FIM MotoGP World Championship Le Mans, France May 14 Qualifying Results (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Casey STONER, Australia (HONDA), 1:33.153 2. Marco SIMONCELLI, Italy (HONDA), 1:33.212 3. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (HONDA), 1:33.621 4. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 1:33.683 5. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:33.706 6. Cal CRUTCHLOW, Great Britain (YAMAHA), 1:33.804 7. Colin EDWARDS, USA (YAMAHA), 1:34.063 8. Ben SPIES, USA (YAMAHA), 1:34.206 9. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:34.206 10. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (DUCATI), 1:34.277 11. Randy DE PUNIET, France (DUCATI), 1:34.351 12. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:34.513 13. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (HONDA), 1:34.612 14. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), 1:34.650 15. Loris CAPIROSSI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:34.866 16. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (DUCATI), 1:35.010 17. Toni ELIAS, Spain (HONDA), 1:35.433 More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Álvaro Bautista produced yet another brave performance during today’s qualifying at Le Mans to put his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R on the fourth row for tomorrow’s race. Bautista (P12, 1’34.513, 29 laps) improved consistently throughout the day, and during this afternoon’s qualifying was regularly in the top-10, he produced solid race-pace laps that show he has a chance of being competitive on Sunday. His final time was less than a second from a front-row start and with the injury he is still carrying, and the lack of track-time that he has had on a MotoGP machine around the French circuit, emphasise what a superb performance the Spaniard has produced today. Dry and sunny conditions again covered the 4,185m Le Mans track and for the second day in succession Honda’s Casey Stoner led the way in both of the sessions and took pole position for tomorrow’s race, but with rain a possibility for Sunday the race could be wide open. The main event gets underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT) on Sunday 15th May, when Bautista will be looking to continue with the improvement in fitness and hard work – that he has so far shown this weekend – to bring his Rizla Suzuki home in a good points scoring position. Álvaro Bautista: “I am happy with the work we have done today. This morning we tried a new setting in the bike because yesterday we needed more rear grip when we entered the corners and today we tried to make the bike shorter to help with this. It was the right thing to do because suddenly it felt much better, but the change was made on the old frame, so this afternoon we put the same setting in the new chassis and the improvement was even better. My rhythm was between mid 1’34 and 1’35 all the time and this was easy to do. At the end of qualifying I tried to follow some other guys, but I made some mistakes on my best lap so I think I can certainly improve on that. We have done a good job today and I am happy with the whole team because they are helping me so much to get the confidence in the bike. If we continue in this way I think we will be at the top of our performance very soon!” Paul Denning Team Manager: “Álvaro had done incredibly well to return from injury in Estoril and today in Le Mans he has begun to compete properly and ride with his usual levels of aggression. It’s easy to underestimate the psychological as well as physical – effects of accidents and injuries, and to come back as quickly as he has and to such a reasonable level is very encouraging for the rest of the season. I have to say well done to Tom Álvaro’s Crew Chief for sticking to his guns and making the right changes to the bike, which have allowed Álvaro to be a lot more competitive today.” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Crutchlow and Edwards show class in Le Mans The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team is confident of a strong showing in its crucial home race tomorrow after Cal Crutchlow and Colin Edwards produced breathtaking qualifying performances at the Le Mans circuit this afternoon. Crutchlow’s fantastic rookie season in the MotoGP World Championship continued in brilliant fashion, the British rider surging to a career best sixth position on the grid in just his second day of riding at the legendary Bugatti track in France. The 25-year-old spent most of the session assessing the performance of Bridgestone’s hard compound rear tyre before Crutchlow commenced a stunning time attack in the final 1 5 minutes. A lap of 1.34.374 pushed him into fifth position but Crutchlow then shaved another 0.5s off to secure a memorable maiden top six place on the grid for tomorrow’s 28-lap French Grand Prix. Crutchlow’s best time of 1.33.804 was only 0.098s behind reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo riding the factory Yamaha YZR-M1 machine, as less than 1.5s split the top 14 riders in an enthralling session. Crutchlow was less than 0.2s away from a front row start, raising