- Round: 5 - 2006 MotoGP Le Mans
- Circuit: LeMans
- Weather: Dry
- Circuit Length: 4180
- Lap Record: 1' 33.678 (Valentino Rossi, 2005)
- Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 33.678 (Valentino Rossi, 2005)
- Temp: 16ºC
Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards were the fastest two riders in each of the first free practice sessions on the opening day of action at the Grand Prix of France today. Rossi lapped the Le Mans circuit in a time of 1'35.288 during the morning, when Edwards was just behind him with the second fastest time, whilst in the afternoon the roles were reversed as the American set the pace with a lap of 1'35.170, followed closely by his Italian team-mate.
The factory team have arrived in France in determined mood as they look to turn around their early season misfortunes, aided by the latest improvements to the YZR-M1 machine brought to this circuit by Yamaha. Rossi today ran back to back tests with a brand new chassis, designed to eliminate vibration problems suffered with the bike during the opening four rounds, and reported positive results. He will therefore incorporate the update into both of his machines tomorrow, when Rossi and Edwards try to repeat today's success in the official Qualifying session.
Colin Edwards (1st; 1'35.170, 52 laps);
"It wasn't a bad day. We came here off the back of a good result in China, just brought the bike off truck this morning and everything seemed to work pretty well. Valentino is trying to fix a few things with the new chassis so we're able to focus on working hard towards a race setting and seeing what we can get. I said yesterday that I'd know after four laps what my objective can be for the weekend and now I can say it's to win. Why not? Since the test in Turkey we've hardly touched the bike and I've got a level of confidence and feeling that I know what the bike will do. This morning it worked really well and although the chatter started to come this afternoon when we got more grip, we were still able to push so that's encouraging. We know this chassis has its limit but we can get it there pretty easily and at this track, where the Yamaha goes well, at least it should allow us to push as hard as anyone else."
Valentino Rossi (2nd; 1'35.282, 36 laps);
"I'm happy because both Colin and I are fast from the start and it seems the M1 machine is working very well at this circuit. Now we are in the first and second places so this is a very good result for our team and it gives us some confidence. I was very fast in the morning and in the afternoon we spent the time making some tests for the setting with the new chassis for tomorrow. This job is very important because they say it might rain tomorrow, but we have already found a good base, so I'm very happy about that. I like the new chassis and I think it will help us to go faster. It is much better for the vibration and even at this early stage we can see it has a lot of potential. Yamaha have always gone well at Le Mans so now we wait for tomorrow and see if we can keep it going."
Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director;
"We've made a good start today with both Colin and Valentino. Both specs of the bike are working well so this is a very positive thing for us. Today was a good chance for us to gather some data in the dry because it looks as though it will rain tomorrow and we at least know we have a good base setting if it is dry again for the race on Sunday. Tomorrow Valentino will have the new chassis on both bikes and Colin will remain on the standard version but it seems both are working well so we look forward to seeing what happens tomorrow."
Tech 3 Yamaha Team closes gap to rivals;
With two hours of almost perfect conditions during the opening free practice sessions for the MotoGP class, progress continued for the Tech 3 Yamaha Team with further improved performances in the Dunlop range of race tyres. The confidence boosting statistic from the day's efforts for riders Carlos Checa and James Ellison, is that they are now closer to the leaders than at any time during the 2006 season, with Carlos's time just over a second off fellow Yamaha YZF-M1 riders Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi.
At every Grand Prix, practice and qualifying are a major exercise as besides endeavouring to determine an optimum race set up for the 2006 Yamaha YZF-M1, the Tech 3 Yamaha Team has the added responsibility of testing a new batch of Dunlop tyres at every race as the ongoing development continues.
Carlos Checa (14th, 1'36.306, 31 laps);
"The Yamaha is working very well here and the gap to the leaders is coming down although the track is shorter than where we have been in the last two races. We still have limitations with the tyres in finding enough side grip and other areas in the rear tyre but the Dunlop people are trying very hard to keep improving. I'm sure they are not here for a holiday. Everyone is working hard but my hope and wish is that soon as possible we can keep improving the areas that need attention. I am pushing for that and to get a better feeling from the rear tyre. "I would like to tell you completely the opposite, but the reality is that we still have some problems and need to improve to find something that gives us the chance to be even closer to the top guys. I tested many tyres today and I have found one that I like but now we have to make sure that we have the endurance for the race. I hope it can stay dry tomorrow so we can keep heading in this direction."
