FIM MotoGP World Championship MotoGP World Championship Phillip Island, Australia October 17, 2009 Qualifying Results: MotoGP (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Casey STONER (Ducati), 1:30.341 2. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), 1:30.391 3. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), 1:31.070 4. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha), 1:31.071 5. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), 1:31.096 6. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda), 1:31.260 7. Nicky HAYDEN (Ducati), 1:31.325 8. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda), 1:31.380 9. Mika KALLIO (Ducati), 1:31.384 10. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda), 1:31.472 11. Toni ELIAS (Honda), 1:31.640 12. James TOSELAND (Yamaha), 1:31.722 13. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki), 1:31.873 14. Marco MELANDRI (Kawasaki), 1:32.190 15. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), 1:32.338 16. Gabor TALMACSI (Honda), 1:32.752 17. Niccolo CANEPA (Ducati), no time recorded 250cc GP (wet-dry conditions): 1. Raffaele DE ROSA (Honda), 1:33.389 2. Marco SIMONCELLI (Gilera), 1:33.614 3. Hiroshi AOYAMA (Honda), 1:33.633 4. Alex DEBON (Aprilia), 1:33.886 5. Hector BARBERA (Aprilia), 1:33.928 6. Mike DI MEGLIO (Aprilia), 1:34.030 7. Ratthapark WILAIROT (Honda), 1:34.114 8. Mattia PASINI (Aprilia), 1:34.192 9. Hector FAUBEL (Honda), 1:34.285 10. Alvaro BAUTISTA (Aprilia), 1:34.588 11. Karel ABRAHAM (Aprilia), 1:34.727 12. Jules CLUZEL (Aprilia), 1:34.921 13. Alex BALDOLINI (Aprilia), 1:35.016 14. Lukas PESEK (Aprilia), 1:35.018 15. Thomas LUTHI (Aprilia), 1:35.374 125cc GP: 1. Pol ESPARGARO (Derbi), 1:37.770 2. Nicolas TEROL (Aprilia), 1:38.049 3. Julian SIMON (Aprilia), 1:38.067 4. Simone CORSI (Aprilia), 1:38.136 5. Bradley SMITH (Aprilia), 1:38.155 6. Marc MARQUEZ (KTM), 1:38.292 7. Sandro CORTESE (Derbi), 1:38.552 8. Andrea IANNONE (Aprilia), 1:38.568 9. Joan OLIVE (Derbi), 1:38.578 10. Esteve RABAT (Aprilia), 1:38.588 18. Cameron BEAUBIER (KTM), 1:39.370 More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: PEDROSA ON FRONT ROW IN AUSTRALIA, DOVI CLOSER THAN HE LOOKS Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa will start tomorrow’s Australian Grand Prix from the front row after an admirable performance in qualifying at Phillip Island this afternoon. The 24-year-old Spaniard was totally unfazed by a high-speed tumble in the middle of the session and returned to the track on his spare bike to steal third on the grid by just one thousandth of a second, fractionally edging out fellow Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo. It was a fair result for Pedrosa who had been on the pace in a rain-interrupted morning session too – finishing the hour in second place with a gap of just 0.048s to top spot. Indeed, due to his disrupted qualifying session, Pedrosa’s time from the morning of 1m 30.674s was four tenths of a second faster than he achieved this afternoon. Now he and his pit crew will be looking to make a few final adjustments to the set-up of his factory RC212V in the morning warm-up to give him the best chance of running at the front in the 27-lap race. His Repsol Honda team-mate, Andrea Dovizioso, was naturally less than satisfied with his starting position of 10th – despite his best lap time being just 0.4s behind Pedrosa’s front row position. The Italian was able to make significant improvements to his machine set-up today, but a packed mid-field where the riders from third to 13th are covered by a single second, saw Dovizioso end up further back than he would have liked. However, with a fast start from the fourth row, Dovizioso has a good chance of a strong finish. Round 15 of the 17-race MotoGP World Championship begins tomorrow at the unusually late time of 16.00 (GMT +11 hours). DANI PEDROSA 3rd 1m 31.070s “I’m pleased to be on the front row because it’s always good to have a clear track ahead of you at the start of the race – and especially since it came after I had quite a big crash in qualifying. It was at high speed on the way into Turn Two so it’s a relief that I wasn’t injured and I was able go straight back out on track for the second half of the session. I’m not sure yet why I fell – I just touched the brake and boom – I was down. We’ll take a look at the data and try to find out exactly what happened. For tomorrow we’ll work on finding a little something in terms of pace to allow us to compete for the win because the riders in front are going quickly. It will be a long race tomorrow so we’ll need to be fully concentrated – and of course it will be important to see what the weather does.” ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 10th 1m 31.472s “We made progress today and, in spite of the grid position, we actually improved our situation a little here. During the first three quarters of the qualifying session we tried some different set-up solutions that didn’t really give any improvements. We were also using the hard option tyres that were proving too hard for the conditions so, when we switched to the soft tyres, we improved our rhythm and the lap times came down. I’m a little disappointed because we upped our pace, but not by enough and this means the grid position is not the best. On the plus side, we are only four tenths behind the third fastest time which is actually encouraging, though the grid slot is a pity because starting from the fourth row makes everything more difficult. Anyway tomorrow I will give 100 per cent to make a good start and recover as many positions as possible.” KAZUHIKO YAMANO – REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER “Dani did well to take a front row start and this is a fair result for him because he was looking fast in the morning too. He fell at quite high speed so it’s good that he is unhurt and was able to ride at qualifying pace immediately after returning to the pits. Our rivals at the front are very quick so the Repsol Honda team will be working hard tonight to give both riders the best chance of competing at the front tomorrow. Andrea wasn’t far behind in terms of pace so naturally he’s a little disappointed with 10th on the grid. It’s a long race tomorrow though, and with a good start he can also make significant moves forward.” More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: ROSSI MAKES FRONT ROW AS LORENZO BATTLES TO FOURTH ON THE ISLAND Valentino Rossi will start his Phillip Island assault from second on the grid tomorrow, after sealing his twelfth front-row start of the season in Australia this afternoon. