Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Final 125cc GP Qualifying Results:

1. Manuel Poggiali, Gilera, 1:57.888
2. Arnaud Vincent, Aprilia, 1:58.141
3. Gabor Talmacsi, Honda, 1:58.298
4. Alex de Angelis, Aprilia, 1:58.307
5. Lucio Cecchinello, Aprilia, 1:58.405
6. Steve Jenkner, Aprilia, 1:58.527
7. Pablo Nieto, Aprilia, 1:58.552
8. Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, 1:58.858
9. Mika Kallio, Honda, 1:59.062
10. Hector Barbera, Aprilia, 1:59.079

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

MotoGP Final Qualifying Results:

1. Max Biaggi, Yamaha YZR-M1, 1:50.568
2. Valentino Rossi, Honda RC211V, 1:50.827
3. Jeremy McWilliams, Proton KR3, 1:50.862
4. Garry McCoy, Yamaha YZR500, 1:50.927
5. Carlos Checa, Yamaha YZR-M1, 1:50.978
6. Daijiro Kato, Honda RC211V, 1:51.066
7. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha YZR500, 1:51.160
8. Jurgen vd Goorbergh, Honda NSR500, 1:51.197
9. Tohru Ukawa, Honda RC211V, 1:51.211
10. Nobuatsu Aoki, Proton KR3, 1:51.287
11. Norick Abe, Yamaha YZR500, 1:51.476
12. Loris Capirossi, Honda NSR500, 1:51.481
13. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha YZR500, 1:51.517
14. John Hopkins, Yamaha YZR500, 1:51.624
15. Alex Barros, Honda NSR500, 1:51.670
16. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki GSV-R, 1:51.753
17. Regis Laconi, Aprilia RS3, 1:51.820
18. Sete Gibernau, Suzuki GSV-R, 1:51.994
19. Tetsuya Harada, Honda NSR500, 1:52.339
20. Jose Luis Cardoso, Yamaha YZR500, 1:52.747

More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Yamaha:

RIO GP, JACAREPAGUA
Final Qualifying, Friday September 20 2002

MARLBORO YAMAHA M1 TAKES THIRD CONSECUTIVE POLE

Marlboro Yamaha Team YZR-M1 riders Max Biaggi and Carlos Checa thrilled onlookers in this afternoon’s frantic contest for pole position, ending the day first and fifth fastest. The bumpy, slippery Jacarepagua circuit is one of the most punishing in GP racing but both men took full advantage of the M1’s easy-handling chassis and user-friendly power delivery to mark themselves down as serious contenders for tomorrow’s race, round 12 of the 2002 season.

“Max rode a fantastic session,” said Marlboro Yamaha Team director Davide Brivio. “He’s been fast since we started work yesterday and he’s just kept getting faster, focusing on minor adjustments to suspension and engine mapping. Carlos was also very much in the fight for pole but one of his engines broke towards the end of the session, so then he had to use his second bike, with which he hadn’t don’t so much set-up work. I think both our guys can have very strong races tomorrow, my only concern is the weather, there’s a chance of rain and that could spoil everything.”


BIAGGI TAKES THIRD POLE OF 2002
Fastest yesterday, Max Biaggi was once again in formidable form this afternoon, improving his lap times no less than five times during the final qualifier, run in sultry, overcast conditions at this high-speed track on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. Concentrating on his older M1 chassis, because he’s more familiar with this unit, the Marlboro Yamaha Team man fought off challenges for pole position from a number of rivals, including Daijiro Kato (Honda), Jeremy McWilliams (Proton), Valentino Rossi (Honda) and team-mate Carlos Checa, the only man to actually get ahead of him.

“I’m really, really, really happy with that!” beamed Biaggi. “I’ve been pushing hard since yesterday morning and my target for tomorrow is to win. This isn’t one of my favourite circuits, it’s so bumpy, but the crew and I have worked hard to get the bike and Michelin tyres working on the bumps. I really got my head down for the last ten minutes, trying to improve my times some more. The bike is working very well and we did a successful tyre endurance run this morning, so my thanks, as always, to my team and the Japanese technicians.”

