|
The Malaysian Grand Prix, the penultimate round of the
2007 season, got off to a poor start for Fiat Yamaha
Team riders Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi today, the
pair finishing the day a lowly 14th and 16th in the
standings. The combined timesheets were topped by Randy
de Puniet after a best lap of 2’02.917.
With the track having been completely resurfaced since
preseason testing the riders spent this morning’s
session getting a feel for the new surface, with Rossi
and Edwards 7th and 15th fastest at the close of the
hour. Rain at lunchtime meant this afternoon’s session
began on a wet track, with the asphalt drying steadily
in patches throughout the practice. Rossi and Edwards
worked hard on set-up and tyres but lacked grip
throughout and neither rider was able to come up with a
magic formula, leaving the team with work to do
overnight if they are to be in a position to challenge
during tomorrow’s qualifying.
Colin Edwards
(Position: 14th: Time:
2'05.162; Laps: 39)
“Today was pretty
embarrassing to be honest! Michelin have brought me a rear
tyre that I know works for me here and there’s no problem
with that, but unfortunately I’ve got no grip or confidence
in the front. It’s not for lack of trying, I’m riding pretty
hard out there, but we haven’t been able to fix it yet. The
new surface doesn’t feel good at all, it seems very
inconsistent to me, and this is just making things harder.
Hopefully it’ll improve as more rubber gets laid down
tomorrow. We need to have a good look at things tonight and
start over again tomorrow.”
|
 |
|
Rossi and Edwards worked hard on set-up and tyres
but lacked grip throughout and neither rider was
able to come up with a magic formula, leaving the
team with work to do overnight if they are to be in
a position to challenge during tomorrow’s
qualifying. |
|
|
 |
|
The Malaysian MotoGP Grand Prix got off to a poor
start for Fiat Yamaha Team riders Colin Edwards and
Valentino Rossi (above) today, the pair finishing
the first day a lowly 14th and 16th in the
standings. |
|
|
Valentino
Rossi (Position: 16th;
Time: 2'05.421; Laps:
38)
“Today has been very hard
work for us and it’s very disappointing for me to be here,
at one of my favourite tracks where we know our bike goes
well, in 16th position! We don’t have any grip, especially
in front, and we were very slow today. We’ve tried a lot of
tyres and different settings but so far we haven’t been able
to make much progress. The new asphalt is not so good but we
can’t blame this because other riders don’t seem to have the
same problems as we do. We need to find some way to improve
things and make the difference for tomorrow, so now we will
have a meeting tonight and try to come up with some ideas.
Hopefully it will be dry tomorrow because the rain makes it
even harder!”
Davide Brivio
- Team Director
“We definitely have a lot of
work to do with both of our riders. This is a track which we
know very well and at which we have a great record, but the
new surface means the conditions are quite different and we
are suffering from a lack of grip. We need to look at what
we’ve found out today and come up with some ideas tonight in
order to find a combination of settings and tyres which
works on this surface and in these conditions. It’s only
Friday and hopefully we can make a big step forward with
both Valentino and Colin tomorrow morning.”
|
|
|
|
