Alex Asigno

Following Valentino Rossi's hard-fought victory in yesterday's Grand Prix of Qatar, the Italian was back out on track today alongside his Camel Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards for a one-day test today. Despite Rossi's win, the team still saw remnants of their vibration problem arise during the weekend and today's test was aimed once again at working to understand and finally eliminate this problem from the 2006 YZR-M1. As at the last one-day test in Jerez, Valentino Rossi completed a few laps on the 2005 M1 in order to compare its performance with the current bike and gather more information. Besides this Rossi and Edwards, who completed 58 and 66 laps respectively, spent the day trying out various different settings and both riders made some encouraging improvements with some consistently fast lap times. Just a small group of MotoGP riders stayed on to test alongside the Yamaha riders and the fastest unofficial lap was set by Marco Melandri (Honda) in a time of 1'55.95. Rossi was second quickest with a lap of 1'56.25 and Edwards third in a time of 1'56.35. The MotoGP paddock now has a two and a half week break before the third Grand Prix of the season in Istanbul commences on April 28th. Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "It's always quite hard to get up early and go testing the morning after a victory, but today was really important for us and the riders; the whole team has worked hard all day and made the most of the time we had available. In truth we still haven't completely solved our problem, but we've been able to gather a lot more important information and now we have to use this in the best possible way between now and Istanbul. We've definitely made some big improvements today, for both riders. We've tried many different settings which have made the problem much less critical, allowing the riders to ride the bike at a better level. Valentino was obviously able to win yesterday and in the race the problems virtually disappeared, but we knew that they were still there and today we managed to make some good steps forward. Colin had a difficult race and this test has been really important for him; he's finished the day in a much better situation. "Valentino once again tested the 2005 bike so we could make some comparisons. We know that with this bike the situation is different and we don't have vibration, but we also know that the 2006 bike is better in most other ways and has more potential. We also tested a qualifying tyre today as this was when the problem was at its worst during the race weekend, so this was interesting also. Overall it's been a good day for us and hopefully Yamaha can use all this information to our advantage so that we are ready to fight with both riders at the front in Turkey." Unofficial Lap Times: 1. Marco Melandri (ITA) Fortuna Honda, 1'55.95 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1'56.25 3. Colin Edwards (USA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1'56.35 4. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team, 1'56.36 5. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1'56.61 6. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team,1'56.77 7. Toni Elias (SPA) Fortuna Honda, 1'56.86

Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi returned to the top step of the podium after a stunning ride in today's Grand Prix of Qatar. Rossi's 54th career MotoGP victory was sealed with a perfectly timed run in the second half of the race, passing early leader Casey Stoner (Honda) on lap 10 of 22 and holding off a late attack from Nicky Hayden (Honda) and Loris Capirossi (Ducati), who completed the podium. The win brings Rossi's premier-class tally level with that of Mick Doohan, with only the legendary Giacomo Agostini now ahead of him on 68 victories. Colin Edwards endured a difficult afternoon after front-end problems that appeared throughout the weekend returned to haunt him in the race. The American started from eighth on the grid and made a good start, moving up to sixth place by lap five, but he was unable to maintain the fast and consistent pace he showed in practice and he eventually dropped to ninth. Rossi's victory moves him up to fourth in the championship, fourteen points behind early leader Capirossi after two rounds of seventeen. Valentino Rossi - 1st; 43'22.229 "That was a great race - it was hard but that is what made it such fun. My M1 worked really well today - as the race went on the grip went down and the vibration completely disappeared, so I was able to go fast at the end. Also I set the fastest lap of the race on lap three, so this shows how well my M1 was working. This win is important for the championship but even more so from a mental point of view for me and the team. It was windy but the grip was good and I was able to chase Stoner, who was very fast at the start. When his tyres went down I was able to pass him and I thought I could escape but Nicky stayed with me. Then I looked back and saw Loris was coming too so I began to get worried about the last few laps. Anyway, I pushed hard and managed to hold on. It is great to be level with Mick Doohan, now only Giacomo Agostini is ahead of me. Records are not the most important thing but they are always nice! This feels like the start of the championship for me. Jerez was a nightmare but here we woke up! Big thanks to Jeremy and all the guys because they stayed focused during a difficult time and this is their reward." Colin Edwards - 9th; 43'45.149 (+22.920) "I made a good start and over the first five laps I felt fine - the bike was good and I was able to ride aggressively. I thought: 'okay, let's go for it.' Then on lap six I lost the front three times in a row and I almost crashed on each one of them. I thought it was a bit early in the race for that to happen so I pushed on and got going again but the front kept going and I had to ride slower and slower. In the practice simulation I ran a 1'57.2 on my last lap but in the race it was three seconds slower so clearly something is not right. Thankfully we have a test tomorrow to find out what it was and make sure that we are in better shape for Turkey." Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "This is a great day for us because we have been going through a difficult patch so to come out of it with a win is fantastic. It is a credit to the team because they have remained determined throughout the problems and never lost their focus. On Colin's side we have to keep this focus because he had some problems today and we want to bring both Yamahas to the top. We have work to do but we made up some important points in the championship today and this victory gives us even more motivation to continue in the same way at Istanbul." Improved performance brings smiles to Tech 3 Yamaha Team The improvement of the Tech 3 Yamaha Team continued at a wind-swept Losail International Circuit in Qatar today, with an encouraging performance from both riders the exact tonic needed to boost confidence in the team for the long season ahead. Battling very challenging and treacherous riding conditions, with gales sweeping off the surrounding desert, Tech 3 team-mates Carlos Checa and James Ellison finished 12th and 13th respectively. Ellison gained an added bonus as he claimed his first championship points of the year, while Checa fought a hard race despite still suffering the effects of injuries suffered in crashes during the opening Grand Prix in Spain two weeks ago. Results could have been even better for the Tech 3 Yamaha Team except for a first lap incident when both riders were baulked after Randy De Puniet (Kawasaki) crashed in front of them. The incident forced them to the rear of the field, but hard riding for the entire 22 laps saw them fight their way through a number of opponents. Team Director Herve Poncharal was delighted with the results, considering the conditions and the first lap incident that hampered progress in the race, which was won by fellow Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi. Carlos Checa - 12th; 44'11.474 (+49.245) "I am very happy with the performance of the Yamaha and the Dunlop tyres today. That is very encouraging for myself and the team but at the moment I am not fit enough to ride the bike and the tyres to the level that I would like. My shoulder is a little better today but in two weeks I will be so much fitter. The severe wind also made it harder to ride than I had anticipated. The team continues to improve everything about the bike and I am confident that after rest and physiotherapy I will be in much better shape to battle the way I desire in the races ahead." James Ellison - 13th; 44'23.698 (+1'01.469) "I am very, very happy. We both got held up on the first lap when another rider crashed in front of us and without this I think the result could have been even better. I am feeling really comfortable on the bike now and pushed very hard throughout the race. I made up two seconds in one lap but then I got stuck behind Tamada and couldn't get past him for quite a while. The tyres held up perfectly for the 22 laps and were exactly the same at the finish as at the start and that is very encouraging. We got some points to start the season with and if I keep progressing like I am doing there will be even better results coming in the near future." Herve Poncharal - Tech3 Yamaha Team Director "Altogether we had a good weekend. The entire package - the bike and tyres - worked really well, going the whole distance. I think considering the severe winds and the problems that Carlos is having we had very encouraging results. Carlos fully-fit will deliver the promise he showed in winter testing while James is getting better every time he rides the bike. After De Puniet crashed it made it difficult for the results we wanted, but both James and Carlos fought through to the end like the determined and courageous riders they are. I'm very satisfied with the results and how much everything has improved since our test here in February. We will be testing here tomorrow with James only as Carlos will return home to make a full recovery and be fit for the next Grand Prix in Turkey in three weeks." Race classification MotoGP Round: 2 - 2006 MotoGP Qatar Circuit: Losail Circuit Circuit Length: 5380 Lap Record: 1' 57.305 (Valentino Rossi, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 57.305 (Valentino Rossi, 2006) Race: 22 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA 43' 22.229 2 N. Hayden Honda USA +0.900 3 L. Capirossi Ducati ITA +1.494 4 S. Gibernau Ducati ESP +4.638 5 C. Stoner Honda AUS +7.575 6 D. Pedrosa Honda ESP +10.820 7 M. Melandri Honda ITA +11.784 8 T. Elias Honda ESP +19.481 9 C. Edwards Yamaha USA +22.920 10 K. Roberts Team Roberts KR USA +34.286 11 S. Nakano Kawasaki JPN +35.316 12 C. Checa Yamaha ESP +49.245 13 J. Ellison Yamaha GBR +1' 1.469 14 M. Tamada Honda JPN +1' 10.778 15 A. Hofmann Ducati GER +1' 22.051 16 J. Cardoso Ducati ESP +1' 33.818 Fastest Race Lap: Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA 1' 57.305 Championship standings MotoGP Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points 1 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 41 2 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 36 3 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 30 4 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 27 5 Casey Stoner Honda AUS 21 6 Toni Elias Honda ESP 21 7 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 20 8 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki JPN 14 9 Kenny Roberts Team Roberts KR USA 14 10 Sete Gibernau Ducati ESP 13 11 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 12 12 Makato Tamada Honda JPN 8 13 Carlos Checa Yamaha ESP 7 14 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 7 15 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 4 16 James Ellison Yamaha GBR 3 Manufacturers standings MotoGP Pos. Manufacturer Points 1 Ducati 41 2 Honda 40 3 Yamaha 30 4 Team Roberts KR 14 4 Kawasaki 14 5 Suzuki 7 Team standings MotoGP Pos. Team Points 1 Repsol Honda Team 66 2 Ducati Marlboro Team 54 3 Fortuna Honda Team 41 4 Camel Yamaha Team 39 5 Honda LCR 21 6 Team Roberts KR 14 7 Kawasaki Racing Team 14 8 Rizla Suzuki 11 9 Tech3 Yamaha 10 10 Konica Minolta Honda 8 11 Pramac D'Antin 2 Race classification GP250 Round: 2 - 2006 Qatar GP250 Circuit: Losail Circuit Circuit Length: 5380 Lap Record: 2' 3.015 (Alex de Angelis, 2004) Fastest Lap Ever: 2' 2.154 (Jorge Lorenzo, 2005) Race: 20 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 J. Lorenzo Aprilia ESP 41' 29.946 2 A. Dovizioso Honda ITA +0.077 3 R. Locatelli Aprilia ITA +19.364 4 H. Barbera Aprilia ESP +19.398 5 H. Aoyama KTM JPN +24.051 6 S. Guintoli Aprilia FRA +28.695 7 S. Porto Honda ARG +33.255 8 M. Simoncelli Gilera ITA +34.214 9 Y. Takahashi Honda JPN +34.406 10 J. Smrz Aprilia CZE +34.419 11 M. Cardenas Honda COL +49.121 12 A. Ballerini Aprilia ITA +1' 0.069 13 S. Aoyama Honda JPN +1' 0.633 14 M. Poggiali KTM SMR +1' 4.619 15 D. Heidolf Aprilia GER +1' 12.332 16 A. Vincent Honda FRA +1' 13.128 17 C. Davies Aprilia GBR +1' 44.684 18 L. Morelli Aprilia ITA +1' 59.950 19 M. Danese Aprilia ITA +1 lap(s) 20 A. Palumbo Aprilia ITA +1 lap(s) Fastest Race Lap: Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 A. Dovizioso Honda ITA 2' 3.246 Championship standings GP250 Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points 1 Jorge Lorenzo Aprilia ESP 50 2 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 36 3 Roberto Locatelli Aprilia ITA 25 4 Hector Barbera Aprilia ESP 24 5 Hiroshi Aoyama KTM JPN 21 6 Alex de Angelis Aprilia SMR 20 7 Yuki Takahashi Honda JPN 20 8 Sylvain Guintoli Aprilia FRA 17 9 Martin Cardenas Honda COL 13 10 Sebastian Porto Honda ARG 9 11 Marco Simoncelli Gilera ITA 8 12 Manuel Poggiali KTM SMR 7 13 Jakub Smrz Aprilia CZE 6 14 Arnaud Vincent Honda FRA 6 15 Arturo Tizon Honda ESP 4 Manufacturers standings GP250 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1 Aprilia 50 2 Honda 36 3 KTM 21

Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards improved the setting of their Yamaha M1 machines for tomorrow's Grand Prix of Qatar despite struggling for a fast single lap in this afternoon's qualifying practice. Whilst both riders again demonstrated encouraging pace on race rubber, the improved rear grip offered by the qualifying tyre at the end of the session exaggerated the remaining traces of vibration problems and prevented them from mounting a serious challenge for a front row start. Rossi was the quickest of the pair, clocking the sixth fastest time to seal a slot on the second row of the grid. Edwards, meanwhile, was just over a tenth of a second outside the time set by his team-mate and will start from two places behind him in tomorrow's 22-lap race, which starts at 15h local time (14h CET). Leading the way from pole position will be Australian youngster Casey Stoner (Honda), who produced a record lap of 1'55.683 to surprise the rest of the field in only his second MotoGP appearance. Loris Capirossi (Ducati) and Toni Elias (Honda) complete the front row. Valentino Rossi (6th, 1'56.076, 25 laps) "The problem is that when the grip comes up we push more and the vibration comes back, so today we couldn't use the full potential of the qualifying tyre and I am only sixth. Anyway my race rhythm is not so bad and there are many riders close together, so I think it will be a good battle tomorrow. I am very surprised by Stoner and I would like to give him my sincere congratulations. He has been very fast all weekend and he used the qualifying tyre to 100%, even better than Loris, who has a lot of experience. Loris is in good shape again but I think the guys to beat are the young riders - Stoner, Elias and Pedrosa. Tomorrow we will see, but it should be interesting!" Colin Edwards (8th, 1'56.230, 22 laps) "We've definitely made the bike better since yesterday and even from this morning. We're still struggling with a little bit of vibration but the problem is continually reducing and I think we're on to something with the setting. We'll make a few small changes in the morning but it's a fine line between what could work and what definitely doesn't work so we have to be careful not to go backwards. My race pace is okay but I'm not going to lie - it was hard work. If the other guys were doing 1'57s I'd be delighted but I think we'll have hold it in the 1'56 mark during the race to come out with a top result. It's going to be tough but if we can make a small step in the morning we'll be ready." Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha team Director "We have had fewer problems here than we had in Jerez but the situation is still not perfect. The qualifying session did not go so well for us but both riders have a decent race pace and I think they are in good shape for tomorrow. It will be hard because no doubt the young riders will push hard from the start. It will be a close battle at the front but I think we can be a part of it." Positive progression for Tech 3 Yamaha Team Good progress continued today for the Tech 3 Yamaha Team at the tight and physically demanding Losail International Circuit in Qatar. Riders Carlos Checa and James Ellison improved their race setup and this was reflected in the lap times as the gap to the leading teams was lessened considerably. Both riders completed the one hour qualifying session on the ever-improving Dunlop race tyres; the team decided against using qualifying tyres as they looked to gain an improved race setup and increase their confidence ahead of a long and demanding race tomorrow. Checa is still feeling the effects of two crashes at Jerez less than a fortnight ago and was unable to ride at his full potential, qualifying in 14th position, whilst Ellison will start from 17th tomorrow. However Team Director Herve Poncharal was happy with the improved performance and hopes for a positive race for both riders. Carlos Checa (14th, 1'57.299, 22 laps) "We've made some good improvements with the bike and tyres and I have found a race setup that is pretty close to what I desire, but I am still not strong enough with my left arm and that is very important at a track like this. I know in myself that I would be a lot further up the field if I did not have this limitation. It is especially hard on my left side when I am cornering and trying to move around on the bike; I am not as strong as I should be. I don't like riding like this as I am a fighter and want to be at the front, as we showed we can be in winter testing. Anyway we will do our best tomorrow and hopefully we can run a good race despite my problems." James Ellison (17th. 1'58.591, 20 laps) "We're improving all the time and that is the main thing; to move forward every time I get on the bike. I am a lot closer to Carlos and truthfully this is the best session I have had on the bike. I am very happy. We didn't use qualifiers today as we were concentrating on the race set-up and we have found a good tyre that we think will last. We did some consistent times so I am confident that we can finish well, as today I could stick with the other riders I was following. This is the first weekend that we have made big changes to the bike and we've made some good ones. We have moved the handlebars and adjusted my seating for the first time. Moving the 'bars has made a big improvement when exiting the corners, because now I can get over the front of the bike more and feel that I have more control of it." Herve Poncharal - Tech 3 Yamaha Team Director "It has been a positive result for us today. I am happy with the results; it was a choice not to use qualifying tyres as this can give false hope. My main concern is obviously for Carlos and his shoulder. He hasn't recovered from the two big crashes he had at Jerez and is lacking a lot of strength in his left side to be able to control the bike, especially in the many changes of direction around this track. James is improving every time he rides the bike and I can't ask for more than that. This year the target is to provide as much feedback to develop the Dunlop tyres and at every race get closer to the front and we hope we can take another step tomorrow." Round: 2 - 2006 MotoGP Qatar Circuit: Losail Circuit Circuit Length: 5380 Lap Record: 1' 57.903 (Nicky Hayden, 2005) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 55.683 (Casey Stoner, 2006) Date: 7 April 2006 Temp: 32ºC Session 1 : Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. 1st Qualifying 1 C. Stoner Honda AUS 1' 55.638 2 L. Capirossi Ducati ITA 1' 55.721 3 T. Elias Honda ESP 1' 55.735 4 N. Hayden Honda USA 1' 55.793 5 D. Pedrosa Honda ESP 1' 56.008 6 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA 1' 56.076 7 S. Gibernau Ducati ESP 1' 56.177 8 C. Edwards Yamaha USA 1' 56.230 9 S. Nakano Kawasaki JPN 1' 56.237 10 K. Roberts Team Roberts KR USA 1' 56.272 11 C. Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 1' 56.356 12 M. Melandri Honda ITA 1' 56.822 13 J. Hopkins Suzuki USA 1' 56.981 14 C. Checa Yamaha ESP 1' 57.299 15 R. De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 1' 57.822 16 M. Tamada Honda JPN 1' 57.891 17 J. Ellison Yamaha GBR 1' 58.674

Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards began key set-up work on their Yamaha YZR-M1 machines for the Grand Prix of Qatar in relatively mild temperatures of 27ºC today. After excelling at this track in pre-season tests the riders were keen to gauge the bike's performance against the other main contenders in the MotoGP class and after two intense free practice sessions they ended the day in optimistic moods about their chances for Saturday's race. Following on from a disappointing first race of the season in Jerez two weeks ago, where both Rossi and Edwards suffered from vibration problems when cornering, the Italian and the American confirmed that the issue was not as severe at this circuit. Edwards spent much of the afternoon session at the top of the time sheets as he set an impressive and consistent pace before eventually dropping to fourth place - two places ahead of Rossi. The fastest lap of the day was recorded by Kenny Roberts Junior (Honda KR) in a time of 1'56.905, just ahead of Casey Stoner and Marco Melandri (both Honda). Colin Edwards (4th, 1'57.024, 28 laps) "Everything is much better today and I've been able to do some good laps, so it's certainly a better start than we made in Jerez! Although it's much less, the vibration hasn't completely gone and we have a couple of other issues that we need to work on in order to be completely ready to push at the limit. I was able to set a decent pace and knock out some consistent laps with the current setting on the bike but we definitely still have a few things to work out. I've gone well at this track since the first day I came here and it really helps to have tested here recently, but we need to take this extra step before I can be truly confident about my chances on Saturday." Valentino Rossi (6th, 1'57.141, 41 laps) "We knew from the tests that the bike worked much better at this track and that was the case today. The vibration is not so much and only in a couple of corners, but we can control it. Now we can work more normally, concentrating on setting-up the bike in order to go faster, rather than thinking all the time about the vibration. We still have all day tomorrow to make some small improvements and I think we can be fast in the race on Saturday, as we were last year. There are some very fast riders at the front and we are all very close together. It seems the other guys were ready to push hard from the very beginning and they are full of motivation so it will be a hard battle. Jerez was also a hard battle for me but I hope Saturday will be a different kind!" Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "It is still quite early but at the moment it looks like we might have a normal weekend! Both riders have a good pace and between them they completed many laps today, gathering some important information to work on the setting of the bike tomorrow. We still have to improve though and it will be important to keep up with the steps made by our competitors. Things appear better than they were at Jerez but we'll wait until tomorrow to get a better idea." Rounding up the first day with riders in 11th and 17th position, Tech3 Yamaha Team is trying to work towards better results for the race weekend. With Carlos Checa suffering from physical problems during free practice session and James Ellison making positive progression with the set up of his bike, both riders have spend significant time on testing different sets of new tyres. Although lap times where less fast compared to the Qatar pre-season test, team director Herve Poncharal remains positive. Carlos Checa (11th, 1'57.992) "Since my crash in Jerez I have been suffering from some pain in my left arm and I have lost some feeling. Some days it's better than others; yesterday it hurt a lot but today it's a little bit better. Unfortunately though it's affecting my ability to ride and I can't get into the corners properly. I am being treated by a physiotherapist and I hope that it will get better quickly. "We've tested five or six tyres today and we've found one that we think can be good for the race, so we're quite pleased. We've found a good base setting for the bike and today we've done some good work on the set-up, so in this department things are looking quite positive. The main factor is the pain in my arm so I hope that this will get better again tomorrow." James Ellison (17th. 1'59.620) "We've made a better start than in Jerez and we've found a good direction with the tyres. We tried a new profile and it's working really well so that's good. We left it on for the afternoon and I did some good, consistent laps so I am quite pleased. I did a run of 12 laps and the last one was the fastest, which bodes well for the longevity of the tyre. The bike feels good and I don't have any chatter. We've made some changes to the set-up and especially the position of the seat, so it 'fits' me better now and this is making a difference. I know I am still near to the bottom but I am feeling good here so I hope we can make some steps forward tomorrow." Herve Poncharal - Tech3 Yamaha Team Director "Today we have mixed feelings because we expected a lot from here after such a good test. Carlos is suffering from some pain in his arm, maybe a trapped nerve, and so he is lacking power and feeling. This afternoon was better so hopefully tomorrow once again it will improve. We're slower than we were at the tests so this is not good, but hopefully we can get back on track tomorrow. James I am really happy about, he is much closer and I think he is feeling better all round. He spent some time at our workshop after Jerez and I hope that this has helped him to be better prepared for this second race." Round: 2 - 2006 MotoGP Qatar Circuit: Losail Circuit Circuit Length: 5380 Lap Record: 1' 57.903 (Nicky Hayden, 2005) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 56.917 (Loris Capirossi, 2005) Date: 6 April 2006 Temp: 27ºC Free Practice : Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Free Practice 1 K. Roberts Team Roberts KR USA 1' 56.905 2 C. Stoner Honda AUS 1' 56.911 3 M. Melandri Honda ITA 1' 57.010 4 C. Edwards Yamaha USA 1' 57.024 5 L. Capirossi Ducati ITA 1' 57.031 6 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA 1' 57.141 7 D. Pedrosa Honda ESP 1' 57.360 8 T. Elias Honda ESP 1' 57.392 9 N. Hayden Honda USA 1' 57.452 10 S. Gibernau Ducati ESP 1' 57.569 11 C. Checa Yamaha ESP 1' 57.992 12 C. Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 1' 58.783 13 S. Nakano Kawasaki JPN 1' 58.786 14 J. Hopkins Suzuki USA 1' 58.892 15 A. Hofmann Ducati GER 1' 59.245 16 M. Tamada Honda JPN 1' 59.609 17 J. Ellison Yamaha GBR 1' 59.620

The Camel Yamaha Team move on to the Middle East next weekend with the objective of making up for lost points and pride following a disappointing start to the season in the opening round at Jerez. The Grand Prix of Qatar represents the ideal opportunity of a reprieve, with Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards having performed well in pre-season testing at the Losail International Circuit in February. A further day of testing following the Jerez race provided the team with another opportunity to work on the vibration problems that hampered the riders in Jerez, and the day produced some positive results. Such problems were at a minimum when the team tested at Qatar in February, so Yamaha is hopeful of starting out positively for the second race of the season. Based on the outskirts of the capital city of Doha, Losail hosted the MotoGP World Championship for the first time in 2004 after an incredible round-the-clock project that took a little over a year to complete, with an investment of around $58 million USD and 1,000 full-time workers. During its short history the event has brought famous results for both Camel Yamaha Team riders, with Edwards storming to second place in the inaugural race and Rossi clinching victory after an exciting battle with Marco Melandri last year. Having been held in October for the past two seasons, it was expected that this year's spring race would see slightly cooler conditions but, with early weather forecasts predicting ambient temperatures of around 30ºC, it promises to be an equally gruelling weekend for the riders. As usual the Grand Prix will be held on Saturday as opposed to Sunday and the MotoGP race will start one hour later than normal at 1500h local time, in order to coincide with its regular CET slot of 1400h. Valentino Rossi: Getting back on track Valentino Rossi can't wait to get back to action this weekend after the anti-climax of his worst ever premier-class finish at Jerez. After being brought down by another rider at the first corner, Rossi was denied the chance to defend a record of five consecutive first round wins in the MotoGP class, but knows that the best way to make up for it is to bounce back with a good result in Qatar. "After a bad start to the season, I am looking forward to going to Qatar and erasing the bad memories!" said Rossi. "Our bike worked really well when we went to Qatar for pre-season testing, so we hope that this will be the case again. It's true that we also had a tiny bit of vibration there, but it was only in a couple of places and it was quite manageable. Anyway our bike was very fast in Qatar from the first day, so this is a good sign. "Last year my victory in Qatar was probably the most exciting race of the season for me, the whole race was at ridden at the maximum and I had a great, great battle with Melandri. I hope that we can have another good race this year, and of course I hope that I can win again and get our championship defence 'back on track!' Qatar is a hard race and very tiring because of the heat, but it's a great track and I enjoy riding there." Colin Edwards: Onwards and upwards Colin Edwards also has plenty of reasons to look forward to Qatar after riding himself into a spin with the set-up problems at Jerez. The Texan Tornado is keen to get back to a track where the YZR-M1 excelled during pre-season tests and says he expects to return to the personal form that saw him drive away with a new car after setting the fastest time at the Official Tests in Barcelona in early March. "To be honest I couldn't wait to get out of Jerez on Monday evening, it was a nightmare weekend for us really," said Edwards, who has finished in the points at every race since that second place at Qatar in 2004 - a run of 21 consecutive top fifteen finishes. "Things didn't work from the start and our luck couldn't have been worse in the race but it's time to turn the page now. I've got belief in the bike and the team and I know we can turn it around in Qatar. I only have to look across the garage at Valentino to know it is not my riding that is at fault so personally my confidence is still at a premium and I feel ready to ride to the best of my ability. "Losail is a very smooth circuit, with slight camber changes, where you have to keep a good line and a nice flow to your riding. The grip has obviously got better over the past couple of years but you still have to be careful about getting off line when overtaking because of the sand that blows onto the track. It's a pretty nice circuit considering it's in the middle of the desert!" Davide Brivio: We will bounce back Camel Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio says the team's morale has not been dented by events at Jerez last week and stresses that their only focus now is on turning their fortunes around in Qatar. The extra day of testing in Spain provided a welcome chance to gather extra data that Brivio believes will provide vital set-up alternatives when the track action gets underway on Thursday morning. "The test on Monday was very useful," says Brivio. "We made a slight improvement to the set-up but more than that we were able to gather information that will be useful for us to start with in Qatar. We go there with a couple of different options. One is to use the base setting we found in the pre-season tests, although we missed many of the other teams then so it will be interesting to compare the performance of our competitors on Friday morning. The other is to try the different settings we found at Jerez as a solution to the chatter. "We know it will be another tough weekend for the team but the morale is still very good. Of course it was a shame to lose so many points in the first race but we are not feeling sad about that now, only focused on the job we have to do. We are keeping our heads down and working hard, studying the data until we find a solution and we will continue to do that every weekend until we are back on top. The mood is optimistic and we are confident that when this problem is solved we can fight to be at the top of the points standings." Technically speaking: Matteo Flamigni on Qatar Following the recent problems at Jerez, data gathered at pre-season tests and during last year's race in Qatar will be even more crucial than usual this weekend. The 5.4 kilometre track features sixteen corners, ten to the right and six to the left, with a series of fast sweeping sections and several hard braking areas which are unique to any other circuit in the world. "Qatar is a difficult track because you have some very slow corners which come immediately after a change of direction," explains Matteo Flamigni, Valentino Rossi's Data Engineer. "At most circuits the hard braking follows a long straight but at Qatar this happens only once. For example, turn six is a tight hairpin that comes with a quick right-left change under braking, so the bike needs to be very stable but also very agile for a good performance in that section. "The most important section for set-up is probably the three fast rights at the end. You need good stability at maximum lean angle so that the rider feels confident enough to open the throttle, because this is where he can make up the most time. At Jerez the final two fast rights before the last hairpin are very similar and I could see on the data that Valentino did not have the confidence to open the throttle there in the way he had done the previous season. At Qatar we will have to find this compromise between stability on the brakes and stability at maximum lean angle so that our riders can perform to their full potential." Valentino Rossi: Information Age: 27 Lives: London, UK Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 GP victories: 81 (42 x MotoGP, 13 x 500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc) First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc) First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc) GP starts: 158 (66 x MotoGP, 32 x 500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc) Pole positions: 40 World Championships - 7 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 4 x MotoGP) Colin Edwards: Information Age: 32 Lives: Conroe, Texas Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 First GP: Japan, 2003 (MotoGP) GP starts: 50 x MotoGP World Championships - 2 World Superbike Qatar Lap Record: Nicky Hayden (Honda) 2005 - 1'57.903 Qatar Best Lap: Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2005 - 1'56.917 2005 Results: 1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 43.33.759 2. Marco Melandri (Honda) +1.670 3. Nicky Hayden (Honda) +5.336 4. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +14.737

Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team rider and reigning MX1 World Champion Stefan Everts left the opening round of the 2006 series having increased his record-career total of GP victories to 88 and proved his rhetoric concerning the new aluminium frame YZ450FM was completely founded. 16,000 spectators flocked to the Zolder circuit in Belgium for the Karcher Grand Prix of Flanders, the first race of fifteen in this season's campaign. Teammate Cedric Melotte managed tenth position overall. Rainfall in the days leading up to the event meant that the fine Belgian dirt at the former Formula one circuit was soft and sodden, and throughout practice churned into a demanding and difficult prospect. Following through on his excellent pre-season form Stefan Everts did not put a foot wrong on Saturday to clinch his first pole position since the 2005 Grand Prix of South Africa. 33-year-old Everts began the opening moto behind former rival Sebastien Tortelli and although he tried to pressurise the Frenchman, drawing close on several occasions, he was unable to seize the lead and lost any chance of victory in the last third of the heat when he was held up by backmarkers. The pair surprisingly lapped everybody up to fifth position. Melotte, who is still coming back to full fitness after a wrist problem limited his pre-season preparation, finished in ninth. The 27 year old, who was an overall winner at the first ever MX1 GP - also at Zolder - in 2004, made a mistake two laps from the chequered flag which cost him sixth place. Spanish sponsors Intur Sports were announced as the new backers for the Rinaldi team in an entertaining function on Saturday evening and they must have been pleased as Moto2 saw a dominant performance from Everts as he broke away from Sebastien Tortelli in a role-reversal of the first sprint. The Belgian has been raving about the handling and performance of the new YZ450FM and gave a large section of his fans an ample demonstration of his synergy with the Rinaldi-fettled machine. He would win by almost 40 seconds and his 2-1 scorecard gave him a familiar top step of the podium. Cedric Melotte had a problem with his goggles that affected his eyesight and he was close to crashing on several occasions but was able to steer his Yamaha past the chequered flag in eighth spot for tenth in the final classification. The second round of the series will take place in two weeks time, on Easter Sunday, at the Bellpuig circuit in Catalonia, Spain. The Grand Prix of Portugal will occur just one week on from the trip to the Iberian Peninsula. Stefan Everts, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross team: "I was making a lot of mistakes in the first race and was not riding smooth enough to really catch Sebastien. After that though the ice was broken and I knew I had one more moto to make things better. I changed my position on the start line and got into the first corner ahead. I pushed really hard in those first few laps and Sebastien was with me for a while but I focussed on my own riding and it worked. I was happy with the bike. We changed a few little things with suspension but the performance was great today and I felt comfortable. It is very early for the Championship. Sebastien is right there but Pichon missed a lot of points today, Josh is out and I expected the Suzuki boys to be closer, but there is still a long way to go." Cedric Melotte, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross team: "I was struggling over the weekend with my wrist and my condition. Everything is improving but to come here and do 40 minutes with a weak wrist was unbelievable. The track was so difficult. If I had not crashed in the first race I would have been fifth and this was OK. After a few minutes of the second moto I got some dirt in my goggles and I could not see or concentrate on my lines. I am happy enough with the result because at least twice I thought that 'I should stop otherwise I will crash' because I could not see. The ruts were really deep and to come away with a top ten in the conditions is satisfying." Race classification MX1 Round: 1 - 2006 GP of Flanders, Belgium Circuit: Zolder Race: 21 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 S. Tortelli KTM FRA 39' 22.213 2 S. Everts Yamaha BEL +11.063 3 T. Leok Kawasaki EST +1' 5.994 4 S. Ramon Suzuki BEL +1' 33.493 5 K. De Dycker Honda BEL +1' 54.790 6 J. Barragan KTM ESP +1 lap(s) 7 P. Leuret Honda FRA +1 lap(s) 8 K. Strijbos Suzuki BEL +1 lap(s) 9 C. Melotte Yamaha BEL +1 lap(s) 10 S. Sword Kawasaki GBR +1 lap(s) 11 J. Garcia Vico Honda ESP +1 lap(s) 12 B. Verhoeven Kawasaki NED +1 lap(s) 13 A. Pyrhonen TM FIN +1 lap(s) 14 W. Avis KTM RSA +1 lap(s) 15 D. Theybers Suzuki BEL +1 lap(s) 16 M. Van Daele Honda BEL +1 lap(s) 17 J. Noble Honda GBR +1 lap(s) 18 M. Hucklebridge Kawasaki GBR +1 lap(s) 19 C. Federici Kawasaki ITA +1 lap(s) 20 E. Eggens Kawasaki NED +1 lap(s) Race 2: 22 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 S. Everts Yamaha BEL 40' 9.339 2 S. Tortelli KTM FRA +38.639 3 K. Strijbos Suzuki BEL +1' 15.573 4 T. Leok Kawasaki EST +1' 23.799 5 S. Ramon Suzuki BEL +1' 30.347 6 S. Sword Kawasaki GBR +1' 39.574 7 K. De Dycker Honda BEL +1 lap(s) 8 C. Melotte Yamaha BEL +1 lap(s) 9 J. Barragan KTM ESP +1 lap(s) 10 P. Leuret Honda FRA +1 lap(s) 11 J. Noble Honda GBR +1 lap(s) 12 M. Priem Yamaha BEL +1 lap(s) 13 B. Jorgensen Honda DNK +1 lap(s) 14 M. Van Daele Honda BEL +1 lap(s) 15 A. Pyrhonen TM FIN +1 lap(s) 16 B. Verhoeven Kawasaki NED +1 lap(s) 17 J. Dobes Suzuki CZE +1 lap(s) 18 L. Freibergs Suzuki LVA +1 lap(s) 19 M. Hucklebridge Kawasaki GBR +1 lap(s) 20 M. Norlen Suzuki SWE +1 lap(s) Championship standings MX1 Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points 1 Stefan Everts Yamaha BEL 47 2 Sebastien Tortelli KTM FRA 47 3 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 38 4 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 34 5 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 33 6 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 30 7 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 27 8 Stephen Sword Kawasaki GBR 26 9 Cedric Melotte Yamaha BEL 25 10 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 25 11 Bas Verhoeven Kawasaki NED 14 12 James Noble Honda GBR 14 13 Antti Pyrhonen TM FRA 14 14 Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 12 15 Javier Garcia Vico Honda ESP 10 16 Manuel Priem Yamaha BEL 9 17 Brian Jorgensen Honda DNK 8 18 Wyatt Avis KTM RSA 7 19 Danny Theybers Suzuki BEL 6 20 Mark Hucklebridge Kawasaki GBR 5 Manufacturers standings MX1 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1 Yamaha 25 2 KTM 22 3 Kawasaki 20 4 Suzuki 18 5 Honda 15 6 TM 2 MX2 : Gundersen marks Yamaha debut with podium result Round: 1 - 2006 GP of Flanders, Belgium Circuit: Zolder Date: 2 April 2006 Crowd: 16000 Temp: 11ºC Weather: Overcast Ricci Racing's Kenneth Gundersen scored an emotional podium in his debut for the team and on the formidable YZ250F at Zolder, Belgium today for the first round of fifteen in the 2006 FIM World Championship. The Karcher Grand Prix of Flanders occurred in front of a decent 16,000 attendance considering the cold and wintery conditions. Gundersen notched results of second and sixth to place third overall in his first top three appearance for over two years and his first in the MX2 class since 2001. The Norwegian has battled back from multiple knee and cartilage operations in the last 18 months. The 25 year old showed promising form despite some less than perfect starts on the wet and rough Belgian terrain. He had to ditch his goggles early in the first moto but was still able to pass the KTMs of Rattray and De Reuver. In the second race he ensured his fresh silverware as the highest placed Yamaha rider. World Champion Antonio Cairoli, who dislikes the Belgian circuit, fell on the first lap of the first moto and with the track at its wettest throughout the weekend he rode well to break into the top fifteen and collect six points. The Italian crashed on Saturday and received a blow to his left leg but was able to show his true colours in the second moto as passed he title rival Marc de Reuver and crossed the finish line with the runner-up position behind eventual overall winner Tyla Rattray. The De Carli rider's mishap earlier in the day meant that he placed seventh overall. Alessio Chiodi showed decent speed and all the experience of a three times World Champion to take sixth spot in the first moto in the soggy conditions. The Italian was however fighting the debilitating effects of an illness and after slipping down the order and out of the points in the second race retired to the pits. Billy Mackenzie, who is 22 years old next week, wasn't able to get the set-up on his YZ250F correctly dialled for the conditions and it cost the Scot in the first race as he registered a disappointing twenty-fourth position. Adjusting several aspects of the machine for the second moto he managed a more creditable ninth after passing British Championship rival Carl Nunn on the last lap. Kenneth Gundersen, Ricci Racing: "This feels unbelievable. I have been out for so long. Last year I did some GPs but my leg was not good enough to ride. I trained a lot this winter and the way that this team have supported me is incredible. Yamaha and so many people have helped me and this came out today. In the first moto I felt like I could have won if I didn't have to throw away my goggles on the first lap; second place was good though. It took me a little while to get going in the second race and finally I ran out of time to take any more positions." Antonio Cairoli, De Carli Yamaha: "The first heat was not so good because I crashed on the first lap and I lost a lot of time and positions to get going again. I was totally last and had a lot of work to do. I finished 15th and it was OK for training because I do not like this track so much! In the second race I started well but in the first corner someone touched me and it cost me a few places. I caught and passed many riders like De Reuver and Pourcel. Tyla is always very good at this track. My leg was OK and is only stiff when I am resting." Alessio Chiodi, Ricci Racing: "The first part of the first moto was pretty good but after about 25 minutes I started to feel bad and my stomach was really bothering me. I finished the race but I could feel that a fever was coming. I was in the gate before the second moto and I thought that I would try to see what I could do but the bumps on the track just made it worse. When I saw I was down in 27th I thought it was better to stop." Race classification MX2 Round: 1 - 2006 GP of Flanders, Belgium Circuit: Zolder Race: 21 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 D. Philippaerts KTM ITA 40' 20.154 2 K. Gundersen Yamaha SWE +8.667 3 T. Rattray KTM RSA +10.029 4 M. De Reuver KTM NED +14.091 5 S. Pourcel Kawasaki FRA +26.399 6 A. Chiodi Yamaha ITA +35.053 7 C. Pourcel Kawasaki FRA +43.876 8 C. Nunn KTM GBR +50.949 9 T. Searle Kawasaki GBR +1' 6.716 10 A. Meo Honda FRA

Yamaha signed a new partnership agreement with Spanish tourism company Intur Sports which will see the Japanese manufacturer's factory motocross team known as Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team. INTUR SPORTS is a newly formed branch of the world renowned Intur Group, a family owned enterprise dedicated to the tourist industry in Spain. Today, the group owns six hotels in Spain, three of which are in the Benicasim area approximately 280 km south of Barcelona. The Intur Group network also includes restaurants, water parks, discos, etc. Belgian motocross legend Stefan Everts, who has won five consecutive world titles since joining Yamaha for the 2001 season, has used Intur Sports' facilities for his winter training programme for the past eight years and hosts his father Harry Everts' annual training schools in the area. The new look squad, which was unveiled to the media ahead of this weekend's opening Grand Prix in Zolder, Belgium, will feature both the Intur Sports and Benicasim logos on the team's YZ450FM machines. Copyright-free images for editorial use of the riders and bikes in their new livery can be found in the photo gallery section of www.yamaha-racing.com/mx1 Laurens Klein Koerkamp - Yamaha Motor Europe, Racing Division "It is always a pleasure to announce a new partner, especially one which is as passionate about motorsport as Intur Sports. We can offer them the exposure to grow their new business that mixes their existing strengths in facilities and accommodations with people involved in motorsports requiring such structures. I hope that we can enjoy a successful season together. The 2006 championship may mark Stefan's last campaign as a rider but it is also the start of a relationship with a new partner for the future." Juan Jose Gimeno - Intur Sports "Our close relationship with Stefan Everts and our passion for motorsports facilitated our decision to sponsor both Stefan personally and the team. Stefan has spent the last eight years training at our facilities and makes the place his home during the winter months. We strongly believe that this new partnership will benefit our company as well as Stefan and the Yamaha team. It is our intention to continue our association to motocross, and subsequently the Yamaha team, for many years to come. Intur Sports' mission is to create a different reason for tourists to come to Benicasim, by adding more value to our hotels, especially during wintertime. For sport groups we will offer the necessary facilities and accommodation. Intur Sports is located in an area of many opportunities, where the main temperature is around 20 degrees throughout the year, it's a great place to visit and state of the art when it comes to sport facilities. We therefore hope to welcome all involved in motocross in one of our hotels".

Noriyuki Haga set the fastest Yamaha lap at a three-day official SBK practice session in Valencia, finishing sixth overall on his Yamaha Motor Italia R1, with a time of 1'35.259. He worked his way through a full testing programme and undertook an extensive evaluation of new parts and modified machine settings, in preparation for the forthcoming Valencia race on 23 April. Troy Bayliss (Ducati) set a new Superbike track best in the morning session of the final day, with a 1'33.758. Haga, unlike most of his 27 rivals at Valencia, set his best time in the final session, held in hotter and winder conditions than the more favoured mornings, and he put it down to the incremental improvements in set-up he and his team had made from the first session on. Haga's team-mate, Andrew Pitt, took his Yamaha Motor Italia R1 to a more than respectable eighth overall, in what is arguably the most competitive field in World Superbike's relatively short history. Norick Abe, from the Yamaha Motor France Ipone squad, ended his test somewhat prematurely, as he had started to run a temperature, after contracting a 'flu virus. He was to post a time good enough for 19th place, as he concentrated on trying out new engine specifications and front suspension components. Japanese World Superbike rookie Shinichi Nakatomi improved on his testing times from previous Valencia winter outings, and in the absence of team regular Sebastien Gimbert, Lorenzo Alfonsi, the 2004 European Superstock Champion, substituted on the team's third bike. Nakatomi would finish the three days 23rd, with Alfonsi 24th. Noriyuki Haga - Yamaha Motor Italia "We are quite happy with the test and both bikes are working very well. The newer gas fork seems very good. Generally our settings are quite good already but to go full race distance is another thing. We tried to do a full race simulation, but we could not manage it this time. We also did not get so many laps in on qualifying tyres, but at this moment we are in good condition on race tyres. We were not that affected by the wind that builds up in the afternoon, and it was just a gradual improvement in the settings that allowed me to go faster in the final afternoon session." Andrew Pitt - Yamaha Motor Italia "This is the first time we've really had the grip here that we wanted, at previous tests the grip has always been a problem, and that makes it a lot easier to open the throttle sooner. That's a really big thing. We made some improvements to the existing machine and we played around with the engine settings, taking out a bit of power here and a putting it back in there. Just trying to soften the curve a bit, and it seems to be working. I put a soft tyre in this morning and made a reasonable lap but we mostly worked on race tyre consistency, and also tried a lot of front tyres, to work out which one is going to go the distance when we come here to race." Norick Abe - Yamaha Motor France "I tried new suspension on the front today and it was a real improvement. The new forks are definitely much better. We tried many different engine specs but they gave us basically the same result. Despite my machine being the slowest of the three bikes in the team, I made my best lap time, 1'35.9 on the last day. I'm happy for that and we did a lot of laps. Unfortunately I now have a fever of 38 degrees, so I decided to finish early and go home to rest." Shinichi Nakatomi - Yamaha Motor France "I was riding to be ready for full race distance, and we made a quite good lap time compared to my previous best, which was a 1'37.4. Now I have set a 1'36.7, in race conditions. Things are much better compared to the first test, especially the chassis condition. I have more confidence on the bike now as well." Lorenzo Alfonsi - Yamaha Motor France "I could have gone faster near the end, but when I wanted to use my qualifying tyre something hit my front wheel and my brake calliper, damaging both. I think everything will be OK for the race." Massimo Meregalli - Yamaha Motor Italia Team Director "I think we had a good test because we came here with a plan, to test four or five different pieces, and we got through everything. We found something to help the increased durability of the tyre, and maybe that was also down to the track conditions. We have been making progress race-by-race, and test-by-test in terms of the engine characteristic. Every time we have new mapping which works well on the development dyno it works well on the bike when we get to the track. I think Andrew and Nori, and all the team, worked very well on all three days." Circuit: Valencia Circuit Length: 4005km Lap Record: 1' 35.007 (Neil Hodgson, 2003) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 33.758 (Troy Bayliss, 2006) Date: 27-29 March 2006 Temp: 24ºC Classification: 1 Bayliss T. Ducati AUS 1'33.758 2 Xaus R. Ducati SPA F05 1'34.659 3 Lanzi L. Ducati ITA 1'34.848 4 Corser T. Suzuki AUS 1'34.933 5 Martin S. Petronas AUS 1'35.178 6 Haga N. Yamaha JPN 1'35.295 7 Nieto F. Kawasaki SPA 1'35.377 8 Pitt A. Yamaha AUS 1'35.423 9 Fabrizio M. Honda ITA 1'35.437 10 Kagayama Y. Suzuki JPN 1'35.538 11 Barros A. Honda BRA 1'35.663 12 Walker C. Kawasaki GBR 1'35.758 13 Foret F. Suzuki FRA 1'35.771 14 Borciani M. Ducati ITA 1'35.834 15 Iannuzzo V. Suzuki ITA 1'35.873 19 Abe N. Yamaha JPN 1'35.967 23 Nakatomi S. Yamaha JPN 1'36.737 24 Alfonsi L. Yamaha ITA 1'36.900 Curtain and Parkes in the vanguard again Curtain and Parkes in the vanguard again Valencia, Spain 29/3/2006 Yamaha Motor Germany riders Broc Parkes and Kevin Curtain spent three fruitful days on track at Valencia, in what was a well-attended official SBK test. Of the 29 riders present, Curtain set the second best time, with Parkes's 1'38.443 putting him fourth overall. Quickest rider was Sebastien Charpentier (Honda). The Yamaha Motor Germany squad had one new front and one new rear control tyre to test on their new-for-2006 R6s, and an updated specification of engine management settings, each of which was deemed to be a real improvement. The team will receive another new batch of tyres for the forthcoming Misano official test, on 12 and 13 April. Massimo Roccoli finished the three days fifth fastest, with Gianluca Vizziello 11th. Reigning FIM Superstock 1000 champion Didier van Keymeulen was 17th on his R6. Kevin Curtain - Yamaha Motor Germany "I'm glad we managed to squeeze in those last five minutes, because we had just to make one more small test to decide what tyres we should have for the Valencia race. We have to work on a few little things, because I am still scraping the fairing sides at full lean, especially on the right hand side. I'm even touching the engine down sometimes. I'm sure we can sort something out, and otherwise we're pretty happy. Testing is always a never-ending struggle to get everything just right, but we're getting there." Broc Parkes - Yamaha Motor Germany "We made this a worthwhile test. We tried a lot of things, and in the afternoon session we found something better with the set-up. The bike is so new and we're finding that there is still a fine line to walk to find a good set-up. Maybe later in the year we can predict how the bike is going to react from track to track, but at the moment we started this Valencia test with the settings from Phillip Island and had to change them quite a lot." Official Valencia Test WSS Circuit: Valencia Circuit Length: 4005km Lap Record: 1' 38.874 (Alessio Corradi, 2003) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 34.1 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2006) Date: 27 - 29 March 2006 Temp: 26ºC Classification: 1 Charpentier S. Honda FRA 1'37.437 2 Curtain K. Yamaha AUS 1'37.897 3 Sofuoglu K. Honda TUR 1'37.989 4 Parkes B. Yamaha AUS 1'38.443 5 Roccoli M. Yamaha ITA 1'38.572 6 Zaiser C. Ducati AUT 1'38.756 7 Harms R. Honda DNK 1'38.916 8 De Angelis W. Honda ITA 1'38.970 9 Veneman B. Suzuki NED 1'39.137 10 Tiberio Y. Honda FRA 1'39.144 11 Vizziello G. Yamaha ITA 1'39.264 12 Andersen K. Suzuki NOR 1'39.277 13 Stigefelt J. Honda SWE 1'39.354 14 Tunstall T. Honda GBR 1'39.524 15 Fores J. Yamaha SPA 1'39.628 17 Van Keymeulen D. Yamaha BEL 1'39.716 20 Peris C. Yamaha CAN 1'40.584 22 Enjolras J. Yamaha FRA 1'40.738 24 Velini A. Yamaha ITA 1'40.780 26 Forner Garcia D. Yamaha SPA 1'41.261 27 Ivanov V. Yamaha RUS 1'41.461 29 Berta A. Yamaha ITA 1'42.026

