MotoGP 2005

Ducati Marlboro Team riders Carlos Checa and Loris Capirossi featured strongly in the opening day of free practice at the Sachsenring, with Checa running out fourth fastest after two sessions, just 0,246 seconds off Barros, fastest today, and Capirossi ending up 11th, only five tenths off the fastest on track.

In the final hour of Friday practice, held in hot ambient temperatures of 32°C, Checa was second fastest for most of the session, only displaced to fourth overall in the final minutes. Capirossi was not in a position to make an improvement in his best time late in the session, but is still close to the leading riders on lap time.

The dual nature of the Sachsenring track, with a slow and tight first section flowing into a fast loop to complete the lap, means that finding a good set-up for the entire track is an elusive ideal for any team and rider. Hence there is still a lot of work to be done by both riders and crews before the race on Sunday.

"Bridgestone brought some new tyre specifications and they seem to work very well here," said Ducati MotoGP Project Manager Livio Suppo. "We are happy about that and we have set good times in these dry conditions - so we have to say thank you to Bridgestone for the efforts they have made. The machine has usually been good here, we finished on the podium in 2003 and Loris was running third last year until he fell. The riders like it here so we are looking for a good weekend. Even if it rains tomorrow we know that we should have no problems, as Bridgestone have a proven record in wet conditions. That fact also makes today particularly positive, because we have good info for the dry and no fears about the possibility of rain."

Carlos Checa showed good pace around the schizophrenic Sachsenring circuit from the off, making good use of the new tyres which Bridgestone produced for this race.

"I am very happy with all our work today," said Carlos, "we tested the bike set-up in a lot of different way to make me feel more comfortable. Of course we have to keep working because maybe it will rain tomorrow. If it is wet then we should not be too bad. Certainly in the dry the Ducati is working quite well here, as are our tyres, so the combination is good compared to our rivals. I feel more comfortable in the slower areas, but set-up is always a compromise here."

Loris Capirossi, satisfied of the new dry Bridgestone tyres, concentrated his opening efforts on a race set-up yet still ended the day with a competitive time.

"We are OK at the moment," said Capirossi. "This morning I did not like the set-up so much, but we changed the settings and it is a lot better now. Bridgestone brought a lot of new tyres and I tried one which is totally different from the ones we have used in the past. It worked really well at this track so tomorrow I hope it will not rain, so we can continue fine-tuning on the current set-up. I am happy with my rhythm even if I am 11th, because I am only three tenths from the second rider. I did not exploit the last minutes of the last session as I had a small problem with my bike. Despite this, I am still quite confident."

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