Valentino Rossi made a strong start to his Chinese challenge in Shanghai today, finishing on top of the combined standings as the only rider to dip under the 1’59 mark. High temperatures are set to continue tomorrow but a strong chance of rain on Sunday could turn the race into a mirror of 2005, when Rossi won a soaking inaugural Chinese Grand Prix.
The Fiat Yamaha Team rider was fast from the off this morning and topped the time sheets for the majority of the first session. This afternoon the track temperature increased and Rossi finished second to Casey Stoner, but his time of 1’59.906 from the morning was good enough to leave him at the top of the overall time sheets for the day.
Rossi’s team-mate Jorge Lorenzo meanwhile had a bad crash this morning and injured both ankles; the 20-year-old will now wait for tomorrow before maki ng a decision about riding.
Valentino Rossi
Position: 1st
Time: 1'59.906
Laps: 47
“I’m quite happy with the start we’ve made. We were able to go fast from the start this morning and the bike setting and the Bridgestone tyres are working very well together. We were faster this morning because this afternoon the temperature of the asphalt reached more than 40 degrees and in these conditions the tyres start to slide a bit, which makes it harder. Anyway we have many different tyres to try, plenty of choices and I am quite relaxed. My rhythm is very good, I can ride more or less how I want and I think we’re in good shape. It seems Stoner and I are a little bit faster than the others and so it looks like it could be another battle like last year! Our bike has more top speed here now so this is important for the long straight, but my corner speed is also good. The problem could be that the weather on Sunday might be completely different to how it is now; as usual I prefer to race in the dry but I think we are in quite good shape in the wet as well. I am sorry for Lorenzo’s crash, it was quite a bad one and now I hope that he is able to recover enough to try to race on Sunday.”
Davide Brivio - Team Manager
“Jorge’s crash was very unfortunate and I hope that he is able to recover enough to try tomorrow; we wish him well. Valentino has had a good day because the bike worked very well from the start this morning and we were able to start to work on the details straight away. Now we just need to continue to fine-tune our setting and tyre choice for tomorrow afternoon and Sunday. The problem is that we’re working on setting the bike for the hot, humid conditions we have at the moment and on Sunday it might be wet, but let’s hope not!”
Ambient temperature: 25 degrees
Track temperature: 38 degrees
Humidity: 37%
Combined Free Practice Times:
1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'59.906
2. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 2'00.163
3. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 2'00.361
4. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 2'00.553
5. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing 2'00.591
6. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda 2'00.607
7. Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2'00.964
9. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP 2'00.974
10. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 2'01.064
11. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team 2'01.326
12. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki 2'01.504
13. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 2'01.798
14. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 2'01.913
15. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing 2'01.984
16. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 2'02.026
17. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team 2'02.348
18. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 2'02.480
Shanghai:
Record Lap: D.Pedrosa (Honda) 2006, 1'59.318
Best Lap: V.Rossi (Yamaha) 2007, 1'58.424