The Camel Yamaha Team remained in Jerez yesterday for an intense afternoon of testing in an effort to find some answers to the problems they faced over the course of the season's opening weekend. Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards completed 72 and 76 laps respectively and made some positive steps towards understanding the cause of the vibration that kept their lap times down during the weekend's practice sessions and forced them to start from the fourth row of the grid for sunday's race. Rossi, who was brought down by another rider at the first corner of the race after a lightening start, also completed one run yesterday on the 2005-specification YZR-M1, in order to compare its performance with the 2006 bike and gather more data to help the engineers find a final solution ahead of the next race. The Camel Yamaha Team now have a week's rest before they travel to Qatar early next week for the second MotoGP race of the season. Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "After such a disappointing opening weekend to the season, it was important for us to have the chance to test yesterday. It was a very useful and interesting day for us and we were able to collect a lot of important information which we believe will help us. It was good to be able to go back to some of the settings that we tried over the weekend and to evaluate them in a more relaxed atmosphere, without the time pressure of a race weekend. "In addition we decided to have Valentino ride the 2005 M1 for a few laps so we could compare its performance at this track with that of the new bike. It was interesting to see the difference - a few things about the '05 bike are better at the moment, but overall it seems the '06 bike is still a more improved package and Valentino's fastest times yesterday were on the 2006-spec M1. Anyway the data from this comparison should help us a lot as we continue to develop the new bike. Valentino was able to make some good improvements to the performance of the '06 bike so this is encouraging for Qatar. Colin's test wasn't quite as positive but after yesterday we now have a better idea of what to do in order to bring him back to the level he was at in Barcelona. It's been an important day for us and now the Yamaha engineers will work hard to evaluate the data gathered so that we can come to Qatar and fight at the front with both riders where they belong." Times: 1. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team, 1'39.910 2. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1'40.504 3. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team,1'40.798 4. Casey Stoner (AUS) Team LCR, 1'40.821 5. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team, 1'40.845 6. Carlos Checa (SPA) Yamaha Tech 3, 1'40.932 7. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1'40.966 8. John Hopkins (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1'41.096 9. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1'41.178 10. Toni Elias (SPA) Fortuna Honda, 1'41.193 11. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda, 1'41.234 12. Marco Melandri (ITA) Fortuna Honda, 1'41.400 13. Colin Edwards (USA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1'41.442 14. Chris Vermuelen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1'41.554 15. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team KR, 1'41.861 16. James Ellison (GBR) Yamaha Tech 3, 1'42.924 17. T. Okada (JPN) 1'43.265

An eventful weekend at Jerez ended in disappointing fashion today as both Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards got caught in a first corner melee that ended their hopes of glory in the opening round of the 2006 MotoGP World Championship. The Camel Yamaha Team pair made good starts from ninth and tenth on the grid respectively but a collision between Rossi and Toni Elías (Honda) on the inside of turn one saw the Italian knocked from his YZR-M1 and sent Edwards wide into the gravel trap. Despite some damage to his bike, Rossi showed the character of a true World Champion as he returned to the track, battling his way back into the field and picking off several riders to secure two championship points in fourteenth place. Edwards, meanwhile, fought from second last to eleventh by the end of the 27-lap encounter. Victory went to pole setter Loris Capirossi (Ducati) in a race time of 45'57.733, but he was pushed hard by second-placed Dani Pedrosa (Honda) on his debut in the MotoGP class. Nicky Hayden (Honda) completed the podium. Colin Edwards (11th; + 37.930) "I probably made the best race start of my whole life, Valentino got away well too and we went together into the first bend. Elias came up on the inside and I actually saw everything happen but to be honest I thought Vale would be able to stay on the bike so I kept my corner speed and tried to just run it around the outside. Unfortunately he went down and I had nowhere to go but the gravel. It really capped the weekend off for us but the truth is that we weren't fast enough to challenge today. This track has been a real pain for us and I can't wait to get away. We've got a test tomorrow but I'll be happy when we get to Qatar, where the bike worked really well in testing." Valentino Rossi (14th; + 1'05.766) "We knew this was going to be a difficult race but maybe not so difficult! I saw Toni come up on the inside and he hit me; this is racing and these things happen. I have known Toni for many years and he is a good rider. He apologised to me after the race so I told him not to worry - only to remember to brake next time and if it is too late then to hit another bike instead of me! Anyway I came back on the track and had a nice battle with Alex Hofmann. I am disappointed because I wanted to win the first race of the season but there is nothing we can do now. Only work hard to make sure we don't have these problems again and look forward to the next race in Qatar." Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "It seems that everything that could go wrong did go wrong for us this weekend. On Friday morning when we needed the time to test it rained and things have gone continually against us since then. We obviously still have a lot of work to do and for some reason our bike clearly doesn't work at this circuit so we are keen to find out why, if we can, in tomorrow's test. The engineers have a lot of data and everyone is working at 100% to find a solution. We were fast at Sepang, Qatar and Catalunya so there is no need to panic and we can look forward to the next race. On a positive note I thought both riders showed character to fight back after the first corner incident and hopefully they will have better luck next time." Race classification MotoGP Round: 1 - 2006 MotoGP Jerez Circuit: Jerez Circuit Length: 4423 Lap Record: 1' 40.596 (Valentino Rossi, 2005) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 39.064 (Loris Capirossi, 2006) Race: 27 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 L. Capirossi Ducati ITA 45' 57.733 2 D. Pedrosa Honda ESP +4.375 3 N. Hayden Honda USA +9.996 4 T. Elias Honda ESP +10.135 5 M. Melandri Honda ITA +19.547 6 C. Stoner Honda AUS +21.237 7 S. Nakano Kawasaki JPN +21.372 8 K. Roberts Team Roberts KR USA +32.414 9 J. Hopkins Suzuki USA +32.659 10 M. Tamada Honda JPN +35.983 11 C. Edwards Yamaha USA +37.930 12 C. Vermeulen Suzuki AUS +39.514 13 C. Checa Yamaha ESP +42.829 14 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA +1' 5.766 15 A. Hofmann Ducati GER +1' 23.300 16 J. Ellison Yamaha GBR +1 lap(s) Fastest Race Lap: Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 L. Capirossi Ducati ITA 1' 41.248 Championship standings MotoGP Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points 1 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 25 2 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 20 3 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 16 4 Toni Elias Honda ESP 13 5 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 11 6 Casey Stoner Honda AUS 10 7 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki JPN 9 8 Kenny Roberts Team Roberts KR USA 8 9 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 7 10 Makato Tamada Honda JPN 6 11 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 5 12 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 4 13 Carlos Checa Yamaha ESP 3 14 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 2 15 Alex Hofmann Ducati GER 1 Manufacturers standings MotoGP Pos. Manufacturer Points 1 Ducati 25 2 Honda 20 3 Kawasaki 9 4 Team Roberts KR 8 5 Suzuki 7 6 Yamaha 5 Team standings MotoGP Pos. Team Points 1 Repsol Honda Team 40 2 Ducati Marlboro Team 25 3 Fortuna Honda Team 24 4 Rizla Suzuki 11 5 Honda LCR 10 6 Kawasaki Racing Team 9 7 Team Roberts KR 8 8 Camel Yamaha Team 7 9 Konica Minolta Honda 6 10 Tech3 Yamaha 3 11 Pramac D'Antin 1

Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards face an uphill battle in the opening round of the MotoGP World Championship tomorrow after vibration problems returned in this afternoon's qualifying practice at Jerez. After making progress with his YZR-M1 machine in yesterday's free practice, Rossi's cause was not helped by an incident early in today's session, when he became the first of five riders to end up in the gravel after oil was spilled on the track by another competitor. The red flags were duly raised and when the pit-lane reopened both Rossi and Edwards worked against the clock to solve their difficulties ahead of tomorrow's 27-lap race. However, bad luck struck for Edwards when he suffered a puncture to his rear tyre and the American was only able to qualify tenth fastest, one place behind his Italian team-mate. Pole position went to Loris Capirossi (Ducati) in an outright circuit record time of 1'39.064 and the Italian will be joined on the front row by his team-mate Sete Gibernau and Japanese rider Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki). Valentino Rossi (9th - 1'40.160, 28 laps) "I thought we had solved a lot of the problems yesterday but today they came back. The bike is still vibrating and with the qualifying tyre the problem became worse because the extra grip on the rear pushed the front even harder. Basically we are losing time in every part of the corner. Also the crash at the start of the session didn't help but we can't use that as an excuse. I have won the first race of the season every year since 2001 but it is going to be difficult tomorrow. I have always found that it helps to start the season with a win so I will still be going for it!" Colin Edwards (10th - 1'40.181, 23 laps) "I suppose you could say we are up the creek but the important day is tomorrow so we still have a paddle! Just when we thought we had the problem sorted out it has come creeping back. We've had three days of tests here and now two days this weekend but we just can't get on top of it. The vibration in the corners comes in at a certain speed so the effect is like having a speed limiter on the bike. To make things worse I had a puncture in my first qualifying tyre so we lost time at the end of the session too. Things don't look to be going too well for us at the moment but we'll try to pull a rabbit out of the hat tomorrow." Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "We still have some work to do to solve the problems completely. It has been a strange weekend because yesterday we lost a whole session because of the weather and then today we had another setback when Valentino crashed on the oil left by Alex Hofmann's bike. It didn't help because we had some solutions we wanted to try on that bike. It seems things are conspiring to make life difficult for us but we won't give up. It is clearly not a good situation with regard to the starting grid but the pace of the front riders is not too far from our own. If we can make some slight improvements in the morning then I think we will be in the right shape for a good race." Round: 1 - 2006 MotoGP Jerez Circuit: Jerez Circuit Length: 4423 Lap Record: 1' 40.596 (Valentino Rossi, 2005) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 39.064 (Loris Capirossi, 2006) Date: 25 March 2006 Temp: 20ºC Session 1 : Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. 1st Qualifying 1 L. Capirossi Ducati ITA 1' 39.064 2 S. Gibernau Ducati ESP 1' 39.285 3 S. Nakano Kawasaki JPN 1' 39.526 4 N. Hayden Honda USA 1' 39.666 5 D. Pedrosa Honda ESP 1' 39.734 6 T. Elias Honda ESP 1' 39.875 7 M. Melandri Honda ITA 1' 39.932 8 R. De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 1' 40.146 9 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA 1' 40.160 10 C. Edwards Yamaha USA 1' 40.181 11 C. Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 1' 40.215 12 J. Hopkins Suzuki USA 1' 40.340 13 K. Roberts Team Roberts KR USA 1' 40.497 14 C. Checa Yamaha ESP 1' 40.851 15 C. Stoner Honda AUS 1' 40.982 16 M. Tamada Honda JPN 1' 41.119 18 J. Ellison Yamaha GBR 1' 42.267

Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi kicked off his MotoGP World Championship defence in fine style today, setting the fastest lap time in the first free practice sessions for the opening round of the 2006 season at Jerez. After light rain showers hit the track this morning, when Rossi decided not to ride and his team-mate Colin Edwards put in just two laps, both riders were able to work without interruption in the afternoon as they aimed to iron out set-up difficulties encountered in recent pre-season tests at this circuit. Whilst Rossi was able to overcome the majority of his problems, immediately finding the right direction to work with the team's engineers and technicians, Edwards suffered a minor setback today but he is confident that he can recover lost ground in tomorrow morning's final free practice before the crucial afternoon qualifying session. The American clocked the seventh fastest time today as Loris Capirossi (Ducati) produced the strongest challenge to Rossi's dominance, lapping 0.012 seconds slower than his Italian compatriot. Valentino Rossi (1'41.613, 24 laps) "We haven't fixed everything just yet but the Yamaha engineers came up with a few ideas to solve the vibrations we suffered during the test and they all worked. So far we have come up with a setting that allows me to ride in a better way to control the bike and, even though we still have some small vibrations, it is giving us less problems. This is the perfect way to start the season and I am really happy with the way the team have worked. This afternoon the track conditions were still not perfect so the times weren't so fast, but I think tomorrow it will be better. Tomorrow we have to keep working hard to come up with some more solutions and I am sure we will be in good shape for the race. There is already a good atmosphere and I can't wait until Sunday!" Colin Edwards (1'42.266, 28 laps) "To be honest things didn't go as we would have wished today. After losing an hour this morning because of the weather we missed out on another 45 minutes in the afternoon. I felt something was wrong but it took a long time for us to work it out. Basically there was too much pressure in the tyre and once we realised that we were able to start working properly - unfortunately it was a bit too late to be reflected in the lap times. Looking across the garage we can see that the engineers have got some really good data that will definitely help us tomorrow to refine the set-up and sort out some of the problems we had in the test. It will be two important hours but I have full confidence in the job the team is doing." Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "It looks like we are making improvements and moving in the right direction, which is very encouraging at this early stage of the weekend. We lost this morning's session to the weather but I have to say that the engineers and the technicians made the most of the available time to make the first adjustments to the bikes. Both riders have done a different job today, and our team has great cooperation so now we can put all this information together and find the best way forward for both riders tomorrow morning. Hopefully the bad weather is now out of the way for the rest of the weekend." Round: 1 - 2006 MotoGP Jerez Circuit: Jerez Circuit Length: 4423 Lap Record: 1' 40.596 (Valentino Rossi, 2005) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 39.419 (Valentino Rossi, 2005) Date: 24 March 2006 Temp: 20ºC Free Practice : Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Free Practice 1 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA 1' 41.613 2 L. Capirossi Ducati ITA 1' 41.625 3 D. Pedrosa Honda ESP 1' 41.798 4 S. Gibernau Ducati ESP 1' 41.798 5 S. Nakano Kawasaki JPN 1' 41.939 6 M. Melandri Honda ITA 1' 42.108 7 C. Edwards Yamaha USA 1' 42.266 8 N. Hayden Honda USA 1' 42.276 9 R. De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 1' 42.455 10 T. Elias Honda ESP 1' 42.518 11 K. Roberts Team Roberts KR USA 1' 42.538 12 C. Stoner Honda AUS 1' 42.552 13 C. Checa Yamaha ESP 1' 42.608 14 J. Hopkins Suzuki USA 1' 42.727 15 M. Tamada Honda JPN 1' 42.868 19 J. Ellison Yamaha GBR 1' 45.239

Rinaldi Yamaha rider Stefan Everts continued his victorious pre-season form by taking another overall triumph at the Valance International in France yesterday. The Belgian and reigning MX1 World Champion has won every major 'warm-up' event since the motocross calendar cranked into life at Mantova, Italy in February. His fifth success in as many weeks arrived thanks to another 1-1 set of results. He holeshotted both motos and enjoyed a tussle with KTM's Mickael Pichon in the first race before defeating his great rival. In the second sprint he controlled the heat from the first turn until the chequered flag. "In the first race I holeshotted but I had a small crash after a few laps and that put me back to fourth," he said. "Two laps later I had worked my way back to second and was attacking Pichon. It was a difficult track to pass and we had a tough battle; it must have been quite spectacular for the fans! Towards the end I was able to make a pass and won the heat." "In the second moto my start was again very good," he added. "Another holeshot meant that I was able to lead from start to finish. After fifteen minutes I already had a small gap over the others." Everts has now guided the YZ 450FM to the top of the podium in Belgium, Italy, France (twice) and the United Kingdom and is perfectly placed to stretch the run into the first round of the 2006 FIM World Championships that will take place on April 1st/2nd at Zolder in Belgium for the Grand Prix of Flanders. "This was my last race until Zolder and the whole pre-season period has left me with a great feeling," he concluded. "I will train hard for another few days and then take a small break before the first Grand Prix so that my body is fresh. To start so well in Valance was something incredible. Half of the race is won with a holeshot. In the past I have been struggling but we have worked on the bike and hopefully we will have a hard package to beat for the GPs." Cedric Melotte is still recovering from his injured wrist but was able to post results of 16th and 10th. Bike it Yamaha's Julien Bill grabbed a decent 6th position in the second moto. MX1 Moto1 1 Everts 2 Pichon 3 Tortelli 4 T.Leok 5 Leuret 6 Demaria 7 S.Pourcel 8 Friebergs 9 Martin 10 Theybers 16 Melotte MX1 Moto2 1 Everts 2 Tortelli 3 Pichon 4 S.Pourcel 5 Leuret 6 Bill 7 Demaria 8 Breugelmans 9 Martin 10 Melotte

