Stoner unstoppable in Qatar Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar Saturday 10 April Report Day 2 Stoner starts first 2010 race from pole position Motogp Casey Stoner gave himself the best possible chance of taking his fourth successive MotoGP victory in Qatar tomorrow, by qualifying his Ducati Marlboro Desmosedici on pole position. The Australian rider has topped every practice and qualifying session this weekend, holding off a late charge from reigning World Champion, Valentino Rossi, during qualifying to claim prime position on the grid for tomorrow’s 22-lap Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar. “We’re only at the start of a very long season, but this is a perfect start and I’m really pleased,” declared Stoner. “I’m sure I was on for a faster lap, but then my gear shifter got stuck at turn two. To have set a virtually identical time on both the hard and soft tyres is obviously encouraging for the race, but the only objective here is to take some solid points to Japan.” Rossi, who topped the timesheet briefly during qualifying this evening, looked set to topple Stoner from the top spot with a late charge, but the Fiat Yamaha rider lost time in the final corner and was forced to settle for second place on the grid, 0.355s adrift of Stoner and his Ducati. Jorge Lorenzo secured the final spot on the front row of the grid with his final lap of the hour-long session, declaring himself fighting fit after his pre-season injury, but concerned about a lack of rear traction that had caused him issues during the qualifying session. Randy de Puniet was the fastest Honda mounted qualifier this evening, finishing fifth fastest to head up the second row of the grid, where he will be joined by Loris Capirossi, who will celebrate his 300th Grand Prix start tomorrow, and fellow Honda rider, Andrea Dovizioso. Colin Edwards got the better of fellow countryman, Nicky Hayden, to take eighth place, with the first of the MotoGP rookies, reigning 250cc World Champion Hiroshi Aoyama, joining the two Americans on the third row of the grid in ninth. Another MotoGP rookie, Ben Spies, rounded out the top ten for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team. Moto2 Toni Elias rode through the pain barrier this evening to claim pole position for tomorrow’s first ever Moto2 World Championship race. The former MotoGP rider crashed heavily during the final pre-season test in Jerez and arrived in Qatar on crutches following surgery on a fractured ankle and hand. The 27-year-old Spaniard had to have painkilling injections ahead of qualifying, but the pain was forgotten as he parked his Gresini Moriwaki on the number one spot in parc ferme at the end of the 45-minute timed session. Reigning 125cc World Champion, Julian Simon, secured second place on the grid aboard his Mapfre Aspar RSV machine, just 0.006s ahead of former 125cc rival, Stefan Bradl. Another former MotoGP rider, Alex De Angelis, secured fourth position, with the result that four different chassis manufacturers will be represented on the front row of the Moto2 grid in Qatar. A late charge by Yuki Takahashi secured the Japanese rider fifth place on the grid, ahead of Jules Cluzel, Raffaele De Rosa and the elder statesman of the Moto2 class, Alex Debon. With 41 riders on the grid, the first ever Moto2 race promises to be an exciting affair. 125cc Marc Marquez will start the first 125cc World Championship race from pole position aboard his Red Bull Ajo Motorsport Derbi, after holding off the challenge of fellow Derbi rider, Pol Espargaro. Nico Terol qualified his Bancaja Aspar Aprilia in third place, just ahead of the second Tuenti Racing Derbi of Efren Vazquez. Randy Krummenacher finished qualifying fifth fastest and will head up the second row of the grid, in front of Tomoyoshi Koyama, Sandro Cortese and Alexis Masbou. Runner up in last year’s 125cc World Championship, Bradley Smith has struggled throughout the Qatar weekend with machinery problems, but the British rider managed to salvage ninth place on the grid with his very last lap in the timed session. Esteve Rabat rounded out the top ten aboard his Blusens STX Aprilia. More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Stoner takes first pole position of 2010, faster than Losail lap record Round 1: Qatar GP Qualifying Losail International Circuit Saturday 10 April 2010 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Medium, Extra Hard. Rear: Medium, Hard Casey Stoner continued his dominant form in Qatar by qualifying on pole for tomorrow’s race, beating his existing race lap record from 2008 and his pole time from last year. His fastest lap came at the end of the session on the harder option front slick and the softer rear. His second best effort, set on the harder option rear, was only 0.02-seconds slower and would still have been good enough for pole, demonstrating the good overlap of performance between the medium and hard compound rear Bridgestone slicks. Most riders started the hour-long session on the harder option front and rear, the combination that will be most favourable for the race for their improved durability and stability under braking. Almost every rider ultimately went faster on the softer rear tyre though, as expected from short qualifying runs. Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa recorded his best on the harder option rear slick though, on the last lap of the session. The softer option rear tyre provided good traction and therefore laptimes over a small number of laps, but the track temperature was sufficiently high to mean that the harder option provided more durability and consistency over a longer distance and this is why it will be favoured for tomorrow’s 22 lap race. Tohru Ubukata Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department “We can see by comparing the times of Casey during the session that the performance of the medium and hard compound slicks is very similar, and this shows me that we have succeeded in developing a new medium compound rear tyre for this year with an even wider temperature operating range. “Overall the times were good and I am happy with the performance of the compound options we have chosen for Qatar. Both are working well and the lap times are similar on both specs, but clearly the harder front and rear slicks