FIM MotoGP World Championship Motegi, Japan October 2, 2010 Qualifying Results (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (HONDA), 1:47.001 2. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), 1:47.055 3. Casey STONER, Australia (DUCATI), 1:47.105 4. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:47.206 5. Colin EDWARDS, USA (YAMAHA), 1:47.464 6. Ben SPIES, USA (YAMAHA), 1:47.648 7. Randy DE PUNIET, France (HONDA), 1:47.752 8. Marco SIMONCELLI, Italy (HONDA), 1:47.914 9. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:48.002 10. Loris CAPIROSSI, Italy (SUZUKI), 1:48.068 11. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (DUCATI), 1:48.182 12. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (HONDA), 1:48.238 13. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (DUCATI), 1:48.371 14. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (HONDA), 1:48.396 15. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), 1:48.535 16. Mika KALLIO, Finland (DUCATI), 1:49.480 17. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), did not ride More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Dovizioso sets his first pole position on Bridgestone tyres Round 14: Japanese Grand Prix Qualifying Twin Ring Motegi, Saturday 2 October 2010 Bridgestone slick tyre compounds available: Front: Medium, Hard. Rear: Medium, Hard (asymmetric) At the home event for both Bridgestone and Honda, Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso recorded his career first premier class pole position during the hour-long qualifying session at Motegi. Using the harder front and softer rear Bridgestone slicks, the Italian, who is in the hunt for third position in the championship, was faster than the existing lap record. Starting second tomorrow will be Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi with a great last lap effort that saw him also dip under the lap record and just go ahead of Casey Stoner who completes the front row. The Japanese Grand Prix marks the first time this year that championship leader Jorge Lorenzo will start from the second row in fourth, although with title rival Dani Pedrosa sidelined after his crash yesterday, Lorenzo’s title bid is looking strong. Colin Edwards repeated his best qualifying result of the year with fifth for the Monster Yamaha Tech3 team, just ahead of teammate Ben Spies, Randy de Puniet and Marco Simoncelli, the four separated by fewer than 0.5seconds. The Rizla Suzuki duo of Álvaro Bautista and Loris Capirossi complete the top ten. All riders set their fastest lap using the harder front Bridgestone slick tyre for its extra braking stability and the softer option rear for its added edge traction which afforded better drive out of the slow corners and onto the long straights. The track conditions were much improved from yesterday and whilst race slick tyre choices are now almost all decided in the case that the weather remains dry tomorrow, it is the chance of rain that could have the final say. Tohru Ubukata Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department “Today the weather was reasonably consistent so from this morning’s session riders were able to confirm their race tyre choice now that the track conditions are better than yesterday. We were also able to confirm the consistency of both our slick tyre options over race distance, so tomorrow we can expect that tyre choice will be mixed. During qualifying all riders set their best times using the harder front and the softer rear, and even though the track conditions are still not perfect, the times at the front are what I expected from this weekend.” Top ten from qualifying (Saturday 13:55 14:55 GMT+9) Pos Rider Team Fastest lap Gap Compounds Front, Rear 1 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 1m47.001s Hard, Medium 2 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1m47.055s +0.054s Hard. Medium 3 Casey Stoner Ducati Team 1m47.105s +0.104s Hard, Medium 4 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 1m47.206s +0.205s Hard, Medium 5 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech3 1m47.464s +0.463s Hard, Medium 6 Ben Spies Monster Yamaha Tech3 1m47.648s +0.647s Hard, Medium 7 Randy de Puniet LCR Honda MotoGP 1m47.752s +0.751s Hard, Medium 8 Marco Simoncelli San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m47.914s +0.913s Hard, Medium 9 Alvaro Bautista Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m48.002s +1.001s Hard, Medium 10 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m48.068s +1.067s Hard, Medium Weather: Dry. Ambient 25°C; Track 38-35°C ( Bridgestone measurement) More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Third row start for Bautista at Motegi Rizla Suzuki’s Álvaro Bautista will start from the third row of the grid for tomorrow’s Japanese Grand Prix after equalling his season’s best qualifying position today. Bautista (P9, 1’48.002, 28 laps) made steady and solid progression throughout both this morning’s final practice session and this afternoon’s qualifying. He improved his time, the Suzuki GSV-R and his riding style to get the best out of his machine and himself around the 4’801m Motegi circuit. Bautista’s ninth place equals his best qualifying position so far this season, he started from the same place on the grid in Catalunya and went on to secure fifth place in that race. Loris Capirossi (P10, 1’48.068, 22 laps) signalled his intentions at the start of the qualifying practice this afternoon by posting consecutive fastest times during the early part of the hour to head the leader-board. Unfortunately Capirossi crashed soon afterwards and had to make his way back to the pit-box to mount his other bike and continue with the session. He continued to battle on and improve