UFO Corse Yamaha rider Johnny Aubert finished the opening round of the 2006 World Enduro Championship with two impressive third place positions in the competitive Enduro 2 class. Making his WEC debut at the Swedish event, the former motocross rider showed that not only is he a fast learner, but that he has the speed to challenge the series' more established riders for podium positions. Placing less than one-minute behind class winner Samuli Aro on day one, Aubert managed to win one of the day's special tests while remaining smooth, aggressive and consistent. On day two the Frenchman again rode well finishing just 37 seconds behind Aro, who again claimed the class win. In finishing in third position on both days Johnny is currently in third position in the E2 world championship standings, just 10 points behind Aro and four points behind runner-up Mika Ahola. Disappointingly the season opener wasn't a good one for Australian Stefan Merriman. After injury wrecked his 2005 season the former world champion hoped to get his 2006 campaign off to a strong start but struggled to master the challenging conditions in Sweden. Placing fifth on day one Merriman faired even worse on day two and despite not making any serious mistakes on either of the event's motocross, enduro or extreme tests he placed in sixth. Johnny Aubert "It's been a great weekend for me. Finishing third on day one was incredible for me, a great surprise. I hoped to learn during the race and before the race I hoped to finish inside the top 10. I am not sure why I was so fast because I didn't make so much training in these conditions. I enjoyed day one but it is so difficult adjusting to the conditions. "Although I finished third again on day two I didn't feel as good as I did on day one. I rode consistently all day, which I think really helped me. I didn't make any big mistakes and managing to finish on the podium again is great - a perfect start to my first world championship enduro season." Stefan Merriman "The best part of this weekend for me has been the finish of the race because I have had two very disappointing days. I really struggled on both days to be honest, I couldn't ride like I wanted to on day one and just paddled my way around the tests as best I could. It feels to me like you have to ride almost out of control, with little control of the front wheel. I like to ride knowing exactly what the front wheel of my bike is doing. If I don't have a good, positive feeling from the front wheel I don't have the confidence to push hard. That's exactly what has happened this weekend, I haven't had the confidence to push hard. "I didn't have any crashes on the tests but I had several in the checks. I did try making some changes to my bike for the second day but they didn't make any real difference. No, it's not been the best of weekends for me." David Knight claimed top honours on both days in the Enduro 3 class finishing ahead of Finn Marko Tarkkala with Sweden's Bjorne Carlsson claiming third on both days. Race classification Enduro 2 Round: 1 - Sweden Circuit: Östersund Lap Record: 60' 51.650 (Samuli Aro, 2006) Race: 1 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 S. Aro KTM FIN 64' 53.340 2 M. Ahola Honda FIN +26.720 3 J. Aubert Yamaha FRA +59.600 4 V. Salonen HusaBerg FIN +2' 9.090 5 S. Merriman Yamaha AUS +2' 37.550 6 F. Planet KTM FRA +3' 5.130 7 P. Silvan KTM FIN +3' 8.870 8 P. Wicksell KTM SWE +3' 54.350 9 R. Rihelainen HusaBerg FIN +3' 59.640 10 C. Guerrero GasGas ESP +4' 8.510 11 E. McConnell TM GBR +4' 15.130 12 X. Galindo KTM ESP +4' 25.500 13 T. Klutz Sherco BEL +4' 28.500 14 A. Beconi Beta ITA +4' 46.540 15 F. Dini Yamaha ITA +5' 35.980 16 G. Canova Husqvarna ITA +5' 58.040 17 CJ. Bjerkert KTM SWE +6' 16.600 18 P. Nurminen HusaBerg FIN +6' 31.740 19 T. Burman HusaBerg SWE +7' 0.020 20 A. Botturi Aprilia ITA +7' 4.090 Race 2: 1 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 S. Aro KTM FIN 60' 51.650 2 M. Ahola Honda FIN +44.700 3 J. Aubert Yamaha FRA +1' 9.740 4 F. Planet KTM FRA +3' 2.580 5 V. Salonen HusaBerg FIN +3' 12.570 6 S. Merriman Yamaha AUS +3' 14.860 7 P. Silvan KTM FIN +3' 41.160 8 C. Guerrero GasGas ESP +3' 44.220 9 T. Klutz Sherco BEL +4' 16.860 10 X. Galindo KTM ESP +4' 44.310 11 A. Botturi Aprilia ITA +4' 53.120 12 F. Andersson KTM SWE +4' 54.450 13 F. Dini Yamaha ITA +4' 56.260 14 R. Rihelainen HusaBerg FIN +5' 0.860 15 A. Beconi Beta ITA +5' 5.890 16 E. McConnell TM GBR +5' 30.070 17 P. Nurminen HusaBerg FIN +5' 57.470 18 CJ. Bjerkert KTM SWE +6' 7.660 19 P. Wicksell KTM SWE +6' 11.240 20 G. Canova Husqvarna ITA +6' 18.390 Fastest Race Lap: Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 S. Aro KTM FIN 60' 51.650 Championship standings Enduro 2 Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points 1 Samuli Aro KTM FIN 50 2 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 44 3 Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 40 4 Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 34 5 Fabien Planet KTM FRA 33 6 Stefan Merriman Yamaha AUS 31 7 Petteri Silvan KTM FIN 28 8 Cristobal Guerrero GasGas ESP 24 9 Xavier Galindo KTM ESP 20 10 Thierry Klutz Sherco BEL 20 11 Riku Rihelainen HusaBerg FIN 19 12 Euan McConnell TM GBR 15 13 Patrik Wicksell KTM SWE 15 14 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 14 15 Andrea Beconi Beta ITA 13 16 Alessandro Botturi Aprilia ITA 11 17 Fritz Andersson KTM SWE 9 18 Carl Johan Bjerkert KTM SWE 7 19 Pentti Nurminen HusaBerg FIN 7 20 Giuseppe Canova Husqvarna ITA 6 Manufacturers standings Enduro 2 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1 KTM 50 2 Honda 44 3 Yamaha 40 4 HusaBerg 34 5 GasGas 24 6 Sherco 20 7 TM 15 8 Beta 13 9 Aprilia 11 10 Husqvarna 6 Enduro 1 : Sixth for Micheluz Round: 1 - Sweden Circuit: Östersund Date: 19 March 2006 Crowd: 4500 Temp: 5ºC Weather: Sunny With UFO Corse Yamaha team rider Arnau Vilanova unable to compete in Sweden due to having injured his ribs while training for the event Italian Maurizio Micheluz competed as the team's only E1 rider. Having never raced in winter conditions before Maurizio placed in sixth on both days showing that despite feeling far from at home in the cold, slippery conditions he was able to produce consistent results and finish both days comfortably inside the top 10. Finn Petri Pohjamo and Spaniard Ivan Cervantes claimed a day win each in Sweden with Cervantes claiming the lead in the E1 championship standings ahead of Pohjamo and Sweden's Peter Bergvall. Having finishing in sixth on both days Maurizio currently lies in sixth position in the E1 standings with seven rounds remaining. Race classification Enduro 1 Round: 1 - Sweden Circuit: Östersund Lap Record: 62' 47.770 (Ivan Cervantes, 2006) Race: 1 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 P. Pohjamo TM FIN 66' 46.540 2 I. Cervantes KTM ESP +14.870 3 S. Albergoni Honda ITA +18.540 4 P. Bergvall Suzuki SWE +23.870 5 B. Oblucki Husqvarna POL +1' 12.150 6 M. Micheluz Yamaha ITA +1' 38.910 7 A. Belometti KTM ITA +1' 51.230 8 R. Carlsson Yamaha SWE +2' 0.710 9 H. Rodrigues Yamaha POR +2' 12.900 10 F. Georgsson KTM SWE +2' 15.440 11 M. Hartmann KTM GER +3' 35.200 12 P. Olsson Yamaha SWE +5' 19.130 13 L. Holm KTM FIN +5' 2,704.000 14 F. Blanc KTM FRA +6' 51.960 Race 2: 1 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 I. Cervantes KTM ESP 62' 47.770 2 P. Bergvall Suzuki SWE +26.490 3 B. Oblucki Husqvarna POL +27.690 4 P. Pohjamo TM FIN +44.910 5 S. Albergoni Honda ITA +48.440 6 M. Micheluz Yamaha ITA +1' 17.840 7 A. Belometti KTM ITA +1' 29.690 8 R. Carlsson Yamaha SWE +1' 47.640 9 F. Georgsson KTM SWE +2' 27.580 10 H. Rodrigues Yamaha POR +2' 57.330 11 P. Olsson Yamaha SWE +3' 43.390 12 M. Hartmann KTM GER +3' 48.620 13 M. Andreasson Suzuki SWE +4' 10.180 14 L. Holm KTM FIN +4' 47.360 15 F. Blanc KTM FRA +6 ' 11.310 16 M. Wiberg Honda SWE +8' 53.100 Fastest Race Lap: Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 I. Cervantes KTM ESP 62' 47.770 Championship standings Enduro 1 Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points 1 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 47 2 Petri Pohjamo TM FIN 43 3 Peter Bergvall Suzuki SWE 40 4 Simone Albergoni Honda ITA 36 5 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 36 6 Mauricio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 30 7 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 28 8 Robert Carlsson Yamaha SWE 26 9 Frederik Georgsson KTM SWE 23 10 Helder Rodrigues Yamaha POR 23 11 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 19 12 Pär Olsson Yamaha SWE 19 13 Leit Holm KTM FIN 15 14 Freddy Blanc KTM FRA 13 15 Matts Andreasson Suzuki SWE 8 16 Mikael Wiberg Honda SWE 5 17 Arnau Vilanova Yamaha ESP 0 18 Giuseppe Gallino Yamaha ITA 0 19 Philip Powderly TM IRL 0 20 Emilio Comotti Honda ITA 0 Manufacturers standings Enduro 1 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1 KTM 47 2 TM 43 3 Suzuki 40 4 Husqvarna 36 4 Honda 36 5 Yamaha 30

Camel Yamaha Team ready to begin title defence at Jerez The Camel Yamaha Team returns to southern Spain next weekend to begin the defence of its MotoGP World Championship titles. With Valentino Rossi taking the riders' crown for the fifth successive season, adding to both the team and manufacturers' titles in the year of Yamaha's 50th Anniversary, the factory outfit faces a tough challenge to live up to its 2005 success but the team is approaching the new campaign with optimism and fresh motivation. This will be the 20th consecutive Grand Prix at Jerez since the circuit was first used in 1987 - Assen and Donington are the only other current venues boasting a longer association with the series - and this year's opening round sees Rossi hunting for his seventh win there in all classes. Victory next Sunday would be his fifth in the premier-class and make him the most successful MotoGP rider ever at Jerez; with one more win than the legendary Mick Doohan. Colin Edwards has enjoyed limited success at the Andalucian track since racing there for the first time in 2003. His best result is a seventh-place finish two years ago but an encouraging pre-season with the 2006 version YZR-M1 has given the 'Texas Tornado' realistic hopes of producing his best form this time around. Valentino Rossi: New arrivals and new rivals Valentino Rossi defends his MotoGP title from a host of new riders this year after an influx of young talent from the 250cc and World Superbike categories. Dani Pedrosa (Honda), Casey Stoner (Honda), Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki) and Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) have all demonstrated rapid progress during the pre-season tests and Rossi is looking forward to the fresh challenges they will present. "This year my main rivals have changed and the average age is much younger, so I will have to work out their strengths and weaknesses," said Rossi. "I have watched the career of Dani Pedrosa very closely since he was in 125cc and I have always been impressed by him and I expect him to be strong from the first race. Besides him, there are many different riders, manufacturers and teams that have been fast at different times throughout the pre-season so I hope that we can have some really good battles for the fans!" If Rossi needs further motivation to open his fifth consecutive title defence with a victory, he has the added target of protecting an impressive record of opening-round successes in recent years. The Italian has been victorious in round one of each of the last five seasons, all of which have ended with championship success, but he says that work must be done to improve the performance of his 2006-specification YZR-M1 at Jerez after recent tests at the same circuit. "We need to find more grip when the tyre is on the side," he explains. "At the test our speed in the corner was down considerably in some places so, where we usually have an advantage with the Yamaha, we were behind. Anyway, now the Yamaha engineers understand what has happened and they have a lot of data and information to fix it for the race. I have confidence in them, in Jeremy Burgess and in Michelin and I know that when we can use our bike at 100%, as we showed in Barcelona, it is the best bike on the grid. I love racing in Spain and I have many fans there, so I always look forward to the race in Jerez!" Colin Edwards: Driving towards success Colin Edwards is entering his second season with Yamaha, the first for him in MotoGP without a switch of team and bike during the winter. Lengthy pre-season tests, as well as valuable data gathered last year, have given the American a crucial platform for the new campaign - as evidenced by his form at the Official Test in Barcelona two weeks ago when he set the fastest time in the 'Qualifying' practice and drove away with the prize of a new car. "It's been a pretty intense few months testing and I am really happy that we've finally made it to the first race - this is where the fun starts!" smiled Edwards. "The great result at the Barcelona Test was a massive confidence boost to me and a validation of all the hard work that everyone's put in, but we have to use it as a trampoline to bigger and better things. As everyone knows, we had a bit of a setback at the Jerez test but I've said from the first time I rode the new M1 that it's a great bike and pretty much better in every way to the old one, so I have confidence that we will be okay come the race. "Jerez is a great race, it's a fantastic place to kick off the season and the atmosphere is always something special. As for the season in general, I have said that I am ready to win races and I stand by that. Of course, I've got to beat my team-mate and that's the hardest part! This is the first time in MotoGP that I've begun the season on the same bike and with the same team so I'm way ahead of where I have been every other year. I'm really looking forward to the new season!" Davide Brivio: Motivated and excited Camel Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio has enjoyed a busy winter, with new title-sponsor Camel coming on board as well as an intense pre-season testing schedule in Malaysia and Qatar. The Italian has been pleased with the form shown by his riders despite recent problems at Jerez and says he is expecting another exciting and successful season. "Our winter programme went quite well, apart from the most recent session at Jerez when we faced a few problems," admits Brivio. "We weren't able to use the bike to its full potential but, thankfully, that was only a test and we were able to collect a lot of data that will be useful to us as we try to iron out those problems for the race. We have some ideas so hopefully they will turn into solutions on Friday morning. In any case we are very aware that this is just the first race of seventeen and it will be another long season. "As far as the team is concerned I would say they are even more motivated than last season. Obviously Valentino wants to win the title again and Colin is also very happy with the way the bike has performed in the winter. It is his second year in the team and we all want to take advantage of that. I would say that altogether the team is motivated, excited and very much looking forward to the start of the new season next weekend." Technically speaking: Daniele Romagnoli on Jerez With few hard braking points and little opportunity to fully open the throttle, the key to Jerez is about the rider's skill in picking the most effective racing line. The 4.423km track features five left and eight right hand corners with regular and quick changes in direction, meaning that the rider requires a responsive overall package and, above all, precise chassis set-up. "The most important and difficult aspect of set-up at Jerez is the chassis," explains Daniele Romagnoli, Chief Mechanic to Colin Edwards. "It is a particular circuit because the bike spends a lot of time at maximum lean and there are very few points that require maximum throttle, so the engine and the gearbox settings are not as important here as they are at other tracks. There are many high-speed corners with fast entry so the chassis has to be good, as do the suspension and the tyres. The riders need good grip at maximum lean so we work on the weight balance, spring rates and finding a good tyre." Valentino Rossi: Information Age: 27 Lives: London, UK Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 GP victories: 81 (42 x MotoGP, 13 x 500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc) First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc) First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc) GP starts: 157 (65 x MotoGP, 32 x 500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc) Pole positions: 40 World Championships - 7 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 4 x MotoGP) Colin Edwards: Information Age: 32 Lives: Conroe, Texas Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 First GP: Japan, 2003 (MotoGP) GP starts: 49 x MotoGP World Championships - 2 World Superbike

World Champion Stefan Everts continued his excellent run of results in the build-up to the 2006 Grand Prix season by dominating the first round of the Belgian Championship yesterday in a soggy Moerbeke-Waas. The Belgian guided his factory YZ450FM to first position in all three motos and led the last race from start to finish. It was another confident display from the 33 year old who has now won all of the four events he has contested (the first three being the Internationals in Italy, France and Britain) since the motocross calendar cranked into life during February. Riding the new version of the YZ, Everts has already stated how comfortable he feels on the 450 and is happy with the testing programme and modifications carried out by the Rinaldi team. Combined with this recent sizzling form Everts is a sure-fire favourite going into the first round of the World Championships that will take place in three weeks time at the Zolder circuit in Belgium for the Grand Prix of Flanders. "It went well and the conditions improved during the day," he said regarding his latest success. "It had been raining before the meeting and the temperatures dropped the eve of the race so the track was frozen in the morning. It started to melt however and this meant that it was very soft and became rough. The jumps were very rutty so it was a very technical course." "Except for the first race I was happy with my riding. We made some suspension changes after that first moto and everything was great; I just got stronger. Strijbos pushed hard and then Ramon was there also, but I led the last moto from start to finish." It was a busy weekend for national motocross as most domestic series commenced their 2006 campaigns. Reigning MX2 World Champion Antonio Cairoli was only able to score 3rd and 7th positions at Gallarate, Malpensa for the third round of the Italian series. The De Carli Yamaha rider lies second in the standings behind KTM's David Philippaerts, but was forced to concede the runner-up spot yesterday to Ricci Racing's Davide Guarneri. The young Italian's team-mate, former World Champion Alessio Chiodi, was fourth overall. In Britain Billy Mackenzie was second to Marc de Reuver (making a one-off appearance in the series) at the Cadders Hill circuit in Norfolk with results of 4th and 2nd. The Bike it Yamaha representative negotiated a bumpy track in cold conditions for a positive start to the first of eight races in the typically action-packed British competition. "At every first round of the British Championship I have either won or crashed so I was determined that I would leave with a couple of good races this time," the 21 year old Scotsman said. "I was only worried about Carl Nunn and the options for the Championship as he will be the one to beat. Overall it was not a bad weekend," he summarised. "For once it was a steady performance and taking De Reuver out of the equation I am leading the series so in that respect it was positive."

