Race Results
Marco Melandri, Chris Vermuelen and Valentino Rossi took to the podium today in a 1-2-3 during the rainy Australian leg of the 2006 MotoGP season at Phillip Island.

It was the first MotoGP race that had a pit stop for the riders to switch to a different motorcycle configured for riding in the rain and with rain tires after the downpour commenced.

Kawasaki's Shinya Nakano, who had a promising qualifying position of second place, was forced to accept a hard fought eighth place in today's Australian Grand Prix, after the onset of rain on lap six forced him to relinquish a five second lead at the front of the race.

A brief rain shower as the riders lined up on the grid for today's 17-lap race caused the start to be delayed.  The race was eventually started ten minutes behind schedule in dry conditions, but with the black clouds surrounding the circuit still threatening rain.

Nakano got a flying start from second place on the grid, taking the lead into the first turn and immediately pulling away from the chasing pack.  Intermittent rain made conditions difficult, but the 28-year-old Kawasaki rider was in a class of his own during the opening laps.

By the time the rain had increased to the point where the white flag was shown to the riders - to indicate they could return to the pits, to change to bikes with a wet set-up - Nakano had pulled out a five second gap on second placed Sete Gibernau.

As the rain continued to fall steadily, the majority of the MotoGP riders returned to the pits at the end of lap eight, for a somewhat chaotic switch to their spare machines, leaving Nakano virtually alone on track, as he continued to push hard in the tricky conditions.

One lap later and Nakano also pitted to change to his second Ninja ZX-RR, but despite rejoining the race in second place, the Kawasaki pilot was quickly demoted to sixth, as he tried to get a feel for the full wet tyres fitted front and rear.

Nakano continued to push hard as the track dried out, using up his wet tyres in the process, with the result that he was unable to counter moves by Nicky Hayden and Loris Capirossi at the end of the race, forcing him to settle for eighth place at the line.

Randy de Puniet was pushing hard to make up places from eleventh position when he came into pits with a large group of riders to switch bikes, rejoining the race in the same position, after narrowly avoiding a collision with Makoto Tamada in the busy Phillip Island pit lane.

The 25-year-old Frenchman quickly settled into a good rhythm, moving up the order to take tenth place, before losing time as a build up of dirt on his visor considerably reduced his visibility.

De Puniet fought hard to hold off Makoto Tamada on the final lap, but lost out on a top ten finish as the Japanese rider out-dragged him to the checkered flag, leaving the Kawasaki pilot to cross the line in eleventh place.

Valentino Rossi (3rd; +10.526):  "I'm a little disappointed with third place because I know that in dry conditions we had a very good set-up and I think the result could have been better.  Anyway, we can't do anything about the weather and in these circumstances I have to be thankful for third place because we have pulled some more points back on Nicky.  After we changed the bike I lost a few places because I didn't have a good feeling initially on the wet tire.  Honestly I think this was my fault because once I found my rhythm I realized my M1 was in good shape and I was able to push more.:

"I'm really happy with the second half of the race because the gap to Sete was seven seconds, but I made my mind up to try and pass him and my bike and my Michelin tire worked very well to the end.  I saw the red dot getting bigger and bigger and to pass him in the last corner was excellent.  I would have liked to win for the sixth time here but at least I got to celebrate on the podium in front of all these wonderful fans.  Now we are 21 points behind - it is a lot, but not impossible."

Qualifying
Nicky Hayden qualified on the pole, with Shinya Nakano a surprise second and Valentino Rossi will start from the front row of the grid in third place with his Camel Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards just two spots behind him in fifth when the Australian Grand Prix gets underway tomorrow at Phillip Island.

After initially struggling to find an adequate set-up for their YZR-M1 machines in yesterday's opening free practice sessions due to the cool spring temperatures, both riders worked effectively with their pit crews to find better grip for the rear tire - improving their best lap times by almost two seconds and securing prime starting positions for tomorrow's crucial round in the process.

For Rossi the target is a sixth victory of the season as he looks to pull even closer to series leader Nicky Hayden (Honda).  After an excellent run of recent form the Italian lies just 26 points short of the American and tomorrow promises to be another mouth-watering duel between the pair, with Hayden starting from pole position thanks to a record lap this afternoon.  Edwards is also targeting his best finish of the season in front of a bumper Phillip Island crowd including many of his Australian family members and friends.

