MotoGP World Championship Valencia, Spain October 24, 2008 Free Practice Two Results (wet conditions): 1. Nicky HAYDEN (Honda), Michelin, 1:45.777 2. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:45.864 3. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:45.959 4. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), Bridgestone, 1:46.070, crash 5. Casey STONER (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:46.260 6. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda), Michelin, 1:46.522 7. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda), Michelin, 1:46.807 8. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:47.055, crash 9. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:47.314 10. Shinya NAKANO (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:47.483 11. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 1:47.620 12. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:48.015 13. Marco MELANDRI (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:48.437 14. John HOPKINS (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:48.469 15. Anthony WEST (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:48.504 16. James TOSELAND (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:48.771 17. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 1:49.092 18. Toni ELIAS (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:51.871, crash More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Wet start to final event of the season in Valencia Round 18: Valencia Free Practice Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia – Friday 24 October 2008 Riders endured a wet start to the final race weekend of the season as free practice for Sunday’s Valencia Grand Prix got underway at Circuit Ricardo Tormo today. Honda’s Dani Pedrosa was the quickest Bridgestone-shod rider of the day securing second position on the combined practice standings, just 0.087s off the pace set by Nicky Hayden who was the quickest rider in both morning and afternoon sessions aboard his Honda. A total of five Bridgestone riders were represented in the top ten with Valentino Rossi in fourth place for Yamaha, Casey Stoner in fifth position for Ducati, Sylvain Guintoli in eighth for Alice Team and Shinya Nakano in tenth for Honda Gresini. It was a fruitless day of slick tyre evaluation with the track remaining wet for the duration of both sessions, continuing the 2008 season trend of inclement weather. Of the 18 events on this year’s calendar, only three have remained completely dry for the entire race weekend Qatar, Laguna Seca and Misano. Bridgestone has used the opening day to look at the performance of its wet weather tyre range at this tight and twisty Valencia circuit over the two sessions. Although conditions varied throughout the day, initial performance of the tyres appeared to be reasonable with lap times gradually dropping as the track became less wet towards the end of the afternoon. There remains some likelihood of rain for the remainder of the weekend, so wet tyre performance could yet play a crucial role in the outcome of Sunday’s 30-lap Valencia Grand Prix, the culmination of this season’s gruelling 18-race championship. Tyre Talk with Tohru Ubukata – Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development What has Bridgestone worked on during today’s two wet sessions? “In conditions such as we have faced today, we can work on assessing the durability of our wet weather tyres, even if the level of water on the track varied during the day. We looked at soft and medium specification tyres over the two sessions and I am reasonably satisfied with the balance of consistency and grip. The wear appearance from the tyres appears quite good, so we have a solid base from which we can work should the rain continue over the weekend.” How meaningful is the data accumulated from today? “We have been able to gather some useful information even in these difficult conditions, on the durability side especially. Tyre performance appeared consistent from full wet to damp conditions and degradation levels seem encouraging for the race distance. As far as I recall we have not a lot of wet track time in Valencia, certainly not in the last few years, so it has been an interesting first experience for us with our latest specification wet weather tyres. Of course we always prefer a dry race and if this is the case it would be beneficial to have some dry running tomorrow, in order to evaluate our slick tyre options for the weekend. If the rain does persist, though, we have some valuable data from today with which we can work.” Bridgestone-shod Riders’ Combined Practice Session Results Pos. Rider Team