FIM MotoGP World Championship Sepang, Malaysia October 9, 2010 Qualifying Results (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 2:01.537 2. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (DUCATI), 2:01.637 3. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (HONDA), 2:01.829 4. Ben SPIES, USA (YAMAHA), 2:01.993 5. Casey STONER, Australia (DUCATI), 2:02.023 6. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), 2:02.030 7. Colin EDWARDS, USA (YAMAHA), 2:02.097 8. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (SUZUKI), 2:02.394 9. Loris CAPIROSSI, Italy (SUZUKI), 2:02.522 10. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (HONDA), 2:02.624 11. Marco SIMONCELLI, Italy (HONDA), 2:02.690 12. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (DUCATI), 2:02.723 13. Randy DE PUNIET, France (HONDA), 2:02.775 14. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (HONDA), 2:02.778 15. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), 2:02.928 16. Mika KALLIO, Finland (DUCATI), 2:04.167 More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Lorenzo leads the way with pole in Malaysia Round 15: Malaysian Grand Prix Qualifying Sepang International Circuit, Saturday 9 October 2010 Bridgestone slick tyre compounds available: Front: Hard, Extra Hard. Rear: Medium, Hard After qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix, the first opportunity for Jorge Lorenzo to seal his first premier class world title, it was the Spaniard who came out on top after just getting ahead of Nicky Hayden on his penultimate lap. With Pedrosa absent from this grand prix, all Lorenzo needs is a top nine finish to clinch the title but with his first pole since Laguna Seca in July he starts tomorrow in the best shape. Track conditions today had improved since yesterday, as the lap times demonstrate, and the top seven riders were all under the existing lap record but Lorenzo’s pole time was one second shy of the benchmark last year, set on exactly the same compound Bridgestone tyres, indicating that the track surface is still not ideal. With one minute to go of the hour-long session, Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden was running strongly in provisional pole, before Lorenzo’s penultimate effort left the American just 0.1 seconds adrift. It is Hayden’s best qualifying result of the season. Starting tomorrow’s race from the outside of the front row is Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso, who has qualified in the top three for the third time this season and for the second race in succession after his pole position in Japan. Ben Spies, Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi make up the second row of the grid. The top three riders all used the softer option rear Bridgestone slicks but Lorenzo used the softer front whereas Hayden and Dovizioso favoured the harder option. Race tyre choice is still looking mixed for tomorrow with both front and rear options offering good performance at Sepang. Again the temperature and humidity were high today, making it very demanding for the riders, the bikes and the tyres, and whilst the harder option slicks provide more durability and stability in these conditions, the softer option also seems viable for the race. Masao Azuma Chief Field Engineer, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department “We can see from the improvement in times that track conditions were much better today than yesterday and the field is really quite close, much closer than last year, although it seems that the surface is still more slippery than in the past. The top 15 riders are within 1.4seconds today, whereas last year only the top five were covered by the same gap. Also, in the middle of the session, when many riders were using the harder specs they are likely to use in tomorrow’s race, the top 14 riders were within one second which is a good sign for a close race. In this morning’s practice session some riders conducted long runs on both the harder and softer slicks and consistency was good. If it stays dry, I think both will be suitable for the race tomorrow with riders choosing between the improved durability of the harder option and the enhanced peak grip of the softer spec. so I hope for an exciting 150th race for Bridgestone.” Top ten from qualifying (Saturday 13:55 14:55 GMT+8) Pos Rider Team Fastest lap Gap Compounds Front, Rear 1 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 2m01.537s Hard, Medium 2 Nicky Hayden Ducati Team 2m01.637s +0.100s Ex. Hard, Medium 3 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 2m01.829s +0.292s Ex. Hard, Medium 4 Ben Spies Monster Yamaha Tech3 2m01.993s +0.456s Hard, Medium 5 Casey Stoner Ducati Team 2m02.023s +0.486s Ex. Hard, Medium 6 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 2m02.030s +0.493s Hard, Medium 7 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech3 2m02.097s +0.560s Hard, Medium 8 Alvaro Bautista Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2m02.394s +0.857s Hard, Medium 9 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2m02.522s +0.985s Hard, Medium 10 Marco Melandri San Carlo Honda Gresini 2m02.624s +1.087s Ex. Hard, Medium Weather: Dry. Ambient 34-36°C; Track 50-54°C ( Bridgestone measurement) More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Phenomenal effort by Capirossi after huge crash Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi made a sensational return to track action in this afternoon’s qualifying session, after a huge crash this morning completely wiped out his final practice session. Capirossi (P9, 2’02.522, 18 laps) crashed on his first lap during this morning’s session and was taken from the trackside by stretcher, he was immediately transferred to the medical centre where an x-ray, and further investigations