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, who was still feeling under the weather following yesterday’s upset stomach, missed out on the front row by just 0.001 seconds, the first time he has been out of the top three this season. This morning’s practice was interrupted by rain, which allowed the riders a quick chance to check their wet-weather settings in case of more rain tomorrow. By the afternoon the weather had cleared up and qualifying was run in the dry, albeit with grey skies and a cold wind. Rossi spent most of the hour-long session a few tenths off Casey Stoner in second but a late setting update gave him the extra pace to challenge the Australian and he duly moved to the top of the time sheets with nine minutes to go. Stoner hit back five minutes later however and set a best time that knocked Rossi off pole by 0.050 seconds. Lorenzo felt much better today but he was still not at 100%, having been unable to eat much since yesterday’s illness. The 22-year-old was still struggling for rear grip but he was able to improve his time in the later stages and looked like he would make it onto the front row before a late charge from Dani Pedrosa edged him off by just one thousandth of a second. He will now have to mount his challenge from the head of the second row tomorrow, something of a novelty for him having qualified in the first three at all fourteen previous rounds this year. Tomorrow’s race will start at 1600 local-time tomorrow, which is 0700 CET. Valentino Rossi Position: 2nd Time: 1’30.391 Laps: 30 “We are on the front row which is the most important thing and I think we can definitely have a good race tomorrow. We have a few things to check in the morning, depending on the weather, including the final tyre choice – of course we hope for it to be dry. I have a good setting and with the last modification we made I was able to make another step and we were quite fast. The pole position was possible today but unfortunately I made a mistake in the last section on my flying lap and Stoner was able to go a little bit faster than me. We have an advantage on Lorenzo, which is important for the championship points, and I hope that I will be able to fight with Stoner for the win.” Jorge Lorenzo Position: 4th Time: 1’31.071 Laps: 31 “I’m a bit disappointed to lose my 100% front-row qualifying record by such a tiny amount, but today we just didn’t quite have enough pace. We still don’t have enough grip on the rear and the tyre is spinning too much, which makes it difficult to be fast enough. Tomorrow I will try to adapt my riding style instead in order to try to make it onto the podium. I feel better than yesterday but I’m still not at 100%; I feel quite weak still because I haven’t been able to eat much. I will have to try before tomorrow in order to have enough strength for the race. I don’t feel any pressure, I will just go out and do my best.” Davide Brivio Team Manager “So far all the sessions have gone well for us. We’ve got a good starting position for tomorrow and we’re in good shape for the race. As far as our strategy goes, of course we will have one eye on Lorenzo and the championship but also one eye on Stoner and the chance to win the race if possible! The only issue is the late time of the race, because at 4pm it could be quite a lot colder and therefore this might throw up some surprises.” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “It’s a real pity to miss out on the front row by just one millisecond after we have been so consistent all season! We still have rear grip issues at the moment, the team have done a good job to improve it over the sessions but we still have some work to do. The warm-up will be very important for us tomorrow in order to try to solve the problem and put us in a position to be able to challenge in the fight for the race and the championship tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Edwards and Toseland aim high in Australia Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider Colin Edwards finished tantalisingly close to recording his first front row grid position of the season today in typically mixed and unpredictable conditions at the spectacular Phillip Island circuit. Edwards finished just 0.026s away from a place on the front row of the grid, the Texan working closely with his crew on improving stability and agility with his YZR-M1 machine to cope with Phillip Island’s fast and flowing sections. Edwards posted a best time of 1.31.096 and the 35-year-old is confident of a strong showing in tomorrow’s race to bolster his bid for fifth place in the world championship standings. Working hard with his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew to find a compromise between front-end stability and rear traction, James Toseland posted a best time of 1.31.722 that left the British rider in 12th position. Proving once again just how close the level of competition is in MotoGP, Toseland was only 0.7s away from a top three placing. The 28-year-old though is confident with further overnight set-up tweaks that he can launch an attack on a second successive top six finish at Phillip Island and strengthen his challenge for a top seven championship finish. All eyes will be on the weather ahead of tomorrow’s 27-lap race after today’s rapidly changing conditions. A large Australian crowd