Pre-season testing draws to a close in Jerez Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards completed their final pre-season test in Jerez today in front of hordes of Spanish fans, after riding thousands of kilometres during a total of fifteen days' testing since January. Following a strong showing at the Barcelona Test last week, the Camel Yamaha Team's preparations have suffered something of a set back here and both riders have been hampered by vibration problems throughout the three days of this test. Despite not making as many improvements as they had hoped today, important information has been gathered over the three days which will hopefully enable the Yamaha engineers and Michelin to come up with a solution for the impending race. The time-sheets were topped today by Ducati duo Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau, with Capirossi lapping under Rossi's pole-time from 2005 with a lap of 1'39.411. Rossi, Edwards and the Camel Yamaha Team now have the chance to relax at home for ten days before they return to this circuit for the season-opening Spanish Grand Prix on 26th March. COLIN EDWARDS (7th, 1'40.721, 82 laps) "It would be nice if I could say that we've solved all our problems today, but sadly it's just not the case and we're still struggling a bit. I think we've really gone in circles a bit here. We've changed a lot of things and we haven't really concentrated on a race simulation or the endurance of the tyre, we've just been trying to find ways to dial out the problems we have. To be honest our pace isn't bad but it's certainly not a winning pace, which is frustrating when we saw in Barcelona last weekend how great our package is when it's all working! Yamaha and Michelin have more than enough information after three days and I am confident that they will come back with something to solve our problems. Anyway, that's it for testing! I'm heading home for ten days to chill out a little bit and let's hope that the new stuff we have when we come back for the race will help us out so we can challenge for a win." VALENTINO ROSSI (10th, 1'40.907, 83 laps) "There were so many people here today, it was like a race! Of course it's really nice to have so many spanish fans, but today it's been quite difficult for me even to go from the hospitality to the team truck! Yesterday I was confident that we could find some big improvements today but honestly that hasn't happened and now I am quite worried. The vibration has remained and at the moment we don't know how to solve it. Yamaha and Michelin have done a lot of good work today and we've tried many different tyres and settings, but we are still slow. This is the last test and throughout the whole pre-season period we've always been fast and the bike has felt good, but this test has been completely different. At the moment I am not sure what will happen in the race, we'll have to wait and see. I hope that Jeremy, together with the Japanese engineers and the Michelin technicians, can use all the data they have now to understand the problem and see how to solve it." DAVIDE BRIVIO - CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR "After this test we don't know how the race will go, but it's been very important to have this chance to test before it. As the riders say, we've tried many different things and collected a lot of information. Now our engineers will have ten days to work on this and come up with some new ideas and solutions. This is the end of winter testing and we've seen that our bike can work very well at different tracks. We need to understand why this hasn't been the case here, but we're convinced we can find a way forward and we know that we still have a very good package." Like the factory team the Yamaha Tech 3 squad also had tough times in Jerez compared to the previous tests in Barcelona and Qatar. When Checa looked to challenge the top five times he crashed on a hot lap. He was taken to hospital for x-rays just to confirm he did not suffer any serious injuries. Team mate Ellison experimented with his riding style and tyres. Although he managed to eliminate chatter problems, he still needs to find a way to use his qualifying tyres come the race in less then two weeks time. CARLOS CHECA (11th - 1'41.134) "We're still improving a lot but we have a long way to go with the endurance of the tyre. It's hard to know at the moment what will happen over race distance. We've had a lot more problems here than in Qatar or Barcelona and of course this is disappointing, but we need to stay calm about this and remember that it's very early days. The bike is working well but there is a lot of work to do on the package. For now we can all relax for a short while and then finally start racing!" JAMES ELLISON (18th - 1'42.686) "It's been slow, steady progress. Every time I get to a new circuit it's taking me longer than everyone else to get comfortable on the bike and so I'm not making progress as quickly as I should, but I am getting there. The first couple of days I tried to follow Carlos and see how and learn something from him. I've been trying to copy his riding style but to be honest it wasn't really working for me. This morning I went back to riding how I've always ridden and I went second quicker straight away. Now the bike isn't moving around so much and I'm feeling more comfortable. On race tyres my pace isn't so bad, I'm feeling okay. On the qualifiers I'm three seconds down, and they're not really making much difference to my times. I don't have much experience with them and so it's taking me time to learn. I'm not that worried. It seems that I got rid of the chatter today, going back to my old riding style, so it's just the durability of the tyres that we have to worry about now. I'm looking forward to the race, I love the track, although it's been difficult to get used to with this bike because everything happens faster! It's my first race with the Yamaha and I've got to take things slowly, but I would like top ten or at least top 15. I know I am nowhere near the peak of my capabilities yet and I know I can keep improving as the season goes on. HERVE PONCHERAL - TEAM MANAGER YAMAHA TECH 3 "Unfortunately Carlos had a crash when he went out at the end of the day on a qualifying tyre. He was very fast and it was looking like a top five lap, but then he fell. The most important thing is that he's been checked out by the doctors and he's okay. We've been to four different tracks and for sure here we've had the most problems. However we're still not too unhappy because we've done a lot of laps and the pace hasn't been so bad. James has improved every day - from .44 to .42s consistently, and he's more comfortable and confident. He needs more miles before he can really start to push. I want to thank everyone for their hard work over the winter and Carlos especially for everything he's brought to the team. He's done a great job and he's pushing every step of the way. He's a huge help to the Yamaha/Dunlop project." Lap Times: 1.Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1'39.411 2.Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1'39.663 3.Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1'39.776 4.Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team, 1'40.416 5.Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1'40.468 6.Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team, 1'40.570 7.COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1'40.721 8.Toni Elias (SPA) Fortuna Honda, 1'40.732 9.Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1'40.750 10.VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1'40.907 11.Carlos Checa (SPA) Tech 3 Yamaha, 1'41.134 12.Marco Melandri (ITA) Fortuna Honda, 1'41.208 13.John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1'41.208 14.Makoto Tamada (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda, 1'41.380 15.Kenny Roberts (USA) Team Roberts, 1'41.673 16.Jose Luis Cardoso (SPA) D'Antin Pramac, 1'41.761 17.Alex Hofmann (GER) D'Antin Pramac, 1'42.034 18.James Ellison (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha, 1'42.686 19.Vittoriano Guareschi (ITA) Ducati, 1'42.759 20.Tadayuki Okada (JPN) HRC, 1'43.513 Jerez Lap Record: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 - 1'40.596 Jerez Best Lap: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 - 1'39.419

Camel Yamaha Team positive despite problems in Jerez Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards both improved considerably on yesterday's lap times in Jerez today, but are still hard working hard with Michelin to find a way to rid the M1 of the vibration problems that they are both experiencing here. A new batch of Michelin tyres and some set-up changes brought some improvements to the package today, but the riders are still not able to use the M1 at its full capacity and are still further down the time sheets than in Barcelona last weekend, when they were both consistently fast. Shinya Nakano showed his 2006 potential on the Kawasaki by topping the time sheets with a lap of 1'40.047, nearly half a second faster than second-placed Loris Capirossi (Ducati). Tomorrow's final day of testing concludes the pre-season MotoGP programme, ahead of the first race here in two weeks time. Valentino Rossi (6th, 1'40.915, 67 laps) "We still have quite a few problems with the vibration and this means that we can't use the bike to its full potential and make fast lap times. We've tried lots of changes to the set-up today - balance, suspension, but the problem remains. In some of the fast corners my speed is down by as much as 15 or 20kms. The good thing is that we're much better than yesterday and we've done some really good work within the team to make these improvements, but it's still not enough and some other riders are looking very strong. Luckily we still have tomorrow to try to find the solution and I am not so worried. If we still have this situation on the Saturday afternoon of the first race, then maybe we can worry but for now I have 100% confidence in Yamaha and Michelin. For tomorrow we will have some new tyres to try and then for sure Michelin will work very hard between now and the first race so that we're in a better position when we come back here." Colin Edwards (9th, 1'41.105, 62 laps) "Yesterday we thought that the new tyres today would make all the difference. The situation is a bit better and I'm faster today, but the improvements really aren't as big as we had hoped. Basically the chatter that both Valentino and I are experiencing is acting as a speed limit to our bike - we can push so far but no more. We didn't want to turn the bike upside-down yesterday before we'd tried the new stuff from Michelin, but after today it's pretty clear that's just what we're going to need to do tomorrow. It's frustrating after last weekend to have spent two days here without making any real steps forward, so we need to make the most of tomorrow! I am sure that Michelin are going to bring some more new stuff, we'll fiddle with the settings and hopefully together we can figure it all out." Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "We still have tomorrow left to try to find some new solutions for our problem and we're analysing all the information that we have to find a way forward. Our engineers will make some new plans for tomorrow and we will see how the situation is. Hopefully we can leave here having made some more improvements." Lap Times: 1. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1'40.047 2. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1'40.544 3. John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1'40.791 4. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1'40.839 5. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team, 1'40.859 6. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1'40.915 7. Carlos Checa (SPA) Tech 3 Yamaha, 1'40.943 8. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1'40.954 9. Colin Edwards (USA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1'41.105 10. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1'41.110 11. Toni Elias (SPA) Fortuna Honda, 1'41.254 12. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda, 1'41.561 13. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team, 1'41.745 14. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team Roberts, 1'42.127 15. Jose Luis Cardoso (SPA) D'Antin Pramac, 1'42.593 16. Marco Melandri (ITA) Fortuna Honda, 1'42.636 17. Alex Hofmann (GER) D'Antin Pramac, 1'42.647 18. James Ellison (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha, 1'43.797 19. Vittoriano Guareschi (ITA) Ducati, 1'43.846 20. Tadayuki Okada (JPN) HRC, 1'45.622 Jerez Lap Record: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 - 1'40.596 Jerez Best Lap: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 - 1'39.419

Camel Yamaha Team begin final race preparations at Jerez test Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards began their final three days of pre-season testing at Jerez de la Frontera in Southern Spain today. The 4.423 km Jerez circuit, which will play host to the season-opening Grand Prix in two weeks time, provides the last chance for the World Champion and his team-mate to perfect the set-up of their YZR-M1s before the curtain goes up on the new MotoGP season. Following last weekend's test in Barcelona, where Rossi consistently topped the time sheets and Edwards drove away with a new car after winning Sunday's wet 'qualifying' shoot-out, both riders were faced with some traction problems today and are now focused on finding a solution with tyre manufacture Michelin and the Yamaha engineers over the next two days. Loris Capirossi (Ducati) was the only rider to lap under the circuit record, setting a time of 1'40.910. Edwards (1'41.730) and Rossi (1'41.861) set the sixth and ninth best times respectively. Colin Edwards (6th, 1'41.730, 68 laps) "After the highs of last weekend, today has shown us that we still have a bit of work to do before the first race. We started with 99% of the same settings that we had in Barcelona and we've only made some small changes; the bike is still working great. However we're missing traction with the tyres and now we need to get that sorted out with Michelin. We need to find the right tyre for our bike at this track, but they're working hard to do just that and tomorrow we should have something new to try. I think everyone's a bit 'tested-out' now so it's just a case of making one last big effort here, then we can all finally concentrate on the first race!" Valentino Rossi (9th, 1'41.861, 73 laps) "It's quite a big change coming here after last weekend as we have some problems and the vibration that we had in Malaysia and Qatar has returned. The problem is that the tyres that we have available to us here are not working correctly with our bike, so now we're waiting for some new race tyres for tomorrow and Sunday. We hope that with this we can fix the problem. We've worked a lot on settings and other things today in order to find a way to improve the traction, but in reality we can't do anything until we have a different tyre. We're ninth so we're not very fast! Now we have just two days to prepare before we come back here for the first race so we're going to work very hard with Yamaha and Michelin to solve the problem." Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "We had some problems today to make our package work like it did last week in Barcelona, but both riders have the same problem so this make it's easier to work on the situation. We exchanged a lot of information between Yamaha and Michelin and in the next two days we will work together to find the right solution. I am confident that with the full cooperation of everyone involved, we can overcome the problem." Official lap times: 1. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1'40.910 2. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1'41.176 3. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1'41.477 4. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team, 1'41.499 5. Toni Elias (SPA) Fortuna Honda, 1'41.680 6. Colin Edwards (USA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1'41.730 7. Carlos Checa (SPA) Tech 3 Yamaha, 1'41.732 8. John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1'41.740 9. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1'41.861 10. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1'41.915 11. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team, 1'41.984 12. Marco Melandri (ITA) Fortuna Honda, 1'42.106 13. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team Roberts, 1'42.328 14. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda, 1'42.558 15. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1'42.938 16. Alex Hofmann (GER) D'Antin Pramac, 1'43.274 17. Vittoriano Guareschi (ITA) Ducati, 1'43.417 18. Jose Luis Cardoso (SPA) D'Antin Pramac, 1'44.501 19. James Ellison (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha, 1'44.953 20. Tadayuki Okada (JPN) HRC, 1'45.930 Jerez Lap Record: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 - 1'40.596 Jerez Best Lap: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 - 1'39.419

Rinaldi Yamaha rider Stefan Everts claimed his third victory in four weeks after winning both MX1 heats of the Hawkstone Park International in Shropshire, England. The nine times World Champion dominated the first of two heats in bright and sunny but cold conditions. A packed crowd attended one of the more prestigious pre-season events of the winter calendar and the dark Hawkstone sand was in its usual rough and demanding state. The circuit is dwarfed by the large hill section that sees the riders climb a near-vertical 100m slope and the gradient caught out a number of top riders as the International once again boasted an array of Grand Prix stars. For the third time since the motocross schedule began to crank into life during February, Everts beat the likes of the factory backed Honda team and the works Suzuki and KTM efforts, all housing his main rivals for the 2006 MX1 World Championship. Everts escaped the clutches of fellow Belgian Kevin Strijbos in the opening sprint and was just as masterful in the second heat as he glided past Strijbos and his team-mate Steve Ramon. A mistake on the last lap gave Strijbos more impetus to close the gap but the race was already won. A 'hatrick' could not be taken later in the afternoon as a rare fall in the 'Grand Final' (mixing the best finishers from the MX1 and MX2 classes) allowed Yamaha MX2 representative Billy Mackenzie to streak head on the YZ250F. Although he fronted the pack for the majority of the distance Mackenzie was slowed by backmarkers with just two laps to go and was caught by Strijbos and a charging Everts who plagued the Suzuki rider to the flag and was only a second behind over the finish line. Contrary to reports stating that he would miss the pre-season race programme Cédric Melotte took to the line at Hawkstone. The Belgian is still recovering from an injured wrist, but was able to wrestle the YZ450FM over the sandy terrain for eigth and fifth positions. He picked up a DNF in the Final after a collision with another rider robbed him of his rear brake. Bike it Dixon Yamaha's Billy Mackenzie produced a good performance in his first race meeting of the season. The 21 year old slipped from second place to third in the first heat after suffering some arm-pump but confidently claimed the next heat by over twelve seconds from main British Championship rival Carl Nunn. Only a hold-up with backmarkers prevented the Scot from marking a historic triumph over the 450s in the 'Grand Final'. Stefan Everts: "I will miss this place. It is the sixth year in a row I have come to Hawkstone. I've had some great moments here and unfortunately I never got the chance to ride in the Grand Prix. I think it is a great track with a lot of potential. I enjoyed the races today and it was difficult to make the lap of honour for the last time." Cédric Melotte: "The result is not so bad because I wasn't expecting to finish all three races. In the last heat I hit someone else's wheel and the brake pedal bent under the footpeg so I could not continue. I am quite satisfied. I could not push too hard because my wrist was giving me trouble but I am confident and now need to go step by step to reach my best level. We are still working on the bike because I missed a lot of testing time." Billy Mackenzie: "I feel like I have an overall win because I managed to produce that good last race. That heat was awesome; it was such a buzz to be leading those guys. With two laps to go I was thinking about what celebration I could do over the finish line, but it never comes that easy when you are racing against the best! Just to be in front of them for that length of time felt good. I also set the fastest lap. This meeting will keep me going for a few weeks. The first race was pretty muddy and I got some arm-pump, but it was the first one of the year so that was expected. I got a top three though and I know I need to work on my consistency so I am pleased. We tweaked the bike and got rid of some of the niggly problems we would have had at Lyng for the British Championship next week." MX1 Race 1 1. Stefan Everts 2. Kevin Strijbos 3. Ken de Dycker 4. Mickael Pichon 5. Josh Coppins 6. Tanel Leok 7. Steve Ramon 8. Cédric Melotte 9. James Noble 10. Mark Hucklebridge MX1 Race 2 1. Stefan Everts 2. Kevin Strijbos 3. Steve Ramon 4. Mickael Pichon 5. Cédric Melotte 6. Josh Coppins 7. Tanel Leok 8. James Noble 9. Ken de Dycker 10. Gordon Crockard MX1 Grand final result 1. Kevin Strijbos 2. Stefan Everts 3. Josh Coppins 4. Mickael Pichon 5. Tanel Leok 6. Steve Ramon 7. Sebastien Tortelli 8. Mark Jones 9. Yoshitaka Atsuta 10. Gordon Crockard MX2 Race 1 1. Carl Nunn 2. Tommy Searle 3. Billy Mackenzie 4. Brad Anderson 5. Steven Clarke 6. Lewis Gregory 7. Jason Dougan 8. Wayne Smith 9. Oliver Sandiford Smith 10. Alex Snow MX2 Race 2 1. Billy Mackenzie 2. Carl Nunn 3. Tommy Searle 4. Wayne Smith 5. Brad Anderson 6. Shaun Simpson 7. Jim Murro 8. Jamie Law 9. Ray Rowson 10. Alex Snow MX2 Grand final result 1. Billy Mackenzie 2. Lewis Gregory 3. Tommy Searle 4. Oliver Sandiford Smith 5. David Willet 6. Ben Saunders 7. Alex Snow 8. Carl Nunn 9. Ashley Greedy 10. Dan Johnson

