Sunday’s LRRS races at New Hampshire International Speedway were flooded out, with track officials ordering an evacuation early Sunday morning. Racer B.J. Worsham of Old Westbury, New York (LRRS #31) filed this report, with photos taken by Brendan Guy of New York City (LRRS Novice #189): “It started raining during Friday’s Open Practice, around 4:30 p.m., and basically rained non-stop for the rest of the weekend, occasionally going to a drizzle only. “Riders camping in the infield were awoken by loudspeakers at 5:45 a.m. Sunday, saying we had to evacuate. Water in the tunnel was 4+ feet and we exited by driving backwards up T10, and out through the upper parking road. To get an idea of the speed of the flood, when I woke up, the garage floor was dry; 90 minutes later there was two inches of water covering it. “As I left at 7:45 a.m., track manager Bette French told me ‘It was worse in October,’ but I hit more heavy rain as I traveled south, so I don’t know when it ended. “Pictures of the front straight speak for themselves.”

POLINI GRAND PRIX OF CHINA Shanghai Circuit MotoGP Race 1. Dani PEDROSA (Hon RC211V), Michelin, 22 laps, 44:07.734 2. Nicky HAYDEN (Hon RC211V), Michelin, -1.505 seconds 3. Colin EDWARDS (Yam YZR-M1), Michelin, -14.634 seconds 4. John HOPKINS (Suz GSV-R), Bridgestone, -19.265 seconds 5. Casey STONER (Hon RC211V), Michelin, -23.061 seconds 6. Makoto TAMADA (Hon RC211V), Michelin, -23.879 seconds 7. Marco MELANDRI (Hon RC211V), Michelin, -24.101 seconds 8. Loris CAPIROSSI (Duc GP06), Bridgestone, -24.467 seconds 9. Sete GIBERNAU (Duc GP06), Bridgestone, -28.358 seconds 10. Shinya NAKANO (Kaw ZX-RR), Bridgestone, -33.815 seconds 11. Toni ELIAS (Hon RC211V), Michelin, -35.316 seconds 12. Randy DE PUNIET (Kaw ZX-RR), Bridgestone, -52.004 seconds 13. Kenny Lee ROBERTS (KR211V), Michelin, -56.293 seconds 14. Carlos CHECA (Yam YZR-M1), Dunlop, -63.575 seconds 15. Alex HOFMANN (Duc GP05), Dunlop, -71.172 seconds 16. James ELLISON (Yam YZR-M1), Dunlop, -83.075 seconds 17. Jose Luis CARDOSO (Duc GP05), Dunlop, -95.150 seconds 18. Valentino ROSSI (Yam YZR-M1), Michelin, -5 laps, DNF, retired 19. Chris VERMEULEN (Suz GSV-R), Bridgestone, -19 laps, DNF, crash MotoGP World Championship Point Standings (after 4 of 17 races): 1. HAYDEN, 72 points 2. CAPIROSSI, 59 points 3. PEDROSA, 57 points 4. MELANDRI, 54 points 5. STONER, 52 points 6. ROSSI, 40 points 7. ELIAS, 37 points 8. EDWARDS, 35 points 9. NAKANO, 28 points 10. GIBERNAU, 25 points 11. TAMADA, 24 points 12. TIE, HOPKINS/ROBERTS, 20 points 14. VERMEULEN, 13 points 15. CHECA, 10 points 16. DE PUNIET, 8 points 17. TIE, ELLISON/HOFMANN, 3 points More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Dani Pedrosa took his first MotoGP victory today at the Shanghai Circuit, confirming his status as a serious title contender in his debut season. The Repsol Honda rider, who started from pole, came back from a quiet start to lead the entire second half of the race ahead of team-mate Nicky Hayden. Colin Edwards put himself on the podium for the first time this season whilst fellow Camel Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi saw his spectacular fightback through the field cut short by a tyre problem. Despite being forced wide in the seemingly endless first corner Pedrosa picked his way through the pack, eventually claiming the lead from Edwards on lap ten and never looking back. Pedrosa and Hayden then exchanged fastest laps over the next few until the 20 year-old Spaniard set the definitive lap record on lap 19 of 22. Keeping more or less a one second gap to Hayden to the finish line, Pedrosa now becomes the joint second-youngest rider ever to win a MotoGP race, behind Freddie Spencer and level with Norick Abe. Rizla Suzuki’s John Hopkins meanwhile had a great start to the race, following Edwards’ holeshot and keeping up with the ‘Texan Tornado’ for practically the whole race. Whilst Edwards pulled away slightly towards the end to seal third, Hopkins’ bike, tyres and nerve held out for fourth place, the highest of his career. Casey Stoner, who dropped down to tenth at one point after running off track, impressively made his way back up to fifth to continue his run of top six finishes. A superb battle was taking place between Konica Minolta Honda’s Makoto Tamada and the Ducati Marlboro duo of Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau, which had the 32,402 Asian crowd on the edge of their seats, as he repeatedly looked to pass on the inside. A well deserved sixth place came at the expense of Marco Melandri, with Capirossi, Gibernau and Shinya Nakano closing out the top ten behind him. Rossi’s exit from the race came after his second trip to the pits. The reigning World Champion entered the boxes on lap fifteen to have his rear tyre changed, but completed only one more lap before having to retire. Australian Chris Vermeulen was the only other retiree, crashing out early. Victory for a clearly delighted Pedrosa puts him up to third in the overall classification, with Hayden extending his championship lead to thirteen points over Loris Capirossi. 250cc After earning his first pole position in the 250cc category yesterday, Hector Barbera was the victor in the quarter-litre race in Shanghai today. The Spaniard beat Andrea Dovizioso after a hard fought dogfight between the two which ran from start to finish. Barbera finished two tenths ahead of his rival and some three seconds faster than third-placed Hiroshi Aoyama. The Japanese KTM rider took third after Jorge Lorenzo ran wide on the penultimate lap to let him through. Dovizioso continues to occupy the top spot in the overall classification, ahead of Barbera, whilst Lorenzo drops to third after coming home in fourth place. 125cc Mika Kallio was the last-gasp victor of the 125cc race at the end of a hard-fought final lap. The Finn, who started the race from pole, came in less than a tenth of a second ahead of Mattia Pasini, with World Championship leader Alvaro Bautista occupying the final podium place. Lukas Pesek took the lead on the penultimate corner but ran wide, allowing Kallio to make his move. The Red Bull KTM rider still lies second in the Championship, 28 points behind Bautista. 1st, Dani Pedrosa (Honda) : “I was very focused on my job and was just trying to get best time every time, and we were just trying to increase the gap every lap. The weather respected us today it seemed, and this was very good for the race and for us. It’s fantastic, I started well this time and although it was hard I am delighted to have won my first race in MotoGP.” 2nd, Nicky Hayden (Honda) : “I always believed that I could run Dani down in the race and take the lead, but I have to give him credit. I tried to put the heat on him but he was just too quick. The team have done a job to be proud of, it’s always a bit of a gamble with the weather but they pulled it off. I want that win, I’ll try and do better next time, but second is still a good result.” 3rd, Colin Edwards (Yamaha) : “I’m relieved to be back on the podium. It’s no secret that we’ve had our problems, we knew that we had difficulties yesterday even though we were on the front row. We worked backwards in Turkey to try and find a solution with the set-up. That first corner was a little bit scary, John Hopkins came underneath me, and I just left him to it and decided to go as fast as I could. The two frontrunners came through like a freight train I tried to keep up but there was nothing I could do.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: NAKANO AND DE PUNIET SHOW DETERMINATION IN SHANGHAI Kawasaki’s Shinya Nakano and Randy de Puniet were left frustrated after today’s Grand Prix of China in Shanghai, as traction problems robbed both riders of the opportunity to do battle with their factory rivals at the front of the race. Nakano brought his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR home in tenth place, with de Puniet two places further back in twelfth, as Honda’s Dani Pedrosa converted a pole position start into his first premier class win in today’s 22-lap race. An aggressive start by Nakano saw him dive under two riders in as many corners to claim fourth place, but the 28-year-old Japanese rider was pushed back to seventh at the end of the opening lap, as three riders drafted past him on the front straight. The Kawasaki rider hung onto the rear of the leading group for a further two laps, but the aggressive power delivery of his Ninja ZX-RR was causing his rear tyre to spin up out of the turns, losing him vital time out of every corner and eventually leading to him losing touch with the battle ahead of him. Unable to close the gap, and now also struggling with deteriorating front grip on his Ninja ZX-RR, Nakano took the sensible option and rode for the points in the final third of the race. The Japanese ace held on to secure a top ten finish, but was left frustrated that he had not been allowed him to fulfil the potential shown in the opening lap because of problems beyond his control. Nakano’s Kawasaki teammate, Randy de Puniet, was also quick away from the line, but the MotoGP rookie lost ground on the run up to the first turn, as he struggled to select second gear on his Ninja ZX-RR. The 25-year-old Frenchman was quick to get his head down in an attempt to make up the lost ground, but was frustrated when his rear tyre started to lose grip just six laps into the race. De Puniet continued to push as hard as possible but, with the rear tyre spinning up out of every turn, was unable to close the gap to the group of riders ahead and, like his teammate, was eventually forced to ride purely for the points. The Kawasaki Racing Team will leave Shanghai on Sunday evening, and travel direct to Le Mans for the French Grand Prix, which takes place in just seven days time. Shinya Nakano: 10th “I got a good start and the bike felt real good; I could push hard and I was enjoying fighting for position. But then a group of riders went past me and, while I managed to stay with them for a few laps, I started to lose ground when the rear tyre started spinning up out of the turns. We had similar problems in Istanbul, although this wasn’t as bad, but it was enough to lose me time and to lose contact with the group ahead of me. Towards the end I started to lose grip at the front as well, and actually lost the front completely at one point. It was then that I decided I had a big enough gap over Elias and that riding for the points might be the best plan. It’s frustrating, for sure, but I think it is a problem that we can overcome. I just hope we can find a solution before the French Grand Prix, as it’s only one week away.” Randy de Puniet: 12th “Heading into the first turn I couldn’t get the bike to select second gear, and I had to back off the throttle before it would go in. When I looked up, the group in front of me had gone. I tried as hard as could to make up the lost ground, but then I started to lose grip at the rear, and it got progressively worse over the next ten laps. I’m disappointed not to have finished higher than I did in Istanbul, but I was riding right on the maximum. If I had pushed any harder then I would have crashed. Despite the disappointment, it was another race finish, and more experience for me. Now I need to look forward to next week, and my home race at Le Mans, where I hope I can secure a good result, both for me and the team.” Harald Eckl: Team Principal “Clearly we still have some work to do if we are to close the gap to the front of the field. This weekend we have been down on top speed by 10 km/h on average, at a circuit that boasts the longest straight on the MotoGP calendar. To overcome this deficit our riders have been forced to push hard everywhere else on the circuit, and we saw today what effect this has on tyre endurance. Both riders suffered tyre problems today, but Shinya’s front-end problems were particularly severe. We need to find more top speed from the engine, but we also need to identify the cause of the problem Shinya has experienced in the past two races. Whether we have time to find a solution before the next race at Le Mans is difficult to predict, but I hope it will be possible.” More, from a press release issued by Gresini Racing/Fortuna Honda: DIFFICULT WEEKEND FOR THE FORTUNA HONDA RIDERS After the rain-affected qualifying sessions, the Grand Prix of China took place under clear skies in excellent conditions which allowed the riders the chance to enjoy themselves on their bikes. FORTUNA HONDA team-mates Marco Melandri and Toni Elias finished seventh and eleventh respectively in this the fourth round of the MotoGP World Championship. The set-up problems which affected both riders and the changeable weather conditions meant it proved a difficult weekend for the FORTUNA HONDA boys. Marco, who started in eighth, opted to ride a conservative race and pick up points which could prove valuable at the end of the season. For his part, Toni – who never felt at ease on his bike – finished eleventh having started back in 15th. Both riders will now be looking ahead to the next race in Le Mans where they will be hoping for an improved showing. MARCO MELANDRI (Race: 7th – 44’31.835, 4th in championship – 54 points ): “It has been a difficult weekend complicated by the changeable weather conditions. We struggled a lot to find a good set up and we didn’t succeed to find a good solution. I took the start from the third row and I tried to recover positions but I suffered with full tank. I didn’t feel so comfortable so I did my best to score as much points as possible. I’m disappointed but I’m not demotivated and I’m confident for next week race in Le Mans.” It was a weekend to forget to be honest. We had problems from the first day, although we worked very hard to find a solution. The rain made things more difficult as well. I gave it everything today but could not push as I wanted to, so I concentrated on making sure I scored some points which could prove very important.” TONI ELIAS (Race: 11th – 44’43.050, 11th, 7th in championship – 37 points): “I’m not happy because we struggled a lot during the whole weekend and despite we worked hard, we couldn’t find some good solutions in order to improve my feeling with the bike. We suffered both on wet and dry conditions. Despite the problems we had, I think it’s a positive moment because now we can analize the problems. I know our potential and I look forward to go to Le Mans.I am not happy. We could not find the right set-up to enable me to enjoy myself on the bike and wasted a lot of time trying to find solutions. In the end we did not get the result we wanted. We had problems both in the wet and the dry. I’m confedent for next race,:we will work hard to understand the problems and and I just hope in Le Mans things go well from thefirst day and I can focus on riding well. I am still very confident and if we keep working hard things will work out for us.