witnessed blue skies, strong winds, heavy cloud cover and rain today, though forecasts predict dry conditions for tomorrow’s race. Colin Edwards 5th 1.31.096 27s laps “I can’t remember how long I’ve been racing at this track but it is always a different experience and today was no exception. It’s no secret that Yamaha had to make the bike much shorter this year to maximise the performance of the Bridgestone tyres, and it hasn’t been easy to make the set-up work this weekend. With the track flowing like it does you need a stable bike for the fast sections but some agility for turning. But it seems with the shorter wheelbase bike here, a tiny change completely transforms the feeling. My guys have worked unbelievably hard to make me more comfortable and we found something that almost got me on the front row for the first time this year. On this track you’ve really got to take some risks to get a fast time, but you can’t do that without having the bike right. At the end I had a setting where the risk was reduced a lot and I could push much harder without feeli ng like I was right on the limit. I feel we’ve got a good package for the race. I’ve got three races to take nine points out of (Andrea) Dovizioso for fifth in the championship and he’s a few places behind me on the grid. I’ll just hope the weather smiles on us so I can get my head down and put up a strong fight.” James Toseland 12th 1.31.722 30 laps “Once again today we saw just how close the competition is in MotoGP and how small the difference is between having a really strong grid position or being down the order. Another two or three tenths and I would have been in the top six and feeling much better after all the hard work we put in today. But today wasn’t easy because I was looking for more rear grip. But changing the set-up to give me more rear grip, we sacrificed too much of the front-end feeling. And when you don’t have front feeling on the fastest track on th e calendar with some really flat-out sections, you can’t ride with the confidence you need. We made some changes to bring back my confidence with the front, but that just created wheelspin and a lack of rear grip again in some parts of the track. We just need to find a compromise but I’m not a million miles away. I’m confident with a good start that battling for a top six is certainly within reach. I’ve still got plenty to fight for in these last three races, so as usual I’ll be giving it my maximum for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team.” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: STONER ON POLE FOR HOME RACE, POSITIVE SEVENTH PLACE FOR HAYDEN Casey Stoner will start his home Grand Prix at Phillip Island from pole position for the second successive season tomorrow after snatching top spot by just 0.050 seconds in an exciting finale to today’s single qualifying practice. With dry but cool conditions prevailing once again this afternoon, track conditions were not ideal but the Australian produced a late charge to topple Valentino Rossi on a soft tyre. His team-mate Nicky Hayden will start from the front of the third row after an improved showing on his Desmosedici GP9. The American bettered his fastest lap from yesterday on his first outing in this morning’s final free practice session before the onset of heavy rain, although he continued to make progress in the afternoon and registered the seventh quickest time overall, just over two tenths off the front row. Stoner, who was comfortably the quickest rider in that brief wet spell this morning, will run a special livery tomorrow. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) (1st; 1’30.341) “It’s a great feeling to be on pole position again, especially here at my home race. I’ve had great support from the fans here this weekend and it is nice to give them something to cheer for today, although the real work starts tomorrow. To be honest we’re still struggling for traction, which seems to be the same problem for everybody, but we have worked hard this season to create a bike that turns well trying things like going back to the aluminium swingarm and it has paid off so far this weekend. This is a great track to ride at when you’re comfortable with your bike and even though we still don’t have a perfect set-up I still felt confident enough to push it at the end and it was good fun. Now I’m really looking forward to tomorrow, especially because we’re going to be running a special livery and I’d really like to thank our sponsors for that.” NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team) (7th; 1’31.325) “The bike felt a lot better this morning compared to yesterday although to be fair we only ran it on new tyres before the rain came and maybe that gave us a false impression of just how good it was. Having said that, it felt okay this afternoon too and I was able to push it pretty hard and enjoy myself probably for the first time this weekend. I was in fifth place for a good while in the first half of the session but ended up seventh, just over two tenths off the front row, and I’m disappointed with that because I really hoped we’d be closer to the front at this track. Anyway, it’s tomorrow that counts and I’m looking forward to the race because as I said I’ve finally started to enjoy myself this afternoon. The problem could be that the race doesn’t start until 4pm so it will be approaching 5 by the time we finish, and that is going to have a massive effect on tyre choice and everything else.