With a new track surface and extreme temperatures to contend with it was a testing time for the Tech 3 Yamaha Team to find a suitable setup in preparation for Sunday's US Grand Prix at the undulating Laguna Seca circuit in the hills of Monterey. Carlos Checa managed to slot himself into 12th position a shade behind Valentino Rossi on his Yamaha as the team had to contend with a layout that is much rougher than last year. In another encouraging sign for the Spaniard, Carlos was faster than the factory Ducati's and Kawasaki's and is confident that he can find even more speed to claim a top 10 qualifying position tomorrow.
James Ellison who sits in 18th position overnight, is also confident that he can move further up the grid although, he lost some time in the afternoon's free practice wresting with his bucking Yamaha over the now notorious bumps slamming his helmet through the screen in a successful effort to keep it under control.
Carlos Checa (12th, 1'24.883, 61 laps)"It has been a pretty tough first day as we had to do a lot of work and we still haven't found a proper setup that we can work on. Obviously with the new track condition, we have been working with the setup of the bike but also with the tyres to find the best combination that is going to work for both so that we can be as fast as possible. We have made much progress in the last few races and it is important that we can continue that same rate here. Hopefully, the track will be in a bit better condition tomorrow now that there has been some rubber laid down and hopefully the weather conditions will stay the same as I think the Dunlop tyres should work pretty well around here if these conditions remain. If it does stay the same it will allow us to test some more tyres as we now know the durability of the Dunlops is there so we just have to find the one that suits this track as the quality of the asphalt and the finishing is not good. Grip is not the problem but it is all the bumps, especially on the exit of the Corkscrew where we are becoming airborne like a motocross bike that we have to find a good solution. The surface is like laying on a beach and feeling the unevenness of the sand underneath you; that is how uneven the track is now! They have made many improvements to the safety of the track but I wish they had taken a bit more time to get the surface correct."
James Ellison (18th 1'25.768, 48 laps)"It has been a difficult day in some ways but we have made some good progress as well. The first hour was a matter of finding what the track was like as it is not as good a surface as last year. The good thing is that we left the bike the way it was in Germany and it has worked well from the start plus we know we can improve a lot of areas and being less than a second behind Rossi is a bit of a confidence boost as well. We are not having too many grip problems as we used one set of tyres for most of the second session doing 23 laps on them. Plus, we are not getting any chatter here it's just trying to get the drive in some areas as it is so bumpy. Coming onto t he straight on one lap it got so out of shape that I slammed my head through the screen and broke it so that tells you how uneven the surface is around here now. We're going to lower the bike a bit overnight to see if that helps in getting it to handle a bit better but overall I am happy that we are heading in the right direction and now we know what we are up against with this track I think we should be able to get some decent times tomorrow and hopefully be right up with Carlos by tomorrow afternoon
Herve Poncharal - Tech3 Yamaha Team Director"The important thing for us to do after our best race of the season at Sachsenring last week is to continue on the same path that we have seen in recent races. I was a bit worried this morning as Dunlop has a lot of information about this track as they have raced here many times over the years in the American superbike class but unfortunately the new surface has changed that.. I don't know what the situation is with the other tyre manufacturers as they battle then new track surface but I have to say I am quite happy with how the Tech 3 Yamaha Team and the Dunlop tyres performed today. I hope that we will be able to improve in our qualifying performance as well but that may be difficult as if you don't get a clear lap it can be quite difficult to pass around here. With the weather forecast we feel that the track condition should stay the same as far as grip levels go so we should be able to test a few more tyres to find out which one will suit us on Sunday. The main problem is the bumps as we have to find a setup that is going to ride over them but it is the same for everybody. For the most part the surface does seem pretty good grip and from what we saw today with the Dunlops I don't think we should have a problem with the durability of the tyre. Let's hope our progress continues here in America and we can put on a good show like last week."
Circuit Length: 3610
Temp: 29
Weather: Dry
2006 MotoGP Laguna Seca Free Practice:1 Kenny Roberts Team Robert KR USA 1'23.859
2 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 1'24.125
3 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 1'24.194
4 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 1'24.223
5 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 1'24.253
6 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 1'24.320
7 Makato Tamada Honda JPN 1'24.339
8 Toni Elias Honda ESP 1'24.494
9 Casey Stoner Honda AUS 1'24.523
10 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 1'24.663
11 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'24.822
12 Carlos Checa Yamaha ESP 1'24.883
13 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 1'25.094
14 Sete Gibernau Ducati ESP 1'25.252
15 Alex Hofmann Ducati GER 1'25.294
18 James Ellison Yamaha GBR 1'25.768
Related Linkswww.yamaha-racing.com
Related News
