Sete Gibernau will not race in the MotoGP race in Le Mans, France. According to the official MotoGP website, the Spanish veteran crashed during Saturday morning practice and broke his left collarbone. He has already returned to Spain and been examined by doctors. He is expected to have surgery on Monday morning. FIM MotoGP World Championship Le Mans, France May 16, 2009 Final Qualifying Results (dry conditions, all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), 1:33.974 2. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha), 1:33.979 3. Casey STONER (Ducati), 1:34.049 4. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), 1:34.106 5. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda), 1:34.300 6. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), 1:34.330 7. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), 1:34.676 8. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki), 1:34.839 9. Marco MELANDRI (Kawasaki), 1:35.008 10. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda), 1:35.399 11. Toni ELIAS (Honda), 1:35.431 12. James TOSELAND (Yamaha), 1:35.524 13. Nicky HAYDEN (Ducati), 1:35.682 14. Mika KALLIO (Ducati), 1:35.741 15. Yuki TAKAHASHI (Honda), 1:35.774 16. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda), 1:35.785 17. Niccolo CANEPA (Ducati), 1:36.136 18. Sete GIBERNAU (Ducati), did not ride More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: FRONT ROW FOR LORENZO WITH ROSSI FOURTH IN FRENCH QUALIFYING Jorge Lorenzo missed out on a second consecutive pole position by just five thousandths of a second during qualifying for the French Grand Prix in Le Mans today, finishing second to fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi was just edged off the front row at the end of the session and will start from fourth tomorrow. After yesterdays rain it was another grey morning and the practice session was run in the dry but with track temperatures reaching only 17 degrees. After a slow start yesterday Lorenzo looked much happier this morning and was third in the standings, but Rossi found himself struggling to perfect his set-up and finished down the order in 11th. Heavy rain fell during the middle part of the day and a wet qualifying session was expected but just a few minutes into the hour the sun miraculously appeared and the track quickly dried out. Both Rossi and Lorenzo looked strong throughout and the Spaniard especially was hugely consistent around the 4.185 km Bugatti circuit, eventually moving into pole with nine minutes to go. With a few minutes left Casey Stoner knocked the 22-year-old off the top spot but Lorenzo was able to make full use of his soft Bridgestone tyres at the end and retook pole, looking to have the session sewn up. It wasn’t over however and Pedrosa’s final lap was just 0.005 seconds faster. The World Champion looked in much better shape this afternoon, having found a setting which enabled him to ride his M1 as he wanted. He wasn’t quite as fast as his team-mate but it seemed he would hold onto the final front-row grid spot as the seconds ticked down before he, too became a victim of Pedrosa’s last-minute charge and was bumped to fourth. Having won from that position last time out however Rossi is confident of being in the mix tomorrow when the race gets going at 1400 CET. Jorge Lorenzo Position: 2nd Time: 1’33.979 Laps: 30 “I was tiny bit unlucky on that last lap, and we were so very close so it’s a pity! Anyway the important thing is that we’re on the first row and now we can try to get the good start that we need. I felt strong on the bike today and I was able to make a lot of consistent laps this afternoon, so I am happy about the shape we’re in for the race. I really hope that the weather is the same tomorrow and I am looking forward to the race and to getting a good result, like last year here.” Valentino Rossi Position: 4th Time: 1’34.106 Laps: 29 “Qualifying was a lot better for us! Yesterday and then again this morning we weren’t in such good shape, but we’ve done a good job to fix the bike and this afternoon I could ride how I wanted. It’s not perfect and we can still make it better, but we’re okay. We’re on the second row and a good start will be important because all the top riders are very, very close and there are many that I think can challenge for the race tomorrow. I think it could be a very fun race; for the fans but I hope also for us! I do hope it’s dry, like this, but if it’s going to rain it would be better if it rained all day so we can try our wet setting in the warm-up, because finally here we’ve been more or less on a dry track for all three sessions.” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “The weather helped us today and we’ve had two good sessions, which was important after yesterday. Everything worked to plan and we were able to test out the ideas that we had yesterday and this morning in order to refine our setting. Jorge’s pace is quite good, he just missed pole due to a bit of traffic on his final lap but he’s on the front row and that’s the most important thing. Hopefully the French weather will be kind to us again tomorrow and we will be aiming for a return to the podium” Davide Brivio Team Manager “This afternoon went well and we have been able to recover from this morning, when we had some small difficulties to overcome. We still have room for a few little improvements in order to be in perfect shape for tomorrow, but we have time. Starting fourth is not so bad, it’s where we started in Jerez and that went well! We’re looking forward to an exciting race.