MotoGP-Philip Island

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Yamaha Prepares for the Final Fly Away of the 2011 MotoGP Season

Yamaha Factory Racing is embarking on the final fly away of the season, a gruelling double header kicking off with Phillip Island this weekend and followed by Sepang a week later. The stunningly beautiful Phillip Island circuit with its sweeping and flowing nature has a reputation for unpredictable weather, providing challenging conditions including heavy rain, cold temperatures and high winds for the MotoGP riders to overcome. Reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo can claim two 250cc Grand Prix victories and one MotoGP second place podium at the track last year. The Mallorcan will be looking for any opportunity to close the current 40 point gap to Championship leader Casey Stoner with just three races remaining of the season.

Ben Spies is no stranger to Phillip Island, kicking off his rookie World Superbike year there with a race win in 2009 from pole position and enjoying a strong performance as a MotoGP rookie in 2010. Last year?s race saw him start from the front row alongside 2011 Yamaha team mate Lorenzo, finishing a respectable fifth and claiming the 2010 Rookie of the Year title.

Jorge Lorenzo

?I am now heading to Australia after a few days of training in Indonesia. I?m looking forward to riding at the Phillip Island circuit, one of my favourite and probably the most beautiful track we race on. After the race in Japan, where we had a positive result, we are really determined to be on the podium again. We know it's not going to be easy because Casey is usually invincible on his home track, but I will try my best and won?t give up!?

Ben Spies


?Phillip Island is such a great circuit to ride; I?ve got great memories there from Superbike and also last year where we had a really good race. We had yet another unlucky break in Japan but still managed to deliver a good ride so we?ll take the positive from that and give it 100% this weekend and see what we can do. I?ve been relaxing here in Australia for a few days so I?m fully fit and refreshed and ready for it!?

Wilco Zeelenberg

?It?s always difficult with big fly aways overseas so it will be a tiring event for us. Casey is really fast at Phillip Island but if we can find our winning set up quickly then hopefully we can be up there. It will be difficult but we?ll give it our best shot as always. Jorge likes the track and Japan showed us that anything can happen during a race so we won?t give up until the end.?

Massimo Meregalli

?Phillip Island is a very special circuit, I think it could be a good one for us knowing our bike. I know that both riders really like riding there which is positive. In Japan we had good results in a difficult race despite all the problems Ben had during the weekend, this makes me confident for this race. Usually the Phillip Island race is characterised by unpredictable weather, it will be quite cold but hopefully dry otherwise it?s going to be a difficult weekend.?


Jorge Lorenzo
Age: 24
Lives: Barcelona, Spain
Bike: Yamaha
GP victories: 38 (18 x MotoGP, 17 x 250cc, 4 x 125cc)
First GP victory: Brazil, 2003 (125cc)
First GP: Jerez, Spain, 2002 (125cc)
GP starts: 161 (65 x MotoGP, 48 x 250cc, 46 x 125cc)
Pole positions: 44 (16 x MotoGP, 23 x 250cc, 3 x 125cc)
World Championships: 3 (MotoGP 2010, 250cc, 2006/7)

Ben Spies
Age: 26
Lives: Longview Texas / Lake Como Italy
Bike: Yamaha
GP victories: 1
First GP victory: Assen, Netherlands, 2011
First GP: Donington, UK, 2008 (MotoGP)
GP starts: 36
Pole positions: 1
World Championships: 1 (WSB 2009)

Grand Prix Results: Phillip Island 2010

1. C.Stoner Ducati 41'09.128
2. J.Lorenzo Yamaha +8.598
3. V.Rossi Yamaha +17.997

5. Ben Spies Yamaha Tech 3 +22.211


Phillip Island Record Lap
N.Hayden (Ducati) 2008, 1'30.059

Phillip Island Best Lap
C.Stoner (Ducati) 2008, 1'28.665

 

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Rizla Suzuki aiming for more progress at Phillip Island

Rizla Suzuki heads to the only Grand Prix in the southern hemisphere this week aiming to make the good work from recent races count at a very challenging circuit.

?lvaro Bautista and his Suzuki team, including the engineers in Japan, have made big steps with the GSV-R this year and will now be looking to make more improvements at the 4,448m Phillip Island circuit. Bautista has scored a number of top-six results this season and was running in fourth place last time out in Japan, before a crash robbed him of what looked like being his best result so far this season. He is determined to make amends for the disappointment at Motegi at a circuit that he has tasted success at previously - Bautista won the 125cc race at Phillip Island in 2006, on his way to the world title ,and has also taken two second places in the 250cc category.

The Phillip Island circuit is situated near Melbourne in the state of Victoria and is one of the most southerly points of Australia. Inclement and very changeable weather can play an important part in the weekend?s events, with the chance of the conditions changing from warm sunshine to freezing rain in a short time. The picturesque track is still one of the most beautiful on the calendar, with its enviable position overlooking the sea, and its fantastic layout; it is a race not to be missed for a true MotoGP fan. Its mix of fast corners, changes of elevation and a 900m straight that gives the riders the feeling they are heading directly into the Pacific Ocean makes this one of the most spectacular circuits on the MotoGP calendar. As one of the fastest, most fluid, tracks that MotoGP visits, it continues to provide some of the best racing of the year.

Friday will see Bautista and the Rizla Suzuki men at work for the first two free practice sessions followed by a further practice on Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon will see the Spaniard going all out to secure the best grid positions during qualifying in readiness for the 27-lap race that gets underway at 16.00hrs local time (05.00hrs GMT) on Sunday 16th October.

?lvaro Bautista:

?I was very disappointed and upset at the end of the race in Japan, because we deserved to hold on to that result after all the hard work everyone has put in. We have to take all the positives from that weekend, and the previous races, and keep working in that same frame of mind in Australia. I know this will be a completely different challenge, but the bike is now working well in all conditions and this weekend will show us how far we have come this season. I missed out on a top-10 at Phillip Island by less than a hundredth-of-a-second last year and I?m sure we can certainly go much better than that this weekend. You never know what the weather will do at Phillip Island, but we?re ready no matter what happens!?

 

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Stoner looking to run the table on 800cc era at Phillip Island

Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner hopes to celebrate his 26th birthday by winning the fifth and final race of the 800cc era in his home grand prix on the magnificent Phillip Island Circuit, where he has his first chance to clinch the 2011 MotoGP World Championship.

Stoner has won all four races in the 800cc era at Phillip Island and a fifth win would put him in the history books as the only rider to win all five 800cc races at one race track.

Only a fool would bet against Stoner, who?s had nearly a dream season on the Repsol Honda RC212V. Stoner has built a 40 point championship lead over Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) with stunning consistency. His season scorecard shows eight wins, nine pole positions, front row starts in all but one race, and podiums in every race that he?s finished. He?s been on the pole in his last three wins at Phillip Island, and in the past four races this season. And if he finishes the 16th round of the championship with at least a 50 point lead on Lorenzo, the title will return to Honda and Stoner, who won his first title in 2007, the first year of the 800s.

Stoner?s most recent pole came in the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, which he threatened to run off with. He was leading early in the race when a tank-slapper knocked the brake pads back, compromising his braking power and forcing him to run long at the end of the longest and fastest Motegi straightaway. After dropping to seventh, Stoner recovered to finish third in the race won by team-mate Dani Pedrosa.

Pedrosa took the lead on the sixth of 27 laps when Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso served a ride-through penalty for jumping the start. Once in the lead, Pedrosa never wavered, racing to his third win of the year, only one less than his career-best four in 2010. Considering that he?s missed four races through injuries suffered through no fault of his own, it?s been an impressive year.