on his times to leave him heading the fourth row for tomorrow’s race. Today’s qualifying produced an exciting session with seven riders swapping places for the top place during the hour including both Rizla Suzuki riders before Andrea Dovizioso on his Factory Honda secured his first pole position of the season, with reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi in second. Tomorrow’s race is round 14 of the season and the 24-lap main event will get underway at 15.00hrs local time (06.00GMT), with both Suzuki racers aiming to put on a good show in front of some distinguished guests from the factory and the many Suzuki fans at the Japanese marque’s home Grand Prix. Álvaro Bautista: “The qualifying was not too bad; because we needed to do a good time to get the best position to make a good start on Sunday and we achieved that although we would have liked to be a bit further up the grid. Today we started qualifying with a used tyre from this morning’s session and I did a constant rhythm and the feeling was good. We made a small change which didn’t work so we went back to this morning’s set up and straight away it felt better. I tried to find someone to follow, but it felt like I was alone on the track, so I concentrated on my own riding to make sure I did my best. The position is ok, but I think we can run further towards the front. The weather tomorrow could be wet so it will be important to get a good start and stay with the front group. I feel positive for tomorrow, even if it rains, because we have a good bike for the wet. I will give it full gas and push to the maximum to get a good result for Suzuki in its home Grand Prix.” Loris Capirossi: “I am a little bit upset by my mistake, because I started with the harder tyre and the rhythm was so good and I felt really confident on the bike. I fell off on turn one, there is one big bump there and I hit that and lost the front. I also lost a bit of confidence after that when I jumped on the other bike, I tried to keep my rhythm, but I just didn’t have the same feeling with that machine. I struggled with a bit of feeling at the front and I didn’t feel I could push as much as I wanted because I didn’t want to risk crashing again. The potential for us is good here and the bike is working well I am very optimistic for the race and I think we can get a very positive result.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “The guys were fifth and seventh in free practice this morning and we believe and hope that that is more of an indicator of their race pace. Loris’s crash definitely upset his rhythm, in addition to giving him a bit more pain to deal with, and that didn’t help when it came to taking the next leap-of-faith to get further up the grid. Álvaro’s laps were like clockwork and if he can get off the third row as well as he did in Catalunya, it could be a very interesting race for him tomorrow. We’re looking forward to the Grand Prix; it’s going to be a very tight race.” More, from a press release issued by Interwetten Honda: Aoyama disappointed with starting position for home race The Qualifying for the Home Grand Prix of Hiroshi Aoyama at the Twin Ring Motegi unfortunately went completely in the different direction than expected and the 28 year old and the Interwetten Honda MotoGP Team are disappointed with the starting position for tomorrow’s race. The concentration now is on Aoyama’s feeling with the bike as it was much better in yesterday’s practice when he finished sixth. The Qualifying he finished on 14th position. For tomorrow Aoyama’s target is to achieve the best result of the season so far for himself and his team. Hiroshi Aoyama, 14 1’48.396: “We lost some positions and I am not happy about that. Nevertheless we could improve our lap time in the afternoon and that is something positive. As you know the qualifying is different to the race and the race still can be a good one, but I am definitely not happy with the result of the qualifying.” Tom Jojic, Crew Chief: “Today was an interesting day. We worked a lot with the set up and tried to improve the chassis. We found a good direction with this. The problem with braking Hiro has since he came back in Brno still exists and this is also the biggest problem we have to solve. We have to concentrate to solve this problem.” Daniel M. Epp, Team Manager: “The starting position is not what we expected today. We were looking for much more here. Unfortunately Hiro was going wide in the gravel seven minutes before the finish of the qualifying and lost some time. And his last fast lap was 2 seconds to late; otherwise he could have qualified in the Top 10. For tomorrow Hiro needs a very good start and he has to ride on full attack.” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: STONER SEALS FRONT ROW START IN JAPAN, HAYDEN QUALIFIES ELEVENTH Casey Stoner and his crew made a significant improvement to the set-up of his Desmosedici GP10 machine in the final stages of qualifying this afternoon, allowing the Australian to secure a front row start for Sunday’s race. Stoner and his team-mate Nicky Hayden have endured a busy weekend so far in working to adapt their bikes to the demands of the Motegi circuit, a stop and go layout that is in stark contrast to the fast bends of Aragon. Whilst Stoner’s late charge saw him secure third place on the grid, just a tenth of a second shy of pole position, there was no such breakthrough for Hayden. The American made gradual but only slight progress throughout the session and qualified eleventh. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 3rd 1’47.105 “We started out yesterday with a very similar setting to Aragon, with a similar geometry, but we had to drop the bike quite a lot because we were having a lot of problems under braking and in the exit from the corners the front was coming up. So we dropped it down to try and get some more stability but then found that we had lost grip. The track was getting better and I was riding harder but we were getting slower! We had to lift the bike a little to get more weight over the rear and decided to put up with the wheelies. Immediately we found an improvement and the lap times started to tumble. From there we threw a soft tyre in and we escaped the clutches of the third row so we’re happy.” NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team) 11th 1’48.182 “It hasn’t been a good day for us really. The team has worked really hard but we have been dancing around problems. I’m suffering a lot of pumping on corner exit and the front is quite harsh over the bumps it’s closing a lot. Eleventh place on the grid is never good and my race pace isn’t too hot either. It’s unfortunate and I’m not real happy right now but we’ll come back tomorrow and try to make it right.” More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: ROSSI RETURNS TO FRONT ROW AS LORENZO JUST MISSES OUT IN JAPAN Valentino Rossi made a happy return to the front row for the first time since his mid-season injury today, with a brilliant display in an entertaining Motegi qualifying session. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate and championship leader Jorge Lorenzo was equally consistent but just missed out on the front row, the first time this season that he has qualified outside the top three. Reigning World Champion Rossi has been in much better shape this weekend and was feeling confident after topping the time sheets yesterday afternoon. He was third this morning and determined to get back on the front row this afternoon, making the most of his upgraded M1 engine and remaining inside the top four for the entire session. As he headed out for his final run he was sitting in fourth but an excellent final lap lifted him up two places and he finished the session just 0.054 seconds off maiden pole-sitter Andrea Dovizioso. Lorenzo had his first chance to use the new engine this afternoon and the 23-year-old seemed to be feeling its effects immediately, as he was a few tenths ahead of his rivals in the early stages. Quick laps from Dovizioso and Casey Stoner later on relegated him to third however and, despite improving his time on several occasions towards the end he was unable to catch them and was bumped to fourth when Rossi put in his quick lap. Lorenzo, who signed a new two-year contract with Yamaha this weekend, will start from the head of the second row when the race gets underway at 1500 Japanese time tomorrow. Valentino Rossi Position: 2nd Time: 1’47.055 Laps: 27 “It is a good feeling to be back on the front row after so long, the last time was at Le Mans, before the Mugello crash! We have improved in every area here, firstly we have made a big step with our setting, then we have the new engine from Yamaha which is enabling us to push more and be faster on the straights, plus we also have slightly harder Bridgestone tyres here than in Aragon and they are working better for me. As I said yesterday I expected to suffer more with the shoulder but I am feeling quite good and when I brake in a straight line here I don’t have too much pain. I am so happy about all of this. This front row is going to be very important for tomorrow, we really hope for good weather and let’s see what we can do.” Jorge Lorenzo Position: 4th Time: 1’47.206 Laps: 27 “I am a little disappointed because this wasn’t the result we were expecting. I would have really liked to be on the front row here in Japan, Yamaha’s home, after signing with them for two more years this morning. However it’s only qualifying and the most important thing is that we’re ready for the race, we have a good pace and we only have one or two more small things still to work on. This afternoon I tried the new engine for the first time and it felt good in the high gears. This is the first time for me this season on the second row, but I am still close to the front and I will try to make the best start I can. The forecast for tomorrow isn’t the best so we have to be prepared for rain…let’s hope not though!” Davide Brivio Team Manager “It’s really nice to be back on the first row. We’ve had two good days and three strong sessions so we are feeling happy in our team. Valentino was very close to pole position and things are looking good for us to be in with a chance tomorrow. The weather is a question mark, some rain is expected and we will have to wait and see what the temperature is like before making a final tyre decision, but we’re excited about the race.” Wilco Zeelenberg Team Manager “Despite missing out on the front row for the first time this was a good session for us. Jorge’s race pace is very strong, we just weren’t able to put everything together to make one perfect lap. However we are only in fourth and his rhythm is very consistent and fast so it’s not a drama for us. He used the new engine for the first time and it’s feeling good for him, he had to make a few small adjustments but it’s definitely an improvement.