MotoGP World Championship bwin.com Grande Premio de Portugal Estoril, Portugal Saturday, April 12 Qualifying Times MotoGP 1. Jorge Lorenzo, Spain (Yam YZR-M1), Michelin, 1:35.715 2. Dani Pedrosa, Spain (Hon RC212V), Michelin, 1:35.948 3. Valentino Rossi, Italy (Yam YZR-M1), Bridgestone, 1:36.199 4. Nicky Hayden, USA (Hon RC212V), Michelin, 1:36.266 5. Colin Edwards, USA (Yam YZR-M1), Michelin, 1:36.289 6. James Toseland, Great Britain, Michelin, 1:36.790 7. Andrea Dovizioso, Italy (Hon RC212V), Michelin, 1:36.998 8. Randy de Puniet, France (Hon RC212V), Michelin, 1:37.223 9. Casey Stoner, Australia (Duc GP08), Bridgestone, 1:37.253 10. John Hopkins, USA (Kaw ZX-RR), Bridgestone, 1:37.346 11. Shinya Nakano, Japan (Hon RC212V), Bridgestone, 1:37.664 12. Loris Capirossi, Italy (Suz GSV-R), Bridgestone, 1:37.786 13. Chris Vermeulen, Australia (Suz GSV-R), Bridgestone, 1:37.843 14. Toni Elias, Spain (Duc GP08), Bridgestone, 1:38.561 15. Anthony West, Australia (Kaw ZX-RR), Bridgestone, 1:38.775 16. Alex de Angelis, San Marino (Hon RC212V), Bridgestone, 1:38.823 17. Marco Melandri, Italy (Duc GP08), Bridgestone, 1:39.115 18. Sylvain Guintoli, France (Duc GP08), Bridgestone, 1:39.355 125cc GP 1. Simone Corsi, Italy (Aprilia), 1:45.367 2. Stevie Bonsey, USA (Aprilia), 1:45.621 3. Nicolas Terol, Spain (Aprilia), 1:45.622 4. Danny Webb, Great Britain (Aprilia), 1:45.782 5. Sergio Gadea, Spain (Aprilia), 1:45.808 6. Joan Olive, Spain (Derbi), 1:45.854 7. Stefan Bradl, Germany (Aprilia), 1:46.026 8. Mike de Meglio, France (Derbi), 1:46.144 9. Gabor Talmacsi, Hungary (Aprilia), 1:46.158 10. Scott Redding, Great Britain (Aprilia), 1:46.329 250cc GP 1. Marco Simoncelli, Italy (Gilera), 1:40.257 2. Alvaro Bautista, Spain (Aprilia), 1:40.554 3. Mattia Pasini, Italy (Aprilia), 1:40.653 4. Mika Kallio, Finland (KTM), 1:40.772 5. Yuki Takahashi, Japan (Honda), 1:41.063 6. Hiroshi Aoyama, Japan (KTM), 1:41.228 7. Alex Debon, Spain (Aprilia), 1:41.280 8. Thomas Luthi, Switzerland (Aprilia), 1:41.356 9. Hector Barbera, Spain (Aprilia), 1:41.370 10. Hector Faubel, Spain (Aprilia), 1:41.470 More, from a press release issued by Dorna Sports: Lorenzo takes third MotoGP pole with Estoril top spot bwin.com Grande Premio de Portugal Saturday April 12th Report Day 2 motogp The man with an affinity for all things golden, Jorge Lorenzo continued to display his MotoGP Midas touch in an amazing qualifying session in Estoril, putting himself on pole for Sunday afternoon´s bwin.com Grande Premio de Portugal and smashing nearly half a second off the pole record set by Fiat Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi in 2006. Lorenzo clocked a time of 1´35.715 in the final stages of the MotoGP session to maintain his 100% pole position record in the premier class. He becomes the first rider since qualifying records began to take three from three in his rookie season, following on from top spots in Qatar and Jerez. “We more or less expected this,” said the confident Spaniard, adding, “We didn’t get a perfect lap, but in the end it was enough for pole. It’s like we’re in heaven, dreaming; for us everything that happens right now, whether it be pole positions or podiums, is a gift. Tomorrow we will fight as we always do, but still we have no pressure to win races and championships. If victory comes one day, then we’ll be the happiest people on earth.” Current World Championship leader Dani Pedrosa once again goes head to head with his countryman and arch-rival, as the only other rider to go round in under 1´36. The Repsol Honda rider has the chance to win consecutive races in MotoGP for the first time, but will have no shortage of competition in Sunday´s race. The only Bridgestone rider on hand to prevent a Michelin clean sweep at the top of the timesheet, Valentino Rossi defended the Japanese tyre manufacturer´s honour with his first front row since switching to the Bridgestone-shod Yamaha M1 package at the start of the season. He pushed his bike to the limit in his attempts to take pole, forced to make a spectacular save in the final minutes. Behind the five-time MotoGP World Champion with an enviable record in Portugal, Repsol Honda´s Nicky Hayden has also been going strong during the practice and qualifying sessions. The American heads the second row, ahead of the Tech 3 Yamaha duo of Colin Edwards and James Toseland. It was announced today that the relationship between the team and factory would be extended until the end of 2010, with Toseland onboard the M1 until at least the end of 2009, and the Briton will be looking to justify the decision with another top race result. Andrea Dovizioso was the fastest satellite Honda in seventh place, onboard the JiR Team Scot RC212V, whilst final Michelin-shod rider Randy de Puniet placed eighth. The Frenchman seemingly lacked confidence with grip after a morning crash, evidenced by his choosing to run the bike off track rather than lean into an early corner. Reigning MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner starts from the tail end of the third row in Estoril, after a problematic qualifying run. To add insult to injury, the Australian was also involved in a battle of gestures from new-boy Lorenzo early on in the session. Kawasaki´s John Hopkins completed the top ten, whilst there was a high-speed lowside crash for Suzuki´s Loris Capirossi once the qualifying rubber went on the GSV-R. 250cc After coming so close to his maiden 250cc win two weeks ago, Marco Simoncelli now has another shot at a first victory in the class from pole position in Portugal, beating Andrea Dovizioso´s pole position record from 2007. The Metis Gilera rider´s first pole position in the class confirmed his provisional top spot from Friday afternoon, with a 1´40.257 lap three tenths of a second faster than anything rival Alvaro Bautista could muster up. The two riders who so spectacularly collided on the final lap in Jerez will now line up side by side on the Estoril grid, with the desire for a win never greater. Series leader Mattia Pasini joins the duo on the frontline, despite suffering a lowside in the opening moments of the Saturday session. The Italian has twice been on the podium since making his debut in 250cc, and has the second placed rider in the World Championship -Red Bull KTM´s Mika Kallio- alongside him on the front row in Portugal. JiR Team Scot´s Yuki Takahashi leads the second row, ahead of fellow Japanese rider Hiroshi Aoyama, Lotus Aprilia´s Alex Debon and Emmi-Caffe Latte Swiss star Thomas Luthi. 125cc 125cc World Championship leader Simone Corsi will start Sunday´s bwin.com Grande Premio de Portugal from pole position, having upped the pace in the final qualifying session. The Jack&Jones WRB rider is looking for his first back-to-back victories in the lower cylinder class, and a 1´53.367 lap of the Estoril circuit gave him the best opportunity to do so as he edged out American Stevie Bonsey for the pole. DeGraaf Grand Prix rider Bonsey took his best ever qualifying result, and was on course to beat Corsi´s initial fast time until the Italian simultaneously raised the bar. A late hot lap from Nico Terol allowed him to join teammate Corsi on the front row, which is completed in turn by Bonsey´s garage partner, Danny Webb. Out to regain the top position in the overall classification, Sergio Gadea heads the second row of the 125cc grid, onboard the Bancaja Aspar Aprilia ahead of compatriot Joan Olive, second placed in the standings Stefan Bradl, and Frenchman Mike di Meglio. A nasty incident during the session involved the latter, who concludes the second line of attack. Whilst attempting a fast lap and rounding another rider, he ran into the back of Ivan Maestro, sending both into the gravel. Maestro stood up to protest the injustice of the situation, whilst Derbi rider Di Meglio was stretchered away holding his groin. More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Rossi takes front row in Portugal qualifying Round 3: Portugal Qualifying Estoril Circuit Saturday 12 April 2008 Valentino Rossi took an excellent third place in this afternoon’s qualifying session to score his and Bridgestone’s first front row qualifying result of the season so far. Rossi’s lap was the fastest ever qualifying lap for a rider using Bridgestone tyres at Estoril and was one-tenth-of-a-second quicker than last year’s pole time set by Nicky Hayden. Bridgestone’s other riders fared less well with only two additional riders securing top ten grid slots for tomorrow afternoon’s 28-lap Portuguese Grand Prix. Ducati’s Casey Stoner will start in ninth place just ahead of Kawasaki’s John Hopkins who rounded out the top ten this afternoon. Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo took a dominant pole position, his third of the season, ahead of Honda’s Dani Pedrosa. Track temperatures were higher this afternoon and more representative of what is predicted tomorrow afternoon, allowing riders to carry out useful evaluation of the preferred race tyre options. Some riders were able to lap regularly under the 1m38s barrier on race tyres this afternoon, including Rossi and Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi, but tyre performance over the complete race distance remains something of an unknown factor. Tyre Talk with Tohru Ubukata Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development Did Bridgestone expect any more from this afternoon’s qualifying session? “Valentino and his Yamaha team have done an outstanding job to get third place using our qualifying tyres this afternoon. This is our first front row result of the season so far, but looking at the timesheets, we can see that we need to advance our rate of qualifying tyre development. Casey and John were the only other riders on our tyres to get top ten results today, so we have to work harder. On Monday, during the post-race test here in Estoril, we have a range of new rear qualifying compounds and constructions to test which we hope will bring some of the desired improvements.” Were you able to see any improvements in race tyre performance compared to yesterday? “This afternoon’s track conditions were much better than what we experienced yesterday and the asphalt temperature reached a more respectable level. The higher temperatures resulted in better grip and surface condition – which was our biggest issue on Friday and in this morning’s practice session – and we were able to go a step harder on both front and rear tyres. The teams have also been working hard on adapting the bike settings to get the best performance from our tyres and some improvements have been seen with Valentino and Loris both able to set lap times in the 1m37s this afternoon. The front row riders have shown quick and consistent pace, but it will be a long and tough race tomorrow at a venue that continues to be a difficult one for Bridgestone.” Bridgestone-shod Riders’ Qualifying Session Results Pos. Rider Team Qualifying Time (pos) Gap to Pole P3 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1m36.199s +0.484s P9 Casey Stoner Ducati Corse 1m37.253s +1.538s P10 John Hopkins Kawasaki Racing Team 1m37.346s +1.631s P11 Shinya Nakano San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m37.664s +1.949s P12 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m37.786s +2.071s P13 Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m37.843s +2.128s P14 Toni Elias Alice Team 1m38.561s +2.846s P15 Anthony West Kawasaki Racing Team 1m38.775s +3.060s P16 Alex de Angelis San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m38.823s +3.108s P17 Marco Melandri Ducati Corse 1m39.115s +3.400s P18 Sylvain Guintoli Alice Team 1m39.355s +3.640s Weather: Dry Air 17°C, Track 26°C, Humidity 37% More, from a press release issued by Dorna Sports: WEBB AND TOSELAND HIT THE HEIGHTS It was a great afternoon for British motor cycle racing in the Estoril sunshine. Yorkshireman James Toseland continued his superb MotoGP career by qualifying in sixth place and will start from the second row of the grid in the 28 lap race tomorrow afternoon. Sixteen year old Danny Webb makes his first front row grand prix start after qualifying fourth in the 125 cc class. Fifteen year Scott Redding will start from the third row after qualifying tenth in just his third grand prix but it was not such good news for Bradley Smith. The 17 year old started the opening two 125 cc grands prix from pole but could only qualifying 13th and will start from the fourth row. It’s been quite a weekend for Toseland. He crashed without injury on Friday afternoon, was given a one year extension to his MotoGP contract by his Tech 3 Yamaha team on Saturday morning and then qualified in sixth place using the pneumatic valve Yamaha engine for the first time this season. “It’s a great boost to have Tech 3 take up their option so early in my debut season,” he explained. “The new engine has made a big difference on top speed and general performance and to qualifying on the second row with my team-mate Colin Edwards is very rewarding for us all.” Kentbased Danny Webb also had an eventful weekend. He crashed his Degraaf Grand Prix Aprilia on Friday morning resulting in a lost toe nail and another bang on the finger he damaged in his Jerez crash and then led the way in the early stages of the second qualifying session before grabbing his first ever front row start. LORENZO HITS THE HATRICK Another staggering performance by 20 year old Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo who secured his third successive pole position in his MotoGP debut season. Not only did the Fiat Yamaha rider take pole but also decimated Valentino Rossi’s old lap record by nearly one second and tomorrow will continue his feud with World Championship leader Dani Pedrosa. The Repsol Honda rider, who won in Jerez two weeks ago, qualified second fastest and the two youngsters are joined on the front row by somebody who knows all about the Estoril circuit. Valentino Rossi has won five times in Estoril and has finished on the podium every time he raced in Portugal. The Italian starts from the front row for the first time this season riding the Bridgestone shod Fiat Yamaha. World Champion Casey Stoner has had a tough weekend. He crashed on Friday afternoon and will start from the third row of the grid after qualifying ninth fastest. It could be a case of damage limitation for the Australian Marlboro Ducati rider in the 28 lap race. More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: POLE-STAR LORENZO MAKES IT THREE IN A ROW Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo made it an incredible three poles from three MotoGP starts with another masterful qualifying display in Portugal this afternoon. Estoril was one of only two circuits on the calendar at which the outstanding rookie had never before claimed a pole position, but he put that behind him in impressive style today to smash the previous record by nearly half a second. After changeable weather conditions yesterday, today was a much more settled affair and the sunny conditions allowed the riders to vastly improve on yesterday’s lap times this morning, with Lorenzo finishing second fastest. Towards the end of this afternoon’s session the chase for qualifying times got underway and the Spaniard’s first Michelin qualifying tyre saw him take provisional pole. He then went on to improve on both of his next qualifying runs, despite dropping time in the middle section on his second tyre when briefly caught behind a slower rider. On his final soft tyre he produced an inch-perfect lap of 1’35.715 to seal a hat-trick of MotoGP pole positions and the 29th of his Grand Prix career in total. Lorenzo’s team-mate Valentino Rossi also had a good afternoon and will line up on the outside of the front row tomorrow, with Dani Pedrosa in between the Fiat Yamaha pair, whilst Yamaha Tech 3 riders Colin Edwards and James Toseland, on his first visit to the track, take fifth and sixth spots to make it four Yamaha riders in the top six. Jorge Lorenzo Position: 1st Time: 1’35.715 Laps: 26 “Each pole position has felt like a dream and I can’t believe I am here again! I am very proud to have a record like this and in fact I’m especially happy to have qualified in front here because this track has always been quite difficult for me and I’ve never been on pole at it before. Our race pace is quite good and now the aim for tomorrow will be to make the most of my starting position, stay at the front and hopefully fight for the win. It’s going to be a hard race and there are many strong riders, but I am looking forward to it. Our aim is to try to win but if that’s not possible then the podium will be okay; it’s still only my third race and I am still learning all the time! Anyway, I feel good on my bike and tyres, the team have done a great job and now we just have to cross our fingers for good weather tomorrow!” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “Once again it’s been another very exciting qualifying session to watch this afternoon and Jorge has done another fantastic job. We made some small changes from yesterday to improve our base set-up and today we’ve had a fast and consistent race pace. Then this afternoon Michelin gave Jorge the chance to fly and he took full advantage! It’s great to be on pole as it gives us the best chance at the start and we will do our very best to maximise this chance to produce a good result tomorrow. More, from another press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: FIRST BRIDGESTONE FRONT-ROW FOR ROSSI IN PORTUGAL Valentino Rossi made a welcome return to the front row of the grid for the first time this year in Portugal this afternoon, qualifying third aboard his Fiat Yamaha M1. It was the first time the 29-year-old has qualified on the front row since making the switch to Bridgestone tyres and it puts him in a good position from which to attempt a repeat of his victory here five months ago. The weather was considerably kinder today and the Estoril circuit was not only dry all day but considerably less windswept than yesterday. Times tumbled in this morning’s free practice and Rossi continued to improve his race setting, finishing the morning’s work in fourth position. This afternoon he continued in the same fashion, topping the time sheets for the first half of the session. In the later battle for qualifying tyres Rossi set his best time of 1’36.199 with ten minutes still on the clock and, with his young team-mate Jorge Lorenzo on pole it looked like being a Fiat Yamaha one-two before the party was spoiled by Dani Pedrosa pipping Rossi to second in the closing minutes. Yamaha Tech 3 riders Colin Edwards and James Toseland made it four Yamaha riders in the top six with tomorrow’s 28-lap race shaping up to be an exciting affair with more unsettled weather conditions looming. Valentino Rossi Position: 3rd Time: 1’36.199 Laps: 27 “I’m really happy! It’s very important to be on the first row here and now we can think about trying to win tomorrow. We’ve made some big steps forward with Bridgestone and considering that every time we use the qualifying tyre it’s still a bit like a test, it’s a great achievement to be here. Today my bike and tyres worked very well and I felt confident and strong. We have a good setting and I can ride how I want to, which is great fun as well! Now I really hope that we can have a good race tomorrow. The weather is a worry and we will have to wait until last thing to make our final tyre choice, but we have some good ideas. Lorenzo and Pedrosa are looking very strong but I think we are not so far and we have a chance to be there tomorrow. There is a great atmosphere in our box and everyone is looking forward to tomorrow’s challenge.” Davide Brivio Team Manager “We’ve had four very good practice sessions over the last two days and now to start on the front row is a big achievement from everyone. We have a good race pace as well and so it seems that everything is coming together for us. Valentino has a good feeling from his bike and tyres and we’re really looking forward to the race now. It’s going to be difficult as usual but we will hope to stay at the front and fight for the victory.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Capirossi confident ahead of Portuguese Grand Prix Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racer Loris Capirossi is positive he can deliver a good result from tomorrow’s Portuguese Grand Prix despite qualifying on the fourth row after a big crash at Estoril today. Capirossi (P12, 1’37.786, 22 laps) was on his first qualifying tyre when he made a mistake going into a fast right-hand turn and lost traction, causing him to crash very spectacularly at high-speed. The gutsy Italian picked himself up and managed to get back to the pit-box to continue with the session, but he was unable to better the time he had set previously on race tyres. Capirossi and his crew had made big improvements to his Suzuki GSV-R during the early part of the qualifying session and was on a competitive race-pace towards the top of the time-sheets, which is certainly an encouraging sign for tomorrow’s 28-lap race. Chris Vermeulen (P13, 1’37.843, 29 laps) couldn’t find the extra speed he wanted from his qualifying tyres and will start on the fifth row at the 4,182m Estoril track tomorrow. He also improved on his race pace and is pleased with his set-up for the race. Vermeulen is now determined to get a good start and be challenging for a much higher position in the race. Today’s qualification was held in sunny, but windy conditions with track temperatures getting up to 40ºC. Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo on his factory Yamaha took his third pole position in a row. Tomorrow’s race is round three of the 2008 MotoGP World Championship and the event gets underway at 13.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT) on Sunday 13th April. Loris Capirossi: “We have to think about tomorrow, because for us the qualifying was pretty bad – I tried a bit too hard on my first tyre and I crashed! I am very happy about the race rhythm, we tried to find a good setting and the best tyre for the race and for sure the whole package now seems really good. I am very happy with where we are on race tyres and I will need to get a good start and try to out-brake a few people into the first corner. We worked really hard today and found many good things and we now have to take that into tomorrow. It is not the best thing being so far back on the grid, but I am 100% optimistic for a good result maybe more so than I was at Jerez!” Chris Vermeulen: “It was a very disappointing qualifying session and again we really struggled to get the extra bit of grip and time out of the qualifying tyres. There didn’t seem to be any more grip from the qualifiers than there was from the race tyres! It is quite difficult when the race times are so close because we are now starting so far back that it will all be down to the start and getting away well. I have got quite good tyres for the race, they are a pretty hard compound but they work very well and I can do low 38s, high 37s on them, so hopefully that will be quick enough tomorrow to get me into the front group.” Paul Denning – Team Manager: “We haven’t had a good qualifying result so far this year and today was no different unfortunately! Without question though there are some positives to take from it, the main one being that Loris set his best qualifying time on a race tyre that had done a few laps and we have improved the speed of the bike considerably for both riders since yesterday. As ever, starting from further down the grid won’t be easy, but let’s see what happens. If conditions are similar to this afternoon and we get a bit of luck we could be on for a pretty good result!” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: Saturday Apr 12 2008 Portuguese GP – Qualifying SET-UP TROUBLES PUT THE BRAKES ON STONER’S QUALIFYING EFFORT IN PORTUGAL Casey Stoner was today forced to rely heavily on the talent and class that made him a World Champion in order to secure a third row start for the Grand Prix of Portugal following a particularly difficult qualifying practice. It is an unusual situation for Casey and the team, who are used to finding a set-up quickly and taking full advantage of the GP8’s potential. The Australian, who was clearly not happy at not being able to challenge for a front position, held a long debrief with his engineers at the end of the session as they formulated a plan for tomorrow’s warm-up session. He then gave a firm handshake to each and every one of his mechanics in a show of unity that proves every member of the team is committed to turning around this difficult situation. Marco Melandri also struggled today as he looked to make progress from a difficult start and he faces another uphill task tomorrow as he starts from the back row. CASEY STONER – (Ducati Marlboro Team) – 9th fastest; 1’37.253 “We were struggling a little bit for confidence coming here after the problems we had at Jerez and even though I was expecting a better performance at this track we’ve found similar difficulties. We’re really struggling for a set-up and I don’t think there’s much more we can get out of the bike here. Even so, we need to look ahead to the warm-up tomorrow to try and find a better solution in a way that will let me fight in the race. Things went so smoothly for us last year that it would be easy to get frustrated with our current situation but they way out of it is to stay calm and have belief in each other. I know I’ve got a great team and a great factory behind me, so we’ll keep working together until we turn things around. Basically we need to sleep on what’s happened over the last two days and head into tomorrow’s warm-up in a positive and productive manner.” MARCO MELANDRI – (Ducati Marlboro Team) – 17th; 1’39.115 “I didn’t exactly expect to be running at the front but I was hoping for better than this. I’ve had problems from the start and so far we’ve not been able to resolve them. It seems we need more time to change this so the situation remains the same – I can’t ride as I want to and I don’t have good control of the bike. It is not easy to work out where the problem is coming from and that’s why we still haven’t worked out how to solve it. It is not time to lie down but to keep working hard for a solution.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing: KAWASAKI PROGRESS IN PORTUGAL Qualifying practice for the third race of the 2008 MotoGP World Championship took place this afternoon at Estoril, in readiness for the Portuguese Grand Prix on Sunday, and both Kawasaki Racing Team riders slashed their previous fastest times on race tyres. Later, on qualifiers, John Hopkins managed 10th spot on tomorrow’s grid, just 0.093 seconds off the man in front of him, current world champion, Casey Stoner. And the 24-year-old Anglo American did it in style: the complex layout of Estoril providing him with ample opportunity to display his ability to pull off some outrageous lean angles. Anthony West claimed 15th position, putting in his best time of the event so far on his third qualifying tyre and the last lap of the session. Shaking his head as he returned to the pits, the Australian clearly wasn’t happy with his performance but the improvement in his times, and increasing consistency on the bike, hint that there may be more to come. The Ninja ZX-RR pilots have work to do tomorrow. Estoril is a hard track to ride, and notoriously difficult to pass at, and furthermore, working in partnership with Bridgestone, they will be aiming to infiltrate a Michelin-heavy front pack. John Hopkins #21 10th 1’37.346 “Today we finalised our tyre choice for the race and found a durable combination, so I’m confident we have a good set-up. We will run the new specification chassis we tried for the first time yesterday, as this has given us more traction on a race tyre. The qualifying tyres lacked a bit of grip, and I made a few mistakes, which unfortunately put us on the fourth row. We’ve given ourselves quite a bit of work to do with the grid position we have but, if I can get a good start, we are capable of a good result.” Anthony West #13 – 15th 1’38.775 “I’m frustrated that we were unable to make any more of an impression today and the grid position isn’t where I had hoped we would be. We still have a lot of improvements to make in order to obtain the lap times we want and we’ve been working hard to achieve this. However, tomorrow is race day and I’m determined to get away from the start to fight for as many points as possible.” Fiorenzo Fanali Hopkins Crew Chief “Today we concentrated mainly on finding a good race tyre, as in previous races here the grip level has dropped considerably after only ten laps. We had some grip problems using the qualifying tyres, particularly in the last section, so we haven’t got the best grid position. However, the most important thing was to find a good set-up because this track stresses the right side of the tyre. The new chassis has given us more traction and if John can get a good start, we should be able to achieve a strong result.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Media Service: A great performance today by Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden at the timed training sessions of the Portugese Grand Prix. The World Classification leader will start tomorrow on the first row of tomorrow’s starting grid after runnng today’s second best time 1’35.948 secs -, 233 milliseonds behind the pole position taken by Lorenzo. Teammate Nicky Hayden with start off tomorrow heading the second row, after he finished today in fourth place, keeping up a good pace throughout the day. During the morning free training session, Pedrosa was fourth, lacking a few adjustments to his Honda RC212V, though in the official session it was not long before he was back in his stride and was second best on the time chart. Nineteen minutes away from the end of the timed session, the Repsol rider first used qualifying tyres, which provisionally gave him first position, as later on other riders improved on his fastest time. In his second attempt with qualifying tyres he was second, ans improved his own time nearing the end of the session, guaranteeing himself a place on the front row of the starting grid when he finally rode the second best time. Nicky Hayden today gave another fine perfromance on his Repsol Honda RC212V 2008, confirming the visible improvements he made a fortnight ago in Jerez. The Repsol rider was third in the free training session, finally falling to fourth second row on the starting grid in the timed sessions. Julián Simón was unable to give a satisfactory performance today during the timed session, finally occupying eleventh position. The Repsol rider suffered two falls during the free sessions, the first in the long curve leading to the finish line, and the second fall happened when braking at the chicane. Fortunately the Repsol rider was not hurt in either incident. During the timed session, problems with the brakes prevented him from riding comfortably in the curves, even riding off the track on one occasion. When he attempted to improve on his time, he nearly hit the ground on two occasions, so this afternoon he will have a look, along with his team, at how to adjust the setup of the bike so that tomorrow he can have a chance of riding among the leading riders. Things did not go too well either in the quarter-litre category. Tomorrow Esteve Rabat will start from the fifth row on the starting grid, after today he rode the eighteenth fastest time during the timed training sessions. The Repsol rider still has difficulties getting used to his bike and is still unable to reach a fast enough pace. Rabat will try to fine-tune the setup of the suspension of his bke by tomorrow, and has already chosen the tyres he will use. Teammate Marc Márquez improved considerably with respect to yesterday’s training sessions, in spite of a few engine problems in the morning, which forced him to finish early without completing the session. During the official training session, the Repsol rider improved on yesterday’s lap times by two seconds, though the fast pace he was reaching showed evidence of an incorrect setup. In fact, Márquez fell in the seventh curve during his last lap, when he braked and the the rear wheel lifted, making him lose control. Tomorrow’s warm-up will be crucial in order to make the last improvements before launching himself into his first race in the World Championship. He will start from 26th position, with the sole aim of gaining experience in World Championship Motorcycling. Quotes MotoGP Dani Pedrosa >> 1’35.948 secs, 54 laps, 226 Km. “Our target was always to start from the front row and we achieved it. We are happy with today’s qualifying result, especially because it’s very important to start from the front row at this track and because qualifying isn’t our strong point at the moment. Our race pace was good today, but we still want to try and improve the bike a little bit more, working on the chassis