Injuries kept Pedrosa out of last year?s Australian Grand Prix one year after he finished on the podium. He also has a victory in the 250cc class from 2005.

Now completely healthy, Pedrosa is in a championship battle with team-mate Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V). Heading to Australia, Dovi leads Pedrosa by a single point, 196 to 195, with only three races remaining.

Dovi has two podium finishes at Phillip Island a win in the 2004 125cc race and third in the 2007 250cc race. His best MotoGP finish of sixth came in 2009.

After serving his ride-through penalty at Motegi, Dovi dropped to tenth from where he launched an aggressive attack on the podium. Within eight laps he was in fourth place, but under the constant scrutiny of Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V), who also had to serve a ride-through penalty for jumping the start. Simoncelli attacked Dovi on the final lap and outraced him to the line by .141s.

The fourth place finish was the third in a row for Simoncelli, a streak that started two races after his first career MotoGP podium in the Czech Grand Prix. Simoncelli won the final two 250cc races at Phillip Island before graduating to the MotoGP class in 2010. His rookie season qualifying performance of fourth was his best to that point and he followed it up with a sixth place finish, equaling his best of the season, also to that point.



Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) finished on the Phillip Island podium in 2006 aboard his 250. In his rookie MotoGP season the Japanese rider finished 13th, a finish he hopes to improve on with another year?s experience.

Aoyama?s ninth place finish in his home grand prix at Motegi was his tenth top ten finish of the season.

Toni Elias (LCR Honda MotoGP) is hoping to bounce back from non-finishes in Aragon and Motegi as the MotoGP season winds down. The Spaniard was having his best ride of the year at Motegi, when he hit a bump and crashed out of sixth place late in the race. Elias is making his 12th visit to the island, where he had success as a younger rider. He raced his RS125 Honda to third place in the 2001 125cc Grand Prix, a race in which he finished two places in front of his current team owner, Lucio Cecchinello, four spots in front of Dani Pedrosa, and nine places ahead of a 16-year-old Casey Stoner, who was racing in only his second grand prix.

Ask almost any rider for his favourite race track and Phillip Island is likely to be top of the list for a number of reasons. The 4448m circuit southeast of Melbourne, and situated on the cliffs above the Bass Strait, is the fastest of the year, with an average race speed of over 175Km/h. The track has all of the elements of a great rider experience, with seven lefts and five rights that are a mixture of slow and fast, and made more challenging by elevation changes. The faster corners tend to be left-handers, including the sweeping turn onto the front straight, which put so much stress on the multi-compound tyres that they guaranteed that Phillip Island is the most abusive race on rear tyres with temperatures exceeding 120C. Tyres that are abused over 27 laps bring out the best in the riders, with rear end slides growing increasingly more impressive with every lap.

Phillip Island held its first grand prix in 1989 in a race won by Honda rider Wayne Gardner, the 1987 500cc World Champion who repeated his PI victory in 1990. Then came a gap of six years before the grand prix returned to the island as a permanent fixture on the calendar in 1997 in a race won by another 500cc World Champion, Alex Criville. Five-time 500cc World Champion Mick Doohan put his name in the record books by winning his home grand prix in 1998, after which it was won by Japanese rider Tady Okada, now a Honda test rider. Honda riders have won nine of the 16 races at Phillip Island, which has honoured its Australian heroes. The 900m front straight is named for Gardner and Doohan Corner, a 215Km/h right that begins the lap, for Queenslander Doohan. The wild card at Phillip Island is the weather, which can be wet and extreme, and the coldest of the year. Held in the Australian spring, the 2011 Australian Grand Prix was run in 15C weather, which was the highest of the weekend. Saturday qualifying was held in an 11C climate and the weekend began with the riders being greeted by a wet track and ambient and track temperatures of 10C, all factors which also contribute to tyre degradation.

The other hazard that awaits the riders is the wildlife. Many riders have stories of either hitting or dodging the sea gulls that fly in from the Bass Straits, into the path of 240bhp racing motorcycles.

HONDA MotoGP RIDER QUOTES



Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner says:

?Every year I look forward to going to Phillip Island. There are a few tracks I really enjoy, Mugello and Brno being the other tracks, so I'm excited to get to go there and see how the bike works. I love coming back home to race in Australia. It's always a lot of fun and we don't get to visit so often. As well as the track, the general atmosphere is incredible and I always enjoy the weekend as a whole and the fans are fantastic. Hopefully this weekend we can have a good race. I'm very disappointed after Japan, as we knew our potential. I want to go there and win the race, like I wanted to in Japan. The season has been fantastic so far and we'll be looking to continue this momentum. If we can top it off with a win in Phillip Island, my home grand prix, it would be a dream. It will be a long hard weekend, and there is still a lot of work to do to win the championship, but we're ready for it.?

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa says:

?I'm looking forward to going to Phillip Island as the circuit is very nice with many fast corners and a lot of sliding. The tyres play an important role there as the left side of the tyre gets used a lot and therefore durability is always crucial. Last year I tried to return to racing in Australia after my collarbone operation and I realised during practice that it would be impossible for me to finish the race. It was very hard for me to accept that I was not ready to race as a result of the injury and I had to return home empty-handed after a big effort. This year I would like to race in normal conditions and leave Australia with a good result.?

Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso says:

"Phillip Island is a nice circuit set in a unique location. Last year the race was not as we expected as I had a technical problem that prevented me to fight for the podium. My target this time is to return on the podium and gain some points in order to retain the third position in the championship. Phillip Island is a demanding track and in the past I have struggled quiet a lot. The real issue is with the weather; the strong winds, rain and cold temperatures have often complicated the race. From a technical point of view the Australian track requires an aggressive riding style and an ability to make the bike turn whilst sliding. This is a very spectacular place, the setting by the ocean makes it special and the many fans are truly passionate. After the race weekend we had in Japan I'm looking forward to the Australian GP. Since my debut in the GPs in 2002 I have raced with Honda my whole career; for next year I have decided to take another challenge. But this is for 2012. Now I'm focused on these last three remaining GPs. I want to have some spectacular races and score good results for Honda, my team and all my fans.?

San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Marco Simoncelli says:

?After a bittersweet grand prix at Motegi I had the opportunity to test the RC213V, the bike I will be riding in Team San Carlo Honda Gresini colours next year. It was an amazing experience - 50 laps of pure adrenaline. The bike is so much fun and it keeps pulling in fifth and sixth gear. I gave some feedback to the HRC engineers that will hopefully be taken into consideration before the next test at Valencia. Before traveling down to Phillip Island I have had a short break on the exotic island of Boracay in the Philippines. It gave me the opportunity to relax and also work on the launch of my new website www.58marcosimoncelli.it Now I am feeling motivated and ready to fight again at Phillip Island. At Motegi I was able to see once again that I can fight with the guys at the front and, at a circuit where I won 250 races in 2008 and 2009, I want to show it. I was lacking some race consistency, but we have addressed that, and if it wasn't for the jump start at Motegi I would have been fighting for the podium, so that is something I want to make up for at Phillip Island.?


San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Hiroshi Aoyama says:

?I really wanted to score a positive result at my home grand prix, but I didn't manage it. We had some grip problems that prevented me from being consistent in the race, which was a real shame in front of my home fans. Now we go to Phillip Island, a circuit I love as long as the weather isn't too cold. If the conditions are good I enjoy riding there and I particularly like the atmosphere in Australia. I am desperate to have a full grand prix weekend where I show my true potential and hopefully along with the team we can create the right conditions to achieve it. We only have three races left so that is all the motivation we need.?