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: DOVIZIOSO TAKES HIS FIRST MOTOGP POLE POSITION AT MOTEGI Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso put in an immaculate performance in qualifying today to take his first ever MotoGP pole position and give himself the best possible chance for tomorrow’s Grand Prix of Japan. The 24-year-old Italian continued the form he has shown throughout this weekend, moving up from second place in the two practice sessions yesterday and this morning, to take top spot in the qualifying shoot-out. Dovizioso’s rivals did their utmost to unseat him from pole in a gripping last few moments this afternoon, but it wasn’t enough and the Italian took his 14th Grand Prix career pole (9 x 125cc, 4 x 250cc) and his first in the premier class. Looking comfortable and committed on his Honda RC212V, Dovizioso went top with just under half an hour of the session to go before Jorge Lorenzo nudged him back to second place with 23 minutes remaining. Then, with 12 minutes left on the clock, the Italian was back in front as he began to reel off a series of superfast laps. Casey Stoner briefly edged in front, but Dovizioso hit back immediately with a lap of 1m 47.001s, which was to be the fastest of the session. In the dying moments Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi both had their last throw of the dice, but neither could better Dovizioso this afternoon and he held on to pole by 0.054 seconds from Rossi. The last time Dovizioso was on pole position was in the 250cc Grand Prix of Portugal at Estoril in 2007 while riding a Honda RS250RW. Dovizioso’s debut MotoGP pole was a welcome piece of good news for the Repsol Honda Team after his team-mate Dani Pedrosa’s crash yesterday during which he broke his collarbone, forcing him to retire early from the MotoGP race weekend. Pedrosa has returned to his home city of Barcelona in Spain and is expected to undergo surgery to plate the double fracture in the collarbone. Further updates on his condition will follow. ANDREA DOVIZIOSO Pole Position 1m 47.001s “I’m really happy to be on pole position and also surprised because I didn’t expect to get so close to going under a 1m 47s lap here. This is like my second home race because it’s the home of the team, which makes it even more special to get my first pole position here. I’m also so happy about the performance of the RC212V. We’ve got the electronics working really well here – the anti-wheelie system in particular – and also the power is very strong which helps a lot. We’re looking good for the race because my style is usually not to go at my absolute maximum pace in practice and qualifying, so I’m hopeful for tomorrow. I’d like to say thanks a lot to the team because they are working really well for me. It’s the race tomorrow that really counts though, so we’ll be concentrating hard to make sure we have a strong race.” TOSHIYUKI YAMAJI – REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER “Andrea has taken his first pole position since he joined the Repsol Honda Team, and also his first in MotoGP, so this is an important milestone for him and for us. After Dani’s accident yesterday, this is a welcome boost for the team too. I’d like to say congratulations to Andrea and his team, who have been working really hard and are continuing to make progress as today has proved. However, the important day is tomorrow of course, and Andrea’s race pace is also looking promising. The weather on the other hand doesn’t look so good, so we will be ready for any conditions. Andrea can be fast in wet and dry weather though, and we are looking for a really strong team performance in front of all the Honda fans here at the Grand Prix of Japan.” More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: DE PUNIET TAKES 7th SPOT ON MOTEGI GP GRID Motegi, 2 October: the LCR Honda MotoGP Team rider Randy De Puniet rode his RC212V on the 7th spot for tomorrows 24-lap race at Twin Ring Motegi circuit which hosts the fourteenth round of the season that will get underway tomorrow at 15:00 local time. The Frenchman was in a good form today by qualifying on third row and he is the best second Honda rider on the grid thanks to his fastest lap time of 1’47.752. Air temperature reached 26 degrees in the afternoon 60-minute qualifying session which saw Dovizioso on the top of the time sheet. After yesterdays rear edge-grip issues, LCR crew worked on machine adjustments to give the Frenchman more confidence in the stop-and-go nature of the Japanese circuit where the 29-year-old experienced his first MotoGP podium. De Puniet 7th 1’47.752 De Puniet: “It seems we found the right adjustments and I could finally ride as I did in the first part of the season before the bad injury. The Team made the right changes working on chassis set up especially on hard braking and we have solved the rear grip issues so my race pace is pretty good at the moment. Probably I could be faster than this on qualifiers but 7th spot on the grid is positive and in my opinion it’s more important to be consistent on race trim. We still have to choose the rear tyre for tomorrows race but I am pleased with the bike overall set up. The weather is the only uncertainty but I am always quite fast in the wet”. More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing Team: QUALIFICATIONS COMPLETED IN MOTEGI: FIFTH ROW FOR ESPARGARO’, SIXTH ROW FOR KALLIO Under tone qualifying session for the Pramac Racing Team riders. Aleix Espargar, after obtaining the eleventh place during this morning second free practice thanks also to a considerable improvement compared to yesterday’s free practise, fails to go over the thirteenth starting grid position of the Japanese Grand Prix. He will start the race from the fifth row. His team-mate Mika Kallio, was unable to find a good feeling with the Japanese track and had finished the qualifying session in the last position of the starting grid, also if he had last year managed to conquer the eighth position during the race. Tomorrow, the white and green duo will have to find good techniques solutions during the warm-up in order to try to overtake position during the race that will start at 3 pm local time. Fabiano Sterlacchini – Technical Director “Instead of Aragon’s track, where all the Ducati where very fast, on this track only Stoner was able to rest among the best riders. Usually