Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

1. Valentino ROSSI, Honda, 43:41.457

2. Sete GIBERNAU, Honda, -2.042 seconds

3. Max BIAGGI, Honda, -7.644

4. Nicky HAYDEN, Honda, -13.733

5. Carlos CHECA, Yamaha, -13.789

6. Loris CAPIROSSI, Ducati, -20.567

7. Tohru UKAWA, Honda, -23.449

8. Shinya NAKANO, Yamaha, -26.740

9. Troy BAYLISS, Ducati, -32.149

10. Makoto TAMADA, Honda, -40.556

11. Marco MELANDRI, Yamaha, -43.863

12. Noriyuki HAGA, Aprilia, -44.613

13. Colin EDWARDS, Aprilia, -54.667

14. Kenny ROBERTS, Suzuki, -62.687

15. Alex BARROS, Yamaha, -63.006, crashed, restarted

16. Andrew PITT, Kawasaki, -66.128

17. Jeremy McWILLIAMS, Proton, -70.916

18. Nobuatsu AOKI, Proton, -71.344

19. Garry McCOY, Kawasaki, -77.205

20. Akira RYO, Suzuki, -101.315

21. Ryuichi KIYONARI, Honda, -109.094


DNF
David DE GEA, Harris WCM, -3 laps

Chris BURNS, Harris WCM, -9 laps


DNS
Olivier JACQUE, Yamaha



MotoGP World Championship Points
(With two races remaining in 2003 MotoGP series)

1. Valentino ROSSI, 307 points

2. Sete GIBERNAU, 244

3. Max BIAGGI, 215

5. Loris CAPIROSSI, 141

6. Troy BAYLISS, 119

7. Nicky HAYDEN, 114

8. Tohru UKAWA, 112

9. Carlos CHECA, 104

10. Shinya NAKANO, 92



And now, some team press releases, posted in order of receipt, starting with a press release issued by Harris WCM:

MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX

Race Day
Sunday 12th October 2003

DAVID DE GEA: DNF
“Peter Clifford saw my bike smoking and called me in a few laps from the end of the race. I guess he thought it was too dangerous for me to continue when he saw the smoke. So now, I look forward to Australia and to a good finish there.”

CHRIS BURNS: DNF
“Yet another disappointing day for me, after such a promising two qualifying days. I high-sided this morning in warm-up but felt fine to race.

“After a few good laps at the beginning of the race, I got called into the pit for a 10-second penalty for a jump-start; I must of just creped forward a bit.

“Up to pulling into pit lane, I had a good first few laps however it all went wrong when I re-joined the race. I felt the clutch slipping on the re-start and the next 6 ­ 7 laps I was getting slower and slower. So I pulled into the garage and hope that the problem with the clutch is fixed by the Australian GP.”


PETER CLIFFORD ­ (Team Manager)
“I think Chris is saving up all his good luck so he can win in Valencia because otherwise these things that keep happening to him don¹t make any sense.

“As for David, I was watching out on the track and I could see a puff of smoke coming from the right hand side of his bike as he shut off going into the corners. It was nothing too desperate but there is every reason to be cautious with such things, so I went back to the pits and asked the guys to pull him in.”


More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

Marlboro Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang
Race Day
Sunday, October 12 2003

DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM 6th & 9th IN DEBUT SEPANG GP

Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss scored sixth- and ninth-places finishes in today’s Marlboro Malaysian Grand Prix. This was the squad’s first competitive outing at this demanding track, and the past three days have taught team engineers lessons that will be vital as the outfit looks towards the 2004 season.

“We got a lot out of this weekend,” said Ducati Marlboro Team director Livio Suppo. “Although we did test here last winter, that was nine months ago, so plenty has changed since then and this was our first race here anyway. We learned plenty and confirmed what we knew already, that we need to work to improve our set-up for slippery tracks like this. Both guys rode good races today, they did the best with what they had and we go to Phillip Island in positive mood.”

Today’s race – run in humid, cloudy conditions – was won by Valentino Rossi (Honda), who secured the 2003 MotoGP riders’ title in the process. Ducati still holds second place in the constructors’ World Championship.

CAPIROSSI SIXTH IN LEARNING RACE
Loris Capirossi came home in sixth place at Sepang this afternoon, reinforcing his fourth position in the MotoGP World Championship. The Ducati Marlboro Team rider made a great start from the second row to race into second place at the first turn. But the first few laps weren’t kind to the Italian who slipped back a little before upping his pace and enjoying and entertaining tussle with Nicky Hayden (Honda) and Carlos Checa (Yamaha).

“I made a great start, lost some time, then pushed hard to recover that time,” said Capirossi after what is the most gruelling race of the season. “We knew we didn’t have the set-up 100 per cent here but the race was better than Motegi. This track is very slippery in the heat, so I was sliding around a lot. We don’t lack power, just traction because we didn’t have perfect settings for this circuit. But this is our first year, a learning year, and we’re learning plenty. Finally, my congratulations to Valentino for winning the championship, he rode a great season.”

BAYLISS RUNS OUT OF TRACTION
Ducati Marlboro Team rider Troy Bayliss rode to ninth place in his Sepang debut today, running a good pace during the early stages but slipping back as he lost traction in the later laps. At half distance he had been looking good for a seventh-place finish.

“It was actually quite a good race, I was feeling okay,” said Bayliss, who had started from the third row of the grid. “But even when things were good the bike was lacking something, then the set-up we used wrecked the rear tyre. From two-thirds distance, even before, the rear was coming around as I rolled into turns and I was losing the rear on the gas. I was just sitting on the bike and not going anywhere. But we’ll learn from this, I’ll be having a long debrief with my guys this evening.”


More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Yamaha:

Malaysian Grand Prix
Sunday, 12 October 2003
Sepang, Malaysia

ROSSI CLINCHES MOTOGP TITLE; CHECA PERSISTS TO FINISH FIFTH

Honda rider Valentino Rossi today claimed his third consecutive MotoGP World Championship title after a dominating performance at the Malaysian Grand Prix. The flamboyant Italian was in a confident position for the title, as it would only have taken a second place finish behind a win from his main championship rival Sete Gibernau (Honda) to clinch the number one plate. Yet Rossi steamed past the competition including Gibernau to cross the line 2.042 seconds ahead of the Spaniard. Rossi finished today’s race with a 63-point lead over Gibernau, with just two rounds of the championship remaining.

Having qualified second behind pole-sitter Rossi for today’s 21-lap race, Fortuna Yamaha Team rider Carlos Checa produced a solid start and entered turn one in third place. He trailed Gibernau and Ducati rider Loris Capirossi on the opening lap before fending off a challenge from the champion elect Rossi. Checa maintained his focus and made a string of fast and consistent laps but eventually relinquished second to the determined Rossi. Undeterred, the soon to be 31-year-old Checa continued to chase race leaders Gibernau and Rossi, before coming under the attack of Honda riders Max Biaggi and Nicky Hayden. Checa finished a respectable fifth and retains his eighth place in the championship standings.

“I had a reasonable start but immediately noticed I had much less grip than I have had all weekend,” said Checa. “I’m not sure why but we think it was probably because of the rain earlier today and the change in track temperature. I didn’t have enough traction with the rear, or enough front feeling. It became more and more noticeable during the race. I managed to hold out in fourth position as long as possible, but then Hayden overtook me right at the end. There was also a bit of chatter when I was braking hard, especially towards the end of the race. We don’t yet know exactly what the problem was but it’s a shame as we’ve had one of our most positive weekends of the season. Thanks anyway to my crew, who have worked so hard in these three days.”

Fellow Fortuna Yamaha Team rider Marco Melandri was not so fortunate after suffering from a lack of grip for the duration of the race. In addition to a poor qualifying result and a difficult start to the race, the 250cc World Champion concluded the 14th round of the season with a disappointing 11th place.

“Today was just a continuation of the problems I’ve been having all weekend,” said the despondent Melandri. “I never really found any grip and today I had a few engine problems. It was a constant battle for eleventh place with Haga on the Aprilia, who overtook me on the straight on almost every lap. In the end I managed to keep in front of him. Anyway I’m not happy with eleventh place, especially after a fifth place in Motegi last weekend. We have to look ahead to Phillip Island and make sure that this grip issue is resolved for there.”

Davide Brivio, team director, commented, “I think we have showed some good progress this weekend, with Carlos able to qualify and race up front. The changes in track conditions since yesterday stopped him from achieving his qualifying pace, and he suffered from a lack of traction but he held out until the end. Anyway the bike is generally more competitive now and with just two more races to go I think Carlos can aim for a podium finish. Marco couldn’t find any grip, the same problem he had in Rio, and we’re still trying to work out why. This weekend has been incredibly tough on the team so well done to everyone for their perseverance.”



More, from a press release issued by Fuchs Kawasaki:

MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2003
ROUND 14 – MARLBORO MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX
12TH OCTOBER 2003 – MOTOGP RACE RESULT

PITT RIDES TOUGH FOR FUCHS KAWASAKI IN ANNIVERSARY RACE

Fuchs Kawasaki Racing Team rider, Andrew Pitt, completed his first year of MotoGP competition aboard the Ninja ZX-RR with a hard fought sixteenth place in a humid and energy-sapping Malaysian Grand Prix today.

Only a late race charge by Brazilian Alex Barros, who had crashed at turn two on lap one, pushed Pitt out of fifteenth place and what would have been a deserving World Championship point.

On his GP debut with Kawasaki a year ago at this race Pitt finished 19th and, today, demonstrated his dramatic improvement by lowering his race time for 21 laps by a massive 62 seconds, almost three seconds per lap.

Meanwhile, Garry McCoy finished 19th as he struggled with late race rear-end grip levels on a hot Sepang track, which had been washed clean by heavy morning rain. McCoy had made a strong start from the fourth row and despite going wide to miss the fallen Barros he pushed forward to be 15th on lap eight. He was quickly followed by Pitt in 16th place.

But as grip faded McCoy could not respond in the second half of the race to challenges from Pitt, a hard riding Jeremy McWilliams and the surging Barros.
Both Pitt and McCoy now head to Phillip Island for their home race, the Australian Grand Prix.

Garry McCoy – 19th
“I got a good run off the line and down into turn one, but then in turn two Barros was down and I had to go wide to miss him. For eight or ten laps everything felt fine and I got up to fifteenth, although it was hard work racing McWilliams as he pulled some strange moves; we nearly hit a couple of times especially late in the race when he chopped across in front of me. I pushed as hard as I could and the bike had plenty of power, but by the end I was backing in under braking big time as the rear grip went away. It was bloody hot; hopefully it will be bit cooler at Phillip Island next week and that should help us.”

Andrew Pitt – 16th
“That was hard work in the heat. I don’t wish Alex Barros any harm but I guess if he’d have stayed down I might a got a point, but that’s racing; we’ll just keep pushing for better results. I thought I may have struggled for grip, but the tyres stayed consistent today, especially the front. After about five laps the rear dropped off a little but I was able to stay on the pace when McWilliams was challenging, after he’d almost hit Garry when I was following them! It’s a good feeling to get through my first year of GP racing, I’ve learnt a lot and made a big step forward; now to Phillip Island and my home race!”

Harald Eckl – Team Manager
“I was expecting the race to be tough on tyres for our guys, but in the end Dunlop did a good job. Andrew rode very consistently and it was a pity that Barros got past him very late in the race for a championship point. Since he started in his first Grand Prix race a year ago Andrew has made an excellent improvement. Garry rode strongly after a good performance in qualifying, but it seems his rear grip went away more than Andrew’s. This ends our first 12 months of racing the Ninja ZX-RR; we can now see some light at the end of the tunnel and look forward to making a big step forward for 2004.”



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

MORE POINTS FOR ROBERTS AT SEPANG

Team Suzuki Press Office
Sunday, October 12, 2003.

Team Suzuki rider Kenny Roberts Jr. finished 14th in today’s Malaysian GP, holding his own in a fierce battle in the closing laps with Alex Barros. Roberts ran his fastest times of the afternoon in the last laps, to finish three tenths ahead of the Brazilian rider.

But the 2000 World Champion was disappointed not to have the chance to fight for better places after qualifying in the top ten at the track where he has twice before won the GP on a Suzuki. A vexing technical problem with the engine’s advanced technology meant his guns were spiked from the start. Today’s victory went to Valentino Rossi, who tied up his third successive championship in the process.

Temporary team-mate Akira Ryo, switched from a wild card entry to replace Suzuki full-time rider John Hopkins, finished 20th, losing ground in the second half of the race as he suffered the penalty of choosing too soft a tyre compound. The Tokyo rider is full-time factory MotoGP tester. Last weekend’s Pacific GP was his first race of 2003; this was his last race. Ryo was again riding an experimental development version of the Suzuki GSV-R V4 MotoGP racer, testing ideas and equipment to push the project forward.