LCR Honda rider Toni Elias says:

?Phillip Island is a wonderful track and I love it there. It?s a great track to ride when you?ve got traction. Unfortunately, that has been our main problem at a lot of the circuits we?ve been to this season. We made progress with grip in Motegi, where I thought I would have my best finish of the year. I was in sixth place late in the race when I hit a bump and fell. You never want to crash, but that was a good race for me and the team and so we go to Phillip Island hoping to have the same speed.?

 

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BACK-TO-BACK FLYAWAYS IN AUSTRALIA AND MALAYSIA FOR DUCATI TEAM

The Ducati Team is headed to the first of two overseas races that in the space of two weeks will take the Italian team first to Australia and then to Malaysia. The Phillip Island Grand Prix is one of the most popular rounds among the MotoGP riders because the circuit that twists along the Bass Strait features an old-style layout that is fast and flowing, and spectacular to ride.

Apart from 2006, when their best result was fourth place, the Ducati Team has always finished on the podium at Phillip Island. As for Valentino Rossi, he has enjoyed no fewer than seven victories there in his career, plus another six podium finishes. On Friday, the Italian will be testing the readiness of the hand that he injured in the crash in Japan, and he?ll also try continue the good progress he made there with the GP11.1?s setup.

Nicky Hayden is also a great admirer of the Down Under circuit, where he owns the lap record (2008), and where he will be celebrating his 150th Grand Prix this weekend. He has climbed the podium three times at Phillip Island, and he finished fourth last year with the Ducati.

VALENTINO ROSSI, Ducati Team
?At Motegi, despite the outcome of the race and what the consequences of the crash turned out to be, there were a number of positive aspects. We worked well on the bike?s balance and setup, and in the end, from that point of view, we had one of the most positive weekends of the season. Phillip Island is another track where the Ducati has always gone well, as have I, so we hope to be able to work as well as we did in Japan. As far as my hand is concerned, the swelling is reduced, and we still have a couple of days before we go on the track. We just have to wait for Friday morning to see how it reacts.

NICKY HAYDEN, Ducati Team
?Phillip Island is definitely one of the highlights of the year, because everything about it is special. It?s fast, flowing and really fun to ride. The big question mark is always the weather. We can get rain, wind, cold and sun, all in the course of one race weekend. Casey has won a lot of races there for Ducati, and I should have been on the podium there last year, except that I left the door open for Vale to beat me. It?s a good track for me, and although I know it won?t be easy, I really hope we can do well. I?ve got Simoncelli coming for me in the points, but I?m not really thinking about that. I?d just like to try to get a good result on Sunday, when it counts.?

VITTORIANO GUARESCHI, Team Manager
?Phillip Island is one of the circuits where our bike has always gone well, and it?s one where Valentino has posted many wins. Nicky also loves the track, so our goal is to be able to continue the good work we did in Japan with both riders. We?ll have the unknown of Vale?s hand injury, but he was able to rest and recuperate over the past few days, so we hope it won?t give him any problems.?

PHILLIP ISLAND CIRCUIT RECORDS

Circuit Record: Nicky Hayden (Honda ? 2008), 1:30.059 ? 177.803 Km/h
Best Pole: Casey Stoner (Ducati ? 2008), 1:28.665 ? 180.598 Km/h
Circuit Length: 4.448 km
2011 MotoGP Race: 27 laps (120.096 km)
2011 MotoGP Schedule: 4:00 p.m. Local Time

2010 PODIUM: 1st Casey Stoner, 2nd Jorge Lorenzo, 3rd Valentino Rossi
2010 POLE: Casey Stoner (Ducati ? 2010), 1:30.107 ? 177.708 km/h

DUCATI TEAM?S BEST RESULTS AT PHILLIP ISLAND
2010: 1st (Stoner)
2009: 1st (Stoner)
2008: 1st (Stoner)
2007: 1st (Stoner)
2006: 4th (Gibernau)
2005: 3rd (Checa)
2004: 3rd (Capirossi)
2003: 2nd (Capirossi)

DUCATI TEAM ? RIDER INFO

VALENTINO ROSSI
Bike: Ducati Team Desmosedici GP11.1
Race number: 46
Age: 32 (born in Pesaro 16 February 1979)
Residence: Tavullia (Pesaro, Italy)
GPs: 256 (196 x MotoGP, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc)
First GP: Malaysian GP, 1996 (125cc)
Number of wins: 105 (79 x MotoGP, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc)
First GP win: Czech Republic GP, 1996 (125cc)
Poles: 59 (49 x MotoGP, 5 x 250cc, 5 x 125cc)
First Pole: Czech Republic GP, 1996 (125cc)
World Titles: 9 (6 x MotoGP, 1 x 500cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 125cc)

Rossi?s MotoGP track record at Phillip Island
2010: Grid: 8th; Race: 3rd
2009: Grid: 2nd; Race: 2nd
2008: Grid: 12th; Race: 2nd
2007: Grid: 2nd; Race: 3rd
2006: Grid: 3rd; Race: 3rd
2005: Grid: 2nd; Race: 1st
2004: Grid: 2nd; Race: 1st
2003: Grid: 1st; Race: 1st
2002: Grid: 7th; Race: 1st
2001: Grid: 2nd; Race: 1st
2000: Grid: 8th; Race: 3rd

Rossi?s 250 track record at Phillip Island
1999: Grid: 7th; Race: 1st
1998: Grid: 2nd; Race: 1st

Rossi?s 125 track record at Phillip Island
1997: Grid: 3rd; Race: 6th

NICKY HAYDEN
Bike: Ducati Team Desmosedici GP11.1
Race number: 69
Age: 30 (born 30 July 1981 in Owensboro, Kentucky, USA)
Residence: Owensboro, Kentucky, USA
Number of GPs: 149 (149 x MotoGP)
First GP: Japanese GP, 2003 (MotoGP)
Number of wins: 3 (3 x MotoGP)
First GP win: USA GP, 2005 (MotoGP)
Poles: 5 (5 x MotoGP)
First Pole: USA GP, 2005 (MotoGP)
World Titles: 1 (MotoGP, 2006)

Hayden?s MotoGP track record at Phillip Island
2010: Grid: 6th; Race: 4th
2009: Grid: 7th; Race: 15th
2008: Grid: 3rd; Race: 3rd
2007: Grid: 4th; Race: DNF
2006: Grid: 1st; Race: 5th
2005: Grid: 1st ; Race: 2nd
2004: Grid: 14th; Race: 6th
2003: Grid: 5th; Race: 3rd

 

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CAPIREX RETURNS AT PHILLIP ISLAND

The setting of Phillip Island hosts Round 16 of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship this weekend, the third last of the season. Loris Capirossi will be back aboard his Ducati Desmosedici after the Motegi forfait. The MotoGP veteran, which suffered a right shoulder dislocation at Aragon, is working hard in these days to try to get the race in good condition on this track, where he has done well in the past (three first places and several podiums).

Fabiano Sterlacchini - Pramac Racing Technical Director

"Last year, on this track, Ducati done very well, and this is a good point of start. The track is quite compatible with the characteristics of the bike, we should be good to take our chances. We hope the weather will cooperate with us. It's a pity that Loris will not at 100%".

Loris Capirossi - Pramac Racing Team

"I'm happy to be back in this circuit, I'm very bound to Phillip Island track. In the past I've won here three times, earning many podium finishes. I'll be back there for the last time, I hope to do well, even though my shoulder still causes many problems, despite the medical care made in recent days."

Randy De Puniet - Pramac Racing Team

"At Motegi we didn't repeat the good things made at Aragon. The feeling with the bike was not good because Motegi track required a different setting than the standard. In the past I did not get great results in Australia, but I want to do well and finish this season in the best possible way."