by the Clinica Mobile, found no fractures to his injured right foot. He was diagnosed with severe bruising to the heel and ankle area and was passed fit to ride for the afternoon. Capirossi started the qualifying session in a determined mood to make up for lost time, making changes to his Suzuki GSV-R to help him compensate for his injured foot, before attacking the 5,548m Sepang circuit to get the best qualifying position for tomorrow’s race. His gallant efforts at the end of the session were rewarded, as on his final lap he recorded his best time of the day and forced himself on to the third row. Capirossi will have further treatment to his foot this evening to ensure he is as fit as possible for tomorrow’s race. Álvaro Bautista (P8, 2’02.394, 24 laps) continued with his strong run of form to record his best qualifying position of the year. He will start from the middle of the third row, but could have easily been higher up the grid if he had not made a mistake on his final flying lap. Bautista is happy with his set-up for race day and is convinced that he can go faster tomorrow. Today’s qualifying was again held in very hot conditions with track temperatures reaching 52ºC. World Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo took his sixth pole position of the year, as he attempts to secure the title at Sepang tomorrow. Sunday’s event is round 15 of the season and the 20-lap race will get underway at 16.00hrs local time (08.00hrs GMT), with both Rizla Suzuki racers and the rest of the field hoping that the late afternoon Malaysian rain stays away and allows for a dry and exciting race. Loris Capirossi: “I am a little bit upset about this morning, I felt quite confident about coming here because we did a good winter test and I thought we could do well this weekend, so what happened this morning was very disappointing. This afternoon I tried to ride the best I could, but my condition is not so good so I am pleased to get on to the third row. We will have to see what happens tomorrow, because we are still struggling a bit with electronics although we did find a solution near the end of the session. I am positive about the race and hope to have a better day tomorrow than I did today. I am happy that I was still able to get on the bike and ride after such a big crash and I will still be trying to do my best tomorrow for the whole team.” Álvaro Bautista: “It’s strange because this has been my best qualifying position of the season but I feel like it is not enough. We still need to be positive about it though because we are in a better position than we have been before and we have to try to make the most of that. I did a long run on the softer compound tyres today and was able to cover a race distance, maybe grip went in the final lap, but in this category the first laps are very important so we still have to decide if we are going to use the softer option and get the maximum early on. I used a new rear tyre at the end of the session and improved my lap-time and in the last lap I made a mistake in T2, but my T1 and T3 was better than my fastest lap so maybe I could have improved my time and been further up the grid. The time between first and me is not too big and if I can get a good start tomorrow I think I can stay with the group in front and follow them the first laps here will be very important so I must make the most of them.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “The Malaysian Grand Prix weekend has been absolutely horrible for Loris so far. This morning’s crash was very violent and very painful and it was amazing that he managed to get back out there this afternoon. His crash did mean that the technical improvements that we were seeking were impossible to find with the bike sat in the pit-box. He can’t bear any weight on his right foot, so for him to qualify on the third row is simply an heroic achievement. Race distance is going to be very tough, but we thank Loris for his efforts today and hope that his condition is much improved tomorrow morning. “Álvaro’s session was really strange because he didn’t find the rhythm or the track position to realise his true potential and when he was in the right position he made a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes. Despite that his qualifying place of eighth is the best of the season and he believes strongly that he can improve during the race we believe completely in his potential and we’re looking forward to the Grand Prix.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: DOVIZIOSO SECURES MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX FRONT ROW Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso will start tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix from the front row of the grid after qualifying in third place at Sepang today. It was a tight session where the top fifteen riders were covered by just 1.4 seconds over a lap of more than two minutes, and Dovizioso did well to take the final place on row one, giving himself a clear run into Sepang’s tight first turn when the start lights go out tomorrow at 16.00. Dovizioso was more than happy with today’s result, even though the 24-year-old Italian couldn’t repeat his pole position from the last race in Japan. He and his crew have made continued progress with the set-up of the Honda RC212V, especially in the area of electronics, which is allowing Dovizioso to ride with ever-increasing confidence. As well as contesting the race win, Dovizioso’s target for tomorrow will be to narrow the 21-point gap in the world championship standings to Casey Stoner, who qualified in fifth place today. Jorge Lorenzo took pole position this afternoon, with Nicky Hayden in second place. ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 3rd 2m 01.829s +0.292s “It’s always important to be on the front row – and this was actually more satisfying than the pole position in Japan because the conditions were so extreme today. The level of riders and bikes in MotoGP is so high and so the front row also means we have done a really good job so far this weekend. We have moved things on from where we were in Japan and improved our electronic set-up again – we’ve found a good direction, which is really positive. I want to say thank you to my team and to HRC for working hard to achieve this. It’s going to be a tough race because it’s so hot here, but I’m looking forward to it. For tomorrow it’s difficult to understand how the race will pan out – we’ll have to study the lap times from today to get a feeling for our rivals’ performance; qualifying doesn’t always give you the real picture of what everyone’s race pace will be. In terms of tyre choice, I think it will be the hard option for us.” TOSHIYUKI YAMAJI – REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER “Andrea and his crew did a good job today to get onto the front row. The team has worked very well to improve Andrea’s set-up and machine package step-by-step, and this is giving him even more confidence. We need to find a little bit more consistency in terms of lap times and so we’ll make a few small changes for the warm-up session tomorrow. The track conditions suit our package when the temperature is higher so we will have to see what the situation is at the race start time of four-o-clock. Andrea’s done a good job from Japan to here and I hope we can have another strong result for the Honda fans again tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: HAYDEN JUST 0.1 SECONDS OFF POLE AT SEPANG, STONER ON SECOND ROW Ducati Marlboro Team rider Nicky Hayden will line up on the front row of the grid for the Malaysian Grand Prix tomorrow following an outstanding performance in qualifying practice at Sepang this afternoon. The American took more than two seconds off his best lap time from yesterday to propel himself up the order, sitting on provisional pole until the final lap, when he was dislodged by Jorge Lorenzo. Casey Stoner has been consistently on the pace all weekend in race trim but struggled to improve his pace on a softer tyre at the end of this afternoon’s qualifying session. As such his best lap was only enough for a second row start in fifth place but the Australian is confident of making up positions tomorrow as he aims to build on back-to-back wins in the last two rounds. NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team) 2nd 2’01.637 “This is a bit of a surprise, I didn’t expect to be on the front row today. We only missed pole by one tenth but don’t anybody feel sorry for us, we’re pretty happy! The lap itself was obviously a good one, I don’t think I could have got any more out of myself or the bike, but overall we’ve done a good job today. We were struggling yesterday but we went back to a setting that worked for us in the test and even though I didn’t get the lap time this morning I told the guys not to make too many changes to the bike because I felt comfortable and knew I could improve purely through riding. Once again my thanks go to the team because everybody knows it’s tough on the riders in this heat but it’s tough for them too and they’re doing a great job.” CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 5th 2’02.023 “I’m a little disappointed with the way qualifying went today. We made a little progress with the race setting on the harder tyre. We didn’t get a lot of laps in but we are happy with the work we did on the bike and feel reasonably confident. When I went to use the softer compound to set a qualifying lap on we lost feeling completely. There was no traction on the rear yet it was still pushing the front at the same time. We couldn’t do the lap time we wanted or even deserved but we know our pace is faster than a couple of the guys in front of us on the grid so we’ll see if we can get past them in the race.” More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: STUNNING POLE FOR LORENZO, ROSSI SIXTH IN MALAYSIA Jorge Lorenzo set himself up in perfect style for his tilt at the title tomorrow by taking a stunning pole position, his sixth of the season, at Sepang this afternoon. His team-mate Valentino Rossi was hopeful of a front row as well but was unable to improve his time in the closing stages and will start from sixth position tomorrow. With temperatures in the high 30s it was a sweltering session for the riders but Lorenzo was on imperious form throughout, using the new specification M1 engine today for the first time since qualifying in Motegi. The 23-year-old spent several stints at the top and with ten minutes to go it looked like no one was going to catch him, before he was knocked off pole by Nicky Hayden with four minutes remaining. Lorenzo set out to redress the damage but with three quarters of his final flying lap gone he was still down on the American and it looked like it might stay that way. A superb final split from the Spaniard however saw him snatch pole position back and he will start tomorrow’s race, from which he needs just seven points to secure the title, from the perfect position at the front of the grid. Rossi meanwhile, who was fastest yesterday, was consistently in the top three during the early stages of the session but towards the end he was unable to find the extra few tenths that his rivals had found and slipped back to sixth. He was hopeful of improving with the softer Bridgestone tyre at the end but it did not give him the advantage he was expecting and he lacked enough grip to push as hard as he wanted. He was unable to improve on his final run and will start tomorrow’s race, which gets underway two hours later than usual at 1600 local time, from