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BRITISH GP - DONINGTON

Qualifying - Friday July 11th 2003

WCM DEBUTS AT DONINGTON

CHRIS BURNS: 23rd 1'35.221

"That was alright for my first real go on a 500. I¹ve never ridden a 500cc four-cylinder two-stroke before other then a handful of laps at Rockingham on Wednesday, so I¹m pretty happy with coming out and qualifying today.

The bike is light, small, easy to ride and pretty smooth and I am quite surprised at how good it feels for the age of it. It rode sharp and felt strong.

>From Free Practice this-morning it was in my mind throughout the session to not drop it, only having one bike was in the back of my mind. So when I ran wide into the gravel on the fifth lap, I was determined to hold onto it and put it down gently in the litter. I lost 20 minutes in that session, getting back into the garage whilst the mechanics re-fitted the exhaust pipe.

Basically, all I¹m missing is some horses down the straight, its amazing how much you can gain on the four-strokes in the corners, but as soon as you straighten up the four-stroke are gone.

It¹s my second official practice session of the season, the first, back in April in Suzuka. I am really looking forward to the race and the mechanics have put in a huge effort to get the bike ready for this weekend."

DAVID DE GEA: 24th 1'36.851

I have now ridden this bike for a total of 21 laps so it¹s all very new to both the mechanics and me. It has not been a real good day for me as we¹re having lots of problems with the bike and engine. The bike is slow and there is a lot of work for the mechanics to do tonight. I am determined to improve tomorrow and move from a 36.8 to a 34.

I am staying very focussed, concentrating on the bike.

The Dunlops were good here, and at the end of the session, things began to improve.

PETER CLIFFORD ­ (Team Manager)

"It¹s a tribute to our team of mechanics and the guys from Sabre Sport that we have two motorcycles on the grid this weekend."

"It¹s a further tribute to the riders to qualify those machines in such an incredibly few laps."

"Chris¹s performance is exceptional because he has never sat on a 500 until he did a few laps at Rockingham on Wednesday. David has 500, two-stroke experience but technical problems throughout the day limited him to only a handful of laps."

"We must also thank Dunlop for supporting us so well and showing that their tyres are far better then the equipment is able to demonstrate."