settings. Also, we haven’t chosen which tyres we will use tomorrow because the weather conditions are so changeable here, so we will have wait a bit more. The big question is what the weather will do tomorrow afternoon. I’m looking forward to the race. It will be very important to make a good start, then we will see what we can do from there. I expect it to be very close at the front tomorrow because there’s a lot of riders going fast here, for sure it’s going to be tough.” Nicky Hayden >> 1’36.266 secs, 55 laps, 230 Km. “We’re right there, but just missing that last little bit. Everything went relatively smooth today, though I definitely thought we were capable of being on the front row bike, tyres, even the rider but we just didn’t get it done. Race pace I don’t think we’re a long way off but definitely we could do with a bit more. The Michelin tyres are working good, the bike’s good, we just need to get it better in the slow changes of direction. My ideal time had me third. On one of my fast laps I had to follow Toseland, when he wasn’t on a fast lap, through turn five and into six, which kinda ruined that lap. At the time I was pretty fired up about it. He was man enough to come and apologise, but at the time I didn’t want to hear sorry. It happens though, I’m sure I’ve got in somebody’s way, and I can get over it, it’s no big thing. It should be a good race, so long as no one’s sandbagging too much this week. Be nice to be on the podium, see what the weather does and see if we can get it done.” 250cc Julián Simón >> 1’41.820 secs, 39 laps, 163 Km. “It was a tough training session. This morning I fell twice, in spite of the good sensations I wsa having. But we didn’t run very good times in the official training session, so tomorrow we’ll be starting a liitle behind. We’re very motivated and know that the bike can perfrom well, so we’re going to work hard on it this afternoon, see if we can find a setup that can give me more speed. It was a shame, because I had a couple of frights in a row at the same curve using qualifying tyres, and when I tried to push ahead after that, the tyre wasn’t in the same condition and I couldn’t lower my time. But I’m motivated about tomorrow, looking forward to going out there riding up front.” 125cc Esteve Rabat >> 1’47.016 secs 35 laps, 146 Km. “Today was a hard day and we had a few problems during the timed sessions. The first time we went out we had to do some running-in and that made us lose a couple of laps. Then I tried to ride as fast as I could but still didn’t manage to ride a good lap time. Afterwards I stopped in boxes and changed the tyre for another with a different composition. But it still wasn’t good enough, as the rear tyre tended to skid a lot, though that’s no excuse. What’s more, I wasn’t able to fit a good tyre for the second round, and almost fell when I stepped up on the gas. As for tomorrow I hope to have a good warm-up and to get off to a good start in the race. I’ll try be as far ahead as possible, because I’m findng it quite tough.” Marc Márquez >> 1’47.817 secs, 25 laps, 105 Km. “This morning was complicated; we tried out some new parts and it seemed the bike was perfect. But we suddenly ran into a problem and I wasn’t able to run many laps. That was quite unfortunate, because completing as many laps as possible is precisely what I need to do, in order to gain confidence on the bike and to get to know the circuit. But it wasn’t possible. In the afternoon, during the timed session, at the beginning things went quite well. but as I improved on my lap times, I started having suspension problems, as they’d been adjusted for a pace that was two seconds slower than what I was actually riding. Improving on yesterday’s lap times is normal, because it wasn’t a very good day, and I improved on it by two seconds. But in the end I fell, because as the suspension wasn’t properly adjusted, I was trying to go past my possibilities and hit the ground. We’ll try to adjust the suspension during tomorrow’s warm-up, and I hope to ride a good race and find a group to stick with.” Official results MotoGP 1. Jorge LORENZO (YAMAHA) 1:35:715 2. Dani PEDROSA (REPSOL HONDA) 1:35:948 3. Valentino ROSSI (YAMAHA) 1:36:199 4. Nicky HAYDEN (REPSOL HONDA) 1:36:266 5. Colin EDWARDS (YAMAHA) 1:36:289 250cc 1. Marco SIMONCELLI (GILERA) 1:40:257 2. Álvaro BAUTISTA (APRILIA) 1:40:554 3. Mattia PASINI (APRILIA) 1:40:653 4. Mika KALLIO (KTM) 1:40:772 5. Yuki TAKAHASHI (HONDA) 1:41:063 11. Julián SIMÓN (REPSOL KTM) 1:41:820 125cc 1. Simone CORSI (APRILIA) 1:45:367 2. Stevie BONSEY (APRILIA) 1:45:621 3. Nicolás TEROL (APRILIA) 1:45:622 4. Danny WEBB (APRILIA) 1:45:782 5. Sergio GADEA (APRILIA) 1:45:808 18. Esteve RABAT (REPSOL KTM) 1:47:016 26. Marc MÁRQUEZ (REPSOL KTM) 1:47:817 More, from a press release issued by Team JiR Scot Honda: Andrea on third row for JiR Team Scot at Portuguese Grand Prix The second day of practice for the Portuguese Grand Prix was held today in good conditions, which once more allowed the JiR team to make yet more progress especially in the race configuration of their Honda RC212V. This progress was shown by the excellent pace and awesome qualifying for Andrea Dovizioso as he put his machine on the third row with the seventh-best time of the day. He’s now ready for the race, which the team expects will feature some fierce battles between the top riders. Thanks to the hard work put in by Dovi’s crew, everybody in the team is thinking positively for tomorrow’s 28-lap race. Cirano Mularoni Team Manager, JiR Team Scot “Every day when we take part in qualifying, we have to evaluate our results and really think about how technically we are working together as a team. For the race tomorrow I think we should maintain a very good pace and that Andrea can do even better than he has so far, so this means that we can think about the podium in a race, which will be very open and could provide some very different results. We start from the third row, close to the second in terms of time and this fact doesn’t make us so happy but it’s interesting to see how our performance is getting better race by race.” Andrea Dovizioso Rider, JiR Team Scot MotoGP HONDA RC212V Best time: 7th – 1′ 36.998″ “Compared to yesterday in both the morning and afternoon sessions we improved the pace for the race and this is positive. Our pace is consistent but we need to do better and this is something that we will do! I know there is a gap up to the riders ahead, but we will make up this ground and tomorrow in the race as usual I will give my maximum. My goal was the second row and that’s why I’m not so happy about today’s result, so we have to work harder in qualifying. The confidence I have at this track and the familiarity with the layout helps me in any case better understand my RC212V. Of course this bike demands a totally different riding style compared to a 250. I worked with the team to produce some good results today with the electronic management system so that will help us to be competitive. We have a good handling package in the lower part of the track, but you have to have a much more delicate approach to it, thanks to the high-power output of my Honda bike. We may make some final changes to the setting in warm-up tomorrow and then we will be ready for the race.” Gianni Berti Technical Co-ordinator, JiR Team Scot “We finally chose our technical package for the race, which allowed us to maintain a very consistent pace. I think from now we do expect to do even better in qualifying than we have so far this year. We have more confidence now and it allows us to think positive and look forward to a race in which we can be up there fighting for the podium.” More, from another press release issued by Team JiR Scot Honda: Yuki Takahashi and JiR Team Scot are 5th in qualifying for Portuguese GP Another day of intense testing and practice at Estoril in Portugal ended today with the JiR Team Scot squad in 5th place overall. Yuki Takahashi will start tomorrow’s Grand Prix of Portugal on the second row of the grid and will be looking forward to a good race tomorrow. After solving all the small problems from the first day of practice and verifying this with a few long-distance runs on his Honda RS250RW, the JiR Team Scot rider worked hard to achieve