ

Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss continue to astound the world with the performance of the Desmosedici, the pair taking first and second in this afternoon’s sun-baked final qualifier at Jerez.

The pair dominated the final five minutes of the session, Bayliss moving into pole position first, Capirossi just 0.131 seconds behind, but the Italian went even better on his final run, lapping 0.01 seconds faster than his team-mate to score Ducati’s first-ever pole position in GP racing’s premier class.

This phenomenal performance continues the team’s remarkable run of results during the earliest stages of its MotoGP adventure – the Desmosedici scored its first podium at the season-opening Japanese GP, its first front-row start in South Africa and also led both races.

“It’s difficult to find the proper words for this,” said Ducati Corse CEO Claudio Domenicali. “This is our first race in Europe, and getting first and second on the grid is a result for the whole team, for everyone at Ducati. Everyone from the riders to the mechanics to the engineers at the factory has done something very special today. For sure the race is a different story, I think we still need more practice and more knowledge with this bike, we’re still on the learning curve.”

CAPIROSSI SCORES DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM’S FIRST POLE

Ducati Marlboro Team rider Loris Capirossi rode a stunning end-of-session lap to demote team-mate Troy Bayliss to second place at Jerez this afternoon, triggering celebrations amongst Ducati fans around the world. The Italian was in typically lightning-quick form as he made the most of his final run in the closing seconds of the one-hour outing.

“This is so great – a special day for Ducati,” grinned Capirossi. “And I’m very proud to give the factory it’s first MotoGP pole position – I’m an Italian rider, my bike is Italian, so this also very special for me. I think this was a good qualifying session because we had to work very hard to do some fine tuning, and finally everything was perfect. We know that racing is very different from qualifying, and that tomorrow’s race is going to be very long and hard, but this afternoon we once again confirmed the performance of our machine.”

BAYLISS SCORES HIS FIRST MotoGP FRONT-ROW START

Former World Superbike champion Troy Bayliss confirmed his status as a major player in MotoGP with a superb ride to second place in today’s final qualifier. Two weeks ago in South Africa the Aussie Ducati Marlboro Team rider thrilled race fans with his aggressive riding while battling with world champ Valentino Rossi (Honda), now he’s proved that he could be a serious front-running threat in tomorrow’s race.

“I didn’t think we’d do that good,” said Bayliss, who slid off at a slow-speed turn this morning. “We spent most of the session messing about with race tyres, and it seemed a lot of the other guys were already throwing in soft tyres, so we went that way too, and as soon as we stuck in a soft rear – bang – we did some good laps. I got to go out one more time with another new rear but made a mistake, so that was it. We’re looking okay on race set-up, but not spectacular.”




More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Yamaha:

Spanish Grand Prix
Saturday, 10 May 2003
Jerez, Spain

A DISAPPOINTING THIRD ROW START FOR FORTUNA YAMAHA TEAM

After a strong start to the second day of the Spanish Grand Prix, held in Jerez, southern Spain – where Carlos Checa set the fifth fastest time during morning free practice – the Fortuna Yamaha Team rider completed the final qualifier for his home MotoGP race in a disappointing tenth place. Ironically the time set, a 1:42.711, was a significant improvement over his provisional qualifying performance and was in fact only 0.728 seconds off pole position, but it was not enough to keep Checa on the second row for tomorrow’s race.

Checa initially approached the afternoon session with renewed enthusiasm, after making significant improvements to the chassis balance of his YZR-M1 during the morning session, and was the first rider to better his Friday qualifying time. But with the increasing track temperatures the Spaniard was unable to find the grip needed to take his charge any further up the grid.

In a surprise result Ducati placed both its V-four four-strokes on the front row in only its third MotoGP event, with riders Loris Capirossi (1:41.983) and Troy Bayliss (1:41.993) securing first and second respectively. The pair were the only two to dip into the 41s, with Capirossi claiming a new circuit best lap in the process – 0.937 seconds below Valentino Rossi’s 2002 lap record – while Max Biaggi (Honda, 1:42.124) and Tohru Ukawa (Honda, 1:42.258) completed the front row. Championship points leader Rossi (Honda, 1:42.276) qualified fifth overall.

“I was trying hard but the lap times just didn’t come,” explained Spaniard Carlos Checa. “This morning things went quite well but the change in temperature did seem to have quite a big effect. We had quite a bit of movement from the rear, that we tried to fix during the session. When I put on new tyres and pushed I expected to be faster. Unfortunately on my fastest lap I did have some traffic, otherwise I could have easily moved up a row. When you are not totally comfortable you have to really push and get a perfect lap to get a good time. When things are going well it comes much easier.

