MotoGP Qualifying Results: 1. Valentino ROSSI, Yamaha, 1:33.226 2. Colin EDWARDS, Yamaha, 1:33.449 3. Marco MELANDRI, Honda, 1:33.465 4. Sete GIBERNAU, Honda, 1:33.467 5. Nicky HAYDEN, Honda, 1:33.514 6. Shinya NAKANO, Kawasaki, 1:33.536 7. John HOPKINS, Suzuki, 1:33.594 8. Max BIAGGI, Honda, 1:33.699 9. Carlos CHECA, Ducati, 1:33.727 10. Loris CAPIROSSI, Ducati, 1:33.773 11. Alex BARROS, Honda, 1:33.876 12. Toni ELIAS, Yamaha, 1:33.991 13. Olivier JACQUE, Kawasaki, 1:34.403 14. Kenny ROBERTS, Suzuki, 1:35.068 15. Troy BAYLISS, Honda, 1:35.231 16. Ruben XAUS, Yamaha, 1:35.772 17. Shane BYRNE, KTM Proton KR, 1:36.249 18. Roberto ROLFO, Ducati, 1:36.319 19. Jurgen vd GOORBERGH, Honda, 1:36.595 20. James ELLISON, Blata WCM, 1:37.265 21. Franco BATTAINI, Blata WCM, 1:37.341 More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Rossi snatches pole in dramatic qualifying practice at Le Mans Valentino Rossi snatched pole position from his team-mate Colin Edwards in a dramatic finale to qualifying for the Grand Prix Alice de France at Le Mans this afternoon. With sunshine breaking through and drying the track after a wet morning practice, the teams and riders worked frenetically throughout the one-hour session to find a race set-up for tomorrow’s fourth round of the 2005 MotoGP World Championship. It was only the second dry practice of the weekend and the riders left it as late as possible before switching to their qualifying tyres and providing a nail-biting end to the session. Marco Melandri, Sete Gibernau, Nicky Hayden and Shinya Nakano all posted strong challenges for pole position but were upstaged by a virtuoso performance from the Yamaha pair, with Edwards moving to the top of the time sheets before being dislodged by a new pole record of 1’33.226 from the World Champion. “This track wasn’t so good for me last year so this pole position is very important,” said Rossi. “We suffered a little bit in the practice but we did a great job in the hour we had this afternoon. The weather was good, the track surface was good and we were able to take advantage of every available second, working a lot on the tyres and the suspension. The race configuration is not bad. I put in a qualifying tyre and I wasn’t at 100% on the first lap, but the second lap was perfect and the grip was excellent.” The intensity of the session saw twelve riders separated by just 0.765 seconds, signifying virtual parity across the first four rows of the grid. Melandri completes the front row in third place after dominating the session for long periods, with his team-mate Gibernau just 0.002 seconds behind him at the head of the second row in fourth. Hayden and Nakano complete the second row, with John Hopkins heading up row three from Max Biaggi and Carlos Checa. Local favourite Olivier Jacque qualified in thirteenth place, behind Loris Capirossi, Alex Barros and Toni Elías. Dani Pedrosa resumed control of the 250cc class with a dominant pole position at a circuit he has enjoyed victory at for the past two seasons. Pedrosa was dislodged from the top of the quarter-litre standings for the first time in over a year by Andrea Dovizioso and Casey Stoner in the last round in China but signalled his intentions today, qualifying 0.489 seconds ahead of Stoner. Dovizioso, who leads the championship by 3 points from the Australian, missed out on a front row start as he qualified fifth fastest behind Jorge Lorenzo and Sebastián Porto. Home favourites Randy de Puniet and Sylvain Guintoli both start from the second row after qualifying sixth and eighth respectively, with Alex de Angelis sandwiched between the French pair. In the 125cc class Thomas Lüthi clinched the first pole position of his career and became the first Swiss rider to do so in sixteen years, twice bettering Mika Kallio’s fastest lap with his final two efforts of an accident-strewn session. Kallio had dominated for the majority of the session but was relegated to second place by Lüthi, with Héctor Faubel and Gabor Talmacsi completing the front row. Marco Simoncelli and Julián Simón both failed to improve their times from yesterday and dropped to fifth and eighth place respectively, with Simon escaping unhurt from a spectacular crash in the first chicane. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: SUPER SHINYA STORMS TO SIXTH AT LE MANS Kawasaki factory rider Shinya Nakano turned in a superb qualifying effort today, to secure sixth place, on the second row of the grid, for the French Grand Prix. Riding his Ninja ZX-RR, Nakano was the highest placed Bridgestone rider; finishing just 0.3s from the pole position claimed by Valentino Rossi, in a session run in mainly sunny but slightly overcast conditions. Teammate and local hero Olivier Jacque will start from 13th position, in just his second race for Kawasaki as a replacement for the injured Alex Hofmann. Nakano was twice on the provisional front row during the one-hour session and with 13 minutes remaining he was the fastest rider on the 4.1 km Bugatti circuit. He briefly dropped to seventh and then surged to third quickest with five minutes left to run in a highly competitive session, before finishing in a close sixth place. Jacque continued to demonstrate his fast adaptation to the ZX-RR after a seven month break from MotoGP, and is now much more comfortable in dry conditions. There is intense fan support for Jacque at his home race, following his impressive second place podium result in the rain-hit Chinese GP two weeks ago. Both