 

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GOOD START FOR DE PUNIET AT PHILLIPS ISLAND WITH THE TENTH POSITION. CAPIROSSI BACK AFTER INJURY FIFTEENTH

Good way to start the weekend for Randy De Puniet who concluded the first day of practice with the tenth fastest lap time of the day with just a bit over a second from the first, Casey Stoner. The Frenchman has worked well improving lap by lap his performances and tomorrow will look for more improvement to conquer a good position for Sundays starting grid. His teammate, Loris Capirossi, returned on track after missing the Japanese race due to his right shoulder injury and has finished the day in fifteenth position. The good news from the Italian is that the shoulder doesnt bother him so much and should be ok for the rest of the weekend.

Marco Rigamonti Randy De Puniet Track Engineer

Today has been a good of practice for us. The most important thing for us is the feeling that our rider give us and Randy is quite positive. He has done a really good job achieving good lap times while all alone in the track. This means that he has the possibility to fight for important positions in both, tomorrow qualification and Sundays race. We will give him maximum support to be as fast as possible.

Randy De Puniet Pramac Racing Team 10th in 131.670

"Not a bad way to begin the weekend. In the last few races we were quite competitive since the beginning but than we couldnt manage to achieve good result during the race. I hope this time it will be different and that Sunday we can conquer something important for me and for my Team. It will be important for us because in the next race, in Malaysia, it will surely be much more difficult to be as competitive as here."

Loris Capirossi Pramac Racing Team
- 15th in 132.052

"I was curios to see how my physical condition were and I have to say that I am quite satisfied. The shoulder does still give me pain and I am at 85 % at this moment. Not so bad but each lap I will ride the more painful it will be. Anyway I should be able to finish the weekend without too many complications. Bike wise this morning things seem good and in the afternoon we couldnt improve as we expected also because the temperature was a bit cooler. Tomorrow things may change with the weather and this would surely mix the cards around."

 

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Fantastic fourth for Edwards in Phillip Island practice

Colin EdwardsColin Edwards made a flying start to practice for the Australian MotoGP round at the spectacular Phillip Island circuit today, the American powering his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team machine to a fantastic fourth place on the timesheets.

Edwards was immediately on the pace in this morning's opening practice, the experienced 37-year-old quickly finding a comfortable set-up with his YZR-M1 machine to post a best lap of 1.31.480 that placed him in an outstanding fourth place.

Only Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo and Marco Simoncelli were faster and Edwards started this afternoon's second session in optimistic mood that he could once again challenge for the top five in gloriously sunny conditions at the 2.764 miles circuit.

But changes to the settings on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team machine for the second session didn't deliver the expected improvements in performance and he lapped at a best pace of 1.31.805 to finish in ninth. His impressive pace this morning though secured him the fourth best time on the combined leaderboard and he will work closely with his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew tonight to gain more turning performance from his YZR-M1 machine ahead of tomorrow's final practice and qualifying sessions.

British team-mate Cal Crutchlow made a solid start to the weekend and he finished 12th on combined times with a best lap of 1.31.969. Crutchlow has previous experience of the breath-taking Phillip Island track from his time in World Supersport and World Superbikes, but today was all about acclimatising to the circuit's fast and sweeping corners on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 800cc MotoGP machine.

The 25-year-old set a time of 1.32.583 this morning and he needed only four laps of the second session to better that pace. He eventually lapped well over half-a-second faster and he completed the day just over 0.4s behind Edwards.

Colin Edwards 4th 1.31.480 ? 36 laps:

?This morning went brilliantly and I came out of the gate really fast and flying. I felt good on the bike but this afternoon I just couldn't get close to the pace I had this morning. I had really good grip from the front tyre this morning but when the temperature started to come up a little bit the track started to feel a bit greasy. So for this afternoon we switched to the hard compound front tyre to see what the difference was and there is a really fine line between what does and doesn't work around this track. We made one little change to the bike but the bike became really hard to ride. The track is pretty bumpy and I was having a lot of vibration and I just didn't feel anywhere near as comfortable in the second session as I did this morning. We need to go back to what we know worked this morning and make a couple of tweaks to see if we can make that set-up better. The main thing is to get the front working better over the bumps.?

Cal Crutchlow 12th 1.31.969 ? 43 laps:

?Today's result doesn't look too bad on the timesheets because although I am down in 12th, I am less than half-a-second away from Colin and he is fourth. But it was a very difficult day to be honest because I had a lot of grip issues and the bike was hard to turn as well. And if I run over any rough tarmac or any bumps I nearly crash, so I've got to sit down with my guys tonight and come up with a plan to try and make the bike better for tomorrow. We made an improvement to the bike after this morning and that was reflected in the times because I was quite a bit quicker this afternoon, but we've still got a long way to go to make feel more comfortable and confident. I think we need to be looking at making some pretty drastic changes to the bike for tomorrow, but I'm confident we'll find something and I'll be battling for a place in the top 10 on the grid.?

 

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Strong start for Bautista at a sunny Phillip Island

Rizla Suzukis ?lvaro Bautista finished the second free practice session for the Australian Grand Prix in eighth place this afternoon.

Bautista (P11 overall, 131.777, 42 laps) made a consistent progression up the leader board throughout the afternoon session before breaking into the top-10 in the latter stages. He finished only 0.256 seconds from fourth place and Bautistas fastest time was almost two seconds quicker than his qualifying lap at Phillip Island 12 months ago. He is positive of further improvements tomorrow and convinced the GSV-R will be able to challenge for a good finish on Sunday.

Todays practice was held in warm and sunny conditions, with clear blue skies covering the 4,448m Phillip Island circuit. Australian Casey Stoner recorded todays fastest time on his home circuit, as he looks to secure the World Championship in his own backyard.

Rizla Suzuki has one more free practice session on Saturday morning before the hour of qualifying in the afternoon will decide the grid positions for Sundays 27-lap race.

?lvaro Bautista:

Up until this year this has not been one of the best tracks for the GSV-R and it was quite difficult here for me last year. In the first session this morning I didnt feel a lot of rear grip, but we changed some things for this afternoon and it made a big difference to the feeling. We also worked on the electronics and altered the mapping for some of the corners to help with rear grip. At the end of the second session with some new tyres there was a big difference than with the used ones. This track has very fast corners and you can feel a difference between new and used tyres here quite a lot. I have done my best-ever lap at Phillip Island today and a 131 is not a bad time, but I still feel that we can improve the feeling in the bike and be quite a bit quicker. On the new tyres I can ride normal and with a good rhythm for a few laps, but it soon becomes difficult to exit from the corners and get the grip I need. We have improved a lot from last year and I feel more relaxed on the bike. I am happy with the first day, but will be a lot happier if I can get a good feeling tomorrow like I have had in the last few races, then Im sure well be in a good position for the race.

Paul Denning Team Manager:

The pace of the Rizla Suzuki GSV-R on Phillip Island today is confirmation of how well, and how far, Suzuki has developed the bike since 2010. The character of the track is still not the best for us and ?lvaro still has a couple of fundamental issues that are holding him back, but to be 0.2-of-a-second from fourth place and in the top-10 in this afternoons session is like a dream compared to last year. We still expect a tough weekend and a tough race, but we fully believe we can be in the fight for a decent position on Sunday.

Iveco Australian Grand Prix Combined Free Practice Classification:

1. Casey Stoner (Honda) 130.475: 2. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) +0.269: 3. Marco Simoncelli (Honda) +0.437: 4. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +1.005: 5. Ben Spies (Yamaha) +1.020: 11. ?LVARO BAUTISTA (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.302:

 

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Determined Start Down Under for Lorenzo and Spies

The Grand Prix of Australia got underway today at the Phillip Island circuit with two free practice sessions run under glorious sunshine and warm conditions. Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge Lorenzo was very quick to find a good pace in the morning session, the only rider able to get close to Championship leader Casey Stoner. Lorenzo wrapped up the morning in second, just 0.269 seconds from first. The afternoon saw times suffer a little as track conditions changed, the Mallorcan?s pace dropping slightly as he hunted extra rear grip, finishing in third, 0.576 seconds from provisional pole.