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing Team: THIRD ROW FOR KALLIO IN THE GRAND PRIX OF AUSTRALIA. CANEPA DISMESSED FROM HOSPITAL Second day of work in Australia where on the Phillip Island circuit Pramac Racing Rider, Mika Kallio, conquered the third row during qualifying session. The Finnish rider has been fast since the morning when he finished in sixth position. A pity that in the last laps of the afternoon session Mika found some slower riders that slowed him down and he couldn’t improve his fastest lap time. Good news from Niccolò Canepa who has been dismissed from Melbourne hospital after yesterday evening surgery. The skin transplant went well and the Italian rider will have to be checked up again on Monday to understand if he will be able to ride in next weekend Grand Prix in Malaysia. Fabiano Sterlacchini – Pramac Racing Technical Director “Today has been a positive day for us as with only three tenths of a second less we could have been in second row. We are doing a quite good job this weekend and with some small modifications on the bike during tomorrow’s warm up we can take some steps forward for tomorrow’s race. We are trustful and we believe we can have a good race tomorrow.” Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing Team – 9th fastest lap time in 1’31.384 “More or less we found ourselves in the same position as every Saturday afternoon and this make me a bit angry. I know that we can do better and in the last two races I will try to improve during qualifying. In the final part of today’s session the bike was in good conditions and I was going well, a pity that I found a bit of traffic that slowed me down. With only a few tenths of a second less we could have reached second row and this would have sensibly helped me for tomorrow’s race.” Niccolò Canepa – Pramac Racing Team “Surgery went well. I spent a night in the hospital but tomorrow I will be at the circuit to support my teammate Mika Kallio. Now I feel much better but only Monday, when I will be back at the hospital to get checked up, I will understand if I’ll be able to ride in Malaysia. Of course I’ll do all possible to be fit to ride but with this type of injuries we have to be careful. I want to thanks the doctors that took care of me in these last 24 hours.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: Casey Stoner will start the Iveco Australian Grand Prix on pole position for the second year running, after topping Saturday’s qualifying timesheet. The Ducati rider remains on course for a hat-trick of Phillip Island victories at his home circuit. Having enjoyed wins in the past two seasons at the Australian track, Stoner’s best time of 1’30.341 on his Desmosedici GP9 was just 0.050s faster than nearest rival Valentino Rossi. The battle with Rossi who will take his place on the front row for the ninth consecutive race throughout Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session was an engrossing affair, as the fastest time swapped hands towards the end of the session. Dani Pedrosa survived a crash to secure third place, a 0.679s margin behind paceman Stoner, with a second bike, after his RC212V lost its nose going into Southern Loop, whilst Rossi’s Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo took fourth spot. Lorenzo had third place snatched off him by the Repsol Honda rider Pedrosa by just one thousandth of a second, thus depriving the Majorcan of a front-row start for the first time this season. Making up the second row on Sunday will be Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Colin Edwards just 0.025s off Lorenzo’s time and Alex de Angelis, who followed up impressive some practice times in sixth place, despite an early spill in qualifying. Stoner’s Ducati team-mate Nicky Hayden, LCR Honda rider Randy de Puniet, Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing) and Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) all made the top ten as well. 250cc Raffaele de Rosa will start on pole position in the 250cc class after beating World Champion Marco Simoncelli and Scot Racing team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama to the front of the grid. The rain played havoc with the opening stages of the qualifying practice session, with both Alex Debon (Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens) and Mattia Pasini (Paddock GP Racing Team) crashing on their first laps. Héctor Barberá (Pepe World) looked to have sealed first place, but an exciting final few minutes of qualifying saw De Rosa post a 1’33.389 lap, with Simoncelli and Aoyama being joined on the front row by Debon. Debon recovered from his crash to take fourth place, whilst Barberá will line up in fifth with Mike de Meglio (Mapfre Aspar), Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT SAG) and Pasini making up the remainder of the second row, all within a second of De Rosa. Héctor Faubel (Honda SAG) and Álvaro Bautista (Mapfre Aspar) completed the top ten. 125cc Form rider Pol Espargaró will head the grid in the 125cc category after securing his first pole position of the year. The Derbi Racing starlet who has won two of the last three GPs, at Indianapolis and Estoril was the fastest rider in free practice, and bettered his pace with a best lap of 1’37.770 on Saturday afternoon to secure only the third pole position of his career. Hot on his heels was fellow Spaniard Nico Terol, who at 0.279s behind pushed Julían Simón down to third place. Simón, who is bidding to seal the world title this weekend, was a further 0.018s behind Terol to also secure a place on the front row of the grid. Joining the Spanish trio, Simone Corsi (Fontana Racing) took fourth spot with a best time of 1’38.136 to make the front row for the first time this year, and heading up the second row is Simón’s Bancaja Aspar team-mate Bradley Smith who, before a late crash at Honda Hairpin, managed to take over 0.5s off his best practice time to claim fifth place. Sunday’s racing at the Iveco Australian Grand Prix commences with the 125cc riders getting away at 1pm local time. The 250cc riders commence their contest at 2.15pm and the MotoGP race begins at 4pm. More, from a press release issued by Honda: PEDROSA ON THE FRONT ROW AT PHILLIP ISLAND Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) will start Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix from the front row after a dramatic last minute surge on a day of changing weather conditions at the scenic Phillip Island circuit south of Melbourne. The session was an eventful one for the Spaniard. Just after setting the third fastest time, near the halfway point of the hour-long qualifying session, Pedrosa crashed suddenly while braking for turn two. Fortunately, he wasn’t hurt, but his Honda RC212V was and he was forced onto his backup bike. While getting up to speed on the ‘B’ bike, he was displaced from the front row until the very end of the session. Then, in the final 20 secs. he found a burst of speed to edge out fellow Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) by the slimmest of margins, .001s. That put him on the front row next to fast qualifier Casey Stoner (Ducati) and second fastest Valentino Rossi (Yamaha). Stoner and Pedrosa are locked in a battle for third in the championship and, heading into Sunday’s race, are separated by only eight points with three rounds to go. Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) also crashed, and was forced onto his backup machine. The San Marinese didn’t have the same feeling from his ‘B’ bike and missed out on a front row start by .190 secs. Still, he qualified sixth fastest. And if there was a bright spot, it was that the team would be able to take the best from both machines to build the most competitive machine for Sunday’s 15th round of the World Championship. Randy De Puniet (LCR Honda) was happy to be in the middle of the third row after his own fall, his coming in the morning free practice. When he returned to the pits for his backup bike, it began to rain, but only briefly. In qualifying, the team used the data from the morning to resolve a rear grip issue and, lap by lap, he was able to increase his pace. Now the team has to decide which of the two asymmetrical rear Bridgestones to use for Sunday’s race, scheduled for 4:00 p.m. local time. Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) qualified tenth fastest, which was better than it sounds. In the final quarter of the session, the team made significant progress, which will be confirmed during Sunday’s morning warm-up. Of the two tire choices he opted for the soft one, though a rising temperature could force him onto the harder option, as most believe the soft tire won’t be as competitive over race distance. Despite being on row four, Dovizioso is only .4s from the fourth fastest rider. One spot behind Dovizioso comes Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini). The Spaniard improved in both the morning and afternoon sessions, while searching for traction on a track where this weekend it’s proved elusive. The combination of a recent car race, heavy rains, and cool temperatures made qualifying difficult and not an accurate indicator of race conditions. The hope is for warm weather on Sunday, so Elias can use proven settings in the race. Gabor Talmacsi (Scot Honda) found Phillip Island to be the most difficult track in his rookie MotoGP season, and it’s easy to see why. The track is challenging enough in the best of conditions, and also the fastest of the year. Throw in the unpredictable weather and changing track surface and it’s easy to understand Talmacsi’s position. Undaunted, he qualified 16th and less than two seconds off pole, one of his strongest qualifying performances to date. Honda had a standout day in the 250cc class, with Scot Racing’s Raffaele De Rosa taking his first ever 250cc pole, while teammate and 250 World Championship leader Hiroshi Aoyama qualified third in a session that was interrupted by rain. The pole was stunning for De Rosa, since his previous best qualifying effort this year was sixth. He’d never even been on the front row, but did have one pole in the 125cc class. De Rosa put the pole to the confidence he’d gained in the Honda throughout the season. The lap of 1:33.389s edged out reigning world champion Marco Simoncelli (Gilera) by a stout .225s. By qualifying third, Aoyama gained an important psychological edge over championship rival Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia), who could only muster a tenth place qualifying position. Aoyama leads the Spaniard by 26 points, 218 to 192, with three rounds remaining. Aoyama found speed in qualifying after the team hit on the proper front end setup. Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT-SAG) equaled his best qualifying effort from the Italian Grand Prix by setting the seventh fastest time. A morning crash kept him from gaining valuable setup time, which put him behind in afternoon qualifying. Wilairot might have done even better if not for traffic late in the session. Like all riders, Wilairot was forced to spend significant time in the pit box after a brief shower doused the track. Hector Faubel (Valencia CF-Honda SAG) was more confident before the rain interrupted the session. In the final ten minutes, when he fitted a different rear tire, he was on his fast lap before being balked by traffic. Even so, he was on the second row until the very end when he was edged out by Mattia Pasini (Aprilia) by .093s. In his second ride on the Racing Team Germany Honda, Shuhei Aoyama qualified 16th, after an encouraging eighth in the morning’s free practice. But a rear suspension adjustment proved to be less than helpful, so he struggled in qualifying. Equally frustrating was the time the team lost to rain. With the reduced track time, Aoyama, who hadn’t been to Phillip Island since 2007, could ill afford to sit idle. Team CIP Honda teammate Shoya Tomizawa and Valentin Debise were both somewhat intimidated on their first visit to Phillip Island. Tomizawa a bit less so and it showed in his result. The Japanese rider qualified 18th to 22nd for Debise. Both would liked to have had more moderate conditions and less volatile weather, but it wasn’t to be. As it was, they made the most of it and hoped for a dry race on Sunday. HONDA MotoGP RIDER QUOTES Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 3rd, 1m 31.070s. “I’m pleased to be on the front row because it’s always