FIM MotoGP World Championship Jerez, Spain May 2, 2009 Qualifying Results (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha), 1:38.933 2. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), 1:38.984 3. Casey STONER (Ducati), 1:39.415 4. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), 1:39.642 5. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda), 1:39.806 6. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki), 1:39.862 7. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), 1:39.926 8. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda), 1:39.966 9. Toni ELIAS (Honda), 1:40.112 10. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), 1:40.185 11. Marco MELANDRI (Kawasaki), 1:40.381 12. Sete GIBERNAU (Ducati), 1:40.440 13. Yuki TAKAHASHI (Honda), 1:40.599 14. James TOSELAND (Yamaha), 1:40.670 15. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda), 1:40.796 16. Nicky HAYDEN (Ducati), 1:40.953 17. Mika KALLIO (Ducati), 1:41.238 18. Niccolo CANEPA (Ducati), 1:41.253 More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: LORENZO FLYING HIGH IN FRONT OF HOME FANS AFTER FIFTH MOTOGP POLE Man-of-the-moment Jorge Lorenzo put in a blistering qualifying display at his home race in Jerez this afternoon to take his fifth pole with Yamaha in MotoGP. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi meanwhile qualified fourth on a blustery afternoon in Andalucia. It was Lorenzo’s second consecutive pole at this track, having taken the top grid spot this time last year before finishing the race third. After last weekend’s win in Motegi the Mallorcan was disappointed to run into a few difficulties yesterday but all that was reversed today with a few set-up changes and the youngster hit form in style, setting a string of fastest laps this afternoon and looking happily in tune with his Yamaha M1 and Bridgestone tyres. The only rider to get close to him was fellow countryman Dani Pedrosa, who qualified second to set up a mouth-watering Spanish showdown for the partisan 120,000-strong crowd in tomorrow’s race. Rossi looked the man to beat yesterday but was unable to replicate a similar pace today, struggling to find the same feeling in the windy conditions. The reigning World Champion put in his best lap at the end of the session but was unable to knock Casey Stoner off the outside of the front row and will have to settle for starting at the head of the second tomorrow, directly behind his team-mate. Jorge Lorenzo Position: 1 Time: 1’38.933 Laps: 21 “It’s amazing to have the pole position here again, in my home country. Riding at this track is extra special for a Spanish rider and I felt a great motivation today. Yesterday we had some problems and I was a bit worried but we have worked well in the team and today we managed to resolve everything so that I could ride my Yamaha just how I wanted to. I felt very comfortable and I hope that this will be the same for the race. We’re starting in the best possible position; I know it will be hard tomorrow because everyone is close but I feel confident that we can fight to be on the podium again, as at the last two races. I hope it’s a bit less windy tomorrow though!” Valentino Rossi Position: 4 Time: 1’39.642 Laps: 21 “I’m a bit unhappy because we had a few problems and it actually hasn’t been such a good day, it was also very windy which made it more difficult! Yesterday we were very fast from the start and we hoped to keep going like this today but we have lost some feeling and now I can’t ride and push how I want to. At the moment I am not happy with the setting for the race and we need to work hard to understand the situation and try to improve it because we must be stronger tomorrow. Now we will make a long meeting and try to find some solution to try for the warm-up tomorrow.” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager – 99 “We couldn’t ask for more than this as far as a qualifying performance goes! The team did a great job to fix yesterday’s problems and give Jorge a bike that enabled him to have a good pace for race conditions and also allowed him to be very, very fast for his flying laps this afternoon. It’s going to be a close race tomorrow because the top riders are all fast but we are confident that we can make it a good one for us.” Davide Brivio Team Manager – 46 “Missing out on the first row means that tomorrow’s race will be a bit more difficult in the early stages. Our race pace and rhythm are not so bad but we still need to make some adjustments because our potential is a lot better than this. We have to make Valentino more comfortable so that he can ride how he wants to, so now our engineers will study the data and look to come up with something to improve the setting.” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Edwards secures seventh, Toseland 14th in hot Jerez Colin Edwards rode his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine to a brilliant seventh place in today’s Spanish MotoGP qualifying session at a sun-drenched Jerez circuit. A thrilling 45-minute session run in sunny but breezy conditions saw American Edwards post a best time of 1.39.926 in the final minute to claim a place on the third row of the grid for tomorrow’s 27-lap race. The 35-year-old encountered some small front-end grip issues this afternoon but was only 0.5s away from a front row start in an exciting session, the top seven riders split by less than a second. Edwards is confident he can be a strong contender in tomorrow’s race having set a consistently fast pace throughout practice on his YZR-M1 machine. British rider James Toseland had a frustrating afternoon, a best lap of 1.40.670 leaving the 28-year-old in 14th on the grid for the first European race of 2009. Toseland is still searching for a comfortable set-up on his Yamaha YZR-M1 machine. He’s confident he can run a much faster pace in the race with his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew working tirelessly to improve his feeling. Tomorrow’s race will carry extra importance for the Tech 3 Team, with Monster Energy President Mark Hall making a special visit to the Spanish MotoGP race, which is traditionally one of the showpiece events on the calendar. Colin Edwards 7th 1.39.926 20 laps “I was really happy with the bike this morning. I was able to run a fast and consistent pace that only the top three were able to better. But we changed a couple of things on the bike for qualifying and it was the wrong direction unfortunately. Those changes probably cost me a place on the second row. I kept tucking the front and that has never happened before on Bridgestone. I’ve not had the front move on me once since I first tried Bridgestone back in November. The front tyre is magic but for some reason I wasn’t comfortable this afternoon. We’ll just revert back to the set-up we had this morning for the race because I had no issues at all really. I’m still confident for the race. It is going to be hot and tyre endurance will be crucial as always. I did nine laps on the hard compound and it was spinning but it always does that. It’s just how you manage it from that point and I think the setting we had this morning and yesterday will be fine. I’m determined to put on a good show for Mark Hall from Monster Energy and my guys at Tech 3 who have been working hard to give me a good bike as always.” James Toseland 14th 1.40.670 19 laps “It has been a frustrating day. We have been working a lot on the bike and when we cure one problem we create another. That session was almost like a test than a qualifying session and it is frustrating because I feel like I can definitely run the pace around the top six. I’m just trying to find a compromise between good braking stability and acceleration exiting corners. We seem to improve in one area but then sacrifice something in another area. My pace wasn’t too bad on the hard compound race tyre, so if I can get a good start and get away with the pack in front I’m sure I can have a good race and be in there fighting. We’ll definitely be working hard tonight to improve for the race. I’ll be giving it my all as always and hope to show Mark Hall how strong the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team is.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: The man of the moment in MotoGP, Jorge Lorenzo delighted the home crowd at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit in beautiful conditions on Saturday afternoon, as he repeated his 2008 pole for this year’s Gran Premio bwin.com de España. In stark contrast to the appalling weather at Motegi a week ago, which saw qualifying cancelled altogether, the growing Spanish crowd at the Andalusian track were bathed in some typical Iberian sunshine and the riders only had a strong wind to contend with during the timed sessions. Lorenzo and his Spanish rival Dani Pedrosa did battle for pole position during the 45-minute session, with the Fiat Yamaha rider eventually emerging on top with a 1’38.933 hot lap on the eighteenth of his 21 turns of the track. Saturday morning’s fastest rider Pedrosa again demonstrated his improving form and fitness on his Repsol Honda RC212V machine, lapping just 0.051s behind his young compatriot. Ducati Marlboro’s Casey Stoner, who won the BMW M Award at Jerez in March’s Official MotoGP Test, was around half a second behind Lorenzo; his best effort put him third on the grid at one of his least-favoured tracks. Friday’s top man, World Champion Valentino Rossi could not match his championship rivals and after a modest Saturday morning free practice outing the Italian qualified off the front row for the first time this year in fourth place. A good effort from Randy de Puniet saw him as the top satellite qualifier in fifth place for the LCR Honda team, whilst the second line of the grid was rounded off by Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi – who made sure four different manufacturers are represented on the front two rows. The third row, meanwhile, features Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini). Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki) was tenth fastest, with Sete Gibernau (Grupo Francisco Hernando) twelfth and 2006 World Champion Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro) down in sixteenth. San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Alex de Angelis crashed at the end of the session and qualified in fifteentth place, but was not reported to be injured. 250cc An interesting 250cc qualifying practice concluded the Saturday action, with Álex Debón (Aeropuerto Castello-Blusens) making it three Spaniards on pole in the three World Championship categories, following Julián Simón’s 125cc success earlier in the day. The fans in Andalucia had further reason to cheer, as Héctor Barberá (Pepe World Team Aprilia) qualified in second place, edging out the third fastest rider – Metis Gilera’s World Champion Marco Simoncelli – who suffered the second of two Saturday crashes in the session. Mapfre Aspar’s Álvaro Bautista was the third Spanish 250cc rider notching himself a front row start, whilst the second row will feature Jules Cluzel (Matteoni Racing), Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Racing Team), Mike di Meglio (Mapfre Aspar Team) and Thomas Luthi (Emmi Caffe Latte). 125cc The 125cc qualifying session followed the free practice form as Simón took top spot for his home race, with a 1’48.237 best lap. In a great QP for the Bancaja Aspar team Bradley Smith put himself second on the grid, behind teammate Simón with a lap two tenths off the Spaniard’s pace, whilst the team’s third rider Sergio Gadea (Bancaja Aspar) qualified in fifth. Tucking themselves in behind Simón and Smith were series leader Andrea Iannone (Ongetta Team I.S.P.A) and young Spanish rider Marc Márquez (Red Bull KTM) who missed last year’s race in his debut campaign due to a preseason injury. Gadea missed the front row by just 0.024s, but heads the second line of the grid in front of Dominique Aegerter (Ajo Interwetten). Scott Redding (Blusens Aprilia) and Danny Webb (Degraaf Grand Prix) were seventh and eighth respectively, meaning that there are three Britons on the front two rows. More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: PEDROSA A WHISKER AWAY FROM POLE AT JEREZ Saturday May 2, 2009. Jerez, Spain Dani Pedrosa today came within 0.051s of claiming pole position for tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix in an exciting qualifying clash at Jerez. Riding in front of his home crowd, the Repsol Honda star was quickest in this morning’s 45-minute session, and headed the timesheets for much of the afternoon, before being pipped for pole by only five one-hundredths of a second by fellow Spaniard, Jorge Lorenzo. In both sessions today Pedrosa was inside the Jerez lap record he set in last year’s race and, with a few final adjustments to the race settings on his factory RC212V, the 23-year-old from Barcelona will be confident he can battle for a repeat of the victory he scored here last year. Andrea Dovizioso will line up for tomorrow’s 27-lap race in 8th place on the grid after setting a lap time just over a second behind his team-mate. The Italian was able to improve his pace from yesterday by 0.6s in the morning practice, and believes he could have secured a spot on the front two rows this afternoon, but for the strong wind blowing across the 4.423km (2.748-mile) circuit which made for unpredictable riding conditions. Dovizioso remains confident of his chances in the race though, and will work with his team on final adjustments in tomorrow’s 20-minute warm-up. With more sun forecast, a huge crowd is guaranteed to greet the MotoGP grid as they line up at 14.00 for the race start tomorrow. Dani Pedrosa – 2nd – 1m 38.984s “I’m happy because we’ve improved a lot from yesterday and we’re starting from the front row. This is always important – but especially at my home race. It was very windy this afternoon which made it quite difficult to ride with a consistent line and keep the rhythm on the bike, but still, my pace was good and I’ll go into the race with a lot of confidence. We still have some work to do to improve our set-up for the race but I’m happy with how we’ve progressed so far this weekend. Tomorrow is the important day though. There will be a lot of fans out there supporting me and the team and I really hope I can get a good result for them. If I get a start like I did at Motegi then that will help!” Andrea Dovizioso – 8th – 1m 39.966s “It has been a tricky session for everybody because it was really windy and this meant we couldn’t confirm some set-up improvements that we were testing. This morning we made some adjustments that gave us some positive feedback, and we wanted to keep working on them, but we couldn’t test properly this afternoon because of the strong wind. Still, we improved our race pace which is very important, it’s just a pity that we will start from the third row. I think I could have been on the second row but during my fast lap I had a moment and lost the front in T4. Tomorrow morning we will work on further improving the feeling of mid-corner stability at the front. For the race I’ll have to make a good start because we cannot afford to lose contact with the guys in front.” Kazuhiko Yamano – Repsol Honda Team Manager “It was a promising day for Dani, and second on the grid is a good place to be. His understanding of the machine is growing all the time. This is the first front row of the season for the team and indicates we’re going in the right direction. The machine is not perfect though and there are some small improvements we want to make before the race so that Dani can fight for the win. Andrea made some gains testing new parts this morning, though there are still some areas he’d like improved. We know he’s excellent in race conditions though so I’m hoping to get both riders on the podium tomorrow. The team did a really good job today and that’s what we’ll be targeting.