In the MotoGP class, it was again Valentino Rossi who managed to take the pole ahead of Sete Gibernau and Marco Melandri. The Italian was the only rider able to lap under 159 sec. (158.936). Repsol rider Nicky Hayden, who had been seventh fastest in the morning, will take the start tomorrow from the fifth place. Hayden who lost quite a lot of time in the first two sectors of the demanding and fast track, used most of the practice to find a good balance in the setting that would work in the first two sectors as good as in the two last ones. The North American rider also managed to largely reduce the grip problems he was having yesterday. Hayden hopes to make another step forward during the warm-up before the race where he will try to find solutions that will allow him to get a good result in the race. A bit more of an excitement during the practice session for his teammate Max Biaggi. The Italian, who had been eighth in the morning, less than two tenths behind Hayden, set the ninth fastest time in the qualifying practice, allowing him to start from the third row of the grid. Biaggi protagonised the most bitter side of the practice after being involved in an incident with Marco Melandri at the renewed chicane of “The Cathedral”. Both riders were summoned by the Race Direction, who decided to impose a penalty of 5000 US$ to the Repsol rider due to “irresponsible riding, causing damage to other riders. Biaggi will also have to pay a fine of 1000 US$ for practising starts before the end of the session, something that is completely forbidden due to safety reasons.
Heart-stopping finish of the qualifying practice in the quarter-of-a-litre class, with several riders, among which were Lorenzo, Porto, Pedrosa and Stoner, performing an incredible fight hard for the best time until the very last instant. Sebastián Porto, who had been fastest in the morning, managed to improve the pole time set by Stoner by half a second in the afternoon after a masterly lap. However, and under the chequered black showing incredible braveness, Lorenzo was able to clock the fastest time, taking the leading place on the grid of tomorrow´s race, with an advantage of less than two tenths over Porto. Pedrosa, who was second fastest in the morning´s free practice, was also in the fight for the fastest time until the last moment, although he finally had to settle for the third place. Thus, the front row is made up by Lorenzo, Porto, Pedrosa and Stoner. Randy De Puniet managed to solve the problems he had yesterday with the front end, being one of the first riders to improve his time in the session. However, five minutes before the end of the session, the French rider suffered a crash without physical consequences. He went back to his garage quickly to get the second bike, but he only was able to do one more lap to try to get a better place on the grid. Unfortunately he couldn´t and he´ll be starting tomorrow from the ninth place.
The high temperatures on the Dutch circuit made it hard for the 125cc riders to improve the times set yesterday. The KTM machines of Kallio and Talmacsi, together with Pasini and Simoncelli, protagonised the fight for the pole position that finally went to the Finnish rider. It hasn´t been until the end of the session when most of the riders managed to improve their times. Segio Gadea was one of the few who didn´t manage to do so, although the time he had set yesterday took him to the sixth place on the starting grid of tomorrow´s race, his best qualifying result so far. Gadea wasn´t able to make much use of today´s practice sessions, neither did his teammate Héctor Faubel. It wasn´t until the last lap of the qualifying practice when Faubel managed to improve his time and move up to the ninth position on the grid. Despite their situation, both Repsol riders managed to find a good set-up for their Aprilia and are confident about their possibilities for the race. The order is clear: to make a good start, because the set-up work has been done. The bad side of the day was for young Mateo Túnez, who crashed at the beginning of the free practice in the morning, hurting his little finger of the left hand, in addition to several contusions in the back and arm. After the pertinent treatment, Túnez went for all in the afternoon, but crashed again in the second lap and didn´t rejoin the practice. Although the pain was evident, the young rider will fight tomorrow to score his first points in the Championship. His teammate Jordi Carchano did not manage to feel comfortable on the bike and will start tomorrow from a back 34th position. Joan Olivé, with several problems with the set-up, will start form the sixteenth place.
