Mugello 2006 (Spoilers!)

[Jim Race]

FP1 Times:

1 Valentino Rossi Camel Yamaha Team Yamaha YZR-M1 1:51.238
2 Loris Capirossi Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati Desmosedici GP-6 1:51.599
3 Sete Gibernau Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati Desmosedici GP-6 1:51.907
4 Casey Stoner Honda LCR Honda RC211V 1:52.222
5 Marco Melandri Fortuna Honda Honda RC211V 1:52.437
6 Nicky Hayden Repsol Honda Team Honda RC211V 1:52.502
7 Colin Edwards Camel Yamaha Team Yamaha YZR-M1 1:52.513
8 Randy De Puniet Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR 1:52.805
9 John Hopkins Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki GSV-R 1:52.835
10 Makoto Tamada Konica Minolta Honda Honda RC211V 1:53.054
11 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR 1:53.148
12 Kenny Roberts Jnr. Team Roberts KR211V 1:53.187
13 Carlos Checa Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha YZR-M1 1:53.230
14 Toni Elias Fortuna Honda Honda RC211V 1:53.261
15 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team Honda RC211V 1:54.268
16 Alex Hofmann Team D'Antin Pramac Ducati Desmosedici GP-6 1:55.053
17 Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki GSV-R 1:55.197
18 Jose Luis Cardoso Team D'Antin Pramac Ducati Desmosedici GP-6 1:56.346
19 James Ellison Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha YZR-M1 1:56.532
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[rumblestripradio]

FP 2 Times

Rossi 1:51.732
Capirossi 51.756
Gibernau 52.012
Hopkins 52.082
Stoner 52.101
Hayden 52.177
Melandri 52.339
Roberts JR 52.350
Tamada 52.466
Nakano 52.667
Elias 52.789
Pedrosa 52.819
Edwards 52.830
DePuniet 53.129
Checa 53.453
Hofmann 54.103
Vermulen 54.106
Ellison 55.354
Cardoso 55.637
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[Jim Race]

Interesting. People slowed down a .5 secs or more. Weather?

-jim
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[rumblestripradio]

Yep rained durring lunch and then at the end of FP2
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[RussiNonValeRossi]

Get ready for a "helmet-show" from Vale this Sunday.
Apparently designed by Milo Manara it's supposed to be a real cool one.
Keep an eye on it.
Though few people seem to have a special. Is it my impression or Tamada got a helmet with an italian hint as well? is that his normal one?

Anyhow, hopefully good weather and a great race as often at mugello.

[Goldylox]

This weekend is Rossi's...

[drumfu]

Rossi is coming and boy, is he pissed.

[romek]

I can't believe it!!!! Eurosport is not showing the qualifying today!!! or tomorrow!

Instead they are showing the French Open (tennis) for 4 hours.
I never liked tennis, but now it's getting down to a Nascar type of hate.... and I really HATE Nascar (aka the redneck cup).
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[Sportbikeattack]

You think you hate NASCAR, try living here in the States! We can't watch a single race without 40 NASCAR ads and updates.
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[Goldylox]

Yeah! Thanx 2 Eurosport for messing up my saturday! If I knew I would've went out....done something usefull. But no, I was al ready for quals. First they didn't show 125s and I thought they couldn't skip MotoGP.....I was wrong!

There's 3 weeks of this tennisstuff around the clock on like a thousand channels! Couldn't you give us one hour?? The match they showed was really important because I saw the same chicks on Dutch, Belgium and French public television.. So it's a real great thing that you put it on as well! You could've warned us last week....but no. You guys always say....: "off course we bring ALL the action live". Change it into: "this week we are showing ALL the action live". I am definitely sending them a writing of this form...

I am scared... There's a WC Soccer coming up, followed by the Tour!

[kropotkin]

Here's the report I wrote of the qualifying on my blog. Hope you find it interesting...




It should come as no surprise that the Italians are highly motivated at Mugello this weekend. Valentino Rossi had already jumped up the qualifying rankings at Le Mans, after setting some very poor practice times in earlier races, and had dominated both Free Practice sessions on Friday. Not to be outdone, Ducati's Loris Capirossi had set the fastest time in Saturday morning's free practice session, slashing a second off Rossi's time. The only Italian missing from the party was Marco Melandri, who seemed to settle for running around 7th or 8th place.. So all eyes were on the Italians before qualifying, with much pressure on them to get a pole in front of their home crowd.

As qualifying opened, just about everyone took to the track to try and set a semi-respectable time, yesterday's semi-wet FP2 session still fresh in their memories. The weather seems destined to be a factor this season, and with this in mind, no one was taking any chances. It was clear that the Italian riders were serious right from the start, with Loris Capirossi setting the weekend's fastest time so far at 1:50.133 with over 53 minutes of the session left. Four minutes later, Capirossi broke into the 1:49s, setting a 1:49.819. Most riders having set a time they were comfortable with, the session quietened down, riders concentrating on finding tires and a bike setting to last the distance of tomorrow's race.

With 37 minutes to go, Valentino Rossi took over provisional pole from his compatriot, taking a tenth of a second off of Capirex' time, but Ducati were not content to let this stand. Some four minutes later, Sete Gibernau took 3/10ths off Rossi's time, getting within 2/10ths of Rossi's pole record from last year. With over half an hour left in the session, it was only a matter of time before that record would go, and by how much. It only took another 7 minutes before Loris Capirossi to answer that question, taking provisional pole back from team mate Gibernau with a new record 1:49.058. With over 25 minutes left in the session, it was obvious that this time had been set on race tires, and if this was possible on race tires, then the 1:49 barrier seemed sure to crumble.