will be favoured for the race because they deliver superior durability which is an important consideration at this circuit. We saw in qualifying that the softer rear tyre was good for a few laps, but then the performance was reduced by the heat and abrasion, so over a race distance the harder option will be faster.” Top ten from qualifying (Saturday 22:55 23:55 GMT+3) Pos Rider Team Fastest lap Gap Compounds Front, Rear 1 Casey Stoner Ducati Team 1m55.007s Extra hard, Medium 2 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1m55.362s +0.355s Extra hard, Medium 3 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 1m55.520s +0.513s Extra hard, Medium 4 Randy de Puniet LCR Honda MotoGP 1m55.831s +0.824s Extra hard, Medium 5 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m55.899s +0.892s Extra hard, Medium 6 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 1m55.963s +0.956s Extra hard, Medium 7 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 1m55.990s +0.983s Extra hard, Hard 8 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech3 1m56.005s +0.998s Extra hard, Medium 9 Nicky Hayden Ducati Team 1m56.163s +1.156s Extra hard, Medium 10 Hiroshi Aoyama Interwetten Honda MotoGP 1m56.227s +1.220s Extra hard, Medium Weather: Dry. Ambient 27°C; Track 29°C ( Bridgestone measurement) More, from another press release issued by Dorna Communications: Sunday Guide Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar Sunday 11 April motogp “¢ If Casey Stoner wins the race he will become only the fourth rider ever to win the opening premier-class race of the year in four or more successive years; the other riders to have done this are Giacomo Agostini, Barry Sheene and Valentino Rossi. “¢ Ducati are aiming to become only the second manufacturer to win the opening premier-class race of the year in five or more successive seasons. The only other manufacturer to have achieved this is MV Agusta. “¢ Valentino Rossi is looking to win the opening race of the year for the first time since 2005 at Jerez. “¢ Jorge Lorenzo, who has won in Qatar in the 125cc class and twice in the 250cc class, has finished on the podium in both his two starts in the MotoGP class at the Losail circuit. “¢ Randy de Puniet is the top Honda rider on the grid in 4th place, which is his best qualifying result since the Australian Grand Prix in 2008. “¢ Loris Capirossi, who is starting his 21st season of Grand Prix racing, is scheduled to become the first rider ever to make 300 Grand Prix starts. “¢ Andrea Dovizioso was 4th at Qatar on his debut in the MotoGP class in 2008 and last year he was the first Honda rider across the line in 5th. “¢ Dani Pedrosa will be starting from his lowest grid position since he was 8th on the grid in Germany last year. Losail is one of only four current circuits (that have been used previously) where Pedrosa has not had a victory in any class of GP racing. “¢ Hiroshi Aoyama, in tenth place on the grid, is the best qualifier of the rookies in the MotoGP class in 2010. “¢ The combined total of Grand Prix victories for the riders scheduled to start the MotoGP race is 317, which is greater than the current record for the combined number of Grand Prix wins for all riders starting a GP which stands at 289, at the Dutch TT last year. 250cc “¢ In the first ever Moto2 qualifying session the top 30 riders on the grid have qualified within two seconds of pole position. “¢ Toni Elias, who takes the first ever pole in the Moto2 class, is the first winner of a premier-class Grand Prix to appear in one of the smaller classes since Loris Capirossi moved down to compete in the 250cc class in 1997 after winning the final 500cc race of 1996 at Phillip Island. “¢ Second on the grid, Julian Simon will be aiming to maintain his winning streak, having won the last three 125cc GP races of 2009. “¢ In third place on the grid is Stefan Bradl, at the circuit where he finished third in the 125cc race in 2008 – his first podium in Grand Prix racing. “¢ Completing the front row is Alex de Angelis, who finished second in the 250cc race in Qatar in 2007. “¢ If all 41 qualifiers line up for the race on Sunday it will be the largest grid for an intermediate class Grand Prix since the 250cc West German GP in 1988 at the Nurburgring circuit when 48 riders lined up on the grid. 125cc “¢ Marc Marquez has qualified on pole for the third time in his GP career. On the previous two occasions he has started from pole, both of which were last year, he has failed to finish; in France he crashed and in the Malaysian race he retired with mechanical problems. Marquez crashed out in Qatar last year while battling for a podium position on the last lap of the shortened four lap race. “¢ Second on the grid, Pol Espargaro will be aiming to continue his great form from the end of 2009, when he finished on the podium four times in the last six races, including two victories. “¢ This is the first time that Derbi have taken the top two places on the grid since the Indianapolis GP in 2008 when Pol Espargaro was on pole and Mike di Meglio in second place on the grid. “¢ With Nico Terol and Efren Vazquez qualifying 3rd and 4th, this is the first all Spanish front row in the history of the 125cc class. “¢ Efren Vazquez has qualified on the front row for the first time in his Grand Prix career, having never previously been higher than 8th on the grid. “¢ Heading up the second row of the grid is Randy Krummenacher, who will be aiming to the return to the podium for the first time since the Catalan GP in 2007 when he scored his only podium finish in Grand Prix racing. “¢ If any of the Aprilia riders win the race it will be the 275th win for the Italian manufacturer, equalling the number of wins by another great Italian motorcycle company, MV Agusta More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Grand Prix of Qatar – Qualifying – 10 april 2010 Edwards and Spies eye top six in 2010 opener Monster Yamaha Tech 3 duo Colin Edwards and Ben Spies are confident they can mount a dual challenge for the top six in the opening MotoGP race of 2010 at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar tomorrow night. Edwards will kick off his eighth MotoGP campaign from the third row of the grid after a closely fought opening qualifying session of the season in Doha this evening. In