Pedrosa Takes Second Straight MotoGP Pole Position, In France

Pedrosa Takes Second Straight MotoGP Pole Position, In France

© 2006, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

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FIM MotoGP World Championship Le Mans Circuit Le Mans, France Alice Grand Prix De France Final Qualifying Results: 1. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (Hon RC211V), 1:33.990, Michelin 2. Shinya NAKANO, Japan (Kaw ZX-RR), 1:34.201, Bridgestone 3. John HOPKINS, USA (Suz GSV-R) 1:34.636, Bridgestone 4. Randy DE PUNIET, France (Kaw ZX-RR), 1:34.780, Bridgestone 5. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (Hon RC211V), 1:34.795, Michelin 6. Loris CAPIROSSI, Italy (Duc GP06), 1:34.802, Bridgestone 7. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (Yam YZR-M1), 1:34.840, Michelin 8. Sete GIBERNAU, Spain (Duc GP06) 1:34.870, Bridgestone 9. Colin EDWARDS, USA (Yam YZR-M1), 1:34.970, Michelin 10. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (Hon RC211V), 1:34.988, Michelin 11. Casey STONER, Australia (Hon RC211V), 1:35.430, Michelin 12. Chris VERMEULEN, Australia (Suz GSV-R), 1:35.705, Bridgestone 13. Makoto TAMADA, Japan (Hon RC211V), 1:36.058, Michelin 14. Carlos CHECA, Spain (Yam YZR-M1), 1:36.260, Dunlop 15. Kenny Lee ROBERTS, USA (KR RC211V), 1:36.501, Michelin 16. Toni ELIAS, Spain (Hon RC211V), 1:36.582, Michelin 17. James ELLISON, Great Britain (Yam YZR-M1), 1:37.019, Dunlop 18. Alex HOFMANN, Germany (Duc GP05), 1:37.267, Dunlop 19. Jose Luis CARDOSO, Spain (Duc GP05), 1:37.812, Dunlop More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: BEST QUALIFYING PERFORMANCE FOR KAWASAKI IN LE MANS The Kawasaki Racing Team enjoyed their most successful qualifying session to date at Le Mans this afternoon, as Shinya Nakano scorched to second place on the grid for tomorrow’s race, and teammate Randy de Puniet put in a stunning performance to finish fourth fastest during the hour-long qualifying session. Nakano dominated proceedings throughout this afternoon aboard his Ninja ZX-RR. The Kawasaki pilot snatched pole position with just 20 minutes of the session left to run and responded immediately when John Hopkins knocked him from the top spot; replying with another fastest lap to retake pole position. With five minutes of the session remaining, Nakano underlined his dominance by improving on his own pole position time, to put him over half a second clear at the top of the timesheet. As the flag came out to mark the end of the session, Nakano looked almost certain to secure his, and Kawasaki’s, first ever pole position in the premier MotoGP class, but a late charge by Honda’s Dani Pedrosa saw the Spaniard steal the top spot from Nakano by the slimmest of margins. Although disappointed not to have held onto pole position, Nakano was happy to have secured Kawasaki their best ever qualifying position with second place on the grid, and the Japanese ace goes into tomorrow’s 28-lap Grand Prix de France confident of a strong performance aboard his Ninja ZX-RR. After two frustrating practice sessions yesterday, and a practice crash in the difficult conditions this morning, de Puniet showed his resilience by bouncing back this afternoon to claim fourth position on the grid for his home Grand Prix tomorrow. The Kawasaki rider was holding third position on the provisional grid as the session drew to a close, but missed out on a front row start by just one tenth of a second when John Hopkins managed to improve his time on his final flying lap. Happy with his qualifying performance, de Puniet is now focussed on tomorrow’s race. The 25-year-old Frenchman was consistently in the top six on race tyres this afternoon, and is confident of a good result tomorrow, on a track that he knows intimately, and which seems to suit the characteristics of his Ninja ZX-RR perfectly. Shinya Nakano: 2nd – 1’34.201 “Mission accomplished! I had a very good feeling during practice yesterday, so I knew a front row start was possible, but I didn’t really expect to be fighting for pole position. When I saw the chequered flag I thought I’d held onto pole, but at the back of the circuit they have a big TV screen, which showed Dani stealing pole position as I rode past it on my way back to the pits. I was a bit disappointed not to take pole, but I’m happy enough with second place on the grid, and I go into tomorrow’s race more confident than in recent weeks. So far the races have been difficult for us, but here we know we have a strong package in the Ninja ZX-RR and our Bridgestone tyres, so a good result is possible; maybe even a podium finish if everything goes well.” Randy de Puniet: 4th – 1’34.780 “If someone had said to me yesterday that I’d be starting my home Grand Prix from fourth position on the grid, I wouldn’t have believed them. It’s fantastic. I had some problems during practice yesterday, including a crash and an unplanned trip through the gravel, and then this morning I crashed again. For sure, this is not the best way to prepare for qualifying, and I’m sure a lot of people thought I was maybe nervous racing in front of my home crowd, but this wasn’t the case. This afternoon it all came together, and I had a good feeling with the bike. I was running consistently in the top six on race tyres early in the session, which gives me confidence with our tyres and our set-up for tomorrow’s race. It was great to qualify fourth fastest, but now qualifying is over and I must look to follow today’s performance with a good result in tomorrow’s race.” Harald Eckl: Team Principal “The riders and the team have done a fantastic job to give us our best ever qualifying result in the MotoGP class today. Unlike some of the other circuits we’ve raced at so far this season, a fast lap at Le Mans is not dependant on maximum outright engine power. I think our qualifying performance today underlines that, when the conditions and circuit are right for our bike, the team and our two riders are more than capable of a strong performance. I am looking forward with confidence to the race tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: DUCATI MARLBORO RIDERS WORK ON RACE SETTINGS AT LE MANS Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau worked hard to take a sixth and eighth place qualifying slots respectively at Le Mans, giving Capirossi a second row grid position, with Gibernau starting from row three. In the wet conditions in the final untimed session, held in the morning, each rider had shown fine form, a good omen if raceday proves to be wet. In the dry afternoon qualifying session, Capirossi slotted into the lead after ten minutes had elapsed, and after many changes of placing from there on, went second quickest with 15 minutes left to run. As other riders put in their best laps he ended the hour-long session sixth overall, taking a valuable second row start. Gibernau could not get full confidence in his set-up, despite the hard work put in throughout the day, and both riders tried out race set-ups, as well as going for a fast qualifying time. LORIS CAPIROSSI, sixth fastest, 1m 34.802s “Today we focussed on the race set-up and compared two tyres. The new one was more competitive and we will most probably use that one tomorrow. We had to sacrifice time in qualifying so we had no time to use the new qualifiers Bridgestone brought here so we only did two fast laps, while other riders made a lot more. For sure starting from a good position on the grid is important but for us it is more important to bring home more points in the race, that’s why we gave precedence to the race set-up. We cannot win tomorrow, but our tyres are better than the ones we had in China. The weather forecast is completely unpredictable but for sure if it rains tomorrow the race will be a big gamble.” SETE GIBERNAU, eighth fastest, 1m 34.870s “We are working hard at it but I am not too happy with the result. I am not feeling comfortable with my lap times and the way I am riding, so I have to get my head down and try to work out with the guys why I cannot enter the corners the way I want, with both qualifying and race set-ups. That is the whole deal I think; I am not comfortable going into the corners so we will have to try to work around that. We will try to make the best use of warm-up tomorrow, after we have worked out what to change.” More, from a press release issued by Gresini Racing/Fortuna Honda: MELANDRI CLAIMS BEST QUALIFYING RESULT OF THE SEASON Marco Melandri secured his best qualifying result of the season and will start tomorrow’s French GP from the second row. The Italian rider ended the second day of qualifying in fifth position, eight tenths behind pole-sitter Dani Pedrosa on his Honda. Melandri knew how to adapt to the changeable weather conditions with the morning session taking place on a wet track and the afternoon in dry conditions. Forecasts are predicting rain tomorrow so Marco is preparing himself for a race in wet conditions. It was a difficult day for team-mate Toni Elias who struggled to find the right set-up to improve his lap time from yesterday. The Spanish rider continued to suffer with rear grip problems and will start tomorrow’s race in 16th position. MARCO MELANDRI (1’34″795, 5th): It was a positive day, we worked well and found a good set-up to work from. I think the set-up will work well whatever the conditions in the race. The bike worked well from the start in the qualifying session and I found a good rhythm. However, I couldn’t make full use of the qualifying tyre as I hit a bit of traffic which caused me to slow down. However, I’m happy with fifth position, it’s my best qualifying performance of the season and I have achieved my objective which was to start from the first two rows. I have to select the tyre for the race and then I hope to get a good result.” TONI ELIAS (1’36″582, 16th): “I am still having a problem which is preventing me from riding as I want. I will sit down with the team to try and find a solution as soon as possible. I am still a little nervous on the bike as I don’t have the rear grip I want which is making it difficult to exit corners. It will be a difficult race tomorrow, I hope to make a good start and make up some positions. I like this circuit and have always gone fast here so I hope to get a good result.” More, from a press release issued by Camel Yamaha: CAMEL YAMAHA PAIR TO LAUNCH FRENCH ASSAULT FROM ROW THREE Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards will start from the third row of the grid in the Grand Prix of France tomorrow after setting the seventh and ninth fastest times respectively in this afternoon’s qualifying practice. The session took place in dry conditions with ambient temperatures reaching 18ºC after the sunshine finally overpowered the thick black clouds that hovered over the Le Mans circuit and caused the third free practice session to be held in wet conditions during the morning. The improved weather allowed Valentino Rossi to continue the evaluation of Yamaha’s latest chassis, with both of his YZR-M1 machines fitted with the updated specification following positive