hopes that he can fight for a third consecutive top ten finish in tomorrow’s race. With temperatures slightly cooler than yesterday as scattered cloud hung over the Le Mans circuit, American Colin Edwards equaled his best qualifying performance of the campaign and he’ll start the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team’s all-important home race from seventh on the grid. Edwards worked tirelessly to improve the set-up he first trie d during the Estoril test earlier this month, which significantly helped with the rear grip of his YZR-M1 machine. Edwards, who has scored two of his 11 MotoGP podiums in Le Mans, clocked a best time of 1.34.063 to finish seventh on the timesheets. Edwards was only 0.259s behind Crutchlow. Cal Crutchlow 6th 1.33.804 28 laps “I knew I had the raw speed to come into MotoGP and be fast, but to get a top six on the grid in just my fourth race is a brilliant achievement. Thanks again to my guys in the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team because we’ve worked really well again and I wanted to do well with this being the Team’s home race in France. At one point in the session I was only 15th and I was starting to get a bit worried because we spent a lot of time on the hard tyre. I couldn’t get it to work and I did a faster lap on a softer tyre that had done 30- laps. To be honest, the bike has been quite difficult to ride this weekend. We’ve had to change the wheelbase setting from the Estoril test but it still feels a little bit unstable. To qualify sixth on a circuit I’ve never seen before though is great, but my expectation will still be to finish in the top ten. And that’s going to be difficult when you look at how close the times are. As always I’ll be going all out tomorrow to get a good result.” Colin Edwards 7th 1.34.063 30 laps “I liked looking at the timesheets in Le Mans a lot better when the Yamaha used to be on the top. I honestly can’t do anything on else with the package I’ve got. I know I’m riding really good and the set-up we found in Estoril that improved rear grip has been working fantastic here too. I could probably find a tenth or two but I definitely don’t have another second hidden away. I know where I’m losing the time but there is nothing I can do about it. I can’t change the bike to make it accelerate it any harder but that other bike is a really good package. The goal tomorrow will just to be aggressive in the first few laps and ride the wheels off it until I see the flag. That’s really all I can do but this is the Team’s home race and a huge event for Monster, so I’ll be pushing my hardest for another top six.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing Team: DE PUNIET FALLS BUT REMOUNTS AND JUST MISSES THE TOP TEN. CAPIROSSI FIFTEENTH The starting grid for the fourth round of the MotoGP World Championship at Le Mans took place this afternoon. There’s some disappointment inside the Pramac Racing Team garage, with Randy De Puniet suffering a fall during the first part of the qualifying session. Despite a hard knock to his left shoulder, the Frenchman immediately remounted his Ducati, managing to complete the session in eleventh place, just a few thousandths behind factory Ducati riders Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi. As for his teammate Loris Capirossi, the Italian was disappointed with what has thus far been a forgettable weekend. He’ll start from the fifth and penultimate row, ahead of Karel Abraham and Toni Elias. Marco Rigamonti – Randy De Puniet’s Track Engineer “We threw away this morning’s session because we started with the tire used during yesterday’s free-practice sessions. In the afternoon, the crash certainly didn’t help us, but Randy really did a great job by managing to do more than ten laps in a row with his qualifying tyre. He put the crash out of his head right away and his feeling with the bike wasn’t affected. At the end of the session, he hit a little traffic and therefore wasn’t able to take advantage of the final minutes. The numbers speak clearly, however: we’re a tenth off Hayden’s Ducati, which means we’ve done our best. We know what the problem is; in some conditions, the bike doesn’t turn like it should. Now we’ll analyze the data together with Ducati to see if we can solve the problem.” Randy De Puniet – Pramac Racing Team 11th, 1’34.351” “I’m okay despite my crash at the beginning of qualifying. Looking at the pictures, I think I was lucky to make it back to the garage; I could have been serioiusly hurt, and instead I only have a little pain in my left shoulder. I don’t remember a lot about the crash, just that my head hit my shoulder. In the end, the time wasn’t so bad, especially because it’s the best I could do. We’re just behind the factory Ducati team, which means I gave everything I had. For tomorrow’s race, I hope to get back into the top ten; that would be a good result for me and my fans.” Loris Capirossi – Pramac Racing Team 15th, 1’34.866 “I’m still having a very hard time. Today I wasn’t able to find traction on corner exits, and this problem cost me a few too many tenths. Tomorrow we have to change something. I tried today, and in the end we’re all very close, within just a few tenths. Unfortunately, I can’t manage to get the most out of my laps. I have to give it my best effort and hope that everything goes well.