This was the 51st pole position of Biaggi’s career and his third of 2002. He gave the M1 its first pole at June’s Catalan GP and repeated that performance at last month’s Czech GP, following that with race victory.


CHECA DENIED SHOT AT POLE
Carlos Checa was also in stunning form at Jacarepagua this afternoon, storming ahead of Max Biaggi with 15 minutes to go, but the Spaniard was denied a chance of reacting to his teammate’s successful counter attack when his number-one bike broke an engine. Undeterred, the Marlboro Yamaha Team man returned to the pits to continue with his second bike, fitted with the older M1 chassis, but wasn’t comfortable enough with this machine to improve his times. At the end of the session he had slipped to fifth.

“The engine problem was a shame, but better it happens today than tomorrow,” said a philosophical Checa. “Without that, maybe I could’ve gone a few tenths faster and maybe I could’ve got pole but the main thing is that we’d already found a good chassis set-up and I’d already been riding some consistently fast laps. We also ran an endurance test with Michelin this morning, so I know we’re okay on tyre life. Overall we’re in pretty good shape.”


ROSSI COMES CLOSEST TO BIAGGI
Valentino Rossi left it until the very end of the session to lift himself to the front row, slotting in just behind Max Biaggi and ahead of Jeremy McWilliams and Garry McCoy (Yamaha). “We’ve had some problems here and the bike still isn’t 100 percent,” said Rossi who can secure the title tomorrow if he wins the race with team-mate Tohru Ukawa lower than third.


More, from a press release issued by Red Bull Yamaha:

RIO GRAND PRIX – McCOY RED HOT IN RIO

FRIDAY 2Oth SEPTEMBER 2002 ­ Final Qualifying

GARRY McCOY produced a rousing display to slot his Red Bull Yamaha on to the front row of the grid for the second time this season in a thrilling final qualifying session at the Jacarepagua circuit in Brazil today.

McCoy ended the session in fourth place, his best time of 1.50.927 set on his penultimate lap. That time is exactly a second inside the circuit record held by Tadayuki Okada from 1997 and left him just 0.3s off Max Biaggi’s pole position.

The Australian slashed a massive 1.6s off his fastest time from yesterday’s opening session, testament to the high level of performance offered by Dunlop¹s qualifying tyres. The 30-year-old might have bumped himself further up the standings had a slowing rider not thwarted his last flying lap.

McCoy’s return to form ­ today’s excellent performance being his second front-row start in the last three races ­ is a reminder that when free from injuries, he is one of the world’s fastest riders.

Team-mate John Hopkins, making his first appearance at the tricky Rio circuit, will start from 14th as he knocked almost two seconds off his time from yesterday. No other rider in the 20-strong field managed such a drastic improvement.

GARRY McCOY ­ 4th 1:50.927
“I thought I had a chance of pole position on that final run but it didn’t happen. After yesterday I had a good feeling for what the Dunlop qualifying tyres were capable of. I knew I could get two fast laps out of them so I just went for it. Jeremy McWilliams held me up on the final lap. I guess he didn’t realise that I was on qualifiers and going for my quick lap. It’s really tight out there, all the times are very close and obviously I’m happy to be on the front row. Things are getting better all the time for me. I did quite a few laps on my race set-up with race tyres and everything feels pretty comfortable.”

JOHN HOPKINS ­ 14th 1:51.75
“I’m pretty happy really because we never really made any changes to the bike until this afternoon’s session. I was still trying to learn more about the circuit this morning. I did some good times using race tyres and I’ve got to thank Dunlop, they have given us some good tyres for this race. I’d liked to have been a bit further up but my aim will be to get a good start and get away with a few of the leading guys like I’ve managed in the last couple of races.”

PETER CLIFFORD ­ DIRECTOR OF RACING
“That was an awesome performance from both guys. That was Garry back to the way we all know he can ride. Today he showed that when fully fit he is a match for anybody out there. John is only a second off pole position and as always he has got some very notable opposition behind him. We have to say a big thanks to Dunlop as well. We cut down on the amount of experimental tyres Garry and John normally use to work with what we know and that paid dividends.”


