FIM 125cc GP World Championship Mugello, Italy June 3 Final Qualifying Results: 1. Lukas PESEK (Derbi) 1:58.202 2. Mattia PASINI (Aprilia) 1:58.335 3. Hector FAUBEL (Aprilia) 1:58.851 4. Fabrizio LAI (Honda) 1:58.934 5. Alvaro BAUTISTA (Aprilia) 1:59.008 6. Pablo NIETO (Aprilia) 1:59.337 7. Gabor TALMACSI (Honda) 1:59.415 8. Mika KALLIO (KTM) 1:59.422 9. Angel RODRIGUEZ (Aprilia) 1:59.430 10. Sandro CORTESE (Honda) 1:59.506

FIM MotoGP World Championship Mugello, Italy June 3 Combined Best Practice Times: 1. Loris CAPIROSSI (Duc GP6), 1:50.272, Bridgestone 2. Nicky HAYDEN (Hon RC211V), 1:50.474, Michelin 3. Valentino ROSSI (Yam YZR-M1), 1:50.478, Michelin 4. Sete GIBERNAU (Duc GP6), 1:50.944, Bridgestone 5. Colin EDWARDS (Yam YZR-M1), 1:50.950, Michelin 6. Casey STONER (Hon RC211V), 1:50.955, Michelin 7. John HOPKINS (Suz GSV-R), 1:51.081, Bridgestone 8. Marco MELANDRI (Hon RC211V), 1:51.088, Michelin 9. Dani PEDROSA (Hon RC211V), 1:51.255, Michelin 10. Randy DE PUNIET (Kaw ZX-RR), 1:51.303, Bridgestone 11. Toni ELIAS (Hon RC211V), 1:51.346, Michelin 12. Kenny Lee ROBERTS (Hon KR211V), 1:51.428, Michelin 13. Shinya NAKANO (Kaw ZX-RR), 1:51.677, Bridgestone 14. Makoto TAMADA (Hon RC211V), 1:52.195, Michelin 15. Chris VERMEULEN (Suz GSV-R), 1:52.459, Bridgestone 16. Carlos CHECA (Yam YZR-M1), 1:52.511, Dunlop 17. James ELLISON (Yam YZR-M1), 1:53.907, Dunlop 18. Alex HOFMANN (Duc GP5), 1:54.103, Dunlop 19. Jose Luis CARDOSO (Duc GP5), 1:54.622, Dunlop

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies claimed the provisional AMA Superbike pole position with a new lap record during qualifying Friday at Road America, in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Spies, the current AMA Superbike Championship point leader, rode his Dunlop-shod GSX-R1000 around the four-mile-long road course in 2:12.156, faster than Mat Mladin’s 2005 lap record of 2:12.554. Spies told reporters that he did the time on a possible race tire and with less-than-ideal gearing. He predicted that he could do a 2:11 lap time in Saturday’s final qualifying session with better gearing and one of his two, rear qualifying tires. Six-time and defending AMA Superbike Champion Mladin was second-fastest in Friday’s qualifying session with a 2:12.800, but he was the fastest man overall Friday with the 2:12.120 he did in Friday morning practice. According to Spies, Mladin did not use a qualifying tire Friday afternoon. American Honda’s Jake Zemke (2:13.339) and Miguel Duhamel (2:13.407) were third- and fourth-fastest, respectively, on their CBR1000RRs. AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin June 2 Provisional Qualifying Results: 1. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:12.156 2. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:12.800 3. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:13.339 4. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:13.407 5. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:14.060 6. Neil Hodgson (Duc 999F06), 2:14.470 7. Tommy Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:14.588 8. Ben Bostrom (Duc 999F06), 2:14.610 9. Larry Pegram (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:16.132 10. Jason Pridmore (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:16.285 11. Jake Holden (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:16.464 12. Steve Rapp (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:16.822 13. Matt Lynn (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:16.933 14. Marty Craggill (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:17.817 15. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:18.050 16. Jason Curtis (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:18.073 17. Lee Acree (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:18.087 18. Akira Tamitsuji (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:18.638 19. Cory West (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:18.984 20. Eric Wood (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:19.155 21. Taylor Knapp (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:19.588 22. Fernando Amantini (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:19.901 23. Jesse Janisch (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:20.762 24. Dean Mizdal (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:21.086 25. Brad Hendry (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:21.398 26. Scott Jensen (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:21.837 27. C.R. Gittere (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:22.066 28. Mike Sullivan (Yam YZF-R1), 2:22.872 29. Michael Sanchez (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:23.113 30. Marcin Blernacki (Yam YZF-R1), 2:24.198 31. Paul Heinen (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:25.318 32. Marco Martinez (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:25.668 33. James Kerker (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:25.721 34. Greg Fryer (Yam YZF-R1), 2:26.292 35. Eric Haugo (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:31.833 More, from a press release issued by Parts Unlimited Ducati: HODGSON AND BOSTROM PREPARE FOR ROAD AMERICA RACE SHOWDOWN Elkhart Lake (Wisconsin) June 2 2006: Parts Unlimited Ducati Team racers Neil Hodgson and Ben Bostrom completed qualifying at Road America on Friday, placing their Ducati 999 Superbikes on the provisional second row. Hodgson was sixth with a time of 2:14.470 and Bostrom was eighth at 2:14.611. The AMA Superbike field completed qualifying just before a rainstorm hit the beautiful Wisconsin circuit.