Hopkins was absent from the track after he was controversially disqualified, after a first-corner incident in the last race at Motegi. The Anglo-American rider’s Number 21 bike remained park silent in the pit.

Today’s race was run in slightly cooler weather than two baking days of practice, with air temperature at 30 degrees and the track temperature 41 degrees. But conditions were still typically punishing around 21 laps of the 5.548km Sepang circuit south of the capital Kuala Lumpur. Humidity peaked at 63 percent.

Next weekend the Suzuki team joins the MotoGP rivals in very different cool conditions at Phillip Island for the Australian GP, the third in a trio of gruelling back-to-back flyaway races before the season closes at Valencia in Spain two weeks later.

KENNY ROBERTS Jr. – 14th Position
We had some problems that are really not worth talking about. It would just sound the same as all year. Basically I was prohibited from racing round in the 2:06s and 2:05s like I wanted to, so our situation is the same as it’s been. We have to improve so greatly at this point it’s difficult for me to comprehend what we have to do. Comparing my bike with Ryo’s experimental bike, there’s not a big difference. It seems that’s the case whatever we do. We need a whole new package. We have to improve a lot.

AKIRA RYO – 20th Position
We made a very big mistake with tyre choice. We went to too soft a compound, but our chassis was set up for a harder tyre. The first five laps went well. I was comfortable and running at a good pace, in the 2:06 bracket. After that, I was riding Rossi-style – sliding sideways everywhere, but at a much slower pace. We did learn something to help development. I discovered what is the weakest point in the bike’s chassis performance. This was only my second race all year, so we lack experience of the Michelin tyres and of MotoGP racing. Perhaps next year will be better for me.

GARRY TAYLOR – Team Manager
Kenny did his best under difficult circumstances with niggling technical problems, and we can be happy that he scored some points. He did his fastest laps at the end of the race when he was battling with Barros, which showed the tyres were still good. That’s a tribute to Michelin. Akira had an unfortunate day, his lack of experience let to a less than perfect tyre choise.



More, from a press release issued by Pramac Honda:

Sepang – (Malaysia)
Round 14- 10/11/12 October 2003
Sunday – Race

Tamada tenth at Sepang

The Pramac Honda Team’s Japanese rider ended the 14th and ante-penultimate race of the championship in tenth place. The warm-up session in the morning should have been an opportunity to work out the final choice of tyres, but the track was wet – whereas during the race it was dry.

So the warm-up could not be used to make the final decisions, and a good compromise was sought for the race. With a tarmac temperature of 12 degrees centigrade less than yesterday, the team technicians and the rider opted for medium-hard tyres at both front and rear. But the rear tyre proved to be too soft for the race conditions today and Makoto Tamada was not able to make an incisive attack in the middle of the race and at the end.

The race: starting from third place on the first row, Tamada was not quick off the mark and ended the first and second laps in 11th and 12th place. He then made two fine passes and got up to 10th but from that moment on was no longer able to move up towards the group out in front. His problem was that he did not have the traction he needed in the parts of the circuit where he could have attacked. The opportunity to settle the score and confirm Tamada in the top positions of a race could come in the next race at Phillip Island, a circuit where Bridgestone did very well last year and where Makoto raced in a series of winter tests and built up a good feeling for the Australian track.

MAKOTO TAMADA (PRAMAC HONDA TEAM): 10th – 44:22.013

“The first few metres after the start were OK, when you let the clutch go and shoot off. But in the middle of the straight I no longer had the traction I needed and then ended up in the confusion at the first corner. I lost ground and tried to move back up but, after overtaking Haga and Melandri, when I was tenth, I realised there wasn’t much more I could put into it. I didn’t have grip and the bike was difficult to handle round the corners. The tyre we chose proved to be too soft and it wore out very quickly. It was a pity we didn’t have time to work things out better this morning as it was raining, but now the only thing I can do is to concentrate on Phillip Island. I do know it a bit and I want to do better there than I did today.”



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

PROTON RIDERS FINISH LINE ASTERN AT SEPANG

Round 14: Malaysian GP, Sepang
Race: Sunday, October 12, 2003

Jeremy McWilliams: 17th
Nobuatsu Aoki: 18th

Team Proton KR riders Jeremy McWilliams and Nobuatsu Aoki finished one place higher than their qualifying positions in today’s Malaysian GP, home race for the Proton KR V5’s major sponsors.

Both riders overcame various problems with the still-developing new 990cc V5 MotoGP racer, designed and built in England as the only fully independent machine on the grids. Overall, however, the general reliability of the eight-race-old machines was impressive in the punishingly hot conditions at the 5.548km Sepang circuit, south of the capital of Kuala Lumpur. Although today was overcast, humidity was 63 percent, and the temperature still 30 degrees.

McWilliams started strongly in 16th position, challenging for the top 15 and more points for the radical racer. However he ran into gearshifting problems that meant all his concentration was required just to maintain progress, and it was impossible to think about racing other riders as well. But for that, he felt confident of giving the Proton KRV5 some home-race points.

Aoki had similar problems, for different technical reasons. He dropped to 19th in the early part of the race, but was able to regain one place to finish just half-a-second behind McWilliams, the five-cylinder pair thrilling the Malaysian crowd as they howled past the chequered flag in front of the grandstands.

Next weekend, the Australian GP ends a gruelling trio of back-to-back “flyaway” races, with the season finishing two weeks later in Valencia in Spain. Last year, the Proton pair qualified on the front row of the grid at the Australian Phillip Island circuit, with McWilliams on pole position; and both finished in the top ten in the race.


JEREMY McWILLIAMS
I think we made that race more difficult for ourselves than it needed to be. My quick-shifter mechanism failed on the second lap. But for that, I’m confident I could have got a couple of points. It’s almost impossible to shift gears with this bike without the quickshifter, there is so much spinning mass to slow down that it makes it very difficult. I was losing a second on every straight, missing gears and getting neutrals. It was very frustrating. The rear tyre also lost grip – it was spinning the rear 50 km/h faster than the front. We chose too soft a compound.


NOBUATSU AOKI
Another tough race! I had a gearshifting problem … maybe gearbox or clutch, I don’t know. Anyway, it was really hard to make downshifts – where I was going down the gearbox to second I would end up in third. It meant I really had to pay a lot of attention to gearshifting. That was all through the race. The Bridgestones also seemed to lack some side grip, and I was going sideways everywhere. I was struggling with those things. It meant I couldn’t race … just ride the bike.


KENNY ROBERTS – Team Owner
We’re another 100 metres down the road. These three races are useless for us. We’re developing the bikes, but there’s no time to do anything. Even if we can make new parts, it’s hard to get them to the track. We had new exhaust pipes here, but the brackets had a design fault and they broke, so we couldn’t use them for the race. We’re not racing. We’re testing, so just finishing is a big plus.



More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing:

HONDA RACING INFORMATION

Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang
Raceday Sunday October 12

Track temperature: 41 degrees C
Humidity: 63%
Ambient temperature: 30 degrees C, cloudy

ROSSI TAKES PREMIER CLASS TITLE NUMBER THREE WITH WIN

Rain changed everything here in steamy Sepang when a heavy early morning fall altered track conditions on raceday – but it couldn’t change the destiny of Valentino Rossi (Repsol Honda RC211V) who won in style. In front of a 30,000 crowd he won his seventh MotoGP race of the season, his third premier class title and his fifth title in all classes. Sete Gibernau (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V) was second and Max Biaggi (Camel Pramac Pons RC211V) third.

The 24-year-old Rossi is now elevated to the top five all-time Grand Prix winners with his tally of 57 wins: 12 in 125, 14 in 250 and now 31 in the big class. He currently stands head and shoulders above the competition and Honda’s remarkable RC211V has now won 13 of the 14 races held so far in 2003.

This was not an easy win, few are in the white heat of MotoGP competition, but it was still a dominant performance by any standards. Rossi had already pulverised the opposition with his qualifying performance (a stunning 2m 02.480 second lap) and he was in no mood to let the title slip from his grasp with three rounds to go. He badly wanted to wrap it up here – and it showed.

Sete Gibernau (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V) got the holeshot and the Spanish title challenger gave it his all from the lights to try and get away from Rossi while the Italian was lodged in fourth place on the opening lap. But on lap two Rossi was on the move and he dealt first with Loris Capirossi (Ducati) for third and then Carlos Checa (Yamaha) for second.

By lap six he was right up with Gibernau and although he had posted the fastest lap of the race at 2m 03.822 seconds on lap three in his bid to keep Gibernau within range, he could clearly afford to sit back and plan his attack. He put his plan into action on lap eight when he slipped past on the brakes into a medium-speed left-hander.

That was it for Gibernau’s persistent title challenge. Although he gamely kept the Italian in sight, Rossi worked his advantage without taking any unnecessary risks and when Gibernau sailed wide at turn one Rossi opened up the gap. By mid-race distance Rossi was 1.2 seconds ahead and by the end of the race he had just over a two second cushion.

There was plenty of action behind the leading trio of Rossi, Gibernau and Biaggi. Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) fought hard for fourth, taking Carlos Checa (Yamaha) on the penultimate lap and the American rookie has impressed in his first season of MotoGP.

Rossi was understandably delighted. “This is like a dream, this fifth title,” he said. “It was a very hard race – just like all season, but very good fun. Sete put me under a lot of pressure and I had to work hard. I think we won overall because of our consistency and we fought hard for every win. I want to thank Honda for the constant development of the bike that’s made this possible.”

Gibernau was fulsome in his praise for the Champion. “We’ve tried to push Valentino the whole season,” he said. “We knew he was quick here and Max was a top man here too. Overall we knew we could win races and just tried to push. It’s been a great season and there are still two races to go, but congratulations to Vale, and to Max – Vale deserves this.”

Max too was generous and typically realistic. “I couldn’t close the gap with the first two,” he said. “The start was not brilliant for me and I had a lonely race. Rossi is a great rider and he’s had a top-level season. He’s having a ‘gold period’ as we say in Italy. And we’ll try to make sure that he has a less easy time in 2004.”

Nicky Hayden now lies sixth in the World Championship standings after his fourth place here. “That was great,” he said. “I got a good start and made up a few places. I wanted to go with Biaggi but got into a fight with Capirossi. Then I got past him and got past Checa and made the pass stick. When I tested here I really struggled – I’ve definitely learned a lot since then.”

Tohru Ukawa (Camel Pramac Pons RC211V) was seventh. “It was hard to match the pace of the leaders,” he said. “Once again I didn’t get a great start but I lost a few places, then got them back, but didn’t have enough time to catch Capirossi. The rear tyre was spinning-up and it’s a problem we’ve had all year, but there are only two races left to find a solution.”

For Makoto Tamada (Pramac Honda RC211V) who started on the front row, his tenth place was a disappointment. “I didn’t have grip and the bike was hard to handle in the turns. The tyre we chose proved to be too soft and it wore quickly. It was a pity we didn’t have time to work things out better this morning as it was raining.”

Ryuichi Kiyonari (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V) struggled. The Japanese rookie qualified 21st and finished 21st. “I’m not happy with the whole weekend,” he said. “I couldn’t give my maximum in qualifying and I paid for it the race. Now I’ve got to Australia and try and make up for this.”

The Repsol Honda Team has now secured the Team title, but the all-important second-place finish in the World Championship is still up for grabs. Rossi is out of sight on 307 points, but with Gibernau on 244, Max is still in a position to make a fight of it on 215 – and he will.

HONDA TEAM QUOTES:

MotoGP:
Valentino Rossi, Repsol Honda Team, Win: “This is like a dream the fifth title. It was a very hard race just like the whole season but also very good fun. Sete put me under much pressure and I have to work hard. I think we win over the season because we were more constant. We fight for the victory every race. We are always on the podium and we always take points and it’s possible to make the championship here. I say thank you to my team. We have a great group of people from all over the world. I thank Honda for the constant development of the bike that makes it possible to win. Tonight we make a party with the fan club!”

Sete Gibernau, Telefonica MoviStar Honda, 2nd: ” We have been fighting face to face for the world championship and the title went to Vale. My idea was to get a good start and get away but when Valentino passed me I couldn’t follow his pace. Second is good for me now. I will now concentrate hard for each of the last two races. Dani Pedrosa’s title did not come by accident, it is the results of a job well done and very well planned. I congratulate him on what must be a very special day for him.”

Fausto Gresini: Sete ran a very good race today without errors and at a very high rhythm. Once again he has shown he is in very good form and I congratulate him on his performance. We have to be conscious that we are racing against the World Champion.

