The promise of much more to come from the KTM-powered Proton KR was the feeling from British rider Shakey Byrne after completing the three-day IRTA test at Jerez (March 25-27.) This test was only Byrne’s third outing on the KTM-powered Proton KR machine. The project is still in its infancy and going through the time consuming prototype development stage of matching KTM’s Austrian manufactured V4, 990cc motor with the British built TeamKR chassis. Byrne completed 152 laps over three days in a final shakedown prior to the opening race of the 2005 season, the Spanish Grand Prix, also at Jerez on April 10. Over the three days Byrne was able to slice almost four seconds from his lap times as he worked through a program of chassis and suspension set-up and engine evaluation. Byrne ran only on Michelin race tyres and did not try for a fast, single lap using soft compound tyres unlike all the other factory rivals at the test. Byrne stayed within a narrow range of the available Michelin tyre choice as he concentrated on improving front-end ‘feel’. Day two of the test was interrupted by steady rain in the morning and the track remained damp until mid-afternoon with the weather clearing to sunny and windy conditions. Shakey Byrne : 1:44.272 (152 laps) “I made a lot of progress with the front end settings on the final day and we are now heading in the right direction. On race tyres I did 1:44.2 which was almost four seconds quicker than the times I started with on the first day. On day one I didn’t have a lot of confidence in the front end on corner entry. The main changes were to chassis geometry and fork settings. “There is definitely more to come. On the final day the lap times came much easier. On day one I was busting my balls to do 1:47s but on day three the 1:44.2 was really comfortable. “With the KTM engine we tried some different mapping and other adjustments. I would like a bit more push off the turns from the motor and hopefully we can achieve that while keeping the smooth power delivery and throttle connection. It’s a pity we had to stop early on the final day with a problem. “I didn’t really get time to test some of the new and better tyres available from Michelin. I didn’t even bother having a run on soft qualifier, we weren’t ready for that. “The 1:42s needs to be our target at Jerez and I think everyone now knows what the things are that we need to improve on the bike. Everyone from KTM and Team KR are very keen and motivated.”

CCS/Formula USA has hired Ryan Hoyler as its new Promotions Manager. Hoyler and his fiance Peggy had a daughter, Riley Abigail Hoyler, March 18 in Fort Worth, Texas.

AUSTRALIAN DUO GEAR UP FOR HOME ROUND Winston Ten Kate Honda’s World Superbike pairing of Chris Vermeulen and Karl Muggeridge head to Phillip Island in Australia this weekend for round two of the 2005 season. Respectively from Brisbane and Tweed Heads in New South Wales, the two will approach this event as their home round and will be keen to perform well on the Honda CBR1000RR. Vermeulen left the first round at Losail in Qatar last month in fourth place overall after finishing eighth and fourth in the two races. Muggeridge took a top ten finish in his debut Superbike race but crashed out of race two. With a solid test at Valencia two weeks ago, however, both riders made the type of progress they had sought pre-season and now feel competitive enough to improve their championship standings. The weekend’s activities kick off with practice and qualifying sessions on Friday, with Saturday’s Superpole session used to determine final grid positions for Sunday’s two races. Ronald ten Kate team manager: “Phillip Island is like a second home to the team especially with our two Australian riders. We’ve had good success there in the past and Chris took two second places in our first year with the CBR1000RR last season. The recent Valencia test at last gave us the chance to do some development work on the bike and gave both riders some good amounts of track time so we head to Australia in a positive frame of mind. In terms of set-up for the bike, we know which direction we need to be heading in now so we’ll be using chassis parts and settings from Valencia to make sure we’re competitive, because this round is really where our season starts.” Chris Vermeulen championship position 4th, 21 points: “It’s always good to come home to race and I’ve had a couple of weeks to acclimatise at my parents’ house in Brisbane. I’ve been doing some flying hours towards my pilot’s licence, some training and cruising around in my F100 pick-up, so I’m feeling pretty relaxed. I really like the Phillip Island circuit I won my first World Supersport race there in 2003 and came away with top points last year on the Superbike. With family and friends around it helps to relax but it’s also an incentive to do well. The Valencia test gave us a chance to put some laps in and showed us that we’re going the right way with the bike so I’m confident that we can do well this weekend.” Karl Muggeridge championship position 12th, 7 points: “For various reasons, the first round in Qatar wasn’t that fantastic but the great thing with this team is that we didn’t panic. I’ve said from the start that I’m not going to make any wild predictions for my first year in Superbikes because that’ll only