FIM MotoGP World Championship Valencia, Spain November 7, 2009 Qualifying Results (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Casey STONER (Ducati), 1:32.256 2. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), 1:32.519 3. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha), 1:32.537 4. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), 1:32.922 5. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), 1:33.085 6. Nicky HAYDEN (Ducati), 1:33.154 7. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda), 1:33.391, crash 8. Toni ELIAS (Honda), 1:33.475 9. Ben SPIES (Yamaha), 1:33.539 10. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda), 1:33.678 11. Mika KALLIO (Ducati), 1:33.809 12. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda), 1:33.844 13. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki), 1:34.097 14. James TOSELAND (Yamaha), 1:34.107 15. Marco MELANDRI (Kawasaki), 1:34.188 16. Aleix ESPARGARO (Ducati), 1:34.308 17. Gabor TALMACSI (Honda), 1:34.357 18. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), 1:34.537 BMW M Award – MotoGP Best Qualifier: 1. ROSSI, 343 points 2. LORENZO, 334 3. PEDROSA, 255 4. STONER, 250 5. EDWARDS, 172 6. DOVIZIOSO, 150 7. CAPIROSSI, 130 8. ELIAS, 121 9. DE PUNIET, 120 10. HAYDEN, 98 11. DE ANGELIS, 96 12. VERMEULEN, 84 13. MELNADRI, 64 14. TOSELAND, 64 15. KALLIO, 57 16. Niccolo CANEPA, 15 17. Yuki TAKAHASHI, 13 18. Sete GIBERNAU, 11 19. TALMACSI, 3 More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: PEDROSA ON THE FRONT ROW FOR VALENCIA CLIMAX Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa will start the final race of the 2009 season on the front row of the grid after an impressive qualifying performance at Valencia today. The 24-year-old Spaniard finished just 0.263s from pole position and has given himself an excellent chance of getting away at the front of tomorrow’s 30-lap race. In the last eight races, the local hero has been off the front row only once. Valencia is a circuit which Pedrosa loves, as his record here proves and, spurred on by his home fans, he will be determined to get the better of pole position man Casey Stoner and the rest of his MotoGP rivals in tomorrow’s season finale. On the other side of the Repsol Honda garage, the day started in promising fashion for Andrea Dovizioso as he clocked the sixth fastest time in the morning session. However, this afternoon’s qualifying period – held in very windy conditions – was a frustrating affair for the Italian and he will begin the race from the head of the fourth row after qualifying in tenth place. Nonetheless, Dovizioso finished fourth on his MotoGP debut here last year and knows he can perform well at this circuit. With this in mind, he and his crew will analyse the data gathered from today’s two sessions and try to further improve his machine set-up in the 20-minute warm-up period tomorrow. The race begins at 14.00 local time (GMT + 1 hour). DANI PEDROSA 2nd 1m 32.519s “I’m very pleased to be on the front row here, and the qualifying session went quite well for us. We’re still not at 100 per cent in set-up terms – especially in T3 where we’re losing some time. So if we can get that sorted out then I think our pace can be quite strong tomorrow, and we could maybe have challenged for pole position this afternoon. The front row is the important thing though, and now I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s race. I think everyone’s motivation for this race is very high and it should be a good battle – and a difficult one. I hope I’m there at the front fighting for the win because this would be a great way to finish the season for me and for the Repsol Honda Team. The other riders are strong though, so it won’t be easy. I’m excited about tomorrow and I hope to find that little bit extra on race day. For sure there will be many fans here as always and the atmosphere will be very special.” ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 10th 1m 33.678s “So, we really need another good start tomorrow. We proved that was possible at the last race where I qualified quite far back but came through quickly. However, I’m frustrated with how today went because we were much closer in the morning but couldn’t convert that into a competitive qualifying performance. In race trim we have one second to improve to be on the pace of the leaders, and that is a big margin and means we have plenty of work to do tonight. We made some improvements in both sessions, but we still needed to find some set-up solutions which will allow me to get the maximum from the soft option Bridgestones. I need to be quick off the line tomorrow because starting from the fourth row makes everything more difficult. It’s the last race of the season though, and we’ll be giving it everything.” KAZUHIKO YAMANO – REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER “Dani’s on the front row for the tenth time this season and he did a very good job in qualifying today. There are some areas where we must try to improve the setting – particularly in T3 – and if we can achieve this, he should be very strong in tomorrow’s race. For Andrea things were going in the right direction but he hasn’t managed to extract the maximum from the package during the ‘attack’ phase at the end of qualifying, and so he’s on the fourth row. It’s not ideal for him, but we’ve seen that he can take a step up in the race and that’s what he’ll be looking for tomorrow. It’s the last race of the year and the whole Repsol Honda Team is determined to go out on a high.