Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128339
Rain in both MotoGP qualifying sessions meant that little was decided but grid positions . Certainly not a good dry setup or confidence in tire choice. But everyone was in the same position and made the most of it. Experience in every condition would make the difference in being prepared for Sunday 's race, expected to be run on a dry track. Telefonica MoviStar Honda's Sete Gibernau took the pole position with the two fastest laps in the rain. For the first time, he had the latest updates for the Honda RC-211Y, but he was reluctant to use the new bike . The tried and true would be his choice, and it paid off. "You know, I haven't even tested the new one, and basically with all these weather changes, I know that we are competitive with the bike we have, and I need to get first the feeling of this bike to be able to compare on a positive and with good feeling on the bike before trying to jump on the other one and maybe come into confusion," he said. "W it h four dry sessions, you've got time to do that." With unsettled weather, no one was quite sure what to expect for the race . Gibernau wasn't comfortable in the dry, but w as briiliant in the wet. "Like I say, I haven't felt perfect throughout the whole weekend, but this last session we did some changes on the bike and I started to feel much better," he said , "and hopefully, if it's dry tomorrow, I just need to be dry from the morning in the warmup to be able to confirm all the changes we've done for the wet are go ing to be okay for dry conditions ." Veteran Nex Barros showed off his rain experience by taking the second fastest time in the wet. "Surprised me that in both session in dry condition and wet condit ion machine work very well," Barros said. He 'd done a complete race distance at competitive times in the dry. " I think I should be able to be competitive in both conditions, " Barros said . Valentino Rossi was ecstatic after qualifying third in the dry on his Gaulo ises Fortuna Yamaha to the superior Hondas. Wet tracks had been a problem, and the two hours of riding in the rain gave him time to sort out the handling. "Finally wet condition and yesterday we start to work; we start to fix some problem and today we are able with my team, with my m e n of the suspension and all the engineers, to make a great job ," he said. "We improve a lot the feeling of the bike . I'm able to ride in this condit ion. We work a lot in this sess ion on the suspension. We work a lot on the set- ting of the engine to have sweet, smooth acceleration, and then I'm behind only to Sete and Alex that have maybe the two best riders under the rain . The gap is not so big and I am also fast, so I'm very happy." But Rossi, like most, preferred a dry race. "A wet ra ce is more like a roulette. You never know. Is a gamble." Marlboro Ducatl's Troy Bayliss was knocked off the front row in the final minute of the session by Rossi. The former World Superbike champion swapped between the first and second rows six times . missing out on his first-ever front-row start by .453 of a second . "I'm reasonably happy, but I e xpected a little better," Bayliss said. "We needed one more suspension change this afternoon and we didn't quite have the time for it. But I did my best and a second-row start isn't so bad . In the dry this morning, I was struggling a little on grip and feel. We left the bikes same as they were at Donington - which usually means they should work good enough everywhere - but with only one dry session, we didn't have enough time to really get into it. We 'll probably run both bikes a little different from each other in warmup and see what we can do with a few more little changes." Then came Telefon ica MoviStar Honda's Colin Edwards in fifth, continuing on the momentum he built at the prior British GP. Fortuna Gauloises Yamaha's Carlos Checa ended up sixth on the strength of his time in Friday's session. Checa ended the session in the garage after a highside late in the hour. '" was pushing to Improve my lap time from yesterday," he said. ':A the beginning, I couldn't t get the same traction, but the track was wetter. The traction was getting better and better, but unfortunately I crashed and could not finish that lap, which could have been good. I lost the rear on the entrance when I was off the gas, and it was impossible to control." Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden improved from his Friday ISth to seventh with a late fast lap. Next to Hayden on the third row were Camel HoncIa's Max Biaggi and Ducati Marlboro 's Loris Capirossi. Biaggi was usingthe latest parts on his RC-21IV Honda and felt that they suited him. "On the bad side is that we have a slight problem that we can 't resolve, and also the weather has basically been bad for nearly all of the four practice sessions," Blaggi said. "We need to im prove the bike in the braking areas, where the front isn't giving me the necessary confidence to go as quickty as I would like." D'Antin Ducati's Ruben Xaus was on the fourth row after losing the front end and crashing whiie in eighth with less than three minutes remaining. "The rear t ire was already at the limit and it was sliding too much," he said . "I shouldn't have pushed it any more, but having passed by the pit wall and seen all the team willing me on , I couldn't res ist the urge to try to take a place on the second row." Fortuna Gauloises Yamaha's Marco Melandri and Xaus's teammate Neil Hodgson were next . Hodgson's chances had been hurt, as had he , when he collided with Biaggiin the free practice session (see Briefly The damage was to his ribs, which made it difficult to breath. ...). Proton KR's Kurtis Roberts was in the middle of the fifth row sandwiched between Norick Abe and Jeremy McWilliams . Kurt is had been sixth fastest on Friday, but a pair of crashes on Saturday dulled his drive. The second one, a vicious highside in the wet, came late in the session and ended his weekend when he was diagnosed with a broken left elbow and left scaphoid. Kenny Roberts Jr. was on the pole for row six in front of Camel Honda's Makoto Tamada and WCM's Michel Fabrizio, 18 SEPTEMBER 1, 2004 CYCLE NEWS 12Scc QUALIFYING: I. Marco Simcnceltt (2:24 .458); i 2. Andrea Davizjoso (2:24.6 ] 8); l . Jul an Simo n (2:25 .218 ); 4 . Jorge Lorenzo (2 :25.549); 5. Gabor Talmacsi (2:25 .831 ); 6 . Casey Stoner (2 :25.967 ); 7. Simone Cors i (2:26.2 32); 8 .