Neil Hodgson headed a group of three factory riders within two tenths of a second. Still, the Englishman was disappointed not to be on the provisional front row. “A frustrating day, really,” said Hodgson, a race winner at Elkhart Lake last season. “It was anything but smooth for us today as we had some small problems. It was compounded by the long track. If something goes wrong, you have a long way to ride before you come back around. That cut into our track time. We’ll see what we can do tomorrow, come out fighting and see what we come up with.” Ben Bostrom was almost as fast as his teammate on Friday. “Since I was racing World Superbike last year, I haven’t been here for a while and I wasn’t riding my best today. Any time you’re riding a new bike or a new track, it takes a little while to get into your groove,” said Bostrom, who said the weather didn’t affect him. “There were a few drops out there but not what I would call rain.” Both racers will return to the track for qualifying tomorrow and a 16-lap race at 3:30 local time.

When AMA racers tested at Miller Motorsports Park (MMP) in April, they told officials with the track that they had concerns over the arrangement of the pit lane exit. Several riders felt it was unsafe to have slow traffic exit pit lane directly onto the racing line in front of traffic traveling in excess of 160 mph on the long, fast front straightaway. Riders asked track officials to extend the pit out exit lane all the way down and around turn one, with the pit out exit lane going through the run-off area of turn one, similar to the arrangement at the Grand Prix and World Superbike circuit in Valencia, Spain. Another option the riders asked for was to add flexible pylons to separate the pit out acceleration lane from the front straightaway, similar to the layout used at Laguna Seca to prevent riders from going straight from pit lane to the racing line in a dangerous area. When the AMA riders returned to MMP for a test last week, May 24-25, they only found that the pit out acceleration lane had been extended and that a line had been painted on the track to differentiate the pit out acceleration lane from the racetrack. This is unacceptable to Eric Bostrom, who attended both tests. “Something needs to be done,” Bostrom told Roadracingworld.com Friday at Road America. “You cannot have a race meeting with that situation, with basically no pit out. Pit out puts you right out on the racing line in the fastest part of the racetrack, so it has to be addressed.” Bostrom said he found it strange that the track hadn’t added the flexible pylons between the pit out acceleration lane and the front straight when flexible pylons had been added onto the curbs in several corners. Dan Solomon, MMP Director of Motorcycle Operations, confirmed to Roadracingworld.com that the track had lengthened the pit out acceleration lane since the April test but had not added pylons for a number of reasons. “If we added permanent pylons there it would affect our ability to quickly and easily reconfigure the racetrack,” explained Solomon. “And if we make the pylons removable, it will leave holes in the racetrack. But having said that, we haven’t completely ruled out adding the pylons. “We are committed to providing the best, safest racetrack we reasonably can. We’re trying to be as accommodating as we can while keeping our configuration options open.” Solomon pointed out that MMP was adding more curbing to ‘West Hook’ at the request of Neil Hodgson, who saw the track for the first time last week. Both Bostrom and Solomon said a possible compromise to the pit out situation might be to use orange traffic cones to differentiate the pit out acceleration lane from the front straightaway, a configuration that served well for many years at Brainerd International Raceway.