his best lap arriving very close to a front row slot. Gianni Berti Technical Coordinator, JiR Team Scot “Yuki and team worked very hard today and the result is 5th on the grid. We can do even better than this, as we know the way we have to work to improve. The lap-time now has been done, and we are looking forward to the race in a positive way. From today’s efforts we know that Yuki’s pace is similar to the very top riders and the target for tomorrow is the podium once more.” Yuki Takahashi Rider, JiR Team Scot 250GP HONDA RS250RW Best time: 5th – 1′ 41.063″ “I’m very satisfied as yesterday I had a small slide and a little crash and lost a lot of time leaving me only in 11th position. I was very worried about the chance of rain today as then I may not be able to improve. Thankfully the weather was sunny and I was able to use 100% of the day and we worked very hard in the morning with the tyres I will use in the race. To verify this performance, in the afternoon we did some long-distance runs and some final tuning on the bike’s suspension. I did the good lap time for the starting grid using the proper soft tyres. For tomorrow I’m ready and confident in the knowledge that we have a good technical package for the race whatever the weather rain or shine.” Yutaka Hirano Chief Technician, JiR Team Scot “We started today with the right setting for the suspension and the final tune of the engine. Yuki initially only used a race tyre with very good results on the long-distance runs, which was very positive for us all. We know we’re not that quick on the main straight which is quite long here at Estoril but overall we’re competitive in all the other sections of the race track, so we are confident for tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by KTM: Front row start for Mika Kallio in Estoril Red Bull KTM 250 star Mika Kallio battled to a front row position for tomorrow’s Portuguese Grand Prix, and is now aiming to add another podium finish to his recent string of successes. The 25-year-old Finn, winner of the last round in Spain two weeks ago, had hoped for even better than fourth place in Saturday’s final qualifying, but ran out of time in the evaluation of different set-up options for the new KTM chassis. Aoyama optimistic Kallio’s Japanese team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama secured a second-row start with sixth place, and shares Kallio’s optimism for the race, provided the team is able to make some more changes to the bike, planned for Sunday’s warm-up session. Spanish Repsol KTM 250rider Julian Simon, who held an impressive sixth place in Friday’s first qualifying, suffered two falls in this morning’s free practice session. He finished in eleventh place. Simon remains confident for the race saying his overall feel for the bike continues to improve. Mika Kallio (Red Bull KTM 250 – fourth in 1:40.772) “A front row position is certainly not a bad practice result, but after yesterday’s good start, where we seemed to be fast and consistent straight away, I honestly expected a bit more than fourth place. But we had a small technical problem with the bike this morning, which cost us valuable time and the opportunity to come up with another set-up. With the setting we have now, I trail my fastest competitors by about half a second per lap, and I simply can’t push any more without risking a crash. But on normal race tyres tomorrow, the gap to the fastest guys will be less obvious. Even though we didn’t quite get to where we wanted to be in practice, I am still very confident for the race. With a little luck, I might even be able to fight for victory again!” Hiroshi Aoyama (Red Bull KTM 250 – 6th in 1:41.228) “From this morning to this afternoon, we changed the set-up of my bike completely, and I managed to improve by 1.3 seconds, which is good. The feeling for the bike has certainly improved, but we still are not running at a 100 per cent of our possibilities, and the other guys have improved as well. We will try a few more things in the warm-up tomorrow morning, but nothing too radical, because we don’t want to risk what we’ve achieved so far. More than anything, I hope for a good start like two weeks ago in Jerez!” Julian Simon (Repsol KTM 250 – 11th in 1:41.820) “Despite the tricky weather conditions yesterday, we found a good set-up for the bike and were competitive straight away. But today, we ran into difficulties. I crashed twice this morning, and when we mounted a soft tyre compound for a good qualification time this afternoon, I felt that I was very close to crashing again. I had a couple of nasty slides and was forced to back off. Now I am eleventh on the grid, but this doesn’t reflect our real potential – with a good start, I should be able to fight within the front runners!” Harald Bartol (Technical Director) “Mika is fast, but as soon as he tries to push even harder in order to keep the pace of the fastest Aprilia riders, he runs into trouble. There is no problem with our bike, we just have to face the fact that we’ve arrived here with no previous data for our new chassis, and that we would have needed more dry track time to find the best possible set-up. We don’t really know how tyre wear will affect us over the race distance, either. But I am full of confidence in Mika – if there is a chance, he will push for victory, and if he has to settle for safe points, he will do that without taking unnecessary risks!” Results qualifying 2 1. Marco Simoncelli, Italy, Gilera 2. Alvaro Bautista, Spain, Aprilia 3. Mattia Pasini, Italy, Aprilia 4. Mika Kallio, Finland, KTM 6. Hiroshi Aoyama, Japan, KTM 11. Julian Simon, Spain, KTM Kallio looking for good result in Estoril Aoyama optimistic for Sunday’s GP Improved feeling on the KTM for Simon 12.04.2008 Koyama leads KTM 125 cc line-up going into Estoril GP Japanese rider Tomoyoshi Koyama of the Team ISPA KTM Aran was the fastest KTM on the Estoril racing circuit during qualifying for Sunday’s Grand Prix, the third of the current season. Koyama was eleventh fastest in the second qualifying and now look like he will be able to put a disappointing start to the season behind him. Koyama’s result is proof that a lot of extra work on chassis and suspension settings has finally paid off. The diminutive Japanese, who rode last season in the Red Bull KTM Factory Team held a strong fifth place in Friday’s first qualifying session. Even though he was pushed back in the order during the dying moments of Saturday’s final practice he is determined to turn the race on one of his favourite circuits to success. Tomoyoshi Koyama (ISPA KTM Aran 125 – Eleventh in 1.46.448) “We’ve tried to look at what slowed us in the first races of the season and came up with a new chassis set-up that helps me a lot. I was fast yesterday, even though I eventually got onto a wet spot on the track and crashed. Today my feeling with the bike has improved even more. With just a little bit of extra top end power, I could have achieved a front row starting position. But never mind, I really look forward to the race – Estoril is one of my favourite circuits, I have done well here in the past and I hope to have a good race tomorrow!” Red Bull KTM 125 rider Randy Krummenacher recovering well Randy Krummenacher is home in Switzerland and is recovering well from his emergency surgery for a ruptured spleen that was carried out at the time of the Spanish Grand Prix two weeks ago. The Swiss teenager incurred the injury during a mountain bike accident while back home in between the Qatar and the Spanish GPs. He will start with some light and supervised fitness training in the Red Bull training centre in the Austrian town of Fuschl next week. Results Second Qualifying 125 cc 1. Simone Corsi, Italy, Aprilia 2. Steview Bonsey, USA, Aprilia 3. Nicolas Terol, Spain, Aprilia 4. Danny Webb, Britain, Britain, Aprilia 11. Tomoyoshi Koyama, Japan, ISPA KTM Aran 125 14. Pablo Nieto, Spain, Onde 2000 KTM 16. Raffaele de Rosa, Italy, Onde 2000 KTM 18. Esteve Rabat, Spain, Repsol KTM 125 cc 26. Marc Marquez, Spain, Repsol KTM 125 cc 28 Lorenzo Zanetti, Italy, ISPA KTM Aran 125 Koyama in action in Saturday’s 125 cc training 12.04.2008 Hiura takes Red Bull Rookies Cup in Portugal Thirteen-year old Daijiro Hiura rode to victory from pole to checkered