initial results yesterday. Edwards continued working on the standard version, with similar updates planned for the American at the next round in Italy, and again lapped consistently as one of the fastest riders throughout the session. After setting the pace in yesterday’s dry free practice sessions, both Rossi and Edwards have found a good race set-up for their machines but they were unable to turn their pace into a top grid position after struggling to use their qualifying tyres to full potential in the late push for times. VALENTINO ROSSI (7th; 1’34.840, 28 laps) “Today I am happy because we worked in the right way and found a good race setting for the bike. When we used the very soft tyre at the end of the session we again found some vibration problems caused by the extra grip but it’s not such a problem on the race tyres. Anyway, looking at the qualifying results from the last few rounds the third row is an improvement and I think there is the possibility of a good result tomorrow. Myself and Colin have been at the top through all the practice on race tyres so we know we have a good pace compared to the other riders. To be honest I expected a better position this afternoon so I am a little disappointed but it is not a disaster. Now we wait to see what the weather does tomorrow, hope for a dry race and then try to turn around our recent bad luck in the race.” COLIN EDWARDS (9th; 1’34.970, 28 laps) “The track was a little slippery today, I guess after the rain this morning, and I didn’t have the same level of grip on the front tyre. I wasn’t as comfortable but we did a good job on the race tyres and my pace is decent. I think there’s only three of us lapping in the 1’35s on race tyres so we’ve got every chance to do something in the race it’s just a shame about the chatter on the qualifying tyres because we could have been much further forward on the grid. I did four or five laps trying to break the 1’35 mark and eventually hit 1’34.9 on the last one but there was no way to go any faster. All things considered the third row isn’t bad there are a few guys who will go backwards tomorrow and a few others who will be tough to get past but, as I said before, we have the pace. Now it’s a case of holding that throttle open longer than anyone else into turn one and seeing where we can get from there.” DAVIDE BRIVIO CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR “Unfortunately we missed out a little on the qualifying tyres because we couldn’t use them properly but we’re not too worried. On the whole the two days of practice have been very good for both riders and they both have good race pace. The only concern now is that they both have a good start in the race. We were able to set-up the new chassis for Valentino but also the older bike is working very well for Colin. Tomorrow is a good opportunity to get more information and confirm our direction with development but of course we also need points. Our aim for tomorrow is to close the gap between us and the championship leaders.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Hat-trick of front row starts for Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has secured its third successive front row start thanks to a breathtaking last lap by John Hopkins in Le Mans today. Hopkins will start in third place for tomorrow’s Alice Grand Prix de France and will be looking to get away to a similar start to last week’s race, where he eventually scored his best ever finish. He qualified only 0.646 seconds behind pole-setter Dani Pedrosa after this afternoon’s hour long session. His time of 1’34.636 was even more amazing as it was the third lap on his Bridgestone qualifying tyre usually a qualifier is only designed to perform at its maximum level for one lap. This afternoon’s session was held in dry, but very windy conditions, which was in complete contrast to this morning’s final free practice. Heavy overnight showers left the track very wet but Hopkins and team-mate Chris Vermeulen coped with the circumstances well and both topped the time sheets at some points of the session. Vermeulen continued to impress on his first visit to Le Mans and the rookie Australian will start tomorrow’s race from the fourth row of the grid. His position doesn’t do justice to fact that before Thursday he had never even seen the track. Tomorrow’s 28-lap race is round five of the 2006 MotoGP World Championship and the lights will change to go at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT). John Hopkins: “What can I say, I’m happy to be on the front row but not exactly happy with the way it went on the qualifiers. Dani did a good job but I think if we had had a proper go at him we could have got near him or even on pole. It was our goal to start from the front row so that we can get with the lead group at the start of the race. We have a pretty good race set-up and once again the crew has worked really hard. The Bridgestones and the Suzuki have come together pretty well on this track, so wet or dry we need to chase that first podium and perform as well as we possibly can.” Chris Vermeulen: “The qualifying session was quite good for us, we have made a lot of changes to the bike. This morning was wet and I could have done with a bit more dry track time to get the best set-up. The team has worked really well and the bike is getting better and better all the time. We have definitely got a direction to head in and we will try a few more things in tomorrow’s warm-up. Hopefully in the race we’ll improve on that 12th position. Congratulations to John and the whole Rizla Suzuki team on another front row start and a great performance.