The following photos were taken on June 1, 2006 of the safety improvements being made at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca to prepare for the seventh round of AMA Superbike and the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix to be held on July 21-23.

PICKERINGTON, Ohio — AMA Pro Racing and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca announced today that the AMA Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series will run at the upcoming Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix, featuring the MotoGP World Championship and the AMA Superbike Championship at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on July 21-23. AMA’s Formula Xtreme class will join the AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited, Pro Honda Oils Supersport Championship presented by Shoei and the Repsol Lubricants Superstock Series. “We’re pleased to be able to add Formula Xtreme to the AMA program for the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix,” said AMA Pro Racing Vice President of Commercial Development, John C. Farris, Jr. “Last year we were unable to feature the class because of the heavily impacted schedule and lack of paddock space but this year we’ve been able to work with Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca officials to feature all four classes of the AMA Superbike Championship.” The Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca event is round seven on the 11-round AMA Superbike Championship. For additional information, log onto www.amasuperbike.com. Tickets are available by calling (800) 327-SECA or on-line at www.RedBullUSGrandPrix.com

MONT-TREMBLANT, QC Parts Canada Superbike Championship points leader Jordan Szoke continued his hot streak on the opening day of action at Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant on Friday. The Brantford, ON rider led a Canadian Kawasaki factory 1-2 in practice for Sunday’s second round of the series, recording a fastest lap of one minute, 40.135 seconds for an average speed of 153.3 km/h on his Kawasaki ZX-10R. His teammate Tom Kipp of Chardon, OH set the second best time of 1:40.656 on another ZX-10R. Defending Parts Canada Superbike champion Francis Martin of Rock Forest, QC completed the top three at 1:41.252 on the Team Suzuki / Blackfoot Suzuki GSX-R1000. “I’m feeling really comfortable,” said Szoke, a two-time Canadian Superbike champion. “It’s an easy pace for us to do.” Szoke won the opening round of the national series at Shannonville Motorsport Park on May 21 and led the most laps to take an early points lead in the series. He comes into this weekend’s event with 54 points to the 42 of Kevin Lacombe and Martin’s 38. Lacombe, from Granby, QC, ended Friday with the fifth best practice time of 1:42.146 on his Picotte Performance / Yamaha / Toyota Yamaha YZF-R1, just ahead of his teammate Pascal Picotte of St-Cecile Milton, QC, who recorded a 1:42.547. Martin’s teammate Clint McBain of Calgary was fourth fastest at 1:41.493 aboard his Suzuki GSX-R1000. The Superbike competitors will get one more practice Saturday morning before qualifying for the Vicious-I Pole Position Award in the afternoon. Szoke’s best time came despite a wild ride on his fast lap, when he got caught going too quickly into the Namerow Hairpin that leads onto the front straight. “I guess I got a better drive than usual coming out from under the bridge,” he said. “I used the same brake marker but I didn’t get slowed down enough, and I endo’d over the hill at Namerow.” In other action at Le Circuit on Friday, Kipp was fastest in practice for the Hindle Exhaust Pro 600 Sport Bike national support class with a time of 1:42.896 (149.2 km/h) on his Canadian Kawasaki Motors Kawasaki ZX-6RR. Szoke, who skipped the afternoon session, was quickest in the morning and second fastest overall at 1:43.025. McBain placed third for the day at 1:43.294 riding the Team Suzuki / Blackfoot Suzuki GSX-R600. Opening round winner Karl Daigle of Roxton Pond, QC led practice for the International Motorcycle SUPERSHOW Amateur 600 Sport Bike class with a time of 1:48.136 on his Honda CBR600RR. Hamilton’s Ross Millson placed second at 1:48.866 on a Suzuki GSX-R600 and Saskatoon rider Brett McCormick was third with a 1:49.086 aboard a Yamaha YZF-R6. Mascouche, QC’s Jean-Francois Cyr paced Canadian Thunder practice on his BMW R1200S at 1:50.996 and Martin Grande of Montreal led the Suzuki SV650 Cup competitors with a 1:56.333. Qualifying for all five national classes will take place on Saturday afternoon. Feature races will go Sunday.

