Moto GP Welkom : Honda Leads the way !

[JPMontoya]

In complete contract to the wet and windy conditions at the first race of the season at Suzuka, the MotoGP riders were greeted by a dry and dusty Phakisa Freeway circuit this afternoon for the first qualifying session ahead of the Africa Grand Prix. In typical South African conditions for this time of year the sun was blazing down as for the fourth consecutive year the MotoGP series visited Welkom.

It was Honda NSR rider Loris Capirossi who set the pace today blitzing the field in a time of 1:35.393 to stake his claim on the temporary pole position with his two- stroke bike. Daijiro Katoh occupies second place, although for a large part of the session it looked as if today's proceedings would go the way of reigning world champion Valentino Rossi.

Capirossi and Rossi played a game of cat and mouse with one another during the qualifying session, while other riders were occasionally given a peek at P1. It was Capirossi who initially took provisional pole, however with just a few minutes gone in the session he lost it to Marlboro Yamaha rider Carlos Checa. But Checa too could not hold onto the lead and the reigning world champion stormed into P1 on his four- stroke Honda.





Jeremy Williams
Britain's Jeremy McWilliams then took over the proceedings and hit the top spot about halfway during the session. However his moment of glory was short-lived as Rossi stormed to the front again, only to lose it to Capirossi a few short minutes later.

As the sun continued to blaze down on the track the temperature rose and at times the heat was a bit uncomfortable, but that did not stop Rossi who went P1 again for the third time during the session. But while he may have felt he had it in the bag, with three minutes left on the clock Capirossi put in a blistering lap time that saw him finish the session in provisional pole.

The Italian's time saw him finish four tenths of a second ahead of Daijiro Katoh, while Tohru Ukawa claimed third place and relegated Rossi to fourth place in the dying seconds of the session. Max Biaggi was fifth quickest, while Kenny Roberts rounded off the top six.

Meanwhile the only real drama of the session came courtesy of Sete Gibernau. The Spaniard suffered a fall as the session drew to a close, but luckily did not receive any injuries.

SOURCE : http://www.moto-live.com
yep bij racing-live hebbe ze nu ook een moto sectie zeker de moeite waard