Team Suzuki News Service

SUZUKI RIDERS CUT TIMES BUT LOSE POSITION
=========================================

MotoGP – Round 12, Jacarepagua, Brazil, September 20, 2002

Team Telefónica MoviStar Suzuki riders Kenny Roberts Jr. and Sete Gibernau will start tomorrow’s Rio GP from the fourth and fifth rows of the grid, after a hectic final qualifying session in which both improved their lap times compared with yesterday, but lost places on a tight-packed grid where the first 19 out of 20 qualifiers are all within 1.77 seconds of pole time.

This is a small difference at a 4.933km track with a lap time of almost two minutes, but enough to give both riders an urgent need to get off the line fast, to avoid being boxed in during the crucial early laps.

Roberts slashed more than six tenths of a second off his best time of yesterday, after refining chassis settings to make the most of the new Suzuki slipper clutch, which is only in its second race. Gibernau made an even bigger improvement of 1.3 seconds, reflecting his improving physical condition as well as machine refinements. The Spanish rider is battling a painful collar-bone injury, sustained last weekend when he crashed out of a clear lead of the rain-hit Portuguese GP.

Today’s practice took place in dry but cooler conditions, with forecast rain staying away. More rain is forecast for tomorrow, which could work in favour of both riders.

KENNY ROBERTS – 16th Position, 1:51.753
“We improved the lap times as I said yesterday, by getting the settings better to match the clutch. We need to go further in the same direction, and my engineers will be trying to figure out how to achieve more with the clutch tonight. I still don’t have enough slip, and I can account for being a second off the pace because at pretty much every corner the bike is getting sideways on the way in, and I lose two or three bike lengths trying to keep it in line. But the reality is we’re a second off. We’ll have to wait and see what the weather does, and hope our settings are good for a consistent race.”

SETE GIBERNAU – 18th Position, 1:51.994
“Yesterday I was struggling quite a lot with my physical condition. Today was better, and I can’t say my position is due to my injury. The bike is giving us a hard time. We’re trying everything we know, and the team is working very hard. I’m 1.5 seconds off pole, which isn’t really a big difference. It looks like the whole team is struggling a bit, but that doesn’t bring my confidence down. I still believe in the project, and I want to give my best tomorrow. I honestly don’t want it to rain. I was leading the Portuguese GP in the rain, but we were getting good results in the races before that, in the dry, and that’s more important overall.”


More, from a press release issued by Suzuki:

Team Suzuki News Service

SUZUKI RIDERS CUT TIMES BUT LOSE POSITION

MotoGP – Round 12, Jacarepagua, Brazil, September 20, 2002

Team Telefónica MoviStar Suzuki riders Kenny Roberts Jr. and Sete Gibernau will start tomorrow’s Rio GP from the fourth and fifth rows of the grid, after a hectic final qualifying session in which both improved their lap times compared with yesterday, but lost places on a tight-packed grid where the first 19 out of 20 qualifiers are all within 1.77 seconds of pole time.

This is a small difference at a 4.933km track with a lap time of almost two minutes, but enough to give both riders an urgent need to get off the line fast, to avoid being boxed in during the crucial early laps.

Roberts slashed more than six tenths of a second off his best time of yesterday, after refining chassis settings to make the most of the new Suzuki slipper clutch, which is only in its second race. Gibernau made an even bigger improvement of 1.3 seconds, reflecting his improving physical condition as well as machine refinements. The Spanish rider is battling a painful collar-bone injury, sustained last weekend when he crashed out of a clear lead of the rain-hit Portuguese GP.

Today’s practice took place in dry but cooler conditions, with forecast rain staying away. More rain is forecast for tomorrow, which could work in favour of both riders.

KENNY ROBERTS – 16th Position, 1:51.753
“We improved the lap times as I said yesterday, by getting the settings better to match the clutch. We need to go further in the same direction, and my engineers will be trying to figure out how to achieve more with the clutch tonight. I still don’t have enough slip, and I can account for being a second off the pace because at pretty much every corner the bike is getting sideways on the way in, and I lose two or three bike lengths trying to keep it in line. But the reality is we’re a second off. We’ll have to wait and see what the weather does, and hope our settings are good for a consistent race.”