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: RESULTS BELOW EXPECTATIONS FOR DUCATI IN CHINA Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau endured a difficult Chinese GP at Shanghai this afternoon, placing eighth and ninth at the end of a weekend plagued by changeable weather. Both men had to be happy with lower results than they had expected after making poor tyre choices, but they did at least maintain their World Championship positions, Capirossi still holding second overall on points, Gibernau still tenth. With Friday washed out by rain and yesterday afternoon’s qualifying session also interrupted by showers, riders and teams had little time to choose the correct tyres for today’s race, run in warm and dry conditions. Gibernau had qualified sixth and ran third for the first few laps but was unable to maintain that pace, spending much of the race in a sometime hectic four-way contest for seventh place. Capirossi had qualified tenth, ran eighth in the early laps, dropped to tenth, then fought back to eighth, clocking the fourth fastest lap of the race. LORIS CAPIROSSI, finished eighth, second overall “A difficult weekend. We were fast in the wet but we didn’t have enough dry-track time to make the right choice from all the new tyres that Bridgestone brought here. In warm-up I used a new front and a new rear, the same I choose for the race. That rear tyre was okay for the first laps but then it lost a little, it wasn’t the best choice. With more time we probably would have chosen a different tyre. Anyway, I scored some points, so I’m still second in the championship and some of the tracks coming up should be easier for us. We still have total trust in Bridgestone. As Qatar and Jerez showed, we can be very strong at tracks where we used to struggle. We must keep on believing and working hard. I know I can win, so when the moment comes Sete and I will be up front. We are ready to fight all the way.” SETE GIBERNAU, finished ninth, tenth overall “With the weather we’ve had here and a few problems, we made a bad tyre choice, it was our mistake. We had a few troubles over the weekend, then warm-up was bad, just a little problem, then we went for some tyres that we didn’t know. I couldn’t warm up the left side of the rear, it was too hard, but like I said, it was our choice. I had a bit of a battle with a few other guys, it got pretty tight at times but it was all fair, though I was struggling a bit too much to have fun. Looking ahead to the next few races, we just need to keep our heads down, keep learning and keep improving.” LIVIO SUPPO, Ducati MotoGP project manager “We must analyse the data to work out why we didn’t get the results we expected. In theory today’s warmer weather should have worked better for us, but we just didn’t have enough time to test everything we needed to test, though, of course, that was the same for everyone. We need to work on that so we can be more reactive in the future. This is a very competitive Championship and we’ll do our best to keep at the front”. More, from a press release issued by Camel Yamaha: EDWARDS MAKES PODIUM RETURN IN GRUELLING SHANGHAI AFFAIR Camel Yamaha Team rider Colin Edwards charged from the front row of the grid to the podium today with a determined performance in the Grand Prix of China. Whilst his team-mate Valentino Rossi was denied the chance to challenge for a top three spot after pulling in with a tyre problem on the sixteenth lap, Edwards reaped the rewards of a blistering start to the race, when he snatched the hole-shot and led the field over the opening stages. In sunny and warm conditions Edwards set a scorching pace that only a handful of riders were able to follow, but finally succumbed to pressure from Dani Pedrosa (Honda) on lap ten, the young Spaniard forcing his way past and taking his team-mate Nicky Hayden along for company. Rossi, meanwhile, had been making positive progress through the field, working his way up from thirteenth on the grid to fifth place in the race before bad luck struck once again. The Italian began to feel that there was something wrong with his bike and initially thought it was being caused by the rear tyre. After a swift change he attempted to rejoin the race, only to return to the pits next time around after realising the problem was coming from the front tyre. Edwards consolidated third place for his first podium appearance of the season as Pedrosa held off the challenge of Hayden to clinch his maiden MotoGP win. COLIN EDWARDS (3rd; + 14.634) “I got a really good start and just decided to go as fast as I could over the opening laps. I was close to losing control on a couple of occasions but I decided that I’d rather crash out of the lead today than miss my chance of finishing on the podium, which meant I just couldn’t back off. I had some chatter and I could only push the bike so hard; if I went any faster than 2’00.7 then the chatter forced me to slow down, so I didn’t have much choice but to hang in there! The freight train came past with Dani and Nicky but I couldn’t hang on to the back, they were both just too fast. We’ve had some problems this weekend and I didn’t expect to be on the podium but I can’t thank my team, Yamaha and Michelin enough for the way they worked to put me in a competitive position. I think I scored my first podium in round four last season too, so hopefully this can be a sign to kick on from here.” VALENTINO ROSSI (DNF) “I didn’t get a bad start to the race and I passed a lot of riders but I had a battle with Marco Melandri that cost me some time. Some of his moves were quite strong, which I could understand if we were fighting for the win on the last lap but not for eighth place at that stage of the race. Anyway, the bike felt good but just as I got my pace to 2’00.1 it suddenly started to feel wrong and I thought I had a problem with the rear tyre. I came in to change it but as I went back out I realised it was actually the front tyre, so that was the end of the race for me. I’m really disappointed because I felt in the race that I had the pace to at least pass Hopkins and Edwards, so as far as I am concerned we have lost 16 points and a podium, which would have been a good result after the problems we’ve had this weekend. We’ve lost some ground in the championship so I am feeling very disappointed right now but there is a long way to go yet.” DAVIDE BRIVIO CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR “First of all my congratulations to Colin and all his crew they have kept going after a difficult start to the season and today they got their reward. Third place is good and I hope it can be the start of much better things from him for the rest of the season. Valentino had a bad day, and even if we had changed the front tyre the first time he came in, it would have taken too long and the race would have already been lost. He has been very unlucky this year firstly with the incident in the first corner at Jerez and now this time with the tyre. It’s always upsetting when your results are decided by things that are out of your control but there is nothing he can do about it, only look forward to making up for lost ground over an important run of races in the next few weeks.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Chinese Grand Prix Heroic Hopkins stars for Bridgestone in Shanghai Bridgestone rider John Hopkins produced one of the best races of his MotoGP career this afternoon to claim a superb fourth place in the China Grand Prix. The 22-year-old American made a flying start from the front row of the grid in front of 32,000 fans and he was in contention for a podium place throughout the 22-lap clash at the impressive Shanghai Circuit. Hopkins had claimed the third front row of his career after a rain-hit final qualifying session on Saturday, and just as he did at last month’s Turkish GP in Istanbul, his lightning start gave him the perfect platform to mount a podium challenge. He clocked his fastest lap of the race on lap three to keep in hot pursuit of early leader Colin Edwards and kept Honda rider and eventual race winner Dani Pedrosa at bay for the opening nine laps with some trademark aggressive riding. The Suzuki GSV-R rider would continue to shadow compatriot Edwards for the entire race as Hopkins went in search of a maiden MotoGP podium. A terrific third place looked on the cards when he closed to within 0.4s of Edwards on the penultimate lap, but he lost contact and under no pressure eased off and settled to collect an easy 13-points. Loris Capirossi finished the race in eighth place, the Italian setting his best lap of the race on the final lap after he was involved in a titanic battle for fifth place with Casey Stoner, Makoto Tamada and Ducati team-mate Sete Gibernau. Capirossi remains in second place in the world championship standings thanks to his two podiums including a win in the opening two races. Gibernau had run in the top three for the opening three laps before he dropped back to claim ninth. John Hopkins Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 4th position “We were up in the air about what the tyres were going to do, just basically because track temperature got a lot higher today. As it turned out I got a really good start and just basically wanted to have Colin pull me around. I just wanted to sit behind him and he was riding flawless. Right up towards the end I wanted to get by Colin and definitely get my first podium. At the end of the day I was pushing the front really, really hard, having to make up for a little bit of a lack of horsepower and just took the points. The rear tyre I ran was something new and it comes from a test series that we had done at Barcelona and Jerez and that’s what paid off mainly. It was actually a pretty soft edge rubber. Basically it was just the right gamble for the race. I was pulling some lean angle and noticed that I still had a little bit more edge grip than Colin. And after about lap 14 that’s when I realized I’d definitely made the right choice.” Hiroshi Yamada – Motorcycle Racing Manager Bridgestone Motorsport “I am very happy with fourth position and this is a good result for us on what was a difficult weekend with the changing conditions. I have to congratulate John on a fantastic ride and I would also like to congratulate Suzuki and his crew. It was great to see John battling at the front again and you could see he tried everything to get third place. John chose a slightly different rear medium compound tyre than Loris and Sete but it wasn’t a big difference. It is strange as well because after the race, Sete and Loris had different comments about the performance of their tyre. This was a very difficult weekend. We had no data from last year because it was wet, and we only had one full dry session on Saturday for the riders to find a set-up and make their tyre choice. Also it was difficult today with the track temperature 20 degrees hotter than yesterday, so it was a hard race for the tyres. John’s result is something for us to build on as Shanghai wasn’t the best track for us last year and we look forward to more improvements in Le Mans next weekend.” Bridgestone Results: 4 John Hopkins (USA), Suzuki 44.26.999, 8.Loris Capirossi (ITA) 44.32.201, 9 ,Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati, 44.36.092, 10, Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki 44.41.549, 12 Randy de Puniet, (FRA) Kawasaki 44.59.738, Chris Vermeulen, (AUS) Suzuki DNF Temperature Track Air Weather Afternoon 26 C 31 C Sunny More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Information: DANI WINS, NICKY SECOND IN SHANGHAI SHOWDOWN This MotoGP contest will be remembered