“So far we’ve done quite a good job this weekend but we’ve reached a level and it is proving hard to get to the next step. I am confidant that I can keep a good pace for the race but it is hard to think about winning. But it’s a long, hard race here and always very special because of the fans, so you never know what will happen.”

Although still far from racing at his full potential Marco Melandri (Fortuna Yamaha Team) made a solid improvement today to finish day two of the Spanish MotoGP 16th, with a 1:43.020. Although still suffering from a little discomfort – the result of the injuries suffered in his Suzuka crash – Melandri managed to qualify within one second off pole.

“I was not too bad on the bike today,” said Melandri. “It’s still not perfect and there are certain areas where I can’t push as hard as I would like because of my back and ankle. However, the important things for me this weekend are to start my season and to make sure I finish the race. I’m starting from quite a way back on the grid but the distance is not too bad – it’s incredible this year how close the qualifying is. I have been using the new fairing but, for the time being, I have switched to the old seat as it is a little lower and suits me better.

“I’m optimistic for the race. I know it will be tough from half distance but I think I can take some good points. But now I shall head to the Clinica Mobile and just relax and have some more treatment.”

Fortuna Yamaha Team director Davide Brivio has taken some positives from the day: “Carlos was in a pretty good position before all the hot-laps started in the last fifteen minutes. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to get in his very last run and I know he would have been in a much better position. The race is very different to qualifying and, if he can get a good start from 10th he should be able to run with the leaders.

“It’s surprising to see Marco set such a quick time given the physical difficulties he has. We know that he is a tough guy and he’ll do his maximum in the race. We’re looking forward to seeing him race for us for the first time. The experience will be important for all of us.”



More, from a press release issued by Pramac Honda:

TAMADA CONFIRMS PLACE ON THIRD ROW TOMORROW

With 12th quickest time in today’s qualifying, Makoto Tamada again made third row for tomorrow’s lineup. Despite a difficult start today – Tamada fell right at the beginning of the free practice in the morning – the tenacious Japanese was quick to react and in the afternoon session he got all his motivation back and achieved a good position on the starting grid tomorrow.

This morning, just a few minutes after the practice began, a sudden deceleration by a competitor forced Nakano and Tamada to act hard on their brakes. As Nakano and Tamada made contact, the Pramac Honda Team rider came out worst and was dragged by his bike for a number of metres along the tarmac. After a check-up at the medical centre of the circuit, the mishap did not prevent Makoto Tamada from getting back onto the track and continuing his work to prepare for the race.

The motorcycle, which has been given a slightly shorter geometry than usual by the technicians, was damaged in the fall but Tamada was able to use it in the qualifying session when he made his fastest lap today. With a rear tyre that was softer than yesterday’s, the expected result was achieved: 1:42.827, 12th place, just over eight tenths from Loris Capirossi’s pole.

Makoto Tamada also posted absolute top speed in the qualifying session: 278.5 kph.

MAKOTO TAMADA (PRAMAC HONDA TEAM): 12TH – 1:42.827
“After the knock I took this morning, I still wasn’t totally concentrated when I started the qualifying session. Then the pain in my right elbow faded away and I was able to put my mind to it again. We used a slightly “shorter” bike, bringing the rear wheel closer, but for the race I’ll go for a less extreme solution. But it was good all the same, even though the problem of this morning’s fall meant we had far less time to prepare for the race. We’re working in the right direction and we’ve made our decisions for the race even though, since we focused our attention on the settings, possibly we didn’t quite complete the tests on the tyres. Even so, I’m confident for tomorrow and I’m looking forward to riding a good race.”



More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service:

HOPKINS TAKES SECOND ROW START AT JEREZ

Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
Saturday, May 10, 2003

Team Suzuki rider John Hopkins slashed almost seven tenths off his lap time of yesterday to put his Suzuki GSV-R on the second row of the grid for tomorrow’s Spanish GP, the first race of the European season.

Hopkins’s brilliant performance – his best qualifying so far since joining the team this year – came in spite of being forced to switch to his spare machine, after technical problems sidelined his preferred bike early in the second and final timed qualifying session for the race.

