Checa edged off front row in last minute reshuffle.

It was a tale of drama for the Fortuna Yamaha Team during day two of the
Czech Republic Grand Prix today.  Team-mates Carlos Checa and Marco
Melandri were hindered respectively by a snapped drive chain and yet
another low speed crash, during today's final qualifying session in
Brno. Despite the unexpected setback, and a long run pushing the bike
back to pit lane during the closing stages of the session, Checa managed
to find a 1.387 second improvement over his best time yesterday.  Checa
will now head the second row in tomorrow's 22-lap race.

Checa's greatly improved form gave him a best lap time today of
1'59.295, however this personal best was still 0.526 seconds shy of
Valentino Rossi's (Honda, 1'58.768) fastest ever official lap of the
Czech circuit. Following yesterday's first timed session the 30-year-old
Spaniard was confident he would break into the '59s, and as today's
session progressed he placed the YZR-M1 on the front row with the second
fastest lap. But then, with only one minute remaining, Sete Gibernau
(Honda, 1'58.899), Max Biaggi (Honda, 1'58.908) and Loris Capirossi
(Ducati, 1'58.916) all broke into the '58s in an effort to keep
defending MotoGP World Champion Rossi within reach, relegating Checa to
the second row. Despite this the Spaniard is pleased with the team's
performance and is looking forward to a competitive race.

"I'm very happy to have done this lap time, which is my best ever
here," explained the Spaniard. "I have to admit that I didn't think I
had gone that fast during the lap. It's a shame not to be on the front
row, but we've worked very well here and the most important thing is to
feel ready for the race. We've worked with a base set-up with fairly
small modifications and a few little engine improvements. We've got the
chassis well balanced. The race will not be easy, for sure. We still have
our limitations, but we're working well and I hope we can be more and
more competitive as we head into the last part of the season.
"The hardest thing for me today was pushing the bike back along the
whole length of the pit lane after I lost my chain! I guess that will
help my fitness for a long race tomorrow! If I can keep the rear stable
tomorrow and put in consistent lap times I hope we can get a good
result."

A brilliant third place qualifying result in Donington and impressive
race performances amongst the top three riders in both the British and
German Grands Prix provided a glimpse of the talent that lies within
Melandri. Unfortunately the young Italian slid off during both
onslaughts.  Since returning from his three week summer break the
20-year-old has had difficulty finding his former confidence with his
YZR-M1 machine.  The MotoGP rookie tumbled off for the second time this
weekend, in the opening segment of today's final session. As a result
the 250 World Champion was unable to improve on his Friday performance, a
2'00.800, and now languishes back in 17th place -- 2.123 seconds behind
pole.

"I have fallen off twice over the past two days and I don't know
exactly why," said the slightly despondent Italian.  "I'm still not
confident with the front, and today I lost the front on the exit of T9
and slid off.  My feeling with the bike this weekend is like I am riding
it for the first time.  I couldn't follow the other riders and I ran too
wide in all the corners.  I'm disappointed because I've been in the
front group at the past two races.  Hopefully I will be able to get up
front, like I did in Sachsenring, despite not having a great grid
position."

Team Director Davide Brivio commented, "We're quite pleased with Carlos
who has improved a lot today compared to yesterday, in fact by more than
a second.  He has made good progress this weekend, despite the small
inconvenience this afternoon when his chain broke.  That was very strange
because it's never happened before.  Carlos should be in good shape to
make a good race and stay amongst the top riders. 
            
"Unfortunately Marco had a small tumble again and never
really felt comfortable.  When we tested here last month he felt quite
good but for some reason this time it's not going as he would have
liked, and we're not exactly sure why.  We will try again tonight to
make some improvements but it could be quite a difficult race for him."

FRONT ROW
1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Repsol HONDA 1'58.769 - new circuit best lap
2. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Telefonica Movistar HONDA 1'58.899
3. Max Biaggi (ITA) Camel Pramac Pons HONDA 1'58.908
4. Loris Capirossi (ITA) DUCATI Marlboro Team 1'58.916
5. CARLOS CHECA (SPA) Fortuna YAMAHA Team 1'59.295
17. MARCO MELANDRI (ITA) Fortuna YAMAHA Team 2'00.892 (Fri) 2'01.523

-fyt-


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