Session 1 (pos) Session 2 (pos) Gap P2 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 1m49.580s (P4) 1m45.864s (P2) +0.087s P4 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1m51.721s (P13) 1m46.070s (P4) +0.293s P5 Casey Stoner Ducati Corse 1m48.469s (P2) 1m46.260s (P5) +0.483s P8 Sylvain Guintoli Alice Team 1m49.887s (P5) 1m47.055s (P8) +1.278s P10 Shinya Nakano San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m50.879s (P9) 1m47.483s (P10) +1.706s P11 Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m50.760s (P8) 1m47.620s (P11) +1.843s P12 Alex de Angelis San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m52.960s (P15) 1m48.015s (P12) +2.238s P13 Marco Melandri Ducati Corse 1m53.083s (P16) 1m48.437s (P13) +2.660s P14 John Hopkins Kawasaki Racing Team 1m52.798s (P14) 1m48.469s (P14) +2.692s P15 Anthony West Kawasaki Racing Team 1m50.397s (P7) 1m48.504s (P15) +2.727s P17 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m51.251s (P12) 1m49.092s (P17) +3.315s P18 Toni Elias Alice Team 1m53.119s (P17) 1m51.871s (P18) +6.094s Weather: Session 1 / Wet Air 16°C, Track 13°C Session 2 / Wet Air 16°C, Track 13°C More, from a press release issued by JiR Team Scot Honda: Andrea Dovizioso 6th in first day of testing at Valencia Autumn weather welcomed the MotoGP riders involved in the first day of free practice for the Grand Prix of Valencia. With an ambient temperature of 15 degrees Celsius, the morning round was played under rain, which continued to fall incessantly, forcing all riders to stop before the end because of the slippery Tarmac and puddles that were on the surface. The weather conditions then improved in the afternoon, and on a wet track Andrea Dovizioso took sixth position, satisfied with the work and performance of his wet tyres from Michelin. The JiR Team Scot rider will continue tomorrow if the weather does not improve, to develop his Honda RC212V to contest the race in wet or damp conditions. Cirano Mularoni Team Manager JiR Team Scot “The first day of practice has been marked by rain, but the team has been able to cope well. Andrea has been able to be fast from the first minute and was always to stay in the high-ranking positions, but it is also important that we are working in the right direction. Forecasts indicate that the weather could remain unstable. Shame, because it would be nice to close this season with a sunny day!” Andrea Dovizioso Rider JiR Team Scot MotoGP HONDA RC212V 6th time: 1’46 “522 “This afternoon we have done a good job with both the team and Michelin. I am happy with the result that we have reached, because under these conditions It was not easy to go fast and many riders have been slow. This morning we started working on a wet setting, but we stopped testing with ten minutes to go as the conditions were just too bad and we would be taking unnecessary risks. In the afternoon the track was still damp, I tried to run with three types of tyres from the wet range and we understood the way to go for practice tomorrow, if the weather does not change. I did want to try another configuration, to anticipate conditions tomorrow but we did not have time. Either way, I am confident that tomorrow we can improve. ” Gianni Berti Technical Co-ordinator – JiR Team Scot “Today we did a very good job with Andrea and the Team. We tried different configurations from wet tyres and interpreted well the changing conditions of the circuit. We are working in the right direction and if it were to rain tomorrow we will revert to our second practice program. Michelin has other tyre proposals that we will evaluate on the second day.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racers Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi were again hindered in their preparations for a MotoGP race, as yet another rain-affected day hit the paddock. Vermeulen (P11, 1’47.620, 30 laps) and Capirossi (P17, 1’49.092, 33 laps) used the two wet sessions today to search for the best set-up for their respective Suzuki GSV-Rs in rain conditions. Unfortunately both riders were left frustrated as they felt an important day’s testing had again been lost to the weather at the 4,005m Spanish track. Heavy overnight rain had left the Valencian circuit very wet, before more rain this morning forced both Suzuki riders to sit out the final minutes of the first session as conditions became too dangerous out on track. As the downpour eased in the afternoon the surface never had a chance to dry out as cool air kept the track temperatures down to 17ºC. Today’s best time was set by Nicky Hayden on his factory Honda. Rizla Suzuki has one more free practice session tomorrow morning before the hour of qualifying