Nakano and Jacque appear ready for any conditions in tomorrow’s 28-lap race. The forecast is for showers, although both riders would prefer a continuation of this afternoon’s warm and sunny conditions. In the morning free practice session run on a wet track Jacque and Nakano were seventh and eighth fastest respectively, an indication they will contend for top ten results in the wet or dry. Shinya Nakano: #56 – Sixth – (1’33.536) “I was aiming for the second row, so sixth position is right where I wanted to be for the race. I went faster on each qualifying run and tried for pole, it was very close. I did some race tyre runs early in the session, and it appears we have two options for the race if it is dry, and the Bridgestone wets have performed very impressively. I have good chassis balance in both the wet and the dry, especially for turn-in for all the slow corners, so we are ready for the race.” Olivier Jacque: #19 – Thirteenth – (1’34.403) “I was much more comfortable in the dry conditions this afternoon compared to yesterday, although I’m still struggling a little in the final sector of the lap. Yesterday I was hoping for rain, but now I’m really enjoying the ZX-RR in the dry, so I hope it is sunny for the race. The bike feels more balanced following adjustments to the engine brake system. I’m not paying attention to the hype, I’m just concentrating on the race.” Harald Eckl: Team Manager “Shinya is very fast in both the dry and the wet, so I expect him to be very competitive no matter what the weather conditions for the race. Olivier goes faster in every session, despite a limited amount of test kilometres in dry conditions. He has been very impressive, especially in out-qualifying some regular MotoGP riders from Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: DUCATI MARLBORO MEN HAVE THE RIGHT RACE PACE The sun finally shone at Le Mans this afternoon, offering MotoGP riders their first fully dry session of the weekend. Ducati Marlboro Team riders Carlos Checa and Loris Capirossi ran strongly in the early stages of the qualifying outing, slipping back to ninth and tenth in the final minutes. But both men are in confident mood after showing a consistently fast pace on race tyres in a frantic session which ended with just 0.765 seconds covering the quickest 12. “Our grid positions here aren’t the best but both Carlos and Loris have proved they are fast in race trim, which is what really matters,” said Ducati MotoGP project manager Livio Suppo. “Everyone’s lap times are really close and both our guys are only half a second off pole, so I think we can expect a good fight tomorrow. We don’t know what to expect from the weather but I think we will be okay rain or sun, because Carlos and Loris were both good also in this morning’s wet session. As always, thanks to all our technical partners, especially Bridgestone, who are making excellent progress, and Shell Advance.” CHECA ON ROW THREE Carlos Checa will start tomorrow’s French Grand Prix from the third row of the grid after posting ninth fastest time this afternoon. The Ducati Marlboro Team man ended up just about two tenth off first row. “I feel quite confident on the bike,” said Checa. “We came here with a slightly different base chassis configuration from what we ran at the first three races because we wanted to make the bike turn into corners more quickly. The bike does seem a bit better into slow corners, though it’ll be good to confirm that when we test here on Monday and Tuesday. My race pace was fine and I would have been faster on my final qualifying run if I hadn’t come across another rider going slow through one of the chicanes on my second lap. We’re making progress, and I’m looking forward for tomorrow.” CAPIROSSI TENTH AFTER MINOR ERROR ON HOT LAP Loris Capirossi came through two days of constantly changing weather conditions to run tenth in qualifying and put himself on the fourth row of the grid. The Ducati Marlboro Team man is happy with improvements here made by his engineers to his GP5’s fuel mapping. “Even if my grid position isn’t the best, the bike and the tyres are working okay,” he said. “On my final qualifying run I was on a really good lap but I ran wide through the last turn and then gave it too much throttle, which lost me time. That’s the kind of thing that can happen when you’re going for one very fast lap. Before that I did a ten-lap endurance run, maintaining a very good rhythm. I’m really happy with how the bike’s behaving, both in the wet and the dry. For sure, a fourth-row start won’t help, so what I really need is a good start, because if I can get away with the leading pack, I think I can maintain a good pace.