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner set pole position for the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France by a margin of just 0.059s over Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team). Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) will join the duo on the front row. Stoner continued his form from the weekend at Le Mans but has fierce competition from his Honda rivals as the RC212V dominated the top four places on the grid. The Australian’s lap time of 1’33.153 was just 0.059s faster than Simoncelli as the Repsol Honda rider took his 25th premier class pole at a circuit he has never won at. Simoncelli split the Repsol Hondas, as he had done in the final practice session earlier in the day, and will start from the middle of the front row. Fellow Italian Dovizioso will start from the front row for the first time this season after timing in third fastest. The 25 year-old factory Honda rider finished third at the French circuit in 2010 after passing his team-mate Dani Pedrosa on the final lap, and Pedrosa will head the second row after recording the fourth best lap of the qualifying session. This will be the first time in the 2011 campaign that the Spaniard has not started the race from row one. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) will start from fifth, and like his compatriot Pedrosa will not start from the front row for the first time this season. The reigning MotoGP World Champion is scheduled to become the youngest rider to reach the milestone of 150 Grand Prix starts across all classes on Sunday, and along with his fellow Spaniard Pedrosa was over half a second off the pole position lap time set by Stoner. Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) recorded his best ever qualifying result in MotoGP in his debut season with sixth place. The British rider will start from the second row having improved on his previous best grid spot of eighth, in only his fourth MotoGP race. Team-mate Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) was just behind in seventh. Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) will start from his lowest grid place of the 2011 season so far in eighth place, behind the satellite Yamaha machines, but ahead of the Ducati Team duo of Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden. The Italian just got the edge over his team-mate and will start on the third row in ninth. The nine-time World Champion finished second here last season after Lorenzo passed him to claim victory. Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing) had a tough qualifying hour after crashing into the gravel at Turn 12 in the first ten minutes but managed to finish just outside the top ten in 11th. Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) who missed the MotoGP race here last season due to injury and who is still recovering from his broken femur, finished a respectable 12th place, ahead of Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini), Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar) and Loris Capirossi (Pramac Racing). Bringing up the rear in Sunday’s race will be rookie Karel Abraham (Cardion ab Motoracing) and Toni Elías (LCR Honda) who both crashed during the qualifying hour but were able to rejoin unharmed. Moto2 Championship leader Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) set pole position for this weekend’s Moto2 Monster Energy Grand Prix de France. Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2) and Yuki Takahashi (Gresini Racing) will join Bradl on the front row for Sunday’s race. The German rider’s pole position lap time was 1’38.357 which was 0.045s quicker than Lüthi, meaning he will have started from pole in all four rounds of the 2011 Moto2 season to date. The predicted rain that had been feared did not arrive as the qualifying was run in dry, sunny conditions. Lüthi equalled his best qualifying in the Moto2 class with second in the middle of the front row. The Swiss rider has started from the front row on all four occasions this year. Takahashi on the Moriwaki will start from the front row and was 0.183s off the pole position lap. Aleix Espargaró (Pons HP 40) whose highest grid spot so far this season had been eighth in Spain, will start the race from the second row in fourth spot after being knocked off the front row by the Japanese rider in the final minute. Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing) will start from fifth place on the second row and will be aiming for his first Championship points of 2011. Marc Márquez (Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol) will be making his 50th Grand Prix start at the French GP from the second row in sixth position. Simone Corsi (Ioda Racing Project), third in the Moto2 World Championship after finishing in the top six in the first three races will head the third row having placed seventh, one spot ahead of fellow Italian Andrea Iannone (Speed Master) who is nine points ahead of his fellow Italian in the standings.Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar) who has yet to win a race in the Moto2 class will start from ninth, ahead of Dominique Aegerter (Technomag-CIP) in tenth, who had his best race finish in the intermediate category with fourth place at Estoril in the previous round. Bradley Smith (Tech 3) had an early end to his qualifying after Axel Pons (Pons HP 40) crashed and caught him, sending him flying into the gravel. The Spaniard finished in 14th position as he had to helped away by the marshals. The British rider had to watch the final few minutes in the pit box but luckily was uninjured after the incident, and will start from 17th position on the grid. 125 Bankia Aspar riders Nicolás Terol and Héctor Faubel will head a Spanish one-two-three on the front row for the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France, with Maverick Viñales (Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing Team) in third. Terol’s fastest lap of 1’43.578 was nearly fourth-tenths faster than that of his team-mate and close to breaking the pole record of Sergio Gadea. The Spaniard is set to start his 100th GP on Sunday, his third pole start of the 2011 campaign after a perfect beginning to the year with three victories from three rounds. As the wind got up for the qualifying session, temperatures were not as warm as Friday afternoon. Faubel, whose last pole position came in Malaysia 2007, had to be content with second behind Terol. Sixteen year-old Viñales had an impressive qualifying session to join the Bankia Aspar duo on the front row for the Le Mans race, with his best ever qualifying result in his rookie year. His previous best qualifying position had been ninth in Qatar and he was 0.737s off Terol’s quickest time. Sandro Cortese (Intact Racing Team Germany) has qualified either first or second in each of the first three GP races of the year but could not match that in qualifying in France. The German rider had two moments in the session, the latter cost him his chance of taking a front row start when he ended up in the gravel in the final three minutes. Cortese will start fourth and head the second row ahead of his compatriot Jonas Folger (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport) in fifth. Johann Zarco (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo) took the final spot on the second row in sixth place, for his home race. The third row was an all Spanish affair with 18 year-old Adrián Martín (Bankia Aspar) recording his best every qualifying position in the 125cc class. Sergio Gadea (Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing Team) was eighth, 1.177s off Terol’s pole position and ahead of Efrén Vázquez (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo) in ninth. Luis Salom (RW Racing GP) took the final spot in the top ten. More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: ELIAS CONFIDENT AHEAD TOMORROW’S RACE DESPITE DIFFICULT QUALIFYING SESSION Le Mans, 14 May: LCR Honda MotoGP rider Toni Elias crashed in the last part of today’s qualifying session at Le Mans circuit loosing the chance to improve his performance in readiness for the tomorrow’s 28-lap race. Cooler conditions marked the third free session this morning at the 4.815 Km race track making difficult for riders to the match their pace from yesterday afternoon. The 60-minute qualifying session took place under cloudy skies but asphalt temperature rose up to 33 degrees and the Spaniard aboard the RCV but Elias made big changes to his Honda machinery lapping with more confidence at the stop-and-go track where he already experienced the podium in smaller classes. At 10 minutes to go Elias lost the front on turn six but was able to rejoin the session unharmed. Elias 17th: “I believe we have made a step forward on bike set up because my feeling was better than yesterday. I have lapped on used tyres for the most of the session this afternoon posting decent lap times and then I have moved to new rear tyre. Unfortunately in my last run I lost the front on turn six loosing the chance to improve my lap time and my spot on the grid. Honestly I believe we could have jumped few places and not being in the back of the grid this week end but the base set up we have got now is pretty good and I usually take good starts”. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Today’s qualifying session at Le Mans for tomorrow’s Grand Prix of France was a tough session for Yamaha Factory Racing riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies. Despite the threat of rain this morning the sun did finally break out, allowing the riders to make the best possible use of the softer tyres on track. Lorenzo made another step forward in set-up, going nearly a second faster than yesterday’s free practice. The Mallorcan spent the session hunting for further grip and less wheelie from his Yamaha YZR-M1 as he battled for third position. A front row start was looking possible before dropping to fifth at the end of the heat and a second row start for the race. Spies was also making improvements from yesterday, the American finding an extra 0.7 of a second