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Pole for Stoner in Valencia, top three under lap record Round 17: Valencia GP Qualifying Ricardo Tormo Circuit, Saturday 7 November 2009 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium. Rear: Medium, Hard (asymmetric) Casey Stoner took his third pole position of the season in Valencia today using the harder of the available front slick tyres and the softer rear Bridgestone. There was a strong wind again today which made it very difficult for the riders, especially as the wind carried dust onto the circuit. This resulted in front tyre choices throughout the field being divided half and half between the soft and the medium compounds. Of the top six, third-placed Jorge Lorenzo was the only rider to choose the softer option front slick, the rest using the harder variant to set their best time. Dani Pedrosa was second fastest using a harder front and softer rear slick, Lorenzo was third on the softer option tyres both front and rear, and Valentino Rossi was fourth on the hard front and soft rear. The top three all lapped faster than the existing circuit lap record, set by Stoner on a Bridgestone-shod Ducati last season. Tohru Ubukata Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department “During qualifying the front tyre choice was split throughout the field which again shows the overlap between the operating ranges of the soft and medium front tyre compounds. I think that the reason for the split choices came down to what each rider felt more comfortable with as a part of the whole bike, rider and tyre package in the dusty and windy conditions which made it very tricky. “In the morning’s practice and during qualifying it was very windy, and the wind affects the bikes a lot here so it was difficult to set a good laptime. The dusty track also meant that achieving good edge grip from the tyres was tricky, especially at this twisty circuit. Nevertheless, the top three went faster than the existing lap record, set by Casey last year on our tyres, so I am pleased with this as it shows that both compounds of our slick tyre are performing well even in these conditions. If the weather tomorrow is similar, I expect riders’ front tyre choices to be divided again, but the hard compound asymmetric slick to be preferable for the rear.” Top ten from qualifying (Saturday 13:55 14:55 GMT+1) Pos Rider Team Fastest lap Gap Compounds Front, Rear 1 Casey Stoner Ducati Team 1m32.256s Medium, Medium 2 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 1m32.519s +0.263s Medium, Medium 3 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 1m32.537s +0.281s Soft, Medium 4 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1m32.922s +0.666s Medium, Medium 5 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech3 1m33.085s +0.829s Medium, Medium 6 Nicky Hayden Ducati Team 1m33.154s +0.898s Medium, Medium 7 Randy de Puniet LCR Honda MotoGP 1m33.391s +1.135s Soft, Medium 8 Toni Elias San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m33.475s +1.219s Soft, Medium 9 Ben Spies Sterilgarda Yamaha Team 1m33.539s +1.283s Medium, Medium 10 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 1m33.678s +1.422s Medium, Medium Weather: Dry. Ambient 23-22°C; Track 29-25°C ( Bridgestone measurement) More, from a press release Fiat Yamaha: LORENZO TAKES 16TH FRONT ROW OF SEASON, ROSSI QUALIFIES FOURTH Jorge Lorenzo qualified third today in the final MotoGP qualifying session of the season in Valencia. It was the 16th time the Spaniard has been on the front row this season, more than any other rider. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate and the 2009 World Champion Valentino Rossi qualified in fourth at the Spanish track, ahead of tomorrow’s season finale. Lorenzo continued from where he had left off yesterday afternoon, making some more improvements to his M1-Bridgestone package throughout the session and going into provisional pole with just over ten minutes remaining. He immediately surrendered his lead to eventual pole-man Stoner however and was eventually moved one place further down when Dani Pedrosa also bettered his time by just 0.018. The 22-year-old is happy to be on the front row however and with a strong race pace he is confident of a good race tomorrow, from which he needs just one point to confirm the runner’s-up spot in the championship. It was a more difficult day for Rossi, who has a somewhat turbulent history with this tight and twisty Spanish circuit. The Italian and his crew were unable to come up with a set-up today that gave them enough grip to allow him to ride as he would like and they are faced with some hard work overnight to improve the situation. A better flying lap near the end of the session was good