as the race where the amazing Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC211V) established himself as a new force in the top class with a debut premier category win at his fourth attempt. His team-mate Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) was second and Colin Edwards (Yamaha) was third. After unsettled weather for the two days of practice, race day was hot and dry with the track temperature at 26 degrees and ambient at 31 degrees. A modest crowd of 32,000 was in place as the lights signaled the start of this, the fourth race of the season. Dani made the holeshot from the grid into turn one, but ran wide at the apex of the first right-hander allowing Edwards through to take the lead with the other front row qualifier John Hopkins (Suzuki) taking up second place. With 22-laps of this 5.281km track ahead of them in debilitating conditions, this was always going to be a race where the fittest riders would prevail, and where the best set-up machines would reduce rider fatigue by a significant amount. Edwards and Hopkins made the early running until mid-race distance when Dani, who had started from pole and dropped to fifth by lap two completed his charge to the front. At the start of lap 10 Dani used his speed along the pit straight to slip past Edwards and lead into turn one. His team-mate Nicky, riding hard for his second career win, stuck fast to Dani in second place as the Honda duo left Edwards and Hopkins in their wake. The Americans disputing third place would eventually finish more than 14 seconds adrift of the RC211V-mounted pacesetters. As the Honda runners exchanged fastest laps with one another as Hayden put the pressure on the leader and Pedrosa responded to it, the time dropped from Pedrosa’s initial 2m 00.205s lap to a 1m 59.318s mark, again established by Pedrosa, on the penultimate lap. The Repsol duo were in a race of their own but there was frantic action downfield in a brutal scrap for fifth place between Casey Stoner (LCR Honda RC211V), Marco Melandri (Fortuna Honda RC211V) and Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda RC211V), with Stoner, who had run off track on lap 15 and rejoined in tenth place, getting the verdict but the paint from Tamada’s machine left on his fairing showed how hard he had to fight for that place. At the flag five Hondas filled the top seven places with Nicky achieving his eighth consecutive podium finish to extend his World Championship points lead. But there were other significant events. Current champion Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), who lay fifth at one stage retired from the race and the Ducati challenge also faded with one-time third-placed Sete Gibernau finishing in ninth behind his team-mate Loris Capirossi. Dani is now the second equal youngest rider to win a premier class at 20 years and 227 days old (he shares the record with Norick Abe). He said, “Once in the lead I was always looking at the pit board and seeing zero point something. I was trying to maintain the gap but it was not easy because Nicky was pushing more and more and the tyres were losing a little grip. Winning is always very special but the level in MotoGP is higher, so this is very special for me.” Nicky said, “I tried to go a little bit faster every lap and put some heat on Dani, but that dude just wouldn’t crack! So I definitely give Dani credit because he rode a really strong race. I felt good when I kept going a little bit faster, but it just wasn’t enough and when I got close to him I didn’t want to do anything silly. Congratulations to the team, and not just my guys but all the guys involved in Repsol Honda, they deserve it.” “I made a good start,” said Casey Stoner. “But then I got shunted around at turn one and then held up behind Gibernau and that destroyed my race. He had better corner exit speed and he was late on the brakes into the turns too.” A vastly improved Makoto Tamada (6th) said, “It’s the first time this year that I’ve been able to ride my way. I had a good start but I lost some positions during the first lap. I’ve not been part of the leading group for a long time and this required me to turn some laps before finding the right feeling again. In fact my fastest lap time was set during the final lap. I really loved overtaking during the race. It has been fantastic to feel this sensation again.” Melandri in seventh said, “I took the start from the third row and I tried to recover positions but I suffered with full tank. I didn’t feel so comfortable so I did my best to score as much points as possible. I’m disappointed but I’m not demotivated and I’m confident for next week race in Le Mans.” Toni Elias (Fortuna Honda RC211V), who finished 11th, said, “In the end we did not get the result we wanted. We had problems both in the wet and the dry. I’m confident for next race and I just hope in Le Mans things go well from the first day and I can focus on riding well. I am still very confident and if we keep working hard things will work out for us.” Kenny Roberts Junior (Roberts KR211V) in 13th position said, “I tried as hard as I could, every lap. I could run high 2m 01s laps pushing hard but that was it. I tried different techniques squaring off the corners but just went slower that way. When I rode it like a 250 I went quicker but hit a limit and started sliding, and that was as fast as could go. Now we can look forward to Le Mans and hope the new chassis we have will be an improvement.” The points table currently stands as: Hayden 72, Capirossi 59, Pedrosa 57, Melandri 54, Stoner 52, Rossi 40, Elias 37. Hector Barbera (Aprilia) won a thrilling 250cc race by a mere quarter of a second from Andrea Dovizioso (Humangest Racing Honda RS250RW) as both riders fought tooth and nail form their first wins in this class after graduating from 125cc racing. Hiroshi Aoyama (KTM) was third. Barbera and Dovi were the pace setters all race after Alex de Angelis (Aprilia) who ran with them in the very early stage of the race crashed without injury on lap three. From here on out it was to be an enthralling game of cat and mouse between the Spaniard and the Italian with a rugged fight for third between Jorge Lorenzo (Aprilia), Aoyama and Yuki Takahashi (Humangest Racing Honda RS250RW) behind the leaders. In the final laps it became clear that Barbera held a top speed advantage over Dovi and the Honda man would have to steal a march on the Aprilia rider before they got to the three-quarter mile back chute that would most likely determine the outcome of the race. On the final lap of this 21-lap showdown Dovi did all he could to secure a victory stealing past Barbera through a double left turn to establish a lead. But as the pair hit the back straight Barbera got a good run on Andrea and despite doing all he could to outbrake his rival Dovi trailed him over the line. Dovi said, “This result is good in terms of the World Championship but I’ll be happier when I win a race. The rear tyre was sliding but it was the same for everyone and maybe my set-up made things easier for me too. But we are still just a bit short of power at a track like this.” Takahashi in fifth said, “I didn’t start well and so at the beginning I lost a bit of time. Unfortunately, I kept losing in the straights too much as our engine is slower than the Aprilia but I’m happy as I was able to stay close and study where it was the best point to overtake. I think that fifth position is a good result.” The points table shows Dovi ahead with 72 points, Barbera on 69, Lorenzo with 63 and Hiro Aoyama on 62. Mika Kallio (KTM) triumphed in a tight 125cc race winning by one tenth of a second from Mattia Pasini in second and Alvaro Bautista third (both Aprilia). This is Kallio’s first win of the 2006 season and it elevates the Finnish rider to second in the overall standings after four races. Kallio led from the lights before Pasini took control of lap one with Gabor Talmacsi (Humangest Honda RS125R), who eventually finished fourth, up with the leading group. As mid-race distance of this 19-lap encounter loomed, a six-rider group had left the rest of the field in its wake. This bunch would stay together until the flag swapping places with the regularity expected in this most closely contested class. As the group barreled down the back straight into the penultimate turn on the final lap, it was Lukas Pesek (Derbi) who took a wide entry to the tight right-hander. But he ran wide onto the grass on the exit handing the win and podium places to his rivals. Talmacsi said, “This is the first race were really we could be competitive, because in the previous GP we weren’t in the condition to push. Here we have been fast since Friday morning and I think we are going in the right direction. We are not yet at 100% but at 90% with the set-up while the engine is competitive. Today it has been a spectacular race and I enjoyed it. The only thing is that I couldn’t do perfect lines as we have to improve on the suspension. But we are nearly there.” A disgruntled Luthi, who retired on lap four with machine trouble, said, “I passed Bautista at one corner but had a high side, I didn’t crash but unfortunately my knee hit the battery carrier and broke it. The battery was on the engine and kept shorting out so I had no option than stop. Pity because the bike was very good today, we made a big step forward this weekend.” After four races the World Championship points table shows Alvaro Bautista ahead with 86 points, Kallio in second with 58 and Hector Faubel (Aprilia), who finished seventh here, lying third with 54 points as the riders and teams head to Le Mans in France next weekend for round five of the 17 race series. HONDA TEAM QUOTES: MotoGP: Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 1st. “This is a perfect result for me and it was a fantastic race for me and for the Repsol Honda team. They have been working really hard and it was a great result for both riders – so I’m really happy for the team. The race was hard and the pace was high, but the conditions today were very good and I was able to get into a good rhythm. The tyres worked very well today and so I have to thank Michelin for that. I did a good start this time but I left the braking a little bit late and I went slightly wide so I was not able to keep a tight line and lost a few positions. But I was able to pick off the positions one by one. Once in the lead I was always looking at the pit board and seeing zero point something. I was trying to maintain the gap but it was not easy because Nicky was pushing more and more and the tyres were losing a little grip. Winning is always very special but the level in MotoGP is higher, so this is very special for me.” Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 2nd. “I tried to go a little bit faster every lap and put some heat on Dani, but that dude just wouldn’t crack! So I definitely give Dani credit because he rode a really strong race. I felt good when I kept going a little bit faster, but it just wasn’t enough and when I got close to him I didn’t want to do anything silly. Congratulations to the team, and not just my guys but all the guys involved in Repsol Honda, they deserve it. I’m trying to be consistent in every race and every session, and while getting the points and podiums is good, I really want to win. I like to think that win’s not far away. It’s nice to pull out a little gap in championship but it’s early days. Honda’s fighting hard for this championship and I want to win so I’m looking forward to getting to Le Mans next weekend.” Casey Stoner, LCR Honda: 5th: “I made a good start but then I got shunted around at turn one and then held up behind Gibernau and that destroyed my race. He had better corner exit speed and he was late on the brakes and there was no way to pass. I also had a lot of rear grip problems mid-corner, it wasn’t the tyre, all the Honda’s were the same except the factory bikes of Dani and Nicky. I made a small mistake on the brakes trying to make up time and without that I think I had the pace to challenge Edwards for the podium. It was another good result for the championship.” Makoto Tamada, Konica Minolta Honda: 6th: “It’s the first time this year that I fell I have run a race expressing my driving characteristics. I had a good start but I lost some positions during the first lap. I have not been part of the leading group since a long time and this requested me to turn some laps before finding the right feeling again in fact, I have been able to realize the fastest time during the last lap. I really loved making different over takings during the race. It has been fantastic to feel this sensation again.” Marco Melandri, Fortuna Honda: 7th. “It has been a difficult weekend complicated by the changeable weather conditions. We struggled a lot to find a good set up and we didn’t succeed to find a good solution. I took the start from the third row and I tried to recover positions but I suffered with full tank. I didn’t feel so comfortable so I did my best to score as much points as possible. I’m disappointed but I’m not demotivated and I’m confident for next week race in Le Mans.” Toni Elias, Fortuna Honda: 11th. “I’m not happy because we struggled a lot during the whole weekend and despite we worked hard, we couldn’t find some good solutions in