2007 FIM MotoGP World Championship Sachsenring, Germany July 14, 2007 Final Qualifying Results: 1. Casey STONER (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:22.384 2. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), Michelin, 1:22.388 3. Marco MELANDRI (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:22.397 4. Randy DE PUNIET (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:22.539 5. John HOPKINS (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 1:22.561 6. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:22.605 7. Loris CAPIROSSI (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:22.615 8. Alex BARROS (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:22.897 9. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Yamaha), Dunlop, 1:22.958 10. Shinya NAKANO (Honda), Michelin, 1:22.969 11. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 1:23.039 12. Anthony WEST (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:23.056 13. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:23.090 14. Nicky HAYDEN (Honda), Michelin, 1:23.151 15. Carlos CHECA (Honda), Michelin, 1:23.182 16. Alex HOFMANN (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:23.199 17. Michel FABRIZIO (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:23.491 18. Makoto TAMADA (Yamaha), Dunlop, 1:23.744 19. Kurtis ROBERTS (KR-Honda), Michelin, 1:24.209 More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Big improvements for Rizla Suzuki MotoGP in close qualification John Hopkins will start tomorrow’s German Grand Prix from the middle of the second row after powering his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R to the fifth fastest time during this afternoon’s hot and sunny qualifying session. Hopkins (1’22.561, 31 laps) was only 0.177 seconds off pole position in an incredibly close grid that saw the top-16 riders separated by less than a second! The Anglo-American’s starting place could have been even better, as on his last lap on the qualifying tyres he was well inside the fastest time, but a couple of small mistakes on the final two corners cost him the valuable tenths-of-a-second that would have seen him on at least the front row. Chris Vermeulen was only 0.655 seconds off the pole time, set by world championship leader Casey Stoner, but the sheer competitiveness of the MotoGP field means he will start the race from the middle of the fourth row. Vermeulen (P11, 1’23.039, 26 laps) did show big improvements on his race pace again today and was consistently recording times in-touch with the fastest riders, as the Bridgestone race – and qualifying tyres did a great job coping with track temperatures of 50°C. Hopkins and Vermeulen are both confident for tomorrow’s 30-lap race and are convinced they have the set-up of their GSV-Rs correct and the durability in their Bridgestone tyres to be pushing for high-placed finishes when the race gets underway at 14.00hrs (12.00hrs GMT). John Hopkins: “The whole of today has gone pretty well! We had to get the bike and tyres dialled in to the hot track. We are expecting these sorts of temperatures in the race tomorrow, so it was all vital practice. We have got a strong race set-up and a really good set of tyres in our allocation that we are looking forward to using in the race. Right now the crew is working hard and I am working hard to get everything right for tomorrow. I still have a few things to improve on overnight, so that I can come out as prepared as possible! In qualifying I made a bit of a mistake on the first lap and then got held up by some other riders on the second one. That meant the pressure was on with my final lap, and I made a couple of mistakes on the last two corners and didn’t get round them as quick as I would have liked, or I’m sure I would have been on the front row, if not on pole! A couple of guys are running a really high race pace so I will have to try and match them and then better them at the end tomorrow!” Chris Vermeulen: “We made some more improvements to the bike this afternoon and we have found a combination of race tyres that we are really happy with. I felt good with my race pace and went the quickest I’ve gone all weekend. With the extra heat on the track, grip was always an issue, and I did lose the front on the last qualifying lap, but managed to stay on! It’s not great being in 11th, but we are only 0.6-of-a-second off pole. This is close racing so if I can get off the start well, my race pace is there it’s a lot better than where we qualified! I just need to get my passing mind in and my elbows out and get going from the off!” Paul Denning Team Manager: “We have made the improvements today that we wanted to make and we have taken further steps forward in terms of set-up and lap-times. John did a great job to rescue his qualifying situation and go from 15th to fifth at the end, and by the look of things the position could have been even better! “Chris’ race pace looks very promising and very consistent. We possibly lack something to the very fastest guys on ultimate lap-time, but our consistency looks great, and 30-laps in this heat will be real test for everything technically and physically. “It is incredibly close racing – as it has been on many weekends recently. It looks like whoever it was that decided to change to the 800cc bikes for 2007 clearly knew something we didn’t in terms of the excitement of the show!” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Bridgestone qualifiers help Stoner, Melandri to German front row Round 10 Germany – Qualifying Sachsenring Saturday 14 July 2007 Casey Stoner will start tomorrow’s German Grand Prix from the head of the field after a closely-fought qualifying session that saw the eventual front row of the grid separated by a mere 0.013s. It is the third pole position set on Bridgestone tyres this season and the second for Stoner after his pole in Mugello last month. Honda Gresini’s Marco Melandri claimed his first front row result of the season with an excellent third place. The Italian rider is enjoying a competitive Sachsenring event so far, having also set the third quickest time of this morning’s free practice session. A last lap crash for Kawasaki’s Randy de Puniet did not deter from a strong fourth place position on the grid, his third top five qualifying result in four races. Just 0.022s adrift is Suzuki’s John Hopkins in fifth place. Tomorrow’s race will mark the fourth occasion that the Anglo-American starts from fifth spot this season. Pramac d’Antin’s Alex Barros equalled his best grid position of the season with eighth place (which he also achieved in China), setting his impressive pace on Bridgestone race tyres early on in the session. The German summer weather arrived in style today with ambient temperatures nearing 30 degrees Celsius and track temperatures much higher, pushing riders, bikes and tyres to their limits over long runs. With temperature set to soar once more, tyre performance and management is likely to play a decisive role during the 30 gruelling laps that make up Sunday’s German GP at the Sachsenring. Tyre Talk with Tohru Ubukata Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development Are you pleased with the performance of Bridgestone’s qualifying tyres around