Max Biaggi, Camel Pramac Pons, 3rd: The beginning of the race was complicated for me. I did not make a good start and it took me a couple of laps to get on the pace when, by that time, the leaders had gained enough of an advantage to escape and I could not make contact with them. It was quite a difficult race. I gave everything I had as always, but I must congratulate Rossi on winning the Championship. This season has been more difficult for Valentino than last season and I hope that next year will be even more difficult for him.”

Sito Pons: I am very happy because we have achieved another podium finish which reflects the competitiveness of both Max and the team. Max and Tohru both made poor starts, but they fought their way back through the field well.I hope that we manage to maintain the high level of performance shown in the last two races of the season. Finally I would like to congratulate Valentino Rossi and Honda on winning another World Championship.”

Nicky Hayden , Repsol Honda Team, 4th: “That was great. I got a pretty good start off the jump. Valentino didn’t make such a great start and I had to go round him I turn 1. I made up a few spots that was good. I wanted to go with Biaggi. I went with Capirossi and outbraked myself then he got me back – he was so fast. I then got him and made the pass stick. Then managed to catch Checa. He upped the pace a little and I eventually got him in the end. Pretty committed overtakin’! When I tested here I really struggled. The track didn’t suit my style. I’ve definitely learned a lot since then, especially about pickin’ the bike up when the tyres have gone away. Really pleased to have moved up another spot!”

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

250cc Grand Prix
Sepang, Malaysia
20 laps, 111 kilometers, 69 miles

1. Toni ELIAS, Aprilia, 43:15.925

2. Manuel POGGIALI, Aprilia, -9.931 seconds

3. Fonsi NIETO, Aprilia, -9.942

4. Roberto ROLFO, Honda, -25.839

5. Randy DE PUNIET, Aprilia, -34.060

6. Franco BATTAINI, Aprilia, -36.004

7. Naoki MATSUDO, Yamaha, -49.445

8. Sebastian PORTO, Honda, -53.955

9. Anthony WEST, Aprilia, -57.165

10. Alex BALDOLINI, Aprilia, -63.700

11. Dirk HEIDOLF, Aprilia, -64.419

12. Chaz DAVIES, Aprilia, -66.349

13. Hugo MARCHAND, Aprilia, -67.487

14. Joan OLIVE, Aprilia, -68.008

15. Jaroslav HULES, Honda, -78.180



250cc World Championship Points

1. Manuel POGGIALI, 226

2. Toni ELIAS, 201

3. Roberto ROLFO, 201

4. Randy DE PUNIET, 183

5. Fonsi NIETO, 167

6. Franco BATTAINI, 127

7. Anthony WEST, 125

8. Sebastian PORTO, 117

9. Naoki MATSUDO, 104

10. Sylvain GUINTOLI, 88



More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Honda:

Rolfo happy with his result–but unhappy about missing a podium finish

Sepang – Malaysia, October 12, 2003. Roberto Rolfo finished fourth at the 250cc Malaysian GP today happy with his result but unhappy because he was unable to fight for a place on the podium. But the fact is he is happy to have overcome the problems that plagued him in qualifying, happy with the way the race turned out for him.

In spite of starting from the third row of the grid Rolfo was with the championship leaders as they reached the first corner, courtesy of his late braking skills at the end of the straight. Rolfo doggedly hung on to them as only he can. But on the long straights of the Sepang circuit he could not stay in the slipstream off his championship rivals and decided to concentrate on consolidating his fourth place and take the best result possible in the circumstances. The result leaves him still in with a fighting chance in the championship. He is now joint second with Spaniard Toni Elias behind leader Manuel Poggiali.

“I’m not very satisfied with that result but I have to recognise that how things have gone for us this weekend the result is not so bad, it has left me optimistic that I can continue to fight for the world championship. Bt it was not good that I could not fight for the podium as we have done in previous races.” Explained Rolfo.

“I got a very good start and I quickly caught the leading championship contenders but when Elias opened a slight advantage I tried to stay in Poggiali’s slipstream but when we got into fifth and sixth gear on the last long straight of the circuit the gap was too big to hold him and at the end it was impossible for me to hold him. That’s when I decided to run at my own pace and make sure Randy de Puniet could not overtake me.” The Fortuna Honda rider said.

“The bike had improved a lot for the race, in respect to qualifying but I still could not go t 100% comfortably. The lack of top speed held me back and I had to rely on late braking and a high corner speed. That was the bass of our problems in practice. In general I have to be happy with the race, even if I was not on the podium.” Concluded the Altadis rider.



More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing:

In the 250cc class it was form-rider Tony Elias (Aprilia) who won by nearly ten seconds from World Championship points leader Manuel Poggiali (Aprilia) who was second. Fonsi Nieto (Aprilia) was third.

Elias had utterly dominated qualifying, lapping just under a second quicker than his rivals – but he wasted his pole start and was fourth on lap one. But he didn’t waste any time hoisting himself into second place at the end of the opening lap – and then taking the lead on lap four from early pace-setter Nieto.

Roberto Rolfo (Fortuna Honda RS250RW) had a torrid time in qualifying and began this 20-lap race from tenth on the grid. But Rolfo is nothing if not determined and he fought tooth and nail to collect as many vital points as he could here, with only two World Championship rounds remaining. The Italian eventually finished fourth to garner 13 valuable points.

Sebastian Porto (Telefonica Movistar Junior Team RS250RW) endured a jump-start penalty of ten seconds and pitted on lap six to receive his punishment. He rejoined the race in 21st place and the gritty Argentine refused to lie down and languish at the back, working his way back to finish eighth at the flag.

The fight for second place that developed between Poggiali and Nieto was the high-point of the contest and although Poggiali had nailed Nieto by lap eight, the Spaniard held onto his tail and wouldn’t let go. Nieto went past and led on the last lap, but Poggiali waited until the final turn before diving inside on the brakes to win by 0.011 seconds across the line.

“I’m not very satisfied with the result,” said Rolfo. “But I have to recognise that the way things have gone for us this weekend, the result is not so bad. It’s at least left me optimistic that I can still fight for the World Championship. But it was less good that I couldn’t get into the fight for the podium positions as we have done in previous races.”

“I don’t think I moved at all,” said Porto. “I’m upset about it and I’ll look closely at the replays of the start to see. It’s a real pity because once I got back in the race I found a really good rhythm and was riding well.”

The World Championship points classification shows Poggiali in the lead with 226, Elias and Rolfo tied on 201 with French Aprilia rider Randy de Puniet on 183.

HONDA TEAM QUOTES:

250cc:

Roberto Rolfo, Fortuna Honda, 4th: “I’m not very satisfied with that result but I have to recognise that how things have gone for us this weekend the result is not so bad, it has left me optimistic that I can continue to fight for the world championship. Bt it was not good that I could not fight for the podium as we have done in previous races.”

“I got a very good start and I quickly caught the leading championship contenders but when Elias opened a slight advantage I tried to stay in Poggiali’s slipstream but when we got into fifth and sixth gear on the last long straight of the circuit the gap was too big to hold him and at the end it was impossible for me to hold him. That’s when I decided to run at my own pace and make sure Randy de Puniet could not overtake me.”

“The bike had improved a lot for the race, in respect to qualifying but I still could not go at 100% comfortably. The lack of top speed held me back and I had to rely on late braking and a high corner speed. That was the bass of our problems in practice. In general I have to be happy with the race, even if I was not on the podium.”

Sebastian Porto, Telefonica MoviStar Honda Jnr Team, 8th: “I’m very unhappy about the penalty, I don’t think I moved at all. I will have to wait and see the film of the start. It was a great pity because once I got back into the race I had a very good rhythm and was riding fast. We will have to make up for this in Australia next week. But I will leave here an unhappy man.”

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

1. Sete GIBERNAU, Honda, 2:18.437

2. Max BIAGGI, Honda, 2:18.472

3. Valentino ROSSI, Honda, 2:19.074

4. Alex BARROS, Yamaha, 2:20.149

5. Nicky HAYDEN, Honda, 2:20.576

6. Kenny ROBERTS, Suzuki, 2:20.610

7. Garry McCOY, Kawasaki, 2:20.769

8. Marco MELANDRI, Yamaha, 2:20.876

9. Noriyuki HAGA, Aprilia, 2:21.441

10. Tohru UKAWA, Honda, 2:21.577

11. Colin EDWARDS, Aprilia, 2:21.728

12. Troy BAYLISS, Ducati, 2:21.750

13. Makoto TAMADA, Honda, 2:22.230

14. Akira RYO, Suzuki, 2:22.335

15. Andrew PITT, Kawasaki, 2:22.481

16. Chris BURNS, Harris WCM, 2:22.481

17. Jeremy McWILLIAMS, Proton, 2:23.059

18. Nobuatsu AOKI, Proton, 2:23.130

19. Carlos CHECA, Yamaha, 2:23.309

20. Loris CAPIROSSI, Ducati, 2:23.505

21. Shinya NAKANO, Yamaha, 2:23.805

22. David DE GEA, Harris WCM, 2:26.301

23. Ryuichi KIYONARI, Honda, 2:26.428

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

MotoGP Final Qualifying
Sepang, Malaysia
1. Valentino Rossi, Honda, 2:02.480
2. Carlos Checa, Yamaha, 2:02.885
3. Makoto Tamada, Honda, 2:03.138
4. Max Biaggi, Honda, 2:03.254
5. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha, 2:03.342
6. Loris Capirossi, Ducati, 2:03.376
7. Sete Gibernau, Honda, 2:03.381
8. Tohru Ukawa, Honda, 2:03.559
9. Nicky Hayden, Honda, 2:03.564
10. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki, 2:03.936
11. Troy Bayliss, Ducati, 2:04.000
12. Alex Barros, Yamaha, 2:04.050
13. Colin Edwards, Aprilia, 2:04.390
14. Marco Melandri, Yamaha, 2:04.832
15. Akira Ryo, Suzuki, 2:05.043
16. Garry McCoy, Kawasaki, 2:05.084
17. Noriyuki Haga, Aprilia, 2:05.150
18. Jeremy McWilliams, Proton, 2:05.365
19. Nobuatsu Aoki, Proton, 2:05.512
20. Andrew Pitt, Kawasaki, 2:06.112
21. Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, 2:06.819
22. David De Gea, Harris WCM, 2:06.941
23. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha, 2:07.017
24. Chris Burns, Harris WCM, 2:08.675


More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Yamaha, which does not explain why Carlos Checa, the Spaniard who insisted that officials penalize John Hopkins for hitting him at Motegi, was not penalized for knocking down his own teammate at Sepang:

Malaysian Grand Prix
Saturday, 11 October 2003
Sepang, Malaysia

CHECA SOARS ONTO FRONT ROW WITH STUNNING SEPANG LAP TIME

Fortuna Yamaha rider Carlos Checa overcame an unfortunate final qualifying incident with his team-mate Marco Melandri in today’s Sepang action, claiming a second place front row start for tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix. The Fortuna Yamaha pair collided YZR-M1 machines in the halfway stage of the hour-long session and slid into the gravel trap. Unhurt but somewhat stunned, both riders were able to return to the pits and get back on track with 20 minutes of the session to go. This was just enough for Checa to produce a string of front row worthy lap times before finally claiming the second fastest time of the day of 2’02.885.

Despite the punishing heat and astonishing pace of the pack, both Checa and defending MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi (Honda, 2:02.480), were the only two riders able to break into the 2:02 bracket. Both front runners demolished Max Biaggi’s 2002 pole performance of 2:04.925. Makoto Tamada (Honda, 2:03.138) took the third spot ahead of fourth placed Max Biaggi (Honda, 2:03.254).

Checa focused his efforts today on a suspension and tyre combination to endure tomorrow’s main event. The Spaniard used race tyres in the early part of the session and was running at race pace until the mishap with Melandri, who had just left the pits and was on his out lap. With a vast speed difference between them, Checa misjudged the gap and hit Melandri side on, for which he apologised immediately at the close of the session.

“First of all I want to apologise to Marco for the incident,” said Checa. “I was on race tyres and had a good rhythm, and saw some riders slowing down, and Marco was one of them. I didn’t expect him to be in my line because I thought he had seen me coming a few corners earlier. He hadn’t, and I just couldn’t avoid him. Fortunately he is okay and hopefully he can still do well tomorrow.

“I am really pleased with my lap time today, which is a personal best. I wasn’t expecting to go that fast. I have felt comfortable with this set-up not only in Motegi but also here where we have gradually made some small adjustments. This is a great boost for the team, and I want to thank them for their hard work.”

Checa’s crew chief Antonio Jimenez was delighted with his rider’s best qualifying performance of the year so far, “We kept Carlos’ Motegi set-up here because the bike ran well there, even though we did not have the opportunity to race there. We have fine-tuned it a little to find a better suspension balance, but the key has been not making too many changes. Thanks to Michelin’s efforts our tyre choice was spot on today. I’m really impressed with his time, which is a whole 2.2 seconds faster than last year.”