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racer Chris Vermeulen will start tomorrow’s French Grand Prix from the front of the third row after narrowly missing out on securing a second row start at Le Mans today. Vermeulen has looked impressive all weekend on the 4,185m Bugatti Circuit and posted consistently quick laps throughout this morning’s final practice session and in the hour of qualifying this afternoon. His best time of 1’34.676 from his 31 laps in the qualifying session gave him seventh place on the timesheets and only 0.702 seconds behind pole-setter Dani Pedrosa. Team-Mate Loris Capirossi (1’34.839, 29 laps) will start alongside Vermeulen on the third row as he recorded the eighth quickest time this afternoon. Capirossi worked hard to get the confidence he needed in his Suzuki GSV-R and now believes that the extra performance he needs to be competitive must come from him tomorrow. This afternoon’s qualifying was held in sunny conditions with all the riders able to complete the full hour, as the rain stayed away. Track temperatures rose to 28ºC, but a strong, cool wind meant that air temperatures never climbed above 16ºC. Vermeulen and Capirossi take to the track for tomorrow’s 28-lap race at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT) hoping that the expected rain doesn’t materialise and that they are both able to get a good start and battle with the front runners. Chris Vermeulen: “Things went quite well all day today and this morning we took quite a big step forward with the bike. We tried to get everything working right as quickly as possible, but we had a sprinkle of rain this morning – so that was a bit of a pain – and we didn’t quite get all the things done that we wanted to. This afternoon though was completely dry and the sun even popped its head out – which was nice! We got through everything we wanted to test on the bike and we got a bit more feeling which led to more confidence in the machine, then it was just down to doing fast lap-times. For me the soft rear tyre was the best for doing that and it felt quite consistent so it was the best tyre for qualifying – it might even be the race tyre. I am a bit disappointed to be back on the third row, but I’ve been getting good starts recently, so I need one of those tomorrow!” Loris Capirossi: “We had a bit more luck today with the weather and that certainly helped us to get the settings for the bike sorted. We did a lot of good work on the bike and tried a couple of different settings to see which worked the best for here. In the end I pushed a bit harder and the lap-time improved, but I still have a problem in the last section – especially in the final couple of corners – and I am losing a bit of time there. We will analyse the data this evening to try to make the improvements I need for tomorrow and I know it is not so easy for me in the last part, but I am sure I can make it up. The team has done a great job this weekend and now it is up to me!” Paul Denning – Team Manager: “It was a good team performance today. Loris’s guys have definitely improved his confidence in the chassis and the overall package since yesterday and he was able to make a decent step forward. Chris has continued to run quick and consistent lap-times all weekend and looks very clean and confident on the bike. We would have preferred to have been on the front two rows and we know that if it is dry tomorrow we will be looking for a bit more pace so we can run competitively with the front guys.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Pole for Pedrosa on medium, soft Bridgestones Round 4: France Qualifying Le Mans Circuit, Saturday 16 May 2009 Tyre compounds used: Front: Soft, Medium. Rear: Soft, Medium. After a morning of interspersed rain at the Le Mans Circuit, the hour-long qualifying session was run on a dry track under a rare blue sky. Dani Pedrosa took advantage of the conditions on Bridgestone’s medium front and soft rear compound slicks to grab his and Repsol Honda’s first pole of the season on his final lap. The Spaniard finished just 0.005 seconds ahead of fellow countryman Jorge Lorenzo for Fiat Yamaha, who in turn snatched second position on his last lap from Ducati Team’s Casey Stoner by just 0.075 seconds making it the closest front row of 2009. The top four riders all lapped faster than the best race lap at this circuit, set at 1m34.215s by Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi last year. There was disappointment for Sete Gibernau and the Grupo Francisco Hernando team however, as the Spaniard fell during the morning’s free practice session and fractured the same collarbone that affected him during pre-season testing. He will miss the remainder of the French Grand Prix, leaving 17 bikes to start tomorrow’s 28 lap race. Hiroshi Yamada – Bridgestone Motorsport Manager Motorcycle Sport Unit “We saw some very close competition today, the closest of the season at the front under a return to a one hour long qualifying session. Once again we marked all the soft compound Bridgestone slicks with a white line around the sidewall, and I am happy with the way this is working. I think it will provide much more information about riders’ tyre choices to the fans and all