Valentino Rossi (3rd - 1'29.271; 28 laps):  "The team did a really good job today because we had some difficulties setting the bike up yesterday, but today it worked really well and I was able to qualify on the front row, which is very important at this circuit.  Because of the temperatures here we are finding it hard to get heat into the rear tire and we struggled a bit again today, which is why I had to leave it so late before trying for the fast time on the qualifying tire."

"We still have some work to do in this aspect on the race setting but with the qualifying tire the grip was there and I was able to go third fastest, even though I ran off the track on my out lap and then my bike did a small wheelie in the last corner on my flying lap.  Anyway I am happy and want to say a big thank you to my team and to Michelin for the excellent progress we made today.  I'm surprised that Capirossi and Gibernau are so far back because they have got a very strong race pace so I suppose me and Nicky will be pushing hard from the start to try and escape."

Nakano Qualifies Second
Kawasaki's Shinya Nakano will start tomorrow's Australian Grand Prix from the front row of the grid, after qualifying his Ninja ZX-RR in second place during this afternoon's hotly contested timed session at the Phillip Island circuit.

Nakano was quick to stake his claim for a front row start, taking pole position on race tyres just ten minutes into qualifying. The 28-year-old Japanese rider relinquished the top spot five minutes later, but remained top five on the timesheet, as his Kawasaki teammate, de Puniet, put in a fast lap to take pole position at the halfway stage.

With his first qualifying tire Nakano was the first rider to dip below 1'30s this afternoon, reclaiming pole position from de Puniet in the process. Nakano improved his lap time again with his second qualifier, but then fast laps in quick succession from Carlos Checa, Nicky Hayden and Kenny Roberts saw the Kawasaki rider pushed back to fourth, and facing a second row start in tomorrow's race.

Nakano started his final qualifying run determined to reclaim a place on the front row. With the qualifying tyres struggling to last even a single lap of the 4.445 km Phillip Island circuit this afternoon, the Kawasaki ace rode as smoothly as possible up to the first split, before riding right on the limit over the remaining two thirds of the lap.

It was a tactic that paid dividends, with Nakano taking second place on the grid, but missing out on his first ever MotoGP pole position by the slimmest of margins.

De Puniet was quick to take maximum advantage of a switch to qualifiers, taking pole position at the halfway stage in the qualifying session, and only relinquishing it to his Kawasaki teammate, Nakano.

The MotoGP rookie then held on to second place, giving Kawasaki a one-two at the top of the timesheet, before being pushed back to ninth position during the closing seconds of the hour-long session.

Both Kawasaki riders were happy with the pace and consistency of their lap times on race tyres today, and will start tomorrow's 27-lap Australian Grand Prix with their sights set firmly on a top five finish.

Shinya Nakano: 2nd - 1'29.258 "We worked extremely hard here at Phillip Island during the winter test in February, to provide both Kawasaki and Bridgestone with a lot of information and development data, and today was our payback.  From this data, Kawasaki and Bridgestone have improved to the point where Randy and I were able to come here on Friday and be straight on the pace."

"I think this shows the commitment of everyone involved with the Kawasaki Racing Team.  I'm happy with my consistency on race tyres, as this is important for tomorrow, but I'm also pleased to be starting from the front row.  I saw from my pit board that I was in fourth place as I started my final qualifying lap, so I pushed as hard as I could to try and reclaim a position on the front row of the grid. I'm not so bothered about missing out on pole; the front row is good enough for tomorrow's race, in which I think it's possible for us to finish top five at least."

2006 MotoGP Phillip Island Qualifying:

Circuit Length: 4448 Temp: 17 Weather: Dry

1 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 1'29.020; 2 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki JPN 1'29.258; 3 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'29.271; 4 Kenny Roberts Team Robert KR USA 1'29.662; 5 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 1'29.680; 6 Carlos Checa Yamaha ESP 1'29.865; 7 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 1'29.949; 8 Casey Stoner Honda AUS 1'29.969; 9 Randy De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 1'30.037; 10 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 1'30.081; 11 Makato Tamada Honda JPN 1'30.132 12; Sete Gibernau Ducati ESP 1'30.237; 13 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 1'30.393; 14 Toni Elias Honda ESP 1'30.498; 15 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 1'31.143; 18 James Ellison Yamaha GBR 1'31.998.