the outside of the second row. Jorge Lorenzo Position: 1st Time: 2’01.537 Laps: 25 “I really wanted to fight for the pole position today, because I know the race tomorrow is going to be tough and it will be difficult to battle for the victory. We were strong throughout the session and in the end we did a great lap; I am so happy to be back on pole. Now the moment is arriving, it’s such an important day for my career and I’m excited for tomorrow. We are starting in the best shape and we just have to see what happens. For now we will try to stay calm and focused!” Valentino Rossi Position: 6th Time: 2’02.030 Laps: 24 “With the hard tyre we’re not so bad, even if we’re lacking some grip and the bike is moving a bit, so it’s not so easy to control. However with the softer tyre we suffered a lot more because the movement became bigger and I couldn’t use the extra grip. This means I am only on the second row. Tomorrow’s race will be very hard, maybe the hardest of the season because the temperature is unbelievable and starting from the second row will make it even harder, but we will do our best and hope to make a good start.” Wilco Zeelenberg Team Manager “Jorge did well! He was very consistent and it’s great to be back on pole for the first time since Laguna. Since then he hasn’t necessarily been riding as freely as in the early part of the season but today he looked at his very best. The bike is really good and the new engine is working well, so we will use it tomorrow. It’s difficult to judge how the race will be, for sure he is nervous, as anyone would be, but it didn’t seem to affect him today so I am sure he will be okay tomorrow. Let’s see what happens!” Davide Brivio Team Manager “We expected a better result than this today and our potential was greater, so we’re a bit disappointed. We need to improve our tyre grip with the race setting; we tried some different combinations during the session and now we need to make some choices so we will use the warm-up for this. Unfortunately at the end of the session the soft tyre didn’t give us as big an advantage as we were hoping for so we couldn’t do better than the second row, but we will try to improve for the race.” More, from a press release issued by Interwetten Honda: Qualifying didn’t finish as expected for Aoyama Hiroshi Aoyama finished the qualifying for the Motorcycle Grand Prix of Malaysia with 14th position for the start of tomorrow’s race. The 28-year-old Japanese is not happy with the result as he is steps behind after loosing yesterday’s session due to technical problems with one of his two Honda RC212Vs. The result expected was much higher than 14th. The Interwetten Honda MotoGP Team was hoping for more on Aoyama’s favourite track, but the Malaysian track is more difficult than expected. Some adjustments will be done during the Warm up session tomorrow morning and the team hopes that the result in the race will be more satisfying than in the qualifying. Hiroshi Aoyama, 14 2’02.778: “We had massive problems with the front end feeling during the qualifying session. I was able to improve my lap time, but it was not as I had promised myself. We tried the bike we were not able to use yesterday this morning and it was better, so we used it, but we lost a whole session yesterday and that’s not good for us. Tomorrow in Warm up we will try some more things, but we don’t have much time left.” Tom Jojic, Crew Chief: “Unfortunately Hiro could not show what he is capable of doing today, as we lost so much time with the bike yesterday and therefore today we could not finish as much as we usual did. We will try some more ideas tomorrow in the Warm up and hope that the changes will be positive.” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Spies and Edwards star in Sepang sauna Ben Spies and Colin Edwards produced a superhuman effort in extreme heat and humidity at the Sepang circuit this afternoon, the American pair qualifying fourth and seventh respectively for the 20th Malaysian MotoGP race. Spies scorched to his seventh consecutive top six qualifying result, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider finishing just 0.164s away from securing a stunning front row start as he once again qualified top non-factory rider on the grid. The 26-year-old made big progress in improving the set-up of his YZR-M1 machine in searing heat today, Spies drastically improving front and rear grip that was lacking during yesterday’s openin g practice session. His pre-race optimism was boosted by a long run he completed in slightly cooler conditions during second practice this morning. Spies completed 19-laps, one short of full race distance, reeling off a series of consistent times as he gathered a wealth of machine and tyre performance information. His intense training regime also paid dividends today, Spies coping effortlessly with the toughest conditions experienced on the calendar. Spies was the first rider to dip under the 2.02 barrier with 15 minutes remaining, an impressive lap of 2.01.993 on the technically challenging and physically demanding 5.548km track moving him to the top of the rankings. He was unable to improve his lap time in the closing stages and a small mistake in the hard baking zone for the final corner denied him a front row with Spies on the brink of hauling himself back into th e top three. Edwards missed the second row of the grid by just 0.067s, the 36-year-old taking big strides in finding more front and rear traction with his YZR-M1. Slippery track conditions that meant grip was at a premium yesterday were vastly improved this afternoon and Edwards needed just six laps to break into the 2.02 bracket. He was able to lap at a consistent pace throughout in race trim and eventually posted a 2.02.097 to finish seventh. Ben Spies 4th 2.01.993 26 