warm but windy conditions under the spectacular Losail International Circuit floodlights, Edwards declared himself delighted with set-up tweaks on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine that drastically improved turning performance. The changes boos ted Edwards’ confidence that he can emulate his fourth position in the 2009 Qatar MotoGP race having lapped at a consistent pace on Bridgestone’s hard rear race tyre. Edwards also impressed on soft tyres and surged into the top three in the final 20 minutes. But in a typically frantic final few minutes, Edwards dropped down to eighth despite setting his best time on his last lap. The 36-year-old though was only 0.174s from Randy de Puniet in fourth place. Fellow American Spies will make his eagerly anticipated Monster Yamaha Tech 3 debut from 11th on the grid after the reigning World Superbike champion finished with a best time of 1.56.271. That was less than 0.5s away from fourth and the Texan is confident he can fight for a top six having set his best time of the session on hard compound tyres. Tomorrow’s race is scheduled to run over 22-laps and is the first in th e 18-round world championship that concludes in Valencia on November 7. Colin Edwards 8th 1.56.005 – 22 laps “I made the bike a hundred times better than yesterday. I was really worried after last night that I was going to struggle but I pretty much went back to last year’s set-up and I’m happy with it. The bike just turned a lot better tonight and I had a lot more feeling from the front tyre on the brakes. Yesterday I was so lost it felt like I was riding somebody else’s bike. I’m confident for the race because I did some good laps on the hard tyre. I’m a bit more consistent than those in front of me on race tyres, so I don’t think I’m out of the hunt for fourth place tomorrow at all. At the end of the day I was really close to being fourth on the grid. I had a couple of little issues on the soft tyre but Bridgestone have still done a great job and I’m looking forward to the race because of the consistency I’ve got on the hard race tyres. As always I’ll be giving it my all for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team.” Ben Spies 11th 1.56.271 22 laps “It wasn’t a good session really and I never got to use the advantage of the soft tyre. I didn’t get it done and I never really put in a clean lap. But I am happy with the lap time we put in on race tyres. The positive is I did my fastest time on race tyres that had a lot of laps on them. The top four guys are obviously a little bit quicker on hard tyres. But the majority of the people that were quicker than me were on soft tyres, so we’ve just got to try to get a good start. I think the race pace I’ve got is still good, but I’m going to have a hard time passing people down this long straight. I’m right behind Colin on the grid and hopefully jump in behind him and go.” More, from a press release issued by Tech 3 Moto2: Grand Prix of Qatar Qualifying 10 April 2010 Tech 3 confident ahead of historic first Moto2 race The Tech 3 Racing Team will start tomorrow’s historic first Moto2 race brimming with confidence after Yuki Takahashi and Raffaele de Rosa qualified in the top ten in Qatar tonight. Japanese rider Takahashi came tantalisingly close to being part of the first ever Moto2 front row at the Losail International Circuit tonight, but his best time of 2.02.295 was just 0.194s away from the top four. Confidence is high though that Takahashi will be a leading contender for a podium finish in the 20-lap race, which is the first in the new 600cc four-stroke Moto2 era. Takahashi was able to produce several laps in the 2.02 bra cket and he might have been able to mount a stronger challenge for the front row had he not been caught in traffic during the crucial final moments of the session. Raffaele de Rosa gave his confidence a massive lift on the new Tech 3 machine, which has been designed and developed entirely by Herve Poncharal’s dedicated Tech 3 crew in France. Italian de Rosa, who finished Rookie of the Year in the final 250cc two-stroke world championship last season, ended seventh quickest with a best lap of 2.02.560. That was less than 0.3s slower than Takahashi and only just over 0.6s from the pole position time set by former MotoGP race winner Toni Elias. The new Moto2 class certainly looks ultra-competitive with less than 1.5s splitting the top 24 while five different chassis featured in the top five on the grid. Yuki Takahashi 5th 2.02 .295 18 laps “Fifth place is not a bad result but it would have been nice to have been on the front row in the first ever Moto2 qualifying session. But starting from the second row means we are in a strong position for the race and I’ve been able to do consistent lap times on race tyres. Looking at the lap times it is going to be an exciting battle with everybody so close, so being high up the grid is going to be a big advantage. I think I might have been able to get on the front row but at the end I lost a bit of time in traffic. I think I could have been two or three tenths faster and that would have put me on the front row. I’m still happy with fifth and I am really looking forward to the race now. It is an honour for me to represent Tech 3 and I’m determined to do my best because the team has put in an incredible amount of effort to get the bike so competitive.” Raffaele de Rosa 7th 2.02.560 18 laps “I am really happy to have finished in the top ten because it has not been an easy winter for me. I’ve got to say a big thanks to the Tech 3 Team because they have given me fantastic support and now hopefully I can start showing my true potential. I am excited about the race because we spent a lot of time checking old race tyres to see how many laps I could do. We do have some problems with the rear tyre spinning under acceleration, but in general I’m really happy and hopeful of a strong race. It is obvious that we have made a big step with my confidence with the bike and I’m thinking positive going into the race tomorrow night having finished so close to Yuki, who has been very fast in testing and now here. It will be important to get a good start and pick up some vital early points, but it will not be easy looking at how close the lap times are.