put pressure on me. I just want to make steady progress each time I go out on the bike and the Valencia test was really the first opportunity to do that. It showed that with some time on the bike I can be competitive and I’m looking to push that forward at Phillip Island this weekend. Of course, I’ve got friends and family coming down to cheer me on which will be great but it won’t be until after the race that I can really relax with them.” Phillip Island World Superbike event schedule: Friday 1 April 10.30-11.30 free practice, 14.15-15.15 qualifying; Saturday 2 April 11.00-12.00 qualifying, 14.45-15.45 free practice, 16.00 Superpole; Sunday 3 April 09.20-09.40 warm-up, 12.00 race one (22 laps, 97.79km), 15.30 race two (22 laps, 97.79km). World Superbike championship points after one of 12 rounds: 1 Yukio Kagayama JPN (Suzuki) 45 points, 2 Troy Corser AUS (Suzuki) 41, 3 Regis Laconi FRA (Ducati) 36, 4 Chris Vermeulen AUS (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 21, 5= Andrew Pitt AUS (Yamaha)/James Toseland GBR (Ducati) 20, 7 Noriyuki Haga JPN (Yamaha) 16, 8 Norick Abe JPN (Yamaha) 15, 9 Pierfrancesco Chili ITA (Honda) 11, 10 Ivan Silva ESP (Yamaha) 9, 12 Karl Muggeridge AUS (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 7. TEN KATE LOOKS TO MAINTAIN SUPERSPORT DOMINATION The Winston Ten Kate Honda World Supersport approaches this weekend’s second round of the 2005 championship at Phillip island, Australia with one thing in mind: to maintain its stranglehold on the class that has secured the last three world titles and continued this year since the first official test at Losail in Qatar in February. The team’s two riders, Sébastien Charpentier and Katsuaki Fujiwara, have headed the time sheets in virtually every practice session, underlining their domination with a one-two finish in the opening round. Although Charpentier had qualified in pole position for the Losail event, it was Fujiwara that lit up the race with a last-to-first charge after he stalled his Honda CBR600RR at the start from second place on the grid. The pair carried their good form back to Europe for an official test at Valencia in Spain just over two weeks ago, heading the time sheets once more with Charpentier back on top. Ronald ten Kate team manager: “Of course it was a dream start for the team at the first round in Qatar. We have a heavily revised CBR600RR this season and two new riders, so everybody had a great deal to learn. The fact that we have been so dominant simply shows how hard the team and riders have been working, learning to operate together. And, of course, it shows how good the Honda CBR600RR really is! We’ll start at Phillip Island with pretty much the same chassis settings that were working so well at the recent Valencia test where Sébastien was on fire and making really good progress. Katsuaki is still learning how the Honda works and how we work as a team but his win in Qatar was fantastic for everyone. We’re looking forward to keeping both riders on top in Australia.” Katsuaki Fujiwara championship position 1st, 25 points “I think I made the right move in joining the Ten Kate team on the new Honda CBR for this season! It was fantastic for me to win in Qatar but I have also been getting used to the bike and my new team. The test at Valencia was another chance to make some progress and we worked mostly on the front of the bike because that gave us some problems in the first race. I’m really looking forward to Phillip Island and, although last year was not so good for me, I still have the lap record from the race in 2003 when I finished second behind Chris Vermeulen. I have spent the last couple of weeks back home in Japan relaxing with my family and with some people from Honda’s R&D department who threw a party to celebrate my win in Qatar.” Sébastien Charpentier championship position 2nd, 20 points “The Valencia test was very important for me to understand the front end problems I had in Qatar. Everything went really well during the test there; I qualified in pole position for the race and had a really good lead after about six or seven laps. But then the problems started and Katsuaki came past me with about two laps to go. I was disappointed at the time but it was great for the team to get a one-two finish at the very first race. Now we go to Phillip Island where I finished fifth last year on the CBR600RR. The bike has really been improved for this season though and now I’m on a Ten Kate CBR, so I am confident that I can improve my result and go for another win for this incredible team.” Phillip Island World Supersport event schedule: Friday 1 April 09.35-10.20 free practice, 13.15-14.00 qualifying; Saturday 2 April 10.00-10.45 free practice, 13.45-14.30 qualifying; Sunday 3 April 09.50-10.10 warm-up, 13.20 race (21 laps, 93.345km). World Supersport championship points after one of 12 rounds: 1 Katsuaki Fujiwara JPN (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 25 points, 2 Sébastien Charpentier FRA (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 20, 3 Michel Fabrizio ITA (Honda) 16, 4 Kevin Curtain AUS (Yamaha) 13, 5 Fabien Foret FRA (Honda) 11, 6 Broc Parkes AUS (Yamaha) 10, 7 Stephane Chambon FRA (Honda) 9, 8 Xavi Fores ESP (Suzuki) 8, 9 Gianluca Nannelli ITA (Ducati) 7, 10 Tatu Lauslehto FIN (Honda) 6.

