Jerez day 2

Interesting, Kawasaki breaks yesterday's Ducati rule:

1. Shinya Nakano - Kawasaki Racing 1'40.047
2. Loris Capirossi - Ducati Marlboro 1'40.544
3. John Hopkins - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'40.791
4. Randy de Puniet - Kawasaki Racing 1'40.839
5. Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda 1'40.859
6. Valentino Rossi - Camel Yamaha 1'40.915
7. Carlos Checa - Tech 3 Yamaha 1'40.943
8. Sete Gibernau - Ducati Marlboro 1'40.964
9. Colin Edwards - Camel Yamaha 1'41.105
10. Chris Vermeulen - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'41.110

Caprisossi half a second slower than Nakano, wow, we knew Nakano can go
fast, but this must be a bit unexpected. Quite the result for Kawasaki, with
De Puniet in there as well. Hopkins is no big surprise, of course, we know
he can turn very fast laps, too. Pedrosa fastest in the worryingly off-pace
Honda contingent. And Rossi and Edwards... those 2 may have an ace up their
sleeve, though, they're race competitive even when they don't Q way up
front. And I think this is the first time Vermeulen makes the top 10. In any
case, the fact that the next 9 after nakano are in the same .5s is an
indication this could be quite competitive, and more than ever an
environment where a slight set-up advantage may pay huge dividends.

....pablo

pablo wrote:
> Interesting, Kawasaki breaks yesterday's Ducati rule:
>
> 1. Shinya Nakano - Kawasaki Racing 1'40.047
> 2. Loris Capirossi - Ducati Marlboro 1'40.544
> 3. John Hopkins - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'40.791
> 4. Randy de Puniet - Kawasaki Racing 1'40.839
> 5. Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda 1'40.859
> 6. Valentino Rossi - Camel Yamaha 1'40.915
> 7. Carlos Checa - Tech 3 Yamaha 1'40.943
> 8. Sete Gibernau - Ducati Marlboro 1'40.964
> 9. Colin Edwards - Camel Yamaha 1'41.105
> 10. Chris Vermeulen - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'41.110
>
> Caprisossi half a second slower than Nakano, wow, we knew Nakano can go
> fast, but this must be a bit unexpected. Quite the result for Kawasaki, with
> De Puniet in there as well. Hopkins is no big surprise, of course, we know
> he can turn very fast laps, too. Pedrosa fastest in the worryingly off-pace
> Honda contingent. And Rossi and Edwards... those 2 may have an ace up their
> sleeve, though, they're race competitive even when they don't Q way up
> front. And I think this is the first time Vermeulen makes the top 10. In any
> case, the fact that the next 9 after nakano are in the same .5s is an
> indication this could be quite competitive, and more than ever an
> environment where a slight set-up advantage may pay huge dividends.

It's interesting that the top 4 are on Bridgestones and only 3 of the
top 10 are on Michelins. I assume that Hayden is still the only guy on
the new RCV (other than Okada) and is back in 13th, and Melandri (who
possibly might have been given the new bike by now) is down in 16th,
even lower than Cardoso, assumedly still struggling with the new
"Yamaha" tire. If it is a new bike issue, I wonder if Honda might
swallow hard and stick with the updated '05 bikes at the Jerez race?

Anyway, we need to see some race weekend practice and qualifying times
before we'll know much with certainty...