laps “I’m happy to be so close to the front row and it gives me a lot of encouragement for the race. From fourth on the grid it means another good start will put me in contention for a strong race. I did a race simulation this morning so at least I know how the bike is working in race set-up and I’m happy with it. I intentionally did the longer run in lower heat condition s just to see how I felt. It was still pretty brutal but I felt pretty good and it set me up for a good qualifying. This afternoon was the first time I really used the soft tyre. Everything went pretty good and I put together one decent lap time and then I had good lap going when I made a mistake at the final corner. I caught Colin and he was actually trying give me a tow down the back straight to help me out, but I was a little further back than he thought and by the time I got to him we were hitting the brakes and I missed my brake marker and ran wide. That lap would have put me on the front row for sure but I’m confident that if we raced right now I’d be in the top five and that’s what I’m looking for.” Colin Edwards 7th 2.02.097 23 laps “It was really hot out there this afternoon. Each time I was in the pits I was pouring water all over me and it’s going to be a tough race tomorrow in that heat. I would love to say I could have gone faster but I gave it my maximum and there wasn’t a lot left in the tank. But the bike feels really good and my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3 did a great job because we found a lot more grip today. The grip was so good in Japan last weekend that you kind of come here and expect a similar feeling, but we had to change everything on the bike to get some grip. We’ve definitely made the bike a lot better and I’m confident for the race. As for Ben, I was coming into the pits and I looked back coming out of turn four and I could see he was behind me. I thought I’d pick my pace up a little bit so I could perhaps tow him down the back straight and he might be able to get on the front row or even pole. But as I got closer to the final corner I guess he just missed his braking marker. Both of us ended up decent on the grid though and I’m looking forward to the race.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing Team: QUALIFYING SESSION COMPLETED ON SEPANG’S TRACK: FOURTH ROW FOR ESPARGARO. SIXTH ROW FOR A PAINFULL KALLIO. After the eighth fastest time clocked yesterday by Aleix Espargar, he was expected to conquer today a good starting grid position during Sepang’s track qualifying session. Unfortunately, the Spaniard was unable to conquer a better position than the twelfth, he will then start tomorrow’s race, of the twentieth Malaysian Grand Prix, from the fourth row. Aleix has reduced by more than half a second his fastest lap time clocked yesterday during the first free practice, but this was not enough for him to gain a better starting grid position. The final gap from Lorenzo’s pole position is just over one second. It should be noted, however, the very small gap between the fifth position and Aleix’s position that is only seven tenths. Difficult qualifying session for Mika Kallio who has failed to improve his best lap time clocked during this morning free practice, it seems to be a difficult race for him that will start the race from last position of the grid. Tomorrow morning the green -white duo will be able to try out other technical solutions that should allow them to have a better performance and reduce the gap from the other riders during the race that will start at 4 pm local time. Fabiano Sterlacchini – Technical Director “We worked on both bikes to identify new technical solutions that could be able to allow both riders to be fast in all track sectors. Unfortunately, something went wrong during the end of the qualifying session in which we usually improve a lot our lap time. Mika has had some physical problems and stability problems on his bike that didn’t allowed him to reduce the fastest time clocked yesterday during the first free practice. Tomorrow we will try a new technical package that should allow Mika to slightly reduce its gap in order to be more competitive during tomorrow race. ” Aleix Espargar – Pramac Racing Team – 12th best time in 2’02 .723 “I’m quite pleased for qualifying session outcome, after yesterday’s best eighth lap time, I was hoping to conquer a top ten starting grid position. The twelfth position is still a good placement to be able to fight with the other riders for a good race position. I improved my lap time thanks to a better grip on the rear of my bike. I am very confident for tomorrow’s race where I’ll try to get a good result to forget the negative race I had last week in Japan.” Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing Team – 16th best time in 2’04 .167 “Too bad for the bad qualifying session, I was not able to ride my bike in the best way because I had some physical problems that I’m trying to remedy during the last two races. Unfortunately from a couple of races my left shoulder pain, that it was injured in Le Mans after a fall, is coming up again. I feel much pain, but I hope that tomorrow the situation will considerably improve. I’ll start the race in the last position, but I will give the best I can to be protagonist of a good race. ” More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: FRONT GRIP ISSUES GIVES TROUBLE TO RANDY AT SEPANG GP QUALIFYING Sepang, 9 October: LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet rode his Honda RC212V qualified 13th today in a tough and hot qualifying 60-minute session at the 5.548 km Sepang circuit in readiness for the tomorrow’s 20-lap race that gets underway at 16:00 local time. De Puniet spent the majority of a closely contested qualifying session concentrating on improving