Ducati are most efficient when they use hard tyres in contrast to other teams have a better performance with soft tyres. On Motegi track it was not like this because the others riders were significantly faster with soft tyres. This should not be an excuse for us but a good motivation to find suitable solutions for tomorrow. ” Aleix Espargar – Pramac Racing Team – 13th fastest time in 1’48 .371 “We tried it. This morning the situation was acceptable, but this afternoon when the session was really important, we cannot improve the lap time as we expected. It’s a pity. I prefer tracks with fast corners and not with hard braking and acceleration, as here, but I still hope to be able to get a good start tomorrow and try to stay with the fastest riders and win as many points as possible for the riders and Teams standings. ” Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing Team – 16th fastest time in 1’49 .480 “Just cannot find the feeling with the bike. I cannot get the right confidence to push hard, as I always do. Being in the last position with a gap of nearly a second from the rider ahead of me is really frustrating. I’m sorry also for the guys of my Team who work with so much passion and dedication. I do not think to be a last position rider and tomorrow I will try to prove it for all my technical staff. ” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Edwards and Spies confident of strong home race for Yamaha Colin Edwards equalled his best qualifying performance of the 2010 MotoGP world championship today, the American securing a thoroughly deserved fifth place on the grid for Yamaha’s all-important home race at the Twin Ring Motegi track in Japan. And completing an excellent afternoon for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team, Ben Spies was just one place further back in sixth position, the 26-year-old clinching a place on the second row for the sixth successive race. Experienced Edwards had a productive session as he continued to fine-tune a new weight distribution setting he first evaluated in yesterday’s opening practice. The modifications clearly boosted the 36-year-old’s confidence with his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine when he elevated himself into second place on the timesheets just before the halfway stage. It looked like his determined efforts would go unrewarded as he slipped out of the top six in the closing stages, only to deliver a stunning last lap of 1.47.464 to finish just over 0.4s away from pole position. Today’s performance has given Edwards huge encouragement that he can claim his first top six finish of the season in tomorrow’s 24-lap race. Spies was thrilled with his sixth position, a quickest time of 1.47.648 leaving him just 0.184s adrift of Edwards despite his lack of experience at the 4.801km Japanese venue. Spies steadily improved his pace throughout the session despite a small electronics issue preventing him from riding to his full potentia l. Edwards and Spies helped Yamaha occupy four places in the top six today and both are confident they can play a pivotal role in tomorrow’s home race for the Japanese factory. The race though may provide a completely different proposition with weather forecasts showing rain is expected tomorrow. Colin Edwards 5th 1.47.464 26 laps “I’m really happy to be on the second row and in fifth position. That is my best qualifying result since Mugello, but I’ll admit after this morning’s session I was not expecting to be so high up and as fast as I was. Yesterday when I ran the soft tyre I didn’t feel like I had enough grip so I hadn’t used it all today. I was a bit worried for qualifying that I’d find it hard but we’d played around with the weight distribution on the front again and when I put the soft tyre in this afternoon it felt like a differe nt motorcycle. It did everything I asked it to do and I had a lot more confidence going into the corner. The lap time wasn’t easy but it was a lot easier than I’d expected. I think this is probably the happiest I’ve felt with the bike all year. I’ve been able to ride the bike to its full potential and I’m confident I can get that first top six finish of the season tomorrow. It is going to be a hard fight but I’m ready for it and I’m determined to get a good result for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team and Yamaha. This is a massive race for Yamaha and hopefully Ben and I can put on a good show with Valentino and Jorge.” Ben Spies 6th 1.47.648 27 laps “I am actually really happy to be on the second row again because at the start of the session I was fighting a lot of stuff with the electronics. The chassis set-up is not so bad but some issues with the electronics made the bike really hard to ride. If we can figure out the electronics the bike will be a lot easier to ride, so having the feelings I’m having with the bike, I’m super happy to be in the top six. Considering the way the bike was working, to be just over half-a-second off pole position is a big surprise because I didn’t expect to be so close. The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team is working really hard to fix the problems but it hasn’t made the task of learning the track any easier. I have to deal with it and I’m still confident that we can be much stronger in the race. Sometimes you have a day when things don’t quite work out and it’s nobody’s fault. I can’t complain because when I look at the guys behind me, they have been around this track a million times. That gives me a lot of encouragement for tomorrow but we’ll have to see what the weather throws at us.