the Sachsenring? “I am very pleased with the results from this afternoon’s qualifying session. Although it is the third time this season that a rider on Bridgestone tyres has taken pole position after Mugello and Assen, it is the first time that we have done so in dry conditions. Track temperatures this afternoon were much higher compared to the rest of the weekend so the grip levels from the asphalt were reduced. This meant that the difference between race tyre performance and qualifying tyres was not as much as usual. Casey and Marco did a great job to take pole and third place, but the lap times were just around three-tenths-of-a-second quicker than we have seen set on race tyres this weekend. The top three were only split by 0.013s and the top sixteen riders all lapped within 0.8s of each other, which is one of the closest qualifying sessions I can remember.” How are the Bridgestone race tyres performing in the heat? “I am satisfied with the lap times that our race tyres have been able to achieve all weekend with all five of our teams, but the hot weather is certainly going to make for a tough race. Physically it will be very demanding for the riders, but also the machines and tyres will be put under a lot of pressure. The asymmetrical layout of this track puts a great stress on the left-hand side of the tyre which is certainly not helped with the heat, but the lap times today appear to be respectable, the challenge will be to maintain them over the 30-lap race distance.” Riding Perspective Casey Stoner Ducati Corse Pole Position “The Ducati and Bridgestone qualifiers worked well immediately on the first qualifying run and this pole is a great result. I do not really believe in all this talk of pole jinxes. The last person to win from pole was Loris Capirossi on a Ducati, so I figure that is an indication we can end this particular run. Most people who have had pole position this year have not been especially competitive in race trim, at least not right at the top. The Ducati-Bridgestone package has been very competitive here at Sachsenring all weekend, so let’s see if we can get there tomorrow afternoon.” Bridgestone Qualifying Practice Session Results Pos Rider Team Best Lap Gap POLE Casey Stoner Ducati 1m22.384s Quickest P3 Marco Melandri Honda Gresini 1m22.397s +0.013s P4 Randy de Puniet Kawasaki 1m22.539s +0.155s P5 John Hopkins Suzuki 1m22.561s +0.177s P7 Loris Capirossi Ducati 1m22.615s +0.231s P8 Alex Barros Pramac D’Antin 1m22.897s +0.513s P11 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m23.039s +0.655s P12 Anthony West Kawasaki 1m23.056s +0.672s P16 Alex Hofmann Pramac D’Antin 1m23.199s +0.815s P17 Michel Fabrizio Honda Gresini 1m23.491s +1.107s Weather: Dry Air 28°C, Track 38°C, Humidity 33% More, from a press release issued by Konica Minolta Honda: 10th in qualifying for KONICA MINOLTA Honda and Shinya Nakano Shinya Nakano took his KONICA MINOLTA Honda to 10th place in today’s qualifying session for the German MotoGP race. It was yet another close qualifying hour with the top 16 riders covered by around eight-tenths of a second! Today Shinya tried a harder compound Michelin tyre to suit the warmer conditions, made some suspension adjustments and altered the gearing of his Honda RC212V MotoGP machine. At the end of the hour-long session and on qualifying tyres, Shinya shaved around a second and a quarter off his previous best time to head-up row four of the grid for tomorrow’s 30-lap race. Gianluca Montiron Team Manager KONICA MINOLTA Honda “Considering our situation I think today hasn’t been too bad as this is a circuit that promotes close racing and similar lap-times which is why we’re not so far behind just 0.5s. At the end of the afternoon’s session Shinya was faster with a qualifying tyre but unfortunately in the second part of the track he’s been losing a bit of time, so perhaps we will improve this for tomorrow, as currently he’s not able to ride the machine the way he wants to. In T2 section, Shinya was one of the slowest riders, but in T3 Shinya was around 3rd quickest, so it’s clear where we want to improve for the race tomorrow. This is a very physical circuit for the rider, but the key point tomorrow will be the tyres: particularly in the last sector of the track. Also the temperature may be higher in the race than today so we need to adapt our machine for the conditions we will experience in the race tomorrow.” Shinya Nakano Rider, KONICA MINOLTA Honda (59 laps 1′ 22.969″) “If I look behind me there are some very fast riders! My qualifying lap was not perfect, I made some small mistakes but I felt like I finally had the chance to push harder. We were faster than yesterday even with race tyres and we’ve improved the gearbox settings for some of the corners and altered the suspension so we’ve got good braking stability now, which is good. On some of the high-speed corners I’m slower than other guys so we will try a different rear setting for tomorrow. Our second sector is a little slow, but I’ve regained confidence in some of the corners and am riding like usual again. We’re still missing something, but slowly we are making small steps forward.” Giulio Bernardelle Technical Director, KONICA MINOLTA Honda “Today for us was not so bad. We have seen higher temperatures than yesterday and for this reason we went with a harder compound tyre than Friday. Our situation was positive with this tyre and we think it should be good for the race. We finalised the choice for the race tyre this morning then changed the gearing in both 3rd and 4th gears to try and help us in the second and third sectors where there’s a long series of left corners and this afternoon things were better. In the afternoon session we made only some small adjustments. Basically with the first qualifying tyre we were not so lucky as Shinya had traffic problems, but with the second soft tyre things were much better, although with another tyre I think the third row would have been possible. It is good to see that we are improving step-by-step. We hope to find another 0.3-0.4s tomorrow, if so then we can be in the top 10 in the race.” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: STONER SCORES SECOND POLE ABOARD HIS DUCATI, CAPIROSSI IMPROVES AT THE ‘RING Ducati Marlboro Team rider Casey Stoner scorched to his second pole position of the year at a hot and sunny Sachsenring this afternoon, completing his domination of both days of practice and qualifying. This is the first time that the World Championship leader has led all four sessions at a MotoGP event. Team-mate Loris Capirossi also had reason to smile, taking seventh place to lead the third row, just 0.231 seconds off pole. Before qualifying, Stoner and Capirossi had already showed their race potential by running first and second quickest in the first three ‘free’ practice sessions, proving once again that the Desmosedici GP7 is just at home on tight, tortuous circuits as it is on fast, open tracks. And before most riders switched to qualifying tyres in the closing stage of the qualifying session, there were four GP7s in the top eight. Stoner would have gone even quicker this afternoon had he not run onto the kerb at turn ten during his second run on qualifying tyres. Capirossi’s improving pace this weekend – using a revised engine spec for the first time – promises well for the Italian veteran after a couple of tough races. CASEY STONER, pole position, 1m 22.384s “The bike’s worked out of the box this weekend, we haven’t really improved the lap times that much from the first session, just by a few tenths. Everybody else has pretty much been playing catch up. I did my quickest time on my first qualifying tyre, which isn’t normally the case, I normally go a lot faster on my second qualifier. I made a big mistake with my second, coming over the top of the hill, I ran wide onto the outside kerb on the entrance to the corner. I brought it back on track and we still only ended up a tenth slower than my best lap and it was a big, big mistake. I lost a few tenths, so I could’ve been a lot faster again. I was a bit disappointed with that mistake but anyway we managed to keep pole and we have been fast in every session. The other guys were chasing a time I wasn’t really happy with and they still didn’t manage to beat it, so it’s looking good. I’m hoping it’s a similar situation to Turkey where we were quite a lot faster than the others on race pace. Like most weekends we’re pretty happy before we go into the race, so we’ll just see what happens. We may not be able to win it but I know we’re going to be able to fight for a podium. It’s very, very hot and I’ve heard it’s going to be hotter tomorrow, so fitness and tyres are going to come into it at the end.” LORIS CAPIROSSI, 7th fastest, 1m 22.615s “I’m just a little bit more than two tenths off pole, so we are all really very close. Anyway, I’m very happy with my race pace which is quite good even though I didn’t use my favourite tyre, because I’ve got to save that one for the race. I used a different tyre, which I like a bit less, and I was still able to do a 23.2, so things aren’t so bad. Our qualifying tyres are also not so bad, just a fraction too hard so that during your first flying lap you aren’t able to go 100 per cent, and then the tyre lasts only another half lap. But the most important thing is that I did two good sessions today. I always rode alone, adjusting the set-up with my team step by step and lapping at a pace that was close to the fastest guys. Starting from seventh on the grid is also not so bad, so I’m really confident I can have a good race”. More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: One step ahead of the pack at every session at Sachsenring, Casey Stoner took his second pole position of the season in an extremely close qualifying outing this afternoon. The top sixteen were all within a second of Stoner’s time of 1’22.384, and any number of riders could have seen themselves starting the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland from the head of the grid. The closest challenger to the Australian’s spot came from last year’s pole man Dani Pedrosa, who was just 0.004 of a second slower than the current World Championship leader. No rider has won from pole in MotoGP since last year’s Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, although Stoner’s stellar form could see him break the cycle tomorrow in his first MotoGP race at Sachsenring. Marco Melandri completes the front row for tomorrow’s German challenge, with his best qualifying performance of the season onboard the Honda RC212V. The Italian was one of the key players in last year’s race, and is going for his second podium of a troubled 2007. A sore Randy de Puniet will head the second row tomorrow afternoon, having taken a tumble at the end of the session. An innocuous run-off ended with the Frenchman falling off his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR800 and hitting the protective air fence, leaving him narrowly avoiding a rebound collision with his bike. A late push from John Hopkins bumped him up to fifth, ahead of the winner of the past two Sachsenring showdowns, Valentino Rossi. The Italian won last year and at the previous round in Assen from eleventh on the grid, so a second row start leaves his rivals with little reason to drop their guard tomorrow afternoon. Hopkins subsequently ran off-track after clocking his fastest time. Less than three tenths of a second slower than his pole man team-mate, Loris Capirossi will start the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland from seventh, alongside Alex Barros and Sylvain Guintoli. The latter had his best ever MotoGP qualifying session on the Dunlop-shod Yamaha M1, out-qualifying his more experienced team-mate Makoto Tamada by over three quarters of a second. Shinya Nakano completed the top ten. 250cc Mika Kallio took his first ever 250cc pole position at Sachsenring with a stunning series of laps, something which bodes well for his race pace tomorrow. The Finn will attempt to maintain the trend of pole winners in the quarter litre class onboard his KTM, equipped with a new chassis tested last week at Brno. Two tenths of a second slower than Kallio’s 1’24.413, Andrea Dovizioso just clinched second on the grid ahead of Alex de Angelis. The duo were separated by just 0.004 of a second, with reigning World Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo completing the front row. The second line of attack is made up of Honda’s Julian Simon, second KTM rider Hiroshi Aoyama and fierce rivals Hector Barbera and Marco Simoncelli. The two had a difference of opinion in the morning practice session, ending with an angry exchange in pit lane. 125cc Taking pole position number three of the season, Gabor Talmacsi confirmed his top spot from yesterday by clocking a 1’26.839 lap of the Sachsenring circuit. A circuit best put the Hungarian nearly half a second quicker than last year’s race winner Mattia Pasini, who is currently on a two-race winning streak in the 125cc class. Current World Championship leader Hector Faubel will line up his assault from the front row, which is completed by brave Briton Bradley Smith, who put in a fantastic performance made especially remarkable by the fact that he currently needs crutches to navigate the paddock. Having missed the race at Assen through injury, the 16 year old is back with a bang in the lower cylinder category in Germany. Lukas Pesek, Sandro Cortese, Simone Corsi and Randy Krummenacher make up the second row for tomorrow’s final 125cc battle before the summer break. More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: SIXTH AND THIRTEENTH FOR ROSSI AND EDWARDS IN SCORCHING GERMANY The sun finally shone over a MotoGP qualifying session at the Sachsenring today but the weather failed to benefit the Fiat Yamaha Team in the way they had hoped, as Rossi and Edwards both ran into some unexpected problems during this afternoon’s qualifying session. Rossi’s best effort was only 0.221 off pole but with the top seven riders covered by less than three tenths his time will see him start from sixth for tomorrow’s German Grand Prix, whilst Edwards faces an uphill struggle to make it back to the front from the head of the fifth row. With temperatures making a jump up into the high twenties, the conditions were very different this afternoon to those seen yesterday and the riders spent the first part of the session tweaking their settings accordingly. Towards the end of the session Rossi’s second qualifying