SETE GIBERNAU – 18th Position, 1:51.994
“Yesterday I was struggling quite a lot with my physical condition. Today was better, and I can’t say my position is due to my injury. The bike is giving us a hard time. We’re trying everything we know, and the team is working very hard. I’m 1.5 seconds off pole, which isn’t really a big difference. It looks like the whole team is struggling a bit, but that doesn’t bring my confidence down. I still believe in the project, and I want to give my best tomorrow. I honestly don’t want it to rain. I was leading the Portuguese GP in the rain, but we were getting good results in the races before that, in the dry, and that’s more important overall.”


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

McWILLIAMS ON FRONT ROW IN RIO, AOKI CLOSE BEHIND

Round 12: Rio GP, Jacarepagua Final Qualifying: Friday, September 20, 2002

Jeremy McWilliams: Third, 1:50.862
Nobuatsu Aoki: Tenth, 1:51.287

Proton Team KR rider Jeremy McWilliams claimed his first front-row start of the season and the first for the three-cylinder lightweight Proton KR3, setting the fastest ever two-stroke lap of the 4.933km Nelson Piquet circuit to slot in barely a quarter of a second behind pole qualifier Max Biaggi, and just three hundredths of a second slower than second-placed Valentino Rossi.

McWilliams’s time – a full six tenths faster than last year’s pole, set by a V4 Honda – came after a storming session, and with a breathtaking lap following Biaggi. This clearly illustrated how the agile two-stroke loses 20mph in top speed on the long straight, but makes it all up again with interest through the bumpy and technically challenging corners. It made good his angry threat yesterday, when his fast lap was spoiled when he was baulked by a slower rider, and was a searing 1.7 seconds faster than his previous best time.

Team-mate Nobuatsu Aoki made a similar leap forward, slashing his time by just under a full second and also challenging for the front row – with nine minutes remaining he was lying fourth overall, but dropped back to the third row of the grid in the final scramble.

Today’s qualifying was held in dry but cooler conditions. Rain had been forecast and the looming skies were threatening, but it did not materialise. More rain is forecast for tomorrow, and a wet track would suit the machine and both riders.

This is the second time the Proton will start from the front row. In its previous incarnation as the Modenas, the bike qualified on the front row a couple of times, but as well as the name, the machine has also changed substantially since that time.


JEREMY McWILLIAMS
That was good fun. I just had the feeling it was possible. It was a matter of getting the opportunity and having the right tyre. Bridgestone have brought some new tyres here, and that was one of them. It wasn’t a race tyre, and I still have to do a bit more testing tomorrow morning to find one. That’s about all. We already found the right suspension settings, and the braking stability is fantastic. Having said that, there’s nowhere on the track where you can really be stable. It’s one of those circuits where you have to go over the bumps, and it feels pretty ragged. It’s spinning up a bit on some of the exits, because the surface doesn’t have a lot of grip. I’ve given myself a fantastic opportunity. All I need is to make sure I get off the line quickly.

NOBUATSU AOKI
I think we did some good work today. We just made small changes to the front fork and suspension settings. As I said yesterday, I thought I could improve my race time, and we have done that. The biggest change from yesterday was to the track surface. Yesterday it was very hot, and I used a pretty hard-compound front tyre. Today it was cooler, and that tyre didn’t work. I went to a softer compound, and that was pretty good, and we have good information on the tyres for the different conditions. I don’t like thunderstorms, but if it does rain tomorrow that will give me some more opportunities.

TOM O’KANE – Chief Race Engineer
Both riders did a great job today. We didn’t really do anything special to the bikes … just small changes to the engines and chassis to get it dialled in. Jeremy was lucky to get a clear lap. Nobu was not so fortunate. His ideal time would have put him a couple of places higher, but he never really got a good run at it. Rain could be good for us, but either way both riders need to get away with the leaders and stick with them. If the group is big that makes it harder for us.


More, from a press release issued by MS Aprilia:

Régis Laconi makes fifth row in Rio heat

Régis Laconi let fly in the closing stages of the qualifying session today and made three consecutive attempts at the fast lap. The Italian-French RS Cube rider improved the time he made yesterday, slicing off almost two seconds and closing the session in 17th position, just 1.2 seconds behind today’s pole, a new practice-session record on the Rio track. The work on the settings in the morning sessions made the bike much easier to handle for Régis, and easier to take into the technical corners of the Nelson Piquet circuit in Rio de Janeiro.

