MotoGP – Valencia Day 2 – Ducati first opponent of Honda

At the end of a hard-fought qualifying session on the tortuous Spanish circuit, Carlos Checa and Loris Capirossi won the second and third row respectively for the Valencia Grand Prix, the closing event of the 2005 season. During the sixty minutes of testing, there were moments of apprehension for both Ducati Marlboro Team riders: Carlos avoided being thrown from his Desmosedici following a highside at turn 13 and Loris remained in the saddle despite a couple of "kicks" after he went out of track at the last corner.

“It looked like we could have one rider on the front row and one on the second row, but even if that won't be the case tomorrow, this was still a good session for us,” said Livio Suppo, Ducati MotoGP project manager.

“Carlos kept an excellent pace on race tyres, managing to complete many laps in 1′ 33, so he is ready for tomorrow. Loris is not yet in perfect physical condition, but despite this he did a good job during the qualifiers: it's nice to see the desire to fight in his eyes, incredible! We have two really brave riders: Carlos almost got thrown off the bike during the afternoon practice and landed on a 'very delicate' part.. But after a few minutes he returned to the track and lowered the previously recorded time! I would like to thank Bridgestone, who brought very effective tires to this track.”

Carlos Checa remained at the top of this afternoon's standings for the first forty minutes of the timed session, later finishing with the 4th fastest time, just 0,157 seconds behind the front row.

The Ducati Marlboro Team rider admits that he is more than ready for tomorrow's race, despite the inconvenience that occurred halfway through the timed session: thrown from his Desmosedici at the penultimate corner, the Spaniard however miraculously but "painfully" maintained control.

“Yesterday was St. Charles' Day and I think that today he was close to me because normally when it happens like this you always fall,” said Checa, smiling, “it was a bad highside, and the only part of me left contact with the motorbike were the hands. I landed in the saddle right on my 'jewels'... I must admit I blanched for a few moments. Other than that, today was a positive day."

“Yesterday we had some problems with reaching the operating temperature and with the life of the tyres, but today we worked effectively on the bike and tires to find a good balance and favor endurance. We also gained stability, which I lost after a few laps yesterday. Starting from the second row isn't bad: it will be a long race and I want to get into the top five straight away."

Loris Capirossi finished today's timed session with the seventh best time, but only 0,026 seconds separate him from the second row. The brave Italian continues to suffer from the after-effects of the spectacular crash that occurred 22 days ago at Phillip Island. Back in the saddle yesterday, today Loris remained standing even when, towards the end of the timed session, he went off the track at the last corner and ended up on the grass.

“I made a mistake on the last corner, I arrived too fast and too wide. At the first corner there is green concrete and, believing that there was also where I exited, even though I realized that I was coming in a little wide, I didn't close the throttle. Instead of concrete I found grass, but luckily I didn't crash, so the bike went sideways but I didn't fall,” explained Capirossi.

“Anyway, all in all I'm satisfied, I'm here and I didn't do too badly either. Tomorrow will be quite difficult for me because the race includes 30 laps. Furthermore, this circuit is very tortuous and leaves no breathing room. and this is kind of my problem! However, today is better than yesterday and this morning, I'm training my body to work harder than I did in training. I have protection in front of my ribs to compress them a little and at certain moments I need an XXL suit!”

Ducati Racing Press