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Hopkins goes close to pole at Le Mans Team SUZUKI MotoGP riders John Hopkins and Kenny Roberts Jr will start from the third and fifth rows of the grid for tomorrow’s Grand Prix Alice de France after a highly competitive qualifying session at Le Mans this afternoon. Qualifying – held in bright sunshine and cool spring temperatures of 17 degrees – saw Hopkins (1’33.594) only 0.368 of a second behind pole setter Valentino Rossi, a time that would normally see a front-row start. However, the incredibly close competition in MotoGP meant that small gap translated to seventh place. Hopkins said: “It’s been an odd-ball kind of day again. We didn’t get a lot of chance to concentrate on our race set-up because of the unpredictable weather that we have come to expect at Le Mans. “We are looking in pretty decent shape for the race – wet or dry. We are in the same position in both conditions and with a lot of hard work we will fight to be near the front either way. “We put in the qualifiers at the end of the session and I’m three-tenths off pole but down in seventh place. I’m at the head of the third row and should be able to get a good start and hang with the leaders. We have put in a lot of laps on race tyres and were about 90 per cent sure of which tyres we will use tomorrow if it’s dry. “Everything seems to be going real good and I’m now just looking forward to the race and having some fun out there.” Roberts Jr had been hoping for a dry first session today to verify some settings but he again fell foul of the changeable Le Mans weather due to the wet morning practice. His fastest lap on a qualifying tyre in the afternoon would have been better, but the former World Champion touched a white line with his front tyre ruining his chance of a quicker time. Roberts Jr commented: “We had some work to do on our settings today but the rain meant we couldn’t do that. Today’s only dry session was the qualifying so you don’t get much time to work on set-up. “The bike was basically working ok but I did have a lack of rear grip on a race tyre and if it is dry tomorrow I will have to find something from the GSV-R to help the tyre out. “When it came to qualifiers I felt I had my best run on the second set of tyres but unfortunately I touched the white line two-thirds of the way around the lap and nearly lost the front. On my last run, the bike didn’t feel the same as it had done earlier and the lap time just didn’t come.” Team Manager Paul Denning said: “Another changeable day of weather today. With a soaking wet first session and a dry qualifying made it again a very difficult day to get the right set-up. “It was a fantastic effort by John. I think Le Mans is the kind of circuit that has so many slow corners that you need to find the last couple of tenths by getting behind another rider and making a few bike lengths here and there. That was exactly what John was able to do on his last lap, a better final sector would have seen us on the front row. “To be so close to the fastest time but be in seventh place is one of those things. John’s confidence is growing each time he gets on the bike and he is looking forward to a great race. “Kenny pushed as hard as he could on qualifiers at the end but didn’t quite get the breaks, as ever the gap is not huge but the position of 14th leaves him a lot to do tomorrow. “Maybe if the forecast is right and we get a lot of rain we will see the same potential shown in Shanghai from both of our guys.” Team SUZUKI MotoGP will be racing in round four of the MotoGP World Championship at the Grand Prix Alice de France from Le Mans tomorrow at 14.00hrs CET. More, from a press release issued by Gauloises Yamaha: GAULOISES YAMAHA PAIR TAKE FRONT TWO GRID SLOTS AT LE MANS Gauloises Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards took the front two positions on the starting grid for the French Grand Prix in a grand finale to today’s qualifying session. After a wet morning practice the thick clouds were broken by bright sunshine that warmed the Le Mans circuit in the afternoon, giving the riders a crucial opportunity to work on their race set-up for tomorrow’s fourth round of the MotoGP World Championship. It was the most intense practice session of the season so far as the teams worked frantically in the pit boxes and the riders pushed harder and harder towards a dramatic climax. After setting the fastest time in the only other dry practice so far this weekend, which took place in cool conditions yesterday morning, it was no surprise when Edwards surged to the top of the time sheets with eight minutes remaining. Having used a softer compound Michelin tyre for that lap, Edwards then moved on to his qualifying tyres and posted two more scorching times, only to be denied pole position by his irrepressible team-mate with a pair of stunning laps of his own. Rossi’s first effort proved decisive as he stopped the clock at 1’33.226, some 0.199 seconds inside the pole position record, before setting a second lap within a tenth of that time. VALENTINO ROSSI (1’33.226, 29 laps) “This track wasn’t so good for me last year so this pole position is very important. We suffered a little bit in the practice but we did a great job in the hour we had this afternoon. The weather was good, the track surface was good and we were able to take advantage of every available second, working a lot on the tyres and the suspension. The race configuration is not bad. I put in a qualifying tyre and I wasn’t at 100% on the first lap, but the second lap was perfect and the grip was excellent. I’m really happy for Yamaha because Colin is second today. He is a fast rider and his performance shows the potential of the YZR-M1. I think we can both have a good race tomorrow.” COLIN EDWARDS (1’33.449, 28 laps) “At last our hard work in the preseason and over the first three races is paying off! We pulled the bikes off the truck on Friday morning and basically they worked straight away. One of them had a simple base set-up and we dialled a few things into the other one that we thought would work here, and they turned out to be perfect. My race pace was really good and Michelin had the idea of putting a slightly softer tyre on before switching to the qualifiers, which really helped. The whole team have worked tremendously hard so far this season so this is a welcome boost. The first corner should be a bit gnarly but I’m feeling confident and, as I said yesterday, I’m ready to race whatever the weather.” DAVIDE BRIVIO TEAM DIRECTOR “The team did a great job today, especially the riders. It is only Saturday but we’re very happy to have the top two places on the grid. We’ve worked hard for the race and it seems both riders can keep a good pace and use all of the potential of the bike. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow but my dream is for the same result!” More, from a press release issued by Camel Honda: Unlucky qualifying for Camel Honda, but Alex has good race pace After having done three great free practice sessions, and having shown a similar pace to the lead group no matter the conditions, Alex Barros had little luck when it came down qualifying on Saturday afternoon. He was unable to make the most of the qualifying tyres (in the 15 dry minutes yesterday and on race tyres he was only 0.297 seconds slower) and with the eleventh quickest time he will need a good start tomorrow when the lights go out. The lack of time on a dry track didn’t help Troy Bayliss either, as he looked to improve the set-up of his RC211V. Tomorrow morning the Australian will aim to make the most of the warm-up to try a few modifications to the settings so he can express his characteristic aggressive style during the race itself. Sito Pons Camel Honda “Alex is only missing that crucial fast lap this weekend, but his rhythm is up there with the best. Certainly today’s time is a handicap because he will have to start from some way down the order, but he’s got the pace. Tomorrow in the warm-up we will make a few slight adjustments to improve his set-up, but he has both the chance and the capability of fighting for the podium. Troy is perhaps in a little more difficulty, we need to work hard and try and get him more comfortable behind the handlebars of the RCV. It’s obvious that we’re not getting all the potential out of him that we should be, and we have to try and do everything we can to improve his confidence.” Alex Barros Camel Honda 1’33.876 – 11th fastest “So many problems today, it’s a shame. At the beginning of qualifying, when I was riding with the race tyres, the front tucked on me in the first turn and so logically I was a little more prudent after that. The track was colder than yesterday and there was less grip. The thing that we are most affected by though for tomorrow’s race is being unable to make the most of the qualifying tyres. That’s really disappointing for me because if you’re aiming for victory you can’t start that far back. From the fourth row I would need a great start and also a superb first lap, because you have to be there to try and make up ground on the front guys as they try to clear off. Anyway, we’ll see what happens tomorrow what type of race it’s going to be, dry or wet, the conditions can change very quickly here.” Troy Bayliss Camel Honda 1’35.231 15th fastest “I honestly expected something better today. Not great things, but certainly a bigger step forward. Perhaps I lost a bit of confidence after the crash in Shanghai in the rain and after that highside in Estoril during practice. I don’t really feel at ease in the saddle, and I need to get a good result to get a bit of confidence back. So we’ll see what happens in the warm-up tomorrow, see if we can manage to improve a few things, and then we hope to have a good race.” More, from a press release issued by Telefonica Movistar Honda: MELANDRI BETTER THAN EVER AT LE MANS Gibernau gives his all in a tough session and qualifies fourth with a good lap time, hoping to make further progress in tomorrow’s warm up FRENCH GP – MOTOGP OFFICIAL QUALIFYING Marco Melandri clocked the third fastest time in the official qualifying practice for the French Grand Prix and will start from the front row of the grid for the third time this season. Sete Gibernau missed out on the top three for the first time this year but is happy with a late charge to fourth place after suffering problems throughout the session. Last year’s World Championship runner-up gave everything he had in a tense finale to the session, knocking two seconds off his lap time and making dramatic progress from thirteenth on the grid. Sete is confident of making the most out of the 20 minute warm-up as he looks to recover the good rhythm he quickly found in Friday’s free practice session. Melandri once again found a good feeling with the Honda after being uncomfortable yesterday and spent the whole session at the top of the time sheets, improving his lap time and race pace and building high ho! pes of continuing an impressive start to the season that sees him lying second in the championship. MARCO MELANDRI (3rd, 1’33″465): “I wasn’t expecting to do a lap time like this, after having started the weekend with a few problems. Today we were worried about the weather in the qualifying session and for that reason we put the qualifying tyres on early, which allowed me to set a 1’34″31. From there on we improved my race pace and I set my fastest lap at the end without taking too many risks. Tomorrow they’re predicting rain but I hope they’re wrong because it’s going to be a tough race”. SETE GIBERNAU (4th, 1’33″467): “In the end I was able to put a good lap together and qualify fourth, but we’re suffering more than we should be. Luckily I’m in good physical shape at the moment and I