# 55 Regis Laconi – (MS APRILIA RACING) – 17th- 1’51.820

“I could have done better, but two slips on the last corner before coming into the finishing straight meant I lost time. I went in too fast. The second mistake cost me at least two tenths. This is what happens when, like I did today, you take the fast lap giving all you’ve got and a lot more besides. You can make a mistake and the two slides yesterday are part of the game. I used a smaller front tyre and things went much better than yesterday: I can go faster into the corners and keep the bike on track. We have solved the problem completely but we’re working in the right direction. I haven’t yet chosen the tyres, as some of the solutions we’ve tried haven’t given the results we were hoping for, as they lose grip after five or six laps. We’ll see tomorrow morning, trying out another solution mainly to see how long they actually last, then we’ll make the final decision for the race.”

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Thursday Morning MotoGP Practice Times:

1. Valentino Rossi, Honda RC211V, 1:52.359
2. Norick Abe, Yamaha YZR500, 1:52.712
3. Max Biaggi, Yamaha YZR-M1, 1:52.737
4. Alex Barros, Honda NSR500, 1:52.881
5. Loris Capirossi, Honda NSR500, 1:53.083
6. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki GSV-R, 1:53.189
7. Daijiro Kato, Honda RC211V, 1:53.275
8. Carlos Checa, Yamaha YZR-M1, 1:53.459
9. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha YZR500, 1:53.570
10. Tohru Ukawa, Honda RC211V, 1:53.914
11. Garry McCoy, Yamaha YZR500, 1:53.985
12. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha YZR500, 1:54.023
13. Jeremy McWilliams, Proton KR3, 1:54.121
14. Sete Gibernau, Suzuki GSV-R, 1:54.549
15. Tetsuya Harada, Honda NSR500, 1:54.608
16. Nobuatsu Aoki, Proton KR3, 1:54.620
17. Jose Luis Cardoso, Yamaha YZR500, 1:55.207
18. John Hopkins, Yamaha YZR500, 1:55.494
19. Jurgen vd Goorbergh, Honda NSR500, 1:55.721
20. Regis Laconi, Aprilia RS3, 1:56.303

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

1. Max Biaggi, Yamaha YZR-M1, 1:51.854
2. Valentino Rossi, Honda RC211V, 1:51.866
3. Carlos Checa, Yamaha YZR-M1, 1:51.975
4. Alex Barros, Honda NSR500, 1:51.998
5. Norick Abe, Yamaha YZR500, 1:52.028
6. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha YZR500, 1:52.122
7. Nobuatso Aoki, Proton KR, 1:52,158
8. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha YZR500, 1:52.343
9. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki GSV-R, 1:52.369
10. Garry McCoy, Yamaha YZR500, 1:52.490
11. Tohru Ukawa, Honda RC211V, 1:52.498
12. Jeremy McWilliams, Proton KR, 1:52.552
13. Daijiro Kato, Honda RC211V, 1:52.659
14. Jurgen v.d. Goorbergh, Honda NSR500, 1:52.938
15. Loris Capirossi, Honda NSR500, 1:53.016
16. Tetsuya Harada, Honda NSR500, 1:53.240
17. Sete Gibernau, Suzuki GSV-R, 1:53.285
18. Regis Laconi, Aprilia RS3, 1:53.380
19. John Hopkins, YZR500, 1:53.563
20. Jose Luis Cardoso, Yamaha YZR500, 1:54.093


More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Yamaha:

RIO GP, JACAREPAGUA
First Qualifying, Thursday September 19 2002

MARLBORO YAMAHA MEN UP FRONT AT RIO

Marlboro Yamaha Team YZR-M1 riders Max Biaggi and Carlos Checa ended today’s opening qualifying session for Saturday’s Rio GP first and third fastest, showcasing the M1’s ever-improving speed and consistency around this complex track, one of the bumpiest and most slippery on the GP calendar. The pair have been the star performers at the past two MotoGP events – Checa taking pole position in Portugal two weeks ago, Biaggi taking pole and race victory at the previous Czech GP.