order to improve my feeling with the bike. We suffered both on wet and dry conditions. Despite the problems we had, I think it’s a positive moment because now we can analyse the problems. I know our potential and I look forward to go to Le Mans. Kenny Roberts Jnr, KR Honda: 13th. “I tried as hard as I could, every lap. I could run high 2m 01s laps pushing hard but that was it. I tried different techniques squaring off the corners but just went slower that way. When I rode it like a 250 I went quicker but hit a limit and started sliding that was as fast as could go. Now we can look forward to Le Mans and hope the new chassis we have will be an improvement. ” 250cc: Andrea Dovizioso, Humangest Honda: 2nd: “I think it was quite clear the different between the two bikes. I did my best especially in the last laps in order to stay close. I’m happy because I rode very well even though I wasn’t the first to cross the chequered flag. We can arrive in front with my Honda but not win and it will be even harder in the fast tracks. Anyway, I’m leading the championship and this is positive but I’m more happy when I win. For this reason, I don’t smile so much. I tried to stay in front in the last lap because in the previous laps I noticed that he was too much faster staying behind my lines and, also, I hoped in a mistake. But it didn’t happened and I finished second. The next GP is going to take place at Le Mans, which I quite like and mostly it’s a slower track”. Yuki Takahashi, Humangest Honda: 5th: “I didn’t start well and so at the beginning I lost a bit of time. Despite we tested on dry only yesterday and this morning, my team did a great job finding the best set-up and choosing the right tyres. Unfortunately, I kept loosing in the straights too much as our engine is less fast than the Aprilia but I’m happy as I was able to stay close and study where it was the best point to overtake. I think that fifth position is a good result”. Shuhei Aoyama, Repsol Honda: 8th. “Things have worked out very good this time, but I’ve been extra careful because I didn’t want to make any mistake. I wanted to avoid touching any other rider and crashing. The consequence was that many riders passed me in the first lap so I dropped down to eleventh after the first lap. But I had made my mind up, I have crashed in the first lap of two out of three races and it could not happen again today. I’m satisfied with the race, especially because I’ve gathered a lot of information which is going to be very useful, both for my team and myself, but I can’t say that I’m happy for finishing eighth.” Martin Cardenas, Wurth Honda BQR: 13th. “The race was good for me. My start was good and I found a decent rhythm but after the mid-race point my rear tyre was so badly used up that I was sliding around and I had to let Guintoli and then Poggiali go.” Arturo Tizon, Wurth Honda BQR: 19th: “I expected to have a fast rhythm in the race but couldn’t find it. I also chose a rear tyre that had too hard a compound which didn’t help me. During the race while I was running with Porto it was good but when he pulled in I was left to ride out the race alone. I am not really happy with my today.” Sebastian Porto, Repsol Honda: dnf – handling problem. “The truth is that it’s been rally bad. We’ve had lot of problems which we have not been able to solve along the weekend. I’ve tried to do my best today, but it’s been really hard to ride the bike. Well, we have to keep on working. I’ve always been optimistic. Let’s hope that we’ll be able to find a solution. This race is over and now we have to focus on the next grand prix, at Le Mans.” Arnaud Vincent, Molenaar Honda: dnf – crash. “There is not much to say. In the fist corner Simoncelli hit me and broke my exhaust pipe. Pity because the bike was working really good in qualifying. That’s three races now without any championship points, I hope things get better at my home GP at Le Mans.” Jordi Carchano, Stop and Go Racing: Carchano did not race due to injury. 125cc: Thomas Luthi, Elit Honda: dnf – electrical problem. “I got a good start and was running with the lead group. I was in behind Bautista but he looked uncomfortable at some places, I think he had a hard compound rear tyre. Anyway, I passed him at one corner but had a high side, I didn’t crash but unfortunately my knee hit the battery carrier and broke it. The battery was on the engine and kept shorting out so I had no option than stop. Pity because the bike was very good today, we made a big step forward this weekend.” Gabor Talmacsi, Humangest Honda: 4th: “This is the first race we’re really we could be competitive, because in the previous GP we weren’t in the conditions to push. Here we have been fast since Friday morning and I think we are going in the right direction. We are not yet at 100% but at 90% with the set-up while the engine is competitive. Today it has been a spectacular race and I enjoyed it. The only thing is that I couldn’t do perfect lines as we have to improve on the suspension. But we are nearly there.” Fabrizio Lai, Seedorf Racing World: 8th: “I started well from the third row and after the first lap I was already sixth. I was 6th till the 4th lap. Then the first group began to push harder. We need some more power to be competitive for the podium but we are on the right way and the continuous improvement shows that”. Mike Di Meglio, FFM Honda: 15th: “I didn’t take a very good start and so I couldn’t catch the right group of riders. I was in 13th – 14th place. I had to force the tyres because I couldn’t hold my line. I also lacked engine power in the race today but scored a point. We are a brand new team and we have to work hard to improve the bike.” Aleix Espargaro, Wurth Honda BQR: 16th. “Very bad, I just don’t understand what’s happening this year. Four races and I’m still no points. This week I worked so hard but even if my start was not too bad but using the slipstream I could not pass down the straight, I had to try to out-brake people. I just don’t know what I have to do, it’s so difficult to understand.” Sandro Cortese, Elit Honda: 17th. “My start was not so bad and I was able to run with the group but I couldn’t get away from them on the straight in the slipstream battle. I got hit a couple of times which didn’t help. The bike was good today the only small problems I had came at the end of the race when the engine was running a little rich and the back tyre was finished and was sliding.” Michele Conti, Seedorf Racing World: 18th: “This is my best race till today and I’m satisfied of my performance improvement. At the begin of the Championship I was the first to brake in the curves, today I could even pass the other braking. There was an hard fight with Espargaro and Cortese, more experienced riders than me, but now I know I can ride whit them. It is a pity only for the first Championship points…”. Bradley Smith, Repsol Honda: 22nd. “I’m more happy than I was yesterday. Twenty-second is a lot better than thirtieth. I’m happy with the way I rode but I’m not happy with the things that have been pointed out to me. To do a 14.04 on the last lap is stupid really, I should be doing that in the beginning not riding around 16 or 15, but that’s what I’ve done so I can’t change that. The race is over but this is the way to go through my first season. For the next race I’ll tell them to put it all together like in a package and take it Le Mans. It’s difficult, it’s definitely difficult, I’m not saying it’s easy, but we’ll keep on pushing.” Joey Litjens, Molenaar Honda: 27th. “I’m super happy with my race so much better than Turkey. My start was not so good but I passed a few guys on the first few laps. Now I am closer the group and that’s a big step forward for me.” Thomas Luthi, Elit Honda: dnf – electrical problem. “I got a good start and was running with the lead group. I was in behind Bautista but he looked uncomfortable at some places, I think he had a hard compound rear tyre. Anyway, I passed him at one corner but had a high side, I didn’t crash but unfortunately my knee hit the battery carrier and broke it. The battery was on the engine and kept shorting out so I had no option than stop. Pity because the bike was very good today, we made a big step forward this weekend.” Lorenzo Baroni, Humangest Honda: dnf – crash. “We had setting problems during the all week end, but this morning we found the right way in the warm up, in fact I finished 21st. For the race, though, we made another adjustment, but we made it worst: the bike was moving around and I sliding to much. Then, it high-sided me on the fast corner on the right.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Hopkins and Rizla Suzuki MotoGP fight for the podium in Shanghai Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racer John Hopkins scored his best ever MotoGP finish with a superb fourth place during today’s Polini Grand Prix of China in Shanghai. The Anglo-American star got off to a great start from the front row of the grid and ran in second place for over a third of the race. He was passed by eventual winner Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden both on Honda’s on lap 10 but continued with his strong pace and chased down Colin Edwards. Hopkins tried everything to get past Edwards but just couldn’t find the extra speed from his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R to do so. After settling for his hard fought position two laps from the end, he wheelied his bike across the line in fourth place in front of his cheering crew. Chris Vermeulen had a less happy day. Starting in 12th place he fought hard with several riders early on but a mistake on lap four caused the rookie Australian to crash out. He was unhurt in the incident, but was unable to remount and carry on racing. The race was watched by over 32,000 excited and warm fans, as temperatures reached 31°C. Spaniard Pedrosa won his first-ever MotoGP race and second placed Hayden now leads the championship by 13 points. The next Round of the 2006 MotoGP World Championship is at Le Mans in France on Sunday 21st May. John Hopkins: “I’m ecstatic right now! I feel really good about the whole race. I got off the line well and worked hard all through the race. I knew I had to be in the draft of another bike and not to use my tyres up too early. I got behind Colin Edwards and let him pull me along. We were passed by Nicky and Dani, and they were running an unbelievable pace, it was something we couldn’t keep with. From then on I stuck on Colin’s wheel and thought I’d have a bit more towards the end. I started to push harder in the last few laps, but it was going beyond the limit and at the end of the day I really wanted to finish in my best ever position so that’s what I did! “I have got to give a big thanks to my whole crew, they worked fantastically all weekend and without them I wouldn’t be anywhere they’re a lot of the reason why I am here at Suzuki. The Bridgestone tyres worked awesome today, I reckon I had a bit more edge-grip than Colin and they were still working well at the end of the race. “I am really happy and I just also want to say it’s my Mum’s birthday, so Happy Birthday to her and Happy American Mother’s Day to her as well I hope she was pleased with the finish!” Chris Vermeulen: “Obviously not the result we wanted, I didn’t finish and I didn’t get any points that’s the worst thing. It was difficult all weekend with the weather and learning a new track. The bike felt really good in the race though and everybody seemed really even. I was behind Randy de Puniet, he was holding me up a bit and I made a mistake and nearly ran into the back of him and pushed a bit too hard and lost the front but hey that’s racing! I hope I can learn from that mistake and don’t do it again. Full congratulations to John and the whole team it was a great result for Rizla Suzuki.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “A fantastic performance from John and the whole Rizla Suzuki team. We thought before the race that a top 10 position would be a good result in today’s conditions, but to see the bike run towards the front for the whole of the race was beyond our expectations. I believe that today John came of age as a MotoGP rider and demonstrated his true potential. “Chris was very unlucky with his crash, he was pushing hard to move forward and a simple mistake cost him his race. I know he will bounce back from this and show the kind of form he can at Le Mans next weekend. “The GSV-R never missed a beat all weekend and the result shows how far we have come in the last few races. Suzuki has worked very hard to get the bike more consistent and I think that the positions we have been in over the last three days have shown that it is able to run well in all conditions. We are still searching for that extra mid-range power and I am sure that when we get the full potential out of the bike we will be able to push for podiums. “I must thank Bridgestone, they responded fantastically after the last race and the tyres we have had here have been superb both wet and dry. “Finally big thanks and well done once again to the crew, they consistently give 100% effort and are the biggest asset of the team. Today’s result is a great reward for all their hard work and gives everybody motivation to keep pushing.”

