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Rd.01 04/10 Spanish GP
RACE DATA
Round: 1-Jerez MotoGP
Circuit: Jerez
Date: 10 April 2005
CIRCUIT DATA
Round 1: Jerez,Spain
Track length: 4423 m
Opened: 1985
Fastest Lap Ever: 139.983 (Nicky Hayden, 2005 IRTA test)
MotoGP Lap Record: 1'42.788 (Valentino Rossi, 2003)
Last Year MotoGP Winner: Sete Gibernau
Jerez is the circuit which traditionally pulls in the largest crowd, well over 200,000 last year during the three day event. Its due to the Spanish passion for motorcycle racing, but also the circuits reputation for providing hard and close racing. The closeness of the racing can be attributed to the undulating 4423m layout, numerous hard braking areas and countless camber changes; making a predictable chassis balance the primary concern especially during heavy braking. For this reason its necessary to maintain stability over the countless bumps that infest the entry into almost every turn, while also providing front-end feel which will inspire confidence.
REPORT
New season
Yamaha returns to the Jerez circuit in Spain this week to begin its defense of the MotoGP World Championship title after an intense winter of testing, which concluded at the Spanish circuit just eight days ago. In the year of Yamahas 50th anniversary, current World Champion Valentino Rossi and his new Gauloises Yamaha Team-mate Colin Edwards will be challenging for victory on the new, improved version of the impressive YZR-M1 machine that swept to the title in Rossis prodigious hands in 2004.
Its been a busy winter for the Italian, which began with an historic journey to Yamahas head office in Iwata, Japan, to receive the certificate of ownership for his title-winning YZR-M1. The bike was given to Rossi as a personal thank you from the companys president, Mr Toru Hasegawa, last November. Since then Yamahas engineers and Rossi have worked extensively on the 2005 version of the machine at in-depth test sessions in Malaysia, Australia and Spain, where he has been joined by his new Gauloises Yamaha team-mate Edwards.
For the Fortuna Yamaha Team, who has shadowed the Yamaha factory outfit at every test, this pre-season program has been just as intense. But with two new names behind the bars of the factory supported YZR-M1 Ruben Xaus and Toni Elias it has been an extremely valuable experience for the Spanish pair.
