Phillip Island.

[Hazza]

For the australians one of the most anticipated race of the year, and for good reasons. Apart from being a track that promotes great racing, it is a common track between the WSBK and the MotoGp. Add to that that all the riders seem to love it then...well this race could be great!

As I type, the first qualifying is on and there is a duel between Vale and Colin, with Colin on the ball with a 31.5 with Rossie and Sete not far behind, which is why I belive that this race will be Edward's break out race win, with Vale leading home Sete and all but wraping up the title.

In the field we have Vale, Biaggi and Roberts who have previously won at the island on the big bikes, and Edwards, Bayliss, Hodgeson and Mcoy who have done the same on superbikes. And I belive most of the other SBK guys have atleast been on the podium there.

And as a note, Westy belives that he'll be able to do well as there are not to many hard acceleration bits.

Links:
Yamaha Race Preview: http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2004/Oct/041014a.htm

Gresini Preview currently is on the main page at http://www.gresiniracing.com/

Track map (Not a chicane in sight!):
http://www.racingcircuits.net/Austra...lipIsland.html

[marcus]

First Qualifying results.

1. Valentino ROSSI ITA 1'30.222
2. Sete GIBERNAU SPA 1'30.600
3. Nicky HAYDEN USA 1'31.377
4. Colin EDWARDS USA 1'31.387
5. Ruben XAUS SPA 1'31.526
6. Loris CAPIROSSI ITA 1'31.571
7. Alex BARROS BRA 1'31.601
8. Makoto TAMADA JPN 1'31.632
9. Max BIAGGI ITA 1'31.718
10.Marco MELANDRI ITA 1'31.760
11.Carlos CHECA SPA 1'31.929
12.Troy BAYLISS AUS 1'31.979
13.Alex HOFMANN GER 1'32.039
14.John HOPKINS USA 1'32.244
15.Shinya NAKANO JPN 1'32.338
16.Jeremy McWILLIAMS GBR 1'32.866
17.Gregorio LAVILLA SPA 1'33.370
18.Garry McCOY AUS 1'33.705
19.Norick ABE JPN 1'33.753
20.Neil HODGSON GBR 1'34.029
21.Nobuatsu AOKI JPN 1'34.073
22.James HAYDON GBR 1'34.511
23.James ELLISON GBR 1'34.995
24.Youichi UI JPN 1'36.364

[marcus]

125cc First qualifying results

1. Gino BORSOI ITA 1'38.834
2. Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA 1'39.171
3. Casey STONER AUS 1'39.175
4. Mirko GIANSANTI ITA 1'39.192
5. Hector BARBERA SPA 1'39.362
6. Jorge LORENZO SPA 1'39.532
7. Roberto LOCATELLI ITA 1'39.648
8. Stefano PERUGINI ITA 1'39.673
9. Pablo NIETO SPA 1'39.756
10.Andrea BALLERINI ITA 1'39.818
11.Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA 1'40.212
12.Steve JENKNER GER 1'40.294
13.Gabor TALMACSI HUN 1'40.332
14.Sergio GADEA SPA 1'40.348
15.Julian SIMON SPA 1'40.416
16.Angel RODRIGUEZ SPA 1'40.481
17.Simone CORSI ITA 1'40.485
18.Mattia PASINI ITA 1'40.486
19.Mika KALLIO FIN 1'40.489
20.Thomas LUTHI SWI 1'40.536
21.Lukas PESEK CZE 1'40.639
22.Imre TOTH HUN 1'40.875
23.Fabrizio LAI ITA 1'41.008
24.Mike DI MEGLIO FRA 1'41.423
25.Vesa KALLIO FIN 1'41.580
26.Lorenzo ZANETTI ITA 1'41.679
27.Dario GIUSEPPETTI GER 1'41.854
28.Gioele PELLINO ITA 1'41.941
29.Matthew KUHNE AUS 1'42.643
30.Max SABBATANI ITA 1'43.339
31.Bryan STARING AUS 1'43.745
32.Raymond SCHOUTEN NED 1'44.963
33.Jordi CARCHANO SPA 1'45.020


Not qualified (Out 107%) 1'45.752
Malcolm ESLER AUS 1'45.775
Brett SIMMONDS AUS 1'45.803
Manuel MANNA ITA 1'45.808
Brent RIGOLI AUS 1'48.311

[marcus]

250cc First qualifying results


1. Alex DE ANGELIS RSM 1'32.986
2. Manuel POGGIALI RSM 1'33.210
3. Sebastian PORTO ARG 1'33.403
4. Fonsi NIETO SPA 1'34.333
5. Franco BATTAINI ITA 1'34.576
6. Toni ELIAS SPA 1'34.583
7. Daniel PEDROSA SPA 1'34.641
8. Randy DE PUNIET FRA 1'35.147
9. Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN 1'35.255
10.Naoki MATSUDO JPN 1'35.574
11.Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA 1'35.930
12.Roberto ROLFO ITA 1'36.150
13.Chaz DAVIES GBR 1'36.158
14.Johan STIGEFELT SWE 1'36.184
15.Erwan NIGON FRA 1'36.288
16.David DE GEA SPA 1'36.292
17.Alex DEBON SPA 1'36.336
18.Alex BALDOLINI ITA 1'36.506
19.Hugo MARCHAND FRA 1'36.535
20.Anthony WEST AUS 1'36.949
21.Gregory LEBLANC FRA 1'37.210
22.Jakub SMRZ CZE 1'37.245
23.Taro SEKIGUCHI JPN 1'37.249
24.Dirk HEIDOLF GER 1'37.576
25.Hector FAUBEL SPA 1'37.815
26.Joan OLIVE SPA 1'37.898
27.Radomil ROUS CZE 1'39.062
28.Joshua WATERS AUS 1'39.130


Not qualified (Out 107%) 1'39.495

Gergo TALMACSI HUN 1'40.115
Mark ROWLING AUS 1'41.535
Ben RIED AUS 1'48.308
Peter TAPLIN AUS

[Dani Filth]

a few surprises Borsoi . been a while since i saw him so up . and Poggiali too
and +2 seconds bettween Xaus and Hodgson ?? what happend

[BootsOntheSide]

Xaus and Ellison have certainly been among the stars of recent races, and it's rgeat to see both so far ahead of tehir team-mates. The same goes for Rossi - the Yamaha doesn't seem like a good package here judging by the times of their other riders.

[Pondo]

Good to see Chaz knocking on the door of the top ten again. That lad's going well at the minute.

[f1manoz]

Westy may miss the race after suffering a heavy crash, suffering bruising and a wrist injury. It certainly didn't help his already broken arm!

[BootsOntheSide]

Welcome Pondo. Very good point that Chaz Davies has done so well recently - now that he's got a bit of experience and wisdom behind him, he's starting to becoem a regular threat. It owuldn't surprise me to see him challenge for regular top 10s and maybe the odd podium next year.

[f1manoz]

Welcome as well Pondo! New bike fans are always welcome.

All Chaz needs is a more competitive machine, and not the kit bike he's got, and he'd be certainly challenging the top guys more often. Hopefully his performances this year have attracted the attention of at least semi-works teams. Unfortunately, the only thing going against the young guy is funding...

[marcus]

125cc Starting grid

1 Roberto Locatelli 1.37.417
2 Jorge Lorenzo 1.37.543
3 Casey Stoner 1.37.590
4 Steve Jenkner 1.38.147
5 Andrea Divizioso 1.38.238
6 Gino Borsoi 1.38.375
7 Mika Kallio 1.38.386
8 Hector Barbera 1.38.389
9 Mirko Giansanti 1.38.643
10 Julian Simon 1.38.674
11 Lukas Pesek 1.38.725
12 Gabor Talmasci 1.38.790
13 Pablo Nieto 1.38.854
14 Sergio Gadea 1.38.865
15 Stefano Pergugini 1.38.870
16 Mike Di Meglio 1.38.907
17 Angel Rodriguez 1.39.072
18 Fabrizio Lai 1.39.263
19 Andrea Ballerini 1.39.298
20 Imre Toth 1.39.357
21 Simone Corsi 1.39.366
22 Thomas Luthi 1.39.637
23 Mattia Pasini 1.39.708
24 Alvaro Bautista 1.39.865
25 Lorenzo Zanetti 1.39.938
26 Dario Giuseppetti 1.40.135
27 Vesa Kallio 1.40.264
28 Manuel Manna 1.40.801
29 Gioele Pellino 1.41.265
30 Matthew Kuhne 1.41.792
31 Bryan Staring 1.41.896
32 Raymond Schouten 1.42.237
33 Max Sabbatani 1.42.563
34 Jordi Carchano 1.42.592


DNQ (Outside 107%) 107% time = 1.44.236

Brent Rigoli 1.44.503
Malcolm Elser 1.45.397
Brett Simmonds 2.32.260

[marcus]

Moto GP Starting Grid

[marcus]

OOps Sorry


1. Sete Gibernau 1.30.122
2. Valentino Rossi 1.30.577
3. Loris Capirossi 1.30.613
4. Colin Edwards 1.30.625
5. Makoto Tamada 1.30.716
6. Alex Barros 1.30.757
7. Max Biaggi 1.30.767
8. Alex Hofmann 1.30.819
9. Troy Bayliss 1.30.873
10.Marco Melandri 1.30.927
11.Shinya Nakano 1.31.093
12.Ruben Xaus 1.31.191
13.Carlos Checa 1.31.359
14.Jeremy McWilliams 1.31.491
15.Nicky Hayden 1.31.786
16.Gregorio Lavilla 1.31.846
17.John Hopkins 1.31.911
18.Norick Abe 1.32.452
19.Neil Hodgson 1.32.531
20.Garry McCoy 1.32.712
21.Nobuatso Aoki 1.32.857
22.James Haydon 1.33.317
23.James Ellison 1.33.608
24.Yuichi Ui 1.35.280

[marcus]

Danny Pedrosa has just crashed in 250cc final qualifying , Holding his ankles in a bad way and carried off the circuit.

remember last year danny crashed his 125cc machine here and broke both ankles , hopefully not de ja vue for him.

[racer69]

What bike is Youichi Ui on?

Will be interesting to see if for only the second time in history a non-Honda will win the 500cc/MotoGP race at Phillip Island.

Apart from Max Biaggi in 2000, the other 8 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix's held at Phillip Island have been won by Honda's;

Wayne Gardner - 1989 & 1990
Alex Criville - 1997
Michael Doohan - 1998
Tadyuki Okada - 1999
Valentino Rossi - 2001, 2002 & 2003

Cagiva, Suzuki, Yamaha as well as Honda mangaged 500cc race wins at Eastern Creek between 1991-1996 though.

[marcus]

Yuichi ui is riding the WCM Harris bike that Michel Fabrizio started the season on , he (Ui) has had a few rides on the bike already but hasnt been that spectacular

[marcus]

250cc Starting Grid


1. Sebastian PORTO ARG 1'32.099
2. Alex DE ANGELIS RSM 1'33.101
3. Daniel PEDROSA SPA 1'33.225
4. Manuel POGGIALI RSM 1'33.610
5. Randy DE PUNIET FRA 1'33.764
6. Fonsi NIETO SPA 1'34.240
7. Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN 1'34.358
8. Chaz DAVIES GBR 1'35.027
9. Alex DEBON SPA 1'35.084
10.Johan STIGEFELT SWE 1'35.217
11.Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA 1'35.339
12.Toni ELIAS SPA 1'35.376
13.Franco BATTAINI ITA 1'35.416
14.Jakub SMRZ CZE 1'35.568
15.Erwan NIGON FRA 1'35.658
16.Roberto ROLFO ITA 1'35.824
17.David DE GEA SPA 1'35.863
18.Hugo MARCHAND FRA 1'35.890
19.Naoki MATSUDO JPN 1'36.117
20.Alex BALDOLINI ITA 1'36.227
21.Joan OLIVE SPA 1'36.675
22.Gregory LEBLANC FRA 1'36.814
23.Radomil ROUS CZE 1'37.090
24.Dirk HEIDOLF GER 1'37.144
25.Taro SEKIGUCHI JPN 1'37.357
26.Hector FAUBEL SPA 1'37.376
27.Joshua WATERS AUS 1'38.149


Not qualified (Out 107%) 1'38.545

Gergo TALMACSI HUN 1'38.728
Mark ROWLING AUS 1'41.268
Peter TAPLIN AUS 1'44.428
Anthony WEST AUS
Ben RIED AUS


no reports that i have seen on Pedrosa's condition as of yet.

[f1manoz]

I just read Pedrosa is okay and will start the race... well, that's what I read anyway!

Sete nabbing pole will give the guy confidence, but all Rossi has to do is finish second and he's world champion, so Sete is going to need a bit of luck to take the title chase to Valencia. In the post-qualifying interview, Rossi sounded like a guy who would be perfectly happy to follow Sete home to the flag if he had to.