flag on the Estoril circuit on Saturday in the Red Bull Rookies Cup 2008. But three riders charged the finish line together with the young Japanese triumphing over JD Beach and Sturla Fagerhaug. The American and the Norwegian, both more experienced at 16 years, had looked set to snatch the race when Hiura slipped past in the final lap. “The bike was great and I was able to win but I know I made some mistakes,” Huira said. “I took the lead a few times but I was not perfect and I was passed again. Even half way round the last lap I made a mistake but I pushed and pushed and went up the inside on the brakes. I just made it.” Beach and Fagerhaug exchanged the lead but were unable to shake off the determined Hiura. Beach has now been on the minor podium lace in all three races and is second in the standings behind Cup leader Luis Salom. The Spaniard started back at 19 on the grid but charged through the field and finished in a very creditable fourth place. Salom won both of the opening races in Spain. Results Race Three 1. Daijiro Hiura, Japan, KTM 2. JD Beach, USA, KTM 3 Sturla Fagerhaug, Norway KTM 4 Luis Salom, Spain KTM 5 Nelson Major, France, KTM Cup Standings 1. Salom 63 points 2. Beach 60 3. Hiura, 47 More, from a press release issued by Honda: PEDROSA POWERS TO ANOTHER FRONT ROW START Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) once again proved his mettle with a second consecutive front row start here at Estoril. His rival Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo took pole while Valentino Rossi (both Yamaha) qualified third to complete the front row. The early stage pace-setter was Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V) who launched into a 1m 37.540s lap with Dani Pedrosa holding a provisional second fastest time with Yamaha riders Colin Edwards and James Toseland the next quickest men on the track. De Puniet had more to give and with 40 minutes left on the clock the Frenchman shaved his time down to 1m 37.358s with Valentino Rossi now hauling himself up the lap ladder to second fastest while Jorge Lorenzo began his march to get into the frame for the top places. At the halfway point Lorenzo took the top spot with de Puniet and Pedrosa in close pursuit. But Toseland showed the way as the session timed down to take the number one position with 23-minutes left on the clock. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) then cut a 1m 36.678s lap to make the running as Honda man Pedrosa kept in contention as the second fastest rider out on track. But Lorenzo was ready to take the fight to all-comers and notched a 1m 36.273s time to hold pole again. Then with ten minutes left to run of this one-hour stint for the front of the grid Lorenzo bettered his own time with 1m 36.127s effort that showed he had more than the measure of this demanding 4.182km circuit. The big push then began with qualifying rubber fitted and riders gunning for the front row as the clock ticked down with six minutes remaining. Reigning World Champion Casey Stoner (Ducati) showed strongly before Lorenzo fired in a pulsating lap of 1m 35.715s to blow the rest of the field apart and clinch his third consecutive pole of the season. Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V) diligently worked through his routine to climb to fourth as the stint ended while Dani finished this final session just 0.233 seconds adrift of Lorenzo’s time. Stoner ended up ninth. Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Scot Honda RC212V) continued his rapid mastery of the potent RC212V with a seventh spot on the grid while de Puniet managed eighth for a third row start in tomorrow’s third Grand Prix of this 18-race season. Shinya Nakano (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) will launch from the fourth row of the grid as 11th fastest qualifier while his team-mate Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) qualified in 16th position. Dani Pedrosa, second fastest man out there, said: “Our target was always to start from the front row and we achieved it. Our race pace was good today, but we still want to try and improve the bike a little bit more, working on the chassis settings. Also, we haven’t chosen which tyres we will use tomorrow because the weather conditions are so changeable here, so we will have wait a bit more. The big question is what the weather will do tomorrow afternoon. I’m looking forward to the race. I expect it to be very close at the front tomorrow because there’s a lot of riders going fast here, for sure it’s going to be tough.” Nicky Hayden, fourth fastest man on track, said: “We’re right there, but just missing that last little bit. Everything went relatively smooth today, though I definitely thought we were capable of being on the front row bike, tyres, even the rider but we just didn’t get it done. Race pace I don’t think we’re a long way off but definitely we could do with a bit more. The Michelin tyres are working well, the bike’s good, we just need to get it better in the slow changes of direction. My ideal time had me third. On one of my fast laps I had to follow Toseland, when he wasn’t on a fast lap, through turn five and into six, which kinda ruined that lap. At the time I was pretty fired up about it. He was man enough to come and apologise, but at the time I didn’t want to hear sorry.” Dovizioso, seventh fastest, but 1.283 seconds off pole, said: “Compared to yesterday in both the morning and afternoon sessions we improved the pace for the race and this is positive. The confidence I have at this track and the familiarity with the layout helps me in any case better understand my RC212V. Of course this bike demands a totally different riding style compared to a 250. I worked with the team to produce some good results today with the electronic management system so that will help us to be competitive. We have a good handling package in the lower part of the track, but you have to have a much more delicate approach to it, thanks to the high-power output of my Honda bike. We may make some final changes to the setting in warm-up tomorrow and then we will be ready for the race.” Randy de Puniet, who starts from eighth, said: “It’s been pretty hard today because this morning I crashed and the guys had to work hard to prepare the bike for this afternoon’s session. I want to thank them for their great job. My feeling on race tyres in the morning free session was OK both on the front and the rear and I was confident to improve my pace in the qualifying session. We had a minor technical issue and I was not able to get the same rhythm after that. I spent more track time to fix the problem but I’m not very satisfied. Anyway we will make some adjustments in tomorrow’s warm up session and we will see how the bike reacts.” Shinya Nakano qualified 11th and said: “Yesterday was good even in the wet and changing conditions. Today was not so good I am having a lot of problems with traction and getting the bike to turn. We have tried many things today with chassis and suspension but we are still not 100%. We have a few little adjustments to try in the warm up but the biggest problem is the temperature we need higher track temperatures to get the tyres to work. But my confidence grows with this bike at every race.” Alex De Angelis, 16th fastest, said: “I felt a lot better today after I had treatment at the Clinica Mobile. My temperature was down to 38 degrees and I could breath more easily, that makes riding much more comfortable. Feeling the way I did yesterday it was not easy and I was very slow. Today I had a lot of problems with rear-end grip – every time I got on the gas the rear end slid around quite badly and I couldn’t get good drive off the corners. Down the front straight I’m second slowest. Under heavy braking the bike is very stable and I can enter the corners fast enough. Tomorrow I will have an IV drip at the Clinica and I’m sure I’ll be OK.” 250cc This three-quarter hour stint for the final grid positions belonged squarely to Marco Simoncelli who began the session as the quickest man and ably carved his time down from an opening 1m 41.427s to a 1m 40.257s to head the grid. The front row comprises Simoncelli with Alvaro Bautista and Mattia Pasini (all Aprilia) second and third fastest and KTM