2007 FIM MotoGP World Championship Catalunya, Spain June 9, 2007 Qualifying Results: 1. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:41.840 2. Randy DE PUNIET (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:41.901 3. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), Michelin, 1:42.002 4. Casey STONER (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:42.117 5. John HOPKINS (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 1:42.233 6. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:42.283 7. Nicky HAYDEN (Honda), Michelin, 1:42.522 8. Toni ELIAS (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:42.607 9. Marco MELANDRI (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:42.623 10. Alex HOFMANN (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:42.860 11. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 1:42.967 12. Shinya NAKANO (Honda), Michelin, 1:43.334 13. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Yamaha), Dunlop, 1:43.557 14. Alex BARROS (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:43.722 15. Carlos CHECA (Honda), Michelin, 1:43.729 16. Makoto TAMADA (Yamaha), Dunlop, 1:43.947 17. Loris CAPIROSSI (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:43.948 18. Kenny Lee ROBERTS (KR-Honda), Michelin, 1:44.263 19. Kurtis ROBERTS (KR-Honda), Michelin, 1:45.223 20. Olivier JACQUE (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, no time recorded Top Speeds During Qualifying: Capirossi (Ducati), 199.5 mph Stoner (Ducati), 198.6 mph Hayden (Honda), 197.4 mph Barros (Ducati), 196.5 mph Hofmann (Ducati), 195.4 mph Pedrosa (Honda), 195.1 mph De Puniet (Kawasaki), 194.7 mph Guintoli (Yamaha), 192.5 mph Hopkins (Suzuki), 191.9 mph Vermeulen (Suzuki), 191.9 mph Edwards (Yamaha), 191.8 mph Elias (Honda), 191.6 mph Melandri (Honda), 191.0 mph Rossi (Yamaha), 190.9 mph Nakano (Honda), 190.1 mph Kenny Lee Roberts (KR-Honda), 189.9 mph Tamada (Yamaha), 189.7 mph Checa (Honda), 189.3 mph Kurtis Roberts (KR-Honda), 187.2 mph More, from a press release issued by Konica Minolta Honda: KONICA MINOLTA Honda makes set-up improvements at Catalunya KONICA MINOLTA Honda took twelfth place in today’s closely fought qualifying session for tomorrow’s Catalan MotoGP race. Team rider Shinya Nakano took around three-quarters of a second off his Friday time this afternoon, but more crucially found a set-up for his Honda RC212V MotoGP machine that eradicated some of the chatter that has been affecting the front-end of his bike. Today the conditions were very hot with temperatures around the 30 degree Celsius mark and track temperatures around 50 degrees. Tomorrow it is expected that the hot weather will continue for the 25-lap race. Gianluca Montiron Team Manager KONICA MINOLTA Honda “Unfortunately for us I think for Shinya wasn’t able to use the two qualifying tyres to his best advantage. With the first tyre we had a problem when there was contact in the first corner between Shinya and another rider and then with the second tyre he made a small mistake in the first sector. Positively we were able to maintain a good rhythm and I think this will mean that Shinya will be able to be competitive with the second group of riders. At this stage in the season we have to concentrate and work hard with the technical package we have at our disposal. We are very confident in our Technical Partners and we think that soon we can work together to improve the package still further, but in the meantime every Team member will be trying 100% to get the best results we can.” Shinya Nakano Rider, KONICA MINOLTA Honda (50 laps 1′ 43.334″) “With the tyres we have tested and the setting changes we have made the bike felt a little bit better today which is just what we were looking for. The problem we’ve had, with both chatter from the front-end of the bike and the actual getting the bike to turn itself has improved. The conditions were hot again today, but I’m pleased that I was able to improve my lap time and we’ve picked what I think is a good combination of race tyres for tomorrow. We had a little bit of bad luck with coming across a slower rider when I had the first, soft qualifying tyre on, but this happens. The start will be important for us, but it is easy to overtake here, so from 12th on the grid I will be going for a top eight finish.” Giulio Bernardelle Technical Director, KONICA MINOLTA Honda “This morning we tested some different front geometry settings. These were nothing new but they were what we tried at the start of the season. We found that this combination with the new Michelin front tyre lessened the problem of chatter and also helped with the turning of the bike, which was something that Shinya was looking for. In the afternoon we did some testing to finalise our choice for the race tyre for tomorrow and I’m quite confident as we have a good combination for front and rear that should work in the high temperatures that we have experienced today and should experience again tomorrow. We did have one bit of bad luck during our timed attack with the qualifying tyre as on his first run Shinya came into the first corner to find one of the Team Roberts bikes going very slowly, they touched and this spoiled our first qualifying tyre run. Despite this we are happier today as Shinya was able to make one or two runs consistently at a fairly good speed, so this is a big improvement for us.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: De Puniet steals stunning second in sunny Spain Round 07 Catalunya – Qualifying Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló, Spain Saturday 9 June 2007 Kawasaki’s Randy de Puniet excelled in this afternoon’s qualifying session taking a sensational second place just 0.061s from Valentino Rossi’s pole position time. The result becomes the Frenchman’s best ever premier class qualifying result and first front row in MotoGP, making full use of his Bridgestone qualifiers this afternoon also to equal the best ever grid position for the Kawasaki team. Seven Bridgestone-shod riders will start tomorrow afternoon’s Catalan GP from the front four rows of the grid with De Puniet’s qualifying masterclass heading a very competitive field with less than one second separating Rossi on pole from Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen in 11th. Championship leader Casey Stoner starts from the second row in fourth place, the same position from where he took victory in Turkey and China. Alongside him will be Suzuki’s John Hopkins who has shown encouraging race pace this weekend. The Honda Gresini duo of Toni Elias and Marco Melandri will line up in eighth and ninth just 0.016s apart while Alex Hofmann rounds out the top ten with his first top ten grid slot of the season so far. Ambient temperatures again rose to 33°C with the Circuit de Catalunya asphalt reaching 45°C some 15 degrees higher than the morning practice session. Casey Stoner has shown strong pace on race tyres throughout the weekend and was quickest in the morning session, setting a best lap 0.5s quicker than the record lap from last year’s GP. Encouragingly, lap times have been quite consistent and competitive in both practice sessions today leaving Bridgestone in cautiously confident mood ahead of tomorrow’s gruelling 25-lap Catalan GP. Tyre Talk with Junichi Kawajiri Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development It was another competitive qualifying session, is Bridgestone satisfied with the final results? “Randy de Puniet performed very well in