lap looked on course for the front row until he suffered from a slight tyre issue in the last section and dropped a few tenths. On race tyres however the Italian showed a strong pace throughout and he is confident that a good start will see him in position to fight with the leaders as he chases a third consecutive Sachsenring victory. Edwards meanwhile struggled throughout the session, especially in the second half of the circuit, and will be looking to use tomorrow’s warm-up session to make some last minute changes to his race package to put himself in a position to improve on his grid slot. Valentino Rossi Position: 6th Time: 1’22.605 Laps: 30 “I was quite confident of a better qualification today but unfortunately we had a problem with our qualifying tyre and I lost some time at the end. It’s a difficult weekend because everyone is very close and the level is very high! I think we can expect another great battle tomorrow. My pace and rhythm is quite good, not the best but still not so bad, so I think that if I can make a good start then I will be able to fight at the front. The problem here is that it’s a hard track to overtake on and now the fast right, which was a good place for passing before, isn’t so good with the new 800s. Anyway, we have some modifications still to make and we have to decide on the right tyre, so hopefully we can still improve more. Looking at the times it seems that Pedrosa is very strong here, with the best pace, and actually this is encouraging because he’s on Michelin’s too. Of course with Stoner on pole we know that he too will be a hard rival. Anyway, sixth is not so bad – last year here we started tenth and in Assen eleventh and we won both times so we’re definitely not too worried! It’s going to be hard, especially if it’s hot like this, but we will do our best as always.” Colin Edwards Position: 13th Time: 1’23.090 Laps: 30 “We’re struggling here, there’s no other way to put it. Yesterday I thought we were okay and would be even better today but, despite improving our times, we’ve moved progressively further down the time sheets. It’s not an easy track and unfortunately we can’t seem to find the key. It wasn’t terrible with the qualifying tyre and the first half of the lap, which is slower and tighter, was great but then I was dropping seven tenths in the last half without knowing why – I was riding pretty hard out there! The bike feels a little bit unsettled and we can’t quite put our fingers on why so we’ll be studying the data tonight, seeing what we can come up with in practice and then I’ll just have to get my head down from the start and push as hard as I can.” Davide Brivio Fiat Yamaha Team Director “It didn’t quite work out how we hoped today but anyway with Valentino it’s not so bad; he’s on the second row and has a good rhythm. There are definitely some areas where we can still improve and we had a few unexpected problems today. With Colin we need to study the data and try to understand where we can improve his package. Tomorrow looks like being a hard race but with a good start we can be in the fight; let’s just hope we can stay there right to the end!” More, from a press release issued by Team Roberts: ROBERTS ENCOURAGED BY LATE SESSION PROGRESS Kurtis Roberts, riding in only fifth MotoGP event since returning mid-season, qualified 19th for Sunday’s German Grand Prix, though he was encouraged by progress the team made with the front end of the Team Roberts KR212V late in the session. Roberts, who is substituting for his older brother Kenny, set the time with his next to last lap, as he found new confidence in the front end. Instead of chattering, the front tire gave renewed adhesion and allowed the youngest son of the three-time 500cc World Champion to discover new lines on his best lap of the tortuous 2.28-mile Sachsenring, in the former East German state of Saxony. If the solution can be confirmed in the Sunday morning warm-up, Roberts is hopeful of moving up through the field. The race will likely be the last for this iteration of the Team Roberts framed, Honda-powered hybrid. Technicians at the team’s headquarters in Banbury, England have been working furiously to have a new race bike ready for the Roberts’ family home grand prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in a week’s time. If the chassis, exhaust pipes, and other parts are completed in time, team manager Chuck Aksland will take them as checked luggage to Monterey. Today’s qualifying session was run in warm sunshine, with more of the same expected for tomorrow’s race, the 10th round of the MotoGP World Championship. KURTIS ROBERTS – 19th Position, 1:24.209 Once we got a front tire that worked, it cured a lot of the handling problems. It’s been real frustrating here all weekend, because we just keep going around in circles. And when the guys are out there watching, they’re seeing the same thing I’m saying. They’re confirming it. It’s the same thing Kenny Jr. was complaining about, it’s the same thing I’ve complained about from day one. It’s just trying to get it out of it. And normally, every time we throw in a front qualifier, it’s just chattered it’s brains out. Today, the second corner, I realized this is what the bike needs to do the whole lap. And it did that for two laps. Actually, if I would have been able to get used to it, if the thing would have done it for half a session, then I would have known what lines to take. Now I’m off on some lines, because the thing would actually turn in where I wanted to and the next thing you know you’d be going too slow or too fast. If we can get the thing to work like we did at the end of the session, we can race with those guys. If we can’t, it’s just going to be a lonely boring race. CHUCK AKSLAND – TEAM MANAGER Once we got grip into it, the bike started behaving right. So hopefully some of the stuff that we’re bringing to Laguna will increase the grip level or help the set-up for the bike turning back. I’d say, given what we have, Kurtis did a good job. The plan for Laguna Seca is that I’m leaving England last so I can bring everything. It won’t be a whole bike but not far from it; frame, exhaust pipes and other parts. But it’s all right down to the last minute. So hopefully I’ll be bringing a big ole box with me. The plan is for the bike to get built on Thursday. More, from a press release issued by Gresini Racing Honda: MELANDRI CHALLENGES FOR POLE IN GERMANY Just thirteen thousandths of a second separated Marco Melandri from pole position today after a resurgent performance from the Italian at the German Grand Prix. Nevertheless he will start from the front row of the grid in the tenth round of the season. After lapping third fastest in the morning the Team Gresini Honda rider was able to continue his pace in the afternoon and then make the most of the Bridgestone qualifying tyres to challenge for top spot on the grid. Now Marco’s hopes lie in a good start in the race as he aims to stick with the front group and challenge for at least a podium finish. Michel Fabrizio continued to make progress today, knocking a second off his best lap time from yesterday. Michel was able to improve his feeling with the bike with every lap and finished the session in 17th place, just 1.1 seconds off