was able to overcome the set-up problems with my riding, but we’ve got a long evenin! g ahead of us analysing all the data with the team. Our race pace is slower than yesterday and we’ll have to have a look why. The 20 minute warm-up session will be vital to prepare for the race. We’re having a few problems with rear wheel traction”. More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Information: MELANDRI POWERS TO THIRD FRONT ROW OF SEASON In-form Honda man Marco Melandri (Team Movistar Honda RC211V) grabbed his third front row start in four races to line up behind Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards (both Yamaha) who qualified first and second fastest at a dry Le Mans in today’s MotoGP qualifying session. Sete Gibernau (Team Movistar Honda RC211V) heads the second row as fourth fastest qualifier and he is joined by Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) who was the fastest man out there for much of the hour-long stint until slipping to fifth fastest in the closing stages. The track had dried and warmed up considerably after heavy rain on Friday and at 21 degrees the surface provided enough adhesion for riders to fully dispute the fight for pole at a track where qualifying is notoriously close. The top 12 qualifiers are covered by a mere 0.765 seconds. The action hotted up with 35 minutes of the session to go as Melandri put in first a 1:34.538 lap and then a 1:34.391 effort to hit pole. His team-mate Gibernau was in the dirt trying to match it before Edwards briefly snatched the top slot with a 1m 34.110s time. Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki) was another man to temporarily hold pole, and Hayden too momentarily reclaimed his front row slot with ten minutes to go. The action was so intense that Loris Capirossi and Carlos Checa (both Ducati) who had both held front row positions eventually finished up tenth and ninth. With five minutes left on the clock Edwards was on pole from Hayden and Gibernau, with Checa, Capirossi and Rossi on row two. Nakano then jumped to third fastest, Gibernau to second and Melandri to fifth before the 22-year-old Team Movistar man went second fastest. Then Rossi slammed in a 1:33.226 lap to grab his second pole position of the season with his team-mate managing a lap just 0.223s slower for second. Melandri at just 0.239s shy of the pole time looks in good shape for tomorrow’s race. Max Biaggi (Repsol Honda RC211V) still cannot find the form required of a World Championship contender and has to be content with eight place on the grid. Alex Barros (Camel Honda RC211V) and Troy Bayliss (Camel Honda RC211V) are also handicapped by 11th and 15th places on the grid. Jurgen van den Goorbergh, standing in for the injured Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda RC211V) qualified 19th, which was precisely what he managed in China two weeks ago. The displaced Tamada said, “I’m very sad not to be able to compete here. I miss riding my RC211V, but when the pain is too much there is not much you can do. Now I want to concentrate on rehabilitation of my right hand because I want to be ready for the Mugello race.” Melandri said, “I’m really happy because on Friday we had a bit of trouble. Initially I thought it would be hard to get into the 1:33 times but my qualifying tyres helped me a lot. Tomorrow will be a tough race but I’ll be up there trying for that all-important first MotoGP class win.” His team-mate Gibernau said, “In the end I put a good lap together for fourth fastest, but we’re suffering more than we should be. I’m in good shape physically but we’ve got a long evening ahead of us with the data. Our race pace is slower than yesterday so we need to find out why.” Hayden is set for tomorrow. “I got a good rhythm and the track was at its best although there were still a few damp patches,” he said. “I’ve still got a few issues with the front-end and I just want the bike to be able to get out of the turns a bit better. I need a good start and to be right on my ‘A’ game.” Max knows he’s in trouble. “Sometimes very strange things happen,” he said. “I went out on race tyres instead of qualifiers and couldn’t make anything happen. I’d like to joke about it but can’t. The front-end is shaking in the braking areas and the bike is wheelying too much on the corner exits.” Barros in 11th said, “So many problems today, it’s a shame. At the beginning of qualifying, when I was riding with the race tyres, the front tucked on me in the first turn and so I was a little more prudent after that. From the fourth row I would need a great start and also a superb first lap, because you have to be there to try and make up ground on the front guys as they try to clear off.” Troy Bayliss in 15th knows he needs a big effort on race day. “I honestly expected something better today,” said the Aussie. “Not great things, but certainly a bigger step forward. Perhaps I lost a bit of confidence after the crash in Shanghai in the rain and after that highside in Estoril during practice. I don’t really feel at ease in the saddle, and I need to get a good result to get a bit of confidence back.” Jurgen van den Goorbergh, in 19th on row seven, said, “We have a lot of work to do here and the team is doing its best for me as it did in Shanghai. We have some more time to find a better pace in the warm-up tomorrow and we are all determined to improve in the race.” Pole man Dani Pedrosa (Team Movistar Honda RS250RW) put his stamp on 250cc qualifying with