“Thanks to Max for trying so hard, he’s a true professional,” said YZR-M1 project leader Ichiro Yoda. “Carlos was also incredible today – he had two falls but kept getting faster. We have quite a normal set-up here, we’re just searching for the best front-and-rear grip balance because the surface isn’t so grippy. We don’t have any new parts for this race, we’re continuing to evolve the settings we used at Estoril, both for that race and during our tests after the race. Both riders still have one ‘old’ chassis and one new chassis each, because it seems that each chassis still has positive and negative points. So far here, Max prefers the old one, Carlos the new.”


BIAGGI ON PROVISIONAL POLE
Max Biaggi dominated this afternoon’s opening qualifying session, putting his Marlboro Yamaha Team M1 on provisional pole, just 0.012 seconds ahead of Valentino Rossi (Honda). And the Italian might have been even faster if he hadn’t run straight on at the end of Rio’s long back straight while he was on another hot lap with three minutes to go.

“It’s a good feeling to be up front on day one,” said Biaggi, currently chasing second overall in the 2002 MotoGP World Championship. “The track is very slippery, so it isn’t easy to find good traction, it’s just a case of controlling wheelspin and slides with your throttle hand. I pushed hard today and I’ve been very focused since the start of morning practice, thinking about how to use my favourite parts of the track to my advantage. I know I can go faster tomorrow but I also know that the other guys will be quicker. My thanks to my crew – the staff in this team are working so hard and the engineers and technicians are doing an excellent job.”


CHECA FAST DESPITE FALLS
Carlos Checa slid off twice during today’s two sessions but that didn’t stop the ultra-determined Marlboro Yamaha Team man from going third fastest, just 0.121 seconds off provisional pole position. Checa tumbled at slow speed this morning, possibly on fluid dropped by another machine, then again after 20 minutes of this afternoon’s session.

“We’ve been having some front-end push problems here,” explained the Spaniard. “This morning I think there was some coolant on the track, but this afternoon I was just pushing a little too hard when things weren’t exactly right. We did improve the front end but we need to work on this some more, at the moment I can do one fast lap but it’s not comfortable to keep pushing for much longer than that. I’m concentrating on the new chassis because this is the direction I want to take for the future.”


ROSSI SECOND, BARROS FOURTH
World Championship leader Valentino Rossi was outpaced for provisional pole today but only just. “Since this morning we’ve worked on the front suspension to make the bike turn better, but I still need more feeling from the front,” said the Italian, winner of nine races so far this year. Local favourite Alex Barros (Honda) ended the day as top two-stroke rider in fourth place. Just 1.162 seconds covered the quickest 15 riders.


More, from a press release issued by Red Bull Yamaha:


RIO GRAND PRIX
THURSDAY 19TH SEPTEMBER 2002 ­ Qualifying No. 1

GARRY McCOY showed he is close to recapturing his best form in today’s opening qualifying session for the Rio GP when he qualified his Red Bull Yamaha YZR500 in 10th place.

The 30-year-old Australian ended the session just over half-a-second off Max Biaggi’s provisional pole time as the only South American race on the MotoGP calendar got underway in searing temperatures this afternoon at the Jacarepagua circuit. Today’s track temperature peaked at 45 degrees C.

McCoy¹s best time of 1:52.490 was one second faster than he set on the opening day of qualifying at the same circuit last season, showing his confidence is fully restored after an injury-hit campaign.

McCoy elevated himself up to sixth with only eight minutes of the session remaining, but in the typically frantic closing stages, he found himself relegated down the order before producing his fastest time on his last lap to leave some of the highly-fancied four-stroke machines trailing behind him.

Team-mate John Hopkins found himself down in 19th place on his debut appearance at the Rio track, although his best time of 1:53.563 was only 1.7s off the provisional pole. He found the notoriously bumpy circuit an added burden to trying to learn the track.


GARRY McCOY ­ 10th 1:52.490
“As usual here it is hard work because of the bumps and the heat but I’ve no complaints about the balance of the bike. On my final run I went out behind Norick Abe but I lost a lap hanging around waiting for him. In the end I just went for it and I had Tohru Ukawa in my sights. I was just trying to hunt him down but those four-strokes really pull away on the long straights here.”


