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CHANGEABLE WEATHER AFFECTS MOTOGP QUALIFYING

Author: Camel Media Service
Posted on: Saturday, Apr 30 2005



Around half an hour into the session the first drops of rain began to drop onto the track, and the marshals brought out the white flag with a red cross on to signal a damp surface. Several riders, the Camel Honda duo included, decided to make the most of the qualifying tyres straight away in order to cleverly avoid being caught out. However this weekend’s inclement weather had the last laugh as the sun decided to make an appearance, favouring those who were able to make the most of their soft set of tyres at the end of the session when the track was drier, warmer and subsequently quicker.

Sito Pons – Camel Honda
“I think the race will be really unpredictable tomorrow because nothing has been certain this weekend, no-one has been obviously quicker and at a higher pace. Our riders clearly need a good start tomorrow whether it is a dry race or not because they have the pace to do a good race, but I think that the most important thing is to think about the championship and try to keep our position in it or even improve it if possible.”

Alex Barros – Camel Honda – 2’01.117 – 11th fastest
“The weather has been really changeable all weekend and even today it began to rain halfway through the session. So I put on the first of my soft tyres and then the second straight after, and I improved half a second, but obviously not enough to beat those who used them at the
end. It’s a bit annoying after the weekend we’ve had, because by the end of the session I was riding as quick with the race tyres as with the qualifiers. I’m now on the fourth row when I could have been in fifth or sixth place for sure. However with the weather so unstable as this it’s not easy to work. If it is dry tomorrow I should be able to ride in the low 2’01s or even less, but choosing the race tyre won’t be easy because we have tried a few things but nothing has been able to make the endurance. If it rains meanwhile, it will be much easier because you know what tyres you will use, and that’s that.”

Troy Bayliss – Camel Honda – 2’01.328 – 12th fastest
”We could have gone a little better than we did, but the conditions were so variable all weekend. I’ve no idea what it will be like tomorrow, perhaps we can decide in the warm-up and try a few things, but we have to wait and see, the race could be wet or dry, you just can’t say. I will be hoping to have a good race though, and will try to get the best result out of this as possible.”


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