Team-mate Kenny Roberts Jr. had the opposite experience. After excelling yesterday, placing fastest in free training, and running a close sixth again this morning, he ran into serious grip problems in the heat of the afternoon. He was one of only two riders who failed to find any improvement in the crucial final session. Roberts left the circuit almost directly after the qualifying session, while engineers were able to isolate a set-up glitch in his machine which caused his difficulties.

Hopkins’s seventh place equals Kenny’s best so far this season, and the general performance of both riders in practice is a step forward from the first two races of the year, as the team’s engineers find ways to unleash the potential of the all-new 990cc V4 prototype.

Qualifying times were again very close for the third race of the season. Less than one second covered the top 13 riders; Hopkins was only six tenths slower than pole qualifier Loris Capirossi; and Roberts just 1.043 seconds behind the Italian’s fast time.

Qualifying took place in blazing sunshine, with high track temperatures reducing the surface grip. The Spanish GP is the third of 16 World Championship rounds this year, the second season of the new MotoGP class for 990cc four-stroke machines.

JOHN HOPKINS – Seventh Position, 1:42.579
I went out on my A bike, which has the latest chassis, and even just cruising round it feels a lot better, with more grip, which makes a big difference in the hotter conditions of the afternoon. But then that engine had an electronic problem so it wasn’t running right, and I had to switch to my B machine. I spent the rest of the session working through tyres and trying to improve the grip on used race tyres, where we seem to be struggling. Then we put in a softer-compound tyre and I went out to try and improve on my lap time of yesterday. I found I was about four seconds behind Valentino Rossi, which helped me. I had him in my sights, and I was trying to reel him in. I was surprised to get the 1:42.5, and pretty happy. I went out again with another tyre, but I made a couple of mistakes, so I’ll settle for what I have. But I hope we can get my A bike working for tomorrow.

KENNY ROBERTS – 17th Position, 1:43.026
“Kenny had a major grip problem this afternoon, with not enough grip from the rear. That’s what we need to look into now, because the race conditions will almost certainly be similar to what they were this afternoon,” said Alfred Willeke, race engineer in charge of Kenny’s squad.

GARRY TAYLOR – Team Manager
It’s been a strange weekend, and I hope there won’t be too many more surprises in store for us. Kenny went from the top of the page yesterday morning to almost the second page this afternoon. The good news is that the engineers have found a glitch in the set-up, and we are fully confident will improve his situation for tomorrow’s race. John has done a great job – especially since he had to use his second machine.



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

PROTON TWO-STROKE ON SECOND ROW AT JEREZ

Round 3: Spanish GP, Jerez de la Frontera First Qualifying: Friday, May 10, 2003

Nobuatsu Aoki: Eighth, 1:42.609
Jeremy McWilliams: 14th, 1:42.985

Proton Team KR rider Nobuatsu Aoki will start tomorrow’s Spanish GP from the second row of the grid, after a day of almost superhuman effort ended with the Japanese rider slashing his first-day lap time by almost three quarters of a second to put the two-stroke lightweight among the best 990cc four-strokes.

Team-mate Jeremy McWilliams made an even bigger improvement, cutting more than a second off his Friday time. But in yet another set of very close qualifying lap times, the Ulsterman will start the third race of the season from the third row of the grid.

Both are riding last year’s 500cc two-stroke lightweight for another race of exploiting their better handling against with the faster but heavier 990cc four-stroke machines. The Protons reliably run rings around the opposition in the 4.423km Jerez circuit’s corners, only to lose out heavily on the straights. In the afternoon session Aoki’s machine clocked 261.5km/h, 17km/h slower than the best four-stroke.

This situation will not last for much longer. Proton’s own radical V5 990cc four-stroke is nearing completion in England, and the team hope to begin track testing at Jerez next week.

At the same time, the Proton KR3 riders can measure a distinct improvement from last year, both from the refinement of the superb KR3 chassis and from the team’s Bridgestone tyres, now in their second year in the top class of bike racing. Aoki’s time was better than a second faster than his qualifying time of last year, while McWilliams improved by seven tenths of a second.

Today’s qualifying took place in blazing sunshine, with high track temperatures causing grip problems for all riders, and more sunshine expected for tomorrow’s race, the first of the European season. Pole position went to Loris Capirossi, the first time the new Ducatis have been on pole.


NOBUATSU AOKI
Today was pretty hard work, but you can see how close we are. It seems like the chassis setting is better than ever – more than 100 percent right, and I must thank my team for their hard work too. This morning I tried a different setting with a less steep steering head angle, to try and make our braking and corner entry even better than it already is, but that didn’t work, so we went back. The other thing today was how well the Bridgestone qualifying tyres worked. The race tyres are also very good.

