Burns in Practice

Burns getting to grips with Donington and the 500cc

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BRITISH GP - DONINGTON

Final Qualifying Saturday July 12th 2003

In warm and breezy conditions in the British Midlands, WCM rider Chris Burns enjoyed his first ever Saturday qualifying session of the Season.

The superbly fit, 23 year old from Newcastle was delighted with how he qualified for his home GP after clocking up only 240 km in total on the ROC ­ two stroke Yamaha.

It will be a memorable day for Chris in his Saturday debut performance in the Moto GP class and his time of 1'34.400 makes his ride today the quickest ever that a 500 cc, 4 cylinder, two stroke private machine has recorded at the Donington track.

Team-mate to Burns, the 25 year old Spaniard, David De Gea, had a spectacular highside crash in free practice this morning and was eager to get back on the track for the final qualifying session. Unfortunately the ROC Yamaha could not be repaired in time for the final session so David reluctantly watched his mechanics strip and rebuild his bike.

CHRIS BURNS: 23rd 1'34'400 ­ Saturday Qualifying Time
"Well it was hard work out there today and I guess I got something out of it, with setting the non-factory team two-stroke, four cylinder lap here. I've got a pretty good set-up for tomorrow and the first qualifier tyre was really good.

I was disappointed that I had a stupid crash thismoring in practice, I wheelied out of the hairpin and the front just folded underneath me. I lost about 25 minutes practice because of that.

So we have to make the best of what we have got and I am really looking forward to tomorrow."

DAVID DE GEA: 24th 1'36'851 ­ Friday Qualifying Time
"Well I am having lots of problems with the engine and I really have not had enough time on the bike to get the feel for it at all. I¹ll see how I go in the warm up tomorrow but I really feel ready to race, I'm hungry for it. In the crash, I only hurt my lower back, but it feels okay and Dr. Costa has given me the okay to ride"

PETER CLIFFORD ­ (Team Manager)
"Today did not start well as David made an appearance on East Midlands Airport radar and gave us a huge fright, but very luckily although extremely sore, he did not break anything.

There was enough damage to the bike to prevent him from riding in the afternoon but as a team we are thrilled by what Chris has achieved. A big thanks to Dunlop for the tyres that enabled him to do that and we are confident we can give him a stronger engine for the race."