MotoGP
French GP: Camel Yamaha Team Friday notes
CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM RIDERS SET THE PACE AT LE MANS 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.
Published: May 20, 2006, 5:06 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM RIDERS SET THE PACE AT LE MANS
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."
-cyt
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Rossi faces hard moment this season
Next article French GP: Pramac d'Antin Friday notes
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Valentino Rossi
The closest finish in MotoGP history: Toni Elias over Valentino Rossi 20 years ago
MotoGP
MotoGP
Portuguese GP
The closest finish in MotoGP history: Toni Elias over Valentino Rossi 20 years ago
Marc Marquez to read Valentino Rossi’s new book “when I retire” from MotoGP
MotoGP
MotoGP
San Marino GP
Marc Marquez to read Valentino Rossi’s new book “when I retire” from MotoGP
Valentino Rossi abandons Nordschleife Permit plans for 2026
Endurance
Endurance
NLS8
Valentino Rossi abandons Nordschleife Permit plans for 2026
Latest news
WEC drivers question lack of full-course yellow after heavy Monza crash
WEC
WEC WEC
Monza
1 h
WEC drivers question lack of full-course yellow after heavy Monza crash
Kyle Larson, Cliff Daniels and the Hendrick 5 are who we say they are
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
3 h
Kyle Larson, Cliff Daniels and the Hendrick 5 are who we say they are
Final NASCAR Cup points standings after 2026 Homestead finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
7 h
Final NASCAR Cup points standings after 2026 Homestead finale
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe