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Valentino Rossi made a strong start to his
Chinese challenge in Shanghai today,
finishing on top of the combined standings
as the only rider to dip under the 1’59
mark. |
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Valentino Rossi made a strong start to his Chinese
challenge in Shanghai today, finishing on top of the
combined standings as the only rider to dip under the
1’59 mark. High temperatures are set to continue
tomorrow but a strong chance of rain on Sunday could
turn the race into a mirror of 2005, when Rossi won a
soaking inaugural Chinese Grand Prix.
The Fiat Yamaha Team rider was fast from the off this
morning and topped the time sheets for the majority of
the first session. This afternoon the track temperature
increased and Rossi finished second to Casey Stoner, but
his time of 1’59.906 from the morning was good enough to
leave him at the top of the overall time sheets for the
day.
Rossi’s
team-mate Jorge Lorenzo meanwhile had a bad crash this
morning and injured both ankles; the 20-year-old will now
wait for tomorrow before making a decision about riding.
After an initial
examination at the circuit clinic Lorenzo was taken to the
Huashan hospital in Shanghai for an MRI scan and further
detailed diagnosis, before returning to the track and
spending the remainder of the day resting at the Clinica
Mobile. His condition will be re-assessed in the morning
before any decision is taken about riding.
Dr Claudio Costa of the Clinica Mobile said: “Detailed
examination has revealed that Jorge has re-fractured the top
of the malleolo bone in the middle of the left ankle.
Furthermore, the MRI scan showed that there are severe
impact oedemas to the right heel, the astragalo bone and the
tibia, but fortunately no signs of further fractures. The
diagnosis shows the violence of the trauma he suffered to
both his feet in the crash and Jorge now faces a very
difficult task to participate in tomorrow’s qualifying and
Sunday’s race.”
Valentino
Rossi
“I’m quite
happy with the start we’ve made. We were able to go fast
from the start this morning and the bike setting and the
Bridgestone tyres are working very well together. We
were faster this morning because this afternoon the
temperature of the asphalt reached more than 40 degrees
and in these conditions the tyres start to slide a bit,
which makes it harder. Anyway we have many different
tyres to try, plenty of choices and I am quite relaxed.
My rhythm is very good, I can ride more or less how I
want and I think we’re in good shape. It seems Stoner
and I are a little bit faster than the others and so it
looks like it could be another battle like last year!
Our bike has more top speed here now so this is
important for the long straight, but my corner speed is
also good. The problem could be that the weather on
Sunday might be completely different to how it is now;
as usual I prefer to race in the dry but I think we are
in quite good shape in the wet as well. I am sorry for
Lorenzo’s crash, it was quite a bad one and now I hope
that he is able to recover enough to try to race on
Sunday.”
Davide
Brivio (Team Manager)
“Jorge’s
crash was very unfortunate and I hope that he is able to
recover enough to try tomorrow; we wish him well.
Valentino has had a good day because the bike worked
very well from the start this morning and we were able
to start to work on the details straight away. Now we
just need to continue to fine-tune our setting and tyre
choice for tomorrow afternoon and Sunday. The problem is
that we’re working on setting the bike for the hot,
humid conditions we have at the moment and on Sunday it
might be wet, but let’s hope not!”
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