'Relaxed' Rossi back on top. (Qatar GP)

THURSDAY 29TH SEPTEMBER 2005 Valentino Rossi arrived in Doha last night after spending three days celebrating his latest MotoGP World Championship title in his native Italy, but showed no signs of a hangover as he bounced back to the top of the time sheets on the opening day of free practice for Saturday's Qatar Grand Prix. In ambient temperatures of 37ºC the Italian left it until his final lap to clock the fastest time of 1min 58.714secs, inside Carlos Checa's pole record from last season and 0.146 seconds quicker than the day's surprise package Toni ElÃ*as, who briefly occupied top spot with a record lap of his own until Rossi's late charge. "For sure myself and the whole team are more relaxed now that we have won the world championship," said Rossi, who was one of a number of riders to run off track as they searched for their bearings at a dusty circuit used for the first time last season. "We have had a lot of problems for the past two races. It has been difficult and we have never found a good setting for the bike, but here in the afternoon we found the right way. Now we have returned to the level we were at two or three races ago, I have a better feeling for the front and rear of the bike. "The track conditions are better than they were last season – they're still not 100% but compared to the first practice last year there is much more grip. As long as there is no wind or rain overnight it should improve a lot more by Saturday," added the Gauloises Yamaha star. Rossi's team-mate Colin Edwards also showed signs of returning to his best form today, topping the time sheets for much of the afternoon session before eventually dropping to sixth place. The American had also struggled with front grip problems in Malaysia but reaped the benefits of a new range of Michelin tyres today at a circuit that saw him equal his best ever MotoGP finish of second place last season. "I don't know what it is about this place. At flat tracks I usually tend to struggle to get any kind of feel for the front, but here it's as flat as a pancake and for some reason it works for me," he said. "We spent most of the day testing front tyres and we had a lot of help from Michelin. "I'm still having a little trouble between the braking point and the apex but this track doesn't accentuate that as much as circuits like Motegi and Sepang, so it's not so much of a worry. The main thing is that we've got grip, and when you've got grip it makes everything else much easier," he concluded. "When a rider doesn't have feeling with the front it makes it very difficult to set the bike up, particularly with Colin because he is so sensitive in this aspect. Hopefully this can be the start of a good weekend for us," added Edwards' crew chief Daniele Romagnoli.

:cool:

:rock Yeah ROSSI

:jump :jump TONI ELIAS!!! :jump :jump OMG! That would be lovely to see a Yamaha 1 & 2! Where the HELL did Elias find that pace! I reckon he was trailing Rossi:lol Anyway im soo chuffed for the guy!!! I'd like to see more Yamaha's in the top 10 than Honda's. Maybe tomorrow!:dunno

Originally posted by rudivan :jump :jump TONI ELIAS!!! :jump :jump OMG! That would be lovely to see a Yamaha 1 & 2! Where the HELL did Elias find that pace! I reckon he was trailing Rossi:lol Anyway im soo chuffed for the guy!!! I'd like to see more Yamaha's in the top 10 than Honda's. Maybe tomorrow!:dunno Let just wait till QP and the race... FP1/2 are too overrated... but if he does finally find the right setup, then it's good for him... I'm happy to see another Yamaha up there... :corn

1. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 56.917 secs 2. Sete Gibernau SPA Team Movistar Honda 1min 56.994 secs 3. Valentino Rossi ITA Gauloises Yamaha Team 1min 57.36 secs 4. Colin Edwards USA Gauloises Yamaha Team 1min 57.447 secs 5. Marco Melandri ITA Team Movistar Honda 1min 57.468 secs 6. Carlos Checa ITA Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 57.481 secs 7. Shinya Nakano JPN Kawasaki Racing Team 1min 57.697 secs 8. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team 1min 57.872 secs 9. Toni Elias SPA Fortuna Yamaha Team 1min 57.902 secs 10. Makoto Tamada JPN Konica Minolta Honda 1min 58.317 secs 11. Kenny Roberts USA Team Suzuki MotoGP 1min 58.329 secs 12. John Hopkins USA Team Suzuki MotoGP 1min 58.527 secs 13. Max Biaggi ITA Repsol Honda Team 1min 58.622 secs 14. Alex Barros BRA Camel Honda 1min 59.084 secs 15. Roberto Rolfo ITA D'Antin Ducati Pramac 1min 59.392 secs 16. Ruben Xaus SPA Fortuna Yamaha Team 1min 59.482 secs 17. Shane Byrne GBR Camel Honda 2min 0.097 secs 18. James Ellison GBR Blata WCM 2min 0.909 secs 19. Franco Battaini ITA Blata WCM 2min 1.678 secs 3 in a row for Loris, Vale had a good rythm on race tires....at least that's what it looks like.

Capirossi is on a roll. It's good to see Colin up towards the front again.:fork

Amazing... another pole for Capirossi... :corn

Riders’ reactions after qualifying News, 09/30/05 Loris Capirossi, Ducati Marlboro - 1st, 1'56.917 “Three in a row - it's incredible, I'm so happy! Once again we've worked well since we got here. The bike and tyre package is really good now, which helps us to prepare for the race. The team's done a great job and Bridgestone too, especially on the front tyre. It's important to be on pole here because it's so difficult to pass. Race distance is no problem for me in this heat, but for everyone it will be difficult on tyre life. I will try my best and we will see what happens...� Sete Gibernau, Movistar Honda – 2nd, 1'56.994 “Yesterday, we took the wrong direction in the afternoon session and today we're back on pace. This last session allowed us to do a great job in preparation for the race, and even if the race takes place one hour later tomorrow, we have been able to choose the set-up of the bike and the tyres for the race. I was able to maintain a good pace and put in some good laps, and even if we missed the pole by a few thousandths, we are on the front row, that's what really matters. Tomorrow, we'll try to fight for the podium and try to get out of this 'hole' we're in. Once we can do that, we'll be stronger than ever.� Valentino Rossi, Gauloises Yamaha - 3rd, 1'57.360 “We are not at 100% but things are okay and we are on the front row so that is important. The grip is much better than last year and now it seems the track is more normal. In these conditions it is possible to push the bike to the limit, so hopefully it stays like this for tomorrow’s race and then it will be a good show for everybody. My bike is also working much better than in recent races, we have found better grip on the front and the rear. We still need to make some small modifications before the race and then we will see how it goes. Now the championship is decided so I am riding without any pressure, but of course I still want to win every race before the end of the season.� :corn