this afternoon’s qualifying session and full credit should go to him and the Kawasaki Racing Team for a great second place, so close to the pole position time. We had harder qualifying tyres to normal because of the aggressive nature of this circuit but all five of our teams have secured at least one bike in the top ten which shows that the overall performance was quite competitive. Qualifying is not as important here as it is at other circuits but starting from further up the grid will certainly be advantageous in the decisive opening laps.” Has Bridgestone been able to verify the race tyre performance today? “We carried out some more race length long runs this morning and could see that the performance of the tyres was reasonably competitive and consistent. In the afternoon’s qualifying practice we saw similar results in much hotter conditions which is extremely pleasing because we should be relatively confident whatever track conditions we experience tomorrow afternoon. This Catalan track is always technically demanding and tough of tyres, so edge grip will be critical in the closing stages of the race, but I think we have prepared ourselves as well as we can and can expect a good race tomorrow.” Riding Perspective Randy de Puniet Kawasaki Racing Team 2nd Position “I am extremely happy with this second place result, my first ever front row in MotoGP. It is a testament to the work of the Kawasaki team and to Bridgestone, so I must thank all of them. The bike has been working well this weekend and the tyres have also been competitive. I was second in this morning’s practice hour and second again this afternoon, so it has been a good day. The weekend has been tough for me from a physical point of view because I am suffering from the injuries I picked up in Mugello last weekend. My knee is still very swollen so I am very pleased to have secured my best ever MotoGP qualifying result in spite of this disadvantage.” Bridgestone Qualifying Practice Session Results Pos Rider Team Best Lap Gap P2 Randy de Puniet Kawasaki 1m41.901s +0.061s P4 Casey Stoner Ducati 1m42.117s +0.277s P5 John Hopkins Suzuki 1m42.233s +0.393s P8 Toni Elias Honda Gresini 1m42.607s +0.767s P9 Marco Melandri Honda Gresini 1m42.623s +0.783s P10 Alex Hofmann Pramac D’Antin 1m42.860s +1.020s P11 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m42.967s +1.127s P14 Alex Barros Pramac D’Antin 1m43.722s +1.882s P15 Loris Capirossi Ducati 1m43.948s +2.108s Weather: Dry Air 33°C, Track 45°C, Humidity 11% More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Second row start for Hopkins in Catalunya John Hopkins will start tomorrow’s Catalan Grand Prix from the second row of the grid, as he powered his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R to fifth place during this afternoon’s qualifying session at Montmelo. Hopkins (1’42.233, 26 laps) produced a great final lap on his Bridgestone qualifying tyres to push him higher up the leaderboard, after a series of issues had caused him to miss a small part of the session, and then to lose out on a qualifying lap. Suzuki’s Anglo-American star suffered a mechanical problem with his first bike, and was then forced to abort his first qualifying lap when he was blocked by a slower rider on the racing line. Hopkins was unable to ride his number one bike back to the team’s garage, but as soon as he got back he was straight out on his second machine making sure that he didn’t lose too much valuable practice time. He was just over 0.2 seconds off a front row position and only 0.393 seconds behind pole-setter Valentino Rossi in the final classification. Chris Vermeulen (1’42.967, 26 laps) looked fast and consistent on race tyres throughout the practice today and the set-up of the bike for the 4.7km circuit was working well. He never quite managed to re-produce his race pace on qualifying tyres and will start from the middle of the fourth row tomorrow after posting the 11th quickest time. Today’s air temperatures rose to 33°C and the track surface was 52°C. With more of the same forecast for tomorrow’s 25-lap race, it will be as much a battle of stamina and fitness for the riders, as it will be a test of the machines’ durability, when the race gets underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT). John Hopkins: “We certainly ran into a few issues during the qualifying session! We had a little mechanical problem with my first bike and I wasn’t able to get it back to the garage, so I had to come back and get on my spare bike. It just goes to show how good the Suzuki is working this year, because the spare bike is almost identical to what we have as the A-bike. We then went back out and I got into a quick rhythm straight away. On my first run on the qualifiers I had a bit of a problem with another rider going too slowly on the racing line, so I came in before finishing that lap. On the last qualifying tyre I managed to get where I wanted to be on one of the front two rows. It’s going to be a long, hot race tomorrow, but the bike and the Bridgestone tyres are working well and we’re 100% ready to go racing!” Chris Vermeulen: “It’s not ideal starting from the fourth row tomorrow, and that is not where I want to be! I was comfortable early on with the race tyres and we did a good run – the durability and consistency was definitely there. When we put the qualifier in we didn’t quite get the grip from the front of the bike that we were after. We will be trying something with the front in tomorrow’s warm-up to help out a bit in that area. I know I can run with the leading group and I will try to get up there from the start and who knows what will happen then!” Paul Denning Team Manager: “It’s been another good day’s work, but a frustrating qualifying session for us this afternoon. John’s problem with his number one bike in the middle of the session meant that he had to jump onto the spare bike which he had not tested all weekend. He did a fantastic job considering he only got in one qualifying run after being badly baulked by an experienced rider – who really should know better! His second row start is a good achievement, and if we can qualify well in a session like that then the potential for the future is extremely exciting. “Chris had a great session on race tyres and looked as quick as anyone else out there today, but it just didn’t work out for him on the qualifiers. It seems like there was a combination of factors that made life difficult to push his lap-times further. But as we have already seen this year his race-craft is fantastic and we are expecting a much better finish from Chris than the qualifying position today.” More, from a press release issued by Team Roberts: DOUBLE-STRENGTH ROBERTS TEAM CONTINUES DEVELOPMENT Montmelo, Spain – June 9, 2007: Kenny Roberts Jr. and his younger brother Kurtis qualified 18th and 19th for tomorrow’s Catalunyan GP, on a day when qualifying tires did little to improve their positions. Brilliant Spanish sunshine greeted the brothers, who had three full hours of dry practice prior to Saturday’s qualifying session. For Kurtis, it was only his second outing on the 2007 Honda-powered KR212V, built in England’s Formula One belt. But he was able to outpace his brother for much of the session, showing that he’s quickly adapting to the 800cc era. Kenny Jr. used his superior analytical skills to help his brother. A change to the steering head improved the handling of his machine, while giving Kurtis a new set-up for the morning practice. If it’s as beneficial