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Lorenzo delights Spanish fans with pole on home soil Round 3: Spain Qualifying Circuito de Jerez, Saturday 2 May 2009 Tyre compounds used: Front: Medium, Hard. Rear: Soft, Medium Motegi winner and last year’s polesitter Jorge Lorenzo claimed pole position by just 0.05 seconds after a great battle with fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa, who won here last season. Repsol Honda’s Pedrosa was in front for most of the session but Fiat Yamaha’s Lorenzo finished ahead after the two traded places in the closing minutes of qualifying. Most riders started the session on the hard compound front Bridgestone and the medium compound rear. Two thirds of the way through the 45 minute session, 0.2 seconds separated the top six riders, and the top 12 riders were all within one second. Towards the end of qualifying, the lap times dropped markedly as riders opted for the soft compound rear Bridgestone for optimum traction on Jerez’s new and more abrasive surface. Lorenzo’s pole lap was 1.2 seconds faster than last year’s fastest race lap, set by Pedrosa. Fastest in the pre-season test at Jerez, Casey Stoner will start tomorrow’s race from third position for the Ducati Team. Reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi of Fiat Yamaha, LCR Honda’s Randy de Puniet and Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi will line up on the second row of the grid. Tohru Ubukata – Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development “The tyre situation was exactly as we expected following the pre-season test here, so I am happy with the compounds we chose. The softer option Bridgestones worked better this morning in free practice when the track temperature was 30 degrees Celsius, and the harder options worked well this afternoon in qualifying when the temperature was 45 degrees so again we can say we have covered all expected conditions with just two compounds. “At the winter test Casey was far ahead of everyone, fastest by 0.7 seconds, but today we have seen very close competition. I think as the teams and riders get more time on the track with our 2009 tyres, especially those who did not use Bridgestones last year, the field is getting closer. With the race temperature tomorrow expected to be the same as this afternoon, I think almost all riders will choose the hard front and medium rear Bridgestones.” Top ten from qualifying (Saturday 14:05 14:50 GMT+2) Pos Rider Team Practice Time Gap 1 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha 1m38.933s 2 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda 1m38.984s +0.051s 3 Casey Stoner Ducati Team 1m39.415s +0.482s 4 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha 1m39.642s +0.709s 5 Randy de Puniet LCR Honda 1m39.806s +0.873s 6 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki 1m39.862s +0.929s 7 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech3 1m39.926s +0.993s 8 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda 1m39.966s +1.033s 9 Toni Elias San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m40.112s +1.179s 10 Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki 1m40.185s +1.252s Weather: Wet. Ambient 24°C; Track 45°C (Bridgestone measurement) More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi will start his 285th Grand Prix from the second row of the grid tomorrow, as he rode his Suzuki GSV-R to sixth place during a windy Jerez Grand Prix qualifying today. Capirossi recorded a fastest time of 1’39.862 from his 20 laps of the 4,423m Spanish circuit, less than a second off pole-setter and home favourite Jorge Lorenzo. Capirossi made many changes to his bike today during both this morning’s free practice session and this afternoon’s qualifying. He now believes that tyre-wear will be a big issue for all riders tomorrow, but is convinced he – and his crew – have the GSV-R set-up to go for a high-placed finish. Chris Vermeulen will start from 10th place on the grid as he recorded a best time of 1’40.185 from his 22 laps. Vermeulen worked tirelessly with his crew in both sessions and his confidence rose as the day progressed. Suzuki’s Australian star made big steps with the bike and now has a good setting for tomorrow’s race. He is targeting to get away well from the start and fight for a top-five position. Sunday’s 27-lap race is the third round on the calendar, and riders and fans alike will be hoping for the good weather that has been present this weekend to