Sete Gibernau qualified second fastest today, just two tenths off the provisional pole time set by Makoto Tamada, in the first official qualifying practice for the Malysian Grand Prix, whilst Colin Edwards hopes to close in on the top times tomorrow. The Spanish Telefónica MoviStar rider concentrated on finding the best possible set-up for his bike ahead of Sunday's race, which promises to be just as hard as last week in Qatar, and made the most of his qualifying tyres in the final stages of the session. Colin Edwards tried different configurations as he searched for better traction, but will have to continue working to find a better compromise tomorrow.
SETE GIBERNAU
(2nd, 2’02”394): “We have started the Grand Prix well. A good weekend starts with a good first day and that’s what we had today. I don’t want to get too confident but we have got off on the correct foot here. We still have a lot of work to do but we have a good base to progress from and prepare the race as best we can. Of course it will be tough, we were suffocated in Qatar and we won’t get time to catch our breath here either. In any case we will have to get used to it because it is the same for everybody.”
COLIN EDWARDS
(13th, 2’05”060): “We made a few changes to the bike today and had a few tyre tests to try and get some traction going. We need to work hard with the setting tomorrow because at the moment I don’t feel comfortable with the bike at this circuit”.
FAUSTO GRESINI
(Team manager): “At the start of the session a few raindrops fell on the circuit and Sete ran off track along with a lot of other riders, not realising that the surface was wet. After that he came into the box and worked clamly on the setting of the bike and then on getting the most out of the qualification tyres. Colin, on the other hand, didn’t manage that – in fact the morning session had gone much better. I think the gtimes will come down further tomorrow because there will be more grip on the track.”
LAP TIMES
- Makoto Tamada (Jap/Honda) 2’02”394
- Sete Gibernau (Esp/Honda) + 0”235
- Valentino Rossi (Ita/Yamaha) + 0”306
….
13. Colin Edwards (USA/Honda) + 2”666