good to have a clear track ahead of you at the start of the race – and especially since it came after I had quite a big crash in qualifying. It was at high speed on the way into Turn Two so it’s a relief that I wasn’t injured and I was able go straight back out on track for the second half of the session. I’m not sure yet why I fell – I just touched the brake and boom – I was down. We’ll take a look at the data and try to find out exactly what happened. For tomorrow we’ll work on finding a little something in terms of pace to allow us to compete for the win because the riders in front are going quickly. It will be a long race tomorrow so we’ll need to be fully concentrated – and of course it will be important to see what the weather does.” Alex De Angelis, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 6th, 1m, 31.260s. “It was a real shame about the crash because I had a good feeling from the start of the session and that was the bike that had the better setting on, in terms of working with the hard race tyre, and it would have been good to get some more laps on it. Having said that there were some things about the setting on the other bike that I liked and I was able to push it and set a few laps in the 1’31.2, 1’31.3 mark. The good thing is that we have found good things from both settings now we have to work how best to combine them together! Either way I’m pleased with our performance today and confident about the race tomorrow.” Randy De Puniet, LCR Honda: 8th, 1m, 31.380s. “We are finally back where we should be. After yesterday’s rear grip issues we had to focus on the bike set up testing different settings in order to reduce the problem. In this morning free session I crashed in turn one because I lost the rear and once I came in to jump onto bike number two it started to rain heavily. Then in the qualifying session I felt immediately comfortable on the bike and was able to get more speed improving my pace lap by lap. All the adjustments we made yesterday are working pretty well; I still have to do my tyre choice for the race but we will focus on that in tomorrow’s warm up”. Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda: 10th, 1m, 31.472s. “We made progress today and, in spite of the grid position, we actually improved our situation a little here. During the first three quarters of the qualifying session we tried some different set-up solutions that didn’t really give any improvements. We were also using the hard option tyres that were proving too hard for the conditions so, when we switched to the soft tyres, we improved our rhythm and the lap times came down. I’m a little disappointed because we upped our pace, but not by enough and this means the grid position is not the best. On the plus side, we are only four tenths behind the third fastest time which is actually encouraging, though the grid slot is a pity because starting from the fourth row makes everything more difficult. Anyway tomorrow I will give 100 per cent to make a good start and recover as many positions as possible.” Toni Elias, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 11th, 1m, 31.640s. “We improved this morning and again in the afternoon but not enough for my liking at all. I’m really not sure how much more we can improve things tomorrow or what our expectations can be for the race so the target just has to be to get as good a start as possible and see who we can follow. It is a matter of finding some more traction and I suppose the thing that would really help us is if we get more sunshine tomorrow. Hopefully we get a little bit of help from the weather but the late race start time doesn’t make me too optimistic!” Gabor Talmacsi, Scot Honda: 16th, 1m 32.752s. “This is the most difficult track since I’ve been competing in MotoGP. Nevertheless, the gap from the front is smaller, and for the first time I’ve been stronger at the end of the session, while previously I used to get my fastest lap at the very beginning of it. So, even if I cannot say that I’m quite happy, I feel we’ve taken the right direction. We have a better understanding. For the race, I hope we can improve the traction. In Malaysia, Australia and at Valencia I hope to be able to show my skills”. HONDA 250cc RIDER QUOTES Raffaele De Rosa, Scot Honda: 1st, 1m 33.389. “My first pole position in the 250 class, and the second in my career – the previous one was at Mugello, with the 125cc bikes. I’m really happy not only for this afternoon’s result, but also for the entire weekend. I’m confident in a good race tomorrow. Nevertheless, I’m conscious that we are in a moment decisive for the title. I will aim at a great result having great care in not damaging who’s playing for the championship. I’ve been improving since Brno. While at the beginning of the season everything was new, for me – the bike, the people – now it’s different. We are really a good working group” Hiroshi Aoyama, Scot Honda: 3rd, 1m 33.633s. “At the beginning of the weekend, the feeling with the bike was not what I wanted. It improved when we found the right setup for the front. Qualifying has been not easy, passing from wet to dry, but we are in front, and in an excellent position for tomorrow’s race. I’m confident”. Ratthapark Wilairot, Thai Honda PTT-SAG: 7th, 1m 34.114s. “The second row it’s not so bad, but I think that we can improve this positions in the next races. In the morning I crashed and I rode only two or three laps and this disadvantaged me to have laps of practice. The qualifying practice was because it rained for 10 minutes and after stopped. At ten minutes to go I was in the fastest lap, but I found a lot of traffic in the middle of the track and I couldn’t get the front row. Anyway, we start from a good position and this means that it will be more easy to be in good positions during the race.” Hector Faubel, Valencia CF-Honda SAG: 9th, 1m 34.285s. “In the beginning I was riding at 100% and it was perfect, because I was second, but after this the