Unlike his Fortuna Yamaha Team-mate, Marco Melandri was unable to find a chassis balance to overcome his lack of feeling through the third section of the Sepang track. The young Italian intends to use tomorrow’s warm-up to find a last minute solution.

“To be honest I would rather forget about today,” said a downcast Melandri. “I was in front of Carlos and didn’t know he was coming, and the next thing I knew I was on the ground. At first I thought I had really hurt my shoulder, the one that has caused me problems ever since I dislocated it in Estoril in February. But now it actually feels okay and I’m sure it will be fine for tomorrow. I’m having difficulties because I don’t feel that I can get the power down efficiently because of a lack of grip, even when I’m braking. We have a lot of work to do this evening to improve my grip level and overall feeling.”

Team Director Davide Brivio commented on the day’s events as follows: “A great day for Carlos but we also had a very unfortunate misunderstanding between our riders when they clashed on the track. The main thing is both of them are okay, and Carlos apologised to Marco. Congratulations to Carlos for such a great lap time, and to all the team as usual for their hard work.”

FRONT ROW
1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Repsol HONDA 2:02.480

2. CARLOS CHECA (SPA) Fortuna YAMAHA Team 2:02.885

3. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Pramac HONDA 2:03.138

4. Max Biaggi (ITA) Camel Pramac Pons HONDA 2:03.254

14. MARCO MELANDRI (ITA) Fortuna YAMAHA Team 2:04.832



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

RYO CUTS TIME, ROBERTS HOLDS TOP TEN

Team Suzuki rider Kenny Roberts Jr. retained his third-row qualifying position in today’s torrid final qualifying session for Sunday’s Malaysian GP, cutting almost a second off his best time of yesterday to secure a place on the third row of the grid, less than 1.5 seconds off the record-breaking pole time.

Temporary team-mate Akira Ryo, replacement rider for disqualified team regular John Hopkins, made an even bigger improvement as he gains confidence and track knowledge at a circuit where he only raced once, 12 months ago. The Tokyo rider and full-time factory tester slashed his time of yesterday by almost two seconds – but remained disappointed. He missed the chance for a crucial last attack on qualifying tyres by only seconds, when the chequered flag came out as he was rounding the last hairpin corner.

Hopkins was controversially disqualified from this race after a first-corner incident in the last round at Motegi in Japan. Ryo was originally entered as wild card, but was switched to the role of replacement rider as a result. Apart from last weekend’s GP at Motegi, he had not raced for the past year, concentrating on developing the GSV-R MotoGP machine for the factory.

Roberts’s machine is the same as at Motegi, where a round of engine and chassis developments brought an encouraging improvement after a difficult season. This is the second race with the latest version of the 2003 machine, and engineers are learning more about it all the time. Ryo is riding an experimental development version of the 990cc V4 racer, testing new ideas to help development of next year’s Mk3 version.

Hot sunshine and high humidity prevailed again for the second day of practice. Although the ambient temperature had dropped from 34 to 32 degrees C, track temperature was again 46 degrees C, and humidity up to 47 percent. With the monsoon season starting early this year, however, the threat of tropical rain is ever-present, especially with tomorrow’s race delayed to start at 15:30.

KENNY ROBERTS Jr. – Tenth Position, 2:03.936
We tried a setting this morning that they thought may help with some areas of concern. I did a couple of laps on it, but it just didn’t seem as good to me as the way the bike was for the race in Japan. So effectively we didn’t change even a click between yesterday’s qualifying and today. Again I’m aiming to stay in the fives in the race. At least it would show we’re faster than last year. But I don’t know how that’s going to end up. I can’t predict our race pace. We always seem to struggle when we get to the race, with the grip and the fuel load and all that. Basically it was a boring session from my standpoint. The only thing in the session was Valentino coming by me, on a 2:02 lap. It looks like he’s riding round in a symphony and I’m in a rock’n’roll concert with somebody bashing into my head right next to me.

AKIRA RYO – 15th Position, 2:05.043
We lost time yesterday with the wet track in the morning, so today I wanted to do as many fast laps as possible. We only made small changes to engine and suspension this morning. Just fine tuning. I was very disappointed in the afternoon. I had a new tyre at the end of the session, but I came out of the last hairpin on my out lap, ready for a time attack, and the flag came out. I believe I could have got into the low fours with one more lap. The track and the temperature make it very hard on tyres, but Michelin gave a choice of similar tyres, and I have chosen the one with most endurance. My time is not so bad, and not so good. The same goes for my bike at the moment.

GARRY TAYLOR – Team Manager
Kenny worked hard again today in exhausting conditions, and it’s good to see that he is two seconds faster than last year with the latest version of the machine. Akira improved a lot, getting to know the subtleties of the track, and could have gone faster with another lap. There’s nothing significantly different to the bikes since Motegi, but clearly important lessons are being learned and valuable information is going back to Japan, with the long-term aim of getting back to the top positions where Suzuki, the team and the riders all belong.

SATURDAY OFFICIAL QUALIFYING TIMES SEPANG, MALAYSIA

1. Valentino Rossi (Honda) 2:02.480

2. Carlos Checa (Yamaha) -0.405

3. Makato Tamada (Honda) -0.658

4. Max Biaggi (Honda) -0.774

5. Shinya Nakano (Yamaha) -0.862

6. Loris Capirossi (Ducati) -0.896

7. Sete Gibernau (Honda) -0.901

8. Tohru Ukawa (Honda) -1.079

9. Nicky Hayden (Honda) -1.084

10. Kenny Roberts (Suzuki Grand Prix Team) -1.456

15. Akira Ryo (Suzuki Grand Prix Team) -2.563



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

HOME-RACE PROTON KR RIDERS CUT TIMES AT SEPANG

Round 14: Malaysian GP, Sepang
Final Qualifying: Saturday
October 11, 2003

Jeremy McWilliams: 18th, 2:05.365
Nobuatsu Aoki: 19th, 2:05.512

Team Proton KR riders Jeremy McWilliams and Nobuatsu Aoki both cut their lap times in searingly hot conditions in today’s final qualifying session for tomorrow’s Malaysian GP, home race for the Proton KR V5’s major sponsors.

The radical 990cc V5 four-strokes will start side by side, on the fifth row of the grid, for the machine’s eighth race. The England-built prototype appeared for the first time only after the start of the season, and has been developed in full public gaze race by race ever since. It scored points for the first time at the last round, the Pacific GP at Motegi last weekend.

The rate of development has been obvious, measured not only in better results but also improving reliability. Today’s 46-degree track temperatures were yet another severe test, which all four machines (two for each rider) passed without trouble.

McWilliams cut his best time of yesterday by 1.361 seconds, sticking to the machine with the latest smaller and more aerodynamic fairing that arrived for this race. Inside the sleek red-and-silver bodywork, a revised exhaust system has been added to other engine improvements that arrived for the last race, boosting overall performance yet again.

Aoki made an even bigger improvement, running more than two seconds faster round the 5.548km Sepang circuit, south of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.

Tomorrow’s race is the middle of a trio of back-to-back “flyaway” races, sandwiched between Japan last weekend and Australia next weekend.

JEREMY McWILLIAMS
I was right on the edge all day today, and again I don’t know what to do to go faster. We’re one second off last year’s pole, and on the fifth row. I stuck with the machine with the new fairing all day. I think it’s quite good, and now we have some more cooling for the brakes … at Motegi last weekend they overheated and I crashed out of the race. The most amusing thing today was watching Carlos Checa knock off his own team-mate Marco Melandri. I’m waiting to see what punishment the authorities will apply, after the disqualifications at Motegi last weekend. Or perhaps you’re allowed to knock your own team-mate off without being penalised.

NOBUATSU AOKI
Another hard day, but I had a freshly rebuilt engine, and that gave me a little more … not horsepower, but better mid-range, where it runs more sweetly. We moved the steering head forward to take some weight off the front, and that was pretty good. It’s better balanced for braking, and better at the apex of the corner. I think Jeremy and I both worked very hard today. The biggest problem is the heat coming off the engine. In these conditions it’s really exhausting. I feel it especially on my shins. I’ve been wearing heat shields under my leathers and they worked okay at Motegi and Rio. Here, it’s just too hot. It would probably be impossible without them.

KENNY ROBERTS – Team Owner
This is not a battle, it’s a war. We’re chugging along. All our engines are still running, and they ran in Japan too, so it looks like reliability is going in the right direction. Now we need to take the next step in performance. We may well have the prospect of points tomorrow, but to be honest I’m not interested in that. I’m thinking of getting this development season over and going to bigger and better things. We know the bike’s not good enough, and we’re anxious to start with the new one.



More, from a press release issued by Pramac Honda:

Sepang – (Malaysia)
Round 14- 10/11/12 October 2003
Saturday – Qualifying

Makoto Tamada on front row

Makoto Tamada posted the third quickest time in sweltering Sepang where the tarmac again reached a searing 51°C. The Pramac Honda Team’s Japanese rider responded to the many attempts of his rivals to snatch his provisional front-row placing: five minutes from the end of the session, Makoto was eighth in the ratings, but three attempts one after the other took him up to second place, before a lap by Checa put him into third on tomorrow’s grid. Front row: like last Sunday at Motegi.

It will be a tough race, and hard to interpret. In today’s sessions, Makoto spent most of his time testing race tyres and only came up with good results in the afternoon. The morning sessions did not give satisfactory results, so different means were tried out during qualifying. Once the front tyre had been decided on, work concentrated on finding the best solution for the rear of Makoto’s RC211V. There was little time however for endurance tests, so the final choices for the race will be made tomorrow morning in the warm-up session.

MAKOTO TAMADA (PRAMAC HONDA TEAM): 3rd – 2:03.138
“The settings on the bike in race configuration still aren’t quite perfect and we need to make a few more tests. The rear tyre we found to be the best compromise for 21 laps on this scorching circuit today seems to be good but possibly doesn’t quite have the performance I need in order to ride the race always on the offensive. Even so, I’m able to keep up with those in front, but I still like to have some extra margin so I can aim for the top. We’ll see: we’ll be able to try out a few things during the warm-up tomorrow morning, just so long as it doesn’t rain, as the weather forecast seems to suggest.”



More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing:

Final Qualifying Malaysian Grand Prix
Sepang, Malaysia

Final Qualifying Saturday September 11

Track temperature: 46 degrees C
Humidity: 47%
Ambient temperature: 32 degrees C, strong sunshine, light breeze

ROSSI SCORCHES TO SEVENTH POLE OF SEASON AT SEPANG

The meaning of a hot lap took on a new dimension here in sizzling Malaysia today as Valentino Rossi (Repsol Honda RC211V) took the heat out of his rivals with a pole-setting lap that was a full four tenths of a second faster than second-placed Carlos Checa (Yamaha) could muster. With track temperatures at a heady 46 degrees both rider and tyre endurance were at an absolute premium.

Makoto Tamada (Pramac Honda RC211V) continued his excellent first season of MotoGP racing with another front row start from third after his Motegi front row last weekend while Max Biaggi (Camel Pramac Pons RC211V) made it onto the front row in fourth. But none of them were truly in touch with the reigning World Champion, although Checa did make it into the 2m 02 second category.

Rossi’s pole time of 2:02.480 looked pretty untouchable almost as soon as he posted the time at the half way stage of the hour. He made it on super-sticky qualifying tyres and while others tried to match the time on equally grippy minimal-endurance rubber, Rossi had timed his move perfectly. He was fresh and he had a reasonably clear track.

The only man who truly looked likely to trouble Rossi was Checa. The Spaniard was quick out of the blocks and carving away at his times with resolution within five minutes. He was lying fifth when he collided with his team-mate Marco Melandri and they both went down, but neither was injured.

The incident cost Checa time and it’s not inconceivable that he could have edged closer to Rossi had he not collected Melandri in his enthusiasm. Checa was circulating faster and faster as the session closed and his eventual 2:02.885 lap was the only time, apart from Rossi’s, that dipped below the 2m 3 second barrier.

As Rossi edged closer to MotoGP title number three (and his fifth in all categories) he found it hard to hide his satisfaction. “I’m very happy because we did good work and tried to change our tactics a little bit for the session,” he said. “With two qualifying tyres we put one on early because when you use two together it can be difficult to calculate the time remaining in the session. Pole position is always the best position.”

Tamada spent most of the session testing tyres for race endurance, but has more in store for tomorrow’s crucial warm-up session. “The settings in race configuration still aren’t quite perfect. Even so, I’m able to keep up with those in front and I have some extra margin left, so we’ll see what happens in the warm-up tomorrow.”