front and rear grip with his RC212V machine. After yesterdays first opening session the Frenchman made several set-up changes to the front and rear suspension of his bike getting the 7th lap time in this morning second free session. The adjustments on his Honda machinery was of great encouragement to Randy, who hoped for a further improvement in this afternoon session but he could not translate his pace in a good performance because of some front grip issues. De Puniet 13th 2’02.775 De Puniet: “Honestly I am very disappointed because we made a very good job in the first two sessions and I was confident for the qualifying. But since the beginning of the practice I had a bad feeling on the harder front tyre. So we moved back on the softer option which we used this morning and for a few laps I was back on my pace but then the front started to move again and I almost crashed a couple of times in the last two run. In these conditions I could not push more. I hope we can find a solution in tomorrow’s warm up session”. More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Jorge Lorenzo will start the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix from pole position his sixth of the season after topping qualifying at Sepang on Saturday. The Fiat Yamaha rider can secure the 2010 title with a finish of at least ninth place in Sunday’s race, and placed himself in prime position to do so with a best lap of 2’01.537. Ahead of the most important race in his Grand Prix career to date, the Spaniard was relaxed as he commented, “I really wanted to fight for the pole position today, because I know the race tomorrow is going to be tough and it will be difficult to battle for the victory. We were strong throughout the session and in the end we did a great lap; I am so happy to be back on pole. Now the moment is arriving, it’s such an important day for my career and I’m excited for tomorrow. We are starting in the best shape and we just have to see what happens. For now we will try to stay calm and focused!” Nicky Hayden appeared close to securing his first pole in three years when he took the lead of the session towards the end, but the Ducati rider will not be disappointed with his second front-row start of the season after eventually losing out to Lorenzo by exactly one-tenth of a second. Following up his first premier class pole last time out at Motegi, Andrea Dovizioso secured third position on the grid with another impressive qualifying display. The sole Repsol Honda representative this weekend was 0.292s off Lorenzo’s marker by the conclusion of the hour-long session. Just missing out on a front-row start by a margin of 0.164s, and also the final rider under the 2’02″ barrier in the session, Ben Spies took fourth spot having led the timings with ten minutes remaining. Casey Stoner of the Ducati Team ended the session in fifth position, just seven-thousandths ahead of Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) who took the final slot on row two. Both riders had been quick in race trim, but were unable to reproduce the fast qualifying lap to seal a front row start so will require a good launch off the line to get involved in the battle for victory. Completing the top ten in the session were Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Rizla Suzuki duo Álvaro Bautista and Loris Capirossi who was back on track after a crash in the earlier practice session and Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini). Héctor Barberá (Paginas Amarillas Aspar) had a fall at the very end of the session and qualified in 15th. Moto2 In the Moto2 class Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar), the only man who can still stop Toni Elías from claiming the inaugural world title, qualified in pole position with a best time of 2’08.562. The Spaniard was almost two-tenths faster than Alex de Angelis (JiR Moto2), who qualified in second place and had been quickest in both practice sessions. It was Simón’s third pole of 2010 his second in succession as he continues his search for a first Moto2 win and following him and De Angelis onto the front row was Thomas Lüthi in third. For the Swiss rider of the Interwetten Moriwaki team it was a first front-row qualification since the Catalunya GP at the start of July. Completing the front line of the starting grid is Elías, who is aiming to wrap up the World Championship in Sunday’s race, an outcome which depends on Simón’s result as well. Roberto Rolfo (Italtrans STR), Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up), Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) and Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team) all booked places on the second row, with Michael Ranseder (Vector Kiefer Racing), Alex Debón (Aeroport de Castelló-Ajo), Dominique Aegerter (Technomag-CIP) and Claudio Corti (Forward Racing) comprising the third. There were falls during the session for Simone Corsi (JiR Moto2) who was unable to return to the track and set a qualification time due to his damaged bike as well as Debón, Mashel Al Naimi (Blusens-STX) and Malaysian wild card rider Mohamad Zamri Baba (Petronas SIC TWMR Malaysia). 