enough to secure him fourth on the grid so he will be in touch to challenge tomorrow, as long as he is able to make a step forward in warm-up. Rossi’s fourth position today sealed him the 2009 best qualifier award, for which he will receive the prize of a new car. Jorge Lorenzo Position: 3rd Time: 1’32.537 Laps: 30 “I’m happy to have ended the season on the front row, where I have been for all but one race! I am feeling very confident about a good race tomorrow because my bike feels good and I am riding well here. My number one aim tomorrow is to make sure I finish the championship in second and I only need one point to do this, but of course I would also like to finish the season with a good race so I will try to challenge at the front as well. I’m looking forward to riding in front of all the Spanish fans, it’s always an amazing atmosphere here for the last race!” Valentino Rossi Position: 4th Time: 1’32.922 Laps: 25 “Today was not the best day for us. We haven’t found the right setting for the bike yet, we’ve tried hard but we don’t have enough grip yet to allow us to go fast. I have to start on the second row and we have quite a big question mark for tomorrow’s race. At the end of the session I was able to do some better laps with the softer tyre but unfortunately with these conditions we will have to use the harder tyre tomorrow. We will work tonight and again in the morning warm-up and hopefully we can find a way to improve so that we can race as we would like to. I’m happy about the qualifying award, at least we have one positive thing to take from today!” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “Two good sessions for us today and we’re happy because our target was the front row, as it has been all season. Our race pace is good too and we are confident that tomorrow we can put up a good challenge for the last race of the season, which looks like it will be very exciting! It was quite windy today so we hope it’s less so tomorrow, we’ll try and refine the setting a little more but we’re ready to race.” Davide Brivio Team Manager “We’ve got quite a lot of work to do at the moment and we haven’t yet been able to find a good solution. The problem is that our bike still isn’t able to put enough grip on the tyres and so it’s a struggle for Valentino to ride like he wants to. We need to analyse all the data we have from the two days and find something that works better for us. Fourth position isn’t too bad however and if we’re able to fix the problem then we’re still in a position to challenge at the top tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Uphill task for Rizla Suzuki pair in season finale Rizla Suzuki racers Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen have a tough race ahead of them tomorrow after a difficult qualifying session left the pair with a mountain to climb at Valencia. Capirossi (1’34.097, 25 laps) and Vermeulen (1’34.537, 29 laps) will start tomorrow’s 30-lap race from 13th and 18th on the grid respectively, after the pair struggled to get the Suzuki GSV-R to perform at its peak around the 4,005m Spanish circuit, despite their best efforts to find a satisfactory solution. Capirossi did produce his fastest lap of the day right at the very end of the session and still believes he can be in amongst the battle in tomorrow’s race, whilst Vermeulen will test a new setting in tomorrow’s warm-up to try and find the answers he is looking for. The air temperatures only reached 22ºC today and a strong cool breeze kept the track below 30ºC for the whole qualifying session, this too caused problems for the Suzuki pair as they just couldn’t get enough heat in the tyres to help them get the optimum performance from the Bridgestone rubber. Casey Stoner secured his third successive pole position on his factory Ducati, with local favourites Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo completing the front row. Tomorrow’s race is the final round of the 2009 season and both Rizla Suzuki riders have a chance of finishing in seventh in the championship along with Vermeulen having the opportunity of being the only rider this season to record a point scoring finish at every event so the pair certainly have personal targets to aim for when the lights change to go at 14.00hrs local time (13.00hrs GMT). Loris Capirossi: “This is starting to feel normal for us because when we look at the data from the bike, always, always, always when it is cold it is nearly impossible to ride it and this is true again today! It is very cold today and the bike is not making the tyre work well and we have struggled a lot. The team has done a good job because we have tried many different things to get the best set-up, but we just couldn’t find the best result. I am quite upset and very frustrated, because we did our best today and we are still near the back of the grid. I feel optimistic for tomorrow and I will certainly fight for the best result in the race. What is most important now is that we work 100% on the 2010 bike, because finding the solutions at the moment for this bike is not very easy.” Chris Vermeulen: “I’m not happy to be qualifying in 18th and it has been a difficult weekend for us so far. We just can’t get a good feeling from the bike in these cold temperatures and the wind seems to be upsetting the bike a lot. It is difficult to get the tyres warm and although we’ve improved the bike, it is nowhere near enough. We have a bit of work to do tomorrow, but we’ve got something else we’ll try in warm-up and hopefully that is going to help us.