in qualifying today. A flying lap at the end of the session was unfortunately interrupted by another rider obstructing him, leaving him in eighth place on the third row of the grid for the race. Jorge Lorenzo Position : 5th Time: 1’33.706 Laps: 30 “We start on the second row for tomorrow; we will try to keep our pace of 34.0 or 34.1 seconds. If we can do this then maybe we can fight for the podium. If other riders make some mistakes and are not fast enough and we are a little bit faster then it’s possible to fight for more. It’s our goal and this is what we are going to try for the race. I am optimistic though, I think we are not very far from Pedrosa or Dovizioso and if I can improve my riding and be a bit faster on the race and they struggle a little bit we can be with them.” Ben Spies Position : 8th Time: 1’34.206 Laps: 30 “it was an ok session for us; we got held up a bit on our quick lap but in all actuality I’ve been building up more confidence through the weekend and feeling better with the bike. We’re going to make a change for tomorrow and hopefully we can find something. We have pretty good pace for the race and I’m quite confident we can get some decent points.” Wilco Zeelenberg Team Manager “We are still running a bit behind. We improved our lap time in qualification but fifth position at the moment is the worst we have been in over a year. We need to find more grip on the track and less wheelie for Jorge. We will discuss now what to do and try for tomorrow, there are always possibilities.” Massimo Meregalli Team Director “We are still working to make Ben more comfortable on the bike; hopefully we can find something more for him tonight for his race set-up so he can ride to his full potential. We know he will continue to give 100% tomorrow and fight as hard as he can. On Jorge’s side he has already shown us that he can deliver in race conditions. We will continue to put all of our efforts in for the best possible Yamaha result.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: Stoner storms to pole with Dovizioso 3rd and Pedrosa 4th Four factory Honda riders will start of the Grand Prix of France in the first four positions of the grid, with Repsol Honda riders Casey Stoner, Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa 1st, 3rd and 4th respectively. After dominating the timing sheets throughout the free practice sessions and securing a new Circuit Record Lap yesterday, Stoner shaved a further six tenths off that time with a 1’33.153, securing his 29th career pole position and third of the season. Team mate Andrea Dovizioso scored his first front row of the season, capping a positive weekend so far. Session after session he improved his feeling with the front and has the race pace to fight for the podium. Dani Pedrosa starts from fourth position after finding it difficult to get maximum grip from his RC212V. CASEY STONER 1st – 1’33.153 “We’re very happy with this pole, we focused a lot on race set up this afternoon going from one bike to the another making small adjustments to improve the bike a little. The conditions aren’t perfect at the moment, it’s quite windy so hard to see if you’ve improved or not, but my Honda was working really well and I never found myself pushing to the limit too much which is always good. This is our third pole of the season but we’ve only converted one of them into a victory so we hope to have a little more luck this week here in Le Mans and fight for the win.” ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 3rd – 1’33.621 “I’m very happy to start from the first row, even though this was our target, I didn’t expect it. I was behind Simoncelli for two laps and this helped me because I followed his lines. This afternoon we did some small changes to the set up and my feeling with the front improved. We arrive to the race very confident, I think we can fight for the podium. Tomorrow the race will be tough, Casey is very fast and he may try to run away, I have a good pace and I think I will fight with Simoncelli and Dani. I want to thank my team for all their hard work and hope we can get a good result tomorrow”. DANI PEDROSA 4th – 1’33.683 “We improved quite a lot compared to yesterday, but we still feel lack of traction in the rear and good grip to have the tyre working as we would like. At the beginning of this afternoon’s session we managed to find a good rhythm with the soft tyre, but these are not qualifying tyres anymore and in my last round of the session, with only five laps to push, I could not make the most of the tyre. In the warm up tomorrow we have to improve the bike a little and for the race it’s important to get a good start. Here the first chicane is delicate and we need to avoid any trouble. The first laps will be crucial because the tyres are cold and it’s important to stay in front. Besides Casey, other rivals are closer here, such as Simoncelli and Dovi, Lorenzo has also improved, so we must be prepared to fight because the race will be demanding and long, but as in Estoril, we will try”. More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: NINTH AND TENTH PLACES IN LE MANS QUALIFYING FOR ROSSI AND HAYDEN The