those watching during the race tomorrow. On behalf of Bridgestone Motorsport I would like to extend my sympathy to Sete and his team, and wish him a fast and successful recovery from his injury.” Tohru Ubukata – Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development “We had two dry sessions today so had the chance to compare both tyre specs we brought here, and both compounds worked well in not perfect conditions. The times were getting faster lap by lap towards the end of the qualifying session as the track temperature increased and the circuit conditions continued to change after the rain. I think if it rains again overnight the conditions will be different again tomorrow, which will make compound decisions very difficult for the teams.” Top ten from qualifying (Saturday 13:55 14:55 GMT+2) Pos Rider Team Time Gap 1 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda 1m33.974s 2 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha 1m33.979s +0.005s 3 Casey Stoner Ducati Team 1m34.049s +0.075s 4 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha 1m34.106s +0.132s 5 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda 1m34.300s +0.326s 6 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech3 1m34.330s +0.356s 7 Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki 1m34.676s +0.702s 8 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki 1m34.839s +0.865s 9 Marco Melandri Hayate Racing 1m35.008s +1.034s 10 Randy de Puniet LCR Honda 1m35.399s +1.425s Weather: Dry. Ambient 15-17°C; Track 22-30°C (Bridgestone measurement) More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: PEDROSA STEALS POLE TO RECORD A HAT-TRICK AT LE MANS Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa made it three Le Mans pole positions in four years in a thrilling qualifying session for tomorrow’s Grand Prix of France. It was a riveting battle for supremacy that went right down to the wire and the 23-year-old Spaniard waited until the last possible second to grab top spot by just 0.005s, continuing his spectacular MotoGP qualifying record at the famous French track: Pedrosa was on pole for Repsol Honda in his debut MotoGP season in 2006, and again last year. His Repsol Honda team-mate, Andrea Dovizioso, also left his best until last this afternoon, putting a in last-gasp hot lap just 0.326s slower than Pedrosa to take fifth position. It was a highly-competitive qualifying session today with the front two rows were covered by only 0.356s. And though Dovizioso wasn’t able to repeat his timesheet-topping performance from yesterday, he was content with achieving a second-row starting position having shown consistent race pace on both Bridgestone’s soft and hard tyre options. This afternoon’s qualifying session was held in sunny conditions but, on a weekend when rain has been an ever-present threat, the MotoGP paddock knows it can’t count on a dry race when the lights go out at 14.00 local time tomorrow. DANI PEDROSA 1st 1m 33.974s “Obviously I’m really happy with pole today and it was a very close battle for the front row. Right at the end we were able to set the fastest lap and I’m really pleased for the team as well as for myself. Being on the front row is important, and it’s also lucky that we had good weather for this afternoon and for most of the morning session because it allowed us to test a few set-up options and learn more about the machine at this track. We still have work to do before the race though, so we’re not going to relax at all. It’s a long race tomorrow and there are some improvements I’d like to make to the machine settings to give us a good chance. And of course the weather can play a big part at this circuit as we’ve seen many times before. We have to prepare for many conditions, so we’re staying focused.” ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 5th 1m 34.300s “Starting from the second row is ok and I feel I could have gone quicker still if I’d managed to get the maximum from the soft tyre. I’m happy though, because I had a good rhythm and was able to maintain a fast pace on both the soft and hard Bridgestone tyre options during the practice sessions. We’ll have to take a lot of care with the tyre selection because, with the changeable weather situation and temperature here, the choice of tyres for the race will be crucial. It’s likely that we won’t know which ones to use until just before the race when we’ll have the best idea of the conditions. Tonight we’re going to study a few more setting adjustments and aim to finalise things in the warm-up. I like this track and I’m looking forward to the race.” KAZUHIKO YAMANO – REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER “Well, this was a pretty good day for us. Dani’s given Repsol Honda its first pole position of the season which is very good for him and also for all the team members. Andrea’s position in the middle of the second row is also positive and with a good start he can be in contention tomorrow too. Right now the whole Repsol Honda Team is pulling together and doing an excellent job. We still know we have to improve the machine because it’s not perfect though. Both sides of the garage will assess the data they gathered from today’s practice sessions and trim the machine settings in the warm-up. It’s good to see that there are plenty of Honda fans here at Le Mans and we’ll be drawing on their power tomorrow to help us fight for the best possible result.” More, from a press release issued by Elf LCR Honda: DE PUNIET TARGETS TOP TEN FINISH AT LE MANS RACE TRACK Le Mans, 16 May: LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet rode his Honda RC212V no. 14 to 10th place today in the qualifying session at the 4.185 km Le Mans circuit in readiness for the tomorrow’s 28-lap race. On a day of typically unpredictable northern France weather conditions, both premier class sessions were dry with ambient temperature of 14°C even though weather forecast for tomorrow’s fourth round are still unsettled. After this morning’s 8th position in the free practice, De Puniet worked on engine mapping to improve his pace clocking his best lap time of 1’35. 