in the afternoon. Vermeulen and Capirossi will both be hoping for better conditions to prepare for what the whole team hopes will be a dry 30-lap race on Sunday at 14.00hrs local time (13.00hrs GMT). Chris Vermeulen: “It was a difficult day today with the weather; it was very cold and wet unlike Malaysia last week when it was hot and wet! It made it quite hard to get going in the cold this morning, but the bike did seem to work pretty well straight out of the box so everything seems to be ok there. As the track conditions changed, with even more rain, we went out and tried even more settings in those conditions just in case the race is like that and we feel as though we are prepared if that happens. Hopefully tomorrow will be dry and we’ll get some time on slicks so we can prepare for the race.” Loris Capirossi: “Today has been very tough because we have been working all day to find the best solution to the conditions. It feels like I have zero grip on the rear and every time I lean the bike over I feel like I am going to lose it. We tried many things with settings and in the end we changed a lot of things and immediately went one second quicker, but the session was then over and we couldn’t keep on working to see what more improvements we could make. We certainly have a lot of work to do because we are still far away from the top and we still don’t really understand why we have the problem with the rear, but we will be looking at the data to see what is happening we really hope it rains tomorrow so we can fix the problem. We know we have to go much better, and we certainly have the capability to do so!” Paul Denning Team Manager: “There is no hiding the fact that today has been disappointing. We came here with very high hopes, but we were left today searching for better weather, better performance and requiring a big step in rear grip, particularly in the wet but drying conditions towards the end of this afternoon’s session. At the end it certainly became very difficult for us to get confidence and positive feedback out of the package. Other Bridgestone guys have gone very quickly today in these conditions, so it is clear that we have a lot of work to do tonight, and into tomorrow, if the weather stays the same.” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: STONER FIFTH AND MELANDRI THIRTEENTH ON DAY ONE AT VALENCIA Free practice for the final Grand Prix of the 2008 season got underway today, with the last two days’ rain continuing at the Cheste circuit and contributing to a somewhat lethargic atmosphere that brought back memories of the final day of the school term. There was little in the way of excitement for the riders, who were forced to lap with a wet setting throughout the day on a treacherously slippery circuit that contributed to a series of crashes. Casey Stoner was one of the riders to slide off the track during the morning session, the crash slowing down set-up work for this notoriously tight circuit and limiting him to the fifth fastest time in the afternoon session. The Australian is hoping for better conditions tomorrow as he finalises preparations for Sunday’s race. Marco Melandri’s problems continued as he struggled to the thirteenth fastest time. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 5th fastest: 1’46.260 “So far things haven’t gone too well and we’re still a long way off with the set-up. For the past few races we’ve struggled a little more than usual in the wet and even though we’ve managed to sort it out in the past we’ve not done so here yet. We’re lacking a bit of rear traction and we need to improve corner entry too. This morning I crashed without any kind of warning from the bike although there was a lot of water at that particular point and maybe I was a little outside the usual line. I wasn’t hurt and in general the wrist isn’t as bad in the wet anyway. We know what changes we need to make to the bike tomorrow if the conditions are the same. We know we can do better than that, we just need to work hard.” MARCO MELANDRI (Ducati Marlboro Team) 13th fastest: 1’48.437 “It seems that the rain is following us wherever we go. Anyway, today was difficult for us, like all season has been, and I can’t just blame that on the weather. I don’t have any feeling with the bike and I can’t ride it how I want to here.” More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: LORENZO IN FAST FORM ON RAINY RETURN TO SPAIN Jorge Lorenzo made a return to home soil in Valencia today but it was a somewhat rainy homecoming for the 21-year-old as the final race of the season got underway. The Fiat Yamaha rider formed a bright spot in the gloom however as his M1 is carrying a special paint job