MotoGP 2005 Qualifying

MotoGP : Yamaha duo make significant progress at Sachsenring
Round: 10 - German MotoGP
Circuit: Sachsenring
Date: 30 July 2005
Temp: 24慢
Weather: Dry

Gauloises Yamaha riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards recovered from a difficult first day at the Sachsenring to improve their positions today, qualifying on the second and third row respectively for tomorrow's German Grand Prix. Rossi in particular made impressive progress after struggling to the thirteenth fastest time yesterday, mounting a strong challenge this afternoon in an entertaining battle for pole position that was eventually won by Nicky Hayden (Honda).

Whilst Sete Gibernau and Alex Barros (both Honda) join Hayden on the front row, Rossi ended the session only 0.188 seconds off the day's best time and the Italian was satisfied both with the steps taken with the set-up of his YZR-M1 machine and with a fourth-place start on the grid. Edwards also made encouraging progress, although he was unable to find the perfect compromise setting for the track, which places drastically diverse demands on the machine throughout the contrasting fast and slow sections. The American eventually qualified seventh fastest and will head the third row of the grid tomorrow.

Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team), 4th - 1'22.973 "I'm much happier today - the team have done a great job to get the bike working well here because it is such a peculiar circuit. Yesterday we lost our direction a little bit but today we made a lot of progress. In the morning we were able to sort out the problems we had on the front end and in the afternoon we made a big step forward on the rear, even with the race tyre. I made a mistake in the final corner on my fast lap that probably cost me a tenth but I am still only 0.188 seconds from the pole. Considering where we were yesterday, I am happy with that. Tomorrow will be a very hard race because there are four or five riders who have the pace to run at the front, but we've done a good job today and I think we can be there with them."

Colin Edwards (Gauloises Yamaha Team), 7th - 1'23.139 "We made some progress today but it is still a struggle! This morning I put on a qualifier in the free practice just to test it out and only then was I able to set a fast lap. I'm losing three tenths of a second in the third section, which we just can't seem to work out. Three tenths is a lot over a whole lap, especially here, but to lose it in one split is hard to swallow. To be honest though, things were so bad yesterday that if you'd have told me I'd be seventh fastest today and starting from the front of the third row, I wouldn't have been too upset. We know exactly where the problem is and the team are doing everything they can to fix it. We've just got to work extremely hard in the warm-up tomorrow to try to come up with a solution."

Fortuna Yamaha Team riders Toni Elias and Ruben Xaus have both struggled to find a comfortable set-up so far this weekend, qualifying 17th and 18th respectively. Xaus will hope to improve on the 11th place he achieved at the same circuit last year. The Spanish rider had bad luck today as he had to interrupt his qualification to get treatment on an injury to his left leg that clearly affected his rhythm when he put on his qualifying tyres at the end of the session. Elias was still troubled by the injury to his left hand sustained at Le Mans in May and will have injections before the race to try and ease the pain.

Toni Elias (Fortuna Yamaha Team), 17th - 1'24.421 "I am not happy either with my times or my position. However, you have to try and take the positives from our work over the weekend. It's obvious, though, that in the last session we improved from yesterday. It's clear we are not in great shape for the race, but we are getting better which is comforting. We have to keep working, it will be a hard and long race. If it rains it could help us. It's obvious at the moment that I can't push too hard physically and risk injuring myself again and spending weeks out. I have to keep working hard on my fitness and remain sensible so we can stick to our plan."

Ruben Xaus (Fortuna Yamaha Team), 18th - 1'24.605 "It was a difficult day due to the pain I had in my leg. We know what we have to do tomorrow and we always seem to perform better in the races. That is what we must try as our aim is to score in every race. When we put the qualifying tyre on things got much better and that will give us crucial information for tomorrow. It's going to be a hard day for everyone especially if it ends up raining."

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