as it was for Kenny, the change should allow Kurtis to push his older brother in tomorrow’s seventh round of the MotoGP World Championship. Pole position at the spectacular 4.727km Catalunya circuit, north of Barcelona, went to Valentino Rossi (Yamaha). In very hot conditions, his time of 1’41.840 was a new lap record. KENNY ROBERTS Jr. – 18th position, 1’44.263 As far as the qualifiers go, the first one I got just a bad feeling out of the front right out of the pits and felt like I wasn’t able to put any pressure on it. So when I came in, Warren (Willing) rotated the bike around to put more physical weight on the front and then it actually felt fine for the second run. I think if I would have had that confidence in it from the first run, I would have been able to go quicker. The team had two different bikes in the garage and we improved mine by pushing the steering head away and getting a little bit more leverage on it to go into corner and that helped quite a bit. And I think Kurtis will run that tomorrow morning. KURTIS ROBERTS – 19th position, 1’45.223 Well, we’re as fast on race tires as we are on qualifiers. The problem is we put on the qualifiers and we need to pick up a second or two like everyone else does and we just chattered our brains out. I was with (Alex) Barros the whole lap until the last two corners and then he’s gone, just because there’s nothing I could do about it. I was even ahead of Kenny there for 90% of the session, which isn’t bad considering how much time we have on the thing. You’ve got to look at everything in comparison. It’s not like we’re that far off. Kenny thought that there might be a problem when I went to qualifiers, but there’s nothing we could do about it. It’s just time. I think it’s heading in the right direction. KENNY ROBERTS- Team Principal This one’s actually better than Italy. For race tires, we’re fairly competitive with the group ahead of us. In Italy we weren’t that close. So it’s better for a race set-up than it was in Italy. But the qualifier just chattered its brains out and of course we’re going two, three seconds off the pace, now a second and a half off a decent pace in practice. It’s not like we’re going to throw a qualifier in and go out there and nail it. We have to be able to accelerate, and right now it’s just turn the throttle and go and it doesn’t push. So all of our chassis stiffnesses and all of that stuff, we have to re-do them and re-design. We’ve got to make a new chassis. So that’s going to be Laguna until we get that done, because that’s completely different, completely new. We’re kind of struggling through all this stuff trying to get as much information as we can, because I don’t want to build a chassis and then say, ah, we should have done this or we should have done that. More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: ROSSI TAKES FOURTH POLE OF THE SEASON AHEAD OF CATALAN CHALLENGE Tomorrow’s Grand Prix of Catalunya will see Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi start from pole position for the fourth time this season, after he put in another exemplary qualifying performance at Montmelo this afternoon. The Italian, who is seeking a ninth victory at this circuit, will also be aiming to break the current MotoGP pole position jinx to become the first rider to win from the front of the grid since Motegi last year. Team-mate Colin Edwards was only 0.4 seconds slower than Rossi in a close qualifying battle and will start from sixth for tomorrow’s 25-lap race. This morning’s free practice saw both Rossi and Edwards continue to make steady improvements to the set-up of their M1s and they finished the session fourth and ninth respectively. Temperatures then climbed steadily to reach a high of 33 degrees during Qualifying and, with similar conditions expected tomorrow, the pair spent the early part of the session perfecting their race settings under the scorching Spanish sun. With eight minutes remaining Rossi’s first run with a Michelin qualifying tyre saw him put in the eventual pole time of 1’41.840 and also made him the only rider to dip under the previous pole record, which he set here last year. Edwards second effort saw him move as high as third at one point but some last minute fast times pushed him down to sixth and he will start from the outside of the front row tomorrow when the lights go out at 1400 local time. Valentino Rossi Position: 1st Time: 1’41.840 Laps: 27 “I’m really happy to have another pole position, this season our bike is working brilliantly with our Michelin qualifying tyres and at every race I have great fun during qualifying! Along with Mugello this is one of my favourite tracks and really I find it hard to decide which I like best! It’s fun to have two great races together like this even if it’s hard work without a rest in between. As usual it’s going to be very important to start from the front tomorrow, but I think it’s going to be a really hard battle anyway, especially in this heat. Pedrosa and Stoner look very strong and also Hopkins has a good pace, so I think we can expect a great fight for the fans to watch! Anyway we’re starting in the best position, my M1 feels very good and we will be looking for another victory.” Colin Edwards Position: 6th Time: 1’42.283 Laps: 25 “Once again things felt pretty good on the qualifying tyres, although I didn’t make the most of my first one so I had to rely on improving things second time around. My lap time was actually pretty good but everyone else was fast today too! Anyway, after the disaster of last week I’m happy enough with the second row! As for our race pace, we’ve made a few improvements but honestly we have three different types of tyres and I’m doing the same time on all of them – which is unfortunately a little off the pace. I think tomorrow morning we’re going to try something we tried briefly yesterday with regards to tyres, it was the same then but we’ve made some improvements to the bike since and we think that it might work. Anyway, here’s hoping!” Davide Brivio Fiat Yamaha Team Director “Another pole position – this year we’re gathering quite a few! As always it’s nice to start from pole position and it gives us some confidence for the race. Also to have Colin on the second row is good after last week and hopefully we can finish the day with both riders at the top. Valentino seems to be in good shape with his race pace as well but he needs to be very strong because it’s going to be very competitive, with three or four riders looking very fast. Colin will push from the start too and hopefully he can stay with the rest of the group. Let’s see what happens but we’re expecting an exciting race!” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Rossi record takes pole in Catalunya Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya – Saturday 9th June Report Day 2 Rossi takes fourth pole of the season motogp Valentino Rossi put in the fastest ever lap of the Circuit de Catalunya in today’s MotoGP qualifying session, putting him on pole for the fourth time at the Spanish track. The Italian rode round in a lap of 1’41.840 to give himself a clear path down the long straight to the first corner tomorrow. Rossi has an excellent record at Catalunya, but the MotoGP class is currently on a long spell without a winner from pole stretching back to the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi last season. Can the five-time MotoGP World Champion end the drought and give Yamaha their 150th premier class victory at the Grand Premi Cinzano de Catalunya? Rossi will line up alongside Randy de Puniet and Dani Pedrosa on the front row, with the fastest five in the hour long session all riding for different manufacturers. De Puniet was perhaps the outstanding rider of the day, suffering from a haematoma on his knee that meant he put in less laps than the majority of his rivals. In a planned move, the Frenchman went for his hot lap with 20 minutes remaining in the session, with the rest of the teams still in the process of changing to qualifying tyres. It was a gamble that paid off, as he was one of only two riders to break the 1’42 barrier. Home rider Pedrosa improved considerably on his eleventh place start from 2006, relegating World Championship leader Casey Stoner to the second row alongside Suzuki’s John Hopkins and Yamaha man Colin Edwards. The quartet all turned the timesheets around in the final minute of the session, setting their fastest laps one after the other. World Champion Nicky Hayden was half a second off team-mate Pedrosa’s time to put himself seventh on the grid, with an all-Honda third row completed by Toni Elias and Marco Melandri. Despite mechanical problems in the early stage of the session, a delighted Alex Hofmann had one of his best qualifying performances to date as he rounded off the top ten. Olivier Jacque suffered a crash in the morning practice session, which sent him to hospital for routine tests on his neck. Although he was not present for the qualifying session, it remains to be seen if he will be permitted or indeed be in condition- to race tomorrow. 250cc In 250cc, Jorge Lorenzo took pole position number five of his title-defending season with a time nearly a second faster than his nearest rival. The Aprilia rider flew out of the starting blocks on a mission to add another Tissot watch to his collection, and improved considerably from yesterday’s record-setting provisional pole lap which broke Dani Pedrosa’s 2005 marker. He later described his outing as “the best lap of my life,” understandable when considering that it was faster than Valentino Rossi’s 500cc pole lap from 2001! Lorenzo lines up alongside former team-mate and quarter-litre nemesis Hector Barbera on the front row, with the two Spaniards sure to be battling tooth and nail tomorrow in front of their home crowd. They are joined by Andrea Dovizioso who took his first 250cc victory at the Circuit de Catalunya last season – and Aprilia wild card Alex Debon as they attempt to give further twists to tomorrow’s race. Popular rider Debon has paid a key role in the development of Jorge Lorenzo’s bike, and has only made one appearance for the Spain’s No1 Aprilia team so far this year in a wild card capacity, but has been given free reign to show his skills in Barcelona this weekend. Of the four fastest riders, only Lorenzo and Debon were able to improve on their Friday times. Thomas Luthi heads row two despite a succession of run-offs earlier in the day, with the Aspar duo of Alvaro Bautista and Alex de Angelis alongside him and accompanied by KTM rider and Barcelona resident Hiroshi Aoyama. Bautista has been under fire from a couple of riders for cutting them up with aggressive manoeuvres as of late, but it is hard to imagine him changing his style with the emotion of a home race running through his veins. One of his recent critics, Jorge Lorenzo, had his own coming together with ninth place qualifier Marco Simoncelli, although the Spaniard immediately held his hand up to apologise. Team Scot’s Yuki Takahashi was tenth fastest. 125cc Running three riders at their home race in 125cc, the Aspar team make up three quarters of the front row with all their riders having tasted victory this season. Gabor Talmacsi was the fastest of the trio, with a circuit best lap of 1’50.012 edging out the World Championship leader and only rider to win two races this season, Hector Faubel. Sergio Gadea joins his team-mates with a time under half a second slower than that of Talmacsi. Completing the front row, Bradley Smith made a memorable return to his “home from home” to earn his best ever qualifying position. Having improved on his starting technique this season, and with the confidence of having taken his first podium, the young Briton will be expecting a strong showing at the track where he has competed many times in the Spanish Championship. Row two consists of Lukas Pesek, yesterday’s fastest rider in the 125cc class, alongside Raffaele de Rosa, Tomoyoshi Koyama and Mattia Pasini. More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: STONER 0.27S FROM POLE AND STUNNING IN RACE TRIM, CAPIROSSI OUT OF LUCK IN QUALIFYING Ducati Marlboro Team riders Casey Stoner and Loris Capirossi will start tomorrow’s Catalan Grand Prix from the second and sixth rows of the grid after contrasting fortunes in this afternoon’s qualifying session, run in blazing hot sunshine. World Championship leader Stoner ended the session a close fourth quickest, less than three tenths off pole, but more crucially for tomorrow his pace in race trim was extremely impressive after his crew modified his set-up to give him more grip during this morning’s session, when they also selected Bridgestone tyres that offer brilliant performance at this technically demanding track. Capirossi had a luckless afternoon, even though he had been happy enough with his race pace in the earlier sessions. Eighth fastest in free practice he did three runs on qualifiers, none of which produced the expected results. His first run was cut short by a technical glitch, his second was spoiled by traffic and he wasn’t keen on the new qualifier he tried during his final outing. CASEY STONER, 4, 1’42.117 “This morning we did pretty much full distance on race tyres with no real dramas. We’re really happy but we haven’t got enough quantity of that tyre, so we just threw on some other ones for this afternoon’s session and we still managed to go pretty quick, quicker than everybody else on race tyres. We’re happy enough with that and I think we’re just going to leave the settings as they are for tomorrow, it’s looking good. The tyres we’ve chosen, the hotter the weather the better they work, so this afternoon they probably would’ve worked better again. This morning we definitely found a bit more grip, which is helping a lot in the long corners, we just balanced out the bike some more, so it’s not too much on the front or too much on the rear. My qualifying runs were a little disappointing, I thought we could’ve done a little better but the way we’ve got the bike set up at the moment it works better with race tyres. Anyway, we’re still not too far off and we’re on the second row again.” LORIS CAPIROSSI, 17, in 1’43.948 “Clearly, this is the worse Saturday I’ve had so far. When I went out with my first qualifier I had a technical glitch with the bike I had been using all weekend, so I had to get back to the garage on a scooter. On my next run aboard my number-two bike, my best lap was ruined by Barros, who was going very slowly in the middle on the track. That was very disappointing but, okay, that kind of thing can happen when there are a lot of riders on track. I had a third qualifying tyre available but it was a new tyre that we’d never tried and it didn’t work to my satisfaction. So today was very disappointing indeed, especially because we aren’t so bad in race trim. Maybe I wasn’t the fastest out there but I am not that bad. So I am starting from the very, very back of the grid which means I will have to fight hard. At least there are many passing points at this track and I should be able to ride a reasonable rhythm. We will see what happens, I hope to do much better than today and bring home some good points.