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “The performances in Turkey and China were clearly steps in the right direction and that has continued this weekend in Le Mans. Durability and performance of the GSV-R has been at a level that has allowed both riders to concentrate on their own abilities and on getting the bike set-up the best it can be. “Chris is a bit disappointed with 12th but he shouldn’t be. The guys around him have done hundreds of laps here and until this week he had never even seen the circuit. To be in 12th and relatively close to the front runners is a fantastic performance. If it’s wet tomorrow I wouldn’t be surprised to see Chris turn that position into a very competitive finish. “John has given another sterling display and despite getting three laps out of his qualifying tyre when realistically their best performance is on the first lap he kept his head down and improved enough to stick the Rizla Suzuki on the front row. His performance level continues to grow every time he gets on the bike and whilst keeping things competitive for 28-laps is never easy, I think he is in a strong position to get a good result tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Dani Pedrosa will start a MotoGP race from pole for the second time in his career at tomorrow’s Alice Grand Prix of France. The Spaniard put in a storming last lap of 1’33.990 to snatch the spot at the head of the grid from an impressive Shinya Nakano by three tenths of a second. Pole-man and winner last weekend at the Shanghai Circuit, Pedrosa will be looking to continue his run of form into Sunday’s race at the famous Le Mans Bugatti Circuit. Nakano looked set to give Kawasaki the top spot for the first time this season, but instead had to settle for his highest qualifying position of 2006. Rizla Suzuki’s John Hopkins repeated his top three qualification from China, and following on from his fourth place finish in the race he will be out for a podium place tomorrow afternoon. Local rider Randy de Puniet completed a memorable day for Kawasaki, delighting the large number of fans present at the Le Mans track by slotting into fourth place. The Frenchman stood on the pit wall to acknowledge the crowd following the session. Marco Melandri and Loris Capirossi completed the second row, both trying to get back on track after disappointing results in China. World Champion Valentino Rossi and team-mate Colin Edwards were unable to keep their free practice positions at the top of the leaderboard, separated on the third row in seventh and ninth by Sete Gibernau’s Ducati. Nicky Hayden completed the top ten just under a second slower than his pole-setting Repsol Honda colleague. Andrea Dovizioso, still in search of his first 250cc win, has a great chance to achieve it tomorrow after racking up his maiden pole in the category. Braving windy conditions that the Italian admitted were hardly ideal, the Italian took pole with a time of 1’39.733, nearly inseparable from that of Alex de Angelis. Master MVA Aspar Team’s San Marinese rider believed he had the top spot in the bag, but a crash left him out of contention in second ahead of Hector Barbera. Yuki Takahashi, Shuhei Aoyama and Jakub Smrz rounded off the top six, the latter putting in fast laps behind pole-man Dovizioso towards the end of the session. Second Aoyama brother Hiroshi will start from seventh, ahead of Jorge Lorenzo, Roberto Locatelli and a resurgent Sebas Porto. Lorenzo suffered a nasty looking crash on the final laps, but walked away unharmed. Mattia Pasini will start tomorrow’s 125cc race in Le Mans at the head of the grid. The Italian rider, who has a superb qualifying record so far this season, earned pole with a 1’44.515 lap. The Italian has no room for error on the startline, with current World Championship leader Alvaro Bautista and Czech sensation Lukas Pesek alongside him on the front row. Gabor Talmacsi, Lorenzo Zanetti and Mika Kallio, winner of last weekends Chinese Grand Prix, round off the top six. 1st, Dani Pedrosa (Honda), 1’33.990 : “Today’s practice sessions were difficult, it was very windy, but it was dry I suppose it could have been worse. At the beginning I made a few mistakes, I hit traffic early on which hindered my progress. On the race tyre I didn’t do a good job, but later on we found one good tyre and used it to perform well. If it’s dry tomorrow I can have a good race, and I hope I can get a good result.” 2nd, Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki), 1’34.201 : “I really didn’t expect this result, I’m maybe a bit disappointed not to get pole, but of course I am happy to be on the front row tomorrow. The race will be fun, with conditions playing a big part, and I hope to make good start and finish well.” 3rd, John Hopkins (Suzuki), 1’34.636 : “We have a good setup for both the dry and the wet, I’m happy with my qualifying session”¦ maybe I need to get that watch on my wrist (the Tissot watch awarded to the fastest qualifier). The setup is working in our favour at the moment and I’m hoping for a good result tomorrow, rain or dry.” More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Information: ROOKIE PEDROSA NOTCHES SECOND POLE IN FRANCE Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC211V) put his stamp firmly on the MotoGP category with a scorching 1m 33.990s lap of the Bugatti circuit here at Le Mans to record his second pole position in only his fifth outing on a 990cc machine. Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki) qualified second and John Hopkins (Suzuki) completes the front row. In awkward, gusty conditions the pint-sized pilot proved he is now way more than a mere premier class protégé with a commanding lap that dislodged Nakano from the top slot with just half a minute of the hour-long session to go. After a wet free training session in the morning, conditions were dry for the afternoon showdown but 15km/h blasts of wind made things tricky for riders. Hopkins was the first to show his hand by topping the board in the opening minutes, before Colin Edwards (Yamaha) squeezed him off the top rung. With dark clouds threatening to dampen proceedings many opted to get some early fast laps in and no one was more determined to set the pace than home hope Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki) who occupied the pole until Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) showed he might be getting to grips with his so far recalcitrant machine by establishing himself at the top of the order with 40 minutes to go. With 20 minutes remaining Rossi’s position at the top was usurped by Nakano who posted a 1m 35.795s lap to steal the number one position. But of more significance was the steady progress of the Spanish wunderkind Pedrosa who elevated himself to third in the standings with 15 minutes remaining. Hopkins, who was always on the pace here, made an early bid for supremacy with a 1m 34.795s lap, but Nakano responded with a 1m 34.679s effort to regain the upper hand. The Honda runners were by now finding the measure of this track; Marco Melandri (Fortuna Honda RC211V) hoisted himself to fifth and Dani was still lurking in third – a front row grid position – but patently not quite good enough for this exacting young man. Nakano then carved another hot lap of 1m 34.201s to put his marker firmly down, but the rapid Japanese reckoned without the methodical work of Dani. He became the first man to dip below the 1m 34s mark (albeit on a modified track) with a scintillating 1m 33.990s lap and with it the 20-year-old established beyond doubt that he is a new force to be reckoned with. Melandri too was on the move, briefly holding second position before being bumped back down to fifth for a second row start. Dani’s team-mate Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V), suffering from a bout of influenza, was generously fulsome in his praise for his team-mate after his maiden victory in China last weekend qualified tenth, and must be hoping that lauding his running-mate does not become too much of a habit this season. Casey Stoner (LCR Honda RC211V) qualified 11th for a fourth row start while Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda RC211V) will have to make do with a getaway from 13th. Kenny Roberts (Roberts KR211V) will be encouraged by a grid position ahead of Toni Elias (Fortuna Honda RC211V). They qualified 15th and 16th. The top ten riders are covered by less than a second, which promises a tight, tense race tomorrow. Dani said, “I was not riding so well on race tyres and at the start of the session I didn’t really do a good job. But then, at the end, I focused on the job and I got in to a better rhythm. We found a good race tyre, so I’m happy about that and the set-up for the bike tomorrow for the race, if it’s dry, should be good. I’ll be hoping to make a great start and have a good race – but we’ll have to wait to see what the weather does.” Melandri was happy enough and said, “The bike worked well from the start in the qualifying session and I found a good rhythm. However, I couldn’t make full use of the qualifying tyre as I hit a bit of traffic which slowed me down. However, I’m happy with fifth position, it’s my best qualifying performance of the season and I have achieved my objective, which was to start from the first two rows.” “Sure I’m not happy about starting tenth,” said Nicky. “Things felt pretty good this morning. In full wet conditions we felt pretty strong. But in the dry we’re definitely struggling to get some traction and in these long corners I’m losing a lot of time. We’ll just have to put our heads together tonight and come up with a better combination for tomorrow and do the best we can.” Casey was far from content and said, “It’s very disappointing. I was able to do these times on race tyres yesterday. This afternoon I struggled to go fast on qualifiers. I just didn’t have a good feeling with the bike. I kept losing the front-end every time I touched the brakes. If I can get the bike back to how it was on Friday I should be OK for the race.” Tamada said, “I did not expect such a slow qualifying session after the positive practice day of yesterday. Today I have not been able to find the same riding feeling of yesterday especially in terms of grip. I’m still too slow in the first sector and I’m not able to go faster with qualifying tyres. As far as the settings are concerned, we should not have any particular problems when choosing the race tyres.” Roberts said, “The new chassis is definitely a step in the right direction – now we need to take it further. The rain was against us this weekend and we lost valuable time. Sure we were fast in the wet but we need dry time. The bike gets into the corners better with this chassis but we still have work to do, also mid-corner speed is not there yet. We are closer with his chassis and will be closer at Mugello when we have dry track time to work off.” “I am still having a problem which is preventing me from riding how I’d like,” said Tony Elias “I’ll sit down with the team to