a 1m 37.391s lap to start tomorrow’s race in the knowledge that he’s lapped the 4.180km Bugatti circuit just under half a second faster than Casey Stoner (Aprilia) who qualified second fastest. Jorge Lorenzo (Fortuna Honda RS250RW) was third fastest and Sebastian Porto (Aprilia) fourth quickest. This is Pedrosa’s second pole of the season and his fourth consecutive front row start of the year as he bids to get on top of the World Championship points standings tomorrow. Yesterday’s first timed session was almost obliterated by heavy rain and riders had to work hard today at finding speed and set-up. Dani said, “I’m ready for the race wet or dry. The bike is very good, but yesterday in the wet was very hard work. But the team put a great bike together for me today and we should be strong tomorrow too.” Andrea Dovizioso (Scot Racing Team Honda RS250RW), who heads the points table at the moment, qualified fifth and said, “With race tyres the bike was very good, but when I fitted qualifying rubber there was a gearbox problem but we can fix that and I will be fine for the race tomorrow.” Hector Barbera (Fortuna Honda RS250RW) qualified ninth fastest on row three and is joined by Hiroshi Aoyama (Team Movistar Honda RS250RW) in tenth on the same row. The 125cc final qualifying session belonged to Swiss sensation Thomas Luthi (Elit Grand Prix Honda RS125R) who stormed to his first ever pole position. Series points leader Mika Kallio (KTM) qualified second fastest, with Hector Faubel (Aprilia) third fastest and Gabor Talmacsi (KTM) fourth on the grid. Rain played a full part on Friday, but this final session was almost dry, albeit with some water still standing in the kerbs. With 20 minutes to go no one had yet improved on their times from Friday and it seemed that Kallio might hang onto pole with his 1:44.264 lap. But it was Luthi who pounced first with a 1:43.665 lap in the final minute. He then rode an even faster lap of 1:43.405 after setting pole with 1:43.665 lap to slam home his superiority here. Try as Kallio and Faubel might, they had no answer to his speed here in France. “I’ very happy with my first pole,” said Luthi. “I felt comfortable all session and just checked out where the wet patches were and then pushed to get into a good rhythm. I had to pit to fix the clutch and then went out and pushed harder to get the pole.” Fabrizio Lai (Kopron Racing World Honda RS125RW) qualified seventh and starts from row two. He said, “It was traffic that slowed me down today. There was always someone in the way and that cost me a front row start.” Mike Di Meglio (Kopron Racing World Honda RS125R) qualified in the top ten as ninth fastest qualifier, while Tomoyoshi Koyama (Ajo Motorsport Honda RS125R) qualified 14th. Mattia Pasini (Aprilia), who currently lies third overall in the World Championship points standings, will not ride tomorrow after breaking a wrist in a crash yesterday. HONDA TEAM QUOTES: MotoGP: Marco Melandri, Movistar Honda MotoGP: 3rd: “I wasn’t expecting to do a lap time like this, after having started the weekend with a few problems. Today we were worried about the weather in the qualifying session and for that reason we put the qualifying tyres on early, which allowed me to set a 1:34.31. From there on we improved my race pace and I set my fastest lap at the end without taking too many risks. Tomorrow they’re predicting rain but I hope they’re wrong because it’s going to be a tough race”. Sete Gibernau, Movistar Honda MotoGP: 4th: “In the end I was able to put a good lap together and qualify fourth, but we’re suffering more than we should be. Luckily I’m in good physical shape at the moment and I was able to overcome the set-up problems with my riding, but we’ve got a long evening ahead of us analysing all the data with the team. Our race pace is slower than yesterday and we’ll have to have a look why. The 20 minute warm-up session will be vital to prepare for the race. We’re having a few problems with rear wheel traction”. Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda Team: 5th: “We got out really early and got into a good rhythm. It was definitely the best track we’ve seen all weekend though there were still some damp patches on the first few laps. We got up to speed pretty good and tried to get through as much stuff as we could. Overall the bike feels pretty good we just have a few issues with the front. I just want to get the bike to finish the corner the way I like. It’s so close up the front it’s ridiculous. I just want to show up tomorrow with my ‘A’ game and get a good start, get it on and see what happens. I hope we can put on a good show for the fans. Man, it’s been wet in my camper I can’t image what it’s like in a tent in a field those boys have my respect! They’re real fans!” Max Biaggi, Repsol Honda Team: 8th: “Sometimes very strange things happen: with ten minutes to go in the qualifying session, my team fitted an average race tyre instead of a qualifying tyre. I went on the track to push it to the limit but I discovered pretty soon that I couldn’t make it. I would like to joke about it but this is too serious, because this kind of thing can also be very dangerous. These mistakes cannot happen in a top team willing to reach the best result. Then, with the only qualifying tyre that I tried I scored the eighth time, with almost half a second gap from the pole position. Nothing new. It reflects the problems we are facing since the beginning of the season. My front end shakes in