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: HIGHS AND LOWS FOR KAWASAKI IN BARCELONA Kawasaki Racing Team rider, Randy de Puniet, will start tomorrow’s MotoGP race in Catalunya, the seventh of the season, from the first row of the grid. However, in a case of mixed fortunes for the squad, his teammate, Olivier Jacque, was unable to qualify due to a crash in practice. De Puniet started the day by putting in a heroic performance during this morning’s third free practice session, riding as if his massively swollen left knee, caused by a crash last week at Mugello, was nothing more than a minor hindrance. Cutting his previous best time around the circuit by more than a second, Randy completed the preparatory laps, coming second only to current world championship leader, Casey Stoner, on combined times. However, the Frenchman, riding the 800cc Ninja ZX-RR, went on to raise yet more eyebrows in an astonishing show of bravery during the afternoon’s qualifying session. De Puniet shot to the top of the timesheet, with a time of 1’41.901. So impressive was his lap, he remained on provisional pole for a considerable period of the frantic session. Indeed, it took seven times world champion, Valentino Rossi, breaking the circuit record of 1’41.855, to knock the Kawasaki pilot into second place, where he remained despite the best efforts of his fellow racers to dislodge him. Even then, the Italian’s advantage over Randy remained at just 0.061 seconds. His second position spot makes Randy the top Bridgestone rider on the grid, reflecting the team’s ongoing, and unquestionably positive, working partnership with the tyre manufacturer. It is also Randy’s best ever starting position in MotoGP: quite something, taking into account he’s riding in some pain and with considerable discomfort. But it isn’t all smiles down at the Kawasaki pit garage. Number 19 rider, Olivier Jacque, who was only just recovering from a fall in Shanghai last month, crashed again in free practice. The 33-year-old Frenchman highsided on turn five of the circuit, a slow hairpin corner, and was put into a neck brace before being carried off on a stretcher. After a check up at the paddock’s Clinica Mobile, Jacque was taken to a nearby hospital in Barcelona for further evaluation. As a result, he was unable to qualify for tomorrow’s race. It’s a hugely frustrating situation for both rider and team as the former 250cc world champion has struggled to find his form during the season so far. Sweltering weather and a huge crowd are expected at the popular Catalan circuit for the 25-lap race tomorrow. Whether or not Randy will be able to maintain his pace for the 188.2 km distance remains to be seen but the team are delighted to see the ZX-RR up there on the first row, where it belongs. Randy De Puniet 2nd – 18 Laps – Best Lap 1’41.901 “It is a great feeling to be on the front row! Yesterday we struggled a little bit, but my crew did a great job in the evening and this morning, which paid off already this morning with second position in the third free practice. We worked on the suspension set up and the chassis as well as making some adjustments in the mapping and we solved yesterday’s problem with the rear grip. This morning I tried as well a harder rear tyre option and, even though its performance dropped after a few laps, I am confident to use it for the race. My knee was really painful and we decided to delay my qualifying practice start for about 15 minutes. I went out first with the race tyre option to confirm it and then I tried the first qualifying tyre. I did a great effort with it and pushed as much as I could. I knew that physically I wouldn’t have many chances to get the most of the three sets, as it was. I am exhausted right now because in qualifying you need to give it all in just one lap. My main problem is to have to stop and go and not when I am riding. Tomorrow’s race is going to be hard but I am sure that after a couple of laps, when I will get the rhythm, everything is going to be fine.” Naoya Kaneko Kawasaki Technical Manager “Yesterday we said that we were just expecting our riders to do their best and, honestly, we were not expecting this result. But Randy is a professional rider and today he definitely proved it. He showed a really good performance and concentration today getting his very first front row start in MotoGP. But this means even more considering his physical condition. He made a huge effort and did an amazing flying lap. It was a pity to lose the pole position by only 0.061 seconds, but considering our expectations, we are delighted. As well as his qualifying position, we are also satisfied with today’s practice performance as we improved a lot the set up of the bike compared with yesterday. The balance and engine management are much better now and the bike is more effective in the high-speed corners, helping out too with the race tyre’s consistency. We already know that the race is going to be difficult for Randy, though it would be good to see him in the group making a consistent race.” Michael Bartholemy Kawasaki Competition Manager “It’s certainly been an up and down few weeks for us. We had a bad weekend in Mugello last week, and the prospects for this weekend weren’t, if I’m honest, looking much better. We could see Randy was suffering with his injured knee, despite the fact that he’s not complained once about what must be causing him some pain on the bike. But then he goes and puts in a fantastic lap this afternoon to take his first front row start in MotoGP, missing out on pole by the narrowest of margins. Watching him ride that lap, and knowing his condition, was an emotional experience. A front row start is great for Randy’s confidence ahead of what promises to be a hard race for him. But, it’s also good for the team; as this is the first front row start since the team was brought in house in November. Unfortunately, Olivier crashed this morning and took a big knock on the head, which required a trip to the circuit medical centre, where medical staff sent him to hospital in Barcelona for x-rays. We are now awaiting the results and should have more news shortly.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: Catalan Grand Prix at Montmelo Saturday June 9, 2007 Dani Pedrosa keeps home fans buoyant with front row start MotoGP qualifying for the Catalan Grand Prix at Montmelo tomorrow was another high-octane fight for supremacy. Under the Spanish sun it was Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) who came out on top ahead of second fastest Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki) and Honda’s main man here Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) completing the front row in third. With a 33-degree ambient temperature and the track at a scorching 44-degrees, the hour of timed qualifying for the premier class got underway and Toni Elias (Gresini Honda RC212V) showed early endeavour by topping the lap chart with a 1m 43.277s time. Dani Pedrosa showed he would be on the pace by turning in a 1m 43.300s time while Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V) held third spot. Elias then posted a 1m 43.153s time to establish himself as one of the men to beat here, but the Spanish sensation could not hold onto the top placings as the session wore on. Casey