AMA Formula Xtreme qualifying has been temporarily delayed at Road America due to rain at the four-mile-long racetrack. As Superbike qualifying ended and Formula Xtreme qualifying began Friday afternoon, light, scattered rain sprinkles turned into a full-on rain shower. AMA Pro Racing has declared the event “wet” and will proceed with Formula Xtreme qualifying after a short delay to allow riders to change to rain tires. Shortly after AMA Pro Racing made the determination, however, it began to hail at the track. More details will be posted when they become available. Update: AMA Formula Xtreme qualifying has been postponed until Saturday morning, when it will replace a Formula Xtreme practice session that was already on the schedule. A rain shower hit Road America at the start of Formula Xtreme qualifying Friday afternoon, causing a delay for riders to change to rain tires. It rained long enough to completely soak the track, and then it stopped. Faced with a 6:00 p.m. noise curfew, AMA Pro Racing officials announced at 4:30 p.m. that FX qualifying had been postponed until Saturday due to there not being enough time to dry the racetrack and complete the qualifying session.

FIM MotoGP World Championship Mugello, Italy June 2 Friday’s Best Combined Practice Times: 1. Valentino ROSSI (Yam YZR-M1), 1:51.732 2. Loris CAPIROSSI (Duc GP6), 1:51.756 3. Sete GIBERNAU (Duc GP6), 1:52.012 4. John HOPKINS (Suz GSV-R), 1:52.082 5. Casey STONER (Hon RC211V), 1:52.101 6. Nicky HAYDEN (Hon RC211V), 1:52.177 7. Marco MELANDRI (Hon RC211V), 1:52.339 8. Kenny Lee ROBERTS (Hon KR211V), 1:52.350 9. Makoto TAMADA (Hon RC211V), 1:52.466 10. Shinya NAKANO (Kaw ZX-RR), 1:52.667 11. Toni ELIAS (Hon RC211V), 1:52.789 12. Dani PEDROSA (Hon RC211V), 1:52.819 13. Colin EDWARDS (Yam YZR-M1), 1:52.830 14. Randy DE PUNIET (Kaw ZX-RR), 1:53.129 15. Carlos CHECA (Yam YZR-M1), 1:53.453 16. Alex HOFMANN (Duc GP5), 1:54.103 17. Chris VERMEULEN (Suz GSV-R), 1:54.106 18. James ELLISON (Yam YZR-M1), 1:55.354 19. Jose Luis CARDOSO (Duc GP5), 1:55.637 More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: TOP TEN FOR NAKANO IN MUGELLO FREE PRACTICE Kawasaki’s Shinya Nakano and Randy de Puniet finished today’s second free practice in tenth and fourteenth positions respectively, as changeable weather at the Mugello circuit made for difficult conditions throughout the hour-long session. Shinya Nakano’s main aim during free practice was to run back-to-back comparison tests on his two Ninja ZX-RR machines; one of which features a new, more aerodynamically efficient, fairing and a new specification rear shock, while the other retains the same basic specification used during the French Grand Prix at Le Mans two weeks ago. Intermittent rain during this afternoon’s practice session meant that Nakano was unable to complete the planned number of laps aboard both bikes, but the 28-year-old Japanese rider is confident that the limited number of laps he was able to complete were enough to decide which specification of Ninja ZX-RR he will run during tomorrow’s practice and qualifying sessions. Nakano also tested different rear tyres from Bridgestone on both machines this afternoon, but will repeat the tests tomorrow before making any decision as to which tyre he will race on this weekend. Nakano’s Kawasaki teammate, Randy de Puniet, is confident that he can improve on his lap time tomorrow, after finishing this afternoon just over a second behind the fastest man on the track, Valentino Rossi. The 25-year-old Frenchman ended today happy with the set-up of his Ninja ZX-RR for the ultra-fast Mugello circuit, which he rates as one of his favourites on the MotoGP calendar. Like Nakano, de Puniet will concentrate tomorrow morning on identifying the best tyre for Sunday’s 23-lap Italian Grand Prix, before turning his attention to the all-important qualifying session tomorrow afternoon, in which he’ll be looking to repeat the impressive performance in Le Mans two weeks ago that saw him start the French Grand Prix from fourth position on the grid. Shinya Nakano: 10th – 1’52.667 “Conditions were quite changeable this afternoon. It rained just before the start of practice, so we started on wet tyres, but the track dried very quickly allowing us to switch back to slicks after just ten minutes. My two bikes were set-up quite differently this afternoon, with a new fairing and a new rear shock on one of them, so our main aim during practice was to run some back-to-back comparison tests. The conditions didn’t really help with the comparison, because we had light rain on and off throughout the session, but I think we have found the direction we need to take with the set-up for tomorrow. We also tested a couple of different rear tyres from Bridgestone, but again, the conditions weren’t ideal and I think we will leave any decision about race tyres until we’ve had a chance to do more laps during practice and