POLINI GRAND PRIX OF CHINA 250cc Race 1. Hector BARBERA (Apr RSV250), 21 laps, 44:49.445 2. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Hon RS250R), 44:49.711 3. Hiroshi AOYAMA (KTM), 44:52.765 4. Jorge LORENZO (Apr RSV250), 44:53.047 5. Yuki TAKAHASHI (Hon RS250R), 44:53.063 6. Marco SIMONCELLI (Gilera), 45:05.295 7. Roberto LOCATELLI (Apr RSV250), 45:05.448 8. Shuhei AOYAMA (Hon RS250R), 45:06.000 9. Anthony WEST (Apr RSV250), 45:11.305 10. Jakub SMRZ (Apr RSV250), 45:16.486

POLINI GRAND PRIX OF CHINA 125cc Race 1. Mika KALLIO (KTM), 19 laps, 42:06.223 2. Mattia PASINI (Apr RS125R), 42:06.320 3. Alvaro BAUTISTA (APr RS125R), 42:06.580 4. Gabor TALMACSI (Hon RS125R), 42:07.122 5. Julian SIMON (KTM), 42:07.329 6. Lukas PESEK (Derbi), 42:08.109 7. Hector FAUBEL (Apr RS125R), 42:26.950 8. Fabrizio LAI (Hon RS125R), 42:27.701 9. Tomoyoshi KOYAMA (Malaguti), 42:27.781 10. Simone CORSI (Gilera), 42:27.863

POLINI GRAND PRIX OF CHINA MotoGP Warm Up Practice 1. Nicky HAYDEN (Hon RC211V), 2:00.209, Michelin 2. Dani PEDROSA (Hon RC211V), 2:00.394, Michelin 3. Loris CAPIROSSI (Duc GP06), 2:00.538, Bridgestone 4. Valentino ROSSI (Yam YZR-M1), 2:00.694, Michelin 5. Shinya NAKANO (Kaw ZX-RR), 2:00.778, Bridgestone 6. John HOPKINS (Suz GSV-R), 2:00.821, Bridgestone 7. Casey STONER (Hon RC211V), 2:01.007, Michelin 8. Colin EDWARDS (Yam YZR-M1), 2:01.017, Michelin 9. Sete GIBERNAU (Duc GP06), 2:01.185, Bridgestone 10. Marco MELANDRI (Hon RC211V), 2:01.219, Michelin 11. Toni ELIAS (Hon RC211V), 2:01.239, Michelin 12. Makoto TAMADA (Hon RC211V), 2:01.258, Michelin 13. Randy DE PUNIET (Kaw ZX-RR), 2:01.343, Bridgestone 14. Kenny ROBERTS (KR211V), 2:01.567, Michelin 15. Chris VERMEULEN (Suz GSV-R), 2:01.630, Bridgestone 16. Carlos CHECA (Yam YZR-M1), 2:02.724, Dunlop 17. Alex HOFMANN (Duc GP05), 2:02.891, Dunlop 18. James ELLISON (Yam YZR-M1)), 2:03.671, Dunlop 19. Jose Luis CARDOSO (Duc GP05), 2:04.487, Dunlop

Vesrah Suzuki’s Tray Batey, Lee Acree and John Jacobi rode a GSX-R1000 to the overall victory in a WERA National Endurance Series 4-hour at Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, Illinois on Saturday.

The 2006 Kennedy International North West 200 Northern Ireland 9th to 13th May 2006 SECOND PLACE FOR RUTTER AT NORTH WEST 200 Stobart Motorsport rider Michael Rutter claimed second place in today’s Kennedy International North West 200 but was left cursing his luck after not adding to his tally of eleven victories. Riding the VK Vodka Kick and Vent Axia backed Honda Fireblade, the 33 year old Midlander was comfortably leading both of today’s Superbike races in front of a massive crowd and in perfect conditions at the nine mile County Antrim closed roads circuit. But within sight of the finish of the opening race Rutter crashed out at low speed after clipping a grass verge and then in race two he was gradually overhauled on the final lap by fellow Honda rider Steve Plater in the day’s big feature race. “I made the slightest of errors at the final chicane in race one and paid a huge penalty and then in race two I thought I had it in the bag when we came upon some backmarkers and Steve nipped through. I’m absolutely devastated” said Rutter. Team mate for the day, Ian Lougher finished in fifth and sixth places respectively in the two six-lap races after battling through from a row two start. “The pace was hot and it was very hard work out there but I was hoping to get on the podium at least” commented the Irish based Welshman. Team boss Paul Bird left Ulster with mixed emotions after a frustrating day. “We came here to win and we haven’t done and a big bike win is what I really want. But one day we will win the big race but it wasn’t to be this year. I’m really disappointed for the team as they have worked so hard and only Michael knows how he lost those races as they were there for the taking.” Rutter resumes battle next weekend at Mondello Park in County Kildare where round five of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship takes place next Sunday. Black Horse Motorcycle Finance North West 200 Superbike Race 1, Steve Plater (HM Plant Honda) 123.437mph 2, Michael Rutter (Stobart Honda) 123.235mph 3, John McGuinness (HM Plant Honda) 121.589mph 4, Cameron Donald (Robinson Concrete Honda) 120.809mph 5, Guy Martin (AIM Racing Yamaha) 120.700mph 6, Ian Lougher (Stobart Honda) 120.641mph.

FIM MotoGP World Championship Shanghai Circuit Shanghai, China Polini Grand Prix of China Final qualifying Results: 1. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (Hon RC211V), 1:59.009, Michelin 2. John HOPKINS, USA (Suz GSV-R) 1:59.373, Bridgestone 3. Colin EDWARDS, USA (Yam YZR-M1), 1:59.383, Michelin 4. Shinya NAKANO, Japan (Kaw ZX-RR), 1:59.570, Bridgestone 5. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (Hon RC211V), 1:59.574, Michelin 6. Sete GIBERNAU, Spain (Duc GP06) 1:59.639, Bridgestone 7. Casey STONER, Australia (Hon RC211V), 1:59.890, Michelin 8. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (Hon RC211V), 2:00.014, Michelin 9. Randy DE PUNIET, France (Kaw ZX-RR), 2:00.044, Bridgestone 10. Loris CAPIROSSI, Italy (Duc GP06), 2:00.078, Bridgestone 11. Makoto TAMADA, Japan (Hon RC211V), 2:00.176, Michelin 12. Chris VERMEULEN, Australia (Suz GSV-R), 2:00.304, Bridgestone 13. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (Yam YZR-M1), 2:00.720, Michelin 14. Carlos CHECA, Spain (Yam YZR-M1), 2:01.052, Dunlop 15. Toni ELIAS, Spain (Hon RC211V), 2:01.275, Michelin 16. Alex HOFMANN, Germany (Duc GP05), 2:01.972, Dunlop 17. James ELLISON, Great Britain (Yam YZR-M1), 2:02.088, Dunlop 18. Kenny Lee ROBERTS, USA (KR RC211V), 2:02.311, Michelin 19. Jose Luis CARDOSO, Spain (Duc GP05), 2:02.948, Dunlop 250cc GP Qualifying: 1. Hector Barbera (Apr RSV250), 2:05.781 2. Jorge Lorenzo (Apr RSV250), 2:05.948 3. Shuhei Aoyama (Hon RS250R), 2:06.677 4. Andrea Dovizioso (Hon RS250R), 2:06.936 5. Alex de Angelis (Apr RSV250), 2:07.073 6. Yuki Takahashi (Hon RS250R), 2:07.127 7. Hiroshi Aoyama (KTM), 2:07.289 8. Anthony West (Apr RSV250), 2:07.382 9. Jakub Smrz (Apr RSV250), 2:08.028 10. Manuel Poggiali (KTM), 2:08.058 125cc GP Qualifying: 1. Mika Kallio (KTM), 2:11.572 2. Lukas Pesek (Derbi), 2:11.934 3. Julian Simon (KTM), 2:11.953 4. Alvaro Bautista (Apr RS125R), 2:11.990 5. Gabor Talmacsi (Hon RS125R), 2:12.441 6. Mattia Pasini (Apr RS125R), 2:12.541 7. Thomas Luthi (Hon RS125R), 2:12.805 8. Raffaele de Rosa (Apr RS125R), 2:12.948 9. Angel Rodriguez (Apr RS125R), 2:13.003 10. Tomoyoshi Koyama (Malaguti), 2:13.045 More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2006 KAWASAKI RACING TEAM PRESS OFFICE SUPER SHINYA SECURES SECOND ROW START IN SHANGHAI Kawasaki’s Shinya Nakano missed out on a front row start in tomorrow’s Grand Prix of China by just one tenth of a second today, after qualifying his Ninja ZX-RR fourth fastest during this afternoon’s hour-long timed session at the Shanghai International Circuit. The 28-year-old Japanese ace will start tomorrow’s 22-lap race from the second row of the grid, one row in front of his Kawasaki teammate, Randy de Puniet, who set the ninth fastest time aboard his Ninja ZX-RR this afternoon. The heavy rain of yesterday was replaced by dry but overcast conditions for this morning’s hour-long free practice session, giving both Kawasaki riders the chance to work on the dry set-up of their Ninja ZX-RR MotoGP machines, after the washout that was the opening day of practice. The dry conditions continued into afternoon qualifying, but then, just 25 minutes into the session, the riders were forced back to the pit box by the onset of rain along Shanghai’s 1.2 km main straight. Fortunately the rain was both light and short lived and, with just 15 minutes of the session remaining, both Kawasaki riders were back out on track to assess the track conditions and the possibility of switching to qualifying tyres for the final quarter of the session. Nakano used his first qualifying tyre to assess grip levels around the 5.281 km Shanghai circuit, before using his second qualifier to take pole position with just four minutes of the session left to run. The Kawasaki rider held onto the top spot until the dying moments, when a quick succession of fast laps saw Honda’s Dani Pedrosa snatch pole position as Nakano was pushed back to fourth place, and the second row of the grid. With two runs on a qualifying tyre under his belt, Randy de Puniet looked set to snatch his first MotoGP pole position with his final flying lap, but it was not to be. In a calculated gamble the 25-year-old Frenchman chose the softest of Bridgestone’s qualifying tyres for his last run, but started losing time late in the lap when the tyre went off and the rear of his Ninja ZX-RR started to slide under power, forcing de Puniet to settle for ninth place and the third row of the grid. With so little dry practice time ahead of tomorrow’s 22-lap race, both Kawasaki riders are confident that further improvements can be made to their Ninja ZX-RR machines overnight, which will allow them to improve their lap times on race tyres even further during tomorrow’s race. Shinya Nakano: 4th – 1’59.570 “I was quite confident going into qualifying after this morning’s free practice session, and I was lying eighth when the rain started halfway through the session. After the difficulties we had yesterday, eighth was not bad, but I really wanted to try and improve on a qualifying tyre, and at that point it didn’t look as if I would get the chance. But the rain had almost stopped after 15 minutes, so we decided to try a qualifier anyway, just to get a feel for the conditions and to find out if it was possible to push hard with the soft tyre. It looked okay, so we put in another qualifier, but grip wasn’t consistent around the whole circuit, so at some corners I couldn’t push as hard as I would if it had been completely dry. Unfortunately, because of the time lost through the rain, I didn’t have time for another run on a qualifier. On race tyres we’re not so far off the leading riders, and I think we can still make some improvements to the bike overnight, so I’m fairly confident for the race tomorrow. For sure, starting the race from the front row would have been better, but I’m happy enough with fourth place on the grid.” Randy de Puniet: 9th – 2’00.044 “This morning we concentrated on finding both a set-up and a race tyre for the dry conditions, and we continued with this during the first half of this afternoon’s qualifying session. Them just as we were starting to think about switching to a qualifying tyre, the rain started. Luckily it only lasted a few minutes, so with 15 minutes to go we tried our first qualifying tyre. I made a small mistake on the first qualifying run, which lost me some time, and then I got held up behind Carlos Checa on my second qualifier, which again cost me valuable time. Unfortunately, we decided to use the softest compound qualifier for my third and final run, and by the time I got to the long right hand turn before the straight, the rear was starting to spin up as the tyre went off and I had to settle for ninth place on the grid. I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow. In Istanbul I wanted to finish my first MotoGP race, so I was little bit cautious, but for tomorrow my plan is to go as hard as I can from the start, to try and stay in touch with the leading group of riders for as long as possible, and, hopefully, finish the race with a good result. That’s the plan anyway.” QUALIFYING PRACTICE – FINAL TIMES 1. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1’59.009; 2. John Hopkins (USA) Team Suzuki MotoGP +0.364; 3. Colin Edwards (USA) Camel Yamaha Team +0.374; 4. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team +0.561; 5. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team +0.565; 6. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team +0.630; 7. Casey Stoner (AUS) LCR Honda +0.881; 8. Marco Melandri (ITA) Fortuna Honda +1.005; 9. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team +1.035; 10. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team +1.069 More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: Chinese Grand Prix, Shanghai Qualifying, Saturday May 13 2006 2nd AND 4th ROW FOR DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM IN CHINESE GP. Ducati Marlboro Team riders Sete Gibernau and Loris Capirossi were sixth and tenth fastest in this afternoon’s rain-interrupted qualifying session for tomorrow’s Chinese Grand Prix. A rain shower dampened the track in parts halfway through the session, robbing teams of valuable dry-track time. Riders were able to return to the rapidly drying track for the final few minutes, but since both yesterday’s sessions were run in heavy rain, this morning’s hour-long outing has been the only fully dry session of a weather-blighted weekend, leaving riders and teams with precious little set-up time for what is expected to be a dry race. Gibernau and Capirossi made the best of this afternoon’s tricky session, continuing work on race set-up before switching to qualifiers in the final minutes, but neither rider was able to extract the full performance from their Desmosedici GP6s in the time available. Gibernau had led the early stages of the session and looked capable of taking pole position, but the Spaniard was unable to maintain that pace to the flag and ended 6th. Italian team-mate Capirossi will start from 10th position. Weather for tomorrow is unpredictable but Ducati Marlboro Team riders are going to exploit every single minute of the warm-up in order to make the last adjustments for the race. SETE GIBERNAU, 6th fastest, 1m 59.639s “That was a bit of a strange session. Everything seems to be working well enough from a race point of view, but we still have to work some more with Bridgestone to find the right race tyre choice. The first part of the session went okay but later on I was struggling to get a lap time with the qualifiers because I could do the first part of the lap not so bad, but after that the tyre wasn’t giving me the grip I needed for a qualifying lap. It’s up to us and Bridgestone to find the right solution for the race, because when the tyres are okay we know we can go well, but we don’t what to end up in the same situation we were in at Istanbul. We have one more rear to try in tomorrow morning’s warm-up session, one more choice that might help us for the race.” LORIS CAPIROSSI, 10th fastest, 2m 00.078s “Sete and I have been using the same rear race tyre, but we need a bit more endurance for the race. I have been using a front tyre that’s a bit harder than Sete’s but it’s okay for the race, while Sete’s is softer but maybe doesn’t have the endurance. This afternoon’s rain didn’t help us because we couldn’t test everything we wanted to test. At the end of the session I didn’t have full confidence in the front, so I couldn’t fully exploit my qualifying tyres. We did our best today and we will need to make the most of warm-up to test more tyres, making sure we don’t take any big gambles for the race.” Temperatures: Ambient: 19 degrees C. Track: 21 degrees C. More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: China sees Pedrosa take first MotoGP pole Polini Grand Prix of China Saturday 13th May 2006 Dani Pedrosa claims his first MotoGP pole position Dani Pedrosa will start tomorrow’s Polini Grand Prix of China from pole position, after putting in a last minute record-setting lap. The 20 year-old Spaniard’s first pole in the class came in a time of 1’59.009, with a mildly wet track and in a session split in half by rain showers. It looked at one stage as if Sete Gibernau would maintain his advantage from the first half-hour when the rain started to fall, but after ten minutes break the riders came back out, and the lap-times quickly improved, dropping the Spaniard down the pecking order. John Hopkins meanwhile earns his first front row of the season, ahead of a rejuvenated Colin Edwards. Both the Americans had sat in top spot at various stages in the session, as had Shinya Nakano, who was eventually dropped to fourth, ahead of championship leader Nicky Hayden and Gibernau. After having taken second place in Turkey, Casey Stoner sits in a respectable seventh place, whilst the race winner from that race, Marco Melandri, is the top Italian rider on the grid in eighth. They will be joined on row three by Randy de Puniet, who will be hoping to take inspiration from last year’s race-day performance from his compatriot Olivier Jacque, who steered the Kawasaki into an impressive second place. Second in the championship, Loris Capirossi heads row four in tenth, alongside Makoto Tamada and Chris Vermeulen. Directly behind the Ducati of Capirossi is reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi who had led both practices in the rain yesterday, with Carlos Checa and Toni Elias also on the fifth row. Weather forecasts are for no rain tomorrow, but such have been the changeable conditions that every rider will be eagerly looking through the bedroom window first thing tomorrow morning to hope it remains dry. 250cc Grand Prix After a best 250 result of second in Turkey, Hector Barbera went on to claim his first ever pole position in the category in Shanghai today with a late surge ahead of teammate Jorge Lorenzo. Lorenzo lost the championship lead after he crashed out two weeks ago, and will be hoping that second place on the grid will help him recover lost ground. The new championship leader Andrea Dovizioso was relegated to fourth on the grid after a last ditch effort from Shuhei Aoyama, but two Aprilias and two Hondas on the front row guarantees another exciting battle tomorrow. The second row is made up of Alex de Angelis, Yuki Takahashi, Hiroshi Aoyama and Anthony West. 125cc Grand Prix Mika Kallio defended his provisional pole from yesterday to put himself at the head of the pack for tomorrow’s 125cc race, ahead of Czech rider Lukas Pesek. With a time of 2’11.572, the Finn earned his ninth pole in the class but his first of this season, four-tenths ahead of team-mate Julian Simon who finished third after clocking the fastest time of this morning’s session. Behind the top three, Gabor Talmacsi, Mattia Pasini, Thomas Luthi, Raffaele da Rosa. Angel Rodriguez and Fabrizio Lai will start as the first ten on the grid. MotoGP 1st, Dani Pedrosa (Honda), 1’59.009 : “Tomorrow will be difficult because we don’t know exactly what weather conditions we will encounter. We’ll see but we need to fight hard and hopefully I can make a great start this time round. The opening set-up isn’t too bad here so we’ll have to see what we can do in the race. It has been a difficult couple of days with all the mixed conditions, but what is important is the race.” More, from a press release issued by Gresini Racing/Fortuna Honda: FORTUNA HONDA RIDERS READY FOR CHINA TEST FORTUNA HONDA riders Marco Melandri and Toni Elias have finalised their preparations for the GP of China on the second day of qualifying in changeable weather conditions. The riders carried out some work in dry conditions, but were then forced to change their plans because of the rain that fell in the afternoon at the Shanghai circuit. Even so, both Melandri and Elias, who finished eighth and twelfth respectively, will hope to get a good start in tomorrow’s race and put in a good performance. Forecasts are indicating better conditions for Sunday’s race at the Shanghai International circuit. MARCO MELANDRI (2’00″014, 8th): “This morning we struggled to find a good feeling on the Shanghai track. we worked a lot on rear suspension in order to improve my feeling with the bike. We spent a lot of time trying to find a solution for that. Then, when the rain started falling we spent a bit of time waiting to see if it would dry out, but 15 minutes from the end of the session we went out on soft tyres. We must work on the suspension as I think that is where the main problem is, we’re not far from a solution and I’m confident for the race. The weight balance is quite good and i hope to make a good start in order to fight for the podium.” TONI ELIAS (2’01″275, 16th, 16 laps ): “It was a diffcult day. In the morning we were able to work in the dry, but I didn’t have a good feeling with the rear of the bike. What’s more, it proved hard to find a good set-up that allowed me to feel comfortable although we can work on it in the warm-up tomorrow. It will be a difficult race tomorrow and we must make a good start if we want to be with the lead group.” More, from a press release issued by Camel Yamaha: Grand Prix of China Shanghai International Circuit, China Saturday 13th May EDWARDS SEALS FRONT ROW START AT SHANGHAI Camel Yamaha Team rider Colin Edwards will start from the front row of the MotoGP grid in tomorrow’s Grand Prix of China after setting the third fastest time in a dramatic single qualifying session today. After battling through torrentially wet conditions yesterday, the riders enjoyed a cloudy but dry free practice this morning as they sought to find a suitable dry set-up for their machines. The afternoon started in similar conditions but a brief rain shower midway through the session confined the riders to a tense spell in their pit garages before a thrilling late shootout for grid positions. Whilst Edwards battled for the top spot with eventual pole setter Dani Pedrosa (Honda) and second-fastest John Hopkins (Suzuki), his Camel Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi was unable to repeat the kind of form that saw him dominate proceedings in the wet conditions yesterday. The Italian was one of several riders to struggle with a lack of dry practice time as he looked to iron out set-up problems and find his pace. He now faces another battle through the pack after setting the 13th fastest time, meaning he will start from the fifth row of the grid. COLIN EDWARDS (3rd; 1’59.383, 15 laps) “This has been a really strange weekend because we started off by finding a setting for the wet and then converted it to the dry usually it is the other way around! I felt so comfortable with the bike yesterday and I was disappointed when I saw that I was down in thirteenth, but I knew the reason for that and I was really confident about today. I can’t really explain why we were off the pace in Turkey but have been right on it here in China, because we have hardly touched anything with the bike, just played around with the suspension. We’ve got some chatter in certain areas of the track but it’s worse when the grip is good, especially when we put a qualifying tyre on. On race rubber you can hardly notice it so I think we have a good setting to go the distance tomorrow and I am happy with my tyre choice. I’ve had some decent starts to races so far this season but haven’t been able to maintain the pace, so hopefully I can turn that around tomorrow. It feels good to be back on the front row.” VALENTINO ROSSI (13th; 2’00.720, 18 laps) “For sure we have a lot of problems and it’s disappointing to be back in this position again after such a good day yesterday. When the grip becomes normal again, like today, we have a lot of chatter and it’s very hard to ride the bike. Really this situation is quite bad, as the chatter has returned again today and it is similar to how it was in Jerez. Now we have to start from the fifth row and so it’s going to be a very hard race. We have talked a lot tonight in the garage and now we will try some things in the morning during warm-up and hope that we can make some final improvements. Now I need to ride a defensive race, try not to make any mistakes and try to take as many points as possible.” DAVIDE BRIVIO CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR “A very good result for Colin it’s been a while since he was on the front row so it is good to see him back there. He seems much more comfortable on the bike and it’s good to see that he is able to ride it so effectively. Unfortunately Valentino wasn’t able to follow up his good performance from yesterday with a similar result today, so we will have to take a look at the data with the engineers and try to come up with some ideas for the warm-up tomorrow.” FIRST ROW: Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team, 1’59.009 John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1’59.373 COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1’59.383 SECOND ROW Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1’59.570 Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team, 1’59.574 Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1’59.639 THIRD ROW Casey Stoner (AUS) Honda LCR, 1’59.890 Marco Melandri (ITA) Fortuna Honda, 2’00.014 Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team, 2’00.044 FOURTH ROW Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 2’00.078 Makoto Tamada (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda, 2’00.176 Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 2’00.304 FIFTH ROW VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Camel Yamaha Team, 2’00.720 Carlos Checa (SPA) Tech 3 Yamaha, 2’01.052 Toni Elias (SPA) Fortuna Honda, 2’01.275 More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Information: Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai Saturday May 13, 2006 DANI SNATCHES FIRST MOTOGP POLE IN DAMP CHINA Spanish star Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC211V) secured a maiden pole position here at Shanghai at only his fourth attempt with a lap of 1:59.009 seconds. John Hopkins (Suzuki) and Colin Edwards (Yamaha) qualified second and third fastest. After torrential rain on Friday Saturday began dry but rain again affected events during this one hour of timed qualifying. With 35 minutes to go in the session droplets of rain forced riders into the pits and 20 minutes of the session were effectively lost to a track that was partly wet and partly dry. But conditions improved almost as quickly as they had deteriorated and as the track dried riders were left with just over 15 minutes to haul themselves up the grid order. Sete Gibernau (Ducati) was the early fastest man and as riders ventured back on track it was Edwards who hit the top of the timesheet. He couldn’t hang onto the top slot for long though and with seven minutes remaining it was Pedrosa who showed his rapid mastery of the Honda RV211V 990cc machine when he deprived the American of what would have been his first pole after three seasons in MotoGP. It has taken Dani just four races. Dani, who had been clocked at a heady 215mph on the 1,202m main straight here in the morning free training, was in rapid form and he remorselessly closed in on pole, shaving his lap time down bit by bit until he felt ready to exploit the leech-like grip of super-sticky qualifying tyres. But Dani had to put in another pole lap before the end of the session when Kawasaki man Shinya Nakano recorded a lap of 1:59.570 with four minutes to go to temporarily deprive Honda’s 20-year-old star of what promises to be the first of many pole positions in the premier class. Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) continued his strong showing this season with a fifth fastest qualifying performance just half a second away from Dani’s pole time. Rookie sensation Casey Stoner (LCR Honda RC211V), who already has one pole position to his name already this season, managed a 1:59.980 lap to qualify seventh fastest. Marco Melandri (Fortuna Honda RC211V), victorious at the last grand prix, at Istanbul qualified eighth fastest to start from the third row while his team-mate Toni Elias (Fortuna Honda RC211V) struggled to place himself 15th fastest. Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda RC211V) will start from 11th but Kenny Roberts (Roberts KR211V) will have to make do with 18th 3.302 seconds shy of pole. Poleman Dani said, “I’m really happy because this time I went quickly on qualifying tyres which is something I haven’t managed so well in the previous qualifying sessions. I don’t really know what was different today it was not one specific thing I just felt more confident with the tyres, so I am happy. The session was strange because it was dry, then it rained, then it was dry again so maybe not everyone was able to perform at the same level.” His team-mate Nicky, fifth fastest, said, “The shower in the middle of qualifying screwed things up for us a little bit so we’ve still got a few unanswered questions for tomorrow. Last year it rained a lot too, and it’s the first year here with this new bike so we could have used some more dry time to sort some stuff out, but everyone’s in that same boat. My biggest issue right now is with engine braking unsettling the bike into corners. It feels good to be leading the World Championship and I’m happy with my run of consistency, so I’m looking for that next win.” Stoner, who fell without injury early in the session, said, “I had a small slip just as the rain started and then I had a problem with the front-end set-up on my spare bike, I kept losing it, so I wasn’t confident to push any harder. I have a very good race set-up on my race bike but we still have to check tyre life for the race distance, that’s a bit of a worry at the moment. But overall I’m really happy with the weekend so far.” Marco Melandri said, “This morning we struggled to find a good feeling and worked a lot on rear suspension. We spent a lot of time trying to find a solution for that. Then, when the rain started falling we spent a bit of time waiting to see if it would dry out, but 15 minutes from the end of the session we went out on soft tyres. We’re not far from a solution and I’m confident for the race.” Tamada said, “I’ll have to get a good start from the fourth row trying to catch the leading group of the riders because here I feel good potential. Rain did not permit us to complete the test to choose the race tyres so tomorrow morning we should finish the job during the warm-up.” Tony Elias, in 16th, said, “It was a difficult day. In the morning we were able to work in the dry, but I didn’t have a good feeling with the rear of the bike. And it proved hard to find a good set-up that allowed me to feel comfortable although we can work on it in the warm-up tomorrow. It will be a difficult race and we must make a good start if we want to be with the lead group.” Kenny Roberts said, “Nothing positive came from that session. We are struggling for grip in both the wet and dry. It’s a real mystery to all of us because we were making progress, we wont understand it till we take a good look at the data. We had different tyres at the post race test at Turkey and they turned things around for us but we don’t have those tyres here.” In the 250cc class Hector Barbera prevailed over his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo (both Aprilia) to take his first pole of the season and deprive Lorenzo of what would have been his fourth consecutive pole of the season. Shuhei Aoyama (Repsol Honda RS250RW) qualified third and series points leader Andrea Dovizioso (Humangest Racing Honda RS250RW) completes the front row. Dovi’s team-mate Yuki Takahashi (Humangest Racing Honda RS250RW) qualified sixth while Arnaud Vincent (Molenaar Racing Honda RS250RW) managed 14th on the grid. The biggest disappointment is the performance of Sebastian Porto (Repsol Honda RS250RW) down in 21st on row six. Dovi said, “I’m on the front row and this is positive, but I’m not completely satisfied with today’s work. The weather conditions didn’t help us, we had to change our test schedule and so we couldn’t go through what we planned. If tomorrow is dry, we’re going to do other tests during the morning warm-up, while we are OK in the wet. Anyway, I have a good pace in both the conditions.” Takahashi said, “Today was important because we ran in dry conditions. At the beginning, I didn’t push as I was riding with a new piston. Then, unfortunately, it started raining and we lost time. As soon as I could, I put in soft tyres but didn’t take full advantage of them because I wanted to test harder tyres for tomorrow’s race. The results were positive. So I’m confident about tomorrow.” “Today is the first time I am really satisfied,” said Aoyama. “I’m trying to be more relaxed in my way of riding and not riding like crazy and everything came easier to me. I set my fast time with a race tyre, I have a good set-up and I have chosen the race tyres already. I also have a good position on the grid so we should have a good race.” Mika Kallio (KTM) rode to his first pole position of this 2006 season in the 125cc class with Lukas Pesek (Derbi) lining up alongside the Finnish rider in second. Julian Simon (KTM) qualified third fastest with Aprilia rider Alvaro Bautista completing the front row of the grid. Gabor Talmacsi (Humangest Honda RS125R), who was the quickest rider on track for much of the half-hour of final qualifying, eventually ended up fifth fastest rider heading up the second row. Reigning World Champion Thomas Luthi (Elit Grand Prix Honda RS125R) will start tomorrow’s race form seventh on the grid. Talmacsi said, “I’m happy about this practice sessions as we have made important steps forward compared to the first three Grand Prix and we have been fast since Friday morning. I think I’m competitive both on dry and wet conditions. If tomorrow is dry, during the warm up we have to do some small changes on the chassis settings, while if it’s rain the bike is almost OK. So I feel confident in both the situations and I think I can do a good race tomorrow.” “The second qualifying session was my best of the weekend,” said Luthi. “For me it was important to follow the riders who have been fast so far this year. I needed to make a comparison and I’m happy I can run with them even if I am a little bit down on power in some places. But the bike is good and we are making a step forward each race. I have not chosen my tyres yet because we want to try a few small things in the warm-up.” HONDA RIDER TEAM QUOTES: MotoGP: Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 1st. “It’s really good to be on pole position and I’m really happy because this time I went quickly on qualifying tyres which is something I haven’t managed so well in the previous qualifying sessions. I don’t really know what was different today – it was not one specific thing – I just felt more confident with the tyres, so I am happy. The session was strange because it was dry, then it rained, then it was dry again so maybe not everyone was able to perform at the same level. One important thing is that we couldn’t test the race tyres as much as we’d have liked. Anyway, I’ll just be looking to make a good start and have a good race tomorrow. I’m not thinking about the win yet, just to perform at my maximum.” Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 5th. “The shower in the middle of qualifying screwed things up for us a little bit so we’ve still got a few unanswered questions for tomorrow. Last year it rained a lot too, and it’s the first year here with this new bike so we could have used some more dry time to sort some stuff out, but everyone’s in that same boat. My biggest issue right now is with engine braking unsettling the bike into corners. This morning we were working on that, and it’s a little bit frustrating but we’ll come ready to get our heads down and see if we can sort something in warm-up tomorrow. It feels good to be leading the championship and I’m happy with my run of consistency, so I’m looking for that next win.” Casey Stoner, LCR Honda: 7th.: “I had a small slip just as the rain started and then I had a problem with the front-end set-up on my spare bike, I kept losing it, so I wasn’t confident to push any harder. I was doing good times at the start of the session and making progress with the set-up but the spare had different settings, so I didn’t have a lot luck. I have a very good race set-up on my race bike but we still have to check tyre life for the race distance, that’s a bit of a worry at the moment. But overall I’m really happy with the weekend so far.” Marco Melandri, Fortuna Honda: 8th. “This morning we struggled to find a good feeling on the Shanghai track. we worked a lot on rear suspension in order to improve my feeling with the bike. We spent a lot of time trying to find a solution for that. Then, when the rain started falling we spent a bit of time waiting to see if it would dry out, but 15 minutes from the end of the session we went out on soft tyres. We must work on the suspension as I think that is where the main problem is, we’re not far from a solution and I’m confident for the race. The weight balance is quite good and i hope to make a good start in order to fight for the podium.” Makoto Tamada, Konica Minolta Honda: 11th.”I am really sorry I was not able to completely exploit the qualifying tyres potential to obtain a better position in the starting grid. I’ll have to recover from the forth row trying to catch immediately the group of the leading riders because here I feel I can rely on a good potential. Rain did not permit us to complete the test to choose the race tyres therefore, tomorrow morning we should have to finish this job during the warm up. My RC211V setting instead has already been defined and my feeling even in dry conditions is more than satisfactory.” Toni Elias, Fortuna Honda: 15th. “It was a diffcult day. In the morning we were able to work in the dry, but I didn’t have a good feeling with the rear of the bike. What’s more, it proved hard to find a good set-up that allowed me to feel comfortable although we can work on it in the warm-up tomorrow. It will be a difficult race tomorrow and we must make a good start if we want to be with the lead group.” Kenny Roberts Jnr, KR Honda: 18th. “Not really anything positive came from that session. We are struggling for grip in both the wet and dry. It’s a real mystery to all of us because we were making progress, we wont understand it till we take a good look at the data. We had different tyres at the post race test at Turkey and they turned things around for us but we don’t have those tyres here. Those tyres did help improve the front end grip going into corners. Somewhere in the garage we have the answer but with losing a