James Ellison (17th, 1'37.986, 34 laps);
"I'm so happy with the way Yamaha handles this Le Mans layout. That's also proven with Colin and Valentino up the front so that's something in our favour. I like this track as I've done a lot of laps around here with a 24 hour race but the new chicane layout hasn't changed it too much. We've got three different compounds that we're going through at the moment. There's a couple of things we want out of each tyre so if we can't find one that suits for everything we have to change the bike to suit so we have to find the best compromise. "There's been a huge improvement in the tyres since the start of the year but everyone else has improved as well. It's not as big as we would've hoped, but if you look at the big picture we're doing a good job to be honest. That's proven in the lap times. I'm getting closer to Carlos and he is getting closer in his times with the front guys but, admittedly being on the same equipment, I'd like to be right with Carlos. I'd also like some more heat in the
track because the Dunlops seem to work better when it's a bit warmer; not too hot but enough to keep the heat in the tyre as they work pretty good in those conditions. We tested a new style of tyre but it just wasn't hot enough. Hopefully tomorrow will allow us to see how they go."
Herve Poncharal - Tech3 Yamaha Team Director;
"Today was a very good day. We are a lot closer to the front than we have been for the entire season, being just a second off. In session two we could've been closer. There is a possibility to be at least half a second closer to the front but we decided to stay on the track with a used tyre in case it is raining tomorrow and on Sunday the race is dry. Yamaha is doing well here as we have seen with both Colin and Valentino. On Dunlop we are not too bad as we have a couple of riders on other bikes and tyres behind us so it has been good but the big thing for everyone here is the weather as it is so very changeable . It's still early days this weekend, but it's good for the team spirit and good for Dunlop. We have two days testing here after the race, so hopefully we're on the right track. I don't want to say we're on schedule but the most important thing for us is to keep improving and get closer to the opposition."
Dani Pedrosa, 59 laps, 246'62 Km.;
"Today was not easy but it was the first day for me here on a MotoGP bike so it's no surprise. I think we were lucky to get good weather because it rained in between the sessions but we got two hours of dry practice which is good. My lap-time is not as good as I'd have liked but we have to keep working on the set-up to improve it. We are working on several things - trying to get the best feeling on the machine and get it to turn a little better, and to improve the grip. This is a difficult track for me because it feels very small for this machine - the track is narrow and there are many slow corners, so a MotoGP bike feels a little cramped here. And the changed section at turn one has made it a little bit more difficult I think - it's faster at the beginning and the chicane is tricky."
Nicky Hayden, 56 laps, 234'08 Km.;
"It hasn't been the greatest day for me and we've been a little bit on the back foot all day. So we've got to sit down and figure out what's going on with the bike and the rider too and come out better tomorrow. I don't want to make excuses but I definitely feel a little bit under the weather today, I don't feel too good, but I can fight through that. We're trying to get a little bit more traction and get some edge grip in some of these long corners, plus we're trying to get the clutch issues ironed out too. But it's early days and we'll regroup and hopefully move up tomorrow. I've definitely got to get that new section of track nailed down tomorrow as well - I liked it the old way because it was really fast."
Shinya Nakano: 3rd - 1'35.447;
"The weather forecast is predicting a dry race on Sunday, but with rain during practice and qualifying tomorrow, so it was important for us to try and identify a race tyre during the dry conditions today. Bridgestone have brought a lot of new tyres to Le Mans, and I think today we tried them all. Every one was very consistent, which is good for us, but I think we will wait to see what the track conditions are like on Sunday before making a firm decision about which tyre to race. I like the changes that they've made to turn one since last year, but then I wasn't a very big fan of the original first turn to be honest. For me the new layout is better, although it has been quite hard to find the best braking point for the new turn one. Overall, the feeling with the bike has been good today, but I think that we can find some improvements through small changes to the chassis and suspension, together with some tweaks to the engine management package. At the moment I'm having to change my riding style and lines through the turns slightly to get the best from the bike, but I think it is possible to improve the situation before the race, as long as we get at least one dry session tomorrow, which I hope will be the case."
Randy de Puniet: 12th - 1'36.159;
"This afternoon's practice session started well; after just a few laps I had a good feeling on the bike and my lap times were good, but then I had a collision with Toni Elias just after the Dunlop chicane and crashed, with the bike too badly damaged to continue. When I returned to the track on my spare bike I overshot one of the turns and ran on into the gravel trap. I lost ten minutes of the session while the guys sorted out the bike, and it took some effort to try and stay cool, and ride smoothly, when I did make it back out on track. At first my lap times were slower than at the start of the session, but then we switched to a different rear tyre and I was able to get back up to speed very quickly. It's a shame I wasn't able to continue with both bikes, as we're running a slightly different engine specification in each, and I would have liked to have had more time to run a comparison between the two, to see which was best suited to the Le Mans circuit. Hopefully I'll get a chance to do this in the dry tomorrow, but the weather forecast doesn't look too promising! Overall I'm happy with the result today; I'm less than one second slower than the fastest rider and I'm confident we can close the gap even further tomorrow if the wet weather holds off."