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing: UNLUCKY TWELFTH PLACE FOR KALLIO IN THE FIRST 2010 QUALIFICATION. ESPARGARO’ FOURTEENTH Day with highs and lows in Qatar for the Pramac Racing Team. In the first practice session Mika Kallio had managed to get the sixth fastest time only three tenths from the third. In the session valid for the starting grid for the Grand Prix of Qatar, on the other hand, the situation has changed and Mika had to settle for twelfth place. The Finn was unlucky because during the third fast lap of the qualifying session he slipped because of the rear tire temperature wasn’t ready at the best. His teammate, Aleix Espargarò, has managed to improve progressively finishing in fourteenth place. Aleix is only five tenths from fourth place and this gives it a good chance to retrieve in tomorrow’s race that will start at 23 local. Fabiano Sterlacchini – Pramac Racing Technical Director “We were a bit unlucky because of the slide at the beginning of the session: Mika was pushing straight away and perhaps the tires were not yet at highest performance. However Mika added his aggressiveness to retrieve and he put him self in the middle of the group very close to the fastest. For tomorrow we have some technical solution to try during the warm up and I am confident that if everything goes in the right direction there might be a big surprise.” Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing rider – 12th best time in 1’56.283 “We improved as lap time, but we are not happy with how things have gone today. I have slipped at the fourth lap without any error: probably the rear tyre wasn’t yet ready and I had to be more cautious. Also by telemetry seems that everything was going well. Coming in the box we had to change the set up of the second bike and only on the last lap of the session I managed to make a satisfactory lap time. It’s a shame really, because after the result of today’s free practice we could have aimed to better positions. We’ll try to improve in tomorrow’s race.” Aleix Espargarò – Pramac Racing rider – 14th best time in 1’56.652 “We are happy because today we found a set-up of the bike highly satisfactory. A pity that in the first day of work we find too many difficulties, we must improve our performance during the season under this aspect. However, we are really close to the other riders and I am sure that tomorrow we can have some fun during the race. Expect a great show.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Superb qualifying sees Capirossi fifth for his 300th start Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi will start his 300th Grand Prix from the middle of the second row following an impressive qualifying session in Qatar this evening. Capirossi (P5, 1’55.899, 23 laps) recorded his best time on his final lap of the 5,380m Losail International Circuit, to push himself right into contention for tomorrow’s 22-lap race. Following last night’s heavy crash, Capirossi and his crew made several changes to the Suzuki GSV-R which resulted in significant improvements in handling and overall lap-time. The Italian is in a confident mood for the opening round of the season and will be looking for a strong race to celebrate the milestone that he will set on race-day. Alvaro Bautista (P13, 1’56.450, 23 laps) will start his first MotoGP race from the front of the fifth row after a fast crash at the end of the qualifying session ruined his chances to move up the grid. He suffered a very similar crash to that of team-mate Capirossi last night, and like the Italian, was able to walk away uninjured from the accident. Bautista’s race pace during the free practice and qualifying session was very consistent and competitive, and if he can get a good start he will certainly be running further up the field than his grid position. Tomorrow’s 22-lap race will see Casey Stoner on his Ducati start from pole position as he goes in search of his fourth successive victory at Qatar. The race will get underway at 23.00hrs local time (20.00hrs GMT) with both Rizla Suzuki racers looking to start the season in promising form. Loris Capirossi: “Overall I am quite happy with tonight’s qualifying, because after my crash yesterday we struggled a bit in the earlier practice, but at the end of the session we tried something different and in the qualifying it seemed to work well. Once we made the change I immediately went quicker and we modified the bike a bit more for qualifying and from that we found a very good setting. I went well in qualifying and I did 1’56 laps many times and this is good. In the end I followed Valentino and got a bit of help with my lap, but that doesn’t matter because I am happy with the result. I am pleased for the team because they made a huge effort after I destroyed a bike last night and the guys didn’t get to sleep until about five o’clock this morning! This is a small present to them, but we really hope we can have something better tomorrow to enjoy.” Alvaro Bautista: “This is my first official crash in a race weekend, but I am still quite happy because I rode well and got a good setting for the bike during the free practice and I feel very good on the bike. I improved my time on the race tyres and this is very important, but I also think I can still go a little bit faster. I have a good race rhythm and even though I am too far back on the grid for what I wanted, I will try to get a good start and run with a good group and see what happens. I am really excited for tomorrow’s race and I think I can enjoy myself and we’ll see what we can do.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “Loris did an incredible job in qualifying and is riding at the absolute limits and beyond as he comes to his 300th Grand Prix start tomorrow. The improvement from yesterday didn’t only come from Loris, but the guys also improved the bike quite a lot and the lap-time rhythm on the harder tyres has improved significantly. If Loris can get away with the fastest riders and find his rhythm early on we could be in for a very exciting Grand Prix tomorrow night. “Alvaro’s crash in the final seconds of qualifying was his first real one he’s had and it’s something that had to happen somewhere, and qualifying is where the absolute limits are found. I don’t think it will dent his confidence for tomorrow and if he can make a good start I think he will make a significant improvement on his grid position. “Finally on behalf of Loris and everyone at Rizla Suzuki we’d like to extend our thanks to Carmelo Ezpeleta and Dorna for the very nice presentation to Loris in celebration of his 300th Grand Prix start tomorrow.” Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar Qualifying Practice Classification: 1. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 1’55.007: 2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +0.355: 3. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) +0.513: 4. Randy de Puniet (Honda) +0.824: 5. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +0.892: 13. ALVARO BAUTISTA (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.443: More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: STONER TAKES FIRST POLE OF 2010, HAYDEN ON THIRD ROW The Desmosedici GP10 machine of Ducati Marlboro rider Casey Stoner will start the 2010 MotoGP World Championship from the front of the grid tomorrow night following a sensational qualifying performance from the Australian at the Grand Prix of Qatar. The brilliance of Stoner’s performance was not necessarily in his decisive lap – a 1’55.007 but in the fact that he set a virtually identical time of 1’55.024 on race rubber with 16 laps already on the tyre. A minor gear shifter problem on a second softer tyre in the closing stages meant that he was unable to raise the bar as his rivals launched their usual late challenge for supremacy but it proved unnecessary as the gap behind him only closed to 0.355 seconds. After lapping fifth fastest yesterday Stoner’s team-mate Nicky Hayden was disappointed to qualify ninth, although the American showed good pace in each sector of the track and remains optimistic of a strong challenge when the first race of the season gets underway at 11pm local time (GMT+3) tomorrow. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 1st (1’55.007) “It is only the start of a very long season but it is the perfect start and I’m really pleased. This bike needs a little bit more time to set up because of the characteristics of the new engine so we’ll see how we go at other tracks but it definitely likes this circuit and the team have done a great job. Unfortunately my gear shifter got stuck coming out of turn two on what I’m sure would have been a faster. To have set a virtually identical time on the hard tyre is obviously encouraging for the race but the only objective here is to start the season on the right foot and take some solid points to Japan.” NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team) 9th (1’56.163) “We made some changes to the front that have definitely helped me out in the fast corners today but we struggled to put everything together for a whole lap. I did a couple of 1’56.1s but as hard as we tried we couldn’t quite drop into the 55s, even though looking at my ideal lap the potential is definitely there. Tomorrow we need to unlock that potential although starting from ninth place, out on the dirt, is not a good place to be one of the worst, actually. We set our best time on a soft tyre so at least that means we’re making progress in that area, which was a target. We still need to improve more tomorrow though.” Circuit Record: Casey Stoner (Ducati – 2008), 1’55.153, 168.193 Km/h Best Pole: Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha – 2008), 1’53.927, 170.003 Km/h More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: ROSSI AND LORENZO ON FRONT ROW FOR QATAR SEASON OPENER The first MotoGP qualifying session of 2010 saw Fiat Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo in strong form, taking the second and third spots on the grid behind Casey Stoner to set up an exact rematch of last year’s Qatar race. World Champion Rossi had struggled a little yesterday but was much happier on his bike today after some set-up changes this morning, finding better rear grip and an improved race pace as a result. Mid-way through the session he moved into the lead for a short while before Stoner bettered his time and edged him back into second. With the hour gone the Italian was up on the clock on his final flying lap but he dropped a few tenths when passing two riders on the fourth sector and had to settle for second, 0.355 off Stoner’s time. After his confidence-inspiring opening day yesterday, Lorenzo took a small step back this evening and found he had less feeling in the rear than previously. He was nonetheless able to put up a spirited fight for grid positions and was happy to qualify third, considering his recently broken hand and lack of testing. The 23-year-old admits that he still has some pain when braking but is more concerned in tweaking his set-up tonight to put him in the best possible shape for tomorrow night’s race, which starts at 2300 local time (2200 CET). rossi rossi Position: 2nd Time: 1’55.362 Laps: 25 “I’m really happy about the work we’ve done today on our set up and now we have a good race pace with the hard Bridgestone tyres. With the soft one the rear is still sliding a little bit too much, but I think for the race we are okay. My final flying lap was very fast but then I had to pass a couple of riders in the final sector and I lost some time, but anyway we have a good grid position so I am happy. A strong start is going to be very important and we will have to push hard on the first lap to try to stay close to Stoner, who is always very strong here. Honestly I think it will be tough to beat him but we will try our best!” lorenzo lorenzo Position: 3rd Time: 1’55.520 Laps: 24 “Considering my situation I am really happy about my grid position and I think we can be proud of our work. Unfortunately today though we have lost some feeling on the rear and it was difficult to go as fast as yesterday. My hand isn’t perfect and I still have some pain in braking but I am less worried about that than about the bike. We will use the warm-up to try to make some improvements and then I will just do my best in the race and try for the podium.” brivio brivio Team Manager “We’ve done an okay job in this practice! We made some adjustments to the bike and it’s a lot better than yesterday so Valentino’s pace is much stronger now. The starting position is good and tomorrow we’ll just try from the start to stay with Stoner and see how the race develops. It will be interesting!” zeelenberg zeelenberg Team Manager “We’re happy to be on the front row after Jorge’s injury, it’s a great achievement by him to be so close to Rossi and Stoner at this stage. We’re not 100% happy with the bike set-up and we can still improve it for the race, even though it’s going to be a tough challenge to match the leaders. Anyway we will make the most of the remaining time and try to be there.” Qualifying Times FRONT ROW 1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 1’55.007 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1’55.362 3. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1’55.520 SECOND ROW 4. Randy de Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1’55.831 5. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’55.899 6. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Repsol Honda Team 1’55.963 THIRD ROW 7. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1’55.990 8. Colin Edwards (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’56.005 9. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team 1’56.163 FOURTH ROW 10. Hiroshi Aoyama (JAP) Interwetten-Honda MotoGP 1’56.227 11. Ben Spies (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’56.271 12. Mika Kallio (FIN) Pramac Green Team 1’56.283 FIFTH ROW 13. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’56.450 14. Aleix Espargaro (SPA) Pramac Green Team 1’56.652 15. Marco Simoncelli (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’56.957 SIXTH ROW 16. Hector Barbera (SPA) Aspar Team 1’57.130 17. Marco Melandri (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’57.325 Losail: Record Lap C. Stoner (Ducati) 2008, 1’55.153 Losail: Best Lap J. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2008, 1’53.927 More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: REPSOL HONDA RIDERS READY FOR PODIUM FIGHT IN QATAR Repsol Honda riders Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa are focused on podium finishes in tomorrow’s race after securing sixth and seventh positions with just 0.027s separating them in this evening’s first qualifying session of 2010 in Qatar. Dovizioso and his Honda RC212V have been near the top of the timesheets for the whole weekend and the Italian is confident his race pace should allow him to battle for a finish in the top three. In the earlier free practice period he recorded the fourth fastest time to replicate his position from yesterday’s sole practice session, and this afternoon he broke the 1m 56s barrier for the first time, stopping the clock at 1m 55.963s – which was good enough for the final place on the second row of the grid. Ever the realist, Dovizioso realises that fighting for victory will be a tall order under the Losail floodlights, and the final podium spot is his realistic aim. The 24-year-old will be looking to make final adjustments to machine settings in the warm-up and to get away with the leaders in the race. Pedrosa has been making steady progress in every session this weekend, methodically working his way towards his accustomed place near the sharp end of the grid. This continued today, with the Spaniard immediately up to speed in both sessions. For the first 15 minutes of qualifying Pedrosa led the way after quickly setting an impressive lap of 1m 56.225s – easily his fastest of the weekend at that stage. He was then able to bring that down to 1m 55.990s – just 0.027s behind his team-mate – which means Pedrosa will start tomorrow’s race from the front of the third row. It’s not as far forward as he would have chosen, but if he can begin the 2010 season with the type of lightning start he made his trademark last year, few would bet against Pedrosa being in the mix into the first corner. A 20-minute warm-up at 19:00 on Sunday is followed by Round One of the 2010 MotoGP season, starting at 23:00 local time (GMT +3 hours). ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 6th 1m 55.963s “Tomorrow we will start from the second row on the grid, and this is positive because on this track it’s not easy to recover positions – it’s very important to start well. We had a good qualifying session after having some issues during the first free practice today and our pace is not too bad. I could have gone a little quicker in qualifying, but overall I’m reasonably satisfied. There are two or three riders with similar pace so tomorrow our target is to fight for the podium. Casey and Valentino have an incredible pace, but I’m confident I can compete for third position – provided I make a good start. Now we will analyze the data from today and think about some machine adjustments that we will test in the warm-up. Specifically, I was losing a lot of time in T3 and I also need to improve my starts so that’s where we’ll be focusing. All in all I’m optimistic about tomorrow and I’m looking forward to this race.” DANI PEDROSA 7th 1m 55.990s “We improved the set-up again today – a little bit in the morning and then a bigger step in the afternoon – and the lap time is coming down which means our position is better than where we have been recently. In the warm-up we will try to optimse the set-up a little more to help us with the race distance and then it’s down to the race where I’ll be looking for a good start of course. In qualifying I felt more comfortable on the hard option Bridgestone tyre which is why I was pushing hard at the start of the session. I wasn’t able to improve with the soft tyre so it looks like we’ll be going with the hard tyre for the race. It was actually a shame this evening because on my last lap I made a mistake and lost some time, and if I hadn’t done that I could have been 4th on the grid. Stoner and Rossi look very strong for the race, but there should be a big group fighting for the final place on the podium and I hope to be in amongst it.” TOSHIYUKI YAMAJI – REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER “Both Repsol Honda riders did a good job today and they have made significant improvements to the set-up of their machines, which should allow us to have a competitive race tomorrow. The practice and qualifying sessions today have yielded a lot of data to analyse and Andrea and Dani will use tomorrow’s warm-up to make final adjustments to the settings ahead of the race. Their times are very close and we