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| FREE PRACTICE REPORT | 03/10/2008 | | New world champion gets back to work on the island | | |  | Newly-crowned 2008 World Champion Valentino Rossi was back in action at Phillip Island today, just five days after clinching an incredible sixth premier class title, his eighth in all. The Fiat Yamaha Team rider finished a promising second in this morning's dry session, before rain interrupted the proceedings this afternoon.
The Italian maestro has a peerless record at Phillip Island having won five times in the premier class, including twice with Yamaha during his championship winning years of 2004 and 2005, and he is keen to get back onto the top step of the podium this weekend. Bright sunshine this morning saw him in fine form, running second behind Casey Stoner, but this afternoon was a different story as rain and wind battered the coastal circuit. Rossi was sixth fastest this afternoon and, with unsettled weather expected for the rest of the weekend, this afternoon's wet set-up time could prove useful.
Valentino Rossi - Position 2nd Time - 1'30.764 - 49 laps
"Today we are back to work after the championship victory but I can say that my motivation is still very high and I really want to have a good result here. I am quite happy with this morning's session, second is not so bad and I managed to do some good laps and find a strong rhythm quite quickly. It wasn't perfect however and we need to work a little bit on the tyres with Bridgestone. This track is very hard on tyres, especially the left side where there is a lot of stress and at the moment we have a bit too much rear spin. In the wet we were a bit slow and we lack some feel on the entry to the corner, so if it is wet again then we will need to work on this. Now we will have to wait and see what the weather does tomorrow in order to see what we have to focus on."
David Brivio - Team Manager
"Yet again we've had another half wet, half dry day! It's a pity this morning's great weather couldn't continue but anyway it seems we might be okay for the rest of the weekend. This morning we were reasonably fast, although we have some improvements to make, but this afternoon in the wet things weren't quite as good. We still need to choose the best tyres for both conditions so that we're prepared for rain or shine! Anyway, it's only Friday so we will keep working like this tomorrow and hopefully make another step forward." |
| Lorenzo makes MotoGP debut on rain-hit island
Jorge Lorenzo made his MotoGP debut at Phillip Island today, looking to make an impression after taking 250cc honours at the track for the last two years. It was a day of two halves, which saw the leading rookie eighth in the dry this morning before climbing to fifth this afternoon as the sunshine gave way to heavy rain.
Lorenzo spent the morning working through his allocation of Michelin race tyres, an important factor at a circuit which is especially hard on the left side of the tyre. This afternoon the Spaniard continued his recent trend of being fast in the wet and he is confident that, with a little more work, he can be a contender whatever the conditions this weekend. |
| Jorge Lorenzo - Position 8th Time - 1'32.235 - 52 laps
"Today has been a bit strange because the conditions between the morning and the afternoon were so different! This is one of my favourite tracks and I've been looking forward to riding the M1 here for a long time and finding out if I could be fast again here like I was in 125 and 250. This morning in the dry we tried many different tyres with Michelin and then this afternoon in the wet again we had the chance to try some different things. It seems that Michelin is especially strong here in the wet and if it's like this all weekend then we have the possibility to be quite strong. We need a bit more time to be fast in the dry here but, from looking at the times and the data, I think we can be competitive if the weather is good as well."
Daniele Romagnoli - Team Manager
"We've had two very different practice sessions today as far as conditions are concerned! We used this morning's dry session to explore all the Michelin tyre options we had available, which was very important. We have a good range although we need to work a little bit more to keep the front wheel on the ground. In the afternoon in the wet things were actually a little easier for Jorge, but he needs a little bit more confidence on the entry to the corners and also we need to improve the rear contact. Of course we would prefer it to be dry tomorrow, but we will have to wait and see and it looks like it could be changeable so today's work could be very important." |
|  | Toseland and Edwards working hard in wet and dry
James Toseland and Colin Edwards once again found themselves battling the elements on an opening day of free practice in Phillip Island dominated by changeable weather conditions. Toseland made a strong start in a morning session run in bright and sunny conditions as the British rider lapped at a consistently fast pace to post the 10th quickest time. Toseland, who will celebrate his 28th birthday on Sunday, was only 0.2s off a top three position as he quickly improved a set-up he developed during a successful three-day test session on his Tech 3 Yamaha YZR-M1 back in February. This afternoon's second session though was run in wet and blustery conditions, much more typical of the unpredictable weather that has become a regular feature at the Australian GP. Toseland gradually built up his confidence in the difficult conditions and despite finishing 18th, he is confident of making big improvements should the wet weather return.