125cc Marc Márquez’s tenth pole position of the season was secured in the 125cc session as the Red Bull Ajo Motorsport rider laid down a best lap of 2’13.398. The 17 year-old, who trails Championship leader Nico Terol by just six points going into Sunday’s race, was 0.293s faster than second placed Bradley Smith. The British rider had looked to be on course for his third pole of the campaign as he led towards the climax of the session, but Márquez first posted a time just five-thousandths of a second better than that of the Bancaja Aspar man before improving to end up almost three-tenths clear. Smith’s team-mate Terol was third at 0.706s off Márquez’s time with Pol Espargaró (Tuenti Racing) completing a familiar-looking front row of the grid for Sunday’s race. Efrén Vázquez (Tuenti Racing), Sandro Cortese (Avant Mitsubishi Ajo), Esteve Rabat (Blusens-STX) and Luis Salom (Stipa-Molenaar Racing) secured second-row berths, with Tomoyoshi Koyama (Racing Team Germany), Randy Krummenacher (Stipa-Molenaar Racing), Johann Zarco (WTR San Marino Team) and Danny Webb (Andalucia Cajasol) making up the third line of the grid. Young Brit Danny Kent (Lambretta Reparto Corse), in only his third GP this season, qualified in an impressive 13th position. There was a crash during the session for local rider Khairuddin Zulfahmi (AirAsia – Sepang International Circuit Team) who was avoided well by the following Márquez, whilst Simone Grotzkyj (Fontana Racing) also fell towards the end. The 125cc race gets the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix race day schedule underway at 1pm local time on Sunday. More, from a press release issued by Honda: Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang MotoGP and Moto2 qualifying October 9 2010 Weather: hot and humid Track temperature: 52 degrees Ambient Temperature: 34 degrees Humidity: 28%. DOVIZIOSO SCORES SECOND CONSECUTIVE FRONT ROW Just seven days after his superb pole position at last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V) scored another front-row start at Sepang today. The 24-year-old Italian challenged for pole throughout the session, running as high as second fastest, finally completing the hour-long outing third quickest, just 0.292 seconds behind pole-sitter Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha). Middle man on the front row is Nicky Hayden (Ducati). Tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix MotoGP race gets underway later than usual, with a 4pm start, local time. Most people in the Sepang paddock are hoping that the usual afternoon rain storm also arrives later than usual, allowing the MotoGP race to run on a dry track. In this afternoon’s typically tropical conditions, Dovizioso and his sweltering crew continued the good work they had done at Motegi last weekend, honing the electronics of the RC212V to extract maximum performance around this challenging, high-speed circuit. With team-mate Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) absent with the collarbone injury he sustained during Motegi practice, Dovizioso flew the Repsol Honda flag in brilliant style Team-mates Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) and Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) ran well in the earlier stages of qualifying but later in the session both men struggled to get maximum performance out of their softer tyres, which put them tenth and 11th at the end of the session. Simoncelli went particularly well on harder race tyres during free practice, completing the two sessions in fifth place, just half a second off fastest man Lorenzo. Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V) ended the day 13th quickest, below his usual qualifying performance. The Frenchman spent most of qualifying trying to improve front and rear grip. This morning he had been a promising seventh fastest, following useful overnight suspension tweaks, but those improvements didn’t translate into faster lap times this afternoon. Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP RC212V) ended up 14th on the grid, hoping for more from his favourite track at which he has already won two GP victories. But after losing time with technical problems yesterday, the reigning 250 World Champion struggled with front-end feel during qualifying, which made it hard for him to attack at 100 per cent. Julian Simon (Mapfre Aspar Team, Suter) rode to his third Moto2 pole position this afternoon at Sepang, outpacing his closest challenger by almost two tenths of a second. In the frantically tight Moto2 series that’s quite an advantage! Simon hopes today’s pole position which follows previous poles at Indianapolis and at Motegi last weekend will lead to his first victory in the class tomorrow. Simon has had a strong run of results in Moto2 with four runner-up finishes from the past four races so he is very keen to go one better. His race pace today certainly suggests he is in with a real chance of victory. Of course, the action at the front of a Moto2 race can get very hectic, so there’s little doubt that Simon will have to fight with his fellow front row starters: Alex De Angelis (JIR Moto2, Motobi), Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2, Moriwaki) and Toni Elias (Gresini Racing Moto2, Moriwaki) who all showed real speed today. Second fastest De Angelis is in ultra-determined mood. The San Marino rider has had a topsy-turvy year, with two changes of team, and has yet to score his first podium in Moto2. Taking advantage of chassis upgrades to his Motobi machine, De Angelis is confident he can address that problem tomorrow. Podium regulars Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2, Moriwaki) and Elias completed the front row in third and fourth, both men hoping that they can make some overnight set-up improvements to give them an extra few tenths of a second for the race. Luthi will be going for his sixth Moto2 podium while Elias is out to seal the World Championship. If Simon wins, Elias needs to finish second to secure the title with three races to go. But the Spaniard insists he isn’t thinking about the championship. Like all great champions, he is focusing on winning the race, which will bring the title to him anyway. Marcel Schrötter (Interwetten Honda 125 Team) qualified 18th fastest for tomorrow’s 125 race, which gets the Malaysian GP underway at 13.00 hours. Pole position was claimed by Marc Marquez (Derbi). HONDA MotoGP RIDER