In another impressive step for the Tech 3 Yamaha Team, lead rider Carlos Checa scored the team a stunning qualifying position for the team when he secured the sixth fastest time in the solitary one-hour session as Nicky Hayden (Honda) claimed pole position. Proving the giant leaps in the performance of the Dunlop qualifying tyres Carlos was also the fastest rider in the third free practice session held earlier in the day surprising the world with the result.
Besides providing the best qualifying time of 2006 for the Tech 3 Yamaha Team, Carlos was able to run very impressive times with race tyres instilling the team with confidence for what is hoped to be the best race result of the year.
While Carlos proved how well the team has progressed through the year in Dunlop's return to the premier class of racing, teammate James Ellison struggled as he will start from 18th position on the grid although he took two seconds of his lap times.
Carlos Checa (6th, 1'29.865, 29 laps)"That was definitely the best result for us for the year and being able to do laps in the 1'29 sec bracket was outstanding. It is also the biggest improvement for the Dunlop qualifying tyres that I have seen and doing it at a track like Phillip Island that is so hard on tyres is very satisfying and proves how hard Dunlop have been working. To be the fastest the morning gave me one of the best feelings I have ever had in racing. I love this track and I have had some very good results here over the years so I am looking forward to another good result tomorrow. Besides the times we could do on qualifying tyres we also have good pace on race tyres with excellent durability and stability so we are confident that we can get our best result of the year. As we have found this big improvement in our qualifying tyres it gives us a perfect chance to get away with the leaders as we are on the second row of the grid. If you said to me a few weeks ago that we would be on the second row of the grid I would've laughed at you but I must thank Dunlop and my Tech 3 team for all the hard work they have been putting in to try and make us more competitive."
James Ellison (18th1'31.998, 28 laps)"We are basically struggling with the same stuff as normal in the front and rear tyres using different rim sizes and different profiles. We found that as we are using very similar tyres to what Carlos is using and then we were able to start working ion the bike and see some changes to our times. We have been moving forward and finally broke into the 1'31 sec bracket so we made a few steps forward then we hit a wall. The next wall we have hit is in the three fast corners as its running into the corner and we're pushing wise so we are limited to how fast we can go into the corners. We have a plan and the boys seem to know what to do so hopefully we will find something overnight and be able to try something new in the morning to ensure we can run at a decent pace in the race Saying that, I'm really happy for Carlos as it's a fitting reward for all the hard work the team has been putting in and shows that the Dunlops are improving."
Herve Poncharal - Tech 3 Yamaha Team Director"First up I want to thank Carlos a lot. He has worked so hard all year and this proves the work and information he has been supplying is helping us and Dunlop. It has been a really good week so far and for sure the best weekend we have had all year. We are really happy to see everything improving the way it is and to see Carlos on top of the sheet this morning was truly a great moment. To be on the second row is also very important as this track is which is supposed to be one of the most difficult for tyres and we are doing well on both race and qualifying tyres. Second row is our best grid position so far and we are very optimistic but it is such a close grid and the racing is always so close here that anything can happen so you can hope for a top five but you can easily finish 14th or 15th The start will be very important as we have to be very aggressive for the first few laps so if we can do that we are in a very good shape so we can look for a strong result which would be superb. This result confirms what I have been saying all year with Dunlop improving race by race and together with Yamaha we have a very good package so this looks good for the future. Again I would like to congratulate Carlos as he has doing a very tremendous job."
Circuit Length: 4448
Temp: 17
Weather: Dry
Qualifying 1 Phillip Island 16/09/2006: 1 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 1'29.020
2 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki JPN 1'29.258
3 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'29.271
4 Kenny Roberts Team Robert KR USA 1'29.662
5 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 1'29.680
6 Carlos Checa Yamaha ESP 1'29.865
7 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 1'29.949
8 Casey Stoner Honda AUS 1'29.969
9 Randy De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 1'30.037
10 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 1'30.081
11 Makato Tamada Honda JPN 1'30.132
12 Sete Gibernau Ducati ESP 1'30.237
13 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 1'30.393
14 Toni Elias Honda ESP 1'30.498
15 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 1'31.143
18 James Ellison Yamaha GBR 1'31.998
Related Linkswww.yamaha-racing.com
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