Biaggi rode a clever session too. “I chose not to do a flying lap with the softer tyre I’ve got,” he said. “I preferred to complete the job we planned for today, looking for a good setting with the balance of my bike. Tomorrow’s race will be tough, no doubt about that, but it should be a great show.”

The second row comprises Shinya Nakano (Yamaha) in fifth, Loris Capirossi (Ducati) in sixth, Gibernau seventh and Tohru Ukawa (Camel Pramac Pons RC211V) marking a major improvement in qualifying form with a second row start from eighth.

“My fastest lap time is almost the same as I managed in winter testing here,” said the Japanese ace Ukawa. “I’m happy because it’s positive for me to start from the second row – it’s somewhere I haven’t been for a while. The track was better than yesterday but the race will be at 3:30pm tomorrow and who knows what the conditions will be like.”

Gibernau is realistic about his grid position. “As far as race pace goes we can be optimistic,” said the Spanish title hopeful. “I don’t think the fastest lap reflects the work we have done in the session. This morning we set good times and in the afternoon we went well although we were perhaps a little bit down on top speed and acceleration.”

Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) managed 9th on the grid. He had been suffering from a cold and was feeling better about his chances. “From the third row it ain’t going to be easy,” said the American rookie. “I’ve got to make a good start and get up there with the boys, but it’ll be another great race from me to learn from.”

Ryuichi Kiyonari (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V) struggled but remains determined to improve his times in the warm-up, although his 21st place is permanent until the lights go green tomorrow. “This is perhaps the most difficult circuit I have ever ridden,” said the Japanese. “The heat is not too much of a problem and I think I can improve a little tomorrow.”

HONDA TEAM QUOTES:

Valentino Rossi , Repsol Honda Team: 1st: “I’m very happy because we make great work and we tried to change our tactics a little bit for the session. Now with two qualification tyres we decide to put one on early because two together are difficult to calculate the time remaining. Also, because it is so hot I’m fresher when it counts. We make a great result; – 2:02.4. I’m very happy. Now we wait for the race. The pole position is the best position and we need to make our tyre choice for the race and then we hope for a good result for tomorrow.”

Makoto Tamada (Pramac Honda Team, 3rd: “The settings on the bike in race configuration still aren’t quite perfect and we need to make a few more tests. The rear tyre we found to be the best compromise for 21 laps on this scorching circuit today seems to be good but possibly doesn’t quite have the performance I need in order to ride the race always on the offensive. Even so, I’m able to keep up with those in front, but I still like to have some extra margin so I can aim for the top. We’ll see: we’ll be able to try out a few things during the warm-up tomorrow morning, just so long as it doesn’t rain, as the weather forecast seems to suggest.”

Max Biaggi (fourth): “My pace was better than yesterday, it was more consistent, but I didn’t get a chance to complete a flying lap and I ran out of time to fit a qualifying tyre. I used a soft tyre to get my time, but not a qualifier, or the race tyre. I think I can run a good race tomorrow. The heat makes it really hard on tyres and it’s going to be tough out there.”

Sete Gibernau, Telefonica MoviStar Honda: 7th : “Compared to yesterday we have improved a lot and as far as the race pace is concerned we can be optimistic. I think the fastest lap doesn’t reflect the work we have done in the session. This morning we set good times and in the afternoon we worked well although we were missing a little on top speed and acceleration. I’m sure if Honda can once more give us some help with the engine then we can be in the right shape to fight for the podium. It will be a long race but hopefully I can get a good start and we’ll take it from there.”

Fausto Gresini: “We could have ended up a bit better off in the classification today but I think we have done a good job. Sete has a good rhythm and if we can improve the performance of the engine a little in tomorrow’s warm-up I am sure we will have a good chance of a podium finish. It will be a tough race and it will be important to get a good start.”

Tohru Ukawa, Camel Pramac Pons: 8th: “My lap times were almost the same as I managed in winter testing here. In the final few minutes I went for a qualifying tyre but there something not quite right with the combination I had. But the second row is okay – and it’s been some time since I’ve been there. We’ve decided on tyres for the race and the engine response is good now. The track was slightly better than yesterday with more grip. But the race is at 3:30pm tomorrow, so it could be hotter than this – or it could be raining, you can’t always tell with the weather here.”

Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda Team: 9th: “I’m feelin’ a little bit better today thanks to Dr Costa’s staff. It was so hot, I found it real tough to go as fast as I wanted. I’m not real happy with the set-up. We gotta’ find a little more speed from somewhere. I’m probably being too aggressive on the throttle – spinnin’ up everywhere. We’ve gotta’ lot to talk about with the team to work out what to adjust for the warm up and onto the race. Michelin have got some good options. From third row; it ain’t gonna being easy. Gotta’ make a good start and get up there with the boys. It’ll be another good learnin’ race for me.”

Ryuichi Kiyonari, Telefonica MoviStar Honda: 21st: “This is perhaps the most difficult circuit I have ever ridden. I have improved my time from yesterday but I need another couple of sessions to gather more confidence and get further up in the classification. The heat is not too much of a problem and I think I can improve a little further in the warm-up.”



More, from a press release issued by Fuchs Kawasaki:

MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2003
ROUND 14 – MARLBORO MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX
11TH OCTOBER 2003 – QUALIFYING PRACTICE 2

SEPANG SAUNA PROVIDES CHALLENGE FOR FUCHS KAWASAKI RIDERS

Fuchs Kawasaki’s Garry McCoy rose to the challenge in the sauna like conditions of Sepang to qualify his Ninja ZX-RR on the fourth row of the grid for tomorrow’s 21 lap Malaysian Grand Prix.

The Australian cut almost three seconds off his opening qualifying time, to propel himself five places further up the grid, after Dunlop’s tyre technicians came up with the answer to yesterday’s lack of performance on soft qualifying rubber. Revised chassis and swing arm settings and the grip that he is familiar with from Dunlop qualifying tyres were the basis of McCoy’s faster speed as track temperatures nudged 49 degrees.

Fuchs Kawasaki team-mate, Andrew Pitt, also made a dramatic improvement, although he admitted to failing to maximise his fast lap opportunities on qualifiers late on in the final session. Pitt sliced a second and a half from his Friday time, but was disappointed to drop back one place to 20th on the grid in what was a fiercely competitive qualifying session.

Pitt will celebrate the first anniversary of his Grand Prix debut aboard the Ninja ZX-RR tomorrow, having commenced his career in the top flight at this race twelve months ago. Pitt’s qualifying time today was three seconds faster than last year, a measure of the impressive improvement that Kawasaki’s former World Supersport Champion has made since his switch to MotoGP.

Both Fuchs Kawasaki riders admit the heat and tropical humidity of Sepang will provide a significant test over race distance tomorrow.

Garry McCoy – 16th – 2:05.084
“Our qualifying tyres hooked-up today, although I also did a run on a soft race tyre just as a back up. I made a mistake on my fastest lap which cost me some time; I had a big front end slide in the double-right hander before the hairpin and had my knee dragging to keep the bike upright. We got the set-up better today with some geometry changes and different swing arm position. The hot weather is hurting us for race tyre choice, I ran some laps on a pretty good option today but I think we need the weather to be cooler, or for it to rain for the race.”

Andrew Pitt – 20th – 2:06.112
“I didn’t go fast enough to move up the grid, simple as that. I couldn’t get the grip I was looking for from the qualifiers again today; they were spinning up too much. Overnight we moved some weight to the front and that seemed to help, but I’m not able to carry the corner speed and get on the throttle as early as Garry. I need to sit down with the team and look at the data and find some answers for the race. I’ve worked out the best race tyre option, but if it stays hot like this then race distance consistency may be a worry.”

Harald Eckl – Team Manager
“There is no doubt that the Sepang track and this very hot weather are challenging conditions for the Ninja ZX-RR and our tyres. Finding a suitable tyre is not easy, especially for consistency over race distance. Garry did a surprising lap time and again showed the potential of both the bike and rider. Andrew was one second slower on qualifiers, but it seems the gap is closer with race rubber; no doubt this is going to be a long and difficult race for our riders.”



More, from a press release issued by Harris WCM:

MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX

Final Qualifying
Saturday 11th October 2003

DAVID DE GEA: 22nd 2.06.941
“I pushed hard during this afternoon’s session and I am happy with the result, a big improvement since yesterday. The settings on the bike are good and I am beginning to understand this bike and how to get the best from it.

“For sure we always want a little bit more but I am happy that everything is working well and I should have a good race.”

CHRIS BURNS: 24th 2:08.675
“I had a lot of trouble in the last ten minutes or so of the session when we put on the qualifiers. I tried three qualifiers and I just could not get any grip at all. At least we know we have good race tyres for tomorrow and we all know it’s the race that counts.

“I am feeling really good, really looking forward to it. We had no problems during that session so hopefully I will put in a good race tomorrow.”


PETER CLIFFORD ­ (Team Manager)
“A really great effort from the whole team in the last two days. We may not be as close time-wise to some of the others as we would like but the length and nature of this track exaggerates the situation.

I think if Chris had enjoyed using the qualifying tyres more, he would have ended up with a far better time then recorded.

We will have to work out if we have to do something different with the bike in the future or whether it’s a case of him getting us to the qualifiers.”



More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

Marlboro Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang
Final Qualifying
Saturday, October 11 2003

DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM MISSES FRONT ROW BY A FRACTION

Ducati Marlboro Team rider Loris Capirossi will start tomorrow’s Marlboro Malaysian Grand Prix from the second row of the grid after missing the front row by just 0.122 seconds in this afternoon’s boiling hot final qualifying session. But the Italian is confident of a good race here because he’s got a fast race pace. Team-mate Troy Bayliss will commence his debut race at Sepang from the third row of the grid.

“That was a difficult session,” said Ducati Marlboro Team director Livio Suppo. “Loris had an engine problem with his number one bike in the early stages so he had to do most of the session on his second bike. Nevertheless he rode a very good rhythm for the race. Our end-of-session plan was to use two Michelin qualifying tyres, because he didn’t use one yesterday, but we called him in too late, so we ran out of time to use the second qualifier. For sure he would’ve been on the front row if he’d had time for another run, so we’d like to apologise to him for that. Troy improved a lot today. His best lap this afternoon was 1.2 seconds faster than his Friday times, even though he had also used a qualifying tyre yesterday, so he’s still really getting to know the track. Tomorrow will be a tough race, the weather conditions always make this GP difficult for everyone, but we should definitely be up there.”

CAPIROSSI SIXTH WITH A GOOD RACE RHYTHM
Loris Capirossi may have missed the front

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.


250cc Grand Prix
Final Qualifying
Sepang, Malaysia

1. Toni Elias, Aprilia, 2:07.535
2. Manuel Poggiali, Aprilia, 2:08.419
3. Fonsi Nieto, Aprilia, 2:08.836
4. N. Matsudo, Yamaha, 2:09.278
5. Randy De Puniet, Aprilia, 2:09.353
6. Franco Battaini, Aprilia, 2:09.380
7. Sebastian Porto, Honda, 2:09.407
8. S. Guintoli, Aprilia, 2:09.687
9. Anthony West, Aprilia, 2:09.827
10. Roberto Rolfo, Honda, 2:10.231


125cc Grand Prix
Final Qualifying
Sepang, Malaysia

1. Jorge Lorenzo, Derbi, 2:14.403
2. Dani Pedrosa, Honda, 2:14.485
3. Mike Kallio, KTM, 2:14.541
4. Casey Stoner, Aprilia, 2:14.569
5. Steve Jenkner, Aprilia, 2:14.655
6. Thomas Luthi, Honda, 2:14.844
7. Pablo Nieto, Aprilia, 2:14.887
8. Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, 2:14.980
9. S. Perugini, Aprilia, 2:15.036
10. S. Bianco, Gilera, 2:15.052


More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Honda:

Rolfo improves feel for machine without finding all solutions to his problems

Sepang – Malaysia October 11, 2003. Roberto Rolfo slightly improved the performance of his Fortuna Honda overnight but problems still remain. Rolfo is still experiencing problems running into the corners but he is confident that in the morning warm up for the Malaysian Grand Prix he has the solutions to the problems.

In spite of the difficulties he ran into today Rolfo was just 1/1000th of a second outside his qualifying time of yesterday. He is hopeful of finding solutions in order to keep alive his championship aspirations, he will fight to the end. But at this moment he is not worried about the situation, even if he has to start the race from the third row of the grid.

“We have improved from yesterday but we still have work ahead of us. I hope that during the morning warm up tomorrow we will be able to find the necessary solutions to our problem and ride comfortably on this circuit.” Explained Rolfo.

“The particular problem we are suffering is with the front end, it’s costing me a real effort to get the bike to run into the corners and hold my line. We have improved a little in that respect from Friday but I still do not feel confident enough on the bike to ride at my maximum on my race lines.” Confirmed the Altadis rider.