QUOTES Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V): 3rd, 2m 01.829s “It’s always important to be on the front row and this was actually more satisfying than the pole position in Japan because the conditions were so extreme today. The level of riders and bikes in MotoGP is so high and so the front row also means we have done a really good job so far this weekend. We have moved things on from where we were in Japan and improved our electronics set-up again we’ve found a good direction, which is really positive. I want to say thank you to my team and to HRC for working hard to achieve this. It’s going to be a tough race because it’s so hot here, but I’m looking forward to it. For tomorrow it’s difficult to understand how the race will pan out we’ll have to study the lap times from today to get a feeling for our rivals’ performance; qualifying doesn’t always give you the real picture of what everyone’s race pace will be. In terms of tyre choice, I think it will be the hard option for us.” Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V): 10th, 2m 02.624s “I think we did a good job with the race setting this afternoon but we always struggle on a soft tyre and the problems weren’t as bad as usual this afternoon, so I am confident for tomorrow. I still think we can make improvements to our race setting and I feel much more optimistic about the race than I have been doing recently. The race will be tough on the tyres and the riders because it is hard to breathe after three laps. We’ll also have to keep an eye on the weather because the rain is always a threat here.” Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V): 11th, 2m 02.690s “I am a little bit disappointed today because after practice this morning I thought I was capable of much more and the afternoon session started really well. Unfortunately when we started to work with the softer tyre I lost a little feeling with the bike and couldn’t improve my lap time. That’s a shame but the positive thing is that in race trim we are quite fast. Starting from the fourth row won’t make it easy tomorrow but I am confident of a good performance.” Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V): 13th, 2m 02.775s “Honestly, I am very disappointed because we made a very good job in the first two sessions and I was confident for qualifying. But since the beginning of the session I had a bad feeling on the harder front tyre. So we moved back on the softer option which we used this morning and for a few laps I was back on my pace but then the front started to move again and I almost crashed a couple of times in the last two runs. In these conditions I could not push more. I hope we can find a solution in tomorrow’s warm up session.” Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP RC212V): 14th, 2m 02.778s “We had massive problems with front-end feeling during the qualifying session. I was able to improve my lap time, but it was not as I had promised myself. This morning we tried the bike we were not able to use yesterday and it was better, so we used it, but we lost a whole session yesterday and that’s not good for us. Tomorrow in warm-up we will try some more things, but we don’t have much time left.” MOTO2 RIDER QUOTES Julian Simon (Mapfre Aspar Team, Suter), pole position, 2m 08.562s “I’m very happy with this pole position my second in a row after Motegi and my third in this class. I’ve been able to find a very good rhythm here, because the bike is working very well, even better than it was at Motegi last weekend. Of course, I really want to win my first race in Moto2 so I will be trying very hard tomorrow. My first objective is to get a good start, then I will push as hard as I can and if possible win the race.” Alex De Angelis (JIR Moto2, Motobi), 2nd, 2m 08.754s “I’m very happy with second place today. We have some new chassis parts here, so the bike is working very well, which means that we are very fast. Today I pushed a lot for many, many laps and for sure the bike will work well tomorrow. I need to make a good start, push hard and fight for a podium, because that is what I want.” Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2, Moriwaki), 3rd, 2m 08.860s “It will be a hot race, for sure! We are already sliding a lot, so the race will be hard and it will be tough for the tyres. We’ve done a good job all weekend so far. I think we are quite well set up for the race, so I am feeling quite relaxed now. Of course, we will have a think about what else we can improve for tomorrow; maybe we can find some more rear grip, but the rest looks quite good so I think I can fight for the podium.” Toni Elias (Gresini Racing Moto2, Moriwaki): 4th, 2m 08.863a “The most important thing is that we achieved the objective we talked about yesterday being on the front row. But anyway, I am not happy. We know the direction in which we need to work, we know what we have to do, so we will continue thinking about this tonight. For sure we need something more for tomorrow, maybe two or three tenths, and then we can fight. We are not thinking about the championship. Everybody else is talking about the championship, but that is not my way. I am just concentrating on doing my job with the team. Tomorrow we will work like we do at any other race trying to win and then we will see what happens.” HONDA 125 RIDER QUOTE Marcel Schrötter (Interwetten Honda 125 Team), 18th, 2m 16.268s “Today didn’t really go well. I expected more from qualifying because things were much better in practice yesterday and this morning. Then I thought if I could repeat the lap time I had in the morning I could start from 14th or even 13th. Unfortunately I could not make this happen and I realised that I was not as easy going this afternoon as I was in the morning. I tried to have a last fast lap, but couldn’t make it.”