FPR’s Aussies Make Tracks at Phillip Island Test FPR’s Steve Martin and Garry McCoy made further encouraging strides forward during today’s second day of testing at Phillip Island, with extensive evaluation of engine and chassis developments proving successful. Another trouble free day of running enabled both riders to maximise track time and using the latest specification of engine development, Steve knocked off over a second from his best time of yesterday to post a 1:34.2, also an improvement on the team’s best lap time from the 2004 race weekend at the costal circuit. Team mate Garry made significant in-roads with the set up of this longer swing arm configured FP1 and was able to run half a second quicker than yesterday with a time of 1:35.7, although cooling conditions from mid afternoon denied him the chance of taking to the track on a qualifying tyre. Team Manager, Jack Valentine commented, “Overall I’m really pleased with how this test has gone. Having found a good race set up yesterday, Steve’s focus today was on testing the latest engine specification and we’re really happy with how that performed, so now we need to get working to bring that on line as soon as possible. Garry continued work with his longer swing arm in order to find a good race set up, and is now at a point where he is comfortable and confident on the bike, which again is great progress. Now we’re just looking forward to next weekend’s race and even more developments to get us to where we really want to be.” Steve said, “I know I say this at every test but I am really happy with how the last two days have gone. Each time we go out things just get better for me and that’s a great credit to all the team’s hard work. I’ve got a good set up for the race here at the Island and the latest engine specification I’ve been testing today is really good. It’s a shame we won’t have that in the bikes for this next race but it’s great to know that we’ve got some really good things to come.” Garry said, “Things have started coming together for me today. We continued where we left off yesterday with more set up work of the longer swing arm, as my aim for today was to get to a point where I felt comfy on the bike and had a good base set up for the race here. I had to go out on my second bike in the afternoon which doesn’t have some of the latest engine developments, and also, even though we moved over all the parts from my first bike, it still didn’t feel quite the same so we had to spend a bit of time working through that. But I feel we achieved what we set out to do at this test and I’m more comfortable on the bike now than I ever have been which is great. I’m looking forward to the race and carrying on with making even more development progress.”

PICKERINGTON, Ohio (March 28, 2005) — AMA Pro Racing today announced it will post live practice times on @theWireLive! during the upcoming two-day Barber Motorsports Park team test set for Tuesday, March 29, and Wednesday, March 30. The test is in preparation for Round Two of the 2005 AMA Superbike Championship, April 22-24 at the 2.3-mile Barber Motorsports Park near Birmingham, Ala. Scheduled to test are Yoshimura Suzuki, American Honda, Erion Honda, Kawasaki, Attack Kawasaki, Austin Ducati, Michael Jordan Motorsports, Yamaha Graves Motorsports and Team M4 EMGO Suzuki. The test is closed to the public. Fans and media can follow riders of all participating teams by visiting @theWireLive! on www.amasuperbike.com. For event and ticket information for the April 22-24 AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited log on to www.barbermotorsports.com. About AMA Pro Racing AMA Pro Racing is the leading sanctioning body for motorcycle sport in the United States. Its properties include the THQ AMA Supercross Series, the AMA Motocross Championship, the AMA Superbike Championship, the AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship and the AMA Supermoto Championship. For more information about AMA Pro Racing, visit www.amaproracing.com.