“The circumstances are going to make the race very hard for us. At the time we start the race tomorrow the winner is going to be the heat out on the track, its not good We have to recognise that Elias’ qualifying time is very good. But I think sincerely that if we can take a step forward in the warm up tomorrow I can fight with the leading group.” Rolfo asserted.


More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing:

Final Qualifying Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang, Malaysia

Final Qualifying Saturday September 11

Track temperature: 46 degrees C
Humidity: 47%
Ambient temperature: 32 degrees C, strong sunshine, light breeze

Tony Elias (Aprilia) dominated the hour of 250 class qualifying just as he had yesterday. He was the only rider to dip into the 2m 07 second territory and factory Aprilia rider Manuel Poggiali was a full eight tenths of a second behind his Spanish rival in second. Fonsi Nieto (Aprilia) qualified third and surprise package Naoki Matsudo fired his Yamaha to fourth on the front row.

Sebastian Porto (Telefonica Movistar Junior Team RS250RW) had a torrid time, crashing early in the session and then rejoining the fray – but he couldn’t improve his time from yesterday’s session and the Argentine starts in seventh place on row two.

“In the afternoon we were not so good,” said Porto. “We had a second problem with the engine and I wouldn’t be surprised if the heat had something to with it. We’ll be going back to Friday’s settings for the warm-up. That was quite a difficult session because of my crash after just a few minutes.”

Things weren’t much better for Roberto Rolfo (Fortuna Honda RS250RW) who did his crashing yesterday, but failed to squeeze any real improvement from his machine. The Italian title contender starts from tenth on row three, but of more concern is his lap time, 2.696 seconds off Elias’ pole marker.

“The problem is with the front end,” said the Italian. “It’s costing me real effort to get the bike turned into the corners and then to keep it on a line. Things are better than Friday, but I still don’t feel confident on the bike to be able to ride at my maximum.”

Derbi rider Jorge Lorenzo qualified on pole for tomorrow’s Malaysian 125 Grand Prix after finding a clear route to a flying lap amid the hectic traffic of today’s final half-hour of 125 qualifying. Title leader Daniel Pedrosa (Telefonica Movistar Junior Team RS125R) lines up next to him in second spot.

Pedrosa headed the timesheets after yesterday’s session and despite running into some technical problems, the Spanish teenager proved he has the speed to be in contention in the race – he was only eight hundredths of a second slower than Lorenzo and was baulked on one of his fastest laps. He also crashed early on.

Mika Kallio (KTM) and Casey Stoner (Aprilia) complete the front row, while Swiss newcomer Thomas Luthi (Elit Grand Prix Honda RS125R) marks a return to his best by lining up on row two in sixth. Andrea Dovisioso (Team Scot Honda RS125R) also grabbed a second row start with eighth place.

Pedrosa was content, if not entirely ecstatic. “My crash made it quite a difficult session. The track conditions changed quite a lot from the morning to the afternoon and I lost the front end. The damage was minimal but we lost time. In any case I’m feeling calm because yesterday and this morning we found a good set-up.”

Luthi was happy with his performance. “The second row is okay,” said the young Swiss. “I felt smooth and comfortable from the start of the session and when I came in and changed tyres, the bike was absolutely perfect for the nest four or five laps – engine, chassis, suspension, everything. But tomorrow I need a better start than I have had lately.”

Dovisioso was equally delighted. “That was good because I set my fastest times with a race tyre riding alone,” said the Italian. “I didn’t slipstream anyone and that’s encouraging for the race. The only concern is engine temperature which right up between 58 and 60 degrees.”


HONDA TEAM QUOTES:

250cc:

Roberto Rolfo, Fortuna Honda, 10th: “We have improved from yesterday but we still have work ahead of us. I hope that during the morning warm up tomorrow we will be able to find the necessary solutions to our problem and ride comfortably on this circuit. The particular problem we are suffering is with the front end, it’s costing me a real effort to get the bike to run into the corners and hold my line. We have improved a little in that respect from Friday but I still do not feel confident enough on the bike to ride at my maximum on my race lines.The circumstances are going to make the race very hard for us. At the time we start the race tomorrow the winner is going to be the heat out on the track, its not good We have to recognise that Elias’ qualifying time is very good. But I think sincerely that if we can take a step forward in the warm up tomorrow I can fight with the leading group.”


Sebastian Porto, Telefonica MoviStar Honda, Jnr Team, 7th: “It was quite a difficult session because I crashed after just a few minutes. The track conditions changed quite a lot from the morning to the afternoon and I lost the front end. The damage was minimal but we lost a lot of time setting the bike up again and weren’t able to get it working as it had done. In any case I am feeling calm because yesterday and this morning we found a good set-up and we know which way to go for the race.”


125cc.

Dani Pedrosa, Telefonica MoviStar Honda, Jnr Team, 2nd: “I am not completely satisfied although it is positive to be on the front row. The free practice went perfectly but in the afternoon, with the heat, we had a few more problems than we expected. The high temperatures affected the performance of the engine a lot, and it is now one of the slowest in the class. As far as the chassis is concerned we thought we had the right settings but this afternoon the bike began to slide a lot. To add to that, I was held up by a slower rider on my fast lap and I lost all the advantage I had. We have to keep working to solve these problems because the only thing for sure right now is that tomorrow will be a tough race.”

Andrea Dovizioso, Scot Honda, 8th: “That was good. I’m happy because I set my fastest times with a race tyre while I was riding alone, and without slipstreaming anybody. In the morning we had problems with the front suspension but it was much better this afternoon. In the warm up we will try a couple of small changes on gearbox ratios because we don’t have the best solutions for a couple of corners. Our only other problem is with engine temperature, in qualifying it was between 58 and 60′.”

Simone Corsi, Scot Honda: Simone Corsi will not race due to a leg injury sustained in practice on Friday.

Thomas Luthi, Elit Honda, 6th: “I’m happy with my second row starting place on the grid. I was comfortable and smooth from the start of the session. I came in and changed tyres and for the next four or five laps the bike was absolutely perfect, engine chassis, suspension, everything. I will be looking for a good start, or a better start than I have made lately.”

Masao Azuma, Ajo Motorsports Honda, 12th: “Yesterday and this morning I had no problems at all and I had a good feeling with the bike and I was lapping very fast. In qualifying the front wheel was sliding too much, I don’t understand why because I had the same tyre on as yesterday. We have to check out everything because it’s happening in the high-speed corners. Anyway, I hope for a good race tomorrow, better for me if it rains but I will also be confident if it’s dry.”


More, from a press release issued by MS Aprilia Racing Information:

MANUEL POGGIALI SECOND FASTEST TODAY, THREE APRILIAS IN THE FRONT ROW



After an innocuous sliding in this morning free session and the fourth lap time Manuel Poggiali improved his yesterdays lap time of 0.769 achieving the second position today. A good performance for the San Marino rider who is fighting to maintain the leading of the world standing as he has 18 points of advantage far from Rolfo who was only tenth today.

Manuel Poggiali: “This morning we made some tests about the chassis setting but we did not get any excellent result and I did not feel comfortable: that’s why I crashed but I did not suffer any injury. In the qualifying session the bike was quite good and I got a good pace with the race tyres. But I am not able to use the qualifying tyres in the proper way like Elias. Anyway during my best lap time I found some slow riders but honestly I would have not been able to do that performance. The expectations for the race are quite good and I want to make a perfect start trying to fight for the victory also because I like this track very much and I am enjoying myself with the 250 bike”.


More, from a press release issued by KTM:

Kallio and KTM Red Bull Front Row

A perfectly timed qualifying run by Flying Finn Mika Kallio means the KTM Red Bull Team will start from the front row of the grid for the first time in tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix. In the sauna conditions of Sepang Kallio was third fastest in final qualifying and just .13s off pole position. It was a brilliant effort by Kallio and a timely reward for the hard working KTM, which has endured a steep learning curve in their first year of 125cc Grand Prix competition.

Kallio sliced 1.3s from his Friday time following the arrival of a performance boosting new exhaust system from Europe. The new pipes were airfreighted in overnight and fitted to the KTM machines for today’s morning free practice. While this is 20 year-old Kallio’s second career front row start it is the first for KTM who only hired the young Finnish rider in August. Teammate Roberto Locatelli, who crashed heavily yesterday, also dramatically reduced his lap times by 1.1s but will start 19th on the fifth row.

# 36 Mika Kallio
3rd / 2:14.541

Finally I’ve done, a front row start for KTM, and the second for me. Three laps from the end of the session I was on a fast lap and I could the new pipes were something special in performance. But I got delayed by a group of slow riders and had to push again on my final lap to do the time. For the race there is only aim: Full throttle from the start to the finish.

#10 Roberto Locatelli
19th /2:15.720s

I was still feeling a little stiff from my crash yesterday although it is disappointing to improve my best time by more than one second but still only be 19th on the grid.

Harald Bartol
Team Manager

This is a very positive result because when you are far from home base on the flyaways it is not easy to develop new parts but the team have been working hard back in Europe. I knew Mika could do the times today and for Roberto the performance is OK considering he crashed yesterday. I’m looking forward to the outcome of tomorrow’s race.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

CCS racer Ralph Gonzalez and wife Jennifer had a son, Rafael Jaden Gonzalez, October 7 in Hackensack, New Jersey.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

MotoGP
Friday Qualifying
October 10
Sepang, Malaysia

1. Valentina Rossi, Honda, 2:03.516
2. Makoto Tamada, Honda, 2:03.730
3. Max Biaggi, Honda, 2:04.142
4. Loris Capirossi, Ducati, 2:04.161
5. Tohru Ukawa, Honda, 2:04.321
6. Sete Gibernau, Honda, 2:04.581
7. Nicky Hayden, Honda, 2:04.593
8. Carlos Checa, Yamaha, 2:04.825
9. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki, 2:04.837
10. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha, 2:04.912
11. Troy Bayliss, Ducati, 2:05.236
12. Alex Barros, Yamaha, 2:05.595
13. Noriyuki Haga, Aprilia, 2:05.652
14. Marco Melandri, Yamaha, 2:05.807
15. Colin Edwards, Aprilia, 2:06.088
16. Jeremy McWilliams, Proton, 2:06.726
17. Akira Ryo, Suzuki, 2:06.856
18. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha, 2:07.081
19. Andrew Pitt, Kawasaki, 2:07.577
20. Nobuatsu Aoki, Proton, 2:07.654
21. Garry McCoy, Kawasaki, 2:07.681
22. David De Gea, Harris WCM, 2:08.956
23. Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, 2:09.239
24. Chris Burns, Harris WCM, 2:09.768

More, from a press release issued by Fuchs Kawasaki:

MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2003
ROUND 14 – MARLBORO MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX
10TH OCTOBER 2003 – QUALIFYING PRACTICE 1

STRANGE DAY AT SEPANG FOR FUCHS KAWASAKI RIDERS

Both Fuchs Kawasaki riders Garry McCoy and Andrew Pitt completed today’s oppressively hot first qualifying session baffled by their inability to post faster lap times.

The surprise for both riders came in the final minutes of qualifying when they bolted soft compound qualifying tyres on their Ninja ZX-RR machines in anticipation of a significant drop in lap times.

With track temperatures soaring past 46 degrees neither rider could improve, and both Pitt and McCoy struggled to hide their disappointment after pushing to the limit in a bid for better positions on the provisional grid.

Earlier both riders had lost valuable track time with mechanical problems in morning free practice. An electrical gremlin interrupted Pitt’s progress, while an engine problem stopped one of McCoy’s Ninja ZX-RR race bikes just as he began his opening lap on slick tyres, as the track began to dry after morning rain.

Pitt and McCoy know they are capable of faster times here, as indicated by preseason test sessions, and in McCoy’s case third place podium results in the MotoGP races of 2000 and 2001. Both riders are hopeful of having the opportunity to produce their best in final qualifying tomorrow.

Andrew Pitt – 19th – 2:07.577
“I did some runs on race tyres then came in for the qualifying rubber and was expecting to go much faster. I did a conservative out lap and then nearly crashed twice in the first two corners; I thought there might have been oil on tyre as the bike just felt like it was going to crash. Apart from that I worked through our four front tyre options and seem to have found a suitable choice for the race; we just need to work a little on the set-up and get a bit more weight over the front.”

Garry McCoy – 21st – 2:07.681
“In terms of qualifying that was a disastrous day. I did what was my best lap on a soft race tyre and came in for a qualifier but I just couldn’t get it to hook-up. I nearly high-sided four times; it was a wasted opportunity. I also had some chatter on some tyre runs, so maybe we’ve got to work on set-up to dial that out and just stick with a tyre that has some grip. I’ve been a lot faster here; there’s always tomorrow I guess.”