Sete Gibernau, seventh fastest, 1m 35.628s;
"We needed both sessions to be dry and we drew some good conclusions. We
went all the way with tyre choices for the race, so it wasn't too bad a
day. We now know what we have but maybe we have to see what happens with
the rain. If it rains then it will be a whole different story again
tomorrow. The small change to the circuit has made a big difference and
I am still not too committed on that initial part of the track. Slowly
and surely we will just have to chip away at it."
Loris Capirossi, eighth fastest, 1m 35.662s;
"We tried new tyres in the morning and the afternoon but we still have
something to test tomorrow, but nothing substantially different. The
forecast says rain for tomorrow and Sunday, but even if racing in the
wet is always a gamble, wet conditions could help us. Apart from the two
Yamahas, which are very fast, the times are very close. I focused on
putting together a lot of laps instead of working on one fast lap, to
understand how the tyres work over a long distance."
Marco Melandri (1'35"935, 10th):
"I am quite satisfied with this first
day of qualifying as we were able to try a lot of different set-ups. My
cornering improved during the qualifying session and tomorrow I hope to
continue the work we started today. We will look to try some new
settings to try and improve my feeling with the front end tomorrow. I'm
still not braking as I would like and that is making cornering
difficult, but I have a lot of faith in my team who are doing a great
job. We will find a solution tomorrow."
Toni Elias (1'36"191, 13th):
"Le Mans is a circuit I like a lot and one
I have always gone fast on, but I have got to find a good set-up to help
me feel comfortable on the bike. We are still having the same problem we
were having in China. I'm finding it hard to brake going into corners
and at a circuit like this you feel it even more. However, I am still
confident."
Alex Hofmann #66 (17th - 1'37.173):
"Today we had the opportunity to work a lot, the rain didn't ruin our plans as it did for the other categories. That allowed us to test a new tyre, which had positive and negative outcomes. Tomorrow we will go on testing it, to have a more concrete judgement. About the track, I can say that the modifications they did to it are nice, the chicane configured in this manner is not bad. Tomorrow we will go on working hard, to define the optimal set-up for the race on Sunday ; we have got a good direction in which we need to concentrate ourselves and we are optimistic".
Jose Luis Cardoso #30 (19th - 1'38.509):
"Today we worked on the tyres. Our official tyre supplier, DUNLOP, brought us a new tyre here, slightly better, and that allowed us to concentrate our work on the definition of the best set-up for our DUCATI. From the first practice session of this morning, my feeling with the bike, on this track, improved during the second session. We worked in a constant way and tomorrow we will go on like this, I consider the set-up of the motorcycle more important than the single lap time. Anyway, we tested a qualifying tyre at the end of the session, but it didn't make us gain a lot ; we will test another one tomorrow, and from what says my team mate it should be a little bit better".
Makoto Tamada - KONICA MINOLTA Honda Rider;
"I'm happy to be back on track here in Le Mans. Last year, after a few laps during the first session of free practice I was forced to renounce due to the strong pain at my right wrist.
Today, it has been important to verify that we can rely on a good level competitiveness even on such a cold ground. This is linked to the fact that the feeling with my Honda RC211V is becoming better and better. Up to now, the choice we made in Istanbul for the bike basic set-up has demonstrated to be valid. The tyres work well and I'm quite calm even if we would be forced to test on wet conditions."
Free Practice:
- 1. C. Edwards, Yamaha - 1' 35.170
- 2. V. Rossi, Yamaha - 1' 35.282
- 3. S. Nakano, Kawasaki - 1' 35.447
- 4. J. Hopkins, Suzuki - 1' 35.461
- 5. C. Stoner, Honda - 1' 35.546
- 6. M. Tamada, Honda - 1' 35.625
- 7. S. Gibernau, Ducati - 1' 35.628
- 8. L. Capirossi, Ducati - 1' 35.662
- 9. D. Pedrosa, Honda - 1' 35.796
- 10. M. Melandri, Honda - 1' 35.935
- 11. N. Hayden, Honda - 1' 35.971
- 12. R. De Puniet, Kawasaki - 1' 36.159
- 13. T. Elias, Honda - 1' 36.191
- 14. C. Checa, Yamaha - 1' 36.306
- 15. K. Roberts, Team Roberts KR - 1' 36.483
- 16. C. Vermeulen, Suzuki - 1' 36.904
- 18. J. Ellison, Yamaha - 1' 37.986