day to the weather at most races we are struggling to find a really good base to work from here.” 250cc: Shuhei Aoyama, Repsol Honda: 3rd. “Today is the first time I am really satisfied we did a great job the team and me. I’m trying to be more relaxed in my way of riding and not riding like crazy and everything came easier to me. I set my fast time with a race tyre and I have a good set up and I have chosen the race tyres already. I also have a good position on the grid so we should have a good race. I don’t want to say I’m aiming for the podium just to take the maximum number of points out of the race.” Andrea Dovizioso, Humangest Honda: 4th. “I conquered the front row and this is positive, but I’m not completely satisfied about today’s work. Unfortunately, this variable weather conditions didn’t help us, we had to change our test schedule and so we couldn’t go through what we planned. If tomorrow is dry, we are going to do other tests during the morning warm up, while we are okay on wet. Anyway, I have a good pace in both the conditions”. Yuki Takahashi, Humangest Honda: 6th. “Today was important because we run on dry conditions. At the beginning, I didn’t push as I was riding with a new piston. Then, unfortunately, it started raining and we lost time. As soon as I could, I put soft tyres but didn’t take full advantage of them because I wanted to test harder tyres for tomorrow’s race. The results was suddenly positive. For this I’m confident about tomorrow”. Arnaud Vincent, Molenaar Honda: 14th. I had a lot of fun out there today running with Aoyama and West so I’m happy with the bike, even if its moving around under me a bit too much. I’m a little sad also because when you run as fast as I di and know you could go faster – when you are running fast times you always want more.” Martin Cardenas, Wurth Honda BQR: 16th. “Qualifying was good for me I have a good set up an found a good rhythm. I had hoped for a top 15 place on the grid but a few guys passed me in the last couple of minutes. Hopefully I can have a good race. I have confidence in the bike after today. This morning it as understeering but the team have improved that. The engine feels good and I like the track so I think I will have a good race tomorrow.” Arturo Tizon, Wurth Honda BQR: 19th. “We made big changes to the settings to the bike settings for today putting more weight on the front wheel. This gave me more confidence. I have to be more aggressive in qualifying change the system of working with the bike. This morning I found I could run with the fast guys in the class for a few laps it was a good experience.” Sebastian Porto, Repsol Honda: 21st. ” Not too much to say I’m just not comfortable, everything is complicated. We are trying to improve trying all kinds of set up options but nothing seems to work. It’s a hard situation but we will wait and see what happens in the race.” Jordi Carchano, Stop and Go Racing: Carchano will not contest the grand prix due to injury. 125cc: Gabor Talmacsi, Humangest Honda: 5th. “I’m happy about this practice sessions as we have made important step forwards compare to the first three GPs and we have been fast since Friday morning. I think I’m competitive both on dry and wet conditions. If tomorrow is dry, during the warm up we have to do some small changes on the chassis settings, while if it’s rain the bike is almost okay. So I feel confident in both the situations and I think I can do a good race tomorrow”. Thomas Luthi, Elit Honda: 7th. “The second qualifying session was my best of the weekend. For me it was important to follow the riders who have been fast so far this year I needed to make a comparison and I’m happy I can run with them even if I am a little bit down on power in some places. But the bike is good and we make a step forward each race. I have not chosen my tyres yet because we want to try a few small things in the warm up tomorrow. A lot of things could possibly happen in the race but at this moment I think I can run with the leaders tomorrow. Maybe one or two will get away from the group but I’m not so sure about that.” Fabrizio Lai, Seedorf Racing World: 11th. “I’m satisfied because we have made a great job with the set up, now I’m more confident and I made some good lap time. We have still some chassis problems but I think I can make a good race tomorrow. I like this track and last year I was second… but this year the riders level is higher”. Aleix Espargaro, Wurth Honda BQR: 15th. “The start of the session was good but when I came in to try a new tyre the feeling from the front was not good in the fast corner so I went to the box to fit a new tyre but even then the bike was moving about so we have some work to do on the chassis tonight. The engine is very good. If the chassis is OK and I get a good start I an take a lot of points out of this race.” Mike di Meglio, FFM Honda: 16th. “The weather conditions for this afternoon’s qualifying session were better than yesterday and I improved my time by two-seconds, the same as pole time for the 2005 race. Since the beginning of the season we have improved slower than the other teams but my technical staff have changed the way of working and this seems more efficient so we have improved the settings of the chassis and engine. I am quite confident for the race.” Sandro Cortese, Elit Honda: 18th. “In the first part of qualifying it was not so good. I clashed with Koyama and had to go into the box and lost two laps. When I went out again I tried to hard and ran onto the grass at the double let corner. My second time out I was OK but not perfect. If I get a good start I will be OK because the bike is very good engine and chassis. I have already chosen my tyres for the race so I ma happy.” Michele Conti, Seedorf Racing World: 23rd “I’m pleased with the work we are doing and I’m finally becoming a World Championship rider. I hope the rain will not prevent this improvement. Today my Honda was very fast and I could be faster than yesterday. With another session I would have tried to improve my time but we have at disposal only the warm up and then the race! I hope to do a good race like the turkish one”¦but with some points!”. Lorenzo Baroni, Humangest Honda: 28th. “Still we didn’t sort out the problems on the front-end of my bike and in the fast corners I have to close the throttle earlier, while the others can take it open. This morning, though, I could ride better on the damp asphalt, but in the afternoon on the dry the lap times in general improved and I struggled more. It will be very important to make a good start tomorrow”. Bradley Smith, Repsol Honda: 30th. “Today didn’t go so well. We put an H tyre in for qualifying which was really good but it was unstable in the rear so every time I got on the gas it flicked me off the seat. I never actually felt confident at all. I pushed on the last lap and it was going quite well but the tyre just kept on letting loose I just couldn’t turn in the fast corners and lost so much time. It’s my worst qualifying position so far, it’s nothing to be happy about maybe. This will give finally give me something to concentrate on in the race and try to get a good start. I’ll actually crack on in the first laps. I’m looking forward to it, even though I’m so far back I’ll try to make a good start and see what happens.” Joey Litjens, Molenaar Honda: 34h. “I’m happy it’s a relief after yesterday when I lost almost one complete session to a brake problem. The bike is really good the engine works well and the set up is almost perfect. In the second qualifying session I was faster with each lap and set my best lap time riding alone so I am very pleased with that. I know the front tyre I want to race with but I’m not sure about the rear till after the warm up. This is the first time I have been able to qualify with the group and I am really looking forward to the race tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Suzuki Racing: Fantastic front-row start for Hopkins and Rizla Suzuki MotoGP John Hopkins roared to a fantastic second place during today’s qualifying session for the Polini Grand Prix of China to give Rizla Suzuki MotoGP its second front row start in consecutive races. The uncompromising riding style of Hopkins was demonstrated as he went out for his final lap, trying so hard that he even managed to touch his elbow on the track as he searched for that extra time to put him at the front of the grid. Hopkins and his team had worked successfully all day to find the correct combination of Bridgestone tyres and bike set-up in today’s dry conditions. He improved on his times consistently in both sessions and was never outside the top 10. A stunningly quick pit stop by his crew right at the end of qualifying enabled him the extra time he needed to complete his final and fastest lap with only seconds to spare. Chris Vermeulen will start on the fourth row of the grid in 12th place. He used today’s two sessions to their full extent to get in valuable dry track time on the Shanghai circuit. He too consistently brought down his times and is looking forward to tomorrow’s race. Today’s pole position was taken by reigning 250cc World Champion Dani Pedrosa. Tomorrow’s 22-lap race is round four of the 2006 MotoGP World Championship and the lights will change to go at 15.00hrs local time (07.00hrs GMT). John Hopkins: “I can’t complain at that! I was a bit upset afterwards as I thought I was going to get the pole position that I want. I’ve been on the front row a few times now but never pole! After the session we think we have found a tyre that is going to work pretty good for us tomorrow. The bike worked well today in the dry, but at the moment I would have to say that it will be a bit easier for us if it is wet. I owe my best lap to my crew, because an 18 second pit-stop to change a tyre is pretty amazing. They did a great job and it was because of them that I got the lap. I now just want to get the best start possible and run at the front and see where we go from there.” Chris Vermeulen: “Today was my first dry time on the track and it was very different from in the wet. Everything was coming up a lot quicker and I had to find my way around and learn the track all over again. The guys are working really hard and we’ve made a lot of changes to the bike this afternoon – they all seemed to work pretty well. At the end I made a little mistake in the last part of my fastest lap and I know I would have been better placed if that hadn’t have happened. Everything seems to be going well. Congratulations must go to John as he did a really fast time and that has got to be good for all of the team.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “Another stunning qualifying effort by the whole team, this time we are delighted to see John on the front row the first time since Motegi last year. I don’t think he could have got a lot more out the GSV-R on that quick lap and all you can ask is for the riders to go to the limit, and John certainly did that today. “Chris looked set for a better position but a small mistake in the final sector cost him valuable time. However it was still a great effort because this morning was the first time he had ridden around this track in the dry. “If it’s raining tomorrow I think both riders will be fully competitive, but if it’s dry then there is no question that it will be a bit harder for us, based on the fact that we still need that bit more grunt to maintain our lap time when tyre grip is reduced over a race distance. Suzuki has worked extremely hard recently and continues to do so – and the team and riders have done everything they can to make sure that we run as close to the front as possible.”

FIM MotoGP World Championship Shanghai, China May 13 Best Combined Practice Times: 1. Casey STONER (Honda) 2:00.603, Michelin 2. Nicky HAYDEN (Honda) 2:00.941, Michelin 3. Loris CAPIROSSI (Ducati) 2:00.973, Bridgestone 4. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha) 2:01.357, Michelin 5. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha) 2:01.357, Michelin 6. Dani PEDROSA (Honda) 2:01.548, Michelin 7. Randy DE PUNIET (Kawasaki) 2:01.651, Bridgestone 8. Makoto TAMADA (Honda) 2:01.843, Michelin 9. John HOPKINS (Suzuki) 2:01.857, Bridgestone 10. Shinya NAKANO (Kawasaki) 2:01.966, Bridgestone 11. Sete GIBERNAU (Ducati) 2:01.990, Bridgestone 12. Toni ELIAS (Honda) 2:02.188, Michelin 13. Marco MELANDRI (Honda) 2:02.520, Michelin 14. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki) 2:02.566, Bridgestone 15. Kenny Lee ROBERTS (Roberts/Honda) 2:02.949, Michelin 16. Carlos CHECA (Yamaha) 2:02.964, Dunlop 17. Alex HOFMANN (Ducati) 2:03.275, Dunlop 18. James ELLISON (Yamaha) 2:04.292, Dunlop 19. Jose Luis CARDOSO (Ducati) 2:04.777, Dunlop