pole. MARCO MELANDRI (3rd, 1′ 22″397): “It’s a nice feeling to be back on the front row. Thanks to the new material we’ve been given here at Sachsenring we’ve been able to make a big step forward. The bike is good fun to ride and I’ve got a good feeling. I made a small mistake in turn one on the qualifying tyre and only missed out on pole by a small fraction but I’m still satsfied with this result. On such a tight circuit, especially in the first sections, it is important to be starting from the front of the grid. I like the track and tomorrow I’m aiming for a top result. It will be a long race, with 30 demanding laps on a track which puts the riders and the tyres to the test and they are even predicting higher temperatures for tomorrow. I just want to say thanks to Honda and the team for their efforts and tomorrow I’d like to pay back Fausto Gresini with a good result.” MICHEL FABRIZIO (17th, 1’23″491): “Every time I’ve been out my feeling with the bike has improved and so has my rhythm. Compared to yesterday we’ve taken a big step forward, although I could have done with two more sessions to get to know the bike even more. The track was quite new for me too – I haven’t raced at Sachsenring since 2003 – so I am happy with how things are going.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: SACHSENRING HOTS UP AS KAWASAKI TURN ON THE GAS Randy de Puniet and Anthony West will start tomorrow’s German Grand Prix from fourth and 12th positions on the grid, respectively, after a blistering qualifying session at the Sachsenring. But it wasn’t all plain sailing. While de Puniet put in a very solid performance throughout, perfecting his set up whilst maintaining a positive spot near the top of the timesheets, he crashed out right at the end of the session. It was a big disappointment to the 26-year-old Frenchman who, at the first two splits, looked as if he was about to steal pole position from eventual front man, Casey Stoner. But the demons at turn six got him and he lost control of his Ninja ZX-RR in a nasty tumble which ended with the bike landing on top of him. However, his earlier, strong lap time was enough to secure him the second row spot, from where he will begin the 30-lap race tomorrow afternoon. With a time of 1’22.539, sandwiched between Marco Melandri and John Hopkins and recording a top speed of 277.136mph, he came in an extremely modest 0.155 seconds behind Stoner, Meanwhile, Anthony West enjoyed more time getting used to running on qualifying tyres in (for a change) the dry, having not had the chance to familiarise himself with them since his first MotoGP session at Donington three weeks ago due to bad weather at Assen. His 12th position was gained by a time of 1’23.056, a mere 0.672 seconds behind the pole sitter: impressive stuff in only his third premier class weekend. He’s run very well here on 250cc bikes in the past and, with the persistent progress he’s making with the MotoGP bike, things are looking up for the 25-year old Australian. Indeed, a good win tomorrow would prove a welcome early birthday present for West, who celebrates his 26th next Tuesday. This morning’s practice session (like the afternoon’s qualifying) was run on a dry track under clear skies and a hot sun. As the circuit basked in 28° heat, de Puniet and West continued to work on their set up for tomorrow’s 30 lap race, which, according to weather forecasters, will take place in even warmer temperatures. Both riders are now feeling positive after tweaking their 800cc Ninjas to suit the demands of themselves and the Sachsenring’s unforgiving layout. They also feel they have found the right Bridgestone rubber to see them around the circuit’s rolling, twisty landscape. With only three of the 19 riders in today’s session recording times over a second off the front runners, Sunday’s event looks like it’s going to be a nail-biting one. The Kawasaki Racing Team know they’ve got the ability to put in some superb lap times and add some panache to the show in front of the capacity crowd expected to descend on the circuit. Randy De Puniet #14 4th – Best Lap 1’22.539 “On the last lap, I pushed very hard in T1 and T2 because normally they’re not my strongest parts of the track. By the end of T2 I was faster than pole position but, when I went in to turn six, I was going too fast and crashed but I’m lucky, I’ve just got some pain in my back and nothing’s broken. My grid position isn’t so bad but today I could have got pole. Still, I think my bike is ready for tomorrow, I managed consistent lap times today and yesterday’s chatter is pretty much gone. We have a good set up and, if I can get a decent start, I feel we can do well.” Anthony West #13 12th – Best Lap 1’23.056 “Today was my first really good go on the qualifying tyres and I was surprised how quickly I was able to ride on the first set. We then put the second set on and, to be honest, I could have gone faster but I’m still trying to get used to the feel of them. On the last set, I was going really well, with the fastest overall times in the first two splits, but then I completely stuffed up the last corner. Somehow, I ended up in third gear whereas I usually take it in second: big mistake. Our overall set up’s not too bad, there’s still a bit of a problem with some vibration, but other than that the bike’s feeling great and should be good for the race. I’m really happy I’ve had time to try different things out here with the bike for a few days in the dry and yeah, I’m very pleased with my position.” Christophe Bourguignon Crew Chief – Randy de Puniet “We started the day concentrating on the rear set up, and finding a good race tyre, and now we’re pretty happy and ready for tomorrow. We tried different qualifying tyres and Randy was happiest with the first set; even after making a small mistake, he improved his lap time. Just before the end of the session, he was going very quickly but went in to turn six a bit too fast. Hoping to avoid a crash, he ran in to the gravel but he couldn’t scrub the speed off in time and had to lay it down before he ran in to the fence. The bike hit him in the back but, fortunately, he’s ok. We’ve got a good set up and we’re feeling positive. From where we are on grid, if we manage an acceptable start, we can secure a good result.