could be in for a very exciting first race of the season. Some of our rivals look very strong here, so the whole Repsol Honda Team will be giving it everything to run them close tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: Grand Prix of Qatar at Losail: final qualifying Weather:Dry Temperature: 25 degrees ambient, 23 degrees track 9, 10, and 11 April 2010 HONDAS DOMINATE ROW TWO FOR SEASON OPENER The first qualifying session of the 2010 MotoGP World Championship got underway under the floodlights on a warm, but calm evening at the Losail International Circuit. Casey Stoner (Ducati) took the first pole position of the new season, followed closely by Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) and teammate Jorge Lorenzo. Stoner, the 2007 World Champion, moved to the top of the leaderboard with a series of fast laps near the midpoint of the one hour session, which ended in the desert just minutes before midnight. A number of riders took aim in the second half hour by fitting the softer of the two Bridgestone rear tyres, but none could bump the Australian from his perch. Stoner finished the hour with a time of 1:55.007m, .355s faster than Rossi and over half a second up on Lorenzo. The Honda rider who came closest to joining the front row was Randy de Puniet. Riding the LCR Honda, the Frenchman was on the front row almost to the very end before he was bumped to the second row pole by Lorenzo. Team owner Lucio Cecchinello was ecstatic to be the first satellite machine amid a host of works bikes and pleased to start the season in such impressive fashion. Veteran Suzuki rider Loris Capirossi will start his 300th grand prix in the middle of row two, just in front of Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso. Dovi was in fourth when he clocked the fastest first segment time of any rider late in the session, with the promise of a pole position. But he wasn’t able to maintain his momentum and instead will start from the end of row two. Dani Pedrosa showed promising early speed on the Repsol Honda. The Spaniard held the top during the first 15 minutes, before losing it to Stoner. Pedrosa continued to test various parts and both Bridgestone tires wile dropping his time. His final tour of the 5.38ks track netted him a best lap of 1:55.990, just .027s behind Dovizioso. Hiroshi Aoyama, the last ever 250cc World Champion, made his MotoGP debut by qualifying as the top rookie on the Interwetten Honda MotoGP machine. The Japanese rider was more than happy to qualify just off the third row and was looking forward to mixing it up with the world’s best in Sunday’s curtain-raiser. The San Carlo Honda Gresini riders had a tough evening in the desert. Former 250cc World Champion Marco Simoncelli was relegated to one machine after crashing early in the hour. He finished 15th. Teammate Marco Melandri was two spots behind in 17th. Gresini Racing Moto2’s Toni Elias needed medical help from the Clinica Mobile before taking the first ever Moto2 pole position. The Spaniard broke bones in his left hand and right foot during a testing crash at Jerez 10 days ago and is far from full fitness. Still, he was the best of a close field of Moto2 riders, all of whom were riding with control Honda engines and on control Dunlop tyres. Julian Simon, Mapfre Aspar Team, starts from second place on the grid with Helmut Bradl third for Viessmann Kiefer Racing. The top 13 were covered by one second, with the first five riders all on different chassis. MotoGP Rider Quotes: Randy de Puniet, LCR Honda: 4th 1 m, 55.831 s. “Two months ago we had some issues with the new bike at Sepang test but we remained concentrated on our job and I was confident that my crew could give me a better bike. We have improved slowly and my feeling has increased a lot. Since the beginning of this week end we have worked in the right way making some long run on race tyres with an excellent pace. In the qualifying session we have tested our race map and at the end I have lapped on soft tyres gaining the second row. Honestly I was not expecting such a brilliant result but I am very happy and want to thank my crew. Tomorrow’s start is really important if I want to close the gap to the front riders.” Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda: 6th 1m, 55.963s. “Tomorrow we will start from the second row on the grid, and this is positive because on this track it’s not easy to recover positions – it’s very important to start well. We had a good qualifying session after having some issues during the first free practice today and our pace is not too bad. I could have gone a little quicker in qualifying, but overall I’m reasonably satisfied. There are two or three riders with similar pace so tomorrow our target is to fight for the podium. Casey and Valentino have an incredible pace, but I’m confident I can compete for third position – provided I make a good start. Now we will analyze the data from today and think about some machine adjustments that we will test in the warm-up. Specifically, I was losing a lot of time in T3 and I also need to improve my starts so that’s where we’ll be focusing. All in all I’m optimistic about tomorrow and I’m looking forward to this race.” Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 7th 1m, 55.990s. “We improved the set-up again today – a little bit in the morning and then a bigger step in the afternoon – and the lap time is coming down which means our position is better than where we have been recently. In the warm-up we will try to optimise the set-up a little more to help us with the race distance and then it’s down to the race where I’ll be looking for a good start of course. In qualifying I felt more comfortable on the hard option Bridgestone tyre which is why I was pushing hard at the start of the session. I wasn’t able to improve with the soft tyre so it looks like we’ll be going with the hard tyre for the race. It was actually a shame this evening because on my last lap I made a mistake and lost some time, and if I hadn’t done that I could have been 4th on the grid. Stoner and Rossi look very strong for the race, but there should be a big group fighting for the final place on the podium and I hope to be in amongst it.” Hiroshi Aoyama, Interwetten Honda MotoGP: 10th, 1m, 56.227s. “In free practice I was not satisfied, but