399 (on lap 19 of 26) despite an early when he touched the white line at the end of the backstraight. The 28-year-old made good progress on race set-up but was not able to take a big advantage from the soft tyre riding bike no. 2. Today’s pole man Dani Pedrosa set the quickest lap time of 1’33.974. De Puniet 10th 1’35.399 De Puniet : “I am not satisfied about my qualifying as I made a mistake at the beginning of the session and lost some track time. I probably braked on the white line and the surface was still damp. We have been doing a good job and the machine was on a good technical level. After the crash I jumped on bike no 2 but could not do a perfect lap time especially on my last run because of the traffic. However we have got the right race set-up and I must take a good start to ride on the front. The first 6 riders are very fast and I have to do my best to finish just behind them”. More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Superb second row for Colin Edwards, Toseland 12th in Le Mans Colin Edwards gave the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team’s hopes of a home podium in the French MotoGP race a massive boost when he qualified in sixth position on the grid in Le Mans this afternoon. The 35-year-old was in superb form throughout the session, which started on a damp track that rapidly dried out after earlier rain showers. Edwards, who was part of a Yamaha clean sweep of the Le Mans podium last season, produced a stunning burst of speed shortly before the halfway stage to put himself in contention for pole position. At one stage he led Ducati’s Casey Stoner by over 0.5s having impressively reeled off four successive fastest laps. As the session built up to an exciting climax, he held a position on the front row until the final five minutes and Edwards ended with a best time of 1.34.330, which left him just 0.326s away from pole position. Having been quickest in this morning’s final practice session, the Texan is confident his consistent pace using a combination of hard front and soft rear compound Bridgestone tyres will enable him to mount a strong challenge for the podium in tomorrow’s 28-lap race. British rider James Toseland will start from 12th on the grid, the 28-year-old though was delighted with progress made in the set-up of his YZR-M1 machine. Improvements to front and rear stability allowed Toseland to push harder while feeling more comfortable, and he was less than a second away from claiming a place in the top seven. Colin Edwards 6th 1.34.330 30 laps “I’m happy on one side because my race pace is really consistent and I’m as quick as the guys in front of me, so I expect to be challenging at the front in the race tomorrow. But part of me is a little bit disappointed that I wasn’t higher up the grid having been close to the top pretty much throughout. I had a couple of small issues and I feel there was more time out there. Basically I can only use the hard front tyre. I can’t get the soft one to work, but we have to keep two of the four hard compound tyres for the race. So by the end of the session the front I like is past its best with a lot of laps on it. When you put in the softer rear tyre to make a lap time at the end of the session, the best grip on the hard front has gone and it starts moving because you’re pushing it too hard. Having said that, to be within three tenths of the fast guys I’m not complaining too much. And when we start the race tomorrow with the grip of the front and rear at the same level, we’re not going to have a problem. I got a podium last year for Tech 3 in its home race, so I’m definitely looking for a repeat of that.” James Toseland 12th 1.35.524 30 laps “I felt much happier today and the team gave me a great bike. I’m sorry to my guys really for not being a bit further up the grid, but we’re so close to being on the edge of the top six and I feel I’m making the progress I’ve been looking for. This morning it was too cold for the hard front tyre, so we didn’t really run it, but with ten degrees more temperature this afternoon, it was much stronger and I felt much more comfortable and that helped me a lot. With the softer rear tyre, which I’m sure will be the race choice that should be a good combination. Sadly the final position is not great again and that is something that has hampered me this season. I’m not far off the group in front at all but starting further down makes it tough to pick them off when we’re all doing similar lap times. I really feel though that I’m getting close and today I started to enjoy riding and not thinking about always struggling. That was a good feeling and I know how important this race is for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team and I’ll be giving it 100 per cent as always.