continue when the lights change to signal the start of the race at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT) tomorrow. Loris Capirossi: “Even though we were second yesterday and we were sixth this afternoon, it has been a much better day for us today. We did a great job this morning on the bike’s setting and we improved a lot. We tried three different settings and found the best one to preserve the life in the tyre – this is a good step for us. The condition this afternoon was very difficult because it was so windy; this is the third race where we have not had perfect conditions. The sun was beautiful, but the wind was very strong and it made it difficult out there. Overall I am happy with where we are and we are ready for the race. We will be on the second row for the third time this year, but we were so close to being on the front row. I will be fighting hard right from the start and try to understand how the tyres will behave and make them last the distance!” Chris Vermeulen: “It was not the position we wanted so I am a bit disappointed with that. We made some good steps with the bike and I am now a lot more comfortable on it. It has given me confidence to push a bit more and my speed was definitely up in that session, but we still need to make another step to get totally competitive. In this morning’s session I concentrated on using a race-tyre and doing a lot of laps to give us an idea of what it would be like at the end of the race. Tomorrow it will be important to get a good start and move up through the field in the first couple of laps and try to do whatever I can. Hopefully with a good race we can get a top-five position, which is going to be tough from the fourth row, but it’s certainly our target!” Paul Denning – Team Manager: “It is good to see Loris maintain his run of second row starts, and whilst Chris is disappointed with 10th we can all tell from his body language this afternoon that he is in a much better position for the race than he was this morning. The wind made things incredibly difficult for all riders this afternoon and the lap-times were quite surprising considering that. It seems that we have improved the feeling of the bike for both the guys this afternoon. There’ll be some additional things to try in the morning warm-up, but hopefully we can carry this improvement on into the race tomorrow and perform at our best!” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing Team: Kallio and Canepa will look for comeback in the Grand Prix of Spain Not the happiest qualifying practice ever for the Pramac Racing riders, Mika Kallio and Niccolò Canepa, who have respectively concluded in seventeenth and eighteenth position. The Finnish rider didn’t manage to confirm the great performance done during the official test in Jerez last March, where he concluded with the sixth fastest lap time, and will have therefore try another great comeback like last week in Motegi. Niccolò has made it to improve his lap times compared to yesterday and this morning, but he will have to start tomorrow’s race from the sixth row. The Italian rider will not give up and will try his best tomorrow to conquer more world championship points. Fabiano Sterlacchini – Pramac Racing Technical Director “We have a lot of work to do but we remain trustful for tomorrow’s race. The track conditions weren’t the same as in the last March test and we found some difficulties. We have tried many things without finding a good solution. We believe that during the warm up we will be able to put together the positive things found in these two days to give a competitive bike to Mika.” Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing rider – 17th in 1’41.238 “Many things didn’t go in the right direction today. We have modified the bike many times without any luck. The only thing to do in this moment is analyze the data to understand in which direction we have to go. Today’s track condition was different compare to last March, but for sure we didn’t expect to be so far behind. Tomorrow it will be for us another comeback race.” Niccolò Canepa – Pramac Racing rider – 18th in 1’41.253 “It went a bit better today even if with the race tyres I still need some more confidence. We have anyway got closer to the other riders and this for sure it will give us morale for tomorrow’s race. My learning period is going well and with patience we improve practice after practice. I want to thank my Team member for the great work they are doing for me.” More, from a press release issued by Playboy LCR Honda: DE PUNIET FIFTH FASTEST AT JEREZ QUALIFYING Jerez, 2 May: the LCR Honda MotoGP Team rider Randy De Puniet got the second row for tomorrows 27-lap race at the crowded Jerez de la Frontera circuit which hosts the third round of the season. The Frenchman riding the Honda RC212V nr. 14 made 21 laps in total in this afternoon qualifying session clocking his quickest time of 1’39.806 on lap 17. Thanks to the specific adjustments made in this morning free session when Randy finished 4th overall, the Frenchman improved his pace at the 4.423 Km Spanish track lapping consistently