Repsol Honda Team riders on the second row of the grid again.
Nicky Hayden fourth and Dani Pedrosa, who had a light crash this morning, seconds his team mate with the fifth best time.
The second and definitive qualifying session had once again Repsol riders playing the leading roles in the MotoGP class. Nicky Hayden meddled in the fight for the pole, although he finally missed it by one tenth of a second that set him back to the fourth place on the row. Team mate Dani Pedrosa did not have a good start in the morning because he suffered a crash after a good session, six minutes before the end, while being third and just about to beat the best time set so far. Dani Pedrosa suffered his third crash in the MotoGP class today the first was in Australia, the second in Barcelona during the MotoGP tests, both times on the wet. In the afternoon and once having recovered from the light crash, Dani performed another good practice session, setting the fifth fastest time, right behind team mate Nicky Hayden. With this result, both Repsol Honda Team riders will be starting tomorrow, as they did two weeks ago in Jerez, from the second row of the grid.
In the 250cc Sebastián Porto was not able to improve this afternoon the fastest time he set yesterday, but the Argentinean rider and his team know the way to follow after the bad results with the changes tested today. Porto was however fifth in the overall results of the two practice days and he will be starting tomorrow from the second row of the grid. Team mate Shuhei Aoyama – on a track that is causing him more problems than initially expected by the young Japanese rider – finished sixteenth overall today and will be starting tomorrow from the fourth row of the starting grid.
And in the 125cc, Repsol rider Bradley Smith continues with his constant evolution in the class. Bradley was seventeenth in the morning, a bit over two seconds of the fastest time. In the afternoon’s decisive qualifying practice, the British rider set the twenty-second best time and he will be starting tomorrow from the sixth row of the starting grid. Twenty-fifth on the grid at the Spanish Grand Prix, Smith will be starting one row ahead in Qatar.
Rider´s comments
Dani Pedrosa.
Total laps: 41.Total kilometres:220.58 Km.
My grid position here is the same as Jerez which is not too bad because that was a track I know well and we tested there for three days before the race. But this track is new to me on this bike, so I think 5th is ok. I feel quite good for the race. The most important thing now is to try to get a good start and get a good position into the first corner this is very important. The qualifying session was difficult for me again. We improved a little, but I still have to learn many things about qualifying: the timing, how to take the most profit from the qualifying tyre and to learn which front tyre I prefer for the track. I had crash this morning when I went on the white line and it was very dusty, I touched the brake a little bit and went down. It was my mistake, but now I know about this for the future!
Nicky Hayden.
Total laps: 47. Total kilometres:252.86 Km.
Man, its close! Its kinda frustrating to be that close but still be so far away because actually a tenth in qualifying is a lot. But Im looking forward to the race it should be fun. The Michelin qualifying tyres definitely help my bike. Right now my issues are with grip, but when we put the qualifying tyre in were one tenth off pole. In race trim its been a little frustrating. We can make the bike better in one area, like getting into the corner, and then its not so good coming out. Luckily Ive got a lot of sharp people around here working hard, so its not for a lack of effort – or a lack of brains! Tomorrows race day, well try and sweeten it up overnight, arrive in the morning with the race face on and be ready to go for it when the lights go out. On the practice starts I had some problems with the clutch and the bike reared up. I thought it was me so I tried to do another one and I felt like a goon when it did the same thing! The team will get it sorted though.
Sebastián Porto.
Total laps: 34.Total kilometres:182.92 Km.
Weve made some changes and weve gone a bit back, but we also managed to improve a bit this afternoon towards the end. The main aspect today was the engine, that didnt work well, it was a bit slower than yesterday. I think that this was the main factor. But Im calm, well have to go back with the settings, to try to have a competitive bike tomorrow again, like the one we had yesterday. Its always different in the race. The Aprilias have been showing that they are more competitive during the practices, so its difficult to beat them there, but the race is something different. There are going to be many laps to cover, it’s going to be really hot and we are betting on the bike’s regularity. Lets hope that everything works well and that we have made the right choices.
Shuhei Aoyama.
Total laps: 37. Total kilometres:199.06 Km.
Im not at all happy with the result and the grid position. This circuit is more difficult than I initially thought. We need to improve the behaviour of the bike further, but its the rider who has to do things much better here, because Im not riding very well on this circuit yet. Its not something specific Im doing wrong but I have to be better in the fast areas, in the slow corners, entering and exiting the corners. Im in a back position for the start and that was not my plan. My aim for tomorrow is to finish among the top six, although I know that its going to be difficult.
Bradley Smith.
Total laps: 29. Total kilometres:156.020 Km.
Today was really good in the morning. We tried a hard compound in the rear, that didnt work so well but I improved on my times from the previous qualifying so that was a bonus. This afternoon wasnt so good, it was a little bit hotter, and we still went for another type of tyre, but it was pushing on the front and I had a lot of problems, but we got through it and I think I was twenty-second, so Im happy. Its better than Jerez so its an improvement and Im just looking forward to the race now. Its going to be a long hard race obviously with the conditions as they are but I think I can cope with that. I have to make sure that I push off at the beginning, rather than measuring out during the first few laps and make sure that I can go with the group and then see if I can hang in there. It’s definitely going to be hard but I’m looking forward to it.
Classifications
MotoGP
- C.Stoner (Honda) 1.55.683
- L.Capirossi (Ducati) 1.55.721
- T.Elías (Honda) 1.55.735
- N.Hayden (Honda) 1.55.793
- D.Pedrosa (Honda) 1.56.008
250
- J.Lorenzo (Aprilia) 2.01.755
- H.Barberá (Aprilia) 2.02.081
- R.Locatelli (Aprilia) 2.02.198
- A.de Angelis (Aprilia) 2.02.359
- S.Porto (Honda) 2.02.452
8. S.Aoyama (Honda) 2.03.031
125
- A.Bautista (Aprilia) 2.07.453
- M.Pasini (Aprilia) 2.07.628
- M.Kallio (KTM) 2.07.676
- S.Gadea (Aprilia) 2.07.693
- L.Pesek (Derbi) 2.07.872
22. B.Smith (Honda) 2.10.135