As the session progressed, this time began to look more and more impressive. No one seemed capable of breaking it, even after the first sets of qualifiers startedt to appear with around 20 minutes to go. What was becoming clear was that Bridgestone had some great tires for the sweeping Mugello circuit, with both Hopkins and Nakano setting very impressive qualifying times, with Rossi, Hayden and Melandri the only Michelin riders capable of following.

With just two minutes to go, the moment everyone had been waiting for arrived: a Ducati broke into the 1:48s at Mugello. To the slight disappointment of the crowd, it was not Loris Capirossi, but team mate Sete Gibernau who took the new pole record, with a 1:48.969. Although there was plenty of time left for others to try to improve on that time, no one was able to beat it. Despite several riders putting in fast times in the first part of the circuit, they couldn't maintain the momentum, coming up short in the fight for pole.

As the checkered flag fell for the end of the session, the two Ducatis stand at the head of the grid, to the delight of the Italian fans. Their delight is only slightly tempered by the man on pole being Sete Gibernau, but with Capirossi in 2nd, and Valentino Rossi in 3rd, they still have plenty to celebrate. Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden put in a fine display to take fourth on the grid, with Shinya Nakano once again demonstrating his excellent qualifying form in fifth. The third Italian on the grid is Marco Melandri on the Fortuna Honda in 6th, which will be a mild disappointment to him, though he has improved his position during each qualifying session.

Yet another Bridgestone-shod bike heads up the third row, John Hopkins putting in another solid performance to take seventh, with Dani Pedrosa, the man who took pole in the last two rounds, down in a disappointing 8th position, followed by fellow 250cc rookie Casey Stoner. Makoto Tamada holds onto his improved form to take 10th, with Kenny Roberts Junior showing similar steady progress in 11th. Rossi's team mate Colin Edwards is obviously still struggling, after having decided to stick with the old chassis for his Yamaha, finishing a disappointing 14th place, behind a fine showing by Carlos Checa, riding the Tech 3 Yamaha on the underperforming Dunlop tires, and ahead of Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen, on his first visit to the Mugello track.

The big question of this afternoon's qualifying is whether Sete Gibernau's pole position marks a true return to form for the Spaniard, who has not had the blistering season he must surely have hoped for after moving to Ducati at the beginning of the year. Gibernau looked relieved and delighted at the post-practice press conference, describing taking pole as "a victory", and confirmation that he made the right decision to switch to Ducati and Bridgestone. With Sete being a rider whose performance is extremely dependent on his psychological state, taking pole here will be a big boost, and make him a force to be reckoned with. Unless of course something happens to deflate his confidence again, which would mean all bets are off again.

But if anyone looking for a potential winner tomorrow need look no further than third spot on the grid. This is the first time so far this year that Rossi has started from the front row, and without the necessity of fighting his way past 10 riders before reaching the front, he can concentrate on getting away from the start and trying to take the lead. After being robbed to a good result two races in a row by mechanical problems, he will be desperate to replace the -43 on the tail of his bike with a smaller negative number. He needs a win to get his championship bid back on track, and to make his points deficit more manageable. The biggest threat to this plan is the man ahead of him on the grid. Capirossi will be dead set on taking a win this weekend. For an Italian rider, to win the Italian Grand Prix riding an Italian motorcycle is the highest achievement, besides taking the title. And with Ducati having launched their Desmosedici race replica road bike earlier this week, you can bet that Ducati will be doing everything they can to make this happen.
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[RussiNonValeRossi]

Here are the qualifying times, just so everybody can see...

1. Sete Gibernau SPA Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 48.969 secs
2. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 49.058 secs
3. Valentino Rossi ITA Camel Yamaha Team 1min 49.167 secs
4. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team 1min 49.212 secs
5. Shinya Nakano JPN Kawasaki Racing Team 1min 49.328 secs
6. Marco Melandri ITA Fortuna Honda 1min 49.343 secs
7. John Hopkins USA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1min 49.478 secs
8. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 1min 49.516 secs
9. Casey Stoner AUS Honda LCR 1min 49.915 secs
10. Makoto Tamada JPN Konica Minolta Honda 1min 50.084 secs
11. Kenny Roberts USA Team Roberts 1min 50.181 secs
12. Toni Elias SPA Fortuna Honda 1min 50.196 secs
13. Carlos Checa SPA Tech 3 Yamaha 1min 50.347 secs
14. Colin Edwards USA Camel Yamaha Team 1min 50.405 secs
15. Chris Vermulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1min 50.430 secs
16. Randy de Puniet FRA Kawasaki Racing Team 1min 50.597 secs
17. James Ellison GBR Tech 3 Yamaha 1min 51.866 secs
18. Alex Hofmann GER Pramac d'Antin MotoGP 1min 52.100 secs
19. Jose Luis Cardoso SPA Pramac d'Antin MotoGP 1min 52.780 secs

[RussiNonValeRossi]

[FZ1Bob]

[Jim Race]

Excellent write-up!!

As to the QP results, there are less than 4 seconds covering the field. That is very, very impressive.

-jim
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