Stoner, Ducati’s World Championship points leader, then hit pole to relegate Elias to second with Dani Pedrosa lying third, John Hopkins (Suzuki) fourth, Rossi fifth, Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) sixth fastest and reigning World Champion Nicky Hayden seventh in the early order. Dani had put in a string of ten laps, culminating in a 1m 43.623s time. At the halfway stage Stoner had reduced his time around the 4.727km of Montmelo to 1m 43.022s and then with 20 minutes left the order remained the same as it had been before the halfway mark. But that would soon change as riders began to pit for short-life/maximum grip qualifying rubber. True to form it was a Kawasaki man who raised the bar first. Randy de Puniet, riding with a badly swollen knee, sustained in a free training session crash here, managed to overcome the pain and lack of movement (albeit in a specially adapted set of leathers) to set a time of 1m 41.901 seconds that would prove hard to top. His team-mate Olivier Jacque was not riding after crashing heavily and injuring his neck in the morning. Dani too had crashed spectacularly yesterday but was strong enough to be in the reckoning today. His bike, however, had been smashed to pieces. But it was Vermeulen who was the first to put pressure on de Puniet’s time when he sped to the second fastest time with 15 minutes left on the clock. Elias then put in a lap 0.8 seconds shy of the de Puniet time to go second, but this was more an indicator of just how tough the French Kawasaki man’s time would be to beat than any demonstration that there would be more to come from the Spanish man with the most spectacular riding style in MotoGP (or anywhere for that matter). Stoner then moved up to second, 0.7 seconds adrift of the de Puniet time, before Rossi turned in a 1m 41.840s time to deprive de Puniet of pole with eight minutes to go. With seven minutes remaining there was another flurry of pit-stops for the last of the sticky qualifying tyres. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) moved up to third fastest, Nicky briefly held fourth, before Stoner grabbed third. Then Dani deprived the Australian of that final front row berth. With just one minute remaining de Puniet still held onto second and Dani had his hands on third with his 1m 42.002s time. There would be no more change. Stoner was consolidated as fourth fastest man, Hopkins fifth, Edwards now sixth, Nicky heading the third row as seventh quickest, with Toni eighth and Marco Melandri (Gresini Honda RC212V) ninth. Dani Pedrosa said: “I’m happy because it’s been quite a long time since I’ve been on the front row so it’s nice to be back. There are quite a few riders with a good pace from practice though and this means the race could be very close and difficult. Also it looks as though it’s going to be very hot which will make it difficult for the tyres and also the riders. I’m enjoying being at my home Grand Prix with so many supporters and I’m happy to be starting on the front row because this could prove to be important.” His team-mate Nicky Hayden, seventh on the grid, said: “I was definitely hoping to be on the front two rows today and I just missed out on that. It’s still not as close to the front as we’d like and there haven’t been any big steps forward but we’ve definitely made some progress in a few areas for this track. Tyre choice is going to be really critical so we’ll be looking at that tonight. I know it’s going to be a big job tomorrow and I’ll have to eat my Wheeties!” Toni, eighth on the grid, said: “I’m happy with my race pace and confident about tomorrow. I’m disappointed to be on the third row and I’ll have to get a good start. But we’ve had two good days of practice working on the race setting. Tomorrow will be a tough fight but I’m ready for it. This is my home race so I wanted to celebrate that with this special livery inspired by Gaudi. I love his mosaics and colour schemes because they represent Barcelona.” “We’re moving forward,” said Marco, ninth quickest: “This morning we ran a couple of comparative tests and in the afternoon I only ran the modified chassis that we tried for the first time at Le Mans. The race pace is quite good and after all the problems we’ve had this weekend I’m quite happy with the third row. Tomorrow I’ll just try and get a good start and fight for a top result.” Shinya Nakano (Konica Minolta Honda RC212V), who qualified 12th, said: “With the tyres we’ve tested and the setting changes we’ve made the bike felt a little bit better today which is just what we were looking for. The problem we’ve had, with both chatter from the front-end of the bike and the actual getting the bike to turn itself has improved. The conditions were hot again today, but I’m pleased that I was able to improve my lap time and we’ve picked what I think is a good combination of race tyres for tomorrow.” Carlos Checa (LCR Honda RC212V) managed 15th on the grid, and said: “This morning in free practice I had some confidence that our set-up was improving but with the qualifying tyre it was impossible to do better than this. We have changed everything on the set-up, but when I flick the bike it doesn’t want to turn, the front goes one way and the rear the other, the balance is wrong. I’m still too far from the race pace so hopefully we can find some solutions for tomorrow.” Kenny Roberts (Roberts KR212V) qualified 18th and his brother Kurtis Roberts (Roberts KR212V) 19th. Kenny said: “As far as the qualifiers go, with the first one I got just a bad feeling from the front right out of the pits and felt like I wasn’t able to put any pressure on it. So when I came in, Warren put more physical weight on the front and it felt fine for the second run.” Kurtis said: “You’ve got to look at everything in comparison. It’s not like we’re that far off. Kenny thought there might be a problem when I went to qualifiers, but there’s nothing we could do about it. I think it’s all heading in the right direction.” In the 250cc class series points leader Jorge Lorenzo took pole with a 1m 45.098s lap to edge out fierce rival Hector Barbera, Lorenzo’s main Honda rival Andrea Dovizioso (Scot Honda RS250RW) qualified in third place. Wild card rider Alex Debon was fourth fastest qualifier and class rookie and former World 125cc Champion Thomas Luthi took fifth spot on the grid (all Aprilia). Yuki Takahashi (Scot Honda RS250RW) was the 11th fastest qualifier. Julian Simon (Repsol Honda RS250RW) starts from 12th on the grid with Shuhei Aoyama (Repsol Honda RS250RW) 13th heading row four. An optimistic Dovi said: “In the last qualifying session I made a small riding mistake I could have been faster but that’s no big problem. I’m happy because my rhythm is good on race tyres. I am not too far off pole and running similar times to Barbera and Debon. I think the race will be between the top four of us and it might be a question of who saves his tyres the best. The difference here in comparison to Mugello is that the Honda chassis is better and my corner exit-speed also.” His team-mate Takahashi said: “Yesterday I tried the new rear suspension link and I kept it for today’s practice and in qualifying it feels much better than before. The problem is with weight transfer and we need time to improve this. For my final lap time attack I followed a group of riders and considering my body is not yet in top condition I have to be happy with my time.” For one perfect minute in the 125cc session it looked as if Honda’s Bradley Smith (Repsol Honda RS125R) might snatch his first ever pole position in the 125cc class, but the Aprilia trio of Gabor Talmacsi, Hector Faubel and Sergio Gadea managed to displace the British rider in the final minute of this final half-hour timed session. Lukas Pesek (Derbi) was the fastest man until with five minutes remaining the rest of the field upped the pace to a level he could not live with. Smith went second fastest and then hit pole with a 1m 50.806s lap, but did not have enough tyre grip left to improve on that. It was then that the Aprilia mob pounced with the verdict going to Talmacsi by virtue of a 1m 50.012 second lap. Smith is seven tenths of a second short of that time, but showed enough speed in the session to suggest that he could well prove a factor in tomorrow’s 22-lap race. Smith said: “I’m pleased especially after the problems we had yesterday but I must make a good start and stay with the leaders in those first few laps,” explained Smith, who finished third in the French Grand Prix, three weeks ago. My pace has been good today and I put in some really consistent laps and I really want to produce a good result for my team at their home track.” His team-mate Esteve Rabat (Repsol Honda RS125R), still recovering from injury qualified 12th while Mike di Meglio (Scot Honda RS125R) qualified 16th and said: “Today I had some chatter problems with new tyres, the bike was loose at the rear and it was very hard to keep control and make a good lap time. Now we have to work to solve this situation in order to have a good warm-up tomorrow and recover some positions.” Dino Lombardi (Scot Honda RS125R) crashed heavily in this final session and broke his left ankle. He will not ride tomorrow and faces an operation to repair the damage. Honda Riders Quotes: MotoGP. Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 3rd.”I’m happy because it’s been quite a long time since I’ve been on the front row so it’s nice to be back. The practice sessions have gone pretty well and my set-up and race tyres look OK so I’m hopeful for tomorrow. There a quite a few riders with a good pace from practice though and this means the race could be very close and difficult for sure. Also it looks as though it’s going to be very hot which will make it difficult for the tyres and also the riders. I’m enjoying being at my home Grand Prix with so many supporters and I’m happy to be starting on the front row because this could prove to be important. We saw last year that anything can happen at the first corner here but hopefully there will be no problems and we can have a great race and get the result we want. Finally, I’d like to thank my mechanics because they worked very late last night after my crash.”” Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 7th. “I was definitely hoping to be on the front two rows today and I just missed out on that. Nevertheless thanks to the guys in my team because they’ve done a good job and had a few really useful ideas this weekend. As the weekend’s progressed we’ve moved up a couple of tenths on race tyres in every session and also moved up a couple of positions in each session. It’s still not as close to the front as we’d like and there hasn’t been any big steps forward but we’ve definitely made some progress in a few areas for this track. Tyre choice is going to be really critical so we’ll be looking at that tonight. I know it’s going to be a big job tomorrow and I’ll have to eat my Wheeties! Hopefully I can find a few more tenths and try to get a decent start and hang with the boys as best I can tomorrow. Toni Elias, Gresini Honda: 8th. “I’m happy with my race pace and confident about tomorrow. I’m disappointed to be on the third row and I’ll have to get a good start but we’ve had two good days of practice working on the race setting. Tomorrow will be a tough fight but I’m ready for it. This is my home race so I wanted to celebrate that with a special livery inspired by Gaudi. I love his mosaics and colour schemes – especially because they represent Barcelona around the world – and Aldo Drudi came up with a lovely design. I’m sure the fans will give me an added boost tomorrow and help me towards a top result.” Marco Melandri, Gresini Honda: 9th. MARCO MELANDRI: “We’re moving forward. This morning we ran a couple of comparative tests and in the afternoon I only ran the modified chassis that we tried for the first time at Le Mans. The race pace is quite good and after all the problems we’ve had this weekend I’m quite happy with the third row. Tomorrow I’ll just try and get a good start and fight for a top result.” Shinya Nakano, Konica Minolta Honda: 12th.”With the tyres we have tested and the setting changes we have made the bike felt a little bit better today which is just what we were looking for. The problem we’ve had, with both chatter from the front-end of the bike and the actual getting the bike to turn itself has improved. The conditions were hot again today, but I’m pleased that I was able to improve my lap time and we’ve picked what I think is a good combination of race tyres for tomorrow. We had a little bit of bad luck with coming across a slower rider when I had the first, soft qualifying tyre on, but this happens. The start will be important for us, but it is easy to overtake here, so from 12th on the grid I will be going for a top eight finish.” Carlos Checa, LCR Honda: 15th. “This morning in free practice I had some confidence that our set-up was improving but with the qualifying tyre it was impossible to do better than this. We have changed everything on the set-up, but when I flick the bike it doesn’t want to turn, the front goes one way and the rear the other, the balance is all wrong. I’m still too far from the race pace so hopefully we can find some solutions for tomorrow. I didn’t imagine that things could be worse than yesterday, but that is our situation.” Kenny Roberts Jnr, KR212V: 18th.”As far as the qualifiers go, the first one I got just a bad feeling out of the front right out of the pits and felt like I wasn’t able to put any pressure on it. So when I came in, Warren (Willing) rotated the bike around to put more physical weight on the front and then it actually felt fine for the second run. I think if I would have had that confidence in it from the first run, I would have been able to go quicker. The team had two different bikes in the garage and we improved mine by pushing the steering head away and getting a little bit more leverage on it to go into corner and that helped quite a bit. And I think Kurtis will run that tomorrow morning.” Kurtis Roberts, KR212V: 19th.”Well, we’re as fast on race tires as we are on qualifiers. The problem is we put on the qualifiers and we need to pick up a second or two like everyone else does and we just chattered our brains out. I was with (Alex) Barros the whole lap until the last two corners and then he’s gone, just because there’s nothing I could do about it. I was even ahead of Kenny there for 90% of the session, which isn’t bad considering how much time we have on the thing. You’ve got to look at everything in comparison. It’s not like we’re that far off. Kenny thought that there might be a problem when I went to qualifiers, but there’s nothing we could do about it. It’s just time. I think it’s heading in the right direction.” Kenny Roberts – Team Principal.” This one’s actually better than Italy. For race tires, we’re fairly competitive with the group ahead of us. In Italy we weren’t that close. So it’s better for a