try and find a solution as soon as possible. I am still a little nervous on the bike as I don’t have the rear grip I want which is making it difficult to exit corners. It will be a difficult race tomorrow, I hope to make a good start and make up some positions.” Andrea Dovizioso (Humangest Racing Honda RS250RW) secured his first pole in the 250cc class with a hot 1m 39.733 second lap to relegate the Aprilias of Alex de Angelis and Hector Barbera to second and third. Yuki Takahashi (Humangest Racing Honda RS250RW) and Shuhei Aoyama (Repsol Honda RS250RW) showed how much this track suits the nimble and responsive Honda machine by occupying grid slots four and five, while Sebastian Porto (Repsol Honda RS250RW) enjoyed something of an improvement with 10th. “This is my first 250cc pole and of course I’m satisfied,” said Dovi. “But, I’m even more happy for the great pace I was able to keep from the beginning of the session and even with worn tyres. As it happened yesterday, I could have been faster on the last lap with soft tyres on, but it’s fine. Here, there isn’t much of a gap with the Aprilias and I’m not so penalized in acceleration. For this reason, I want to thank the team, because my bike has been very competitive since Friday morning.” His team-mate Takahashi said, “At the end of the session I thought I was sixth or seventh, so I was really surprised when I saw my mechanics waiting for me in the park fermé. I was able to set a good time today and lapped very fast even with race tyres. Thanks to the team who did a great job and make my Honda very competitive. I hope it won’t rain tomorrow as I haven’t ridden enough in the wet yet.” “Today I really can say that I’m very happy,” said Aoyama. “Although I’m not forgetting that there’s still the race tomorrow, which is what really counts. We’ve made good practice sessions with the team and we have the right set-up for the race, so tomorrow can be a good day for us. I’ve made up my mind and I’m going to take the start and the first laps with a certain ease, but then I’m decided to fight for the leading positions. The bike, the team and me are ready to make a good race tomorrow.” In the 125cc class pole went to Aprilia rider Mattia Pasini who edged out series points leader Alvaro Bautista (both Aprilia). Lukas Pesek (Derbi) qualified third fastest and Honda’s Gabor Talmacsi (Humangest Honda RS125R) completes the front row. Reigning World Champion Thomas Luthi (Elit Grand Prix Honda RS125R) qualified ninth one place behind Fabrizio Lai (Seedorf Racing Honda RS125R), while teen ace Bradley Smith (Repsol Honda RS125R) managed 25th. Domestic hope Mike di Meglio (FFM Honda RS125R) showed well early in the half-hour session but had to content himself with 16th when the clock ran down. Talmacsi said, “The bike today was perfect and this gave me a good pace. It’s a shame about the strong wind as it made me change the lines in some corners. If tomorrow is dry, I just have to push and take full advantage of my Honda, but if it rains we have to do some adjustments as I wasn’t fast this morning.” Luthi said, “I was very happy with my performance in the rain this morning. I found a good fast rhythm without mistakes the bike is very good. In the qualifying session I knew I would need to slipstream two fast riders to get a really fast time. But I didn’t find any till near the end of the session when Pasini and Zanetti came past.” HONDA TEAM RIDER QUOTES: MotoGP: Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda, 1st: “Of course I am happy to be on pole again, but the important day is tomorrow! Today the practice was difficult because it was very windy, but it was dry, so that was good. At the beginning of the session I didn’t make the most of the practice time – I made some mistakes and I had some traffic. I was not riding so well on race tyres and at the start of the session I didn’t really do a good job. But then, at the end, I focused on the job and I got in to a better rhythm. We found a good race tyre so I’m happy about that and the set-up for the bike tomorrow for the race, if it’s dry, can be good. I’ll be hoping to make a great start and have a good race – we’ll have to wait to see what the weather does.” Marco Melandri, Fortuna Honda, 5th: It was a positive day, we worked well and found a good set-up to work from. I think the set-up will work well whatever the conditions in the race. The bike worked well from the start in the qualifying session and I found a good rhythm. However, I couldn’t make full use of the qualifying tyre as I hit a bit of traffic which caused me to slow down. However, I’m happy with fifth position, it’s my best qualifying performance of the season and I have achieved my objective which was to start from the first two rows. I have to select the tyre for the race and then I hope to get a good result.” Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda,10th: Sure I’m not happy about starting tenth. Things felt pretty good this morning in full wet conditions – we felt pretty strong. But in the dry we’re definitely struggling to get some traction and in these long corners I’m losing a lot of time. We’ll just have to put our heads together tonight and come up with a better combination for tomorrow and do the best we can. We’ve got a few ideas for how we can improve things and I believe in the people around me here – it’s important to have good guys in my corner. Also, thanks to Doctor Costa and his crew for taking good care of me, and hopefully tomorrow I’ll feel a bit better.” Casey Stoner, LCR Honda, 11th: “It’s very disappointing. I was able to do these times on race tyres yesterday. This afternoon I struggled to go fast on qualifiers. I just didn’t have a good feeling with the bike. I kept losing the front-end every time I touched the brakes. If I can get the bike back to how it was on Friday I should be OK for the race.” Makoto Tamada, Konica Minolta Honda, 13th: “I did not expect such a low tone qualifying session after the positive practice day of yesterday. Today I have not been able to find the same riding feeling of yesterday especially for the inferior grip level I’m still too low in the first sector and I am not been able to get improvements here even with qualifying tyres. As far as the setting is concerned, we should not have any particular problems when choosing the race tyres while the weather uncertainty could call everything into question.” Kenny Roberts Jnr, KR Honda: 15th. “The new chassis is definitely a step in the right direction now we need to take it further. The rain was against us again this weekend and we lost valuable time. Sure we were fast in the wet but we need dry time. The bike gets into the corners better with this chassis but we still have work to do, also mid-corner speed is not there yet. We are closer with his chassis and will be closer at Mugello when we have dry track time to work off.” Toni Elias, Fortuna Honda, 16th: “I am still having a problem which is preventing me from riding as I want. I will sit down with the team to try and find a solution as soon as possible. I am still a little nervous on the bike as I don’t have the rear grip I want which is making it difficult to exit corners. It will be a difficult race tomorrow, I hope to make a good start and make up some positions. I like this circuit and have always gone fast here so I hope to get a good result.” 250cc: Andrea Dovizioso, Humangest Honda: 1st: This is my first 250cc pole and of course I’m satisfied. But, I’m even more happy for the great pace I was able to keep since the beginning of the session and even with worn tyres. As it happened yesterday, I could have been faster on the last lap with soft tyres on, but it’s fine. Here, there isn’t much of a gap with the Aprilias and I’m not so penalized in acceleration. For this reason, I want to thank the team, because my bike has been very competitive since Friday morning. Tomorrow I will think about the strategy to use depending on the weather conditions and how things are going during the race: for sure it would be better to avoid a photo-finish arrival because there are some aggressive riders in 250cc. We rode only ten minutes on wet, so I really hope it will be a dry race tomorrow”. Yuki Takahashi, Humangest Honda: 4th: At the end of the session I thought I was sixth or seventh, so I was really surprised when I saw my mechanics waiting me on the park ferme. I was able to set a good time today and lapped very fast even with race tyres. Thanks also to the team who made a great job and my Honda here is very competitive. I hope it won’t rain tomorrow as I didn’t ride enough on wet”. Shuhei Aoyama, Repsol Honda: 5th: “Today I really can say that I’m very happy, although I do no forget that there’s still the race tomorrow, which is what really counts. We’ve made good practice sessions with the team and we have the right set-up for the race, so tomorrow can be a good day for us. I’ve made up my mind and I’m going to take the start and the first laps with a certain ease, but then I’m decided to fight for the leading positions. The bike, the team and me are ready to make a good race tomorrow.” Sebastian Porto, Repsol Honda: 10th: Well, it hasn’t been bad. We haven’t been able to improve the lap time set yesterday but the wind hindered us a lot today. The truth is that it made things really complicated for us today. The bike is quite small and the fairing doesn’t really cover me, so I think that today we’ve had trouble with that. Now we have to work and see if we can change the fairing for the future because I think that one of the main reasons for not having been able to be more in the front today has to deal with that, with having a fairing that does not manage to protect me from the wind. We’ve had a progression, the pace for tomorrow is good and the race is something different. We are all together so let’s hope for a good race.” Arturo Tizon, Wurth Honda BQR: 17th: I’m happy I found a good rhythm today. The team worked well to give me a good set up. We were had some problems with the original set up so we changed the front suspension, just small adjustments and we tried a different set of tyres. It was a bit of a compromise but it worked and I am very comfortable on the bike. The engine is very fast. I was behind Dovizioso for a while and the difference between the two bikes was not as much as I ad expected.” Martin Cardenas, Wurth Honda BQR: 18th. “This is a new circuit for me to learn and the wind and rain we had didn’t help me much. The bike is not so bad but it was not holding the line in corners. We changed a few things for the afternoon qualifying session, ride height and suspension settings and its much better. I need a good start to the race because I don’t want to be in the wrong place when we get to the chicane.” Arnaud Vincent, Molenaar Honda: 22nd. “My engine I used for qualifying was very slow today. My best broke and we had to use the spare engine we last used at Qatar. The team are working hard to get the number one engine ready for the warm up so I have some chance. But 22nd on the grid is a bad place to be at Le Mans. From that far back