for this race, incorporating the national flag of each of the 14 countries in which he has won during his world championship career. This morning’s first free practice session was run in very heavy rain but Lorenzo made a good start and was third fastest. This afternoon, in slightly drier conditions, he made more progress with the wet setting of his Yamaha and his Michelin rain tyres and was once again third fastest. With today’s weather looking a possibility for tomorrow as well, the rookie and his crew will be looking to continue improvements, especially to the front-end of his bike, in order to maximise their potential before qualifying. Lorenzo’s world champion team-mate Valentino Rossi was unhurt in a low-speed crash this afternoon and finished just behind Lorenzo in fourth, with Nicky Hayden leading the way. Jorge Lorenzo Position: 3rd Time: 1’45.959 Laps: 39 “It’s a pity to be coming to Spain in the rain but anyway we made a good start today and I am quite happy. This morning was very wet and it was quite difficult to ride, but this afternoon the conditions were a bit better and I was able to be quite a lot faster and also do some good work on the set-up of my bike. My Michelin tyres are working well in the rain and I think we can make some more progress tomorrow if it’s like this again, although of course I hope for sunshine! It’s nice to be back in Europe but it’s very busy for a Spanish rider at Spanish race and I have to have a lot of time for everybody! I have a special livery on my bike, which I like very much; it has the flags of all the countries where I have won and was designed by a member of the public in an Italian competition. It’s all of ‘Lorenzo’s Lands’!” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “This has been a positive and useful day for us. We found a good base to work from in the wet and the bike and our Michelin tyres are working well so far. We need to improve some areas for tomorrow, especially in the front end, and so we will work on refining this setting if this weather continues. Of course we hope for a dry session before the race so we can be prepared for all conditions!!” More, from another press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: ROSSI FOURTH ON RAINY OPENING DAY IN VALENCIA The traditional MotoGP season finale got underway in Valencia today in miserable weather conditions, with rain falling throughout the day. World Champion Valentino Rossi, chasing his tenth win of the season, was fourth overall despite a slip-off in this afternoon’s second free practice session. This morning’s session was run in very heavy rain and cool temperatures, and Rossi completed just eight laps of the 4km circuit. The afternoon saw the rain ease off somewhat however and the Italian and his crew were able to make more headway with their wet-weather set-up, completing 21 laps and finishing the session fourth fastest. Rossi was luckily unhurt when he lost the rear at the last corner and slid into the gravel in the first half of the session and was able to remount and continue work on his second machine. Rossi’s Spanish team-mate Jorge Lorenzo had a promising opening day at his home race, finishing third in both sessions whilst Nicky Hayden topped the time sheets in both the morning and afternoon. Valentino Rossi Position: 4th Time: 1’46.070 Laps: 29 “Today was a difficult day because this track is quite bad when it’s wet and cold like this the asphalt really doesn’t give enough grip. This morning I went out just when it started to get really heavy and so I wasn’t able to do any good laps, but this afternoon was better. In fact I felt good and I was quite fast with the Bridgestone wet tyres, so I think we have good potential if the conditions are like this again. Unfortunately I had a small crash at the last corner when I made a mistake and lost the rear, but I wasn’t hurt at all and I was able to go back out with a slightly harder tyre and continue to work. Anyway, we were fourth finally and I am quite happy although we can be faster. Now we have to wait and see the weather for tomorrow.” Davide Brivio Team Manager “This morning the rain was very heavy and we only made a few laps. This afternoon it was better weather so that’s when we really started working, in what were reasonably wet but not soaking conditions. Things weren’t so bad and Valentino was up there with the fastest riders, but we definitely have a bit more work to do. He had a small crash when he lost rear grip at the last corner and slid off, but it was very slow and he wasn’t hurt. It seems that it’s likely that this weather is going to continue, unfortunately, so now we need to put together all the information we