JEREMY McWILLIAMS
Nothing’s really gone right this weekend. Even though we had both bikes set up the same, one felt completely different from the other. That made progress a struggle. Usually you can try different settings on one bike to see if they’re working out, then put them onto the other one, but we had to work with just one bike today. It was also difficult somehow to put more than three or four laps together, though by the end I was more or less comfortable with my Number Two bike. Still with the horsepower difference with the four-strokes, I feel like a fish out of water. It’s difficult to do these lap times on race tyres, but the qualifying tyres didn’t work for me today. Still, I should be happy to be in the middle of the pack. It’s really all we can expect, and we probably shouldn’t even be there. Nobu did a great job. I’ll have to try and find out what settings he’s using!

KENNY ROBERTS – Team Owner
As I said yesterday, it’s going better than we expected. A lot better. I have to say the tyres are working extremely well, and our race set-up seems good. It will be a long hard race for our guys tomorrow.

The four-stroke is running back in England at the moment, and we’ll know later on tonight if it will be ready for the first track tests on Monday.



More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing:

HONDA RACING INFORMATION

Final Qualifying Spanish Grand Prix, Jerez, Spain Saturday May 10


BIAGGI AND UKAWA SECURE FRONT ROW STARTS

In searing heat and with track temperatures up to 41 degrees at the 4.423km Jerez track in southern Spain Camel Pramac Pons duo Max Biaggi and Tohru Ukawa took the qualifying fight to the Ducati pairing of Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss. Capirossi and Bayliss went one and two on the grid for tomorrow’s 27 lap showdown but with Biaggi and Ukawa in rampaging form in third and fourth, the race is set to be an intense affair.

If any riders thought that Spain would be less punishing than the gruelling South African race two weeks ago, they were soon forced to adjust their thinking. Grip is the major problem and with nearly all riders complaining of being unable to find a set-up that could offer a dependable level of consistency, the man that finds the optimum balance between outright adhesion and tyre longevity for tomorrow will be well placed.

Max Biaggi (Camel Pramac Pons RC211V) was a changed man from the despondent figure of yesterday who could only manage a provisional 12th in yesterday’s session. With a lot of hard work and methodical shifts in set-up, the team virtually eliminated the front-end problems that dogged the Italian yesterday.

“We changed the front end settings and I felt so much better today,” said the quietly determined Roman. “When a rider feels comfortable with the front end of his bike, everything changes for the better. We put in a softer spring and now the bike rides the bumps well when it’s leant over and I’m much more confident in fast corners. We’re on the front row and that’s important at this track. I give a big thank you to the team, they did a great job and we’ll have to see what happens tomorrow. The morning warm-up will be really important in forecasting what might happen in the race.”

Tohru Ukawa (Camel Pramac Pons RC211) was equally delighted with his front row start.”I’m happy to be on the front row here and I’m also pleased with the lap times that got me there,” he said. “The race is going to be very tough tomorrow and to get a good start and get away will make things a bit easier. But this is my first front row of the year and I will try my best to take advantage of that. Those 27 laps will be hard and there will be difficult tyre choices to make, the temperature will be critical.”

A fifth place and the second row of the grid was the best Valentino Rossi (Repsol Honda RC211V) could manage but the Italian reigning World Champion was not displeased with his work in qualifying. He knows as well as most that race set-up might well prove to be even more important than a front row start.

“We still have problems but not like yesterday,” said the champ. “On the last lap when it was possible to make a little bit better time I got blocked and lost concentration. I’d obviously like to be on the front row but I’m not too worried about the race. For me it is important to have a good rhythm – and we have that. The suspension is getting better from yesterday and now I can really ‘ride’ the bike. We still have grip problems – but so does everybody else.”

Sete Gibernau (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V) was entirely unconcerned about being the only rider in the top ten not to improve his time from yesterday’s provisional session. The team’s work on race set-up may prove to be the most valuable time any outfit spent in the hour-long session today.

“I’m very happy with the job we’ve done,” said the Spaniard, fresh from his South African victory two weeks ago. “It would have been nice to have been on the front row, especially at a home race, but the second row suits us fine. We were working on race set-up today, tyre endurance will be critical and with the same temperatures expected tomorrow, the only logical time to work on that was this afternoon at 2 o’clock – that’s when the race is tomorrow. It was fun on the bike too and at home tomorrow things are going to be exciting.”