Heroic Reynolds scores double top 10 RIZLA SUZUKI British Superbike Champion John Reynolds scored two heroic top 10 finishes in the opening round of the British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch today while racing with a broken right leg. During the weekend JR went from 21st after first practice, to 12th on the grid, to two ninth-place finishes in the races. He battled through the pain barrier and refused to give in to his injured right leg or his rivals, fighting every lap of both races and scoring valuable Championship points in front of a huge 50,000-strong crowd. JR has an appointment with his surgeon on Wednesday and is planning on resting for the next two weeks to build his strength for the second round of the series. Rizla Suzuki racer Scott Smart crashed out of the season opener on lap six when he had to brake mid-corner to avoid colliding with another rider, hurting his left wrist and straining his back in the process. A still sore Smart started from third place on the front row in the second race and bravely finished in a solid eighth place to get his Championship challenge off the ground. Honda’s Ryuichi Kiyonari won both races. The second round of the British Superbike Championship is at Rizla Suzuki’s home track of Thruxton in Hampshire on April 10th, just 30-minutes away from the team’s Dorset HQ at the Crescent Performance Centre in Verwood. John Reynolds: “I am happy to have scored points today but in my heart I really wanted to be racing at the front. In fairness, the limiting factor today wasn’t the pain in my right leg, it was the lack of ground clearance on right hand corners because I was wearing a huge boot and cast that was dragging on the track. Put simply, I couldn’t lean my Rizla Suzuki any further and that was costing me time everywhere. “Saying that, my Rizla Suzuki technicians have been beyond brilliant this weekend. They have accommodated my injury and gave me a fantastic GSX-R1000 to race. They even gave me reinforced toe-sliders so I could complete 30-laps without wearing through my entire right boot! Well done to the team and thank you for having the belief in me to race – the 14-points I’ve scored today could make all the difference at the end of the season.” Scott Smart: “I’m disappointed in my results today because my Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000, my team and myself were capable of much better – we proved that by qualifying third on the grid. “Race one was unfortunate as I crashed avoiding another rider and hurt my left wrist and back. In race two I was mugged in the first two laps and found myself down in 12th. I felt weak because of my injuries but as the race wore on I built up my confidence and started to get a move on and that’s very encouraging. We are matching the Rizla Suzuki to my riding style and we will make very fast progress thanks to all the data we’ve got this weekend.” Robert Wicks: “I am ecstatic for JR to take two top 10 finishes against all the odds – it is more than any of the team could have hoped for and has lifted us all enormously. If he can get this sort of result with a broken leg, I can’t wait to see what he can do when he’s fit again. This is a long season and JR is going to be in the reckoning. “I feel for Scott as he had a lot of pressure and expectation on his shoulders because of JR’s injury and a front row starting position. He suffered a bit of bad luck in race one and spent race two rebuilding his confidence, which he did very effectively indeed. He posted his fastest laps of the race towards the end – times equaling the front-runners. He has the ability, he has the bike and when it gels for him he’s going to be spectacularly fast. “My first race weekend as Team Manager has been thoroughly exciting and I am delighted with the professionalism and dedication of the Rizla Suzuki team. We’ll go back to the workshops and regroup before Thruxton where I know we will be much stronger when we line up there in two weeks time.” Race One Result: 1: Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 23:17.515, 2: Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) +10.242, 3: Glen Richards (Kawasaki) +10.432, 4: Michael Rutter (Honda) +10.533, 5: Sean Emmett (Yamaha) +14.168, 6: Karl Harris (Honda) +18.874, 7: Jeremy McWilliams (Honda) +24.408, 8: Dean Thomas (Kawasaki) +24.604, 9: JOHN REYNOLDS (RIZLA SUZUKI) +26.892, 10: Tommy Hill (Yamaha) +32.289, SCOTT SMART (RIZLA SUZUKI) DNF. Race Two Result: 2: 1: Kiyonari 23:16.796, 2: Rutter +5.041, 3: Lavilla +8.027, 4: Leon Haslam (Ducati) +9.786, 5: Emmett +14.181, 6: Harris +14.421, 7: Richards +16.612, 8: SCOTT SMART (RIZLA SUZUKI) +24.002, 9: JOHN REYNOLDS (RIZLA SUZUKI) +24.439, 10: Gary Mason (Honda) +24.506. Championship Standings after Round One: 1: Kiyonari 50, 2: Lavilla 36, 3: Rutter 33, 4: Richards 25, 5: Emmett 22, 6: Harris 20, 7: JOHN REYNOLDS (RIZLA SUZUKI) 14, 8: Thomas 13, 9: Haslam 13, 10: Hill 10, 13: SCOTT SMART (RIZLA SUZUKI) 8.