gathered today and continue to improve things tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: HAYDEN FASTEST IN REPSOL HONDA ONE-TWO Valencia Grand Prix, Valencia Ricardo Tormo circuit First day of practice, Friday October 24 2008 Repsol Honda RC212V rider Nicky Hayden made a perfect start to the 2008 season finale at Valencia today, heading both morning and afternoon practice sessions. His team-mate Dani Pedrosa was a close second quickest, giving the Repsol Honda team a one-two start to the weekend. Fittingly, for the last race of the wettest GP season in living memory, both of today’s sessions were run in the wet, Hayden showing his mastery of the slippery Valencia circuit on his Michelin-equipped RCV. This morning’s outing was run in heavy rain, conditions improving slightly this afternoon, with less surface water on the track, which allowed Hayden to better his first session time by almost two seconds. Nicky Hayden, fastest, 1m 45.777s “It was pretty soggy out there, just rain all day. The bike, the team, everything was on point today, now we’ve just got to keep it rolling, because nobody’s going to remember who was quickest Friday come Sunday night. The bike and tyres and everything worked pretty good straight away today. We’ve been using basically the same rain settings I’ve been using since Sachsenring, they’ve worked at different tracks and they’re working good here, though this track doesn’t have a lot of grip, so to go any faster we need to sweeten it up a bit. I like being fastest and if it means staying wet all weekend then that would be fine for me, but honestly I hope it dries up. It’s going to be a hard weekend, just trying to stay on top, everybody’s pushing hard, but we’re off to a good start and I’m having fun. If it dries up tomorrow we don’t think finding a set-up should be too difficult, because the last couple of races we’ve been using relatively the same settings. The main thing is going to be tyre choice, that’s going to be real tough, because there’s not going to be much dry time, but it’s the same for everybody.” Kazuhiko Yamano – Team Manager “Nicky did a very good job today, he and his crew found a good set-up very quickly, so they could be fastest in both sessions. Michelin tyres are working very well here in these difficult conditions. The latest weather forecast suggests that conditions will improve tomorrow, so Nicky and his team will have to come up with a dry setting, working towards the race on Sunday.” More, from another press release issued by Repsol Honda: PEDROSA SECOND IN REPSOL HONDA ONE-TWO Valencia Grand Prix, Valencia Ricardo Tormo circuit First day of practice, Friday October 24 2008 Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa rode superbly in today’s opening two practice sessions for Sunday’s season-ending Valencia Grand Prix. Fourth this morning in treacherously wet and slippery conditions, he improved his pace this afternoon when the track was slightly less wet, ending the day second fastest, less than a tenth of a second off his team-mate Nicky Hayden. Weather forecasts suggest that conditions will improve from tomorrow, with the possibility of a few light showers on Saturday and plenty of sunshine on race day. Pedrosa will therefore have only two sessions tomorrow in which to work on the dry set-up of his RCV in preparation for Sunday’s race. Winner here last year and a podium finisher at the two of the last three races, Pedrosa is aiming to finish 2008 on a high here. Dani Pedrosa, 2nd fastest, 1m 45.864s “Conditions were difficult today. It rained pretty much the whole day and the asphalt was quite slippery. In these conditions we couldn’t work so much on the set-up, but anyway we were able to find a good compromise that allowed us to be quite fast. During the afternoon session the track dried out a little bit up, so we were able to improve our lap times and ride with a good rhythm. My Bridgestone wet tyres worked well today, but I hope that we can have two dry sessions tomorrow so that we can work on the set-up in preparation of the race.” Kazuhiko Yamano – Team Manager “Conditions were quite tricky today, with heavy rain this morning and the track was still very wet this afternoon. Dani could ride quite fast with a good setting for these conditions, and his Bridgestone tyres worked well in both sessions. Tomorrow will be a busy day, with hopefully a dry track which will allow Dani to fine tune his machine for Sunday’s race, when he will target victory.” More, from a press release issued by Kawaaki Racing Team: SEASON FINALE OPENS WITH WET WEATHER AT VALENCIA The 2008 MotoGP season finale got to a very wet start at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia today, with Kawasaki’s John Hopkins and Anthony West concluding the opening practice sessions in 14th and 15th positions respectively. Following the blistering heat of Malaysia last weekend, conditions today could not have been any more of a contrast, with low track temperatures and heavy rainfall present throughout the two, hour-long sessions. Both Hopkins and West found it difficult to negotiate the Valencia circuit aboard their Ninja ZX-RR race machines, as a super-slippery track surface made grip difficult to predict at maximum lean angles. The two MotoGP pilots suffered with similar troubles, as rear traction issues were compounded by the slick conditions. The predominantly left-handed circuit caught out many of the Kawasaki duo’s rivals in each of the crash-filled practice stints, despite the rain faltering late on in the afternoon session. Hopkins, who spent some time evaluating new engine components today, is hoping that with the predicted weather improvements over the weekend, he will be able to make further progress in preparation for the final race of the year. The 25-year-old Anglo-American was struggling to get the bike over at full lean, as the wet and cold conditions made it incredibly difficult to get heat into the rear tyre of his machine. West, who will campaign the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR for one final time this Sunday, was also troubled with rear traction issues, particularly on corner entry. The 27-year-old struggled to find the drive and stability he needs when cornering. West is hopeful that set-up changes to his machine overnight will improve the situation for tomorrow’s qualifying session. John Hopkins #21 – 14th – 1’48.469 “Going from the heat of Malaysia to the freezing cold conditions of Valencia has been a huge change and the conditions on circuit were pretty bad today. In the first session there was a lot of standing water on track and a lot of the guys decided to sit out the final 15-minutes as the rain worsened. It was so bad I hardly got my knee down at all and I had a few big moments out there. We had a few problems this afternoon with one of our machines, but we have spent the entire time trying to improve the rear grip of the bike. We also evaluated new engine components, but because of the conditions the results aren’t conclusive, as we weren’t able to ride at the maximum today. They say the weather is going to improve, but either way we have some things to try should it carry on raining tomorrow.” Anthony West #13 – 15th – 1’48.504 “It’s incredibly slippery out there on track, and this is a circuit that is supposed to flow, so it’s been quite hard work today. The bike feels quite nervous and I can’t get hard on the brakes into the turns. Then, whenever I get on the throttle it just feels like I’m going to highside, although for some strange reason everything felt perfect at turn two. The conditions on circuit were not good, in fact many of the riders sat out the final part of the first session, so it’s difficult to see where we’re at. Hopefully things will improve for tomorrow as I’m determined to finish the final race of the year with a good result.” Fiorenzo Fanali Hopkins’ Crew Chief “The temperatures out on track have been quite low today as it’s very cold and wet. We’ve tried some different settings to try to make the rear tyre work better in these conditions, and we’ve also worked on improving our engine braking along with the traction control to help John through the turns. We have progressively improved our lap time, but if we want to be competitive we need to refine our set-up further. The biggest difficulty at this track is there are quite a lot more turns to the left than to the right, so we need to check the data overnight and try to improve the grip level in the right-side of the tyre for tomorrow. We have also introduced new engine parts today, but we really need dry conditions to evaluate these properly.” More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: DE PUNIET SEVENTH FASTEST AT VALENCIA GP OPENING DAY Valencia, 24 October: LCR Honda MotoGP Team racer Randy de Puniet began to set up his Honda machine with the seventh fastest time in today’s wet free practice sessions at the Ricardo Tormo circuit which hosts the ultimate round of 2008 season this week end. In cool and rainy autumn conditions, Randy worked through his Michelin race tyre and set-up options aboard his Honda RC212V for Sunday’s 30-lap race. The 27-yeard-old struggled with rear grip and right wrist pain in this morning fully wet first free session at the 4.005 Km race track but improved his pace in the afternoon’s session clocking his quickest time