Ben Spies made big improvements between the two sessions today. The Texan struggled in the morning session, unable to find a good pace with no positive set up. Some hard work by his crew delivered a much more competitive set up for the afternoon enabling him to climb from eighth in session one to fourth in session two, finding over half a second of extra speed.
Jorge Lorenzo
Position 2nd - Time 1.30.744 - Laps 24

?Today I felt great in the morning but in the afternoon not as good. It was impossible to replicate the lap time from the morning. We were up to five tenths slower and I?m not sure why, maybe the track conditions were different, anyway we?ll see what happens tomorrow. We know that Casey is very fast here but today he wasn?t so quick. We must try to win and if not possible fight for the podium on Sunday.?
Ben Spies
Position 5th - Time 1.31.495 - Laps 36

?I?m feeling good today; we started this morning with both bikes not working so well so we knew we had to come up with something this afternoon. The second session we were working really well but still struggling in a few areas we need to make better tomorrow. I think we definitely can and if we do I can see us dropping up to half a second pretty easily. It?s up to the boys; we know what the problem is we just need to work out how to fix it. As always I?m going to try the best I can to make it interesting for the fans and get up there.?

Wilco Zeelenberg - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager
?It was quite a good day for us today, the morning session especially was a little bit better than the afternoon. Everybody seemed to have less speed on the straight which was strange as there wasn?t much wind. Jorge feels confident on the bike and has space to improve, especially with rear grip. The gap between him and Casey was quite close this morning so we are quite satisfied with the first day.?


Massimo Meregalli - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director
?We had some problems from the morning session with Ben which we partly solved in the afternoon allowing him to get more and more comfortable on the bike. There are still some points where we have to improve and work on but it seems that we know what we need to do. Hopefully the track will be dry tomorrow morning so we can see if we get the results we expect from the changes. Overall the pace is good and our tyre choice is almost done so for a first day we?ve done a great job. Jorge was very quick to find a good pace this morning. He still needs to find something but we are confident he will also make another step tomorrow.?

 

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UPHILL START FOR THE DUCATI TEAM AT PHILLIP ISLAND

The Ducati Team started its setup work for the Phillip Island circuit today, ending with Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi ninth and thirteenth, respectively. After a good start in the morning session, the American wasn?t able to improve in the afternoon, while the Italian lowered his time by just one tenth.

Tomorrow, both riders will try to find a solution to improve grip with the Desmosedici, and Rossi, who is also having trouble with persistent pain in his left hand, will work with his team to improve braking and corner entry, searching for the good feeling he had at Motegi.

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 9th (1:31.662)
?As far as weather is concerned, this is probably the nicest day I can remember at Phillip Island in a long time, but we always hope for better results here than what we had today. The track?s definitely got a bit bumpier, which is obviously the same for everybody, so it?s not an excuse. The bike is harsh over the bumps, so in places I have to use a slower line in order to miss them. We tried to do some laps on hard tyres this afternoon, but we need to find more grip, both in order to be faster and to get better tyre life. We?ve got a lot of work to do, but we?ll do our best tomorrow.?

Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 13th (1:32.014)
?Today wasn?t easy, especially since we had hoped to be better immediately, like at Motegi two weeks ago, as this track is normally good for the Ducati. We started with the same setup, with just a small adjustment to the fork spring, but the feeling wasn?t the same. I wasn?t able to ride well today, in part due to the pain in my left pinky finger, which bothered me more than I expected, but especially because of the feeling with the bike. I?m not able to brake well or enter corners well. Tomorrow we?ll try stronger painkillers for my hand, and from a technical point of view, we?ll look for a different solution to improve the front and to do better than thirteenth place. We won?t change the setup completely. We?ll probably move the position of the front wheel, but we?re just talking about small changes.?

 

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Stoner leads the pack in Phillip Island

On the first day of Free Practice in the Australian Grand Prix, local boy Casey Stoner ended the top of the timing sheets with Respol Honda team mates Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa sixth and seventh.

Weather conditions at Phillip Island were perfect with an afternoon air temperature of 21 degrees and a track temperature of 44 degrees, however all three riders reported a very bumpy track compared to last year.

Casey had a fall in FP1 but soon put it behind him and concentrated on finding the best set up for his RC212V to attack the bumpy Phillip Island track. In FP2 he found some more rear grip but lost some front end feeling, he remained fastest of the day with a 1'30.475 lap. Andrea also complained about the track surface and spent the sessions working on the feeling in the front of the bike, alternating between the hard and soft compound tyres to see which worked best. Dani struggled with rear grip and only improved his lap time slightly from the morning session, he and his team will work hard in FP3 tomorrow morning to find the best set up for Qualifying.

CASEY STONER ? 1st 1'30.475

"I don't feel totally comfortable with the bike today and I'm sure we can improve the bike a lot. The track is certainly a lot more bumpy than last year and I think it will be very difficult to get the bike feeling 100% as the circuit is making things worse. In general we've found the Honda is better in certain aspects than what we had last year but with these bumps it's difficult to compare in other areas. We need to get the bike riding the bumps in the front a lot better, and also find some more rear grip. There is still a lot of work before we find the right race set up and we know we can go a lot faster".

ANDREA DOVIZIOSO ? 6th 1'31.532

"It's been a difficult first day of practice. The track has many more bumps than last year and it's difficult to see them, maybe because the surface is very dark I don't know, but I've been struggling to get a good feeling with the front. I decided to keep the hard tyre in front because it suits my riding style more, but with these bumps it's impossible to control the bike and when I switched to the soft front tyre I couldn't improve my time either. If the temperature drops tomorrow it will be even more complicated, but we will try our best to improve and have a good qualifying session".

DANI PEDROSA ? 7th 1'31.543

"In the morning I began calm just to get the feeling with the track and we did a decent time, but in the afternoon I struggled a lot with the rear grip, the bike was spinning a lot and we couldn't fix it during the session. The fact that my lap times are practically the same in the morning and in the afternoon is a sign that something is not right. It's a pity because maybe tomorrow the weather is not as nice as today, possibly colder, but I trust my team and I hope we can improve. The track is also very bumpy, much more than last year, which makes things even more difficult, there are many places where the wheels are off the ground. Anyway, we will try to make some changes on the bike and I will do my best to improve my riding and let's see what we can do tomorrow".



Practice Results

1 Casey Stoner 1'30.475 AUS HONDA Repsol Honda Team

2 Jorge Lorenzo 1'30.744 SPA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing Team

3 Marco Simoncelli 1'30.912 ITA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini

4 Colin Edwards 1'31.480 USA YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3

5 Ben Spies 1'31.495 USA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing Team

6 Andrea Dovizioso 1'31.532 ITA HONDA Repsol Honda Team

7 Dani Pedrosa 1'31.543 SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team

8 Hiroshi Aoyama 1'31.582 JPN HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini

9 Nicky Hayden 1'31.662 USA DUCATI Ducati Marlboro Team

10 Randy De Puniet 1'31.670 FRA DUCATI Pramac Racing

11 Alvaro Bautista 1'31.777 SPA SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

12 Cal Crutchlow 1'31.969 GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3

13 Valentino Rossi 1'32.014 ITA DUCATI Ducati Marlboro Team

14 Loris Capirossi 1'32.052 ITA DUCATI Pramac Racing

15 Karel Abraham 1'32.360 CZE DUCATI Cardion AB Motoracing

16 Toni Elias 1'32.639 SPA HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP

17 Damian Cudlin 1'33.658 AUS DUCATI Paginas Amarillas Aspar

 

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Bautista storms to best-ever MotoGP qualifying

Rizla Suzuki?s ?lvaro Bautista will start tomorrow?s Australian Grand Prix from the front of the second row after qualifying in fourth place this afternoon.