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “The result today is so disappointing and doesn’t reflect at all on the efforts and hard work of the team and riders. The trend of the bike simply not working well in colder and in today’s case much windier conditions has continued and I have say that the bike didn’t look at all pleasant to ride out there today. Suzuki has work to do to improve this situation and next week’s test and the start of preparations for 2010 can’t come soon enough!” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Fantastic fifth gives Edwards boost for season finale Colin Edwards qualified on the second row of the grid in Valencia today to give his hopes of securing a brilliant top five finish in the 2009 MotoGP world championship a huge boost. At a sunny but windswept Ricardo Tormo circuit, Edwards took full advantage of improvements with the front-end handling of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine to set the fifth quickest time. Forced to take anti-inflammatory tablets to ease the discomfort of a recurring neck injury, a best lap of 1.33.085 clinched fifth on the grid for the sixth time in the last seven races and saw Edwards finish just 0.163s behind reigning world champ ion Valentino Rossi. Trailing Andrea Dovizioso by just four-points going into tomorrow’s final race, Edwards is confident he can overhaul the Italian to clinch fifth in the final points standings. Finishing behind dominant the quartet of Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa would be a remarkable achievement for the popular 35-year-old, who is determined to end 2009 on a high to reward the hard work of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha crew throughout 2009. James Toseland will start his final MotoGP appearance for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team from 14th place on the grid. The British rider set his fastest time of 1.34.107 on his 28th and final lap and while disappointed with his grid position, the 28-year-old is optimistic he can bow out in style with a challenge for a top ten finish in tomorrow’s 30-lap race . Colin Edwards 5th 1.33.085 – 28 laps “I seem to be pretty much stuck with that fifth place! I know I run number five but it doesn’t mean I have to qualify in that place every race. But as I’ve said before, I’ve got to be pleased to be finishing next best behind those four guys, or should I say aliens. They are riding out of this world and to be right behind them means I’m doing the best job I can and that’s about as good as I can hope for at the moment. On my first couple of softer tyres I ran into a bit of traffic, which was a bit frustrating because I knew I could get a good time. We’d softened the front forks and I felt much more comfortable. We’ve really got the bike turning well this weekend and I think I’ve got a good race pace. Now the bike turns without running wide and that’s helping tyre life too. I’m not sure if I’ve got the pace of the four in front of me on race tyre s but I wanted to give myself a shot at fifth in the championship and I’ve done that. Dovizioso is a few places behind me but I just need to focus on doing my own job. I’m sure my neck won’t be a problem tomorrow. I first hurt it when I crashed in Germany last year and every few months I do something to aggravate it. This time I was in the shower reaching for the shampoo and the way I turned my head it just seized up. It won’t stop me from trying to end a brilliant season on a high and giving my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3 something to cheer about for all their hard work and effort in 2009.” James Toseland 14th 1.34.107 28 laps “The conditions were really difficult out there this afternoon. There was a strong wind and it made reading the track conditions really difficult. The lap times were not brilliant this afternoon but that was because there was quite a lot of dust being blown onto the track and it wasn’t easy to find grip. The session certainly didn’t go as planned but I feel I’ve got a good and consistent set-up for the race tomorrow. Starting from 14th on the grid isn’t going to be easy at this track. It is quite tight and twisty and that makes it difficult to overtake. My plan is to make a good start and get into a consistent pace and finish the season on a high note for all my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3.” More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: DE PUNIET TO START THE ULTIMATE ROUND OF THE SEASON FROM HEAD OF THIRD ROW Valencia, 07 November: LCR Honda MotoGP Team rider Randy De Puniet was again a strong performer today posting the seventh fastest time overall in the qualifying session for the Comunitat Valenciana Grand Prix that gets underway