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Andrea Dovizioso’s first pole position in the MotoGP class was secured on Saturday as the Repsol Honda rider topped the qualifying session for the Grand Prix of Japan. Having taken his first-ever front-row start in the premier class at Laguna Seca earlier this season, the Italian went one better at Motegi, where he won a battle for top spot on the timesheet with a best lap of 1’47.001. In the absence of his team-mate Dani Pedrosa, who today returned to Spain to undergo surgery on the collarbone he fractured in yesterday’s free practice, Dovizioso carries the hopes of the Honda factory team into tomorrow’s race. The manufacturer has been winless at its home circuit since Tamada’s victory in 2004 and the Italian will be desperate to break the sequence and seal his first victory of the season. A satisfied Dovizioso commented after the session, “I’m really happy to be on pole and also surprised because I didn’t expect to get so close to going under a 1m 47s lap here. This is like my second home race because it’s the home of the team, which makes it even more special to get my first pole position here. I’m also so happy about the performance of the RC212V. We’re looking good for the race because my style is usually not to go at my absolute maximum pace in practice and qualifying, so I’m hopeful for tomorrow.” Behind, Valentino Rossi’s final lap of the session placed the Fiat Yamaha rider in second position and gave him his first front-row starting position since he took pole at Le Mans back in May before he suffered the injury that destroyed his season. The reigning World Champion, who has looked in good shape throughout the weekend, was just 0.054s off his fellow Italian. Completing the front row having battled with Dovizioso for top spot in the closing stages was Casey Stoner. The Ducati Team rider, who had a minor run-off at turn five early on, was a fraction over a tenth of a second off the pole position time. Starting a race off the front row for the first time this season will be Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo, after the Fiat Yamaha man placed fourth in the session. Lorenzo had led during the early stages but eventually ended the hour 0.205s off Dovizioso’s pace. Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) equalled his best qualification of the season so far with fifth, with team-mate Ben Spies once again proving his aptitude at learning new tracks in an impressively quick manner and taking the final spot on row two. Two run-offs during the session failed to hold back Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) as he placed seventh, with Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) and Rizla Suzuki duo Álvaro Bautista and Loris Capirossi completing the top ten. The veteran Italian had a crash early on in the session but returned to the track to set his best time, which was just over a second off pole. Héctor Barberá (Páginas Amarillas Aspar) was the only other rider to crash, with Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team), Aleix Espargaró (Pramac Racing) and Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP) all running off track but able to stay on board and bring their bikes back safely. The MotoGP race is scheduled to get underway at 3pm local time on Sunday. Moto2 Julián Simón’s second pole of the 2010 season came at Motegi on Saturday as the Mapfre Aspar rider’s best lap of 1’53.008 placed him at the top of the starting grid for the Moto2 Grand Prix of Japan. Simón has finished second for the last three consecutive races, the first of which was at Indianapolis and which was the site of his last pole position. In second position and celebrating having signed a new two-year deal with the Marc VDS Racing Team this week, Scott Redding starts from the front row for the fourth successive race, thus continuing his rich vein of form. Yuki Takahashi put his Tech 3 machine there as well, with Championship leader Toni Elías (Gresini Racing) taking the final front-row spot with a late lap that left him three-thousandths of a second in front of Claudio Corti. The Italian from the Forward Racing team heads up a second row that also comprises Alex de Angelis (JiR Moto2), Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) and Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing). Yonny Hernández (Blusens-STX) finished in ninth position, with Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up) tenth and ending the session with a minor run off track. Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Moriwaki), who is contesting second spot in the overall standings with Iannone and Simón, qualified in 16th place. 125cc Marc Márquez once again set a blistering pace in qualifying to take his ninth pole position of the season, finishing 0.417s ahead of his rivals at Motegi in preparation for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Japan. The Red Bull Ajo Motorsport rider, who currently lies third in the Championship, set a hot lap of 1’58.030 to ensure he will go for what could be a seventh victory of 2010 from the top of the starting grid. Championship leader Nico Terol followed his rival on the timesheet and was the only other rider to join Márquez under 1’59″, with his Bancaja Aspar team-mate Bradley Smith third at 0.996s off the pole pace. Sandro Cortese (Avant Mitsubishi Ajo) will complete the front row after qualifying in fourth position. Heading up the second row in his home GP after setting the fifth best time in qualifying will be Tomoyoshi Koyama (Racing Team Germany), with Esteve Rabat (Blusens-STX) sixth. Pol Espargaró’s weekend failed to get any easier when a technical problem ended the Tuenti Racing rider’s session early. His time of 1’59.873 left him seventh in the order and rounded off a tough series of sessions which saw him crash twice in the first practice on Friday. A career’s best qualification of eighth for Simone Grotzkyj (Fontana Racing) means the Italian will complete the second row, although he had a minor fall at the very end of the session. Alberto Moncayo (Andalucia Cajasol), Efrén Vázquez (Tuenti Racing), Jonas Folger (Team Ongetta) and Randy Krummenacher (Stipa-Molenaar Racing) all registered times to place them on the third row. More, from a press release issued by Honda: DOVIZIOSO GETS FIRST POLE ON HONDA’S HOME TRACK Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V) stepped in to fill the void left by injured team-mate Dani Pedrosa to take his first-ever MotoGP pole position on a sunny Saturday afternoon at the the Twin Ring Motegi circuit, Honda’s home track north of Tokyo. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) was second and Casey Stoner (Ducati) third. Pedrosa was forced to abandon his championship hopes when he fractured his left collarbone in a Friday afternoon practice crash. The only rider able to challenge Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) for the title flew back to Spain, where he was expected to have surgery to plate the damaged collarbone. A date for his return to racing has not been set. In his absence, Dovizioso stepped up, the Italian picking the perfect time to perform above even his own expectations and achieve pole position. The front row start was only his second, to go with a third place qualifying effort in this year’s United States Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. Dovizioso lapped the 4.8km track 60 miles north of Tokyo with a time of 1m 47.001s. Dovizioso had posted his fast lap with nearly six minutes remaining in the one hour qualifying session, which made him vulnerable to attack. But the mark was out of reach of the rest of the 16-rider MotoGP field and Dovi had reason to celebrate. Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V) had put his name at the top of the order earlier and hoped to be on the front row. He was on a flyer late in the session when he ran wide and into the turn one gravel trap. The Frenchman stayed upright, but any hope of a front row start was gone. Instead he’ll start from seventh on row three and just in front of Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V). De Puniet said he was finally back on form after breaking his leg at the German Grand Prix in July and he chose to use race tyres to find a good race setting, rather than one outright fast lap on a soft tire. Simoncelli wasn’t happy to see the chequered flag. On his first visit to Motegi on a MotoGP machine, he found speed throughout the hour, turning in his best performance with his last lap. The team needed more time to work on a race setting, as the Italian said he was losing time in the final section, which includes the circuit’s longest straightaway. Team-mate Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) found the qualifying session difficult with a recurrence of many of the same problems he’s had all season, on top of which he was suffering from a fever. The weather forecast for Sunday was mixed, and Melandri was one of the few riders hoping for inclement weather, which he felt would be an equalizer. Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP) was disappointed to qualify 14th in his first home grand prix in the MotoGP class. Aoyama had been an encouraging sixth in Friday practice, but that form didn’t follow him into qualifying. He did improve on his Saturday morning time, which would be more indicative of his race pace, rather than the time he spent on the softer rear tyres. Julian Simon (Mapfre Aspar Team, Suter) earned his second pole position in the Moto2 class his first was in Indianapolis in another tightly fought qualifying session. What made his performance more impressive was that he had a cushion of 0.284s on the second fastest rider, Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team, Suter). Discounting Simon’s cushion, the riders from second to 18th are covered by the same second. Redding was on the front row for the fourth race in a row and aware of its importance. With such a tight field, getting into the first corner ahead of the scrum was important, and Redding had put himself in a great spot heading into Sunday’s 13th round of the Moto2 World Championship. His best lap came late in the hour as his crew continued to improve his machine. Redding was lucky to find a clear track as the session wound down, a rarity with 41 motorcycles, and he made the most of it, setting his best lap on the 17th of his 18 laps. Yuki Takahashi (Tech 3 Racing, Tech 3) was on the front row for the fourth time this season and the first since the Catalunya race in late June where he earned his maiden Moto2 victory from second on the grid. Now third, the Japanese rider was looking forward to a similar result in his home country and in honour of his late friend, Shoya Tomizawa, who will be honoured on race day. World Championship leader Toni Elias (Gresini Racing Moto2, Moriwaki) qualified at the end of the front row in a bid to return to winning form. He’d arrived in Japan with a class leading six wins, including four in a row leading up to the last race in Aragon, Spain, and that performance had elevated him well above the championship fray. Going into Sunday’s race, the first of the final five, Elias holds a 76 point lead on Simon. Elias might have been closer to the pole, but he was surprised to find that the softer rear tyre didn’t offer a significant performance upgrade. HONDA MotoGP RIDER QUOTES Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda RC212V: 1st 1m, 47.001s “I’m really happy to be on pole position and also surprised because I didn’t expect to get so close to going under a 1m 47s lap here. This is like my second home race because it’s