Bautista (1?30.714, 28 laps) made improvements to his GSV-R during this morning?s final practice session and the early parts of this afternoon?s qualifying to help him find the grip he was looking for around the 4,448m Phillip Island circuit. The changes certainly paid dividends because as the qualifying session wore on, Bautista was close enough to Andrea Dovizioso to use the Italian as a mobile wind-screen to help him push through the gusting gales and head for a quick time. Bautista?s lap was over a second quicker than his best time from yesterday and over two-and-a-half seconds better than his qualifying time in similar conditions at last year?s Australian Grand Prix. He is now in a strong position for the race and will be looking to capitalise on today?s performance in tomorrow?s 27-lap encounter.

Conditions were quite different at Phillip Island today as temperatures dropped and the wind speed increased, bringing with it threatening rain clouds, which fortunately held off for the duration of the session. Home star Casey Stoner took pole position, his 11th of the season, with reigning champion Jorge Lorenzo second. Marco Simoncelli took the final place on the front row, just 0.115 seconds in front of Bautista.

Tomorrow?s event is round 16 of the 2011 World Championship and the lights will change to signal the start of the race at 16.00hrs local time (05.00hrs GMT).

?lvaro Bautista:

?I?m very happy with today, because I got my best qualifying result so far in MotoGP and at the toughest track for Suzuki, so that shows what good work we have done since last year. It was a fantastic lap behind Dovizioso and when I saw him in front of me on the track, I thought this is my opportunity ? if I can?t do a good lap now, I?ll never do one! Third row was not difficult to achieve today, but when I followed him everything seemed easier. With this type of track in this wind and with these types of corners, it helps if you can follow another rider, you can certainly improve a lot and it feels much easier to ride. My feeling is good for tomorrow and I?ll try to make a strong start and stay with the front guys in the first one or two laps. If we can do that I think we will be competitive, because in the first few laps all riders will push hard and after six or seven laps the tyres will probably drop off and the rhythm will settle down. I will try to do a good race tomorrow and get the best possible result I can.?

Paul Denning ? Team Manager:

?To achieve Suzuki?s best qualifying since Mugello in 2009 - and ?lvaro?s best so far - here at Phillip Island is almost funny! ?lvaro has had a steady pace all weekend and when it mattered today he managed to tuck-in behind Dovizioso, and use him as a wind-break, and do an absolutely awesome lap-time. It?s been clear from the potential shown this year just how much the GSV-R has improved and for it to perform around here in cold and windy conditions - how it has done today ? is testament to the hard work of Sahara san and his engineers in Hamamatsu and to Tom O?Kane and his crew here.

?As always to live with the factory Hondas and Yamahas will be a tough ask tomorrow, but ?lvaro has put himself into a great position and if he can get a good start who knows what can happen.?

Iveco Australian Grand Prix Qualifying Practice Classification:

1. Casey Stoner (Honda) 1?29.975: 2. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) +0.473: 3. Marco Simoncelli (Honda) +0.624: 4. ?LVARO BAUTISTA (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +0.739: 5. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) +0.805:

 

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FOURTH ROW FOR BOTH DUCATI PRAMAC RIDER AT PHILLIP ISLAND

It could have been better after the first half of the qualifying session, but the tenth and eleventh position conquered respectively by Loris Capirossi and Randy De Puniet is a good result. Both riders were in the first positions until the last twenty minutes, but couldnt make it to improve enough at the end. The Italian preferred to dont risk as his right shoulder was hurting, while the Frenchman had to switch from bike one to the second due to some technical complications. Nothing to worried about but with the time running fast the best choice was to change bike. Tomorrow the race will begin at 4pm local time and the Ducati Pramac Racing rider will try all possible to conclude in the top ten.

Marco Rigamonti Randy De Puniet Track Engineer

A pity as I am sure Randy could have conquered ad least the third row. We had some technical complication while starting bike number one and as there wasnt much time left we decided to go for bike two. Randy didnt have the same feeling and needed more time to adjust to the second bike, but anyway the results registered by him today and yesterdays give us good hopes for tomorrows race.

Loris Capirossi Pramac Racing Team
- 10th in 131.583

"It was hard today as the shoulder gives me pain. Also at the end I had the time to try another fast lap but I choose to stay where I was, which is anyway a good place. The bike reacts well on this track even if in some part we must improve. The Team has also worked really and today I enjoyed again riding. It has been rare this year to have fun while riding, but I hope I will have some other chances before the end of the season."

Randy De Puniet Pramac Racing Team 11th in 131.635

"The plan was to push at the beginning in case it was going to rain during the practice. We did well and were fast straight away being up front in the first six positions for a while. The weather kept dry and when it was time to use the last two soft tires we found some problems starting bike number one, the one I was using. So we had to switch to bike two and the feeling wasnt the same. We were quite unlucky as I am quite positive the third row was a sure thing. Hopefully we will get back the luck we miss out today during the race!"

 

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Edwards confident of top 10 at Phillip Island

Colin EdwardsColin Edwards is confident he can put his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team machine in contention for a top 10 result in tomorrow's Australian MotoGP race after a promising ride to ninth position in this afternoon's qualifying session.

In cool and windy conditions that made riding the super-fast 4.4km Phillip Island circuit a difficult challenge, Edwards mastered the unpredictable conditions superbly to clock a best time of 1.31.237 that put him on the third row of the grid.

The 37-year-old finished less than 0.7s away from the front row and once again the American was comfortably the fastest of the non-factory riders as he concentrated on finding the best possible set-up with Bridgestone's soft compound front and rear tyre options.

Edwards finished seventh in last year's Phillip Island race and he is confident he can fight to better that result in tomorrow's 27-lap race, which is round 16 of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship.

British rider Cal Crutchlow had a disappointing qualifying session and the 25-year-old was unable to find a comfortable set-up, despite the hard work of his crew to improve his feeling with the YZR-M1 machine.

The bumpy sections of the spectacular Phillip Island circuit and a lack of front and rear grip have prevented Crutchlow from showing his true potential and he will start the race from 14th on the grid.

He set a best time of 1.32.023 in his 28-lap run to finish just 0.043s behind nine-times world champion Valentino Rossi, and Crutchlow is optimistic that further set-up modifications overnight will strengthen his quest to claim a top 10 finish.

Colin Edwards 9th 1.31.237 ? 29 laps:

?I'm pretty happy to be have finished on the third row because conditions were pretty tough out there. The track is really bumpy but the issue today was the wind. It was really blowing hard in some places and it is just so unpredictable. One lap you get a big gust hit you from the right, so you prepare for that next time round and you get slammed on the other side. If you could put the bike where you want every lap you could easily go half-a-second faster, but the wind just doesn't allow you to do that. The bike is working good and the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team is working fantastic as always for me, so I'm ready for a good race tomorrow. We've got to run the soft front and rear tyres for the race and my bike works pretty good with those options. I tried the hard tyres yesterday and couldn't get them to work at all. I'll have to take care at the start of the race to make sure we don't abuse the tyre too much at the beginning but I'm looking forward to having some fun and getting a good result."

