Valentino Rossi

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Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo put in a strong opening showing for the Fiat Yamaha Team tonight, finishing second and third under the Qatar floodlights after the race was delayed 24 hours following last night’s heavy rain. Tech 3 Yamaha rider Colin Edwards brought his M1 home in fourth, making it three Yamaha’s in the top four, with Casey Stoner taking the race win.
Starting from second on the grid, Rossi lost some ground at the start and was passed by Loris Capirossi and then Lorenzo. He had passed his team-mate back by the end of the first lap and on lap three he despatched Capirossi, but by that time Stoner was already some three seconds clear. The world champion set off in pursuit and after ten laps had closed the gap to less than two seconds, but the wear and tear from pushing so hard on his Bridgestone tyres was beginning to tell and he wisely chose to settle for the safe option and twenty points, crossing the line 7.771 seconds adrift.
His team-mate Lorenzo, who finished second here last year in what was his first MotoGP race, rode a spirited race from the third grid spot. He slipped down to sixth at one point but found his rhythm and fought back to pass Edwards, Capirossi and eventually Dovizioso to take the final podium spot, a further eight seconds behind Rossi.
Round two of the MotoGP World Championship takes place at Motegi in Japan in just under two weeks time.
Valentino Rossi – Position: 2ndTime: +7.771
"So I think it’s definitely more fun to race on a Monday than test, like last year! Today the conditions of the track were quite different to before and this evening in warm-up we encountered a couple of small problems related to tyres, so our strategy had to change slightly tonight. It’s a pity because I think last night we could have put up more of a fight, but anyway this is a good result to start the season, much better than last year. I knew I needed a good start in order to go with Stoner but unfortunately I didn’t get one and I lost some time fighting with Lorenzo and Capirossi and by then Stoner had already gone! The middle part of the race was great fun and I made six or seven good laps to come much closer, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to continue in that rhythm, it was too risky for the tyres and I decided it was more important to take the 20 points. Casey was very strong today but he is always fast here and I believe that our potential is very good; I think that we can be back fighting again in Motegi. I am so glad we could race today after yesterday and I am satisfied to be leaving here having made a good start to the season – it is long!"

Jorge Lorenzo

Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 3rdTime: +16.244
"I am so happy to be on the podium tonight, I really enjoyed some parts of the race when I made some good overtakes and felt confident enough to take some risks. The grip of the track was better tonight but my rear tyre was moving from the start, so this is something we need to address and improve. Apart from the result and the points it is clear we have some work to do because our pace tonight was too far off Rossi and especially Stoner. The gap is too big! After yesterday’s crazy weather I am really happy we could race, it was very important for everyone and now we have got the season underway with a good result, my aim is to be much closer to the leaders in Motegi."
Davide Brivio – Team Manager
"We didn’t win but we can consider this a good start to the season, certainly much better than in 2008. Now we need to work to fix one or two small problems that we have. The middle part of the race was good, we were gaining on Stoner but in the latter stages he was in a better condition to push and Valentino was right to settle for second. It’s a long championship and the points are important. We are confident that we will be able to battle with Stoner in Motegi."
Daniele Romagnoli – Team Manager
"We are happy with the result because we have started the season well and this is very important, especially with so many rule changes to get used to. It is clear that we have some hard work to do in order to close the gap on the leaders and that we need to improve our setting further, so this will be our target for Motegi. Well done to everyone for the effort to get the race run tonight, it was very important to have the chance to compete."
Edwards claims brilliant fourth in floodlit Qatar opener
The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team finally ended an eventful Qatar MotoGP weekend with Colin Edwards riding to a brilliant fourth place finish in tonight’s rescheduled opening race.
The race was run nearly 24 hours late after the opening round of the 2009 world championship was postponed because of a freak desert storm last night. Tonight’s race went ahead over the scheduled 22-lap distance after Losail International Circuit staff spent the day using specialist vehicles to clear dust and sand off the surface.
Edwards produced one of the best performances of the race in which he was able to showcase his overtaking skills. His stunning surge from ninth on lap one culminated with a pass by Andrea Dovizioso for fourth on lap 14 to ensure Yamaha claimed three of the top four places.
British rider James Toseland looked well set for a top ten challenge as he shadowed Randy de Puniet and Mika Kallio in the early stages. But just as he closed in for an attack, he ran off into the gravel trap at the final corner on lap seven after a tangle with Toni Elias. He got back on track and finished just outside the points in 16th position.