tomorrow at 14:00 local time. At the end of the hour-long practice period this morning, the 28-year-old was in eighth place honing suspension settings and tuning his RC212V to the tight and twisty nature of the 4.005 Km Spanish race track. The 60-minute qualifying session was affected by strong winds buffeting the riders despite pleasant autumnal sunshine and the track temperature got up to 28 degrees. The Frenchman set impressive lap times throughout the session especially on race trim but he slid off at turn one at 15 minutes to go. Despite the crash Randy is the HRC rider with the second highest position for tomorrow’s 30-lap race. Stoner claimed the pole position followed by Pedrosa and Lorenzo. De Puniet 7th 1’33.391 De Puniet 7th: “Well.. we are not completely happy with our result but I am the second HRC rider on the grid and this is very positive! This is a track I have gone well at in the past and since the beginning of the week end I have been lapping consistently fast. On race trim early in the session I have been pretty fast and once I switched on qualifiers I started to make my way up the timesheets. Unfortunately I came across a gear box issue at 15 minutes to go and crashed at turn one. We will investigate later this afternoon to see what happened. Anyway our race overall package is quite good and hopefully we will be fighting at the front again”. More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: STONER ON POLE AND HAYDEN ON SECOND ROW FOR SEASON FINALE Ducati Marlboro Team rider Casey Stoner will start the final round of the 2009 MotoGP World Championship from the front of the grid after a dominant performance in today’s single qualifying practice for the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana. The Australian was rarely troubled at the top of the time sheets, whilst his team-mate Nicky Hayden was also impressive as he lapped sixth fastest in a late charge. Today’s result sees Hayden maintain his record of never qualifying outside the front two rows at Valencia, the circuit where he clinched the 2006 title, whilst for Stoner this is his second pole position at the Spanish track in successive seasons. Tomorrow the 2007 World Champion chases a repeat of his win here last year and a hat-trick of back-to-back victories to round off the 2009 season. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) (1st; 1’32.256) “We’ve been fastest in every session so far so we have to be pleased with that and the fact we were able to do most of the lap times we did on a race tyre today is a good sign. I felt pretty comfortable out there but one of the softer rear tyres pushed the front that bit harder and it folded on me in four or five corners. It’s a shame because potentially we could have gone that bit quicker but I can’t complain. We’re on pole position again, in good shape for the race tomorrow and looking forward to it. Hopefully the weather holds out because it would be nice for everybody to end the season with a good race.” NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team) (6th; 1’33.154) “We have made a lot of progress from yesterday but we have had to work hard and make huge changes to the bike. I know it’s not usually a good sign when you can’t roll something competitive out on a Friday but that’s what we’re aiming for and for the moment my team are doing a great job in the time we have available. The bike was more much enjoyable to ride today and after being fifth this morning I was hoping for the same result this afternoon because that is my worst qualifying result here at Valencia. We’ll take sixth though it’s not my best qualifying position but from where we started the year in Qatar I think I was last on the grid and in the hospital so to end it with a second-row start is pleasing. Tomorrow is going to be a tough one as always but we’ll try to get a good start, make sure we don’t get squeezed in down in turn one and have some fun. I’m looking forward to it.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Casey Stoner will start the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana in pole position after repeating his domination of the free practice sessions in qualifying on Saturday. The Australian topped the timesheet by a clear 0.263s, with a best lap of 1’32.256 securing him the lead on the front row of the grid. Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa was next quickest as he improved his own best practice time by over 0.4s to secure second place, ahead of Jorge Lorenzo, who was third fastest overall in the practice sessions as well. Heading up the second row of the grid will be Lorenzo’s Fiat Yamaha team-mate and World Champion Valentino Rossi, whose fourth position was enough to secure him the BMW M Award for best qualifier in MotoGP in 2009. Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) took fifth spot for the eighth time this season, after improving significantly on his own practice times from earlier in the weekend, whilst Stoner’s Ducati Marlboro team-mate Nicky Hayden took the final second-row slot with his final lap, beating Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) to sixth. De Puniet recovered from an early crash to ensure seventh place, after an impressive showing in both practice sessions, whilst Toni Elías (San Carlo Honda Gresini) will occupy eighth in the starting positions. Ben Spies, riding as a wildcard entry for the Sterilgarda Yamaha Team and completing only his fourth ever qualifying session in MotoGP, will line up ninth, with Andrea Dovizioso also coming through inside the top ten. Alex Debón was the top performer in qualifying for the 250cc class, but suffered a suspected broken rib in a late crash in the session, after ensuring pole position. Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens rider Debón’s lap of 1’36.116 set on his 20th and last of the session before his run off at turn one was an improvement on his own time which had already placed him at the top of the timesheet. He was then taken to the Clinica Mobile, where a suspected broken rib was diagnosed, with confirmation of his participation in Sunday’s race expected on the morning of the GP. Following Debón onto the front row of the grid, Marco Simoncelli (Metis Gilera) improved on his free practice times to take second spot, with Héctor Barberá (Pepe World Team) and Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT SAG) in third and fourth respectively. Hiroshi Aoyama, who only needs to finish in eleventh place in Sunday’s race to take the 2009 250cc World title, will lead the second row, accompanied by Thomas Luthi (Emmi – Caffe Latte), Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) and Mattia Pasini (Paddock GP Racing Team). A seventh pole position of the year was secured by Julián Simón, as the 125cc 2009 World Champion topped the qualifying practice timesheet. Simón’s fastest lap of 1’41.472 placed him ahead of Simone Corsi (Fontana Racing), his Bancaja Aspar team-mate Bradley Smith and Red Bull KTM rider Marc Márquez, on the front row of the grid. The second row will comprise Joan Olivé (Derbi Racing Team), Nico Terol (Jack & Jones Team), Marcel Schrotter (Toni Mang Team) and Pol Espargaró (Derbi Racing Team), with Schrotter managing to overcome an early run-off to continue his impressive weekend by qualifying in seventh. Scott Redding also experienced a spill in the final minute of the session but managed to qualify in ninth place, with Sandro Cortese (Ajo Interwetten) completing the top ten. With the return to Europe for the final round of the season, Sunday’s races at Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo circuit take place at the regular times of 11am in the 125cc class, 12.15pm in the 250cc category and 2pm for MotoGP. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Jorge Lorenzo qualified third today in the final MotoGP qualifying session of the season in Valencia. It was the 16th time the Spaniard has been on the front row this season, more than any other rider. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate and the 2009 World Champion Valentino Rossi qualified in fourth at the Spanish track, ahead of tomorrow’s season finale. Lorenzo continued from where he had left off yesterday afternoon, making some more improvements to his M1-Bridgestone package throughout the session and going into provisional pole with just over ten minutes remaining. He immediately surrendered his lead to eventual pole-man Stoner however and was eventually moved one place further down when Dani Pedrosa also bettered his time by just 0.018. The 22-year-old is happy to be on the front row however and with a strong race pace he is confident of a good race tomorrow, from which he needs just one point to confirm the runner’s-up spot in the championship. It was a more difficult day for Rossi, who has a somewhat turbulent history with this tight and twisty Spanish circuit. The Italian and his crew were unable to come up with a set-up today that gave them enough grip to allow him to ride as he would like and they are faced with some hard work overnight to improve the situation. A better flying lap near the end of the session was good enough to secure him fourth on the grid so he will be in touch to challenge tomorrow, as long as he is able to make a step forward in warm-up. Rossi’s fourth position today sealed him the 2009 best qualifier award, for which he will receive the prize of a new car. Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 3rdTime: 1’32.537Laps: 30 “I’m happy to have ended the season on the front row, where I have been for all but one race! I am feeling very confident about a good race tomorrow because my bike feels good and I am riding well here. My number one aim tomorrow is to make sure I finish the championship in second and I only need one point to do this, but of course I would also like to finish the season with a good race so I will try to challenge at the front as well. I’m looking forward to riding in front of all the Spanish fans, it’s always an amazing atmosphere here for the last race!”he wants to. We need to analyse all the data we have from the two days and find something that works better for us. Fourth position isn’t too bad however and if we’re able to fix the problem then we’re still in a position to