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: In-form Spaniard Dani Pedrosa snatched his first pole position of 2009 right at the death of Saturday afternoon’s MotoGP qualifying session at the Grand Prix de France, as the riders got the chance to give it full gas on a dry track. With weather in Le Mans always predictably unpredictable, morning rain gave way to afternoon sunshine followed by looming cloud. Pole position changed hands several times, before Pedrosa made it his own with a best effort of 1’33.974 on his final lap, taking the first spot by a 0.005s margin. The factory Honda rider surprising even himself with a recent run of results belying his lack of testing time and full fitness- will be joined on the front row by fellow Spanish rider Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha) and Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro). Lorenzo had looked to have clinched pole with his own heroics in the final sector of the track just minutes beforehand. Lorenzo’s colleague Valentino Rossi made improvements as the session went on, his final position of fourth being a significant step forward having lapped eleventh fastest on Saturday morning. Rossi’s compatriot Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and his former team-mate Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), who briefly held provisional pole in the session, will line up behind him on the grid. The third row will feature Rizla Suzuki pair Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi who both qualified within a second of Pedrosa, at a track where Vermeulen took victory in 2007. The top ten was rounded off by Italian competitor Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing) and home rider Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) who both bounced back from crashes in the hour-long QP session. Sete Gibernau missed the session and will not race this weekend after fracturing his collarbone and damaging shoulder ligaments in a Saturday morning free practice crash. He has flown back immediately to Barcelona for further assessment of his injuries. Weather forecasts have suggested that there is an 80% chance of rain on Sunday during the fourth MotoGP race of the year. 250cc Álvaro Bautista (Mapfre Aspar) heads a title-chasing front row in the 250cc class, courtesy of a 1’38.270 hot lap on 21st of 23 turns of the historic French circuit which put him 0.382s ahead of World Champion Marco Simoncelli (Metis Gilera) on the timesheet. Behind 250cc title holder Simoncelli on the front row are championship leader Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Racing) and Saturday morning’s pace-setter Thomas Luthi (Emmi Caffe Latte), who both put in similar times to the Italian. Bautista’s Aspar colleague Mike di Meglio, at his home Grand Prix, heads the second row, followed by highly experienced Spaniard Álex Debón (Aeropuerto Castello-Blusens), young Italian Raffaele de Rosa (Scot Racing) and Czech rider Lukas Pesek (Auto Kelly – CP). 125cc Red Bull KTM rider Marc Márquez set pole right at the end of the 125cc qualifying session and the 16 year-old will look to follow it up with his second podium in two races having placed third at Jerez two weeks ago. Behind the young Spaniard on the Grand Prix de France grid will be another 16 year-old, Scott Redding (Blusens Aprilia), who also registered his best time, 1’47.173, just 0.093s behind Márquez, in the final seconds of the qualifying practice as the track dried following morning rain. Completing the front row are another Spaniard Nico Terol (Jack&Jones Team) and Swiss rider Dominique Aegerter (Ajo Interwetten), who both recorded hot laps right at the death. The second row will feature the experienced Joan Olivé (Derbi Racing Team), Bancaja Aspar teammates Bradley Smith & Julián Simón and Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing). More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: STONER ON FRONT ROW, HAYDEN UNABLE TO TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF PROGRESS Casey Stoner will start the Grand Prix de France from the front row of the grid tomorrow after contesting pole position until the final moments of this afternoon’s qualifying practice at Le Mans. With heavy clouds and a damp track in the early stages giving way to warm sunshine later on, the Australian dominated much of the second half of the hour-long session but wasn’t finally able to hold off the challenge of Jorge Lorenzo, who edged out him by just 0.070 seconds, and Dani Pedrosa, who went 0.005 seconds quicker than his fellow Spaniard to snatch pole in a thrilling finale. Stoner’s Ducati Marlboro team-mate Nicky Hayden significantly improvement his lap time by almost 2.5 seconds from yesterday, moving two positions up the overall classification to qualify thirteenth fastest. The American is still struggling to find confidence with the rear end of his Desmosedici GP9 but he has made progress this weekend that he hopes to consolidate in tomorrow’s 28-lap race. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 3rd (1’34.049) “This afternoon’s session was always going to be something of a gamble because of the weather conditions. It was a similar situation to the one we had in Jerez, with everybody struggling to get enough time to set up the bike. We really needed to use the qualifying session to try to get a bit better set up, but still in the back of your mind you tried to keep enough time in the end of the session to get a good qualifying position. We went out and the bike felt quite good but we didn’t get a really good time with the first softer tyre. When I went out with the second one unfortunately I got stuck behind Chris Vermeulen for a couple of laps and pretty much used the best of the tyre. I’m a bit disappointed because I think we could have been a little bit faster. Anyway, I’m reasonably happy with my race pace. We’ve had a few issues with the bike that we’ve worked on well and it’s important that we’re on the front row. It’s going to be a tough race tomorrow whatever the conditions, but I feel a little bit more confident here than in Jerez. I hope to able to stick at the front a little bit better! ” NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team) 13th (1’35.682) “We started over with some of the settings this weekend but like everybody the lack of track time at the moment is hurting us. We have made steady progress over the course of the weekend but at the moment I still don’t have the rear grip going into the corners that I need. We’ve made little steps in some areas that we need to build on but at the end of the day the time sheets don’t lie and we’re too far from the front of the grid. The priority tomorrow is to get a good start and go fast early in the race. It would be nice to have some fun and finish with a good result”. Circuit Record: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha – 2008), 1’34.215 – 159.910 Km/h Best Pole: Dani Pedrosa (Honda – 2008), 1’32.647 – 162.617 Km/h More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing Team: Unfortunate Kallio will start from the fifth row the French Grand Prix. Canepa seventeenth Not the luckiest qualifying practice for Mika Kallio today. The Pramac Racing rider was in first position for most of the first quarter of the afternoon session, but he then concluded in fourteenth position as he encountered some problems with bike one. Losing some time to prepare bike two the Finnish rider didn’t manage to find the same feeling to improve his lap time. His teammate, Niccolò Canepa, has sensibly improved his morning best lap time but he didn’t make it to improve his position in tomorrow’s starting grid. The Italian rider will therefore start from the sixth row in tomorrow Grand Prix of France, which will start at 2pm local time. Fabiano Sterlacchini – Pramac Racing Technical Director “We have been really unfortunate today. Mika was riding in an excellent way at the beginning of the official session, but around the end of the first few laps he encountered some problem in acceleration. We have lost a lot of time trying to set up bike two like the first one, but Mika didn’t make to find the same feeling anyway. We are really sad of what happened today because today Mika and his Desmosedici GP9 Sat were really competitive.” Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing rider – 14th best lap time in 1’35.741 “This afternoon first few laps went really well. I made it to reach and remain with Vermeulen for a few laps conquering a really interesting lap time. But already in the last two laps of this first exit I felt some problems coming out of the corners. I tried to comeback on track with the same bike, but the situation wasn’t changed. Therefore we tried to adjust bike two in the same way but we didn’t have the time to find the same set up that could have allowed me to be competitive again. It’s a pity, we will try to do better again tomorrow.” Niccolò Canepa – Pramac Racing rider – 18th best lap time in 1’36.136 “I have improved by two seconds compare to this morning and this gives me a lot of trust as it is the first time I ride here. I am only sad that I didn’t use the soft tyre in the best moment. I am getting more confidence with the bike lap by lap and I believe that today we could have done much better if we would have use a different tactic. Anyway I am happy on how things are going because I am getting closer with the riders in front of me.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: PEDROSA AND HONDA ON POLE AT LE MANS Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) rode to his factory RC212V to a brilliant pole position at Le Mans this afternoon, marking himself down as a favourite for tomorrow’s French Grand Prix, round four of this year’s 17 race MotoGP World Championship. The Spaniard timed his final charge to perfection, moving ahead of his rivals in the final seconds of the session, leaving them no time to counter-attack. His final and fastest lap outpaced Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) by five thousandths of a second and third fastest Casey Stoner (Ducati) by seven hundredths of a second. This is the second year in a row that Pedrosa has scored pole at Le Mans. Conditions were cool and cloudy for the afternoon qualifier, the best they have been all weekend, with the previous two practice outings spoiled by squalls of rain and drizzle that had track conditions changing throughout. Pedrosa’s first pole of the year (he was second on the grid in Spain two weeks ago) continues an impressive run by the Spaniard who started the season injured and is still far from fully fit because his still-healing left knee