breaking areas and it tends to wheel out of the corners and shifting gears. I start from the third row and I expect another hard race.” Alex Barros, Camel Honda, 11th: “So many problems today, it’s a shame. At the beginning of qualifying, when I was riding with the race tyres, the front tucked on me in the first turn and so logically I was a little more prudent after that. The track was colder than yesterday and there was less grip. The thing that we are most affected by though for tomorrow’s race is being unable to make the most of the qualifying tyres. That’s really disappointing for me because if you’re aiming for victory you can’t start that far back. From the fourth row I would need a great start and also a superb first lap, because you have to be there to try and make up ground on the front guys as they try to clear off. Anyway, we’ll see what happens tomorrow what type of race it’s going to be, dry or wet, the conditions can change very quickly here.” Troy Bayliss, Camel Honda: 15th: “I honestly expected something better today. Not great things, but certainly a bigger step forward. Perhaps I lost a bit of confidence after the crash in Shanghai in the rain and after that highside in Estoril during practice. I don’t really feel at ease in the saddle, and I need to get a good result to get a bit of confidence back. So we’ll see what happens in the warm-up tomorrow, see if we can manage to improve a few things, and then we hope to have a good race.” Jurgen van den Goorbergh, Konica Minolta Honda:19th: “This afternoon has been a good session for me. In the last part of the qualifying session I felt a lot of more confident mostly with the front tyre. As we had only a few hours at our disposal, we aren’t at our best possibilities, but if the weather will permit us tomorrow morning we’ll have the opportunity to develop more the bike to be competitive during the race. I’m a bit sad because for only a few seconds I didn’t have the opportunity to have another fast lap, which to my point of view would have allowed me to lower my best lap time of about one second: the position in the starting grid it would have been much better. This isn’t one of my favourite tracks, but I’m trustful that tomorrow we’ll make it to obtain a satisfying result, with wet or dry track conditions.” 250cc: Dani Pedrosa, MoviStar Honda 250: 1st. “This afternoon on the dry track we did a great job in the box and out on the track. We used slick tyres and found various solutions with the set-up. The bike is working well, I feel comfortable, we’ve got a good configuration if the race is dry and we have already chosen which tyres we will use. We’ll have to wait and see what the weather is like tomorrow morning, but I’m hopeful of a good race whether it rains or not”. Jorge Lorenzo, Fortuna Honda: 3rd: “Hopefully tomorrow will be a dry race because I have been getting more comfortable on the bike. Now I can brake into the corners with the bike banked over further than ever. I think I could have been faster in the qualifying session but I made a couple of small mistakes. Tomorrow the start will be very important.” Andrea Dovizioso, Scot Racing Honda 250: 5th: “With race tyres the bike was very good, but when I fitted qualifying rubber there was a gearbox problem but we can fix that and I will be fine for the race tomorrow.” Hector Barbera, Fortuna Honda: 9th: “We have to think positively because I have improved on each day of practice. We have had some small setting problems, which I’m pretty sure we have fixed entirely. Tomorrows race will be very interesting.” Hiroshi Aoyama, MoviStar Honda 250: 10th: “At the start of the afternoon session I didn’t feel too good on the bike but I was able to follow another rider and that helped me to improve my time, find a good line and improve my general feeling. We have to change a few small details in the warm-up tomorrow morning, but I usually improve in the race and if I get a good start I wouldn’t rule out another podium”. Jakub Smrz, Molenaar Honda: 12th: “This morning we faced funny weather conditions, all weekend really. In the afternoon I was fast from the start and even tried a hard compound tyre for the race. When I came in for fresh tyres there was a slight problem because we fitted a carbon wheel instead of a the magnesium type we normally use. So I think I could have even faster, by a couple of tenths at least. We have too change the gearbox a little for the warm up. I’m confident I will have a good race.” Yuki Takahashi, Scot Racing Honda 250: 13th: “I like the track but we haven’t found the best set up for the race. Tomorrow, during the warm up, we’ll decide the right setting also according to the weather conditions”. Alex Debon, Wurth Honda BQR: 15th: “I had a little problem with the front end today that held me back, something we can fix with suspension settings. The rear tyre was not what I needed in qualifying but I am confident for tomorrow wet or dry but I will need a good start.” Radomil Rous, Wurth Honda BQR: 24th: “I’m having problems with understeer exiting the corners, it’s particularly bad in the fast corners. In general the weekend has not been good for me. I had one crash and only made 14 laps yesterday. Now with the steering problems it has been difficult.” Dirk Heidorf, Kiefer Bos Castrol Honda: 23rd: “From the start the rear end was very difficult to handle. We changed the suspension buty it was much like it had been in China. We had to look deeper and found we have a problem