MotoGP 2005

Valentino Rossi showed that he has lost none of his sharpness over the summer break as he clocked the fastest time on the first day of action at the Gauloises Grand Prix Ceske republiky today. Rossi’s time of 1’59.278 on the very final lap of this afternoon’s second free practice at Brno ousted Loris Capirossi from the top of the time sheets by just 0.088 seconds and spoiled an otherwise perfect day for the Ducati rider, who had set the quickest time during the morning session as Rossi suffered his second crash in as many meetings.

“Today was a strange day because we all came back from the holidays and it felt like everybody was still in the beach rhythm!“ said Rossi, who holds the pole record at this circuit with a time of 1’58.769 set two years ago. “The crash this morning was not the perfect way to start. Troy was pushing hard but he suddenly decided to come in to the pit and braked in the middle of the last corner. I was lucky because my front brake made contact and I went down at 149km/h but I am not hurt. Tomorrow we need to work on the suspension to find more grip but so far I am quite happy.”

Last year’s winner Sete Gibernau was third fastest today as he begins his quest to record his first victory of the season. The Spaniard also has one eye on second place in the championship as he currently lies in third place, just one point behind his Honda team-mate Marco Melandri. The Italian youngster, who has won three times at this track in the smaller Grand Prix classes, was fourth fastest today ahead of Suzuki rider Kenny Roberts and Ducati’s Carlos Checa. Nicky Hayden was seventh fastest whilst Colin Edwards was the only rider that failed to improve from the morning to the afternoon session as he slipped to eighth. Alex Barros, the lap record holder, completes the theoretical front three rows in ninth place ahead of tomorrow’s definitive qualifying session.

Veteran rider Jeremy McWilliams made an impressive return to MotoGP action with Proton Team KR today, lapping just 3.611 seconds slower than Rossi on the 2004 version machine he rode last season. The team have rolled out their V5 motor for the first time this year after Austrian engine suppliers KTM decided to end their involvement in the joint MotoGP project last week.

Daniel Pedrosa produced a late lap inside his own circuit record to snatch provisional pole position for the 250cc race from Jorge Lorenzo. The pair have been the subject of a speculative war of words in the Spanish press during the summer break but they did their talking on the track today with an entertaining battle for top spot. Lorenzo ended the session in second place after Pedrosa clocked 2’03.184 with his last of 17 laps. Hiroshi Aoyama and Casey Stoner, who trails Pedrosa by 50 points in the championship, complete the provisional front row.

Mika Kallio set the early pace in the 125cc class, clocking the fastest time in the morning free practice before clinching provisional pole position in the afternoon with a lap of 2’08.875. Kallio’s KTM team-mate Gabor Talmacsi was second fastest in both sessions as the factory aim to take their fourth consecutive victory in the series. Mattia Pasini and Sandro Cortese complete the provisional front row ahead of series leader Thomas Lüthi who was fifth fastest.

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