fast on race tyres with a ground temperature of 39°C. The 45-minute qualifying session was held in the dry but with a strong wind and the 28-year-old rode his HRC machinery to the 5th fastest time hoping to get a top-six finish in tomorrow’s race that gets underway at 14:00 local time. The Spaniard rider Lorenzo on Yamaha topped the timesheets today with a 1’38.933 lap time followed by Pedrosa on Honda and Stoner on Ducati. De Puniet 5th 1’39.806 De Puniet: – 5th: “At the beginning of the session we run on our race set up and I am happy with that as we improved a little bit the engine mapping on the power delivery. Then, for the last few runs, we lapped on soft tyres to improve our grid position but it was difficult due to the strong wind. It was not easy to do one perfect lap and I made some small mistake as the wind pushed me outside and inside of the track but this second row makes me very happy. The Team made a good job and we improved the bike step by step. Honestly I aim to get a top-six finish and we have good chance to do it as we will start from the 5th position and our package is pretty competitive”. More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: STONER ON FRONT ROW FOR SPANISH CHALLENGE, HAYDEN SIXTEENTH Casey Stoner recorded his best ever MotoGP qualifying performance at the Jerez circuit to secure a front row spot for what promises to be a scintillating Spanish Grand Prix tomorrow. The Ducati Marlboro rider clocked the third fastest time in this afternoon’s qualifying session behind local pair Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa, with his team-mate Nicky Hayden set to start from sixteenth on the grid after being unsettled by a dramatic change in the track conditions this afternoon. After a tentative first day yesterday, Hayden made improvements this morning and was tenth fastest in the final free practice session. However, with a 15ºC increase in track temperature and the arrival of high winds he was unable to maintain his progress in the afternoon, lapping almost half a second slower than he had in the morning. Stoner also struggled with the tricky conditions but increased his pace and confidence towards the end of the session, eventually closing to within half a second of Lorenzo’s pole effort. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 3rd (1’39.415) “Our bike has never really worked well here in the past but we worked hard during the test and over the past two days to come up with a package that is at least competitive. This morning it felt really good and even though we weren’t top of the time sheets I felt confident. Unfortunately the wind tends to unsettle our bike and it was pretty hairy out there this afternoon – it certainly didn’t help me feel more confident with the bike after the front end issues we had yesterday! I set myself the target of a position on the second row so to get on the front row is an unexpected bonus and it will be really helpful for tomorrow. Until the last couple of years I’d always found it hard to do well in my home race but the Spanish and Italian guys always seem to find an extra gear on their own turf. The support for Dani and Jorge is fantastic, they are both riding well and they’ll definitely be competitive tomorrow. It should be great fun!” NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team) 16th (1’40.953) “This morning certainly went a lot better, I thought we’d found a good way forward with the bike but this afternoon I had a very different feeling. The wind certainly didn’t help things but that is the same for everybody. It was very unstable in the fast corners and just not holding the line. We tried our best to fix it but things just didn’t go nearly as smooth as we’d like and we’ve ended up with a difficult grid position. We’ll see what we can do about it tonight. We’ll make a few small adjustments to the bike, make a few tweaks to the set-up here and there and see how it goes in warm-up. The only thing is that it’s quite cool here in the morning compared to the afternoon and, like today, the feeling with the bike changes a lot without touching a thing. It’s going to be tough but we’ll keep working hard and hopefully be in shape to put on a good show for these incredible fans tomorrow afternoon.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: PEDROSA JUST 0.051 SECONDS FROM POLE AT JEREZ The sun-blessed Spanish crowd got what they came for at Jerez today Spaniards first and second fastest for tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix, round three of the 2009 MotoGP World Championship. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) led much of the 45-minute session and was happy enough with his final position second quickest, just 0.051 seconds off compatriot Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha). Conditions were warm but very blustery this afternoon, Pedrosa nonetheless building on a successful morning session during which he completed an ultra-quick run which gave him the fastest free practice time. Pedrosa wasn’t the only Honda rider to feature well in the qualifying outing. Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V) also spent much of the session close to the front, ending the 45 minutes fifth overall. Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V) went well too, but struggled in the wind and had to be happy with a third row start, alongside Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V). Pedrosa made crucial overnight improvements to his RC212V set-up and his speed throughout today’s sessions suggests he will be at the sharp end of the action tomorrow. Pedrosa’s Jerez MotoGP record is impressive runner-up in 2006 and 2007 and a dominant winner last year. Despite suffering knee and wrist injuries during testing in March, Honda’s former 125 and 250 World Champion kickstarted his 2009 season with an impressive third-place finish in last Sunday’s Japanese GP. De Puniet rode superbly throughout the afternoon session, running a strong race pace on harder-compound race tyres after fine tuning his RC212V’s power delivery. On softer tyres at the end of the 45 minutes he went fifth fastest. The Frenchman believes he can make the top six tomorrow. Dovizioso had high hopes of a great qualifying performance but the windy conditions hampered his efforts to refine the set-up of his RC212V. Like many riders the Italian sometimes had to fight to stay in control when gusts of winds threatened to cause him to crash, most notably at the very end of the session when he was going for a fast time through the fast corners at the end of the lap. Dovizioso’s aim for tomorrow is straightforward to improve on the fifth-place finishes he achieved in the opening two races in Qatar and Japan. Elias has had a challenging start to his 2009 season but the local star is confident that he has now found a good direction with his factory-spec RC212V. The Spaniard has got his RCV working well here, his best lap this afternoon just four tenths slower than fourth-placed reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi (Yamaha). The wind may have disturbed many riders today but Yuki Takahashi (Scot Honda) preferred to look on the bright side at least conditions were better than they were in Japan, where torrential rain forced the cancellation of qualifying. Rookie Takahashi needs all the dry time he can get to keep moving forward aboard his RC212V. Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) had a difficult day, the San Marino rider falling victim to the blustery winds. De Angelis fell when a strong gust of wind knocked him off line as he attacked a fast corner. Battered and bruised, he ended the session in 15th spot and will probably need painkilling therapy for a leg injury before tomorrow’s race. The 250 qualifying session was even more frantic than the MotoGP qualifier, with the windy conditions causing bigger problems for the lightweight machines. There were several fallers, including Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT-SAG). Reigning World Champion Marco Simoncelli (Gilera) also fell, his second tumble of the day. Following his brilliant ride to second at Motegi last Sunday, Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Honda) led the early stages of the session but struggled to maintain position in the blowy conditions. He will start from sixth on the grid, three places in front of Hector Faubel (Valencia CF Honda SAG) who missed the second row by just 0.027 seconds. Raffaele De Rosa (Scot Honda) was 12th, one place ahead of Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT-SAG) who was taken to the Clinica Mobile after a fall at the hairpin. MotoGP rider quotes Second fastest Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) said: “I’m happy because we’ve improved a lot from yesterday and we’re starting from the front row. This is always important but especially at my home race. It was very windy this afternoon which made it quite difficult to ride with a consistent line and keep the rhythm, but still, my pace was good and I’ll go into the race with a lot of confidence. We still have some work to do to improve our set-up but I’m happy with how we’ve progressed so far this weekend. Tomorrow is the important day though. There will be a lot of fans out there supporting me and the team and I really hope I can get a good result for them. If I get a start like I did at Motegi then that will help!” Fifth fastest Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) said: “At the beginning of the session we ran with our race set-up and I am happy with that because we improved the engine mapping for better power delivery. Then, for the last few runs, we lapped on softer tyres to improve our grid position, but that was difficult due to the strong winds. It was not easy to do one perfect lap and I made a few small mistakes as the wind pushed me outside and inside, but this second row makes me very happy. The team did a good job and we improved the bike step by step. Honestly, I aim to get a top-six finish tomorrow. We have a good chance to do it because we start from the second row and our package is pretty competitive.” Eighth fastest Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) said: “It has