race set-up than it was in Italy. But the qualifier just chattered its brains out and of course we’re going two, three seconds off the pace, now a second and a half off a decent pace in practice. It’s not like we’re going to throw a qualifier in and go out there and nail it.” 250cc: Andrea Dovizioso, Kopron Scot Honda: 3rd.”In the last qualifying session I made a small riding mistake I could have been fastr but that’s no big problem. I am happy because my rhythm is good on race tyres and I am not too far off the pole and running similar times to Barbera and Debon. I think the race will be between four the top four of us and it might be a question of who saves his tyres the best. The difference here in comparison to Mugello is that the Honda chassis is better and my corner exit speed also.” Yukio Takahashi, Kopron Scot Honda: 11th.”Yesterday I tried the new rear suspension link and I kept it for today’s practice and qualifying it feels much better than before. The problem I have is with weight transfer and we need time to improve this. For my final time attack I followed a group and considering my body condition I have to be happy with my time. I am happy because I was not pushing hard at all. Julian Simon, Repsol Honda: 12th.”To be honest, today hasn’t been a positive day either. The team has done a great job and we’ve been trying to find the best setting for tomorrow, but we haven’t found it yet. The result is not at all satisfying for me. I’m quite close to the second position, but I’m not happy. I hope to be able to open the throttle quicker tomorrow and to feel more motivated, because this whole situation has affected me somehow. I have not been at the level I usually am. We’ll get onto the track in high spirits tomorrow, I’ll try to make a good start and the team is going to work hard tonight to have a good motorbike for tomorrow. “ Shuhei Aoyama, Repsol Honda: 13th.”We tested several configurations for the suspensions this morning and eventually found the one that fitted us best. Then we continued with the rest of the settings and I tried to push hard. Despite not having been able to set a great lap, I felt that things improved, allowing me to have a good pace. In my last attempt I touched another rider and wasn’t able to clock a better lap time. Moreover, we made a mistake with the rear tyre which did not really work as expected. But the feelings haven’t been bad, so we’ll see what happens with a full tank, because I don’t know how the bike is going to behave; things worked well with little fuel.” Ratthapark Wilairot, Thai Honda PTT-SAG: 22nd.”After this morning’s free practice session, I thought I could lap in 1’47, but it wasn’t possible. The weather was much warmer this afternoon, so we decided to focus on the race set-up and try to find the best compromise in terms of suspension settings and tyre choice. I was pretty quick in race trim and if I manage to do a good race, I will be able to fight for point-scoring positions. Tomorrow’s race will be very important for me as I will be supported by a Thai delegation, representatives from AP Honda, other sponsors and several journalists. I hope I won’t disappoint them.” Eugene Laverty, LCR Honda: 23rd.”The bike is working well with a comfortable set-up, and I’m confident for the race. I lost ten minutes with a rear brake problem in the qualifying session so I could have been a little faster, and in the practice session some water leaked onto the rear tyre and caused me to crash.” 125cc. Bradley Smith, Repsol Honda: 4th.”It’s been good, because I clocked a good time this morning and I was able to keep the position in the front row. The other riders have been really fast in the last laps, so I think that I’ll have to improve further for tomorrow to be able to push and stay with them. But I’m happy, because I have a good pace and I’m able to keep consistent times, so I hope to stay there until the last laps. I’ll have to make a good start and push hard to be with them. We’ll have to see what happens. I haven’t seen the times yet, but considering the long straight we have here the race will probably be grouped. Moreover, if the wind is as strong as during the qualifying and yesterday afternoon, we’ll be able to make up some time on the straight. I’m not completely sure, but the races here are usually grouped.” Tito Rabat, Repsol Honda: 12th.”The practice has been really good. My hand hurt a bit, especially when braking, on bumps and during the corners. But then we changed and I was able to make two good laps in 1’51, which is quite good for my expectations. I tried to push as hard as I could and considering my injured hand it was really the best I could do. The team has helped me a lot to prevent me from having pain. I clocked 1’51 all by myself, and that’s very good, because it means that I have a good pace, without having to follow anyone else.” Mike Di Meglio, Kopron Scot Honda: 16th. “Today I had a lot of chattering problems using new tyres, the rear end of bike was sliding a lot. In those conditions it is difficult to maintain control. We have to work hard tonight to solve this problem ride a good warm up in the morning and try to quickly recuperate positions in the race.” Alexis Masbou, FFM Honda: 22nd.”I’ m all messed up mentally and can’t find the right pace because of that. It’s true that I put an immense amount of pressure on myself because I feel I could do better. And because of that I don’t exactly know whether I need to be more precise or stay natural, if I should be working even more or let my instinct do the job. I find it extremely hard to relax. And at the end of the day I completely messed up the final qualifying session and didn¹t improve my lap times from yesterday. I did manage to do a few laps at 100%, but the times just weren¹t there. Tomorrow morning in the warm-up we will revert to our setting from Friday, which suited me better. I’m going to try and work things out mentally this evening and to have a more peaceful approach to the race. My team is doing their utmost to back me up ­ morally and technically ­ and I will do all I can possibly can to bring them satisfaction.” Joey Litjens, Molenaar Honda: 31st. “Not very good today. I don’t really know why we had so many difficulties with the bike in qualifying. I was a full second faster than yesterday but we have work to do on the handling – the set up is not what I need. On my fastest lap I was better in two sections but a braking mistake hurt my time. The heat is not helping either, my engine was very, very hot while riding in a group and I just had no acceleration today I could not pass anybody. The only time the engine temperature dropped was when I was alone down the long straight. This is a fantastic circuit that I like very much and I am disappointed with my qualifying session.” Dino Lombardi, Kopron Scot Honda: 33rd. Dino Lombardi will not race tomorrow. The young Italian crashed during final qualifying for the 125cc GP and broke his left ankle. Danny Webb, Molenaar Honda: 35th.The morning session was good for me but the qualifying session not good at all. We softened up the front suspension damping for qualifying and I went out and did five laps then went to the pit for more suspension adjustments. But that turned out to be the wrong thing to do. I changed tyres and returned the front suspension to the original settings then went out again. But I did not find a fast group to run with and panicked a little bit. I had to set my time riding alone and was not fast enough.”