Rossi on his own

From Yamaha Racing

Just five days after his thrilling home victory at Mugello, Valentino Rossi was back on board at the Montmelo circuit in Catalunya Friday, running a one-off livery on his M1 in celebration of the Italian national football team, the 'Azzurri', and their impending European Championship campaign.

Rossi's bike was complemented by his leathers, which have been designed to make him look like an 'Azzurro' himself, complete with football shorts, shirt and socks.

After heavy rain overnight the track was still wet in places Friday morning, especially on the long start/finish straight, which is overshadowed by the huge Montmelo grandstand. The rain meant that the notoriously slippery track had even less grip than usual and Rossi spent the day testing Bridgestone tires and refining the setting of his M1 to suit the demands of the circuit, with improving traction a priority.

He was consistently fast throughout the day, finishing second in first practice and third in the afternoon with a time of 1:43.090, when the drier surface meant that times were well over half a second quicker than the morning.

"We've got a hard job here because this is one of the most difficult tracks for the surface, you slide so much," Rossi said. "It's very important to try to find the best traction for the long acceleration areas, and so we've tried a lot of different tires today in order to try to understand what's going to help us the most.

"The grip is worse than normal here today because of the rain overnight and so this is making it even harder, plus with Bridgestone I need quite a different riding style to last year so we have to think about this too."

Rossi's teammate Jorge Lorenzo had an unfortunate opening day at his home race, crashing out of the afternoon practice. The Spaniardwas taken to hospital in Barcelona where the decision was made to withdraw from his home GP.

The Spaniard lost the front of his M1 at turn 11 just four laps into the afternoon session and slid into the gravel before being stretchered off and taken to the circuit clinic. After undergoing an initial check-up at the track, which confirmed that there were no further injuries to the ankles which he fractured in China, the decision was made to take him to hospital in Barcelona for further examination.

Doctor Xavier Mir of the University Institut Dexeus in Barcelona commented as follows: "I can confirm that Lorenzo will not be able to compete this weekend after the tests done here at the Institut Dexeus have confirmed the following injuries:

"1. He suffered head trauma and lost consciousness. We made a neurological examination with a CAT scan and an MRI scan and from this we can confirm that there is no cranial haemotoma or haemorrage. However, he now needs to stay under observation for between 48 and 72 hours to see how this develops.

2. He sustained an injury to the fourth and fifth finger on the right hand, where he has lost some skin. He also has an abrasion of the extensor tendon. We need to see how this develops but it could be possible that he needs a small skin graft.

3. Various other bruises and grazes."

Free Practice Times
1. Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 1:43.017
2. Loris Capirossi, Suzuki, ITA, 1:43.023
3. Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 1:43.090
4. Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 1:43.099
5. Alex De Angelis, Honda, SMR, 1:43.233
6. Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 1:43.368
7. Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 1:43.442
8. James Toseland, Yamaha, GBR, 1:43.479
9. Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 1:43.614
10. Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 1:43.668
11. Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, ITA, 1:43.707
12. Randy De Puniet, Honda, FRA, 1:43.742
13. Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, ESP, 1:43.961
14. John Hopkins, Kawasaki, USA, 1:44.043
15. Toni Elias, Ducati, ESP, 1:44.610