Harald Eckl – Team Manager
“This was a strange day because both riders pushed very hard and did some good laps on race tyres, but it seems we had the wrong choice of qualifiers; neither of them could get the extra performance that we expect late in the session on soft tyres. And it didn’t help for our race preparation when Garry’s bike lost a motor in the morning session and one of Andrew’s bikes had electrical problems. We have a lot of work to do for the race on Sunday.”



More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

Marlboro Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang
First Qualifying
Friday, October 10 2003

DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM ON PROVISIONAL FRONT ROW
Ducati Marlboro Team rider Loris Capirossi got his Marlboro Malaysian GP weekend off to a great start at steaming-hot Sepang this afternoon, putting his Desmosedici on the provisional front row of the grid. Team-mate Troy Bayliss, who’s never before raced here, was getting up to speed and ended the day on the third row.

“I’m pleased because we did our fastest lap of the day on race tyres, not qualifiers,” said Ducati Marlboro Team technical director Corrado Cecchinelli. “The bike is quite different from when we tested here in January – with a different frame, better cooling for the riders and other things – but we started today with the same set-up we used during those tests. Loris’ main concern now is to increase traction on the gas without affecting front-end feel. We know how to get more traction, but to obtain that without losing front-end feel is a compromise which we have to make with some careful adjustments to the chassis balance. Troy is a bit further away from his perfect set-up. With him we’re considering some changes to geometry, because he wants the bike to be lighter steering, and also to gearbox ratios.”

Because red-hot Sepang is MotoGP’s most gruelling test for engines – with today’s ambient temperature hitting 35 degrees – the Ducati Marlboro Team’s partnership with Shell Advance pays big dividends here, the company’s lubricants combining remarkable reliability with a useful power boost.

CAPIROSSI ON FRONT ROW WITHOUT QUALIFYING TYRE
Loris Capirossi ended this afternoon’s opening qualifying session in fourth spot, just 0.645 seconds off provisional pole, even though he didn’t use a qualifying tyre for a ‘hot’ lap at the end of the hour-long outing. The Ducati Marlboro Team man is therefore confident that he can up the pace for tomorrow’s final session.

“The track was wet for much of this morning, so we couldn’t try some of the settings we wanted to try,” said Capirossi. “Anyway, we made a few changes for this afternoon but we still lack some traction coming out of the corners. This track is very slippery in the heat, so we need to work at solving that problem for tomorrow and Sunday. But I’m happy with my lap times so far and I’m very confident that we can work to go faster tomorrow, when we will also be able to use my qualifying tyres to get some good qualifying laps.”

BAYLISS ON ROW THREE AFTER MINOR SPILL
Ducati Marlboro Team rider Troy Bayliss today began preparations for his Sepang race debut, ending this morning’s mostly damp ‘free’ practice session in 15th spot, before moving up to 11th position in this afternoon’s opening qualifier. The Australian ran well in his second outing of the day despite a minor turn-one spill in the early stages of the session.

“It was wet most of this morning, so we lost most of the session,” said Bayliss. “Then we were struggling a little with front grip at the start of the afternoon and I basically fell off. I’m still a second off what I did here during testing but I normally take a while to really get going and I’ve really only had an hour’s riding today, so things aren’t going so bad and I’m sure they’ll get better. We’ll make some changes to a few chassis settings tonight, but we’ve not yet decided exactly what we’re going to change. I need a longer chat with my guys to decide that.”


More, from a press release issued by Pramac Honda:

Sepang – (Malaysia)
Round 14 – 10/11/12 October 2003
Friday – qualifying sessions

Tamada determined at Sepang: second-best time and provisional front row.

Makoto Tamada has got off to a flying start: not liking the look of the clouds on the horizon and fearing rain tomorrow, he aimed to set a fast time in the first day of practice. A day that was by no means easy in terms of choice of tyres. The temperature excursion on the tarmac from the free practice in the morning (31° Celsius) to the official sessions in the afternoon (56°) cannot be underestimated: a range of no less than 25 degrees (77° Fahrenheit) . At the end of the session, Tamada chose a normal race tyre for the front and a soft (race) tyre – the softest in the range chosen for Sepang – for the rear.

Gradually and doggedly picking up speed, in the end he made the second quickest time for the provisional pole. Now the definitive race configuration needs to be decided (no easy task in the opinion of the rider) and the final adjustments need to be made to the general settings.

The two test sessions in the winter months of January and February certainly helped Tamada get a good feeling for the track, even though he now has far more advanced tyres and a more tailor-made setup on his RC211V. It is now “made to measure” for his riding style, taking into consideration all the requirements that have emerged during the season.

MAKOTO TAMADA (PRAMAC HONDA TEAM): 2nd – 2:03.730
“I don’t know if everyone was pushing as hard as they could have done, but if the weather does change I’ve already secured a good place for Sunday’s starting grid. I used a soft rear tyre that gave the results we were hoping for, though the rear race tyre wasn’t absolutely perfect. The track’s slippery and we’ve got to find a better solution for the race, and one that will last for 21 laps. So we’ve still got plenty of work to do. After selecting the tyres, we’ll get the settings right. But this is just the first day, and I haven’t done all that much yet. We’ll carry on working even harder tomorrow.”


More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Yamaha:

EXCEPTIONAL PACE SET IN MALAYSIA GP FIRST QUALIFYING

An electrifying pace was set in today’s first qualifying session of the Malaysian Grand Prix and it was an incident-filled day for Fortuna Yamaha riders Carlos Checa and Marco Melandri. Track temperatures as high as 46 degrees C and a slick surface claimed a fair share of fall victims today including both Melandri and team-mate Checa. The former highsided his factory YZR-M1 in the opening stages of this afternoon’s session, which caught on fire as it lay in the gravel trap. Spaniard Checa also took a tumble but with just fifteen minutes of qualifying time left. Despite their setbacks both riders returned to the fray to post some respectable times and eventually finished with eighth and 14th place respectively.

After producing the third fastest time this afternoon Checa looked set for a front row performance. The Fortuna Yamaha rider improved further still in the closing stages with a time of 2:04.825, before lowsiding his M1 entering the tight right-hand turn one. Unable to continue with the damaged machine Checa was forced back to the pits to mount his number two bike, but lacked the time to defend his provisional front row start. The 30-year-old currently sits eighth on the grid after the qualifying tyre reshuffle.

“It’s a shame that I fell off towards the end of the session because I was going really well,” said the regretful Checa. “It was my own fault. We lost a lot of time this morning because of the rain and we only had about 20 minutes of real testing but I had a good rhythm in those 20 minutes. We have been using my basic set-up from Motegi but have made some small alterations. I’m so annoyed with myself for falling because I knew that my second bike wasn’t totally ready in the same set-up, and it just didn’t feel as good as my first bike. I’m confident that I can find a good rhythm for tomorrow and should improve my time by quite a lot.”

Marco Melandri’s first qualifying session began with an unexpected off track excursion, which put the 21-year-old’s preferred machine out of action. This left the 250cc World Champion with only one bike for the remainder of the hour-long session, limiting the amount he could achieve in such a short time. As a result Melandri completed only 15 laps this afternoon, finishing with the 14th quickest time of 2:05.807.

“I lost the rear of the bike and highsided on turn seven,” said Melandri, who fell off his M1 in the opening part of this afternoon’s session. “It was very strange because it seemed like the rear was just going to slide out a bit and then I could carry on, which also happened in this morning’s practice. But I lost it a bit, and then completely. Anyway I took my second bike out, but it didn’t have the same feeling, I don’t know why. I also nearly fell off again on the last corner as Jacque came very close, which was quite scary. This morning everything felt okay with our Motegi base set-up. We made some modifications since then but lost time this afternoon. I think we can improve tomorrow.”

Team Director Davide Brivio said, “Both riders started this morning in the wet with their Motegi set-ups. As the track dried out we found that this set-up works well here too, so first impressions for the weekend are good. Then this afternoon unfortunately both riders had falls, which slowed things down and reduced their track time. They were both forced to use their second bikes and neither felt as comfortable as they had on their number one bikes. We couldn’t use all our potential this afternoon, but we’re okay, we just need to finish the final set-up adjustments tomorrow and try for better times.”

Defending MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi (Honda) set the benchmark early with a time of 2:03.516, with rookie Makoto Tamada (Honda, 2:03.730) the only rider able to challenge the Italian. Maxi Biaggi (Honda, 2:04.142) and Loris Capirossi (Ducati, 2:04.161) completed the front row.

PROVISIONAL FRONT ROW
1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Repsol HONDA 2:03.516

2. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Pramac HONDA 2:03.730

3. Max Biaggi (ITA) Camel Pramac Pons HONDA 2:04.142

4. Loris Capirossi (ITA) DUCATI Marlboro Team 2:04.161

8. CARLOS CHECA (SPA) Fortuna YAMAHA Team 2:04.825

14. MARCO MELANDRI (ITA) Fortuna YAMAHA Team 2:05.807



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

ROBERTS LEADS DEPLETED SUZUKI SQUAD

Team Suzuki rider Kenny Roberts Jr. set ninth-fastest time in today’s first qualifying session for Sunday’s Malaysian GP, heading the third row of the provisional grid on a machine incorporating the latest improvements that arrived in time for last weekend’s Pacific GP in Japan.

Wild card rider Akira Ryo was 17th fastest, as he came to grips with the Sepang circuit south of the capital Kuala Lumpur, and confident of improving both his time and position tomorrow, after finishing in the top ten of the Pacific race last week.

Roberts is riding the stock machine, incorporating mainly engine developments; Ryo is again on the experimental development machine, with a number of variations to chassis, suspension and engine, the outward evidence of which is an exhaust tail pipe on the left rather than the right of the machine.

But the second regular rider, Anglo-American racer John Hopkins, was absent from the track. Controversially disqualified from this race after a first-corner incident in the Pacific GP at Motegi, Hopkins has already left for Australia to prepare for the GP there next weekend. His bike, bearing the number 21, was parked idle in the pits, a testimony to the support he has received from other riders and teams in the wake of the decision to rule him out of this race.

Roberts’s lap time today represented an improvement on last year of better than a full second. Now he will concentrate on making sure that the times can be achieved consistently, to underline the improvement in the machine. Prior to the latest round of upgrades, this has not always been so easy to achieve. Last year, Roberts finished eighth at Sepang.

Roberts is twice a winner at Sepang. Ryo is starting from further back, having only ridden here once before, as a wild card in last year’s race.

Today’s practice took place in blazing sunshine, high humidity, and 34 degree temperatures, with the track at 46 degrees. After unsettled weather earlier in the week, Sepang’s traditionally punishing heat had returned with a vengeance. There is one more day of qualifying with one hour-long timed session, before Sunday’s race.

KENNY ROBERTS Jr. – Ninth Position, 2:04.837
Everything’s unchanged here as far, with nothing new or different from the last race, and we’ve been going along as usual. We stayed with the same set-up throughout practice, again the same as in Japan, though we did try some tyres. I’d like to go quicker than last year for the race. I was doing 2:06s in the race, and we’ve found it difficult to match our race pace at some tracks.

AKIRA RYO – 17th Position, 2:06.856
My bike is the same as at Motegi, and this is my second time at the track, after racing here last year. I haven’t tested here, but it is not such a difficult circuit. It was going okay at the beginning of the session, then we were struggling to find the right rear suspension settings, for the overall balance. I wanted to try with a qualifying tyre, but we ran into a problem and there was no time to switch to the other machine. But we have some good ideas to try tomorrow, and still have two qualifying tyres … so I am looking forward to it, and confident I can improve.

GARRY TAYLOR – Team Manager
John left Malaysia yesterday, and we are operating with our numbers depleted. It’s nice to see Kenny achieving a good top ten position, and that Ryo-San is optimistic for tomorrow. We’ll take it on from there.



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

HOME-RACE PROTON KR RIDERS RIDE SEPANG HEAT WAVE

Round 14: Malaysian GP, Sepang First Qualifying: Friday, October 10, 2003

Jeremy McWilliams: 16th, 2:06.726
Nobuatsu Aoki: 20th, 2:07.681

Team Proton KR riders Jeremy McWilliams and Nobuatsu Aoki braved searing conditions in today’s first qualifying session for Sunday’s Malaysian GP, getting to grips with the latest round of machine improvements that have arrived in the week since the Pacific GP at Motegi, where the radical new V5 four-stroke scored its first point.

The Malaysian GP, home race for the Proton Cars, major backers of the England-based project, will be the eighth race for the bike, which only ran at a race track seven months ago, after the season had begun.