WSB : Two fourths for Haga in Australia Round: 2 - Australia Circuit: Phillip Island Date: 5 March 2006 Crowd: 55000 Temp: 25ºC Weather: Sunny Yamaha Motor Italia rider Noriyuki Haga battled traction problems to grab a brace of fourth places at round two of the Superbike World Championship at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia. The popular Japanese rider rode hard in the day's two 22-lap races to score 26 valuable points over the two races. Haga had run at the front of the day's opening race but faded when his rear traction reduced at around half-distance. Despite running a somewhat lonely fifth for most of the race, the 31-year-old continued to ride hard to pass a fading Troy Bayliss (Ducati) and fend off a late charge from Roberto Rolfo (Ducati). Race two saw Haga make some further suspension changes to lead a thrilling battle at the front with Bayliss, James Toseland (Honda), Alex Barros (Honda), Troy Corser (Suzuki) and Yamaha Motor Italia team-mate Andrew Pitt. A nasty crash for Corser saw the Yamaha riders take avoiding action and let Bayliss and Toseland build a gap. The Yamaha pair was able to stay in touch with Barros in the battle for third but the lack of traction saw them settle for fourth and fifth place at the flag. Pitt was made to pay for an incorrect tyre choice in race one. The Australian chose a harder compound Pirelli tyre, which stopped him running at the same pace as the leaders in the opening laps. Stuck in a thrilling mid-pack battle for most of the race, he ended the race a subdued ninth. For race two he chose the same softer compound tyre as his rivals and was able to run with the leaders, eventually finishing fifth, just behind Haga. The Yamaha Motor France squad had a difficult weekend in Australia. Still running their 2005-specification engines, the team's only points came from former MotoGP rider Norick Abe, who took 12th in race two. Fellow Japanese rider Shinichi Nakatomi crashed out of race one, before continuing his world superbike education with 19th in race two. The team's third rider, Frenchman Sebastien Gimbert, retired from the opener with set-up problems before following home Nakatomi in 20th place in race two. Race one was won by Corser after a race long fight with Barros. Toseland finished third. Bayliss had led the opener by six seconds after obliterating the lap record on lap two. However, the Australian dropped back to eventually finish six, behind Haga and Rolfo. He gained revenge in race two, winning comfortably from Toseland, with Barros taking another podium in third. Bayliss now leads the championship on 75 points, one ahead of Toseland. Pitt leads the Yamaha riders, in fifth place with 45 points, with Haga sixth on 42 points. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "I tried to push hard in both races but unfortunately at the end the tyre is gone and this means I cannot open the throttle and turn the bike properly in both races. The performance of the bike is very good at the beginning of the race but unfortunately after seven or eight laps the performance drops off quite a lot." Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "In the first race I used a different type of rear tyre to most of the other riders and it did not work all that well in the early stages of the race. We used a different compound rear tyre for the second race and this meant that I was at least able to get away at the start, although the consistency is still not there over the race distance." Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "From race one to race two we got on a little bit better, because we changed a lot of settings. We had no grip at the end of race one, sliding all the time, and lots of chatter as well. My lap times were into the 1:36s; slower than I expect. In the second race it was better but our engine was not fast this weekend so I could only follow other riders and had to catch up in the corner entries. Finally I got a 12th in race two, so we scored some points." Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "We did not have the grip from the rear we wanted and that held my lap times back. It was a very difficult weekend. I pushed hard in the first race and lost the front end trying to pass another rider. We finished race two, but to score no points is disappointing." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "It has not been an easy weekend for us but in the end we have scored some good points for the championship. There is less grip here than in Qatar and both our riders have struggled for traction all weekend. We did not test at Phillip Island over the winter and although we found a little bit more today, it wasn't quite enough to allow us to run at the very front. There are a few other low grip circuits like this and we must work hard to improve our performances at these kind of tracks." Martial Garcia (Team Manager - Yamaha Motor Italia) "A very bad day. We had many chassis set-up problems, and we did not find the same grip we had in January, when we were very happy with the settings. I think we did not make a good job, because we did not find a good solution. Phillip Island is a special circuit and a lot depends on weather. We have some tests before the next race and we will use our new engine, which is more powerful. Abe is mentally very strong and I know that he can come through this difficult period strongly. The others we must help to build their confidence." Race classification WSB Round: 2 - Australia Circuit: Phillip Island Circuit Length: 4448 Lap Record: 1' 32.402 (Troy Bayliss, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 32.081 (Troy Bayliss, 2006) Race: 22 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 T. Corser Suzuki AUS 34' 33.545 2 A. Barros Honda BRA +0.450 3 J. Toseland Honda GBR +7.974 4 N. Haga Yamaha JPN +15.121 5 R. Rolfo Ducati ITA +16.292 6 T. Bayliss Ducati AUS +17.120 7 R. Xaus Ducati ESP +17.192 8 F. Nieto Kawasaki ESP +22.457 9 A. Pitt Yamaha AUS +22.490 10 C. Walker Kawasaki GBR +23.176 11 L. Lanzi Ducati ITA +28.347 12 Y. Kagayama Suzuki JPN +28.413 13 R. Laconi Kawasaki FRA +28.833 14 S. Martin Petronas AUS +28.977 15 M. Fabrizio Honda ITA +29.122 17 N. Abe Yamaha JPN +30.955 Race 2: 22 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 T. Bayliss Ducati AUS 34' 33.803 2 J. Toseland Honda GBR +5.528 3 A. Barros Honda BRA +14.312 4 N. Haga Yamaha JPN +16.208 5 A. Pitt Yamaha AUS +17.656 6 Y. Kagayama Suzuki JPN +20.832 7 R. Rolfo Ducati ITA +21.130 8 R. Xaus Ducati ESP +25.224 9 F. Nieto Kawasaki ESP +25.638 10 C. Walker Kawasaki GBR +26.007 11 M. Fabrizio Honda ITA +32.867 12 N. Abe Yamaha JPN +33.171 13 M. Neukirchner Ducati GER +33.211 14 P. Chili Honda ITA +34.314 15 S. Martin Petronas AUS +34.467 17 S. Gimbert Yamaha FRA +49.214 19 S. Nakatomi Yamaha JPN +49.120 Fastest Race Lap: Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 T. Bayliss Ducati AUS 1' 32.402 Championship standings WSB Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points 1 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 75 2 James Toseland Honda GBR 74 3 Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 63 4 Alex Barros Honda BRA 55 5 Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 45 6 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 42 7 Roberto Rolfo Ducati ITA 32 8 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 25 9 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 24 10 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 19 11 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 15 12 Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 14 13 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 14 14 Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 12 15 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 11 21 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 3 Manufacturers standings WSB Pos. Manufacturer Points 1 Honda 78 2 Ducati 76 3 Suzuki 73 4 Yamaha 58 5 Kawasaki 22 6 Petronas 3 WSS : Double podium for Yamaha Motor Germany Round: 2 - Australia Circuit: Phillip Island Date: 5 March 2006 Crowd: 55000 Temp: 24ºC Weather: Sunny Yamaha Motor Germany riders Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes took their first double podium finish of the year at round two of the Supersport World Championship in Philip Island. The Australian riders were involved in a race-long battle with world champion Sebastien Charpentier (Honda), with the two R6 riders breaking the lap record in the opening stages as they applied pressure to the Frenchman. Parkes demonstrated the new R6's speed by setting a new lap record on lap three, just minutes after Curtain had lowered Katsuaki Fujiwara's three year old record. Curtain passed Charpentier at MG corner to take the lead on lap five. However the two Yamaha riders succumbed to rear end traction problems in the later stages of the race, allowing Charpentier to take the win, while the Yamaha men rode sensibly to bring their machines home for valuable championship points. Yamaha Team Italia riders Massimo Roccoli and Gianluca Vizziello brought their R6s home in tenth and 13th places respectively. FIM Superstock 1000 Cup champion Didier van Keymeulen finished 14th, with Javier Fores gaining a point for 15th. Former world superbike race winner Anthony Gobert ran as high as fifth on his GMT94 entered R6 but retired with set-up problems. Charpentier's win extends his championship lead to 10 points over second placed Curtain. Parkes' 16 points for third place moves him to fifth in the standings with two of the 13 races gone. Round three of the race takes place at the Ricardo Tormo circuit close to Valencia in Spain on April 23. Prior to that, the Yamaha Motor Germany squad will undertake tests in Misano and Valencia, where they plan to have new parts to increase the competitiveness of their machines. Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) I got in front of Charpentier a couple of times but every time I thought I could get a break on him, he came past again. It was close racing but always fair, because Sebastien and I trust each other. It's the first stage of race development for our new R6. So after Qatar and here, I think we can say that the first stage is going pretty well. I can't wait for the second stage - can't wait to get to Valencia now." Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) "It's not my best result but I'm really happy to be on the podium here, because it's my first one in Australia. Having only done a lap last week this was really my first race of the season. I struggled to get my lines flowing today and I probably geared the bike a bit too low. I was able to run with Kevin and Seb in the opening laps, but when I was in the slipstream the bike was hitting the rev-limiter, which I knew wasn't good. I tried to stay with them but in the end it was better to take the third than try anything silly. I'm looking forward to Valencia as it is a track that suits my style." Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia) "I am quite satisfied to finish in the top 10 in my first race at this circuit. I had a small problem with my braking, which meant that I could not brake as hard as I like into the hairpin but we have no problem with the traction and otherwise the bike was very good." Gianluca Vizziello (Yamaha Team Italia) "I am happy to get some points today. The front of the bike was sliding quite a lot and this meant I could not push as hard as I liked in the fast corners. So, some points are definitely better than none!" Anthony Gobert (Yamaha GMT94) "I had excessive chatter in the front, but I felt like I could still get into the top five. It got so bad I had to stop. We looked at the bike and everything seemed OK, but the chatter just continued and I had to retire." Terrell Thien (Team Manager - Yamaha Motor Germany) "The early season results have gone well for us. Always our plan was to get as many points as possible in these opening races so to get three podium finishes is as good as we can expect. We expect to have our next performance step for the Valencia race and as the championship goes to Europe we must now target race wins." Race classification WSS Round: 2 - Australia Circuit: Phillip Island Circuit Length: 4448 Lap Record: 1' 36.399 (Broc Parkes, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 35.291 (Chris Vermeulen, 2003) Race: 21 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 S. Charpentier Honda FRA 34' 1.822 2 K. Curtain Yamaha AUS +1.361 3 B. Parkes Yamaha AUS +7.796 4 Y. Tibero Honda FRA +16.788 5 R. Harms Honda DNK +16.798 6 J. Brookes Ducati AUS +21.250 7 J. Stigefelt Honda SWE +21.344 8 D. Thomas Kawasaki AUS +26.309 9 C. Zaiser Ducati AUT +26.515 10 M. Roccoli Yamaha ITA +26.515 11 S. Le Grelle Honda BEL +29.839 12 M. Sanchini Yamaha ITA +34.988 13 G. Vizziello Yamaha ITA +36.328 14 D. Van Keymeulen Yamaha BEL +37.402 15 X. Fores Yamaha ESP +38.574 19 V. Ivanov Yamaha RUS +1' 15.849 20 C. Peris Yamaha CAN +1' 23.477 21 D. Garcia Yamaha ITA +1' 29.998 Fastest Race Lap: Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 B. Parkes Yamaha AUS 1' 36.399 Championship standings WSS Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points 1 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 50 2 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 40 3 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 21 4 Johan Stigefelt Honda SWE 20 5 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 16 6 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 16 7 Joshua Brookes Ducati AUS 16 8 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 15 9 Christian Zaiser Ducati AUT 15 10 Xavi Fores Yamaha ESP 14 11 Yoann Tibero Honda FRA 13 12 Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 10 13 Sebastien Le Grelle Honda BEL 10 14 Dean Thomas Kawasaki AUS 8 15 Mauro Sanchini Yamaha ITA 4 20 Didier Van Keymeulen Yamaha BEL 2 21 Gianluca Nannelli Yamaha ITA 1 Manufacturers standings WSS Pos. Manufacturer Points 1 Honda 50 2 Yamaha 40 3 Ducati 18 4 Kawasaki 8

Yamaha men continue to dominate on second day at Catalunya Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi clocked the fastest time once again on the second day of MotoGP Official Test at the Catalunya Circuit in Spain, after another encouraging session for Yamaha. With Rossi again setting the pace for much of the day, closely followed by his team-mate Colin Edwards, the pair took advantage of the warm afternoon conditions to continue to run through their pre-season testing programme at an impressive rate. Edwards ended the day with the fourth fastest time after briefly leading the time sheets in the closing stages, shaving seven tenths of a second off his best time from yesterday and making continued progress with the race set-up of his YZR-M1 machine. Rossi lapped 1.2 seconds faster than he had managed yesterday, closing in on lap record time as both riders prepare an assault on tomorrow's timed 40-minute session, which will reward the fastest lap with the prize of a new car. Meanwhile, Yamaha Tech 3 rider Carlos Checa continued his impressive pre-season form with the second fastest time of the day. Valentino Rossi (1st, 1'42.477, 72 laps) "To go so fast so early in the test yesterday was the big surprise to us, so today we have just built on that and continued to make improvements. We completed some more important tests and the base setting is good now - we had a few problems with chatter earlier in the pre-season but we seem to have solved those now and today the lap times became faster and faster. I'm also really happy because, to me, this bike feels like my daughter and now I can see it is going well for other riders - Colin and Carlos both love it. Looking at the time sheets this evening of course I am in with a good chance for the new car, but tomorrow is another day and we will have to see what happens. Hopefully the weather will stay as it has done for the last couple of days and we can complete the whole programme we had planned for this test in a positive way." Colin Edwards (4th, 1'43.388, 65 laps) "We had a few things to test today and every step we made seemed to take us in a positive direction, so I couldn't be happier really. The bike is getting better and better and we just keep improving so that is all I can ask for. The cool track temperatures mean that we can't do much for Michelin here so we're just focusing on the bike and refining the setting as much as we can before Jerez. We played with the suspension and the engine mapping a little today but we had no major dramas and the 65 laps went by really quickly. Right now I feel we're ready to go racing so it's just a case of adding the finishing touches." Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "Another good day for Yamaha! It is nice to see our bikes at the top end of the time sheets - the riders are doing a great job and the team are able to stick closely to the testing programme. We had some items to test for Michelin and Yamaha today - mainly with the chassis setting to try and improve the variables of the bike. We got some good information together and now we're ready for the challenge tomorrow. Really the car is not so important but it would be nice to start the year in a positive way and both our riders are ready to compete for it." Official lap times: 1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1'42.477 2. Carlos Checa (SPA) Tech 3 Yamaha, 1'43.142 3. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1'43.245 4. Colin Edwards (USA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1'43.388 5. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1'43.784 6. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1'43.847 7. John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1'43.970 8. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team, 1'44.029 9. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda, 1'44.246 10. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team, 1'44.369 11. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team Roberts, 1'44.407 12. Marco Melandri (ITA) Fortuna Honda, 1'44.512 13. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team,1'44.581 14. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1'45.001 15. James Ellison (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha, 1'45.488 16. Jose Luis Cardoso (SPA) D'Antin Pramac, 1'45.582 17. Toni Elias (SPA) Fortuna Honda, 1'45.782 18. Alex Hoffman (GER) D'Antin Pramac, 1'46.185 19. Vittoriano Guareschi (ITA) Ducati, 1'48.205 Catalunya Lap Record: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 - 1'43.195 Catalunya Best Lap: Sete Gibernau (Honda) 2005 - 1'42.337