of 1’46.807. Randy will continue further evaluation of rear tyres in tomorrow’s practice and qualifying. American rider Nicky Hayden set the fastest time of the day (1’45.777). De Puniet 7th: “The weather is very bad and it’s not easy to ride in these conditions. This morning, in the wet, I decided to avoid any unnecessary risk as my wrist still aches a lot so we made only 6 laps. Then in the afternoon we faced some rear grip issues but we could not really fixed them but, after some suspension adjustments, my pace in the wet started to be more consistent. I am really pleased with the overall package but I am worried about my wrist because it’s very hard for me to ride in these conditions”. More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Determined to take a pole position and race victory to sign-off his stay with Repsol Honda, Nicky Hayden took the initiative in the MotoGP Free Practice sessions on Friday. The American was the quickest in both the morning opener and matinee performance in preparation for the Gran Premio Parts Europe de la Comunitat Valenciana, the final race of the 2008 season. Whereas in 2006 Hayden was getting soaked by Cava on the Sunday in Valencia after confirming the World Championship title, in this year´s initial pair of sessions the only spray was that thrown up from the track in a damp day of riding. The words `rainy´ and `foggy´ may bring back fond memories to motorcycle fans, but for the riders such conditions will make fine-tuning their setups extra difficult in preparation for race day. Hayden recorded a 1´45.777 lap in the quicker afternoon session, edging out teammate and 2007 Valencia racewinner Dani Pedrosa by less than a tenth of a second. Pedrosa produced the fastest top speed of the session at 301.8km/h, over 6km/h more than any other rider. Behind the factory Honda duo, Fiat Yamaha made their own collective charge for the top of the timesheet, led by Spanish rookie Jorge Lorenzo. The 800cc debutant is using a special white livery adorned with various flags this weekend, and with such an eye-catching design the onus is on him to go fast. He was just under two-tenths of a second down on Hayden´s time, at the scene of his first formal test for Yamaha one year ago. Teammate and 2008 MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi placed fourth in the session, although his day was blighted by a lowside crash on the final turn of the track. Unable to restart his M1, Rossi had to return to the garage by foot in order to ride the second bike, but he put his standby machine to good use with times faster than those of the morning session. A crasher in the pre-lunch session, Ducati´s Casey Stoner was fifth quickest, ahead of Andrea Dovizioso, Randy de Puniet, Sylvain Guintoli, Colin Edwards and Shinya Nakano. Over 1.5 seconds separated the top ten. Also crashing in the session was Toni Elias, flung from his satellite Ducati bike early on. 250cc In an afternoon qualifying session in which four of the top five riders all suffered crashes, home participant Alex Debon put himself on provisional pole for the Gran Premio Parts Europe de la Comunitat Valenciana. The Lotus Aprilia rider came back from a lowside fall to put down a time of 1´50.001, nearly four-tenths of a second quicker than anything any other 250cc rider could muster in a damp outing. Red Bull KTM riders Hiroshi Aoyama and Mika Kallio both entering their final race for their current team before moving on to pastures new, were the two closest to Debon´s marker, separated by just 0.005. Aoyama fell early on in the session, whilst future Ducati MotoGP satellite rider Kallio left his machine in an unhealthy shape after crashing late. Rounding off the provisional front row is new World Champion Marco Simoncelli, who avoided hitting the deck. The Metis Gilera man had previously been the fastest rider in the morning run. One of the final riders to crash on a tricky Friday afternoon, Mattia Pasini heads the temporary second row. He is joined by Julian Simon, Imre Toth and Lukas Pesek, with series runner-up Alvaro Bautista leading off row three. 125cc Aiming for his fourth pole position of the 2008 campaign and second place in the overall standings- Simone Corsi got off on the right track in the wet at Valencia with the provisional 125cc top spot. The Italian recorded a time of 1´59.809 in the first qualifying session for the Gran Premio Parts Europe de la Comunitat Valenciana, an outing that took place on a soaking circuit. Jack&Jones WRB rider Corsi was just over a tenth of a second faster than nearest rival Lorenzo Zanetti, as the ISPA Aran KTM rider once again proved to be adept at tackling a wet track. Stopping the clock at dead on 2´00, Stevie Bonsey was third quickest in the session, despite a crash late on in the session that saw him hanging onto his DeGraaf Grand Prix Aprilia as it rode through the gravel. Dominique Aegerter placed fourth, with Bonsey´s teammate Danny Webb showing the same kind of qualifying form that took him to an eventually ill-fated front row last weekend in Malaysia. Home rider Nico Terol was also in the top ten, ahead of Hugo van den Berg, Joan Olive, Raffaele de Rosa and Robin Lasser. 