qualifying tomorrow. It’s always difficult coming back to such a fast track after a year away; you need to recalibrate your brain and reacquaint yourself with the all-important braking markers. But, once you’ve done this, it’s an enjoyable track to race at.” Randy de Puniet: 14th – 1’53.129 “Both the morning and afternoon sessions were good, despite the constantly changing conditions making consistency difficult to achieve during the second session. But then the conditions were the same for everyone, and I’m happy enough with what we’ve achieved this afternoon. I was losing a little time through the final sector this morning, but we tried a few different lines this afternoon and I think that with a few more laps tomorrow I should be able to improve my speed through the final turn. Overall I feel comfortable on the bike, we won’t make so many changes overnight, and although I’m down in 14th place on the timesheet, we’re only just over a second from pole position. More importantly, I’m confident that tomorrow we can close the gap on pole position even further. I like this track. It’s definitely one of the best circuits we race at, and it’s a real pleasure to ride the Ninja ZX-RR here.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Marlboro Team: DUCATI MARLBORO MEN ON FRONT-ROW PACE Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau ended day one of the Italian Grand Prix second and third quickest, putting them in quietly confident mood for the team’s home race. The pair performed brilliantly in both today’s outings run in cool and changeable conditions, the afternoon session getting underway on a partially damp track, Capirossi and Gibernau preferring to wait in the pits until the circuit dried out enough to make practice worthwhile. Once on track, both men continued riding despite on-and-off drizzle because they are anxious to gather as much data as possible for Sunday’s race. Both riders rode their fastest laps in this morning’s fully dry session, Capirossi less than four tenths off ‘provisional pole’, Gibernau just three tenths down on his team-mate. LORIS CAPIROSSI, 2nd fastest, 1m 51.599s “Today was another difficult day because of the conditions. When the weather is always changing you can’t work effectively on bike set-up, and this is a tricky racetrack where you need the bike to be perfect from every point of view. But we started well today thanks to the work done here by our test rider Vittoriano Guareschi. He’s done a great job, though today’s conditions were very different from the conditions when he tested tyres here. It’s much cooler now, which doesn’t help. In general, things are going well. I was second quickest in both sessions so we are up front but we have a lot of tyres to test and I hope the weather gets better because I don’t want too many things to test in a short space of time, because I like to work towards the race calmly. The weather forecast for tomorrow is better but you never know, so we must maintain our concentration because Sunday is going to be very tough with a lot of fast riders. I just hope I will be among them…” SETE GIBERNAU, 3rd fastest, 1m 51.907s “As always, we are feeling very determined. I learned a lot about this bike at the first few races and one of the things we learned is that we need to ride as many laps as possible, so I can give my guys as much information as possible, so I stayed out this afternoon even when some spots of rain started falling. I think we’ve found a good direction with the bike and both the Ducati and my Bridgestone tyres are working pretty well here. This track has always been a difficult place for me, so I need many laps and I’m praying for good weather for the rest of the weekend. We made some good improvements to the bike when we tested after the race at Le Mans. It now turns better and it’s better on corner entry, so the position of the bike, balance-wise, is much better, which means I feel more comfortable and confident into the turns.” More, from a press release issued by Camel Yamaha Team: ROSSI MAKES ENCOURAGING START TO HOME GRAND PRIX Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi kicked off his preparations for the Italian Grand Prix in positive fashion today as he set the fastest lap time in both of the opening free practice sessions of the weekend. After a dry morning practice, when the Italian topped the time sheets with a lap of 1’51.238, a heavy rain shower just before the afternoon session played havoc with the team’s work programme, hindering Colin Edwards’ adaptation to the new chassis and preventing either rider from improving their best times despite drying track conditions towards the end. It meant that Edwards was forced to settle for tenth place on the provisional time sheets but a more pressing issue for the Texan is the remaining set-up work to be done before Sunday’s eagerly anticipated 23-lap race. The most likely scenario is that he