The latest upgrades include a new and longer megaphone exhaust pipe, that improves power, most especially at the top of the rev range; and a new fairing, to improve aerodynamic penetration in the interest of a higher top speed.

McWilliams set the Proton pace today, moving up the order towards the end of the session to end up knocking on the door of the top 15 – the first 15 places pay World Championship points. Aoki was thwarted on his fast lap on softer-compound tyres by a high-speed traffic incident, and remained in 20th place.

The real enemy was the heat, with 45 percent humidity, 34-degree temperatures, and the track surface at a searing 46 degrees. The improvement in the machine’s reliability since the first races was clear. Each rider has two machines, and all four ran without trouble for the two hours of practice today.

There is one more day of practice and qualifying before Sunday’s race.

JEREMY McWILLIAMS
We honestly can’t do much better. If I can find another half a second, I’ll be delighted. I don’t know what we’ll do. Today we tried every combination we have of all the new parts, and we ended up in a similar position to our usual. My best time came with the old fairing, because that was on the bike with a little more grip, so I tended to favour that. The other bike has a stronger engine, so I hope we can marry up that engine with the other set-up. It was hard to tell any difference with the new fairing because of the different chassis set-up. The biggest problem today was how much everything was spinning up. It’s going to be a difficult race.

NOBUATSU AOKI
It seems quite tough … it’s not only the heat. I knew we were lacking top speed, but it seems more than I expected. I lost time when I had a softer tyre for a fast lap, because I was following Melandri and Barros when Olivier Jacque passed me going like hell down the back straight. Then he couldn’t stop, and he almost hit Melandri and Barros. That spoiled my lap. I have a fresh engine for one of my bikes tomorrow. The megaphone exhaust also seems to be working very well, with more push in the middle of the rev range, so that is pretty good. But it’s still really tough.

CHUCK AKSLAND – Team Manager
The new exhaust with extra length has boosted the power at the top and a bit in the middle, and also lets the engine rev on a bit. It’s working better, and it’s good to bring another part to the track that is another clear step. With the heat, this is one of the most difficult tracks. It’s pretty impressive what Jeremy did – a good achievement. Nobu’s position is typical for him – he’s working up the pace, and come Sunday he’ll be at his best. The temperature is a concern, and we’re taking a look at what we can do. Barcelona was pretty hot too, but if we can keep it in that range it should be okay. It would be nice to keep it cooler.


More, from a press release issued by Harris WCM:

MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX
First Qualifying
Friday 10th October 2003

DAVID DE GEA: 22nd 2:08.956
“I am working on improving my settings and selecting the right tyres for the race. We have a bit of work to do on tyre selection as I was sliding a lot this afternoon. Also we have a few chatter problems to fix on the bike. Otherwise, it was okay today. I quite like this track, and hope to improve tomorrow.”

CHRIS BURNS: 24th 2:09.768
“It’s my first time here and we had basically a problem free day. My first problem free day for a while actually. The bike seems to be all right and I’m handling the heat quite well. We could do with some more grip from the tyres and tomorrow I am sure to find some parts on the track to make up some time.

“I’m getting a good feel for the circuit, learning my way through the blind corners.”


PETER CLIFFORD ­ (Team Manager)
“We always want better and are looking forward to improving tomorrow. It’s a long lap here, a lot for the guys to learn and they are coming to grips with it.”


More, from a press release issued by Alice Aprilia Racing Information:

MALAYSIA GP/1ST QUALIFYING SESSION

POSITIVE START
A lot of work and interesting data to study for the Alice Aprilia Racing Team on the Malaysian track for the first qualifying session with 50° on the Sepang surface. The team and the riders, who lost the free session because of the damp track, concentrated on the set up of the RS Cube in order to be competitive for the race. Good results for the moment.

COLIN EDWARDS: “Considering that it’s my first time ever on this track I feel satisfied. We also lost this morning free session because of the damp track. I studied this track with the Playstation and watched some videos of the last years. Today I did not use the qualifying tyres as I have to find the right set up first”.

NORIYUKI HAGA: “Today I made a good work finding interesting solutions in order to solve my chattering problems. We are working hard to improve the suspensions and the traction because they play an important role here. I used the qualifying tyre as I do not know how the weather can be tomorrow”.

GIGI DALL’IGNA (Project Leader): “It’s a pity as this morning in the free session we were not able to get any interesting regulation because of the damp track. Anyway Colin never saw this track before and he needs to get the right feeling. Tomorrow we could test new material for the chassis but the main objective is the right balance that allows our riders to achieve a top position in the grid”


More, from a press release issued by Camel Pramac Pons Honda:

Max Biaggi and Tohru Ukawa on the pace in Sepang

The first day of qualification for the Malaysian Grand Prix, the fourteenth race of the season, lived up to expectations as the two Camel Pramac Pons riders were on the pace right from the start. Max Biaggi, who was victorious last year at a Sepang Circuit which seems to suit his riding style, posted the third fastest time of the day and showed that the excellent run of recent form, which culminated with victory in Motegi last week, has not yet come to an end. Tohru Ukawa, meanwhile, was fifth fastest for the day at a circuit which he also likes and he is hoping to come away from the weekend’s action with a positive result.

3rd Max Biaggi
“I am quite happy with this first day of practice. The track was a little damp in the morning session, but had dried completely for the afternoon’s action. We focussed our work on the bike set-up, which is different from the set-up we were using here in winter because we now use a different configuration for the bike’s chassis and engine. I think we can make further improvements tomorrow as we are working in the right direction, but we must improve the traction and also the engine management system. I love this circuit and it suits my riding technique”.

Santi Mulero (Chief Engineer Max Biaggi)
“We are trying to find the ideal settings for the bike in the areas of suspension, geometries and electronics so that we can get the maximum performance out of the material we have at our disposal because the references we took from winter testing here are of little use because we are now using a different chassis and engine”.

5th Tohru Ukawa
“It has been a good day today and for a first practice day I am quite satisfied. The track does not have too much grip and is slippery because of all the dust on the surface. This winter we trained here in January and February and now I have a good feeling with the bike. I like this circuit although the high temperatures can cause problems. The heat affects the performance of the engine and we must also work hard to find the right tyre that adapts well to the conditions. I have recovered from the crash in Motegi although I am still a little sore”.

Ramon Forcada (Chief Engineer Tohru Ukawa)
“We have worked a lot on the rear suspension, because it is where we normally have problems with the rear wheel spinning, and also on the front end for braking. Tohru’s quickest lap was done on a normal tyre, not on a specially prepared qualification compound”.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Kurtis Roberts will not be on an American Honda Superbike in the 2004 AMA season, is currently unsigned and is continuing to pursue opportunities that may take him to the MotoGP World Championship.

“Honda has said they have no room for Kurtis on their Superbike team, so I just wanted to let you know he will not be back with Honda next year and as of right now he is unsigned,” said International Racers’ Steve Dicterow, Roberts’ manager, in a telephone call to Roadracingworld.com Friday afternoon.

“They said if we wanted to talk about, say, 600 Supersport and Superstock, they would talk to us, but there was no room on the Superbike team. And really it’s not in Kurtis’ plan to take steps backwards at this point. His plan is to take steps forwards and not backwards. Our feeling is he has been in the premier class for three years now, and to not be in the premier class next year and stay here would be, at best, perceived to be a step back, if not in fact a step back. That’s what our thinking is at this point.

“I want you to understand, there is no animosity there. It’s all on good terms.”

Reached in Las Vegas where he plans on attending this weekend’s U.S. Open Supercross race, Roberts felt the need to clarify the situation further. He said, “Honda and I, as far as American Honda, have decided to part ways. We’re going to see what’s out there.

“American Honda called us and said they’re not offering me a Superbike thing right now, but they also didn’t know if they were going to do a Superbike [team]. Suzuki has said they’re not going to do Superbike. It makes sense. Why put someone on a Superbike if you’re going to be the only company racing it? What’s the point?”

The two-time AMA Superbike race winner wants to go to the MotoGP World Championship, and like everyone else with an interest in MotoGP, says he is waiting for Valentino Rossi to finish his 2004 deal.

“They can’t offer a ride until Rossi says yes or no. So as soon as Rossi says yes or no to everybody, things will fall into place there for sure. Everyone is expressing interest and saying that it’s a possibility,” said Roberts.

Roberts did not completely rule out the possibility of racing in the AMA in 2004, saying, “There’s a chance of anything in this world. That’s why I always said there’s a 99 percent possibility of me leaving, because there’s that one percent [chance]. With the right company and the right plan and efforts behind it, I would definitely entertain it and look at it.

“I want to get to Europe. If the company laid out a plan for me to be here another year and go to Europe no matter what, then I would definitely think about it for sure.”

Roberts finished third in the 2003 AMA Superbike Championship with two wins, nine podium finishes, and 15 top-10 finishes in 18 races. He crashed out while battling for the lead in one race at Mid-Ohio and suffered tire problems while running away in the lead of another race in Virginia.

From a press release issued by Todd Clark:

Fellow Atlantans, another trailer and bike was stolen this week, right out of Chad/Robyn Duprees’ driveway. Some of you know Chad/Robyn, Robyn is an instructor with the Bargy School

Trailer: 2000 Pace American
8 x 16, solid white, no decals
VIN#: 4FPAB1638YGO48372
Model: CS816TA2

Racebike: 2001 GSXR600
VIN#: JSIGN7BA412100777
Engine #: N723-103131

Contents of trailer: Chest and roll away Craftsman tool box full of tools.

Spidi Leathers: DUPREE on the back
AGV Leathers : DUPREE on the back

Also, Pitbull stands, large fan, brand new set of Chicken Hawk Pole position warmers, and everything else they had. The only thing they didn’t get was Robyns’ bike. Chad’s was in the trailer as a parts bike and is the one that was stolen.

Keep your eyes and ears open folks.

If you have any information, call Chad Dupree at (770) 639-4894.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

125cc Grand Prix Practice Times
Sepang, Malaysia
October 10

1. Daniel PEDROSA, Honda, 2:14.991
2. Mirko GIANSANTI, Aprilia, 2:15.065
3. Masao AZUMA, Honda, 2:15.088
4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Honda, 2:15.407
5. Steve JENKNER, Aprilia, 2:15.780
6. Mika KALLIO, KTM, 2:15.951
7. Arnaud VINCENT, Aprilia, 2:16.101
8. Alex DE ANGELIS, Aprilia, 2:16.112
9. Jorge LORENZO, Derbi, 2:16.206
10. Youichi UI, Gilera, 2:16.231
11. Gabor TALMACSI, Aprilia, 2:16.297
12. Pablo NIETO, Aprilia, 2:16.400
13. Marco SIMONCELLI, Aprilia, 2:16.410
14. Gino BORSOI, Aprilia, 2:16.451
15. Stefano PERUGINI, Aprilia, 2:16.760
16. Hector BARBERA, Aprilia, 2:16.797
17. Thomas LUTHI, Honda, 2:16.815
18. Roberto LOCATELLI, KTM, 2:16.856
19. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Aprilia, 2:17.016
20. Fabrizio LAI, Malaguti, 2:17.086

22. Lucio CECCHINELLO, Aprilia, 2:17.202

24. Emilio ALZAMORA, Derbi, 2:18.241

33. Casey STONER, Aprilia, 2:21.313


More, from a press release issued by KTM:

Kallio Sixth Fastest for KTM Red Bull in Sepang Sauna

KTM Red Bull rider Mika Kallio continued his impressive late season form by qualifying sixth on the provisional grid for the Malaysian Grand Prix in today’s first qualifying session. Conducted in oppressively hot and humid conditions at Sepang this was a brilliant performance by the tearaway Finn who for the last minute of the session briefly sat on the front row with the fourth fastest time.

But even though he was bumped to sixth on the second row in the final seconds Kallio still recorded his best qualifying position since joining the KTM squad at the Czech GP. On the second KTM machine Italian Roberto LocatellI is 18th on the provisional grid after being delayed by a crash late in the session. Locatelli suffered only minor contusions in the fall and will ride in tomorrow’s final qualifying.

# 36 Mika Kallio
6th / 2:15.951

This is a very good start to the weekend for me and already I have comfortable settings for this track, it was easy to do this time and I’m hoping to improve tomorrow. Now it is quite cold in Finland but we have saunas there and that’s what it feels like riding at Sepang.

#10 Roberto Locatelli
18th /2:16.856

I was going for a fast lap towards the end of the session and just lost control and crashed. There is no major damage, I have bruised my knees a little but now I must start again tomorrow and improve my place on the grid.

Harald Bartol
Team Manager

Fortunately there is no serious injury to Roberto and apart from his crash this is an excellent performance by the team. Importantly Mika has set a fast time for the second row on day one, which is important here because of the unpredictable weather; if there is a rainstorm tomorrow this will be the grid.