qualifying session for the French Grand Prix saw Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden finish with the ninth- and tenth-best times, respectively. The Italian had a decent session, working well with his crew and steadily improving his bike’s setup, as well as his pace with hard tyres. The final minutes, when it was time to mount the softer tyres, were less effective, however, because he wasn’t able to mantain the second row despite improving his performance. Nicky Hayden, who had posted the fourth-best time on Friday and was fifth-best this morning, went long in a corner during what had until then been a very fast lap, and he wasn’t subsequently able to improve. Valentino Rossi (Ducati Marlboro Team) 9th, 1:34.206 “Naturally, we’re not happy with our position: it’s not good, because I had hoped to start from the second row. I’m pleased with the way we worked, though, as well as with how I rode, because I was finally able to ride well. We solved some problems, and we understood that other aspects of the setup weren’t going in the right direction, so we changed them. I think this was our best qualifying session since I’ve been at Ducati, because with just a few minutes left, I was inside sixth place. Unfortunately, when the moment to use the softer tyre comes, we don’t take a big enough step, so tomorrow I’ll have to start from the third row, behind some riders who had a slower pace. We have a couple more ideas to try in the warm-up though, and if they work, we can do better in the race. Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro Team) 10th, 1:34.227 “This morning wasn’t bad, but I hoped for more in qualifying, for sure. The bike was working quite well at the pace I’ve been running, but when I tried to cut those last couple of tenths, it was moving around a lot. It’s unfortunate after being fourth yesterday and fifth this morning. I was hoping to be up a few spots, but I don’t really have a lot of excuses. I had a couple of good, clear laps, but I just didn’t put down the lap time I needed to. I’m starting tenth, and as bad as that sounds, it’s my best grid spot of the year. Anyway, tomorrow is what counts.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: HONDA SWEEPS TOP FOUR PLACES IN LE MANS QUALIFYING Honda’s RC212V MotoGP machine dominated today’s qualifying session at Le Mans for tomorrow’s French Grand Prix, taking the top four slots on the grid. Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda RC212V) was relentless and successful in pursuit of pole position, fighting off strong challenges from fellow Honda riders Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V), Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V) and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V). Le Mans demands excellent braking stability, accurate turning and strong acceleration from a MotoGP bike, features that the 2011 RC212V would seem to have in abundance, especially considering the fact that the same four riders also headed the first three practice sessions here. Stoner dominated all four sessions, just as he did at the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix, which he went on to win. This is the Australian’s first pole at Le Mans and his third from the first four races of 2011, following on from similar performances at Losail and Jerez. His speed today puts him in confident mood for the race, even though he has never scored a victory here. Stoner currently third in the points chase will race using 2011 Öhlins front forks for the first time. Simoncelli closed to within 0.059s of Stoner during his final run, having made steady improvements to his RCV throughout practice. The spectacular Italian on the front row for a second consecutive race is still looking for more confidence in corner entries, but believes he can fight for a podium or maybe even a win. Most of all though, he wants to put behind him the disappointment of crashing out at Jerez and Estoril. Dovizioso is delighted to be third fastest, which puts him on the front row of the grid for the first time this year. The Repsol rider worked hard during the first three sessions, ending up a close third behind Stoner and Simoncelli, and repeated that performance this afternoon, ending up just 0.468s off pole. Pedrosa was unlucky to miss out on a front-row start, completing the session just 0.062s behind team-mate Dovizioso. The Spaniard who is currently just four points adrift of series leader Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) lacked some rear grip and was unable to make full use of a softer rear tyre at the end of the session. This is the first time that Pedrosa will have started off the front row so far this season. Former 250 World Champion Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) wasn’t able to build on a useful first day’s work here and he slipped down the order as a result. The Japanese rider and his crew have a few ideas to try in morning warm-up, which they hope will increase their pace in the race. Toni Elias (LCR Honda MotoGP RC212V) had a tough time in qualifying, ending this afternoon’s session in 17th, albeit only 2.280s down on pole position. His