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: PEDROSA AND MELANDRI ON FRONT ROW IN GERMANY This hour of MotoGP qualifying in intense heat at the Sachsenring in eastern Germany saw two Honda men Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) and Marco Melandri (Gresini Honda RC212V) put themselves on the front row of the grid behind Casey Stoner (Ducati) on pole. With the track at a parched 42 degrees, and in front of typically huge crowd, the session got underway with Carlos Checa (LCR Honda RC212V) and Stoner setting the early pace. This would be a crucial session not only in terms of grid position but also in finalising tyre choice for what promises to be another scorching day tomorrow. The times were incredibly close throughout the hour and as the session ended only 1.1 seconds covered pole to 17th on the 19-rider grid. This is in part due to the compact nature of this twisting 3.671km track and also the sheer competitiveness of qualifying this season. Shinya Nakano (Konica Minolta Honda RC212V) and Anthony West (Kawasaki) were on the pace within the first five minutes but then faded as the hour wore on to end the session tenth and 12th. Stoner, who had been fastest in the three untimed sessions prior to this afternoon’s affair, was bested by Randy de Puniet, as the Kawasaki rider again was the first to opt for a set of qualifying tyres and set a provisional pole time of 1m 22.897s. At the halfway stage the order was de Puniet from Dani Pedrosa, with Alex Barros (Ducati) third fastest, Stoner in fourth followed by Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) and Marco Melandri. And at this point the first 18 riders were covered by 1.6 seconds. With 12 minutes to go Stoner put down his marker for pole with lap time of 1m 22.384 seconds and the action became intense as his rivals strove to beat that time. Dani came close with a 1m 22.561 and Melandri responded with a time of 1m 22.554s. Carlos Checa pushed too hard in his bid to haul himself to a good grid slot and lost the front-end of his machine at the final turn crashing without injury but narrowly avoiding being hit by Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V) as he crossed the track to return to the pits. He eventually qualified 15th. With four minutes left the provisional front row comprised Stoner, Pedrosa and de Puniet. Then Melandri knocked de Puniet off the front row with a time of 1m 22.397s and the French Kawasaki man endured a spectacular crash at the fast left at the bottom of the hill as he attempted to get back onto the front row. The final order was Stoner, Pedrosa, Melandri with a second row of de Puniet John Hopkins (Suzuki), Rossi and a third row of Loris Capirossi (Ducati), Barros and Sylvain Guintoli (Yamaha). Dani said: “I’m happy to be on the front row because this is a tight track where it’s quite difficult to overtake so to be up front is going to be important. Of course it would have been nice to be on pole position like last year, and we came very close, but I’m not disappointed with the result this afternoon. This morning was not so good and we tried a few things that didn’t immediately improve the machine. However, it helped us find a better direction in the afternoon and I was able to ride at a fast, consistent pace on race tyres, so I think our set-up is quite good for the beginning of the race at least. The critical thing will be how things are going from the mid-point onwards because this is where we have struggled a little in some races.” Marco said: “It’s a nice feeling to be back on the front row. Thanks to the new material we’ve been given here at the Sachsenring we’ve been able to make a big step forward. The bike is good fun to ride and I’ve got a good feeling. I made a small mistake in turn one on the qualifying tyre and only missed out on pole by a small fraction but I’m still satisfied with this result. On such a tight circuit, especially in the first sections, it is important to be starting from the front of the grid.” Nakano, tenth fastest, said: “If I look behind me there are some very fast riders! My qualifying lap was not perfect, I made some small mistakes but I felt like I finally had the chance to push harder. We were faster than yesterday even with race tyres and we’ve improved the gearbox settings for some of the corners and altered the suspension so we’ve got good braking stability now, which is good. On some of the high-speed corners I’m slower than other guys so we will try a different rear setting for tomorrow.” Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V) could only manage 14th place on the grid. He said: “This morning things were definitely going a bit better and I was able to go quite a bit faster with some decent consistency. We needed that session after losing a lot of time yesterday. This afternoon we made some more setting changes but it actually made us go backwards a little bit and I couldn’t get into a good rhythm. And then I had problems on both my qualifying runs. On the first qualifying tyre I had a decent lap going but in the last corner Checa actually ran across the track in front of me and I had to abort the lap. He’s a brave man. He’d crashed and to be honest I’d have probably done the same to get back to the pits in qualifying, but I’d probably look first.” Checa in 15th said: “I feel comfortable and competitive here, the updated chassis from Honda has better balance and improved turning although we still have to discover how it reacts to set-up changes. Tomorrow I will do further comparisons with the new chassis against the standard RC212V, but so far it is a positive feeling. We still need to improve front tyre contact through the uphill turns, plus today the engine set-up was a little aggressive. Tyre performance was consistent and grip levels OK on the new surface, except for the bumps at turn 12.” Michel Fabrizio, riding in place of the injured Toni Elias (Gresini Honda RC212V) qualified 17th and said: “Every time I’ve been out my feeling with the bike has improved and so has my rhythm. Compared to yesterday we’ve taken a big step forward, although I could have done with two more sessions to get to know the bike even more. The track was quite new for me too I haven’t raced at the Sachsenring since 2003 so I am happy with how things are going.” Kenny Roberts (Roberts KR212V) in 19th spot said: “Once we got a front tyre that worked, it cured a lot of the handling problems. It’s been real frustrating here all weekend, because we just keep going around in circles. Normally, every time we throw in a front qualifier, it chatters its brains out. But we were OK at the end. If we can get the thing to work like we did at the end of the session, we can race with those guys. If we can’t, it’s just going to be a lonely boring race.” Mika Kallio (KTM) rode to a first ever pole in the 250cc class ahead of Andrea Dovizioso (Scot Honda RS250RW) with Alex de Angelis third fastest and current series points leader Jorge Lorenzo (both Aprilia) completing the front row. Julian Simon (Repsol Honda RS250RW) heads the second row while last year’s race winner here Yuki Takahashi (Scot Honda RS250RW) will start the race from tenth on the grid. The first 12 riders are covered by less than one second. Dovi said: “Not bad. I was not expecting to set that time because its not one of my best tracks. The engine is so-so and running a little bit hot but the bike is steering really well, the suspension works well and you need that at this track. On the long fast left corners you are on the edge of the tyre and sliding for a long time you have to use your body weight to hold a fast line.” Simon said: “I’ve got a lot of confidence after today’s sessions something very important as I’ve recently had some difficult training sessions and races. Tomorrow my main objective is to finish in the leading group, whatever the result may be, but I want to be at the front during the 30 laps, trying to win and racing with a lot of enthusiasm.” Takahashi said: “I like this track and spent the session finding the best set-up for the race tomorrow. I found a good balance but we need a little work on the front suspension and then the bike will be just right for me. The most important thing is to get a good start