Colin Edwards

Colin Edwards 4th – 13pts
"That was a good start to the season after I made a rubbish start to the race. I thought I’d got a good start but the next thing I know is everybody flying by me. I was way down and it cost me the chance to fight for the podium really. I’m not saying I could have run with Jorge (Lorenzo) because he was riding really well, but it would have been nice to give myself a shot. The track conditions were good considering the rain we had last night and I just concentrated on being smooth and not abusing the tyre too much and it paid off because when I caught (Andrea) Dovizioso I could see he was having some issues. By the time I passed him for fourth, Jorge was long gone and it was going to take a massive mistake from him for me to get close to Jorge but I kept pushing. I’d like to think I could have kept the pace with Jorge if I’d got a good start, but it’s easy to say that after the race. The grip from Bridgestone was really good and I’m glad we all stayed and raced. I just want to say thanks to all my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3. It has been a long and difficult weekend but we have all pulled together, stayed strong and focused and come out with a good result, so I’m looking forward to another good race in Japan next time out.

James Toseland

James Toseland 16th – 0pts
"It has been a difficult weekend to say the least and I know we have got a long way to catch up. This race was almost like a test for me, and like in testing, I didn’t have a lot of luck out there. I felt like I could fight for the top ten but Toni Elias came up the inside of me at the final corner as I was closing on Randy de Puniet and Mika Kallio. He touched me and I went off into the gravel and that left me out of the points unfortunately. We tried a different front-end setting for the race to try and solve some stability issues I’ve been having, and there is plenty of room for improvement. I just need time on the bike and a bit of luck to go my way. My guys have put in a lot of effort this weekend and I’m confident I can get a good result in Japan for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team."

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Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies again proved the quickest rider on the day in his debut Monza test for the team. Over the two days of testing the American rider was consistently fast, laying down at least ten consecutive laps under last year’s lap record whilst on race tyres. Team-mate Sykes was also setting a blistering pace, and one of only five riders to break under the 1’46” mark. Ducati riders Haga and Fabrizio were second and third fastest respectively with times of 1’45.5 and 1’45.6 whilst Sykes was fifth fastest behind Last year’s race winner Neukirchener.

Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (1’45.3)
“The test was good, it was really good to come back and reset myself after Valencia as I was feeling really frustrated. It was good to take a couple of days off, then come back fresh. We found a really good pace, and I loved Monza which is another new track for me. We also did half a race simulation, and got some really competitive times. I think we’ve got a good setup for the bike for when we come back here. Hopefully we’ll show up with a couple more tricks on the bike as well.”

Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (1’45.8)
“As soon as I did my first lap I had a big smile, the track is amazing, and not what I’m used to at all, lots of fast straights and fantastic corners. It was a really good test for me, we’ve proved again we can be very fast and we can do the lap times over distance. Overall we’ve found a good set-up. It was a great opportunity for myself and my side of the garage to look at what changes we make and what it does to the character of the bike. We should be faster now which is good, considering the pace we have already. I’ve always wanted to ride Assen, unfortunately it’s not the old full circuit I’m but still looking forward to it.”
Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
“Overall it’s been a really good test for us for both riders. We tested some chassis set ups and both the riders were quite happy with the developments. We got some good long runs in, especially for Ben so in the end we are quite satisfied. Last year the lap record was 1’45.8, Ben was running consistent laps below this time on race tyres, including a 1’45.3. Tom also proved to be consistently fast and we were happy to see him dipping under last year’s lap record.”