Makoto Tamada (Pramac Honda RC211V) starts from row three despite falling in the morning warm-up. He bounced back in the afternoon to qualify 12th. “After the morning crash I still wasn’t fully dialled in for the afternoon session,” said the Japanese MotoGP rookie. “But then the pain in my elbow faded away and I was able to get back into things. We used a slightly ‘shorter’ bike with a reduced wheelbase, but for the race we won’t go so extreme on set-up. I’m looking forward to tomorrow because we’re going in the right direction.”

The steadily improving rookie Nicky Hayden (Respsol Honda RC211V) managed 19th position and wasn’t entirely happy with his lot. “A bit of a frustrating day,” he said. “We went round in circles trying stuff and I didn’t really find anything that worked for me. I thought we had it going in the right direction at one point, but then it warmed up in the afternoon a lot of things changed. We’ll sit down with the engineers tonight and work something out for tomorrow – there are a lot of really experienced guys here and we’ll find something.”

The 250 qualifying session went to Randy De Puniet (Aprilia) with another Aprilia duo, Manuel Poggiali and Franco Battaini in second and third. Roberto Rolfo (Fortuna Honda RS250RW) grabbed a front row slot in fourth and the Italian was upbeat about the team’s performance.

“I think we did a good job today because from yesterday to today the front setting has improved, this is necessary for confidence here,” he said. “It’s a good result in my opinion and I think this is positive, because all the work we did was done in very hot conditions. Now we understand a lot more. I am really happy with the lap time, but because of the heavy traffic, I could not improve on my 1:45.688 time.”

Sebastian Porto (Telefonica Movistar Junior Team RS250RW) crashed twice in the session but the gritty Argentine is still right in the runing for tomorrow’s race in eighth on the second row. “In the morning we thought we had found the right way to go after the problems we had encountered yesterday,” he said. “But I think we made mistakes with the carburation – the bike was not running well at all and in the afternoon we had a seizure. We are a bit lost, the chassis is improving but at the same time the engine gets worse. In any case I am optimistic and I am sure that in the warm-up we can find the key to the problem and make a good race.”

In the 125 category Daniel Pedrosa (Telefonica Movistar Junior Team RS125R) was the only Honda rider to really get amongst the Aprilias who line across the front with Pablo Nieto, Lucio Cecchinello and Alex De Angelis, one, two and three. Pedrosa crashed but still qualified fourth and knows that he’s right in the running for tomorrow.

“The crash was really strange,” said the home hero. “We were trying out a tyre and after they told me to return to the pit, the bike threw me off. In a thirty minute session an incident like this can make you lose the whole practice time. We repaired a few small problems but the bike was not in perfect condition to be able to improve my times. I think tomorrow’s race will be extremely difficult and run at a very high pace.”

Honda rider quotes Jerez Final qualifying Saturday, May10.

Max Biaggi, Camel Pramac Pons: 3rd: “To be honest I felt much more comfortable today than yesterday. When I went out on the track on Friday I lacked confidence because I did not feel happy with the front wheel and this made me lost time in the fast corners. Today, however, I had a good feeling and I want to thank the team who have done a good job. I hope to have a good race tomorrow, although I think we can still improve slightly because when I accelerate the front wheel lifts”.

Tohru Ukawa, Camel Pramac Pons 4th: ” I fell at the start if the session when I lost the front wheel in the final corner going onto the straight, but fortunately I did not suffer any injuries and I could go out on the track with my second bike. I am pleased to have improved on yesterday’s time, since it was the fastest I had lapped in Jerez and I am particularly satisfied because this is the first time I have qualified on the front row in Jerez”.

Sito Pons, Team Manager Camel Pramac Pons :” I am happy because we had a long and difficult day of work ahead of us today and we have rounded it off in a very successful way. Max has nit ridden here before on a Honda and this held up his progress yesterday, but we knew that he would improve steadily and I was always sure he would be with the leaders today. With Tohru there was also a lot of work to do to get the best out of his bike at this circuit and the performances of our two riders makes me feel very satisfied. Meanwhile I am very happy with the work of the whole team as we are the first two Hondas. I would also like to congratulate the Ducati team on their excellent result and I am convinced that the race will be wide open which adds to the excitement and interest in our Championship”.

Valentino Rossi, Repsol Honda 5th :”