Hopkins shows Bridgestone potential as busy winter test schedule ends in Jerez BRIDGESTONE ended an intensive winter testing schedule in confident mood ahead of the start of the 2005 MotoGP world championship after a positive three-day test session at the Jerez circuit in Spain. American rider John Hopkins confirmed the huge strides made in the close season by Bridgestone when he finished an impressive third fastest with a lap of 1:40.418 on the final afternoon. The Suzuki GSV-R rider impressed throughout the weekend in what was a dress rehearsal for the first MotoGP of the season back at the Jerez circuit on April 10. He was fastest on the opening day, clocking a best of 1:40.893 on Bridgestone’s new race rubber. It looked like the 21-year-old would finish the test fastest until a late surge by Marco Melandri and Nicky Hayden dropped him to third overall as Hopkins, ecstatic with his weekend’s performance, opted to finish earlier than his rivals. On a rain-hit second day, conditions gave riders the perfect opportunity to assess the new range of Bridgestone wet weather tyres for the first time this winter. All noted a major step forward in performance from last season. That was reflected in the time sheets as Kenny Roberts Junior and Hopkins set the top two times on a soaked track. With barely an hour of dry track time available at the end of the second day, Japanese Kawasaki rider Shinya Nakano set the best time on the new Big Bang ZX-RR with a 1:42.112 lap. Loris Capirossi set the fifth fastest time overall, the Ducati rider posting a best of 1:40.550. Nakano eventually took eighth position, while German team-mate Alex Hofmann was 12th, two places ahead of Suzuki rider Kenny Roberts Junior. John Hopkins Team Suzuki MotoGP 3rd position “This test has given me a massive confidence boost before the first race. It’s been an excellent three days and I think we are ready for anything now. The first day was very exciting. With race tyres we spent the majority of the day at the top of the field and it was good. The improvements that Bridgestone and Suzuki have made during the winter are really starting to show. The Bridgestone rear tyre is just better in entire grip. Initial grip is so good when we first go out there it is like riding on a qualifier. It’s almost got to a point where when I go out in qualifying for the race, I’m not even sure yet if I need to use a qualifier. I might just need a new set of race rubber. The rate of improvement in the winter has been fascinating really. In just four or five tests Bridgestone has come back with a tyre that is exactly what we needed. I set my best time using a qualifying tyre that felt great. For the first part of the lap I was taking it easy just feeling where the grip was, and when we got to full throttle I could do that time no problem. Another big plus from this test is the chance we got to test some rain tyres. They seemed to be a major improvement on what we had last year, which is another positive sign for us with the season so close. I’m just ready to race now and can’t wait. Junichi Kawajiri Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Manager “We had three days of worthwhile testing here under several different weather conditions, and were able to confirm the positive progress we have made with our race tyres. John Hopkins and his team did a superb job and his consistently fast lap times proved just how fast he can ride on the GSV-R. We also had a chance to test our new wet tyres, and the progress we have made were evident as Kenny Roberts clocked the fastest time under heavy rain on the second day. Now we are looking forward to the opening race in just a couple weeks time, where we hope to achieve good results with our 2005 generation race tyres.” Bridgestone Results: 3. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki, 1:40.418; 5. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati, 1:40.559; 9. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki 1:41.328; 12. Alex Hofmann, (GER) Kawasaki, 1:41.454; 14. Kenny Roberts Junior (USA) Suzuki, 1:41.913. More, from a press release issued by Camel Honda: Winter testing ends. In two weeks the return to Jerez for MotoGP 2005 Today in Jerez, the final winter test session for MotoGP teams came to a close, and they were able to make to most of a dry track. The next time the teams start their engines will be for the free practice at the Spanish GP, on Friday April 8th. The two Camel Honda team riders today perfected the set-up of their machines, picking out a good base set-up for the imminent grand prix. Ramon Forcada Camel Honda (Alex Barros’s crew