Newly-crowned 2008 World Champion Valentino Rossi was back in action at Phillip Island today, just five days after clinching an incredible sixth premier class title, his eighth in all. The Fiat Yamaha Team rider finished a promising second in this morning’s dry session, before rain interrupted the proceedings this afternoon.
The Italian maestro has a peerless record at Phillip Island having won five times in the premier class, including twice with Yamaha during his championship winning years of 2004 and 2005, and he is keen to get back onto the top step of the podium this weekend. Bright sunshine this morning saw him in fine form, running second behind Casey Stoner, but this afternoon was a different story as rain and wind battered the coastal circuit. Rossi was sixth fastest this afternoon and, with unsettled weather expected for the rest of the weekend , this afternoon’s wet set-up time could prove useful. His team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, who has won the 250cc race for the last two years here, was eighth in the dry this morning and fifth in the wet this afternoon.
Valentino RossiPosition: 2nd
Time: 1'30.764
Laps: 49
“Today we are back to work after the championship victory but I can say that my motivation is still very high and I really want to have a good result here. I am quite happy with this morning’s session, second is not so bad and I managed to do some good laps and find a strong rhythm quite quickly. It wasn’t perfect however and we need to work a little bit on the tyres with Bridgestone. This track is very hard on tyres, especially the left side where there is a lot of stress and at the moment we have a bit too much rear spin. In the wet we were a bit slow and we lack some feel on the entry to the corner, so if it is wet again then we will need to work on this. Now we will have to wait and see what the weather does tomorrow in order to see what we have to focus on.”
Davide Brivio - Team Manager “Yet again we’ve had another half wet, half dry day! It’s a pity this morning’s great weather couldn’t continue but anyway it seems we might be okay for the rest of the weekend. This morning we were reasonably fast, although we have some improvements to make, but this afternoon in the wet things weren’t quite as good. We still need to choose the best tyres for both conditions so that we’re prepared for rain or shine! Anyway, it’s only Friday so we will keep working like this tomorrow and hopefully make another step forward.”
Ambient temperature: 13 degrees
Track temperature: 15 degrees
Humidity: 92%
Combined Free Practice Times 1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 1'30.094
2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'30.7643. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'31.043
4. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP 1'31.051
5. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1'31.070
6. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 1'31.161
7. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'31.221
8. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 1'31.227
9. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'31.235
10. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'31.248
11. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda 1'31.284
12. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 1'31.368
13. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team 1'31.532
14. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki 1'31.719
15. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 1'31.803
16. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing 1'31.814
17. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing 1'32.211
18. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team 1'32.415
Phillip Island: Record Lap: M. Melandri (Honda) 2005, 1'30.332
Best Lap: N. Hayden (Honda) 2006, 1'29.020