challenge at the top tomorrow.” Valentino Rossi – Position: 4thTime: 1’32.922Laps: 25 “Today was not the best day for us. We haven’t found the right setting for the bike yet, we’ve tried hard but we don’t have enough grip yet to allow us to go fast. I have to start on the second row and we have quite a big question mark for tomorrow’s race. At the end of the session I was able to do some better laps with the softer tyre but unfortunately with these conditions we will have to use the harder tyre tomorrow. We will work tonight and again in the morning warm-up and hopefully we can find a way to improve so that we can race as we would like to. I’m happy about the qualifying award, at least we have one positive thing to take from today!” Daniele Romagnoli – Team Manager “Two good sessions for us today and we’re happy because our target was the front row, as it has been all season. Our race pace is good too and we are confident that tomorrow we can put up a good challenge for the last race of the season, which looks like it will be very exciting! It was quite windy today so we hope it’s less so tomorrow, we’ll try and refine the setting a little more but we’re ready to race.” Davide Brivio – Team Manager “We’ve got quite a lot of work to do at the moment and we haven’t yet been able to find a good solution. The problem is that our bike still isn’t able to put enough grip on the tyres and so it’s a struggle for Valentino to ride like Fantastic fifth gives Edwards boost for season finale Colin Edwards qualified on the second row of the grid in Valencia today to give his hopes of securing a brilliant top five finish in the 2009 MotoGP world championship a huge boost. At a sunny but windswept Ricardo Tormo circuit, Edwards took full advantage of improvements with the front-end handling of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine to set the fifth quickest time. Forced to take anti-inflammatory tablets to ease the discomfort of a recurring neck injury, a best lap of 1.33.085 clinched fifth on the grid for the sixth time in the last seven races and saw Edwards finish just 0.163s behind reigning world champ ion Valentino Rossi. Trailing Andrea Dovizioso by just four-points going into tomorrow’s final race, Edwards is confident he can overhaul the Italian to clinch fifth in the final points standings. Finishing behind dominant the quartet of Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa would be a remarkable achievement for the popular 35-year-old, who is determined to end 2009 on a high to reward the hard work of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha crew throughout 2009. James Toseland will start his final MotoGP appearance for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team from 14th place on the grid. The British rider set his fastest time of 1.34.107 on his 28th and final lap and while disappointed with his grid position, the 28-year-old is optimistic he can bow out in style with a challenge for a top ten finish in tomorrow’s 30-lap race . Colin Edwards – Position: 5thTime: 1’33.085Laps: 28 “I seem to be pretty much stuck with that fifth place! I know I run number five but it doesn’t mean I have to qualify in that place every race. But as I’ve said before, I’ve got to be pleased to be finishing next best behind those four guys, or should I say aliens. They are riding out of this world and to be right behind them means I’m doing the best job I can and that’s about as good as I can hope for at the moment. On my first couple of softer tyres I ran into a bit of traffic, which was a bit frustrating because I knew I could get a good time. We’d softened the front forks and I felt much more comfortable. We’ve really got the bike turning well this weekend and I think I’ve got a good race pace. Now the bike turns without running wide and that’s helping tyre life too. I’m not sure if I’ve got the pace of the four in front of me on race tyre s but I wanted to give myself a shot at fifth in the championship and I’ve done that. Dovizioso is a few places behind me but I just need to focus on doing my own job. I’m sure my neck won’t be a problem tomorrow. I first hurt it when I crashed in Germany last year and every few months I do something to aggravate it. This time I was in the shower reaching for the shampoo and the way I turned my head it just seized up. It won’t stop me from trying to end a brilliant season on a high and giving my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3 something to cheer about for all their hard work and effort in 2009.” James Toseland – Position: 14thTime: 1’34.107Laps: 28 “The conditions were really difficult out there this afternoon. There was a strong wind and it made reading the track conditions really difficult. The lap times were not brilliant this afternoon but that was because there was quite a lot of dust being blown onto the track and it wasn’t easy to find grip. The session certainly didn’t go as planned but I feel I’ve got a good and consistent set-up for the race tomorrow. Starting from 14th on the grid isn’t going to be easy at this track. It is quite tight and twisty and that makes it difficult to