JOHN HOPKINS ­ 19th 1:53.563
“I’m just trying to learn the track. What I have learned already is that the surface is really bumpy. I’m trying to work out the best lines because I’ve noticed the other guys use different lines to me as they know where the bumps are. We haven’t really played around with the set-up at all because it is difficult to make changes when I’m still trying to learn the circuit. We’ll change the suspension settings tomorrow to try and make the bike ride the bumps better and I’m confident the times will come down.”


PETER CLIFFORD ­ DIRECTOR OF RACING
“It’s great to see Garry getting back to his best after all his injury problems and he’s already a second faster than he was in the first qualifying session here last year. For John to be such a short distance off the pace on his first visit to such a difficult circuit is another excellent performance.”


More, from MS Aprilia:

Régis Laconi hampered in Rio by double fall in first day of practice.

Official RS Cube rider Régis Laconi went for two slides in today’s practice. The first came soon after the free practice began in the morning, while the second came just minutes before the qualifying session came to end, when Régis was working to improve his fast-lap time. The two slides were very similar: lack of grip at the front and the bike down on the tarmac unable to make it up again.

# 55 Regis Laconi – (MS APRILIA RACING) – 18th – 1’53.380

“In both cases, I lost grip at the front of the bike, which meant the steering got blocked. The fall in the morning was worse, because the middle finger on my left hand got caught up in the clutch and the doctor had to prevent extravasation of blood under my fingernail. Fortunately, it wasn’t a real problem and in the afternoon I was ready for the qualifying, when I managed to slice three seconds off the morning’s time. Then just when I was going for the fast lap at the end of the session, I went for another slide. I was behind Barros and keeping up his pace: I was pushing quite hard but then lost grip again at the front on the last corner before the home straight, right in front of the grandstands. It’s a pity – I could’ve done better. Tomorrow I’ll try out a different-sized front tyre to see if we can solve the problem.”


More, from Telefonica Movistar Suzuki:

ROBERTS CONFIDENT, GIBERNAU FIGHTS PAIN

MotoGP – Round 12, Jacarepagua, Brazil, September 19, 2002
Team Telefónica MoviStar Suzuki riders Kenny Roberts Jr. and Sete Gibernau were ninth and 17th in today’s first qualifying session for Saturday’s Rio GP at the bumpy 4.933km Nelson Piquet circuit outside Rio de Janeiro.

Roberts was confident in spite of not joining the scramble for a fast one-off lap, preferring to concentrate on race settings and general machine development with the new Suzuki slipper clutch, introduced one race ago. The clutch changed the whole feel of the machine and required a fresh start to engine and chassis settings, he said – but progress is fast and the overall improvement promised big dividends in the future.

Gibernau was nursing a painful collarbone injury, sustained less than two weeks ago when he crashed out while leading the Portuguese GP. He also suffered engine trouble with one of his two machines, limiting his opportunities to try different settings. But he too was confident of improving further, with one more day of practice remaining.

KENNY ROBERTS – Ninth Position, 1:52.369

“The new clutch is a big improvement, and every time I ride the bike I seem to understand more about how it can help us; It’s almost like starting over. We seem to be taking a tentative approach, that’s the way it is right now. Today, we’ve been taking idle out of the bike, that we had to run with the old clutch. I was spending quite a long time out there, running hard tyres, then changing settings, and I think we’ve made good headway in rideability. But we’re still learning how we need to make the clutch work, and how we need the engine to respond to the new clutch in terms of connection to the rear tyre.”

SETE GIBERNAU – 17th Position, 1:53.285

“I’m sore. This is not the best race-track to come to with an injury, because it is so bumpy. It starts right away with Turn One, with hard braking for a very rough right-hander. But I thought I would be even worse off. I’ll have some therapy tonight, and I expect my second day back on the bike will be even better. I believe I will improve throughout the weekend. Today I had some engine trouble in the morning and the afternoon with one of my bikes, which meant I wasn’t able to try everything I wanted to try. Put that together with my condition, and I think we are not going so badly. With two bikes tomorrow, we’ll keep going forward.”

