As has become the norm over the years in the Australian GP, variable weather conditions once again came into play today at the Phillip Island circuit, although fortunately without affecting today’s qualifying session. Nevertheless, the rain during the morning’s free practice session ensured that all the teams will have had some practice in both wet and dry conditions going into tomorrow’s race.
Dani Pedrosa and the Repsol Honda Team had some tense moments in the afternoon, when the Spanish rider came off on one of the fastest sections of the track –the second left-hand bend- during the qualifying session. Around the halfway stage, Pedrosa crashed after the front wheel of his Honda RC212V slipped away suddenly as he hit the brakes on the second bend. Despite the spectacular fall, the gutsy Repsol rider was practically unhurt –just a bit sore in the right wrist and ankle-, and eight minutes later, with just over 20 minutes of qualifying left, he took to the track again on the second bike to reclaim a spot on the front row of tomorrow’s starting grid.
Pedrosa, third behind Stoner and Rossi before the crash, was pushed back to fourth by Lorenzo in the time he was off the bike. After getting back on the circuit with 22 minutes left, the first laps weren’t too productive, partly due to the shaken confidence of the Repsol rider after the dramatic crash. After coming into boxes to make a few adjustments to the second bike, Pedrosa came back out with nine minutes left in the session, and regained third spot from Lorenzo on the penultimate lap by one millisecond.
On the other side of the Repsol Honda Team box, there was a marked improvement in the performance of the Honda RC212V with Öhlins suspension ridden by Andrea Dovizioso. Despite the improvement and coming in just four-tenths of a second behind teammate Pedrosa, his 10th place and fourth row on the grid is not the best way to start tomorrow’s Australian GP. However, Repsol Honda Team’s Italian rider is confident in improving this position coming off the grid, and being able to hold a good race rhythm to put him in with a shout at the end.
Due to the considerable time difference with respect to Europe, tomorrow’s MotoGP will be put back to four o’clock in the afternoon local time, causing some concern given the sharp drops in temperature to be expected at that time. Choice of tyres will once again be a decisive factor in deciding the outcome of tomorrow’s race.
Dani Pedrosa, 1’31.070 secs, 52 laps, 231 km. >> Audio
“I’m pleased to be on the front row because it’s always good to have a clear track ahead of you at the start of the race – and especially since it came after I had quite a big crash in qualifying. It was at high speed on the way into Turn Two so it’s a relief that I wasn’t injured and I was able go straight back out on track for the second half of the session. I’m not sure yet why I fell – I just touched the brake and boom – I was down. We’ll take a look at the data and try to find out exactly what happened. For tomorrow we’ll work on finding a little something in terms of pace to allow us to compete for the win because the riders in front are going quickly. It will be a long race tomorrow so we’ll need to be fully concentrated – and of course it will be important to see what the weather does”.
Andrea Dovizioso, 1’31.472 secs, 54 laps, 240 km. >> Audio
“We made progress today and, in spite of the grid position, we actually improved our situation a little here. During the first three quarters of the qualifying session we tried some different set-up solutions that didn’t really give any improvements. We were also using the hard option tyres that were proving too hard for the conditions so, when we switched to the soft tyres, we improved our rhythm and the lap times came down. I’m a little disappointed because we upped our pace, but not by enough and this means the grid position is not the best. On the plus side, we are only four tenths behind the third fastest time which is actually encouraging, though the grid slot is a pity because starting from the fourth row makes everything more difficult. Anyway tomorrow I will give 100 per cent to make a good start and recover as many positions as possible”.
