The Australian and his team mate at the Repsol Honda Team, Dani Pedrosa, dominate the qualifying session, where Andrea Dovizioso finished fifth
Casey Stoner showed again in today’s practice his dominant side. The Repsol rider set the fastest time of 1 minute, 48 seconds and 451 thousandths and, together with Dani Pedrosa, they were the only ones able to ride under one minute and 49 seconds. Andrea Dovizioso finished in fifth position and will start from the second line of the starting grid.
In the second free practice session of the weekend held this morning —yesterday they were cancelled due to a power shortage—, Casey Stoner started very strong since the beginning. In his eighth lap he set the fastest time of the session, stopping the clock in 1 minute, 49 seconds and 272 thousands. The Repsol rider, together with Dani Pedrosa, second, and Andrea Dovizioso, fourth, placed the three bikes of the Repsol Honda Team in the top four at the end of the morning session.
In the qualifying session, once again Stoner took the initiative in the first minutes, riding again under 1 minute and 50 seconds. Showing a very good pace, the Repsol rider kept improving his times until stopping the clock 15 minutes before the end in 1 minute, 48 seconds and 663 thousandths. Riding at the limit, the Repsol rider kept reducing tenths from his own time and, despite suffering a minor crash, he took his ninth pole of the season.
Only his team mate at the Repsol Honda Team, Dani Pedrosa, was able to get close to the Australian, setting also a time under 1 minute and 49 seconds. The Spanish rider with the number 26 Honda secured the second position of the starting grid, while Andrea Dovizioso, fifth at the end of the session, will start tomorrow from the second row.
New design
Pedrosa, Stoner and Dovizioso will show tomorrow a new image at the Aragon GP. The Repsol Honda Team riders will have new bikes and overalls specially designed by Spanish designer Davidelfin.
The new design, which is part of the celebration of the 40th anniversary of Repsol’s presence in the Motorcycling World Championship, breaks with the previous style and shows the modernity and strength that characterized Repsol, a referent in innovation and technology, and one of the main international sports sponsors.
Davidelfin was inspired on superheroes and supermen, human cannonballs and in the show in all its aspects. The result is a design characterized by five-pointed stars which, together with the Repsol logo under the Davidelfin typography, give the bike and overalls a unique and unmistakable personality.
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
FP3 – 1:49.334, 27 laps, 137 km.
QP – 1:48.747, 22 laps, 112 km.
“I’m happy with the first row on the grid. I’ve pushed to the limit to get a good position and we achieved it, but to be honest we still need to tune the set up of the bike a little, especially in front because I don’t feel as comfortable as I’d like to and I’m struggling a little under braking. For the race pace, Casey [Stoner] is quicker than us, he is riding very fast and smooth, so I guess he will set the pace tomorrow and we will need to stay close from the beginning of the race. I’m still not 100% sure about the tyre choice, the tyres are suffering a lot especially on the left side. In principal, the medium compound should be the right one for the distance, but we need to wait and see how the weather is. Let’s hope we can find something else on the setting tonight and have a good race in front of the Spanish fans”.
Andrea Dovizioso >> Audio
FP3 – 1:50.139, 29 laps, 147 km.
QP – 1:49.372, 26 laps, 132 km.
“I’m quite satisfied with this qualifying session as we have a good race pace but Casey [Stoner] is so strong and seems unbeatable. We will do our best to strengthen our position in the Championship and we want to fight Dani’s [Pedrosa] comeback and gain some points on Lorenzo. During today’s qualifying I didn’t do a perfect fast lap, but starting from the second row is not so bad. We will continue working on the set up because the main issue remains the tyre wear on the rear. The key point of the race will be managing the tyres because with these hot temperatures and this kind of asphalt, the tyres suffer a lot, I expect that we will all race with the hard option tyre. Concerning the race I aim to make a good start and maintain the contact with the front group”.
Casey Stoner >> Audio
FP3 – 1:49.272, 24 laps, 122 km.
QP – 1:48.451, 20 laps, 102 km.
“It was a very eventful qualifying session for us! Everything has been going very well this weekend, we have a good feeling with the bike and I’m feeling great. At the end of the session we put on the soft tyre and on the first lap I was a little too cautious in T1 as I wasn’t sure if the tyres were warm enough, then I pushed on the second lap and I had a lot more grip than I expected so I went through the corner much faster and I wasn’t able to slow down, I pulled the bike up but it was difficult to reduce the speed and I ended up needing to lay the bike down to avoid the wall. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to restart the bike which is a shame as I was happier on that one, but even on the second bike we were able to improve our time. Now we need to see what the weather brings for tomorrow but we’re feeling good and I hope for a good race”.