it would be better for me if the race was wet.” 125cc: Gabor Talmacsi, Humangest Honda: 4th. “I’m really happy about today’s fourth place, which is the best results so far this year. At the beginning, I had some problems to find the right set-up for my bike, but then, race by race, the situation has definitely improved thanks to the team, and now I feel really confident on my Honda. The bike today was perfect and this let me be fast and have a good pace. It’s a shame for the strong wind as it made me change the lines in some corners. If tomorrow is dry, I just have to push and take full advantage of my Honda, but if it rains we have to do some adjustments as I wasn’t fast this morning”. Fabrizio Lai, Seedorf Racing World: 8th. “I hate the wind and these are the worse conditions for me. I prefer the rain even if in the morning many riders slipped out on the wet (I do not). In the afternoon I could make good lap times and I could have done a better time if I hadn’t made a mistake in the T1 during the last lap. The wind was too strong expecially in the narrow chicane after the starting line and it prevented me to be faster. We are improving each race and we are getting near the top positions; I have a good pace even if it is a little lower than that of the firsts. Normally I get a good start and tomorrow, starting from the 8th position, will be easier to stay in touch with the first group. The problem is to maintain the same pace!”. Thomas Luthi, Elit Honda: 9th. “I was very happy with my performance in the rain this morning. I found a good fast rhythm without mistakes the bike is very good. In the qualifying session I knew I would need to slipstream two fast riders to get a really fast time. I didn’t find any fast riders till near the end of the session when Pasini and Zanetti came passed. But on the fast lap I made a mistake going into the chicane and that cost me about six tenths of a second so I am happy with my lap in the circumstances. I am very fast and comfortable on the bike going into the corners but a little slower than some others coming out.” Mike Di Meglio, FFM Honda: 16th “I made a quite good free session this morning; I realised good lap times and I felt very comfortable on the bike. In the last lap, whereas I was improving the lap time of the pole position I was surprised by the wind and I crashed. Fortunately it didn’t cause any damage and I finished in 3rd place in 1’58”049. The wind was stronger during the qualifying session and it really disturbed me. I had to change my riding style that didn’t suit at all with these conditions. I forced a lot to adapt my riding to the wind and to take the rights marks but I didn’t feel comfortable. So I couldn’t improve my lap time from yesterday and I have to content myself of the 16th position. I have to take a very good start tomorrow in order to catch the front group and I hope also better conditions.” Sandro Cortese, Elit Honda: 17th. “I set my best time running alone, I just didn’t find a fast group to run with. The bike s very good but I’m very disappointed with my grid position for the race. I don’t really mind if its wet or dry for the race. I have already chosen the tyres I will use if the weather is dry.” Bradley Smith, Repsol Honda: 25th: It was bad but it was good. To be in second position in the morning was a big step forward for us even though it was wet. However, my feeling with the bike was completely different before in the wet. The bike seemed good, I was able to push. I was pushing hard on what could have been a provisional pole lap and then for no apparent reason I just lost the rear tyre and crashed. But it gave me a lot of confidence for the afternoon; I did a faster lap than I had done on Friday morning. I tried to go out on my own and I put in a quick lap two laps before the end. I ended-up twenty-fifth which is a lot better than China, a row forward, but still it’s not where I want to be. We just have to make sure we get a good start tomorrow, it’s a long way to the first corner and it’s quite narrow so I’ll try to go through the inside and see what we can do from there.” Joey Litjens, Molenaar Honda: 28th. “That was a good session for me. I crashed in the rain this morning – no injury. This afternoon I had some problems with the wind blowing me about particularly the front end. But it’s the same for everybody. I also had a problem with an old shoulder injury, the cold windy weather made it stiff and I was having to brake earlier than I would have normally but I’m happy. The bike is very good overall but the engine is super. I made another step forward today and I have to be pleased with that.” Lorenzo Baroni, Humangest Honda: 29th. “With the strong wind that affected today’s sessions, unfortunately, the front-end problems I had in the first races have come out again. Before the qualifying session, we made a change on the chassis that didn’t work. Tomorrow we have to go back at Friday’s configuration”. Michele Conti, Seedorf Racing World: 36th. I had some difficulties to learn this circuit. I made the practices in every possible conditions and every time there was something to change in the set up of the bike. I need to learn very well the track before improving my performance but here with this changeable weather conditions it wasn’t possible to learn it well: I need private lessons. but the race is tomorrow and I will start from 9th row!”. Aleix Espargaro, Wurth Honda BQR: Will not start due to a compressed vertebrae sustained in a fall during practice.

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