Colin Edwards had a promising opening day in preparation for his 100th MotoGP appearance in Phillip Island. The American, who made his premier class debut in 2003, was 12th fastest this morning, just over a tenth off Toseland's impressive pace. He was 10th in the rain and remains confident that in wet or dry conditions he is capable of mounting a top six challenge to mark his 100th race milestone. Forecasts for the remainder of the weekend predict mainly dry conditions, with a small chance of light showers on Sunday.
James Toseland - Position 10th Time - 1.31.277 - 44 laps
"It was really good this morning and I was really happy. We'd found a good direction and the bike was working pretty well. I was only a tenth off third place and I used the same rear tyre for the whole session. We made a change halfway through with the rear shock to get a bit more grip on the exit of corners and it was working well and I could run consistent times. If I'd have had that set-up when the tyre was a bit better then I would have been in the top three and that would have been really encouraging. But in the rain we didn't find anything that improved my feeling. We made plenty of changes but we couldn't get a good direction to solve the problems. I just couldn't get out of the corners and we couldn't cure it. The rear was spinning up as soon as I touched the throttle, so we haven't got the balance of the rear right. At least it is looking dry on the forecasts for tomorrow so we can build on what we found this morning. But for the wet we need to find a new setting. I know the problem we are having but unfortunately we are not curing it. We are all working hard but we'll have a sit down and have a re-think because it is nothing like the feeling I have in the dry. There's not as much grip in the wet but the bike should be feeling pretty similar in terms of balance and it doesn't." |
|  | Colin Edwards - Position 12th Time - 1.31.368 - 52 laps
"It was a bit of a strange day because really in both sessions we ran out of time just when we were heading in a direction to make some steps forward. We didn't set the world on fire this morning but I was reasonably happy. In the dry I did a decent lap at the end on a rear tyre that definitely isn't going to be my race tyre, so that's positive knowing we could have made it a lot better. In the rain my comfort level wasn't really high so we can make some improvements. Something is just lacking in the package although we did some decent laps, and if it rains again we got a few ideas to improve the feeling. Michelin had one tyre that is probably one of the hardest we have got, and although this track is notorious for wearing the left side of the tyre, I don't have much feel on the right. Even though there's only really two right-hand corners, it is just hurting my lap time a little bit. I just can't be as smooth as I am normally in the rain. At the end we made a change to the chassis that made the front a lot better, but I'd like to find a bit more of a comfortable feeling with the rear. I feel like I was always chasing the front of the bike to correct the rear sliding around, but I'm pretty confident for whatever the weather throws at us." |
| | 2008 MotoGP Australia - Phillip Island 03/10/2008 | | Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time | | 1 | Casey Stoner | Ducati | AUS | 1'30.094 | | 2 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | ITA | 1'30.764 | | 3 | Alex De Angelis | Honda | SMR | 1'31.043 | | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Honda | ITA | 1'31.051 | | 5 | Randy De Puniet | Honda | FRA | 1'31.070 | | 6 | Daniel Pedrosa | Honda | ESP | 1'31.161 | | 7 | Shinya Nakano | Honda | JPN | 1'31.221 | | 8 | James Toseland | Yamaha | GBR | 1'31.227 | | 9 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | ESP | 1'31.235 | | 10 | Loris Capirossi | Suzuki | ITA | 1'31.248 | | 11 | Nicky Hayden | Honda | USA | 1'31.284 | | 12 | Colin Edwards | Yamaha | USA | 1'31.368 | | 13 | Sylvain Guintoli | Ducati | FRA | 1'31.532 | | 14 | Chris Vermeulen | Suzuki | AUS | 1'31.719 | | 15 | Marco Melandri | Ducati | ITA | 1'31.803 |
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