rain stop and we begin the practice again. I was going fast and at 10 minutes to go we changed the tires to new ones. After I was making a pole lap, but in the middle of the circuit I found a lot of traffic and I lost the options to be in the first position. Also, it was a pity because until the last moment I was in the second row but (Mattia) Pasini reached the eighth position, but we must be positive and tomorrow do a good start and have a good lap pace until the checkered flag.” Shuhei Aoyama, Racing Team Germany Honda: 16th, 1m 35.387s. “This morning I was good, eighth position. And for the afternoon we changed the suspension for some corners, but it was a little bit worse than this morning. Also the beginning of qualifying it was raining and difficult to make good lap times. But anyway, I was 16th, so it means fourth row, so must just try to concentrate for the start and I must have a good start and try to follow the riders in front of me.” Shoya Tomizawa, Team CIP Honda: 18th, 1m 36.711s. “It was very difficult for me for my first time here, because this track is very fast and very strong winds. I came yesterday just for the first time and I went in practice, but I couldn’t do anything. But this morning my feeling was better and now also this afternoon is coming better and tomorrow also coming better. When it rained in qualifying, that was a very big problem for me. I went on the circuit for first five minutes and suddenly the rain is coming and we were very, very surprised and we have to go back to the pit box to make changes. After it rained, it was sunny coming and dry and we could go out and I try to push hard and I couldn’t. I couldn’t push harder.” Valentin Debise, Team CIP Honda: 22nd, 1m 37.984s. “This is my first time here and it’s a very challenging track. At the beginning I was a little bit lost, because it was difficult to find the line. And when it’s like that you brake hard, you get hard on the gas, but basically the bike is unbalanced. And as much you want more speed, you don’t go any faster. I need a bit more mileage to feel a bit more comfortable on the race track. It’s getting a little bit better. But now we have only the warm-up left to fine tune the bike and then we race. And also the condition makes even worse because it’s windy, rain, dry, so then my confidence is not that high, so I just hold back a little bit.” More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: DE PUNIET 8th FASTEST IN THE QUALIFYING AT “THE ISLAND” Phillip Island, 17 October: Qualifying for the Grand Prix of Australia was run in dry conditions today with ambience temperature of 17°C (the asphalt temperature rose up to 32°C) though the rain-shower of this morning second free session, and the LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet made solid progress ending the day 8th gaining the third row for the third last round of this season. After yesterday’s difficult session due to some rear grip issues, the Frenchman aboard the Honda RC212V kept working hard with his squad despite a small crash in this morning wet free session and set impressive lap times in the afternoon qualifying at the 4.448 km race track clocking his quickest lap time of 1’31.380 less than three tenths off the front row time. Randy is the third placed Honda in the grid for tomorrow’s 27 lap-race that gets underway at 16:00 local time. Pole position was claimed by Australian hero Casey Stoner on Ducati followed by Rossi and Pedrosa. De Puniet 8th 1’31.380 De Puniet 8th: “We are finally back where we should be. After yesterday’s rear grip issues we had to focus on the bike set up testing different settings in order to reduce the problem. In this morning free session I crashed in turn one because I lost the rear and once I came in to jump onto bike number two it started to rain heavily. Then in the qualifying session I felt immediately comfortable on the bike and was able to get more speed improving my pace lap by lap. All the adjustments we made yesterday are working pretty well; I still have to do my tyre choice for the race but we will focus on that in tomorrow’s warm up”. More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Frustrating qualifying leaves Rizla Suzuki with a lot to do Rizla Suzuki racers Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen have a big mountain to climb during tomorrow’s Australian Grand Prix after the pair qualified on the fifth row of the grid today. Capirossi (P13, 1’31.873, 30 laps) did make steps forward with his bike in the early part of the morning practice session, before heavy rained intervened, and was consistently posting times within the top-10. He continued with the programme for getting the best set-up during the qualifying session and although his times were comparable with the other riders on the harder compound of tyre, Capirossi was unable to make a big enough jump with the softer compound to propel himself up the grid. Vermeulen (P15, 1’32.338, 29 laps) was left bitterly disappointed after his qualifying session this afternoon. He improved dramatically on his times from yesterday, but couldn’t find enough to get in a challenging grid position for tomorrow’s race. One positive note for Vermeulen was that when the heavy rain fell in the morning practice he was one of the fastest and most consistent riders in the wet and will almost certainly be in contention during tomorrow’s race if conditions like those of this morning repeat themselves. Today’s qualifying was held in very overcast conditions with a threat of rain always in the air, a strong breeze blowing off the Pacific made conditions feel considerably cooler than they were and gave the venue a feel more like ‘Phillip Iceland’ than Phillip Island. Local hero Casey Stoner on his factory Ducati took pole position as he goes in search of his third successive home GP victory. Tomorrow’s 27-lap race will get underway at 16.00hrs local time (05.00hrs GMT) with both Rizla Suzuki riders looking to make a good