will revert to the original chassis, used to excellent effect at Le Mans two weeks ago, before continuing development on the modified version with a view to the next race in Catalunya. Rossi only completed eight laps in the afternoon but it was enough to fend off the close attentions of fellow local Loris Capirossi (Ducati), who was second fastest. VALENTINO ROSSI (1st 1’51.238; 25 laps) “We have had a good start to the weekend, especially this morning. Unfortunately the rain in the afternoon meant that we only got four good laps in but even in that short time we were able to see that the base setting of the bike is good. It is basically the same as the bike we had at Le Mans so I’m pleased to see it working well at such a different circuit. We still need to make some improvements to the setting but we are working in the right way and that is the most positive thing about today. We definitely need to work hard tomorrow but hopefully we can continue to improve. Now I just hope it doesn’t rain, this is a very special race for all the Italians, both the riders and the people who come to watch, and we need the weather to be on our side!” COLIN EDWARDS (10th 1’52.513; 34 laps) “We’ve been playing around a little bit with the new chassis but I need more time in the dry to set it up before we can start to work with it properly. We didn’t get enough of a chance at the Le Mans test because of the weather and it seems to have chased us over here. I don’t want to have to start all over again in the morning so I think the best thing for us is to go back to what we know for tomorrow. It worked well for us in France and it seems ok here too so there is no point wasting time trying to use the new chassis here just for the sake of it. Hopefully the weather will hold out for us tomorrow so we can get through the set-up work we missed out on today and get ready for what promises to be a really tough but exciting race on Sunday.” DAVIDE BRIVIO CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR “Today was not so bad, even though we had only one session in the dry, and Valentino was able to confirm that the bike he used so well in Le Mans is also working here. Unfortunately we haven’t had enough time in the dry for Colin to make the adequate comparisons so it seems that the situation for tomorrow will be that our riders will be working in different directions. Anyway this is not such a problem because we know Colin is comfortable on the original chassis and worked well with it in France, so it is just a case of him concentrating on getting a good result here and waiting a little longer for his opportunity. Despite the weather it has been a good day, we’ve done a good job and in general we have made a promising start to what is an important weekend for us.” More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Honda: GOOD START FOR MARCO MELANDRI AT HOME TRACK The Team FORTUNA HONDA riders were back on track today for the first free practice sessions at the spectacular circuit of Mugello, which this weekend welcomes the sixth round of the MotoGP World Championship, the Italian Grand Prix. Mixed weather conditions made life hard for the team at what is a particularly special Grand Prix for them. Marco Melandri has arrived at his home race feeling fully motivated after his victory in the Grand Prix of France two weeks ago. The Ravenna youngster, who has stood on the podium four times here in the smaller categories, enjoyed the two free practice sessions to improve his feeling for the bike. It was also a good start for Toni Elias, who spent his time studying a track that is new to him on a MotoGP bike, having missed last year’s race due to a broken wrist injury sustained at Le Mans. The Spaniard has worked hard to find the right setting and, specifically, improve rear grip. MARCO MELANDRI (1’52″339, 7th): “I’m satisfied with this first day of tests. We’ve worked hard to improve the feeling with the front end and today we had some more than positive feedback. The bike and the tyres worked really well and alongside Michelin we started to make a few tests which we will continue tomorrow. I’m feeling happy and motivated – it will be a challenging but fun weekend here in front of the Italian fans.” TONI ELIAS (1’52″789, 11th): “I really like the Mugello circuit and this was my first time here on a MotoGP bike today. It is a challenging track and I just worked to try and find the best lines. Unfortunately the alternation between sunshine and rain didn’t help with the set-up of the bike. We need to do some more tests in the dry to understand thge bike better and resolve some of the problems we had in the last race.