teamster Mika Kallio completing the front row. The determined Yuki Takahashi (JiR Scot Honda RS250RW) heads row two as fifth fastest qualifier, just over eight tenths of a second off the pole time. Takahashi said: “Yesterday I had a crash when the front-end turned in on me. I was lucky and did not hurt myself and the bike was not badly damaged. This morning I was only 18th in practice but my mechanics did a very good job for me and we finally found a very good setting that allowed me to qualifying on the second row. The riders ahead of me are all very fast and a good start is crucial tomorrow. If I get a good one I can run with them. My target is the podium.” Ratthapark Wilairot (Stop And Go Racing RS250RW) qualified 17th and said: “I crashed in the morning session in the last minute. The front-end went away at the second chicane and I was down. We had the same problem in the qualifying session. The engine is good and I’m happy with that but the suspension and chassis we have to work on tonight ready for the warm-up.” 125cc Louis Rossi (FFM Racing Honda RS125R) broke his right foot in a crash and will not race tomorrow. He said: “I crashed at the last corner on a patch of water and broke a bone in my right foot. I broke my right leg in a race at Mugello last year and I had a pin inserted and I was worried about damaging that but its OK. It’s a pity because I have learned a lot about preparing myself for GP racing.” Honda rider quotes. GP Portugal qualifying. MotoGP: Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 2nd 1m 35.948s. “Our target was always to start from the front row and we achieved it. We are happy with today’s qualifying result, especially because it’s very important to start from the front row at this track and because qualifying isn’t our strong point at the moment. Our race pace was good today, but we still want to try and improve the bike a little bit more, working on the chassis settings. Also, we haven’t chosen which tyres we will use tomorrow because the weather conditions are so changeable here, so we will have wait a bit more. The big question is what the weather will do tomorrow afternoon. I’m looking forward to the race. It will be very important to make a good start, then we will see what we can do from there. I expect it to be very close at the front tomorrow because there’s a lot of riders going fast here, for sure it’s going to be tough.” Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 4th 1m 36.266s.”We’re right there, but just missing that last little bit. Everything went relatively smooth today, though I definitely thought we were capable of being on the front row bike, tyres, even the rider but we just didn’t get it done. Race pace I don’t think we’re a long way off but definitely we could do with a bit more. The Michelin tyres are working good, the bike’s good, we just need to get it better in the slow changes of direction. My ideal time had me third. On one of my fast laps I had to follow Toseland, when he wasn’t on a fast lap, through turn five and into six, which kinda ruined that lap. At the time I was pretty fired up about it. He was man enough to come and apologise, but at the time I didn’t want to hear sorry. It happens though, I’m sure I’ve got in somebody’s way, and I can get over it, it’s no big thing. It should be a good race, so long as no one’s sandbagging too much this week. Be nice to be on the podium, see what the weather does and see if we can get it done.” Andrea Dovizioso, JiR Scot Honda:7th – 1m 36.998s. “Compared to yesterday in both the morning and afternoon sessions we improved the pace for the race and this is positive. Our pace is consistent but we need to do better and this is something that we will do! I know there is a gap up to the riders ahead, but we will make up this ground and tomorrow in the race as usual I will give my maximum. My goal was the second row and that’s why I’m not so happy about today’s result, so we have to work harder in qualifying. The confidence I have at this track and the familiarity with the layout helps me in any case better understand my RC212V. Of course this bike demands a totally different riding style compared to a 250. I worked with the team to produce some good results today with the electronic management system so that will help us to be competitive. We have a good handling package in the lower part of the track, but you have to have a much more delicate approach to it, thanks to the high-power output of my Honda bike. We may make some final changes to the setting in warm-up tomorrow and then we will be ready for the race.” Randy De Puniet, LCR Honda: 8th 1m 37.223s. “It’s been pretty hard today because this morning I crashed and the guys had to work strongly to prepare the bike for this afternoon session. I want to thank them for their great job. By the way my feeling on race tyres in the morning free session was ok both on the front and the rear and I was confident to improve my pace in the qualifying session. We had a minor technical issue and I was not able to get the same rhythm because the bike was spinning to much. I spent more track time to fix the problem but the I am not very satisfied. Anyway we will make some adjustments in tomorrow’s warm up session and we will see how the bike will react”. Shinya Nakano, San Carlo Gresini Honda: 11th – 1m38.823s. “Yesterday was good even in the wet and changing conditions. Today was not so good I am having a lot of problems with traction and getting the bike to turn. We have tried many things today with chassis and suspension but we are still not 100%. We have a few little adjustments to try in the warm up but the biggest problem is the temperature we need higher track temperatures to get the tyres to work. But I my confidence grows with this bike at every race.” Alex De Angelis, San Carlo Gresini Honda: 16th 1m 37.664s. “I felt a lot better today my temperature was down to 38 degrees and I could breath more easily, that makes riding much more comfortable after I had treatment at the Clinica Mobile. Feeling the way I did yesterday it was not easy and I was very slow. Today I had a lot of problems with rear end grip every time I got on the gas the rear end slides around quite badly and I cannot get good drive off the corners. Down the front straight I am second slowest. Under heavy braking the bike is very stable and I can enter the corners fast enough. Tomorrow I will have a IV drip at the Clinica and I’m sure I will be OK.” 250cc: Yukio Takahashi, JiR Scot Honda: 5th 1m 41.769s. “Yesterday I had a crash when the front end turned in on me. I was lucky and did not hurt myself and the bike was not badly damaged. This morning I was only 18th in practice but my mechanics did a very good job for me and we finally found a very good setting that allowed me to qualifying on the second row. The riders ahead of me are all very fast and a good start is crucial tomorrow. If I get a good one I can run with them. My target is the podium.” Ratthapark Wilairot, Thai Honda PTT SAG: 17th 1m 42472s. “I crashed in the morning session in the last minute. The front end went away at the second chicane and I was down. We had the same problem in the qualifying session. The engine is good and I’m happy with that but the suspension and chassis we have to work on tonight ready for the warm up.” 125cc: Cyrill Carrillo, FFM Honda: 34th 1m 53.929s. “I am taking part in the French Championship as part of the Challenge de l¹Avenir organised by the French Motorcycle Federation and the gap with Grand Prix racing is very wide. One has to work and apply oneself continuously. Of course I am not satisfied with my position on the grid, but looking only at the time clocked it is not bad since I achieved my best time riding on my own and not benefiting from the other riders¹ slipstream” Louis Rossi, FFM Honda: Broke bones in his right foot and will not race. “I crashed at the last corner on a patch of water and broke a bone in my right foot. I broke my right leg in a race at Mugello last year and I had a pin inserted and I was worried about damaging that but its OK. It’s a pity because I have learned a lot about preparing myself for GP racing. I will go to my Doctor in Paris on Monday and hope I can ride at Shanghai if not I come back at Le Mans.”