2007 World Champion Gabor Talmacsi finished the session eleventh fastest, whilst new titlist Mike di Meglio languished in 25th after a crash. More, from a press release issued by Tech 3 Yamaha: Tech 3 Yamaha looking to improve in Valencia Cool and wet weather greeted the Tech 3 Yamaha team for the start of the final round of the 2008 MotoGP world championship in Valencia today, with Colin Edwards and James Toseland ninth and 16th in tricky conditions. After torrential rain had battered the Valencia circuit this morning, conditions improved slightly for this afternoon’s second session, though track conditions were still treacherously slippery as Edwards and Toseland began their quest to end 2008 on a high note. Sixth in the rain-lashed first session, weight distribution changes to his Yamaha YZR-M1 machine helped Edwards climb as high as fourth under grey and gloomy but dry skies this afternoon. His best time of 1.47.314 eventually saw him finish ninth overall, just over a second outside of the top three as the Texan attempts to claim a top six world championship finish in Sunday’s 30-lap race. Today’s inclement weather made it a challenging return to a circuit Toseland has vast experience on from his World Superbike days. The British rider gradually built up his confidence in the slippery conditions to post the 11th best time this morning. The 28-year-old was able to improve his lap time by 1.5s in the second session, though he had to settle for 16th overall having encountered some issues with rear grip. With forecasts predicting a repeat of the wet and cool conditions tomorrow, Toseland is confident planned overnight changes to improve rear feel will help his bid to claim a top ten overall championship placing. Colin Edwards 9th 1.47.314 38 laps “We started with the rain setting I used to back at Donington Park and it felt fine, but it uses quite a lot of weight on the front. So we tweaked it to get some more weight on the rear tyre and I felt pretty good. I’m really happy with the soft rain tyre that Michelin has got. This track is pretty tough to judge in the rain but with the softer tyre I’m reasonably happy with my pace. I tried a couple of harder tyres and didn’t have the same confidence, but the soft tyre we are not sure if it will have the endurance for 30-laps if it rains on Sunday. I’m going to try and make some more changes with the team overnight to get a bit more weight on the rear to see if we can just to get a bit more confidence. This track in the rain is really tough and conditions were quite difficult. It is a weird feeling because you can’t really push like you can in wet conditions on other tracks. Normally you can get the front and the rear moving and you’re feeling for grip, but here it is all or nothing. You can’t spin the rear and feel what its doing on this track. You’ve either got grip or you haven’t and you don’t get a lot of warning when there is no grip as we saw with a few guys crashing out. There is still a lot to fight for on Sunday so I’m reasonably happy with progress today.” James Toseland 16th 1.48.771 41 laps “It was a tough day and we’ve got to find something to improve because the forecasts are for more rain tomorrow, and I need to find a bit more from the bike. I just didn’t have a very good feeling and I’m not happy, but I’ve got some ideas. In those greasy conditions I just haven’t got enough feel from the rear and we need to find a lot more contact with the rear tyre. It feels a bit like riding around on eggshells at the moment. I’m not too far away but I’ve definitely got to make a step with the direction I think will work. I just need more weight on the rear to give me more confidence. This track is always tricky in the wet. When it is heavy rain, everybody has a respect for the place because they know how easy it is to get caught out. But when it is drying out, it doesn’t give more grip, even though there is less water on the surface. People get sucked into thinking they can go faster and you don’t get any warning before you get a big slide. This wasn’t the start I wanted with tenth place in the championship to battle for on Sunday, but I’m confident we can make some big improvements.”