start to give them a fighting chance of a competitive race and higher places than their grid positions. Loris Capirossi: “It was another tough day for us today, even though we did make another step with the overall setting of the bike. During the morning session we were making some good progress, but after 30 minutes it started to rain and ruined what we were doing. In the qualifying the conditions were better and we made some good runs with the harder compound tyre and it wasn’t too bad for us, but when we tried to go quicker with the softer one we just couldn’t make a big difference. We struggled on the left corners because we were spinning a lot and we need to find a good solution to give us better traction. We have improved the feeling from the front compared to yesterday, but it is not enough because we need better traction to go faster. It is bad to be starting so far back, but for sure in tomorrow’s race I won’t finish in the same place in the race as I did in the qualifying!” Chris Vermeulen: “We had difficult weather this afternoon; the rain could have come at any moment just like it did this morning. We did a few laps in the wet this morning – in fact I think I was the first one out – and the bike felt pretty good and I managed to get lots of information if it’s wet tomorrow. In the dry it was tough in qualifying and we’re really struggling with rear grip on the left-hand-side and the performance of the tyre seems to drop off after only a few laps, so we need to try and improve on that. We tried some things today that helped a bit and we went over a second quicker than we did yesterday, but it’s still not where we need to be. We need to find some positives from today and go and give it 100% tomorrow.” Paul Denning – Team Manager: “Phillip Island has been our nemesis over the last few years and I am now starting to dislike the place as much as our bike obviously does! There is no hiding the fact that the qualifying result is a disaster, but it’s also true that we have taken a decent step compared to 2008 and the difference in our lap-time to pole position and the second row shows that. Unfortunately lap-times count for nothing and the positions are not where they should be. The only silver lining is that if it’s dry we have a similar pace to a lot of the field on the harder tyre and everyone else seemed to find a big step on the softer compound to give them better grid positions, so fingers crossed we’ll be able to keep reasonable consistency in the race and try to aim at least for the top-10.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Home pole for Stoner; Softer Bridgestone slicks favoured Round 15: Australian GP Qualifying Phillip Island, Saturday 17 October 2009 Bridgestone compounds available: Front: Wets Soft Slicks Soft, Medium Rear: Wets Soft Slicks Hard, Extra hard (asymmetric) After a morning of rain that saw both Bridgestone’s slick and wet tyres used in the free practice session, Ducati Team’s Casey Stoner made the best use of his softer option front and rear Bridgestone slicks in the hour-long qualifying session to secure pole position for tomorrow’s race by just 0.05seconds. The session concluded with a shootout for pole between Stoner and Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi, both of whom used Bridgestone’s softer options. Rossi held pole with just six minutes to go, until the Ducati Team changed Stoner’s rear Bridgestone slick and the Australian put in two fastest laps to end the session ahead, just under 0.3seconds shy of the circuit lap record. In another close fight for position, on his penultimate lap Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa recovered from an earlier fall to edge ahead of Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo for third on the grid by just 0.001seconds. The morning rainfall meant that the track temperature was quite cool and so every rider favoured the softer option slicks front and rear, although some completed laps on the harder variants to compare their performance before tomorrow’s race. The rain held off just long enough for the qualifying session to be run in the dry, but just minutes after the chequered flag it started falling again to demonstrate the unpredictability of the weather here just off Australia’s southern coast. Pramac Racing’s Niccolo Canepa missed the session after sustaining an arm injury when he fell during yesterday’s free practice session. Tohru Ubukata Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department “The fair conditions during the qualifying session allowed some comparisons between the softer and harder option slicks, but the softer option fronts and rears were favoured because of the available grip. In the cool conditions, the extra hard compound rear did not have enough traction, so based on this I can say that if the weather tomorrow is similar the softer slicks will be the preferred choice for the race too. The rainfall during the free practice session meant that riders completed laps on our wet tyres, and I am happy with their performance.” Top ten from qualifying (Saturday 13:55 14:55 GMT+11) Pos Rider Team Fastest lap Gap Compounds Front, Rear 1 Casey Stoner Ducati Team 1m30.341s Soft, Hard 2 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1m30.391s +0.050s Soft, Hard 3 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 1m31.070s +0.729s Soft, Hard 4 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 1m31.071s +0.730s Soft, Hard 5 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech3 1m31.096s +0.755s Soft, Hard 6 Alex de Angelis San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m31.260s +0.919s Soft, Hard 7 Nicky Hayden Ducati Team 1m31.325s +0.984s Soft, Hard 8 Randy de Puniet LCR Honda MotoGP 1m31.380s +1.039s Soft, Hard 9 Mika Kallio Pramac Racing 1m31.384s +1.043s Soft, Hard 10 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 1m31.472s +1.131s Soft, Hard Weather: Dry. Ambient 14°C; Track 35-33°C ( Bridgestone measurement)