hopes weren’t helped by a heavy fall during the final stages, when he lost control while braking for the Garage Vert hairpin. The reigning Moto2 World Champion was unhurt, but the tumble robbed him of the chance to improve his lap times on his final run. Today’s Moto2 qualifying session produced a very tightly packed grid, with just 1.185s covering the fastest 22 riders and just 2.284s covering the fastest 36 men around this tight and challenging circuit. Once again the man who won the contest for pole position was Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing-Kalex), the young German claiming his fourth pole in as many races, this time by just 0.045s. Bradl who had already made his intentions clear by leading the first three-practice session ahead of Simone Corsi (Ioda Racing Project-FTR) only had once concern during qualifying. In the mid-stages of the session he fitted his new rear tyre, which didn’t come up to expectations, but when he replaced that with another tyre, he was able to improve on last year’s Le Mans Moto2 pole by more than eight tenths of a second. Like all his rivals, Bradl’s other difficulty was finding a clear track so he could get a clean lap. At the very end of the session he looked set to go even faster until he ran into some traffic and had to abort the lap. Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2-Suter) and Yuki Takahashi (Gresini Racing Moto2-Moriwaki) complete the front row, with the three quickest riders separated by a mere 0.203s seconds. Luthi’s second place maintains his 100 per cent 2011 front-row record and tomorrow the Swiss rider will be anxious to make amends for Estoril, where he slid out of the lead, while just ahead of Bradl. Moto2 rookie Aleix Espargaro (Pons HP40-Pons Kalex) leads the second row, ahead of Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team-Suter and Marc Marquez (Team Catalunya Caixa Repsol-Suter). Jerez winner Andrea Iannone (Speed Master-Suter) will start the race from the third row easily his best qualifying performance of the year so far between Corsi and Julian Simon (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2-Suter). Jules Cluzel (Forward Racing-Suter) is the highest-placed local rider. The 22-year-old winner of last year’s Silverstone Moto2 race will start tomorrow’s race from the fourth row of the grid. MotoGP rider quotes Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda: pole position 1m, 33.153s “We’re very happy with this pole. We focused a lot on race set-up this afternoon, going from one bike to the other, making small adjustments to improve the bike a little. The conditions aren’t perfect at the moment. It’s quite windy, so it’s hard to see if you’ve improved or not, but my Honda was working really well and I never found myself pushing to the limit too much which is always good. This is our third pole of the season but we’ve only converted one of them into a victory so we hope to have a little more luck here in Le Mans and fight for the win.” Marco Simoncelli, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 2nd 1m, 33.212s “I got really close to my first-ever pole today 0.059s is hardly anything! Strangely it is the same gap that I missed out on the podium by last year at Estoril. In any case I am happy and we are not in bad shape for the race. We have improved from session to session so I am confident. We have improved under braking today, but I still don’t feel 100% secure. My objective tomorrow is to get to the end of the race and bring some important points home. I won’t be pushing over the limit to get a result at all costs. I want to manage the race well.” Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda: 3rd 1m, 33.621s “I’m very happy to start from the first row. Even though this was our target, I didn’t expect it. I was behind Simoncelli for two laps and this helped me because I followed his lines. This afternoon we did some small changes to the set-up and my feeling with the front improved. We arrived at this race very confident; I think we can fight for the podium. Tomorrow the race will be tough, Casey is very fast and he may try to run away. I have a good pace and I think I will fight with Simoncelli. I want to thank my team for all their hard work and hope we can get a good result tomorrow.” Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 4th 1m, 33.683s “We improved quite a lot compared to yesterday, but we still feel a lack of traction in the rear and good grip to have the tyre working as we would like. At the beginning of this afternoon’s session we managed to find a good rhythm with the soft tyre, but these are not qualifying tyres anymore and in my last run of the session, with only five laps to push, I could not make the most of the tyre. In the warm-up tomorrow we have to improve the bike a little and for the race it’s important to get a good start. Here the first chicane is delicate and we need to avoid any trouble. The first laps will be crucial because the tyres are cold and it’s important to stay in front. Besides Casey, other rivals are closer here, such as Simoncelli and Dovi. Lorenzo has also improved, so we must be prepared to fight