I had a better feeling than yesterday, because of the changes we made with the set up. The way we are on is defiantly good and that I could qualify for 10th place today is more than I expected after the last two practice sessions. I don’t know what the race will be like, because I never rode a MotoGP race before, but I am happy I finished my first MotoGP Qualifying as the best rookie and in the top 10.” Marco Simoncelli, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 15th, 1m, 56.957s. “Unfortunately the session didn’t start well with the crash, which meant I needed a few laps to regain my confidence and set back the whole programme. It is a shame because we really needed to get through a full session. I just went into the corner too hard – trying to avoid Aoyama I braked too late and lost the front when I tipped it in. I’m disappointed because I had a good feeling in free practice. Now we have the warm up to try and sort a few things out, then it’s a case of giving my best in the race. “ Marco Melandri, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 17th, 1m, 57.325s. “I am really disappointed. I just can’t get a feeling for the chassis or the engine and everything we try seems to be in vain. We put the soft tyre in and went slower and at this moment in time I am completely out of ideas as to what we can do. Maybe we need a magic wand that we can wave at the bike and everything slots into place. We’ll see what the race is like but I don’t expect it to be a good one for us!” Moto2 Rider Quotes. Gresini Racing Moto2 Toni Elias: 1st, 2m, 1.904s. “I’m happy and surprised because I didn’t expect to go so fast after this evening’s free practice, which didn’t go well partly due to my physical condition but also partly due to the set-up. The team worked hard to give me an easier bike to ride and then I was lucky to get behind Simon, who I was able to follow. I gave it everything and ended up with a magnificent lap time. Honestly speaking when I was back at home starting my rehabilitation I was thinking it would be hard to even make it out to Qatar and when I eventually made it out here I was struggling. Psychologically I have had to be really strong and I’ve adapted to the situation. I’m really happy. “ Julian Simon, Mapfre Aspar: 2nd. 2m 02.032s. “I am really happy because we have improved in every session this weekend. We haven’t completely solved the chattering problem but the feeling is definitely better and so are the lap times. It is going to be exciting to be part of the first ever Moto2 race. With so many riders out there and the top guys so close together the start is going to be crazy – it will be really important to stay focused on not giving up positions. I’m so pleased to be on the front row because it shows the mentality from last season remains the same and I’ve carried my good form into this season. The team is also responsible for that. Hopefully we can finish the weekend off in the right way with a good points haul and maybe even a victory!” More, from a press release issued by JiR Moto2 Team: The first ever qualifying session for the riders of the new Moto2 class saw a very exciting 45-minute session which saw the top 18 riders classified within 1.25 seconds of each other! All riders have considerably improved their times from yesterday and got closer to the limit from where they began on day one, with Toni Elias setting the pole-position time of 2’01.904″. During the three practice sessions, the JiR Moto2 team worked methodically on their new Moto2 machines, checking out different possible technical solutions, while the riders adapted to the new bikes and riding style required by the Moto2 class. The first top result of the season comes from Mattia Pasini who got the highest top speed recorded in Moto2 with his MotoBI reaching 275.8km/hr (or 171.3 mph). Today promises to be a spectacular race that will give the JiR team even more information which will be vital to improve performance. Our two riders hope in large pack race for tonight, in order to take advantage of their hard-fighting soul. Qualifying standings: 1. Elias 2’01.904 2. Simon 2’02.032 3. Bradl 2’02.038 18. Pasini 2’03.155 26. Corsi 2’03.588 More, from a press release issued by Kenny Noyes’ publicist: Noyes Ready to Fight for Points in Qatar Kenny Noyes (Jack&Jones by Antonio Banderas) will have to dig deep to fight for points today, but both rider and team knew that, in spite of strong performances at familiar Spanish tracks, things would be much more difficult on the twelve (of seventeen) tracks that are new to him. Normally if you were 1.8 seconds off the pole, you might imagine that you would be somewhere between tenth and fifteenth. But not in Moto2. Kenny improved by a second in each of the three practice sessions and the time he did in qualifying would have been good enough to place him second but starting with a 2:05.2 on Friday and following up with a 2:04.3 in the second free session and finishing with a 2:03.7 in qualifying was only good enough for 30th the last of the 30 riders covered by less than 2 seconds. On his final lap he was on a pace that would have moved him up at least two rows, but the rider immediately in front of him had a big moment and Kenny had to shut off just long enough to lose that valuable half second. He will start from deep on the grid, of the eighth row of eleven rows, but he believes twenty laps will give him a chance to fight his way forward to his first World Championship points. Kenny Noyes “We put ourselves in the hole for the qualifying session because I only had three of the hard Dunlop rears left of the four in my allocation. The soft ones don’t work on this harsh surface. I used one hard Dunlop on Friday and decided to use a second one in the second free session so we could work on set up. That left only one for qualifying and one for the race. That meant when we finally got the bike working better in the last ten minutes when everybody was going for it, I was out on a tire with 10 laps on it. I did my best time when the tire had 14 laps, but I had to pull out of the gas to avoid another rider and lost my best lap but I have a good pace on worn tires so I hope I’ll be able to work my way up to the points. We have to expect this at difficult tracks, but nobody said this was going to be easy!”