chief) “We have done all the work we had scheduled, in the end we found a good solution for the bike’s suspension both on the front and back. We are ready for the race, in the sense that we have a good basis from which to start from, because we mustn’t forget that Jerez is a track that is affected by even the slightest change in weather. After yesterday and today for example, and by yesterday I mean when the track was dry, the conditions were completely different.” Alex Barros Camel Honda 1:40.569 (laps) 6th fastest “In these Jerez tests we have really worked hard, especially today when I did over a hundred laps. We have honestly explored every avenue: electronics, front tyres, rear tyres, suspension, various geometries and at the end we managed to improve the bike where I wanted. Friday I was very nervous, today meanwhile I was able to ride cleaner, with a used tyre over 15 laps old I did a 1:41 and a half. With the qualifier I rode a 40.5 but I used my spare machine, so I think we can safely say things have gone well.” Santiago Mulero Camel Honda (Troy Bayliss’s crew chief) “With a beautiful day today we were able to do some good work. We have tried a variety of settings on the bike which were completely different to yesterday, and also we tested a lot of different tyre types. By the end, Troy has found a reasonably satisfying set-up and improved his time by a half-second compared to Friday.” Troy Bayliss Camel Honda 1:41.529 (92 laps) 13th fastest “All the tests are now finished, so the next time we get out on track will be for the race. I honestly can’t wait. Compared to the first test we had in Jerez, I rode slower today, but what counts is that during all the tests we have done throughout the winter there has been a constant improvement in my feeling with this bike.” Today’s official Lap times 1. Hayden (Honda) 1’39.983; 2. Melandri (id.) 1’40.291; 3. Hopkins (Suzuki) 1’40.418; 4. Rossi (Yamaha) 1’40.539 ; 5. Capirossi (Ducati) 1’40.559 ; 6. Barros (Honda) 1’40.569; 7. Gibernau (id.) 1’40.662; 8. Edwards (Yamaha) 1’41.284; 9. Nakano (Kawasaki) 1’41.328; 10. Tamada (Honda) 1’41.380; 11. Biaggi (id.) 1’41.431; 12. Hoffman (Kawasaki) 1’41.453; 13. Bayliss (Honda) 1’41.529; 14. Roberts (Suzuki) 1’41.913; 15. Aoki (Suzuki test) 1’42.121; 16. Elias (Yamaha) 1’42.387; 17. Xaus (Yamaha) 1’43.961; 18. Ellison (Proton WCM) 1’44.041; 19. Byrne (1’44.272); 21. Rolfo (Ducati) 1’44.395; 22. Guareschi (Ducati test) 1’44.447; 22. Battaini (Blata WCM) 1’45.379 More, from a press release issued by Telefonica Movistar Honda: Sete Gibernau and Marco Melandri finish at Jerez a very good pre-season Third and last day of testing at Jerez for the MotoGP teams gathered at jerez for the last test of the pre-season. In two weeks in fact the 2005 will start here with the Spanish GP. After a long and demanding pre-season the riders of the team Movistar are nor ready for the 2005 challenge. Sete Gibernau worked today on the set up of the bike, lapping 73 laps. He run in 1:40 with race tyres and left Jerez satisfied with the work done. His team mate Marco Melandri did a race simulation today lapping on a pace of 1:41 high. He also practised with qualifying tyres, finishing with the second fastest time of the day. SETE GIBERNAU (1:40.662 73 laps): “Today we worked in preparation of the race. Here in Jerez we found more problems than we expected and yesterday the rain spoiled our programme. Today I couldn’t make a long run because there was not enough time. All in all I am happy, we found a good balance of the bike and the our pace was good. In fact we ran on 1:40 with race tyres. This test session was very important to verify all the work done so far and I’m very happy, I’m stronger mentally and physically, at every test we have improved al lot.” MARCO MELANDRI (1:40″291 93 laps): “I’m very satisfied of these 3 day of testing because my race rhythm has improved, moreover I could test on wet and practice on a fast lap. Today I tested many tyres for Michelin and I’m very happy that they trust me. In the afternoon I did a long run (27 consecutive laps) on a pace of 1:41 high and finally I tested three qualifying tyres. Now I feel ready for the first race, I’m confident and concentrated on me and my team.” Lap times 1. Nicky Hayden (USA/Honda) 1’39″983 2. Marco Melandri (Ita/Honda) 1’40″291 3. John Hopkins (USA/Suzuki) 1’40″418 4. Valentino Rossi (Ita/Yamaha) 1’40″539 5. Loris Capirossi (Ita/Ducati) 1’40″559 6. Alex Barros (Bra/Honda) 1’40″569 7. Sete Gibernau (Esp/Honda) 1’40″662 8. Colin Edwards (USA/Yamaha) 1’41″284 9. Shinya Nakano (Jap/Kawasaki) 1’41″328 10. Makoto Tamada (Jap/Honda) 1’41″380