and get into the first corner with the leaders, otherwise it will be difficult.” Gabor Talmacsi grabbed his third pole of the 125cc season so far with a lap of 1m 26.839s. Mattia Pasini qualified second fastest with Hector Faubel (all Aprilia) third and Britain’s Bradley Smith (Repsol Honda RS125R) completes the front row as fourth quickest qualifier. Smith has made a rapid recovery from injuries sustained in Holland two weeks ago and for a man who was doubtful to ride this weekend, his lap of 1m 27.094s around this tiring track is a massive achievement. His team-mate Esteve Rabat (Repsol Honda RS125R) qualified tenth. Smith said: “At the beginning of the session I was trying too hard and losing a few meters here and there. I started to improve as the session went on and got back up to speed. The bike is good, steers well and is helping my injured foot as I don’t have to put too much pressure on the footrest to move the bike around. At the end of the session, on the last lap, it all came together on one fast lap and I’m really pleased with this front row start.” Rabat said: “The qualifying session was good the bike is very good and I did many good laps. The only problem I have is a little rear wheel movement but we can fix that with better suspension and chassis settings. I prefer a hot race even if the temperature is more than 30 degrees. If I get a good start I will have a good race.” MotoGP. Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 2nd. “I’m happy to be on the front row because this is a tight track where it’s quite difficult to overtake so to be up front is going to be important. Of course it would have been nice to be on pole position like last year, and we came very close, but I’m not disappointed with the result this afternoon. This morning was not so good and we tried a few things that didn’t immediately improve the machine. However, it helped us find a better direction in the afternoon and I was able to ride at a fast, consistent pace on race tyres, so I think our set-up is quite good – for the beginning of the race at least. The critical thing will be how things are going from the mid-point onwards because this is where we have struggled a little in some races. It looks like it’s going to be even hotter tomorrow, which means it could be hard work in the race because there’s not a lot of time to take a rest at this track. Still, I’m looking forward to another good race tomorrow.” Marco Melandri, Gresini Honda: 3rd. “It’s a nice feeling to be back on the front row. Thanks to the new material we’ve been given here at Sachsenring we’ve been able to make a big step forward. The bike is good fun to ride and I’ve got a good feeling. I made a small mistake in turn one on the qualifying tyre and only missed out on pole by a small fraction but I’m still satisfied with this result. On such a tight circuit, especially in the first sections, it is important to be starting from the front of the grid. I like the track and tomorrow I’m aiming for a top result. It will be a long race, with 30 demanding laps on a track which puts the riders and the tyres to the test and they are even predicting higher temperatures for tomorrow. I just want to say thanks to Honda and the team for their efforts and tomorrow I’d like to pay back Fausto Gresini with a good result.” Shinya Nakano, Konica Minolta Honda: 10th. “If I look behind me there are some very fast riders! My qualifying lap was not perfect, I made some small mistakes but I felt like I finally had the chance to push harder. We were faster than yesterday even with race tyres and we’ve improved the gearbox settings for some of the corners and altered the suspension so we’ve got good braking stability now, which is good. On some of the high-speed corners I’m slower than other guys so we will try a different rear setting for tomorrow. Our second sector is a little slow, but I’ve regained confidence in some of the corners and am riding like usual again. We’re still missing something, but slowly we are making small steps forward.” Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 14th. “This morning things were definitely going a bit better and I was able to go quite a bit faster with some decent consistency. We needed that session after losing a lot of time yesterday. This afternoon we made some more setting changes but it actually made us go backwards a little bit and I couldn’t get into a good rhythm. And then I had problems on both my qualifying runs. On the first qualifying tyre I had a decent lap going but in the last corner Checa actually ran across the track in front of me and I had to abort the lap. He’s a brave man. He’d crashed and to be honest I’d have probably done the same to get back to the pits in qualifying, but I’d probably look first. The first two splits of my second lap were pretty good but then in Turn 10 I made a big mistake which ruined that lap, so my best time this afternoon was on a race tyre. It’s definitely not the grid position we need. Tonight we’ll look to make some changes to the machine and see what happens tomorrow. A good start’s going to be essential.” Carlos Checa, LCR Honda: 15th. “Starting from 15th will not be easy at this track but the new chassis has better balance and I should be able to fight with the second group for a place in top ten tomorrow. The crash was a shame, I felt confident that I could do a very competitive lap as the section times showed, but I just pushed too hard on the front at the final corner. Today I concentrated on set-up of the new chassis and tyre testing for the race, and there are still some things we need to understand as we learn about the new chassis.” Michel Fabrizio, replacement rider for Toni Elias, Gresini Honda: 17th. “Every time I’ve been out my feeling with the bike has improved and so has my rhythm. Compared to yesterday we’ve taken a big step forward, although I could have done with two more sessions to get to know the bike even more. The track was quite new for me too – I haven’t raced at Sachsenring since 2003 – so I am happy with how things are going.” Kurtis Roberts, KR212V: 19th. “Once we got a front tire that worked, it cured a lot of the handling problems. It’s been real frustrating here all weekend, because we just keep going around in circles. And when the guys are out there watching, they’re seeing the same thing I’m saying. They’re confirming it. It’s the same thing Kenny Jr. was complaining about, it’s the same thing I’ve complained about from day one. It’s just trying to get it out of it. And normally, every time we throw in a front qualifier, it’s just chattered it’s brains out. Today, the second corner, I realized this is what the bike needs to do the whole lap. And it did that for two laps. Actually, if I would have been able to get used to it, if the thing would have done it for half a session, then I would have known what lines to take. Now I’m off on some lines, because the thing would actually turn in where I wanted to and the next thing you know you’d be going too slow or too fast. If we can get the thing to work like we did at the end of the session, we can race with those guys. If we can’t, it’s just going to be a lonely boring race.” Chuck Aksland – Team Manager Team Roberts. “Once we got grip into it, the bike started behaving right. So hopefully some of the stuff that we’re bringing to Laguna will increase the grip level or help the set-up for the bike turning back. I’d say, given what we have, he did a good job. The plan for Laguna Seca is that I’m leaving England last so I can bring everything. It won’t be a whole bike, it will be a frame and exhaust pipes and other parts. But it’s all right down to the last minute. So hopefully I’ll be bringing a big ole box with me. The plan is for the bike to get built on Thursday.” 