Nicky Hayden flying at ground level over Phillip Island.
The Repsol Honda Team rider takes the third pole of his sports career.
The Australian circuit of Phillip Island has always been venue of beautiful duels and there is every sign that this time wont be an exception. Repsol Honda Team rider Nicky Hayden set the fastest time of the MotoGP qualifying practice this afternoon, leaving Valentino Rossi, Sete Gibernau and Carlos Checa behind, despite having shown that they are, together with the North American rider, the riders in best shape on the Australian track. The last five minutes were a tough fight between these four riders, swapping places on the time sheets.
Two minutes before the end of the session, Hayden went for the pole setting a superb 1.29.337, one second and a half faster than the circuit record, which Capirossi had set in 2004. Haydens team-mate, Italian rider Max Biaggi, made also a good practice session, and despite not having been in the fight for the pole, he has managed to find a good race pace, showing himself very optimistic. Max Biaggi was sixth and he will be starting tomorrow from the second row of the grid. In the 250cc, the pole went to Casey Stoner who has been constantly improving this weekend. Dani Pedrosas rival in the fight for the title set the fastest time despite a hard-fighting Sebastián Porto, who was fastest in the mornings free session, Lorenzo and De Angelis. The Argentinean Porto was not able to keep the pole set yesterday due to some problems with the setting of his bike. His team-mate Randy De Puniet, who hasnt been able to feel comfortable on his Aprilia this weekend, finished ninth and is out of the second row of the starting grid.
Dani Pedrosa, who has been improving step by step along both qualifying practice sessions, was finally fifth and will start tomorrow from the second row of the grid. Little luck in the minor class for the Repsol riders. The fastest of them in today’s second qualifying practice was Joan Olivé, although he managed to be second only two minutes before the end of the session. Unfortunately he was overtaken by several riders in the last lap of the practice dropping down to the tenth place and the third row of the grid. Héctor Faubel will be taking the start one row behind. An unfortunate crash caused by another rider forced him off the fight for the leading positions, having to settle for a back thirteenth position. The fastest clock was set today by Swiss rider Thomas Luthi.
Rider´s comments:
MotoGP. Nicky Hayden,
1st on the grid.
Third free practice 3rd, 1’30.696, 31 laps
First qualifying practice 1st, 129.337, 30 laps
Pole’s pretty cool. The Michelin qualifiers today were really good. I used three sets and they seemed to get better and better. There are times round here when you really shouldn’t be opening the gas but the tyres just gripped – amazing. On that last lap I just hung in there. Me and Rolfo almost came together! I was pretty committed so I just had to stick the bike up the inside and hope. I thought it wasn’t going to be pretty but it worked out OK. We’re struggling a little on race pace to be honest so we’re definitely going to have to dig in tomorrow but I’ll enjoy the pole now. The guys have done a great job all weekend and we’ve kinda’ snuck up to the front little by little
MotoGP. Max Biaggi,
6th on the grid.
Third free practice 9th, 1’31.336, 25 laps
First qualifying practice 6th, 130.070, 32 laps
I can’t say I totally happy to be on the second row but considering where we have qualified recently this is not so bad. What is encouraging is that the bike seems to be more balanced than we have had it all weekend. We’ve had trouble getting weight on the front and traction at the back but it definitely seems that things are coming better. We seem to be able to make some regular fast laps on race tyres which is good for the race. Tomorrow we still have a lot of work to do before we are ready for the race.
250. Sebastián Porto,
4th on the grid.
Second free practice 1st, 1’33.099, 26 laps
Second qualifying practice 4th,1’33.496, 15 laps
It’s a shame that we haven’t been able to finish off the good job we have done throughout practice. In the final few minutes we had an engine problem with the number one bike and I wasn’t able to ride at all for the remainder of the session, which is crucial to lower your time. Hopefully I can have more luck tomorrow and have a good race – maybe even repeat my victory from last season
250. Dani Pedrosa,
6th on the grid.
Second free practice 4th, 1’33.740, 28 laps
Second qualifying practice 5th, 1’33.691, 23 laps
Weve improved a bit compared to yesterday, but its not enough, and in the end we didnt manage to clock a good time. There was some traffic in the two last laps and one of the tyres we used was not the best to go for a fast lap, so we were not able to make good use of the last minutes of the qualifying practice. We also have to consider that the other riders are being very fast. It will be very important to make a good start tomorrow and to be a bit faster in the first section of the circuit because it is there where I loose some time. It will be a complicated race, especially during the first laps, because Stoner will probably push hard from the beginning and the tyres will still be cold. Well have to be watchful, do a good warm-up and hope that everything runs smoothly.
250. Hiroshi Aoyama,
8th on the grid.
Second free practice 9th, 1’34.892, 30 laps
Second qualifying practice 8th,1’34.134, 21 laps
The main problem weve had today is that I have the feeling that I lack grip on both slow corners and I cannot enter fast not open the throttle in the exit. As regards the rest, the bike is working fine and if we manage to improve this during the warm-up, I think that we will be able to make a good step forward. It is very important to start from the first two rows in this circuit and at least I managed to stay there. We’ll have to make a good start to keep the pace during the first laps.
250. Randy De Puniet
9th on the grid.
Second free practice 6th, 1’34.058, 27 laps
Second qualifying practice 9th,1’34.341, 21 laps
I am not satisfied with the result today because we didn’t have a good session. We changed the configuration of the bike to try and solve some problems that I had but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get comfortable at all. We have to find a solution to the problem in the warm up tomorrow if we want to cut back the gap to the rest of the riders in the race.
125. Joan Olivé,
10th on the grid.
Second free practice 12th, 1’39.093, 21 laps
Second qualifying practice 10th, 1’38.208, 17 laps
Things went quite good today, lets say very good. I was in the top of the sheets until two minutes before the end of the session, but I came across a group of riders during my fast lap and that hindered me from being faster. I couldnt improve my time and in the end Im less than one second behind the fastest time. Im happy anyway because the bike is working really well, weve managed to find a good set-up that makes me feel very well and thats important for the race. I hope everything works out well tomorrow to be able to get a good result.
125. Héctor Faubel,
13th on the grid.
Second free practice 9th, 1’38.857, 18 laps
Second qualifying practice 13th, 1’38.649, 11 laps
Bad luck has struck once again. I had a good session today and I was third fastest with five minutes remaining but a rider knocked me off when I went out on a soft tyre for my fastest lap. I am really annoyed to be on the fourth row but at least the bike is running well, we have worked on the suspension and engine and in general I am satisfied.
Track conditions
- Air: 16º-18º
- Asphalt: 19º-27º
- Humidity: 21%-25%
- Wind: 10 Km/h
Standings :
125cc.
- T. Luthi 1’37.543
- M. Pasini 1’37.704
- G. Talmacsi 1’37.731
- M. Simoncelli 1’37.796
- M. Kallio 1’37.906
10. J. Olivé 1’38.208
13. H. Faubel 1’38.649
22. S. Gadea 1’39.610
24. J. Carchano 1’39.701
30. M. Túnez 1’40.678
250cc.
- C. Stoner 1’32.756
- J. Lorenzo 1’32.843
- A. De Angelis 1’32.882
- S. Porto 1’33.496
- D. Pedrosa 1’33.691
8. H. Aoyama 1’34.134
9. R. De Puniet 1’34.341
13. A. Debón 1’35.028
MotoGP
- N. Hayden 1’29.337
- V. Rossi 1’29.443
- S. Gibernau 1’29.729
- C. Checa 1’29.775
- C. Edwards 1’29.943
- M. Biaggi 1’30.070