WSB : Second row for Yamaha Motor Italia pairing Round: 2 - Australia Circuit: Phillip Island Date: 4 March 2006 Temp: 37ºC Weather: Sunny Yamaha Motor Italia duo Andrew Pitt and Noriyuki Haga bagged second row starts during today's superpole qualifying session for round two of the Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island in Australia. Having ended combined qualifying with Haga third and Pitt sixth, the pairing was a little disappointed at being unable to maintain their positions on the soft tyres used for superpole but satisfied with their performances in race trim. After struggling to find a good balance for his R1 in yesterday's opening qualifying session, Pitt's crew completely revised the machine's settings for today's practice. Their work paid dividends with the Australian carving a massive 1.3 seconds from his Friday time in the Saturday afternoon, lifting him from 16th to sixth in the timesheets with a 1:33.567 lap time. However, on his grid deciding superpole lap, Pitt was one of the few riders not to better his time from the two one-hour sessions, losing one place with a fractionally slower 1:33.598. Team-mate Haga was another rider unable to improve his lap. His 1:33.631 superpole lap was two-tenths of a second slower than his time from regular qualifying, dropping him five places on the grid - from third to eighth. The Japanese rider had made many changes to the rear suspension on his machine in a bid to improve traction in the sweltering conditions and, despite his team working late into the night and trying many different shock and swingarm combinations, Haga was unable to find a perfect setting for his qualifying lap. The team is expected to make further adjustments this evening ahead of tomorrow's two 22-lap races. Yamaha Motor France rider Norick Abe starts tomorrow's races from 17th position after missing out on superpole by less than a tenth of a second. The Japanese rider continued to experience set-up problems, as did team-mates Sebastien Gimbert and Shinichi Nakatomi. Gimbert ended the day 21st after being baulked on his flying lap, while world championship rookie Nakatomi took over a second off his Friday time to end the day in 24th. Troy Bayliss (Ducati) took pole position with a 1:32.159 lap time. Troy Corser (Suzuki), James Toseland (Honda) and Steve Martin (Petronas) complete the front row. Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "We've improved a lot today although we're still not quite there yet. It'll be a hard race as we're struggling for traction but, with the exception of Bayliss and Corser, I think everyone's in the same boat. We can do six or seven quick laps and then it drops off, so we'll try to improve it further overnight. I thought I did a pretty good lap, so I was a bit disappointed when I saw my time. It could be a lot worse though. Second row's not the end of the world and we can get a good start from there." Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "We did a good job today. We tried many different things today although the feeling is still quite similar to yesterday and we couldn't quite get a good setting for the superpole. I made a small mistake on my superpole lap but it is ok. Tomorrow we will try a few more things. It will be hard but I know that we are always stronger in the race than in qualifying." Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "We have less grip than when we tested here in January. Probably this is down to the increased temperature but it means that we must change the settings of the bike. We are still looking for grip. I am disappointed to miss out on superpole for the second week in a row. We are a little down on power and must try to find some improved settings overnight." Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France) "I am not happy because 21st is not my normal position. A rider exited the pits and cut in front of me as I attacked my fastest lap and this probably cost me about four-tenths-of-a-second, so I am sorry to be so far back on the grid. We made some improvements today. We changed the brake discs and this was better, and we managed to reduce the chatter. We have to work and improve the set-up overnight though, as we have still to match our performance from our test here. The front is still moving around a lot and I am down on top speed compared to the fastest riders." Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "I'm not happy to end the day so far down. We have a problem with chattering, as well as some other small things. We changed the settings in the afternoon and I hope we can find some more improvements this afternoon." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "After our strong performances in Qatar we have found it a little bit more difficult than expected here. I am still confident about tomorrow though. We know what Nori can do in the race while Andrew will have a boost from riding at his home track." Martial Garcia (Team Manager - Yamaha Motor France) "When we tested here in January we were using the 2005 tyres and although the new specification Pirellis perform better, they also create more chatter with these settings. As a result we have been almost able to match our performances with from the test but not improve on them. Because of the early start to the season we have had to use 2005-specification engines and because the level is much higher this season we have not been able to make the superpole today." Round: 2 - Australia Circuit: Phillip Island Circuit Length: 4448 Lap Record: 1' 33.019 (Troy Corser, 2001) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 32.193 (Troy Corser, 2001) Date: 4 March 2006 Temp: 37ºC Session 2 : Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. 1st Qualifying 2nd Qualifying Superpole 1 T. Bayliss Ducati AUS 1' 33.387 1' 32.321 1' 32.321 2 T. Corser Suzuki AUS 1' 33.868 1' 32.991 1' 32.373 3 J. Toseland Honda GBR 1' 33.851 1' 33.548 1' 33.003 4 S. Martin Petronas AUS 1' 34.501 1' 33.566 1' 33.206 5 A. Barros Honda BRA 1' 33.790 1' 33.749 1' 33.373 6 K. Muggeridge Honda AUS 1' 34.756 1' 33.702 1' 33.571 7 A. Pitt Yamaha AUS 1' 34.863 1' 33.658 1' 33.598 8 N. Haga Yamaha JPN 1' 34.577 1' 33.441 1' 33.631 9 L. Lanzi Ducati ITA 1' 35.202 1' 34.174 1' 33.791 10 C. Walker Kawasaki GBR 1' 34.589 1' 33.945 1' 33.928 11 P. Chili Honda ITA 1' 34.601 1' 34.132 1' 33.998 12 Y. Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1' 34.461 1' 34.158 1' 34.111 13 F. Nieto Kawasaki ESP 1' 34.618 1' 33.784 1' 34.158 14 R. Laconi Kawasaki FRA 1' 35.033 1' 34.182 1' 34.492 15 R. Rolfo Ducati ITA 1' 34.644 1' 33.658 1' 34.719 16 I. Clementi Ducati ITA 1' 34.708 1' 34.089 1' 35.032 17 N. Abe Yamaha JPN 1' 35.010 1' 34.269 21 S. Gimbert Yamaha FRA 1' 34.832 1' 34.666 24 S. Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 1' 36.080 1' 35.039 WSS : Front row for Curtain and Parkes Round: 2 - Australia WSS Circuit: Phillip Island Date: 4 March 2006 Temp: 36ºC Weather: Sunny Yamaha riders Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes will start tomorrow's second round of the Supersport World Championship from the front row of the grid after a strong showing at Phillip Island today. The Australians, who ride for the Yamaha Motor Germany squad, changed the set-up of their YZF-R6s to improved their times from Friday's session and maintain the important front row starts. Curtain posted a best of 1:36.436 to end the day second, just ahead of Parkes, who was just over a tenth of a second slower than his team-mate. After experimenting with the settings during yesterday's session, the squad reverted to the data gained during January's Phillip Island test for today's final qualifying. Both riders declared themselves happier with the machine today and confident that they can run with pole position man Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) during tomorrow's 21-lap race. A third R6-riding Australian featured heavily in qualifying, with Anthony Gobert posting the seventh fastest time on the Yamaha GMT94 machine. A five-time world superbike winner at the venue, Gobert was in impressive form in his second stand-in ride for the injured David Checa. FIM Superstock 1000 Cup champion Didier van Keymeulen ended the day 19th on his R6, ahead of Yamaha Team Italia riders Massimo Roccoli and Gianluca Vizziello. They continued to experience set-up problems and ended up 21st and 24th on tomorrow's grid. Round: 2 - Australia WSS Circuit: Phillip Island Circuit Length: 4448 Lap Record: 1' 36.642 (Katsuaki Fujiwara, 2003) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 35.291 (Chris Vermeulen, 2003) Date: 4 March 2006 Temp: 36ºC Session 1 : Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. 1st Qualifying 2nd Qualifying 1 S. Charpentier Honda FRA 1' 35.869 1' 35.616 2 K. Curtain Yamaha AUS 1' 36.772 1' 36.436 3 B. Parkes Yamaha AUS 1' 36.758 1' 36.548 4 R. Harms Honda DNK 1' 37.997 1' 36.672 5 C. Zaiser Ducati AUT 1' 38.428 1' 36.741 6 K. Sofuoglu Honda TUR 1' 37.586 1' 36.865 7 A. Gobert Yamaha AUS 1' 38.499 1' 36.929 8 Y. Tibero Honda FRA 1' 37.691 1' 36.992 9 M. Berger Kawasaki FRA 1' 38.730 1' 37.147 10 J. Stigefelt Honda SWE N/A 1' 37.190 11 B. Veneman Suzuki NED 1' 38.452 1' 37.311 12 T. Lauslehto Honda FIN 1' 38.779 1' 37.405 13 J. Brookes Ducati AUS 1' 39.010 1' 37.533 14 D. Thomas Kawasaki AUS 1' 38.241 1' 37.587 15 K. Andersen Suzuki NOR 1' 39.464 1' 37.682 16 M. Sanchini Yamaha ITA 1' 37.865 1' 37.701 17 X. Fores Yamaha ESP 1' 38.380 1' 37.701 19 D. Van Keymeulen Yamaha BEL 1' 38.559 1' 37.769 20 G. Nannelli Yamaha ITA 1' 39.239 1' 37.857 21 M. Roccoli Yamaha ITA 1' 39.449 1' 37.869 24 G. Vizziello Yamaha ITA 1' 39.885 1' 38.219 25 C. Peris Yamaha CAN 1' 40.276 1' 38.785 27 V. Ivanov Yamaha RUS 1' 40.543 1' 38.991 29 J. Enjolras Yamaha FRA 1' 39.947 1' 39.161 30 D. Garcia Yamaha ITA N/A 1' 39.439

Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards made their first formal track appearances of the year today as the MotoGP Official Tests got underway at the Montmelo circuit in Catalunya. The traditional pre-season curtain raiser runs for three days, with a timed 40-minute session determining the winner of a new car in an exciting climax to the action on Sunday afternoon at 1405h. Sporting their new bright-yellow Camel livery, both Rossi and Edwards were in sparkling form throughout the day, dominating the time sheets and ending the session with the quickest times. With barely any changes made to the base set-up of their 2006 version YZR-M1 machines following recent tests, the Italian and the American were quickly on the pace despite brisk morning temperatures, backing up impressive results in contrasting conditions at Sepang and Qatar. A positive first day for Yamaha was completed by Carlos Checa (Tech 3 Yamaha), who sealed the third fastest time on only his third appearance for the team. Valentino Rossi (1st, 1'43.608, 54 laps) "The first day here in Catalunya has been very positive. The weather has been better than we expected, especially in the afternoon, so the tyres were running at the right temperature to be enable us to understand the performance of the bike. The data we are gathering will not be much use for the race here in May because it will be so much warmer, but at least we are moving forward with the setting of the bike. I'm pleased because the lap times have been very fast - this is the third track we have ridden at with the 2006 machine and we have been very competitive at all of them. Since 20th January we have been thinking exclusively about race one on 26th March and we will continue with this attitude for the rest of the test." Colin Edwards (2nd, 1'44.063, 66 laps) "We didn't change too much with the bike today - just rolled out what we had at Sepang to see how it worked. It was freezing this morning but we did some tests for Michelin and things just got better and better for the rest of the day. I'm happy with the bike, I'm happy with everything really, but as good as it looks and feels we still have a lot of work to do. It's nice to be running up at the top from the start and I must admit it's hard not to have one eye on the car on Sunday! I don't know what I would do with it if I won but we'll figure that out when it comes!" Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "It is a positive surprise to see three Yamahas at the top of the time sheets and of course we are all very pleased. It's only the first day of a long test but we hope it is a good sign of things to come. Things ran very smoothly today, we continued working to our testing programme, on the setting and on the tyres. The base setting seems to work well - this is the third circuit with this bike and it's encouraging that it has worked so well in so many different conditions. Both riders look relaxed and concentrated on the job at hand so let's just keep working this way!" Lap Times: 1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1'43.608 2. Colin Edwards (USA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1'44.063 3. Carlos Checa (SPA) Tech 3 Yamaha, 1'44.070 4. John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1'44.197 5. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team, 1'44.209 6. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1'44.399 7. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1'44.556 8. Marco Melandri (ITA) Fortuna Honda, 1'44.672 9. Toni Elias (SPA) Fortuna Honda, 1'44.702 10. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda, 1'44.721 11. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team Roberts, 1'44.868 12. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team, 1'45.011 13. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1'45.111 14. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team,1'45.253 15. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1'45.968 16. James Ellison (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha, 1'46.217 17. Jose Luis Cardoso (SPA) D'Antin Pramac, 1'46.603 18. Alex Hoffman (GER) D'Antin Pramac, 1'46.606 19. Vittoriano Guareschi (ITA) Ducati, 1'47.379 Catalunya Lap Record: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 - 1'43.195 Catalunya Best Lap: Sete Gibernau (Honda) 2005 - 1'42.337

WSB : Haga seventh in first qualifying Round: 2 - Australia Circuit: Phillip Island Date: 3 March 2006 Temp: 36ºC Weather: Sunny Noriyuki Haga was the fastest of the Yamaha men in today's opening qualifying session for round two of the Superbike World Championship, held at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia. Haga, who yesterday celebrated his 31st birthday, ended the day seventh fastest, just over a second behind provisional pole sitter Troy Bayliss (Ducati). Having chosen to test in Qatar rather than Australia in the winter break, both Haga and his Yamaha Motor Italia team-mate Andrew Pitt struggled to find ideal settings for their YZF-R1s. Haga complained of a lack of rear traction, while Pitt started off using the same settings that took him to a podium finish in Qatar six days ago. The local rider, who this weekend is wearing a new helmet design based on that of 1987 500cc Grand Prix world champion Wayne Gardner, also had the added disadvantage of carrying a 'flu virus. Despite this he still managed to make the top 16 in a time less than one and a half seconds from pole. Sandwiching Pitt on the provisional grid are Yamaha Motor France duo Sebastien Gimbert and Norick Abe. Having tested at the circuit in January, the squad came to Phillip Island with a good base setting for their machines - although they were unable to match their testing times in the scorching weather. Yamaha Motor France's third rider, Japanese newcomer Shinichi Nakatomi was able to set a personal best time around the circuit to end the day 24th, despite an off-track excursion. All three suffered chatter problems but are confident of finding an improvement for tomorrow morning's final qualifying session. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "We need to try and find more rear traction tomorrow. We tried many things today but couldn't quite find the correct setting. I think that it will be better tomorrow. We have a good idea of what we must do and the team will change many settings overnight. It is not so bad though. We did not test here, so we are starting from zero with the settings. Considering this we are quite close to the fastest times." Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France) "When we came here at the start of the year I was able to do 1:34.6 lap times, so although we are close I am still two tenths of a seconds slower than at the test. I had some problems with chatter today but we have some ideas on how to improve this. The times are very close but I am confident we can make some improvements and make the superpole." Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "We are still trying to find a good balance around here. We tried the Qatar settings but they are just not working around here. I think we have found a good direction though. This is a more demanding circuit and we need to get more weight over the front to make it more stable. We'll make a few changes overnight and see how things go in the morning." Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "I came here with different settings on my two bikes: one set-up as we used it in Qatar and the other with the settings we finished our test around here. I preferred using the settings from the test, although we weren't able to match our testing times. In the afternoon we changed the settings and I think we went too soft as we had a chatter problem and traction was not as good. We went back to a harder setting at the end and were able to do a 1:35 lap, which was better but not good enough. We have found a good direction though, and I think tomorrow will be much better." Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "After Qatar last weekend it has been good to come to a track I know from our test. I was not fully fit when we were here in January so already we are going faster and finding things we have to change. I also had some problem with chatter and if we can fix this I can go faster tomorrow." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "Nori needs more rear traction but he has had a long discussion with his crew chief and suspension technician and they have a good plan tomorrow. Andrew has found it difficult here today but I am sure that he can turn it around and put in a good qualifying display in front of his home fans." Round: 2 - Australia Circuit: Phillip Island Circuit Length: 4448 Lap Record: 1' 33.019 (Troy Corser, 2001) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 32.193 (Troy Corser, 2001) Date: 3 March 2006 Temp: 36ºC Session 1 : Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. 1st Qualifying 1 T. Bayliss Ducati AUS 1' 33.387 2 A. Barros Honda BRA 1' 33.790 3 J. Toseland Honda GBR 1' 33.851 4 T. Corser Suzuki AUS 1' 33.868 5 Y. Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1' 34.461 6 S. Martin Petronas AUS 1' 34.501 7 N. Haga Yamaha JPN 1' 34.577 8 C. Walker Kawasaki GBR 1' 34.589 9 P. Chili Honda ITA 1' 34.601 10 F. Nieto Kawasaki ESP 1' 34.618 11 R. Rolfo Ducati ITA 1' 34.644 12 I. Clementi Ducati ITA 1' 34.708 13 K. Muggeridge Honda AUS 1' 34.756 14 M. Neukirchner Ducati GER 1' 34.822 15 S. Gimbert Yamaha FRA 1' 34.832 16 A. Pitt Yamaha AUS 1' 34.863 17 N. Abe Yamaha JPN 1' 35.010 24 S. Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 1' 36.080 WSS : Provisional front row for Yamaha Motor Germany duo Round: 2 - Australia WSS Circuit: Phillip Island Date: 3 March 2006 Temp: 36ºC Weather: Sunny Yamaha Motor Germany riders Broc Parkes and Kevin Curtain go into tomorrow's final qualifying session on the provisional front row after ending today's opening session second and third respectively. The Australian pair have been consistently at the top of the timesheets during the day's two 45-minute practice sessions, bested only by qualifying king Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) in the afternoon's qualifying practice. Having tested at the circuit in January, the Yamaha Motor Germany squad came to Phillip Island with a good base setting for their new-for-2006 R6s. Having found a set-up that they believe can help them challenge for honours on Sunday, the team will try to further improve their race set-up and maintain the crucial front row starts during tomorrow's grid-deciding qualifying session. In a good day for Yamaha runners, Italian privateer Mauro Sanchini finished sixth, with Spaniard Xavi Fores ninth. Local hero Anthony Gobert, a winner here in the superbike class, came 12th in his second ride for the Yamaha GMT94 team, while FIM Superstock 1000 champion Didier van Keymeulen ended the day 13th on his R6. Massimo Roccoli and Gianluca Vizziello of the Yamaha Team Italia squad ended 21st and 23rd respectively as they looked to find a good set-up for their machines. Round: 2 - Australia WSS Circuit: Phillip Island Circuit Length: 4448 Lap Record: 1' 36.642 (Katsuaki Fujiwara, 2003) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 35.291 (Chris Vermeulen, 2003) Date: 3 March 2006 Temp: 36ºC Session 1 : Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. 1st Qualifying 1 S. Charpentier Honda FRA 1' 35.869 2 B. Parkes Yamaha AUS 1' 36.758 3 K. Curtain Yamaha AUS 1' 36.772 4 K. Sofuoglu Honda TUR 1' 37.586 5 Y. Tibero Honda FRA 1' 37.691 6 M. Sanchini Yamaha ITA 1' 37.865 7 R. Harms Honda DNK 1' 37.997 8 D. Thomas Kawasaki AUS 1' 38.241 9 X. Fores Yamaha ESP 1' 38.380 10 C. Zaiser Ducati AUT 1' 38.428 11 B. Veneman Suzuki NED 1' 38.452 12 A. Gobert Yamaha AUS 1' 38.499 13 D. Van Keymeulen Yamaha BEL 1' 38.559 14 M. Berger Kawasaki FRA 1' 38.730 15 T. Lauslehto Honda FIN 1' 38.779 16 W. De Angelis Honda ITA 1' 38.836 20 G. Nannelli Yamaha ITA 1' 39.239 21 M. Roccoli Yamaha ITA 1' 39.449 23 G. Vizziello Yamaha ITA 1' 39.885 25 J. Enjolras Yamaha FRA 1' 39.947 26 C. Peris Yamaha CAN 1' 40.276 27 V. Ivanov Yamaha RUS 1' 40.543