250cc: Andrea Dovizioso, Kopron Scot Honda: 2nd. “Not bad I was not expecting to set that time because its not one of my best tracks. The engine is so- so running a little bit hot but the bike is steering really good, the suspension works well and you need that at this track. On the long fast left corners you are on the edge of the tyre and sliding for a long time you have to use your body weight to hold a fast line but the suspension settings are working. “ Julian Simon, Repsol Honda: 5th. “This was a much more positive day than yesterday. The truth is that since this morning I have felt a lot better on the bike. We have been making progress and I have to thank the team for all the great work they have done, because they have helped me to understand the bike more and to feel much better when riding it. I still have to improve on one part of the circuit, to be specific the third section, but the time I set was a good one since we are fifth on the grid and we were on the first row until the last few minutes. Regarding tomorrow I am dying to race. I have got a lot of confidence with today`s afternoon training sessions, something very important as I have recently had some difficult training sessions and races. Tomorrow my main objective is to finish in the leading group, whatever the result may be, but I want to be at the front during the 30 laps, trying to win and racing with a lot of enthusiasm.” Yukio Takahashi, Kopron Scot Honda: 10th.”I like this track and spent the session finding best set up for the race tomorrow. I found a good balance but we need a little work on the front suspension and the bike will be just right for me. The most important thing is to get a good start and get into the first corner with the leaders, otherwise it will be difficult.” Shuhei Aoyama, Repsol Honda: 17th. “I am not very happy even though I finished in a better position than yesterday. This morning my sensations on the bike were not so bad, but this afternoon we have changed some things but I was not able to improve. I noticed the bike moving around a lot and the result was that I was not able to set a good time. Today we tried a new chassis, identical to the one we used before. Tomorrow is the race so we will have to change some things because I have to go faster.” Ratthapark Wilairot, Thai Honda PTT-SAG: 22nd.”The section with the consecutive left-handers was the part of the track where I was losing too much time. I tried to improve but I went off the racing line and I couldn’t help crashing after getting off-track. Fortunately, I came out without any serious injuries but only a couple of contusions. It hurts pretty bad anyway and it was really tough in qualifying, I couldn’t improve my lap times. I hope to be in better shape tomorrow.” Eugene Laverty, LCR Honda: 26th.”The engine performance was much better today, and I’m enjoying the track, but I need a better suspension set-up to get the chassis working and today a problem with the rear brake also cost me some time.” 125cc. Bradley Smith, Repsol Honda: 4th.”At the beginning of the session I was trying to hard and loosing a few metres here and there. I started to improve as the session went on and got back to speed. The bike is good and steers well and is helping my injured foot as I don’t have to put too much pressure on the footrest to move the bike around. At the end of the session, on the last lap, it all came together on one fast lap and I’m really pleased with this front row start. Basically my condition is not perfect my foot is still painful and the race is 27-laps but when the race starts you don’t think about it you do what you have to do.” Tito Rabat, Repsol Honda: 10th.”The qualifying session was good the bike is very good and I did many good laps. The only problem I have is a little rear wheel movement but we can fix that with better suspension settings. I prefer a hot race even if the temperature will be over 30 degrees. If I get a good start I will have a good race.” Mike Di Meglio, Kopron Scot Honda: 19th. “Today we tried a new hard tyre, but it slid a lot and didn’t allow me to go fast. When we put in the tyres we used in the morning session we improved, the grip increased even if there still was a little bit of chattering. Unfortunately at the exit of a fast sloping turn, when I closed the gas, the bike jumped at the rear and I crashed. I had only some scratches and bruises, but nothing important. In machine setting we are quite ok, I hope tomorrow to give a good performance.” Joey Litjens, Molenaar Honda: 25th. “Pretty good I was running 1m 29.1s lap times in free practice and 29.3 in qualifying. I am not so happy on the fast sections as I need more help from the suspension it was better in the qualifying session so we have only slight adjustments and I will run consistent 1m 29s laps. I will have to make on of my ‘Special’ fast starts because I like this track and I can run in the top 20 for sure.” Alexis Masbou, FFM Honda: 26th.”It feels like I’m riding quite well but the lap times simply won’t improve. It’s a really difficult weekend for me and the whole team. I’m finding it very difficult to find the right lines in the slow parts and when you’re off line in a corner you can’t perform in the following four. And yet this racetrack is usually very interesting, the surface is new and all the awkward bumps have been eliminated. But this year I can’t get to grips with the track. I’m working on my riding style a lot but the pace was very high this afternoon in the final qualifying session. I had a small crash yesterday and my back hurts. On top of that I had a slight technical problem which made me lose some time, and at the end of the day the outcome isn’t what I expected. I don¹t know what to think about tomorrow¹s race but I will give my maximum because I need to really understand my machine’s behaviour in order to find solutions to improve.” Danny Webb, Molenaar Honda: 34th.”I am pretty happy with my lap time but not my grid position. I ran 1m 30.2s in the morning session 30.3 in qualifying. I am really close to a bunch in front of me. The last section of the track is tight I just cannot get it right and I am not fast enough there but I really like the fast section. The bike is very good and I can run consistent lap times. If I get a good start and get with the group of about ten riders close to me in lap times ahead of me I will have a good race.” Dino Lombardi, Kopron Scot Honda: 35th. “I’m weak and I haven’t strength to ride fast as I would like and I can, in fact today I made only 6 laps. In order to regain 100% fitness I think I need training and more confidence in my possibilities. Riding in a such a slow way I fear to be a danger on track, tomorrow we’ll see how the warm-up will go.”