Cal Crutchlow ? 14th 1.32.023 ? 28 laps:

?There is not much to say other than I am very disappointed because I expected to be competing for a place inside the top 10 here and it has been a struggle to find a good set-up with the bike. We spent a long time analysing the data last night because yesterday I didn't have good front or rear grip and turning was also an issue. We made a lot of changes to the bike today and to be honest we didn't find any improvement and I've got the same issues. The track is really bumpy and I can't get the bike to absorb them smoothly and we just don't have the grip we need to go faster. We've tried a lot of things to make it better but for some reason nothing seems to be working. I went just as fast with a set of tyres that had 30 laps on them as I did with two brand new tyres, so we need to sit down again tonight and work through the data and see if there is something we can improve for the race.?

 

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SECOND ROW FOR HAYDEN AT PHILLIP ISLAND, ROSSI THIRTEENTH

In windy, cool conditions today at Phillip Island, Nicky Hayden rode to his best qualifying position of the year, and the American will start from the sixth spot on the grid in tomorrow?s Australian Grand Prix, which is also his 150th GP in the premier class. Hayden and his team made progress with the GP11.1 today, and they?ll try some small changes in the morning warm-up in an effort to further improve the race setup for the Phillip Island circuit.

Valentino Rossi also hopes to take a step forward in the final twenty minutes he has on-track before the race. The Italian?s day was more difficult than that of his teammate, and he?ll start tomorrow?s race from the thirteenth spot on the grid.

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 6th (1'30.792)
?This was my first time on the second row this year, and for a while today, I thought I could do even better. It?s good, but we?re not celebrating sixth place since we expect a lot when we come to Phillip Island. The main thing for tomorrow will be to figure out how to get the tyres to last over race distance, and I?m having to use some strange lines to miss all the bumps. I lost a bit of time when one front tyre didn?t come in, but other than that, I?ve got no excuses. I had good, clear laps, and I went about as fast as I could. Tomorrow will be my 150th Grand Prix in the premier class, and I?m proud to be here that long and still be on a factory team. With this grid position, it would be nice to get our best dry result tomorrow. It will be very tough because a lot of guys are going quick, but we?ll try.?

Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 13th (1'31.980)
?Before we arrived here, we expected to do much better than this, considering that Phillip Island is a track where Ducati and I have always done well. Instead, I again had trouble riding today, and I was very slow. It?s really a shame, and I?m very sorry. Evidently we haven?t managed to solve the problems we?ve had since the first session here. We?ll try to make some small changes in tomorrow?s warm-up, but although we?ll certainly try to do better than this, I?m expecting a very challenging race.?

 

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Lorenzo Stays Sharp to Secure Front Row Start at Phillip Island

Reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo kept the pressure on today in qualifying at Phillip Island, taking second on the grid for tomorrow?s Grand Prix of Australia. The Yamaha Factory rider came out fighting at the beginning of the qualifying session, immediately the fastest man on track, a position he held for well over half the session. The Mallorcan conceded pole to rival Casey Stoner as the session drew to a close but prepares for tomorrow?s race in confident mood with a fast consistent race pace.

Ben Spies crashed out on his third qualifying lap in dramatic fashion, low siding at over 250km/hr and sliding off into the gravel. After a check with the medical centre the Texan was back on his second bike with heavily bruised ribs and body, venturing out on track to score a third row start with seventh on the grid for tomorrow?s race.
Jorge Lorenzo
Position 2nd - Time 1.30.448 - Laps 24

?We did a very good job today. We tried many things and I believe we have the right set up for tomorrow. I have to thank my team who worked hard to make sure I have the best possible bike to fight with. The race will be very tough, it will be very important to be consistent with a good race pace. I will try to win, I know it will be very difficult here with Casey but I will try!?

Ben Spies
Position 7th - Time 1.30.835 - Laps 20
?I got a little bit off line in qualifying this afternoon and hit a big bump, losing the front. It?s unfortunate as we were trying a different bike set up which was looking pretty good. It happened on the third lap, according to the data I came off at 270km/hr so I went through the gravel trap pretty quick! My knees, ribs and elbows are all pretty banged up but that?s normal, that?s how it is. The bike is working well so we need a good start; we?re in a good position on the grid for it so we?ll see what happens.?


Wilco Zeelenberg - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager
?A good qualifying for us, Jorge was more than half a second quicker than this morning?s final practice so we are quite pleased. Again another strange session, some parts of the track lost some grip which seemed to affect everybody. We haven?t decided on tyres for tomorrow yet but the bike feels good for him and we are looking forward to the race. It?s going to be difficult to stop Casey but we?ll do our best.?


Massimo Meregalli - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director
?The race is not going to be easy tomorrow. Jorge is starting from the first row which is important, I?m sure he won?t give up until the end and he will have to put all his efforts in for the whole 27 laps. Despite a bad crash Ben managed to qualify in seventh. This wasn?t so bad considering, as I didn?t expect that result. He?s very sore all over but he still pushed hard and did all he could. Tomorrow will be tough and painful for him but we know him and we know he will give 100%.?

 

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Yamaha Factory Riders to Miss Australian Grand Prix

Yamaha Factory Racing riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies will not ride in today?s Grand Prix of Australia following separate on track incidents by both.

World Champion Lorenzo was declared unfit to race after sustaining an injury to the fourth finger of the left hand during this morning?s warm up. He will travel to Melbourne to undergo plastic surgery to repair the damage. A post surgery report will follow.

Lorenzo?s team mate Spies received a hit to the head yesterday during the qualifying session after a high speed crash. After attempting to ride some laps in this morning?s warm up, the rider reached an agreement with team members that with reduced concentration attempting the race would be considered too dangerous for himself and other competitors.

 

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Bautista caught out by the weather at an unpredictable Phillip Island

Rizla?s Suzuki?s ?lvaro Bautista crashed out of this afternoon?s Australian Grand Prix during a sudden rain-shower as he looked certain to claim his best dry finish of the season.

Starting from third on the grid, due to Jorge Lorenzo?s withdrawal because of an injury he sustained in this morning?s warm-up, Bautista was immediately involved in the battle for a podium position. He got into a fight with Nicky Hayden that cost the pair some pace and by the time Bautista got past the American, Valentino Rossi had caught them to make it a three-way battle. Rossi tried to make a pass on Bautista, but crashed, causing the Suzuki star to take avoiding action. Bautista made a break from Hayden and looked to be heading for a season?s best dry result of fifth, but as the laps wore on the rain clouds gathered and a brisk, but heavy rain shower caught out the Spaniard and he crashed with only four laps remaining. He was uninjured, but bitterly disappointed to see the opportunity slip away.

Almost 44,000 fans packed into a very windy and changeable Phillip Island circuit and the majority of them left happy as they witnessed local hero Casey Stoner secure the World Championship with a comprehensive victory.

Rizla Suzuki now heads directly to Malaysia for the penultimate round of the season, where Bautista will be joined by wild-card rider John Hopkins to mount a two-man attack at the Sepang circuit.

?lvaro Bautista:

?It was a good, but in the end disappointing race for us today. We didn?t start so well, but I was with the front group and very close to the podium battle. After a few laps, when the tyres started to lose their grip, I started to fight with Nicky and we lost time to the others. After I got away from Nicky I tried to concentrate to get the most from the used tyre and do my best. I just had to finish the race to get a fifth place, which would have been a good result here. The conditions were difficult though because during the whole race it was raining in some parts of the track and each lap seemed different. In turn 10 I saw some drops of rain on the screen and before I could even think to react I crashed - the surface was very wet and I just couldn?t do anything about it!

?I am sorry for the whole team because they did a fantastic job for the whole weekend and we started from the front row for the first time this year. We were in fifth in the race and looking good, so I?m really sorry for the crash ? those guys deserved something from this weekend. We now have to look forward to the next race and take all the positives from here to Malaysia and I?m sure we can go well there.?