been a tricky session for everybody because it was really windy and this meant we couldn’t confirm some set-up improvements that we were testing. This morning we made some adjustments that gave us some positive feedback, and we wanted to keep working on them, but we couldn’t test properly this afternoon because of the strong wind. Still, we improved our race pace which is very important, it’s just a pity that we will start from the third row. I think I could have been on the second row but during my best lap I lost the front in T4 and I almost crashed. Tomorrow morning we will work on further improving the feeling of mid-corner stability at the front. For the race I’ll have to make a good start because we cannot afford to lose contact with the guys in front.” Ninth fastest Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini) said: “I think tomorrow could be a good race for me and I’m really looking forward to it. We’ve improved, not as much as we’d like yet but at least this small step allows me to dream of getting involved in the fight with a faster group or riders, closer to the front. I got a bad start to the races in Qatar and Japan so we’ve worked on that today because I think it could be the key to a good result tomorrow. I’m going to have to ride on the limit if I want to make up positions like I have done in past races here but the closer you are to the limit the higher the risk of a mistake, which would be expensive. Hopefully I won’t make any because I really want a good result here for myself, for the team and especially for the fans because they give us so much here and it would be nice to be able to pay them back somehow.” 13th fastest Yuki Takahashi (Scot Honda) said: “I’m quite happy. Good weather all the two days great. It was windy, but wind is not such a problem as rain is. This morning I found a good setting, and we modified it just slightly in the afternoon. There was not enough time to do a long run, but I did my best lap running alone, and this means that that is a realistic pace.” 15th fastest Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) said: “I’m disappointed with the crash and with the grid position. I just didn’t feel confident from the start of the session this afternoon after having made decent progress this morning and we need to study the telemetry to understand why. I’m struggling on the softer tyre and I’m actually in better shape in race trim. I was coming through one of the fast corners towards the end of the lap when I was hit by a huge gust of wind. I tried to lean the bike over more to counter it but the front folded and I went down. It was quite a heavy fall and I’m not feeling too great right now. I also took a blow to my leg but it’s nothing a painkiller can’t solve.” 250 rider quotes Sixth fastest Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Honda) said. “We worked very hard, but for some reason it did not pay off today. Other riders have been able to adapt better to the conditions. The wind was strong and it disturbed me a lot.” Ninth fastest Hector Faubel (Valencia CF – Honda SAG) said: “The bike is really good here the engine is perfect, the rear end if perfect, it’s just the front end we need to work on, but I think much of our front-end problems come from the wind. The wind gets under the bike going into corners and I keep tucking the front. Despite this I am sure we can stay in front, fighting with the top guys. I need a good start and must not lose touch with the front group.” 12th fastest Raffaele De Rosa (Scot Honda) said: “At the end, with new tyres, I could ride faster better, but I had to brake and slow down because I ran into some heavy traffic. We still need to improve our set-up to make the bike better with used tyres because in this condition, we are not as good as we should be. Today it was very windy, especially in a couple of places, it made difficult to race at the maximum.” 13th fastest Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT-SAG) said: “I was riding very well behind Simoncelli, and I thought I could do a 1m 43.5s when something happened to the bike in one of the corners. The back end came around, I let go of the bike and landed on my left foot. The ankle is badly bruised and it hurts a lot, but hopefully there is nothing broken and I can go out tomorrow to race.” 17th fastest Shoya Tomizawa (Team CIP Honda) said: “There was too much wind out there today! This track is already quite narrow, but with the wind it seemed even narrower, it was not easy to keep your line. We made a few minor suspension changes today and the bike is coming better. It is not easy for us in these kind of conditions, because this is only my second visit here, so we don’t have a lot of data to use for the race.” Bastien Chesaux (Racing Team Germany Honda) said: “This morning’s free practice and then the qualifying session went better than yesterday. But I still have the same problem with not so good rear tyre grip, mainly when I accelerate. Today I was able to go one second faster, but I still have to work hard. Tomorrow I will try to find a new line on the track to win more time.”