DUCATI MARLBORO MEN SHINE IN THE RAIN
Friday May 12 2006
Free Practice - Shanghai
Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau shone brightly in miserable conditions during today's rain-lashed opening practice sessions for Sunday's Chinese motorcycle Grand Prix. Capirossi ended the day a close second, with Gibernau just behind in fourth spot after leading most of this afternoon's outing.
Both men focused on riding plenty of laps with their Bridgestone rain tyres, looking for the best wet-weather tyre in case the race is also run in the rain. But latest weather forecasts suggest that while tomorrow will be wet, race day is likely to be overcast but dry. If that forecast is correct, riders will only have Sunday's 20-minute warm-up session in which to work on dry set-up and tyre choice.
LORIS CAPIROSSI, 2nd fastest, 2m 09.748s
"The visibility got worse at the end of this afternoon's session, so during my final run I pulled over to the side of the track, cleared my visor, then pushed harder on my last lap and everything was okay. This morning we worked a lot on wet set-up, we made a lot of progress with engine-management settings and we tried Bridgestone's three different rear rain tyres. All three are okay but I already prefer one over the others. We are good in the wet, thanks to all the work we've done on engine management, but in the dry, when the tyres are working well, we can be even better!
"I'm happy with today's results, it's surprising how many riders are going very fast in these conditions. Tomorrow, I hope the weather will be the same as it will be on Sunday, wet or dry. But there's not much point talking about what the weather will do, we'll just see what happens and make the most of it."
SETE GIBERNAU, 4th fastest, 2m 10.187s
"We've been doing a lot of wet-weather riding at the last couple of races. We are chipping away at things and the bike seems to be working okay here, the tyres too. During the morning and afternoon sessions I did a lot of laps on the same tyres because I wanted to put race distance on them and we managed to do that. This afternoon I did have some problems with helmet fogging, which is very rare, but I know Arai will get that fixed for tomorrow because they're the best.
"We will have to see what the weather brings, but if it stays wet for tomorrow and then dries out for Sunday, everyone will be gambling on bike settings and tyre choice. Plus, we don't really know much about this track in the dry because it rained most of the time here last year. The surface seems grippy enough in the wet, but it doesn't drain too well, so when it rains really hard you get a build up of surface water, then you don't have so much grip."
Temperatures: Ambient: 17 degrees. Track: 17 degrees
Free Practice - Shanghai
Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau shone brightly in miserable conditions during today's rain-lashed opening practice sessions for Sunday's Chinese motorcycle Grand Prix. Capirossi ended the day a close second, with Gibernau just behind in fourth spot after leading most of this afternoon's outing.
Both men focused on riding plenty of laps with their Bridgestone rain tyres, looking for the best wet-weather tyre in case the race is also run in the rain. But latest weather forecasts suggest that while tomorrow will be wet, race day is likely to be overcast but dry. If that forecast is correct, riders will only have Sunday's 20-minute warm-up session in which to work on dry set-up and tyre choice.
LORIS CAPIROSSI, 2nd fastest, 2m 09.748s
"The visibility got worse at the end of this afternoon's session, so during my final run I pulled over to the side of the track, cleared my visor, then pushed harder on my last lap and everything was okay. This morning we worked a lot on wet set-up, we made a lot of progress with engine-management settings and we tried Bridgestone's three different rear rain tyres. All three are okay but I already prefer one over the others. We are good in the wet, thanks to all the work we've done on engine management, but in the dry, when the tyres are working well, we can be even better!
"I'm happy with today's results, it's surprising how many riders are going very fast in these conditions. Tomorrow, I hope the weather will be the same as it will be on Sunday, wet or dry. But there's not much point talking about what the weather will do, we'll just see what happens and make the most of it."
SETE GIBERNAU, 4th fastest, 2m 10.187s
"We've been doing a lot of wet-weather riding at the last couple of races. We are chipping away at things and the bike seems to be working okay here, the tyres too. During the morning and afternoon sessions I did a lot of laps on the same tyres because I wanted to put race distance on them and we managed to do that. This afternoon I did have some problems with helmet fogging, which is very rare, but I know Arai will get that fixed for tomorrow because they're the best.
"We will have to see what the weather brings, but if it stays wet for tomorrow and then dries out for Sunday, everyone will be gambling on bike settings and tyre choice. Plus, we don't really know much about this track in the dry because it rained most of the time here last year. The surface seems grippy enough in the wet, but it doesn't drain too well, so when it rains really hard you get a build up of surface water, then you don't have so much grip."
Temperatures: Ambient: 17 degrees. Track: 17 degrees
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