GARRY TAYLOR – Team Manager

“Kenny is getting there step by step. His confidence is high and his attitude very positive, and he’s very relaxed. He’s been mainly tyre testing today, and there is more to come from him. Sete has been very brave, riding in what must be considerable pain. He had some problems today with one machine – actually it’s the bike he crashed in Portugal, and though it has been completely rebuilt and everything renewed, there still seems to be an intermittent electrical fault. That will also be better tomorrow.”

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Thursday Morning 250cc Grand Prix Practice:

1. Marco Melandri, Aprilia, 1:55.509
2. Toni Elias, Aprilia, 1:55.924
3. Sebastian Porto, Yamaha, 1:55.942
4. Roberto Rolfo, Honda, 1:56.290
5. Naoki Matusdo, Yamaha, 1:56.431
6. Randy DePuniet, Aprilia, 1:56.525
7. Fonsi Nieto, Aprilia, 1:56.558
8. Alex Debon, Aprilia, 1:56.878
9. Franco Battaini, Aprilia, 1:57.160
10. Casey Stoner, Aprilia, 1:57.271
11. Roberto Locatelli, Aprilia, 1:57.297
12. Emilio Alzamora, Honda, 1:57.749
13. Jaroslav Hules, Yamaha, 1:57.806
14. David Checa, Aprilia, 1:58.098
15. Haruchika Aoki, Honda, 1:58.135

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Thursday 125cc Grand Prix Qualifying Results:

1. Manuel Poggiali, Gilera, 1:58.897
2. Arnaud Vincent, Aprilia, 1:59.044
3. Pablo Nieto, Aprilia, 1:59.105
4. Gabor Talmacsi, Honda, 1:59.371
5. Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, 1:59.561
6. Mika Kallio, Honda, 1:59.686
7. Steve Jenkner, Aprilia, 1:59.722
8. Noboru Ueda, Honda, 1:59.993
9. Lucio Cecchinello, Aprilia, 2:00.160
10. Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, 2:00.166

From a press release issued by Suzuki:

WILLING TAKES EARLY LEAVE

September 19th:

Telefonica MoviStar Suzuki’s Technical Advisor Warren Willing has taken early leave from team activities ahead of his planned departure at the end of the current season.

Explaining the move, Team Manager Garry Taylor said, “We had already mutually agreed to part with Warren at the end of this season anyway. But now that we have come to the point where we are working on next year’s GSV-R machine, it is clearly in everyone’s best interests for Warren to take a back seat and effectively take leave from team activities for the rest of the season.

“Warren has played a major role in our success over the last four seasons. In that time Suzuki has won the World Championship in 2000 and moved forward the development of the new GSV-R machine by a whole 12 months. We thank Warren for his input and wish him every success in the future.”

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Cinzano Rio Grand Prix provisional pole sitter Max Biaggi, Pramac and Honda Racing Cooperation (HRC) announced a new three-year deal Thursday in Rio. According to sources in Brazil, Biaggi will ride an official HRC Honda RC211V for Pramac.

Pramac, an Italian engineering company, currently sponsors Tetsuya Harada on a Dunlop-shod Honda NSR500. Which brand of tire Biaggi will use has not been announced.

Biaggi currently rides a Michelin-equipped YZR-M1 for the Marlboro Yamaha factory team.


Current Confirmed MotoGP Rider/Brand Combinations:

Honda:
Valentino Rossi
Nicky Hayden
Daijiro Kato
Max Biaggi


Moriwaki Honda:
Garry McCoy
John Hopkins

Ducati:
Troy Bayliss
Loris Capirossi

Yamaha:
Carlos Checa

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Thursday Morning 125cc Grand Prix Practice Times:

1. Pablo Nieto, Aprilia, 1:59.867
2. Manuel Poggiali, Gilera, 1:59.904
3. Arnaud Vincent, Aprilia, 2:00.106
4. Steve Jenkner, Aprilia, 2:00.233
5. Joan Olive, Honda, 2:00.698
6. Youichi Ui, Derbi, 2:00.776
7. Simone Sanna, Aprilia, 2:00.822
8. Noboru Ueda, Honda, 2:00.837
9. Masao Azuma, Honda, 2:00.997
10. Gabor Talmacsi, Honda, 2:01.357