Paul Denning ? Team Manager:

?There are so many positives to be taken from this weekend at Phillip Island, that it?s really unfortunate to be making another ?if only? comment! ?lvaro had no idea that it was raining that hard and with no rider directly in-front of him it just looked like he was in the wrong place at the wrong time! It?s really unfortunate for all of us, but the promise shown by the GSV-R was huge and I think the race-pace potential could have been a lot better if we hadn?t have got hung up with Nicky for four or five laps, and allowed the Hondas to escape.

?Malaysia?s next, it?s been a good track for Suzuki in the past, we?ve got John Hopkins joining the team and a chance to have another go at a decent result ? we?re looking forward to it!?

Iveco Australian Grand Prix Race Classification:

1. Casey Stoner (Honda) 42?02.425: 2.Marco Simoncelli (Honda) +2.210: 3. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) +2.454: 4. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 13.160: 5. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +30.886: DNF: ?LVARO BAUTISTA (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP):

World Championship Classification:

1. Stoner 325: 2. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 260: 3. Dovizioso 212: 4. Pedrosa 208: 5. Ben Spies (Yamaha) 156: 12. ?LVARO BAUTISTA (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 67:

 

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COMING BACK FROM INJURY

Day full of surprises at Phillip Island, where climatic conditions have affected the outcome of the race today. On the positive side for the Pramac Racing Team that has achieved the best result of the season finishing sixth and ninth respectively with Randy De Puniet and Loris Capirossi. The Frenchman had a good start and was in eighth position until some rain has made him go wide and come back on track in the rear of the classification. Randy fought in the group and in the last few laps when the rain again became more intense on the track, he managed to ride well with his bike and finish in sixth place. Capirossi made a good start at being on the first corner in third place, but then he had to give away to faster riders at that time. With four laps to the end, when a heavy shower hit the tracke, Loris has tried to change bike with wet set, but the track wasnt wet enough and this denied him the opportunity to go beyond the ninth place. However, a good result looking ahead to the last two races of the season, in seven days in Malaysia and in Valencia in three weeks.

Fabiano Sterlacchini Pramac Racing Technical Director

Today we achieved the best result of the season even we must not denied ourselves because it was very influenced by the race itself, between the rain and the absence of the injured riders. Let's say that of all the times we were hit by bad luck and injuries, there is now good luck. We could collect more this year and we hope that this race could lead to a successful end of championship. Both Loris and Randy deserve it for all the effort they have put in.

Randy De Puniet Pramac Racing 6th in the race 16th in the championship

"I am very happy with how it went today. Yesterday we were very unlucky in qualifying session and today things have turned in our favor. At the beginning of the race I lost a little time to overtake Loris, but once I made it, while trying to reach Edwards and Hayden, a little bit of rain made me go wide and this made me lose about ten seconds. So I fought with the group for the ninth position until four laps left in the race when the rain was back on the track. I saw the other riders go as fast as if the track was dry and so I saw them slipping in front of me one by one. In addition, some rider have returned to the pits to change bikes, but I had confidence to continue with the bike with dry set up and this helped me to conclude in an excellent sixth place!

Loris Capirossi Pramac Racing 9th in the race 17th in the race

"I started well but after a few laps between the pain at my shoulder and the weather changing I tried to manage the race to complete it. When there was four laps left I felt heavy heavy rain coming down just before the final straight and then I thought it was appropriate to enter the pits to change bike. Unfortunately it ended up not being the right choice because I probably could have finished the race a couple of positions ahead, but the ninth is still satisfactory considering my physical condition."

 

[KUCIAR666]

Fantastic fifth for Edwards in windy Phillip Island

Colin EdwardsMonster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider Colin Edwards battled against the elements at Phillip Island this afternoon to storm to a fantastic fifth position in an Australian MotoGP round dominated by unpredictable weather.

British team-mate Cal Crutchlow was also on course for a brilliant top ten finish when he suffered an unfortunate crash in the final stages when a quick rain shower fell while he was locked in an exciting battle with Hiroshi Aoyama for eighth position.

The 27-lap race started in sunny but cool conditions but it was a fierce wind that made tackling the high-speed and technical 4.4km Phillip Island a tough challenge this afternoon.

Edwards finished the first lap in eighth place as he tried to judge the unpredictable gusts of wind to maintain a fast and consistent pace as the race unfolded. He was seventh when late drama occurred as a heavy rain shower soaked the track in a small section from Lukey Heights to the fast approach to the final corner with three laps remaining.

Edwards opted not to stay out on slicks rather than switch to his YZR-M1 set-up for the rain with only a small part of the track affected by the cloudburst. His decision paid off and he claimed his third top six finish of the season.

Crutchlow was unfortunately caught out by the tricky conditions in the final stages while he was preparing for a late attack on Aoyama.

The British rider had fought brilliantly to keep Karel Abraham and Randy de Puniet at bay when he hit a wet patch of tarmac at Lukey Heights on lap 24. Aoyama crashed in identical circumstances right in front of Crutchlow and the 25-year-old was unable to rejoin the race and collect a deserved top 10 finish.

Colin Edwards 5th 109-points:

?That was all about surviving because the conditions might have looked great on TV with the sun shining but the wind was horrendous. We know the wind plays a big part here normally but today it seemed particularly bad and it was impossible to judge when a gust was going to hit you from one lap to the next. I got into a pretty good rhythm and I was happy to be running a consistent pace in eighth when all the late chaos happened. It is never a good feeling when you see rain spots on the visor with slick tyres on but there was only rain in a small part of the track. I knew it was a flag-to-flag situation but I never thought about pulling in for the rain bike. I was just riding as hard as I could but as safe as I could in the last couple of laps and fifth is a great result. I just want to say congratulations to Casey because he has been awesome all year and he's a worthy World Champion. As a fellow rider you have to admire what he's done.?

Cal Crutchlow DNF 57-points:

?I'm pretty disappointed because it has been a very difficult weekend, so to get a top 10 would have been a very positive way to sign off. I'd been having a really good battle with Abraham, Aoyama and de Puniet and I was confident I was going to finish at least eighth. But I came into Lukey Heights and couldn't even see any rain and the next thing I was down. The weird thing is Aoyama went down right in front of me on the same wet patch, so it was like synchronised crashing. I had no idea why I'd crashed and someone in the crowd told me it had rained really quickly and then stopped. It is a pity because that cost me a decent result but I'll be looking to get back in the fight for the top 10 in Sepang next week. I tested twice at that track in the winter and while it was tough, I've gained so much experience since then that there's no reason why I can't have a strong weekend.?

Herv? Poncharal ? Team Manager:

"I am very happy for Colin because he did a great job in very demanding conditions. Like in Jerez and Silverstone when we had difficult conditions, Colin is always there. The fifth position was well deserved and this result is a great boost for his chances of finishing the top non-factory rider in the World Championship standings. I am a little bit disappointed on the other side of the garage because Cal knew this track and I thought he would have been a lot stronger here. But he found it very difficult to find a fast pace all weekend. I have to give him credit though because he never gave up and it was a dramatic race. His engine stopped on the grid but that didn't distract him and he had a very good fight with some experienced riders. I think sixth position would have been a possibility but he was caught out by the conditions and that was an easy thing to do. Other people made a mistake but we hope Cal can return stronger in Sepang, which is another track he has ridden on. Finally I'd like to say congratulations to Casey. He is shown this year what a phenomenal talent he is and he deserves to be World Champion. I'd also like to praise Jorge Lorenzo because he has shown that Yamaha is a very competiive package in MotoGP and he has produced some truly incredible performances to push Casey all the way."