Fra crash.net:
Rossi washed away as Yamaha drama continues.
The ongoing drama of Valentino Rossi and Yamaha's 2006 season
continued at Istanbul today, when the reigning world champion
plummeted to 11th on the grid after a problematic wet qualifying
session for Sunday's Turkish Grand Prix.
Rossi's season to date has been a contrast of highs and lows; the
Italian struggling with chronic chatter throughout the Jerez season
opener - and getting knocked down at turn one - before the chatter was
contained (but not cured) last time out in Qatar, where he bounced
back with victory.
Friday in Turkey saw a further set of extremes, with Rossi third in
first free practice but just 11th in the afternoon after set-up
changes designed to improve acceleration resulted in a loss of braking
grip.
"We're having a lot of difficulty, not just at this track but during
this period. Unfortunately the problem with the bike came late in the
pre-season and we have not had time yet to fully understand it. It
means we are off the pace here in the wet and the dry, but we don't
completely understand why," shrugged Valentino.
Rossi's Saturday problems weren't helped by the apparent rain
advantage held by rival tyre supplier Bridgestone - whose riders
filled all but one of the top six positions in qualifying - but The
Doctor believes that is a symptom rather than a cause.
"It seems that our tyre competitor is strong here but we can't blame
this," he said. "Nicky Hayden (second on the grid) was very fast all
day and after him the next Michelin rider is Casey Stoner (in
seventh); with the amount of MotoGP experience he has in these
conditions we should be in front of him.
"I'm surprised, because last year our bike was really good in the wet
and after the new bike worked so well at Catalunya during the rainy
pre-season tests I was confident it would be good today as well, but
it has been the opposite. I don't have enough confidence in the front
to lean the bike over as much as I would like on the entry to the
corners and not enough grip on the rear to make it up on the exit.
"If it's dry tomorrow then we have some things to try in the morning,
but if the conditions are the same as today then it's going to be very
hard for us," admitted Rossi, who is currently fourth in the
championship standings, 14-points behind Ducati's Loris Capirossi, who
qualified fourth today.
Rossi's problems were reflected on the other side of the Camel Yamaha
garage with team-mate Colin Edwards qualifying a slightly better
ninth, despite a heavy morning fall.
Then came today's rain, which well and truly washed away the
seven-times world champion's hopes and he eventually qualified almost
3-seconds behind Suzuki pole sitter Chris Vermeulen.
"I had a big highside this morning and came down heavily on my head,
shoulders and knee. It was pretty painful but after two laps back on
the bike you soon forget about that," claimed the Texan. "To be honest
I felt quite comfortable in the wet but if we want to be competitive
in this race we have to find another two seconds from somewhere and
I'm not quite sure where at the moment.
"Our tyre rivals seem to have an advantage but I also have to say
'hats off' to Nicky Hayden - I'm not sure how close he was to ending
one of those laps on the floor but he showed that Michelin have a good
wet tyre so we clearly need to find the performance from our own
bike," added Edwards. "Wet or dry we have to pull a result out from
somewhere tomorrow, but after this afternoon's session I'm definitely
keeping my fingers crossed for sunshine in the morning."
"We are clearly in a very difficult situation at the moment and we
need to first understand our problems before we can work to improve
them," stated team director Davide Brivio. "The engineers are looking
at the data as we speak and seeing if we can come up with something
for tomorrow. Our team have shown in the past that they are capable of
producing quick solutions and I have full confidence in them; somehow
we have to find a better performance in the wet and in the dry
conditions."
--
-Michael
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