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Mit guten Ergebnissen starteten die beiden Fiat Yamaha Team Fahrer beim Saisonauftakt in Katar in die neue Saison. Unter Flutlicht beendete der amtierende Weltmeister Valentino Rossi das erste Montagsrennen in der MotoGP-Geschichte auf einem starken zweiten Platz, während sein Teamkollege Jorge Lorenzo auf Rang drei über den Zielstrich fuhr. Colin Edwards, der für das Tech 3 eine Yamaha M1 pilotiert, komplettierte die gute Yamaha-Leistung mit einem vierten Platz. Das wegen Unwetter am Sonntag um 24 Stunden verschobene Rennen gewann Casey Stoner.
Von Position zwei ging Rossi in das Rennen, verlor aber nach einem mäßigen Start Zeit und musste sich hinter Capirossi und Lorenzo einreihen. Doch der Italiener nutzte die erste Gelegenheit, um sich an seinem Teamkollegen vorbeizuschieben, um in der dritten Runde auch den zweitplatzierten Capirossi zu überholen. Der Rückstand auf den führenden Stoner betrug zu diesem Zeitpunkt bereits drei Sekunden und Rossi konnte den Abstand in den folgenden Runden auf knapp zwei Sekunden verringern. Als Folge der Aufholjagd wurden die Reifen von Rossi schlechter und der Italiener entschied sich, keine unnötigen Risiken einzugehen und einen sicheren zweiten Platz und damit 20 wichtige Punkte für die WM-Wertung einzufahren. Am Ende überquerte Rossi mit 7,771 Sekunden Rückstand auf Stoner die Ziellinie.
Teamkollege Lorenzo, der im vergangenen Jahr an gleicher Stelle in seinem ersten MotoGP-Rennen Zweiter wurde, fuhr ebenfalls ein gutes Rennen. Zwischenzeitlich lag der Spanier auf dem sechsten Rang, fand aber einen guten Rhythmus und konnte Edwards, Capirossi und Dovizioso überholen und am Ende den dritten Platz und 16 Punkte für sich verbuchen. Das zweite Rennen findet in knapp 14 Tagen im japanischen Motegi statt.
Valentino Rossi, Platz 2
"Es macht sicherlich mehr Spaß, am Montag ein Rennen zu fahren, als zu testen, wie im letzten Jahr! Die Bedingungen auf der Strecke waren anders als die letzten Tage und im Warm-Up hatten wir einige Probleme mit den Reifen und wir haben unsere Strategie leicht geändert. Es ist schade, denn wären wir gestern gefahren, wäre es vermutlich ein spannenderes Rennen geworden. Mit dem Start in die Saison bin ich aber dennoch zufrieden, denn es lief besser als noch im letzten Jahr. Ich brauchte einen guten Start um an Casey dran zu bleiben, doch leider hat das nicht so geklappt und ich habe Zeit verloren, um Lorenzo und Capirossi zu überholen und Stoner hatte bereits einen guten Vorsprung! Gegen Rennmitte hatte ich viel Spaß, denn ich fuhr sechs oder sieben gute Runden und kam näher an Stoner ran, doch ich wusste, dass ich diesen Rhythmus nicht halten kann und es zu riskant war, die Reifen so zu strapazieren. Mir war es dann wichtiger, die 20 Punkte nach Hause zu fahren. Casey war, wie immer in Katar, richtig stark, doch ich glaube, dass wir eine sehr gute Basis haben. In Motegi werde ich wieder um die Führung mitfahren. Ich freue mich, dass wir hier doch noch fahren konnten und bin froh, dass wir mit so einem Ergebnis in die Saison gestartet sind."
Jorge Lorenzo, Platz 3
"Ich freue mich, dass ich auf das Podium fahren konnte, denn ich habe Teile des Rennens richtig genossen und hatte einige gute Überholmanöver. Der Grip auf der Strecke war gut, doch mein Hinterreifen rutschte von Beginn an. An diesem Punkt müssen wir noch arbeiten und uns verbessern. Auch wenn ich mit dem Ergebnis zufrieden bin, müssen wir uns noch steigern, denn ich lag einfach zu weit hinter Stoner und Rossi. Der Abstand ist eindeutig zu groß! Nach dem Wetterchaos am Sonntag war ich froh, dass wir fahren konnten. Es war für jeden wichtig und jetzt hat die Saison mit einem guten Ergebnis begonnen. Mein Ziel für Motegi ist, näher an der Spitze zu sein als hier in Katar."

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