because the race will be demanding and long, but as in Estoril, we will try.” Hiroshi Aoyama, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 13th 1m, 34.612s “I am not too happy with the result today. I haven’t improved much on my best lap from yesterday afternoon and for that reason I have dropped a few positions. Hopefully tomorrow in the race I can recover those positions and first of all find some set-up solutions in the morning that will help us have a good race.” Toni Elias, LCR Honda MotoGP: 17th 1m, 35.433s “I believe we have made a step forward on bike set-up because my feeling was better than yesterday. I lapped on used tyres for the most of the session this afternoon, posting decent lap times and then I moved to a new rear tyre. Unfortunately on my last run I lost the front at turn nine, losing the chance to improve my lap time and my spot on the grid. Honestly, I believe we could have jumped few places and not being in the back of the grid this weekend, but the good thing is that the base set-up we have got now is pretty good.” Moto2 rider quotes Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing-Kalex): pole position 1m, 38.357s “I’m happy to be on pole again, but we will have to wait and see what happens tomorrow. So far the weekend has been perfect for us; we’ve been competitive since yesterday morning. During qualifying the season rear tyre didn’t seem perfect, but the next one was good, so we were able to get a good lap time, even though there was always a lot of traffic on the track. We have got a good feeling at the moment, me and my team, so we want to keep working in the same way. We know that many riders will be strong in tomorrow’s race. Most of all, I want to finish and I want to make a clever race.” Thomas Luthi, Interwetten Paddock Moto2-Suter: 2nd 1m, 38.402s “I’m happy to be on the front row again and the goal tomorrow is to get more points than we did at Estoril, where we scored zero. At the beginning of practice I found it quite difficult. I couldn’t find my rhythm and I was stuck in fifth place for a long time, because the guys in front were going very fast. In the end I managed to go a bit faster. I feel like we are ready for the race.” Yuki Takahashi, Gresini Racing Moto2-Moriwaki: 3rd 1m, 38.540s “It seemed like a long session, with everyone riding together, so the track always seemed so busy. My last lap I worked very, very hard to get in a good lap time. My rhythm was already quite good, but on that last lap I was very fast and so I am very happy. My rhythm for the race should be okay so we are looking forward to a strong ride tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Stoner smashes lap record on Bridgestone’s new rear tyre to set pole in France Round 4: French GP Qualifying Le Mans Circuit, Saturday 14 May 2011 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium. Rear (asymmetric): Soft, Medium Casey Stoner continued his domination in France today by securing his third lap record of the season, more than one second faster than the existing Le Mans lap record set by Valentino Rossi in 2008. Stoner has been at the top of the timesheets all weekend on both the harder and softer option rear slicks, but it was on a harder front and the new soft rear that he set his best time on his penultimate lap of the hour-long qualifying session. His time is also 0.3seconds faster than last year’s pole time set by Rossi. Marco Simoncelli finished an impressive 0.059seconds adrift of Stoner, whilst Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa finished third and fourth to make an all-Honda top four. As riders used Bridgestone’s new soft asymmetric rear slick in the closing stages of qualifying, the laptimes tumbled and the top nine riders all went faster than the lap record. Track conditions today were again good despite an early morning rain shower. The track soon dried and although the morning’s practice session was cold, all the day’s running was dry. The forecast for tomorrow is also good with only a slight chance of rain at lunchtime. Masao Azuma Chief Field Engineer, Bridgestone Motorsport “Once again today we could see good laptimes on both the harder and the softer front and rear slicks which is encouraging for varied tyre compound selections in tomorrow’s race, so long as the track stays dry. Casey again proved very fast, and I am impressed that the top nine riders were all able to lap under the lap record. In qualifying the harder front slick was favoured for its increased stability under braking, which is important with the many braking points at Le Mans, and our new soft rear for the extra grip and feeling it gives riders. I am pleased with the performance from this new rear tyre and from rider feedback I can say it is a feasible option for tomorrow’s race with sufficient durability for 28 laps. Some riders started this morning’s running using soft tyres they had used yesterday, with more than race distance, and still consistency and pace were good so I am very happy about this. This afternoon, the track was cooler than yesterday during FP2 yet still the medium compound slicks worked well so I am pleased with our compound selection.”