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: ROSSI BACK ON TOP ON FIRST DAY AT MUGELLO With a flood of spectators in the paddock at the Mugello Circuit, not even the weather could dampen the first practice day of MotoGP’s annual Italian visit. Reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi showed the reason why he has won the past four Grands Prix at Mugello, dominating both the morning and afternoon Free Practice sessions. After announcing yesterday that he would stay in the sport for at least another year, Rossi put in a fastest time of 1’51.238 to demonstrate his mastery of his home track, coming in ahead of home Ducati’s duo of Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau. The top three all clocked their fastest laps during the first Free Practice in the morning. John Hopkins continued his efforts to push his Suzuki bike to the next level with a flying afternoon session. Hopkins took fourth place ahead of Australian rookie Casey Stoner and World Championship leader Nicky Hayden. Marco Melandri, Kenny Roberts Jr, Makoto Tamada and Colin Edwards completed the top ten, with the Camel Yamaha rider trying out the new chassis used by team-mate Rossi in Le Mans for the first time. 250CC Czech rider Jakub Smrz put in his best display so far this season to take the 250cc provisional pole at the Mugello Circuit. The Cardion AB rider showed great promise in preseason and has earned a series of top ten finishes, and the Italian Circuit seems to be one in which Smrz will be hoping to step up to the first podium of his career. The 1’55.412 lap from the Czech was less than a tenth faster than Hector Barbera and Andrea Dovizioso, who was fastest in this morning’s session. Alex de Angelis came in ahead of Aprilia factory test rider Alex Debon, who had a sensational day in fourth, and the early season leader Jorge Lorenzo. 125CC Julian Simon braved the driving rain at the Mugello Circuit to put himself on provisional pole for Sunday’s 125cc race. Simon’s time of 2’15.953 put him ahead of a shock duo of Michele Pirro and Karel Abraham. Fabrizio Lai rounds off the provisional front row ahead of Mika Kallio and Alvaro Bautista. On the end of row two, 15 year old British rookie Bradley Smith scored his highest placing to date, with his eighth place seeing one of MotoGP’s youngest riders on a temporary second row, something he would be more than happy to hold onto for Sunday’s race. 1st, Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), 1’51.238 (FP1) : “We have had a good start to the weekend, especially this morning. Unfortunately the rain in the afternoon meant that we only got four good laps in but even in that short time we were able to see that the base setting of the bike is good. It is basically the same as the bike we had at Le Mans so I’m pleased to see it working well at such a different circuit. We still need to make some improvements to the setting but we are working in the right way and that is the most positive thing about today. We definitely need to work hard tomorrow but hopefully we can continue to improve. Now I just hope it doesn’t rain, this is a very special race for all the Italians, both the riders and the people who come to watch, and we need the weather to be on our side!” More, from a press release issued by Pramac D’antin: MUGELLO WEATHER HAMPERS NEW TIRE TESTING FOR HOFFMAN AND CARDOSO A day characterized by the instability of the weather, on the Italian track of Mugello; the Team PRAMAC D’ANTIN MOTOGP concentrated himself especially on the DUNLOP tyres during these first sessions of free practice, but the bad weather didn’t allow a perfect development of the program that first was predicted. For tomorrow, the whole Team hopes for a dry track, to get the chance to find the best setting for the DUCATI DESMOSEDICI GP06″Sat.”. This race is an important appointment, at home, where a lot of sponsors and partners of the Team will be present. The German ALEX HOFMANN obtained the 16th general time, while the Spanish JOSE LUIS CARDOSO classified himself 19th. Tomorrow at 10a.m., there will be another session of free practice, before the single session of qualifying practice reserved to the MotoGP class riders at 2p.m.. ALEX HOFMANN #66 (16th – 1’54.103): “The weather conditions were changing too much and didn’t help, they didn’t allow us to finish the work we had programmed. We tested a couple of new tyres, but there is a lot of work left to do. For the moment, I’m not much satisfied, I hope that tomorrow the track will be dry during both practice sessions, so we will have the chance to make other test and find the best setting for the race. I hope to conquest a good result in front of all our sponsors, partners and numerous fans and friends. It’s our home race and it’s important to make a good result here in Italy”. JOSE LUIS CARDOSO #30 (19th – 1’55.637): “Today we concentrated ourselves on the tyres, we had some new slick ones to test. Unfortunately, the weather instability didn’t allow us to work in an adequate manner; the meteorological conditions were changing too often. A real pity because we needed to work a lot, the development of the tyres demands