overtake. My plan is to make a good start and get into a consistent pace and finish the season on a high note for all my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3.” Spies just misses second row start for Valencia MotoGP race True to form, Sterilgarda Yamaha rider Ben Spies got straight down to business today making gradual improvements through the free practice and following qualifying session. Having had time overnight to digest his first experience on the M1 in yesterday’s free practice Spies put his new knowledge to productive use and started shaving his times. The first heat in the morning saw him cut nearly a second off his times from yesterday, taking a lap best of 1’34.1 as he started to work more with the Bridgestone tires. The afternoon’s qualifying session saw more improvement again as he picked up the pace, hitting as high as 8th on the board with a provisional second row start until he was dropped to ninth at the closing seconds of the session. The times tumbled too, picking up where he left off in the morning, he took over six tenths of a second off the morning time to secure his top ten start in tomorrow’s MotoGP race. Ben Spies, Sterilgarda Yamaha Team – Position: 9thTime: 1’33.539 “it was another good day today, I’m still not where I feel comfortable and I’m definitely not at home yet but I think for such a short time on the bike I’m pretty happy to be in the top ten and not so far off some of the other guys on the Yamahas. In the end I need to try and get a good start, which I definitely haven’t mastered yet, I’ve only had the chance to practice a couple so I think that could be where the downfall of the race will be for me. In the end I think it’s an ok qualifying result for us, we just need to keep doing more laps on the bike. I can feel what the bike wants to do but I’m just not ready to take it there yet. Every time we get on it we go faster and that works for me. I’m still not close to what the tires can do either, I just need laps, laps and more laps!” Massimo Meregalli, Sterilgarda Yamaha Team Manager “As we thought, today went even better than our first outing yesterday. Ben is continuing to learn the bike and the tyres, unfortunately the wind here in Valencia today is making it much harder for him. Having said that, to start on the third row having spent just three hours riding this bike is pretty good. I think he achieved a great result today and we’re looking forward to tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing Team: KALLIO WILL START FROM THE FOURTH ROW IN VALENCIA GRAND PRIX. ESPARGARO’ SIXTEENTH Last qualifying session of the year for the MotoGP category on the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia. Pramac Racing riders, Mika Kallio and Aleix Espargarò, have sensibly improved theirs best lap times conquered yesterday, but not enough to go further than the eleventh and sixteenth final position. For this reason Mika and Aleix have to be content with the fourth and sixth row. The Finnish rider has encountered some difficulties with the front part of the bike but thanks to the work of his technicians the problem has been located and tomorrow in the warm up the situation should improve. His teammate, young Aleix, seems trustful for tomorrow as he found a good race rhythm during today’s final session. The start of the last race of the MotoGP 2009 season is set for tomorrow at 2pm local time. Fabiano Sterlacchini – Pramac Racing Technical Director “With Mika we miss always a few tenths of a second to take that step forward during qualifying. A pity because it has been all season long that we found ourselves in the same conditions. Next year it will be really important for us to study a different method of work that would allow us to be more competitive in qualifying to start from better positions on the starting grid. Aleix has done well even the sixteenth position isn’t a great result: he is young and he is showing that he has a lot of space to improve.” Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing rider – 11th best lap time in 1’33.809 “Basically this year, in every racing weekend, during the qualifying session we finish around the tenth, eleventh position. The feeling with the bike is always really good, but I feel I still miss some confidence to be able to fight for better positions. It’s a pity because in the race we always demonstrate to be constantly faster than some of the riders that are in front of us on the starting grid. Next year, with the experienced gain this season, I am sure we can do much better.” Aleix Espargarò – Pramac Racing rider – 16th best lap time in 1’34.308 “Today I made it to be more aggressive on the bike and this makes me happy and trustful for tomorrow’s race. In my best lap time I made a mistake in a couple of braking points otherwise I could have improve my fastest lap time. Now the hardest part of my work is about to begin: to stay two seconds behind the fastest ride isn’t too bad as a result, but from here I really need to sweat to really improve. Every tenth of second gained under the two seconds is like gold. I consider tomorrow race the beginning of my MotoGP career.”