the home of the team, which makes it even more special to get my first pole position here. I’m also so happy about the performance of the RC212V. We’ve got the electronics working really well here – the anti-wheelie system in particular – and also the power is very strong which helps a lot. We’re looking good for the race because my style is usually not to go at my absolute maximum pace in practice and qualifying, so I’m hopeful for tomorrow. I’d like to say thanks a lot to the team because they are working really well for me. It’s the race tomorrow that really counts though, so we’ll be concentrating hard to make sure we have a strong race.” Randy de Puniet, LCR Honda RC212V: 7th 1m, 47.752s “It seems we found the right adjustments and I could finally ride as I did in the first part of the season before the bad injury. The team made the right changes working on chassis set-up especially on hard braking and we have solved the rear grip issues so my race pace is pretty good at the moment. Probably I could be faster than this on qualifiers, but 7th spot on the grid is positive and in my opinion it’s more important to be consistent on race trim. We still have to choose the rear tyre for tomorrow’s race but I am pleased with the bike overall set-up. The weather is the only uncertainty, but I am always quick in the wet.” Marco Simoncelli, San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V: 8th 1m, 47.914s “I managed to do a quick lap at the end. It was a shame the flag came out because I could have taken another couple of tenths off and moved up to the second row, but in any case we’re in good shape for tomorrow’s race and all we have left to decide is the tyre choice. To be honest we still have to work out why I am losing so much time in the final section maybe we need to look at the electronics and see if we can get a little extra acceleration out of the corner and I also need to check my approach to the three corners in that section.” Marco Melandri, San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V: 12th 1m, 48.238s “Another difficult session with the same problems as the whole season. We haven’t found a solution and we need help from Honda if we are going to get over this. I also had a little bit of a fever this morning but thankfully the doctors at the Clinica Mobile made sure I was fit to take part in qualifying. My big hope for tomorrow is that we get some bad weather, which should shuffle the pack.” Hiroshi Aoyama, Interwetten Honda MotoGP RC212V: 14th 1m, 48.396s “We lost some positions and I am not happy about that. Nevertheless we could improve our lap time in the afternoon and that is something positive. As you know the qualifying is different to the race and the race still can be a good one, but I am definitely not happy with the result of the qualifying.” HONDA Moto2 RIDER QUOTES Julian Simon, Mapfre Aspar Team, Suter: 1st 1m, 53.008s “The grid is very close on lap times. I will try to win tomorrow because I have a good feeling at this track and I rode a good session, staying in front most of the time. And I have a good rhythm, so tomorrow I think I can have a good race with Toni. We wait to see what the weather will bring, but rain or dry is okay for me. I enjoy Moto2 and I like this track, so I can make a good race tomorrow. The start of the race is always very important in Moto2, so from the first corner I will be trying to win.” Scott Redding, Marc VDS Racing Team, Suter: 2nd 1m, 53.292s “I’m happy to be on the front row for the fourth race in a row, especially as we had some problems with the bike today. Traction is a real issue here and I had a crash at the hairpin this morning after running out of grip. We made some changes to the bike ahead of qualifying and then continued improving the set-up during the first half of the session. I was lucky to get a clear track right at the end of qualifying and managed to string a good fast lap together to finish second behind Julian Simon. The race will be tough, as grip is a real issue here, but I’ve got my sights set firmly on the podium and I’ll be pushing as hard as I can to achieve this tomorrow.” Yuki Takahashi, Tech 3 Racing, Tech 3: 3rd – 1m, 53.439s “I am really happy to be on the front row of the grid for my home race. It is always special to race in front of the home fans and we’ve all had to wait a long time for this moment after the race was cancelled in April. I am really satisfied that we could get third because it has not been an easy weekend and my Tech 3 Racing crew have been working really hard to improve the bike. We have had to change the bike a lot but we have finally found a setting that allows me to push at my limit. At the end of the session I had a good rhythm and I was able to get third position on my last lap. I think that Shoya (Tomizawa) was with me on that last lap and now I am going to give my maximum effort tomorrow to get a good result for him.” Toni Elias, Gresini Racing Moto2, Moriwaki: 4th 1m, 53.504s “I am happy because a front row start is definitely an improvement on Aragon but I was hoping for more because I have been fast on a race tyre and I expected a bigger improvement on the soft compound. To be honest I thought I could take another half a second off but it wasn’t to be the case. Anyway, we have to take fourth place, which still isn’t bad, and hope for a good start tomorrow that can help us fight for the win.” 125cc HONDA RIDER QUOTE Marcel Schrötter, Interwetten Honda 125 Team: 21st – 2m 1.763s “The first half of the qualifying I didn’t have a good feeling with my bike and it took me too long to get my fastest time, which was at the end. If I would finally make it happen earlier to have a quick lap I would be really happy. I hope tomorrow will be the day this happens.”