with the frame. Now that’s fixed we hope to have a good race tomorrow but it will be hard. I hope it stays dry for the race.” 125cc: Thomas Luthi, Elit Honda: 1st: “This is my first pole position and naturally I am really happy. I felt really comfortable on the bike all through the session the engine is good and the set up. I started the session by checking out where the wet patches were on the track. Then I started to push and build up a good rhythm. But the clutch was slipping a little so I came into the box. The team had to fix it because the second bike was set up for the rain. When I went out again I pushed a little harder and took pole position so I thank everybody in the team for giving me such a good bike.. “ Fabrizio Lai, Kopron racing World Honda: 7th: “Only the traffic slowed me down today. When I was very fast I always found someone in my way at the critical points around the track loosing me some tenths of a second and put me on the second row of the grid. The bike is OK, better on a wet track than dry asphalt but I’m confident for the race.” Mike Di Meglio, Kopron racing World Honda: 9th: “The fastest riders are not so far in front of me but, from the third row I’ll have to make a good start, Estoril style! The bike was better yesterday but no problem I have had a good pace and tomorrow I’ll be among those disputing the top positions.” Alexis Masbou, Ajo Motorsport: 11th: “I feel good. The bike is OK but we have a big question mark about the weather for tomorrow. Although I am French I don’t have much experience of the Le Mans track, I have only tested here twice. Whatever the weather it’s the same for everybody. “ Tomoyoshi Koyama, Ajo Motorsport: 14th: “I am beginning to get a good feeling with this bike and tyres and feel more comfortable. For Le Mans we have tried out a new crankshaft and crankcases but I think the engine we used in China was a little better so we will use that one for the race.” Alvaro Bautista, Seedorf RC3 Tiempo Holidays Honda: 19th: “Today the feeling with the bike is much better than before but the times were slower. I don’t understand this but what’s important is that I feel more comfortable and more confident. I know I will have a good race tomorrow the start will be very important for me.” Sandro Cortese, Kiefer Bos Castrol Honda: 20th: “The bike was really good today but with five minutes to go when I was looking for a fast time the rear tyre was finished and I had some really big slides. The only problem I have is a little chatter on the front end but we can fix that, it will not be a problem.” Toshihisa Kuzuhara, Angaia Racing Honda: 21st: Kuzuhara will not start the race. The Japanese rider crashed in final qualifying today breaking his right collarbone. Aleix Espargaro, Seedorf RC3 Tiempo Holidays Honda: 25th: “I have a problem with the rear of the bike after a few laps it starts to slide and then stop then slide again, a bit like chatter. I came into the pit and changed tyres but after two laps it was the same. So we have. to work on that before the warm up. Pity because the engine is good.” Raymond Schouten, Molenaar Honda: 37th: “The same rear end problem we have had at the last few races is still with us and I have lost a little confidence to push hard. I just hope it rains hard for the race tomorrow and I can go hard from the start and see where we are after a couple of laps.” More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Yamaha: TOO CLOSE TO CALL IN THE MOTOGP CLASS Twelve riders separated by less than a second at Le Mans it shows how close the MotoGP class is this year. It means the French GP is likely to be a very tight affair on Sunday. After two days of near solid rain, the MotoGP riders were finally able to get out on a dry track on Saturday and try to make up for lost time as they searched for the ideal settings. Toni Elias ended the day satisfied with his position on the grid, 12th, and the fact he was just seven tenths behind Valentino Rossi who took pole. Ruben Xaus was, however, less happy after ending the day in 16th position, a long way behind pole. Toni Elías (24)- 12th 1’33.991 “I thought I had done a really quick time, and then suddenly I find myself in 12th place. I feel satisfied, though, as I am ver close to the front of the field. I am only seven tenths behind pole, but at a circuit like Le Mans that can be a big difference as we saw. The important thing is that we are still progressing. We didn’t have much time to work in the dry and the rain has made this weekend difficult. However, we will do some more work in the warm-up before the race.” Ruben Xaus (11)- 16th 1.35.772 “I have been in this situation all season. I don’t know if it’s me not adapting to the bike, or the bike not adapting to me or whether I can not relate to my mechanics precisely enough what needs doing to improve the bike. It could be a lot of things, but it’s obvious I wasn’t given the chance in MotoGP because the Virgin Mary appeared! These bikes are made to always lap at record speeds, if I am not managing that it must be because small things are preventing me from keeping up with the top riders. At the moment I am more than two seconds down which is not good enough.” Hervé Poncharal, FORTUNA YAMAHA Team Manager: “Amazing! At last a dry track to ride on. I am very happy because two Yamahas are amongst the top places which shows we have a good bike. Tomorrow will be very open. The work we can do in the warm-up might have more effect than some people think.”