a great effort and we hope that the weather will be fine tomorrow, so to be able to ride on a dry track and get the maximum from the last two practice sessions. It’s important to find a good set-up that adapts itself to our tyres, for the race on Sunday. I like this track a lot and I really would like to obtain a good result here, in front of all our sponsors”. EMANUELE MARTINELLI – Track Engineer of Alex Hofmann: “Today we tested some new tyres brought us here by DUNLOP, that were slightly better. Unfortunately, we had no much time at our disposal, due to the instability of the weather, and there is a lot of work left to make. So, tomorrow, if the weather conditions will allow it, we will concentrate ourselves on the set-up of the motorcycle: we must work on the frame to adapt it the most possible to the tyres that we will use during the race. We need to make many kilometres, to find more grip, useful to control the motorcycle, that becomes difficult to ride when the tyres consume themselves”. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Hopkins fourth quickest at a rain interrupted Mugello Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racer John Hopkins set the fourth quickest time overall during today’s free practice sessions for the Gran Premio d’Italia Alice at Mugello in Italy, as the weather again played its part at a MotoGP event. Hopkins (1’52.082, 33 laps) used the majority of the dry periods to work on the best set up for his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R for Sunday’s race. He tried various different suspension and chassis settings before recording his fastest lap of the day at the end of the afternoon session. Chris Vermeulen (1’54.106, 39 laps) is riding at Mugello for the first time and was hoping for two full dry sessions today. This was not to be as a small shower in the morning interrupted proceedings and then prolonged rain before the afternoon session and constant small showers during the hour made the conditions very difficult. The rookie Australian made good progress despite the weather and consistently improved on his times whenever he took to the track. Today’s unusually cold and wet weather did nothing to dampen the spirits of the crowd that watched World Champion and local hero Valentino Rossi set the fastest time. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will have a further hour long practice session on Saturday morning followed by the all-action qualifying in the afternoon. Sunday’s race is round six of the MotoGP World Championship and the lights will change to go at 14.00hrs local time (12.00GMT). John Hopkins: “It was a bit disappointing today really because we couldn’t get done what we wanted to – set-up wise – because of the weather. This morning I tried to get a good feeling from the machine and work with the crew to get the best settings. I also needed to get into a rhythm myself as this is a difficult track. It’s somewhere that you can’t override the circuit or you can get really messed up. I’ve tried to smooth my style out and get the best from the bike. I felt good this afternoon but it started raining and there was not a whole lot we could do about that. We waited for the circuit to dry out and that meant we never got as many laps as we wanted. I set my best time on a Bridgestone race tyre at the end of the session that we had done quite a few laps on, so that is good for Sunday. I just hope that tomorrow is dry and we can work towards a good setting for Sunday’s race.” Chris Vermeulen: “I really enjoyed the track today. It’s my first time here and it’s a great racetrack to ride around. It has everything you want from a rider’s point of view. It has fast corners, slow corners, elevation changes, fast straights, in fact a bit of everything. It is difficult to learn though and has a few blind places. Unfortunately we didn’t get a full dry session, but we did make a lot of improvements on the bike and I feel quite confident that we can make another step tomorrow.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “We had a lot of work to get through today, both technically and with Bridgestone, and unfortunately due to the changeable weather conditions we didn’t manage to achieve it all. Having said that though, it’s still clear that the 2006 GSV-R is far more competitive around this track than the 2005 version was and, having found a better rhythm this afternoon, John was only 0.3 of a second off the fastest time, which is an encouraging point to move on from for the weekend. “Chris’ bad luck, in terms of getting consistent weather to help him learn the tracks, continues. The second session was very sporadic, but he still managed to go a second faster in far worse conditions than they were this morning. Overall we can only see this as an encouraging day and hope that the Mugello weather turns into something more traditional over the next couple of days.”