prevents him from undertaking his usual training regime. Despite those difficulties the 23 year-old finished third in last month’s Japanese GP and second at Jerez, so he will be aiming to continue that progression tomorrow. Team-mate Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) was often the fastest man on track in the two free practice sessions and scored a solid second-row start in qualifying. Just three tenths off pole, the Italian didn’t manage to get the maximum out of his final run on soft tyres but is nonetheless confident of a good race tomorrow. With conditions changing constantly here at Le Mans, Dovizioso will leave his decision on tyre choice until the last moment before the race. Local hero Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) gave himself some work to do this afternoon by falling in the early stages when he touched a still-damp white line while braking for the Chemin aux Boeufs chicane. The Frenchman had to ride the rest of the session on his number two bike, though that machine was still fast enough to clock the second highest top speed of the session, at 290.3km/h. De Puniet ended up tenth fastest, putting him at the front of the fourth row. Thirty stitches in his right arm didn’t stop Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini) from putting in a typically determined effort in qualifying. Following the Jerez GP the Spaniard underwent surgery on his right arm to cure an arm-pump problem and is still recovering from the operation which aggravated a tendon in the arm. Not surprisingly, Elias is struggling with his physical endurance here and he knows that tomorrow’s 28 lap race will be one of the toughest of his career. MotoGP rookie Yuki Takahashi (Scot Honda) had his best result of the year so far at Jerez and was looking forward to getting back to action here so he could work on improving his front suspension set-up, which is currently holding him back. The ever-changing weather conditions didn’t help Takahashi here but his crew did make improvements during qualifying, which he ended in 15th. Unaccustomed to starting from the back row of the grid, Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and his team are planning a radical change to the set-up of his RC212V for the race here. The San Marino rider was 16th fastest in qualifying, leaving him with plenty of work to do both in the morning warm-up and in the first few laps of the race. Jerez 250 winner and World Championship leader Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Honda) qualified a close third fastest here. Aoyama has high hopes of running at the front tomorrow, using his RS250RW’s nimble handling characteristics through Le Mans’ many tight turns and changes of direction. Team-mate Raffaele De Rosa (Scot Honda) improved his front-end set-up on his way to seventh in qualifying. Stop And Go team-mates Hector Faubel (Valencia CF Honda SAG) and Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT-SAG) were tenth and 12th quickest in 250 qualifying. Faubel may have got closer to the front if he hadn’t been slowed by traffic at a crucial stage of the session. Wilairot had a challenging two days trying to adapt his technique to ride round a hand injury, sustained at home last week. Japanese rookie Shoya Tomizawa (Team CIP Honda) had a tough practice and qualifying period, sliding off yesterday in his first session at Le Mans and losing time this morning to a minor technical problem. Still not fully accustomed to the tight French circuit, he did well to qualifying 17th quickest. Bastien Chesaux (Racing Team Germany Honda) kept moving forward throughout the three sessions, but is still struggling to find the rear-end traction he needs to effectively lay down the power on the corner exits. The Swiss teenager qualified 23rd fastest. HONDA MotoGP RIDER QUOTES Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), pole position at 1m 33.974s, said: “Obviously I’m really happy with pole today and it was a very close battle for the front row. Right at the end we were able to set the fastest lap and I’m really pleased for the team as well as for myself. Being on the front row is important, and it’s also lucky that we had good weather for this afternoon and for most of the morning session because this allowed us to test a few set-up options and learn more about the machine at this track. We still have work to do before the race though, so we’re not going to relax at all. It’s a long race tomorrow and there are some improvements I’d like to make to the machine settings to give us a good chance. And of course the weather can play a big part at this circuit as we’ve seen many times before. We have to prepare for many conditions, so we’re staying focused.” Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda), fifth fastest at 1m 34.300s, said: “Starting from the second row is okay and I feel I could have gone quicker still if I’d managed to get the maximum from the soft tyre. I’m happy though, because I had a good rhythm and was able to maintain a fast pace on both the soft and hard Bridgestone tyre options during the practice sessions. We will have to take a lot of care with the tyre selection because, with the changeable weather situation and temperature here, the choice of tyres for the race will be crucial. It’s likely that we won’t know which ones to use until just before the race when we’ll have the best idea of the conditions. Tonight we’ll study a few more setting adjustments and aim to finalise things in the warm-up. I like this track and I’m looking forward to the race.” Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda), tenth fastest at 1m 35.399s, said: “I am not satisfied about my qualifying because I made a mistake at the beginning of the session and lost some track time. I probably braked on the white line and the surface was still damp. We have been doing a good job and the machine was on a good technical level. After the crash I rode my number two bike, but I could not do a perfect lap time especially on my last run because of the traffic. However, we have got the right race set-up and I must take a good start tomorrow so I can ride at the front. The first six riders are very fast and I have to do my best to finish just behind them.” Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini), 11th fastest at 1m 35.431s, said: “I’m really suffering here because I have no strength at all in my right arm and no matter how much I try I simply can’t push the bike any harder. I’ve been trying to get behind other riders for a tow and it helps but it’s so hard. This morning was particularly bad but we were at least able to improve the bike in the afternoon and the lap times came down significantly. I was able to hold my position from yesterday and I’m pleased with that. I’m doing everything I can, so are the team, and tomorrow we’ll just try to get through the race and pick up as many points as we can.” Yuki Takahashi (Scot Honda), 15th fastest at 1m 35.774s, said: “Since Jerez I’ve had a few issues with the front suspension of my machine. To fix it what we need is lost of good weather and dry track time, which we haven’t had here. Nevertheless, we have been able to make a step forward with the fork setting during this afternoon’s qualifying session. For tomorrow, we’ll see everything depends on the weather.” Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini), 16th fastest at 1m 35.785s, said: “We definitely improved the bike today on race tyres but when we put the softer compound in to push for a fast lap we ran into a lot of problems that we didn’t expect. We’re looking at the telemetry now, we can clearly see where the problems are and we have a radical idea to try tomorrow that we hope works. It is going to be difficult starting from so far back but we don’t have much to lose by taking a big gamble on the setting so it will be interesting to see how it turns out.” HONDA 250 RIDER QUOTES Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Honda), third fastest at 1m 38.682s, said: “Tomorrow I will start the race from the front row, and this is very important. I think it’s as important to have a good start here as it is to have a good race pace. It’s difficult to evaluate the performance of my rivals here because of the weather which has changed every session, so it’s not easy to say how I will go. The weather will also have an important say in what happens tomorrow I just hope it will be consistent so we can have a good race.” Raffaele De Rosa (Scot Honda), seventh fastest at 1m 39.367s, said: “As a newcomer to the 250 class I always have to spend the beginning of every weekend adapting myself to riding a 250 round each new circuit. We changed a few things with the set-up here and I have found a better feeling with the front tyre, which is great news. We also did a good job with the rear end of the machine. During qualifying I found myself competing in the usual group of old friends, which was fun. For tomorrow, I have no real preference sun or rain is the same for me.” Hector Faubel (Valencia CF Honda SAG), tenth fastest at 1m 39.517s, said: “Today I feel very good on the bike. I’m tenth and the time covering the first positions is very tight. During the last ten minutes I used a soft tyre which was really good but there was a lot of traffic and I couldn’t improve my lap times by the few tenths of a second I needed to get a really good position on the grid. I’m hoping that we get no rain tomorrow, even though this morning in the wet I was fifth fastest. I feel very positive here.” Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT-SAG), 12th fastest at 1m 39.667s, said: “The pain from my right hand is still bad like yesterday but I now have a better feeling with the throttle and the brake. I have used all the practice sessions here to adapt my style of riding to the injury now I am using only one finger to brake the third finger. I need to do some special therapy on the hand and arm because tomorrow I will need to brake harder than I did today in order to get a good finish in the race.” Shoya Tomizawa (Team CIP Honda), 17th fastest at 1m 40.661s, said: “This weekend has been a little bit hard for me so far, but I get very good support from my team, so I am feeling good about the race and I never give up. The machine is not so bad, but I am still learning the track. I will push harder in the race and try to get some more points.” Bastien Chesaux (Racing Team Germany Honda), 23rd fastest at 1m 43.342s, said: “I’m quite happy because this afternoon we took a second off my previous best lap time here at Le Mans. However, we are still facing the same problem that has been troubling us all year not enough grip on corner exits. We have some more ideas to try which may hopefully cure the problem for tomorrow.”