Repsol rider´s comments
MotoGP. Nicky Hayden
Third free practice 7th, 201.447, 24 laps
First qualifying practice 5th, 159.784, 22 laps
Fifth place again! Seems like Im stuck on fifth; its getting kinda old. To be honest that session wasnt great. At one point I was down in 12th and we were really struggling and I guess we were lucky to pull something out of the bag at the end and get a second row start. At least we have a respectable place to start the race tomorrow. We just need to find something big tomorrow morning and perhaps gamble a bit for the race. Well have to make a good start to have a chance of running with the front guys tomorrow.
MotoGP. Max Biaggi
Third free practice 8th, 201.631, 22 laps
First qualifying practice 9th, 200.281, 24 laps
Im pretty satisfied with today´s testing because we found a good setting for the race. Unfortunately I crashed the bike number one when I came into contact with Franco Battaini and so I couldnt use it to do the fastest lap. I had to qualify with bike number two but Im pretty confident for the race. The team did a good job and we can try to be with the fastest guys.
250 GP. Sebastián Porto,
2nd on the grid.
Second free practice 1st, 205.214, 21 laps
Second qualifying practice 2nd, 204.738, 15 laps
I´m very happy because when the bike has a good setting I can be in the front and clock good times. We´re competitive again and, even if we were just about to get the pole today, the most important is that we´re fine and that we´ve got a good race pace. That´s what we focussed on during the morning´s free practice. We´ll start from the front row tomorrow; it´ll be a hard race, but we´re ready to give our best. Too bad if it rains tomorrow, but that´s something we can´t control. Let´s see what happens if it rains, although it would be a shame.
250 GP. Dani Pedrosa,
3rd on the grid.
Second free practice 2nd, 205.226, 21 laps
Second qualifying practice 3rd, 204.901, 17 laps
Everything went fine during the practice today. I improved a lot compared to yesterday, both as regards my best time and the pace, and I also think that we´ve found a good configuration for the race. Our ideas are much clearer now, although we still have some doubts as regards the tyres to be used. The times of the fastest riders are very close, so I think that if the track is dry, there are going to be four or five riders in the front. It will be a difficult, hard and very contended race, so let´s see what happens tomorrow. We only have to wait for the start and for the weather, because the forecasts are not very optimistic. Let´s hope for a dry track.
250 GP. Randy De Puniet,
9th on the grid.
Second free practice 7th, 206.418, 24 laps
Second qualifying practice 8th, 206.263, 17 laps
I don´t know what happened this afternoon during the qualifying practice. I crashed again and I don´t know why I hardly touched the brakes and I wasn´t even on the throttle. I was being fast to improve my time, but after the crash I had to go back to the garage to take the second bike. I was only able to do one lap and it´s been impossible to improve. Although the behaviour of the bike improved compared to yesterday, the crash is always due to the same problem in the front end. My feelings on the bike have improved since yesterday. It´s been difficult, but we´ll try to find a solution for tomorrow to be able to be in the lead.
125 GP. Sergio Gadea,
6th on the grid.
Second free practice 17th, 214.405, 16 laps
Second qualifying practice 17th, 214.281, 11 laps
It´s been a very difficult practice, because it´s been very warm. It was difficult to improve our performance and that of the bike. On the other hand I´m happy because I´ve made my best qualifying result this year so far and I think that I´ll be able to be in the front tomorrow. The start will be essential, because it´s a decisive moment. I´m making good starts lately and I hope to continue like this tomorrow.
125 GP. Héctor Faubel,
9th on the grid.
Second free practice 21st, 214.626, 14 laps
Second qualifying practice 8th, 213.370, 11 laps
I´m quite angry because the results of the practice haven´t been as expected. We changed the bike´s configuration during the free practice in the morning and didn´t get good results. In the afternoon, during qualifying, we went back to yesterday´s configuration and I felt much better. Lapping on my own I managed to clock 2´13 and then I waited to see if I could get a reference from another rider. I had never done that before and I think that I´ll never do it again because you must manage to set the times by yourself. Although I improved the time set yesterday I´m not completely satisfied. Moreover, they say that it´s going to rain tomorrow, although I hope they´re wrong.
Track conditions
- Air: 35º
- Asphalt: 45º
- Humidity: 10%
- Wind: 4 Km/h
