ALICE MOTORRAD G.P. DEUTSCHLAND Sachsenring MotoGP Qualifying 1. Nicky HAYDEN, Honda, 1:22.785 2. Sete GIBERNAU, Honda, 1:22.889 3. Alex BARROS, Honda, 1:22.932 4. Valentino ROSSI, Yamaha, 1:22.973 5. Marco MELANDRI, Honda, 1:23.051 6. Max BIAGGI, Honda, 1:23.054 7. Colin EDWARDS, Yamaha, 1:23.139 8. Loris CAPIROSSI, Ducati, 1:23.174 9. Kenny ROBERTS, Suzuki, 1:23.212 10. John HOPKINS, Suzuki, 1:23.296 11. Carlos CHECA, Ducati, 1:23.341 12. Shinya NAKANO, Kawasaki, 1:23.382 13. Alex HOFMANN, Kawasaki, 1:23.405 14. Olivier JACQUE, Kawasaki, 1:23.715 15. Makoto TAMADA, Honda, 1:23.860 16. Troy BAYLISS, Honda, 1:23.916 17. Toni ELIAS, Yamaha, 1:24.421 18. Ruben XAUS, Yamaha, 1:24.605 19. James ELLISON, Blata, 1:24.988 20. Roberto ROLFO, Ducati, 1:25.011 21. Shane BYRNE, Proton, 1:25.713 22. Franco BATTAINI, Blata, 1:26.154 More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Hayden celebrates birthday with second career pole at Sachsenring Nicky Hayden celebrated his 24th birthday in fine style at the Sachsenring circuit today, taking pole position for the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland with the fastest MotoGP lap in today’s qualifying practice. Hayden clocked a time of 1’22.785 to hold off the challenge of Honda colleague Sete Gibernau by 0.101 seconds whilst Alex Barros, who crashed twice yesterday after setting the fastest time of the day, set the third quickest lap of the session to complete the front row. The Brazilian was denied the chance to challenge for pole in the closing minutes as he dropped his Honda for the third time this weekend. “It’s a nice way to celebrate my birthday but tomorrow’s the big one I’ll have a slice of cake if I do well in the race!” smiled Hayden, who took his first pole position at the Red Bull US Grand Prix three weeks ago. “It’s nice to take pole for the whole team. Laguna Seca was cool because it was my first pole but a lot of people said it was only because it was my home track. Here the other guys know the track much better than me so nobody can say that I didn’t deserve it. In the race I’ll just try to stay up front for as long as possible and go for it; we’ll see what happens.” MotoGP World Championship leader Valentino Rossi recovered from a tricky opening day at the German track to move up from thirteenth on yesterday’s time sheets to clinch a second row start in fourth place. Marco Melandri, who is currently second to the reigning World Champion in the rider standings, posted a quick final lap to gatecrash an all-Italian second row behind Rossi and ahead of Max Biaggi. Colin Edwards suffered from similar set-up problems to his team-mate Rossi yesterday but also made progress today as he moved up two places to qualify seventh fastest. The American will be joined on the third row of the grid by Loris Capirossi and Kenny Roberts, who provisionally held pole position for much of the session at a circuit where he celebrated victory five seasons ago. Roberts’ Suzuki team-mate John Hopkins rode through the pain barrier today after it was confirmed that he has a broken a metatarsal bone in his foot caused by his crash in yesterday afternoon’s second free practice session. The American qualified tenth fastest, taking advantage of Carlos Checa’s misfortune as the Spaniard endured the most spectacular crash of the season so far. Checa was making a challenge for pole position when he lost control at the top of the notorious turn twelve, a fast right-hander that comes after a series of left-hand bends. Checa was thrown into the air at high speed but miraculously returned to his pit box within minutes to take his second bike and qualify eleventh fastest. Hopkins and Checa are joined on the fourth row by Shinya Nakano, the fastest of a trio of Kawasaki riders with home favourite Alex Hofmann and wildcard Olivier Jacque just behind him in thirteenth and fourteenth respectively. Alex de Angelis will start from the front of the 250cc grid for the first time this season after clocking a new pole record of 1’24.618 to oust World Champion Dani Pedrosa from top spot by just 0.096 seconds. Jorge Lorenzo and Sebastián Porto complete the front row for the ninth round of the quarter-litre campaign, which sees Pedrosa leading Casey Stoner by 34 points. Stoner qualified seventh fastest today and will line up on the second row of the grid behind Japanese pair Hiroshi Aoyama and Yuki Takahashi and ahead of Randy de Puniet. Mika Kallio continued his incredible run of pole positions in the 125cc class, racking up his fifth in succession and seventh of the season in a close session this afternoon. Mattia Pasini, who jointly leads the championship with Gabor Talmacsi on 100 points, was baulked on a fast lap by Mike di Meglio and could only watch in frustration as Kallio clocked a final lap of 1’27.965 to secure front spot on the starting grid. Pasini eventually slid to fourth place behind Marco Simoncelli and Thomas Lüthi, who both briefly held pole before Kallio’s late charge, whilst Talmacsi will start from the outside of the second row in eighth place. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing: MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2005 ROUND 10 – ALICE MOTORRAD GRAND PRIX DEUTSCHLAND 30 JULY 2005 – QUALIFYING PRACTICE KAWASAKI TEAM STICKS TOGETHER AT THE SACHSENRING Kawasaki’s trio of factory riders delivered a near perfect team performance in today’s qualifying session for tomorrow’s German Grand Prix. Japanese rider Shinya Nakano led the Ninja ZX-RR charge by claiming position twelve on the third row of the grid, although he was hard pressed by teammates Alex Hofmann and Olivier Jacque. German ace Hofmann, riding in his home race, was bidding to be the top Kawasaki rider, but just missed out by two hundredths of a second. He will start 13th at the head of the fourth row and, importantly, on the inside part of the track for the run to the tight first corner. Hofmann had a satisfying day after working with his technical crew to improve front end feel, after he struggled in yesterday’s free practice. Just 0.3s behind, from 14th on the grid, is Jacque, the Frenchman making a welcome return to the Kawasaki squad as a wild card for this race. All riders had use of the latest tyres from Bridgestone today, including dual-compound rear tyres to handle the special demands of the Sachsenring. Interestingly, the seven factory riders across three teams using Bridgestone tyres were grouped together on the grid, separated by just 0.6s from eighth to fourteenth positions. Today’s set-up work included continuing evaluation of various engine configurations and chassis balance to handle the short, bumpy and rollercoaster layout of the Sachsenring. Track conditions for qualifying were much cooler than for yesterday’s free practice after a torrential, overnight storm lashed the Sachsenring area. It was sunny and warm today with a track temperature of 42 degrees, down from yesterday’s tropical 52 degrees. Shinya Nakano: #56 – Twelfth – 1’23.382 “I expected a little more from qualifying, I thought at least the second row was possible, but I’m much happier than a week ago at Donington. I didn’t really have any problems and all the riders on Bridgestone qualifying tyres are grouped together; I think this is our level at the moment. The race set-up is consistent, but I will need a very good start here, it is very difficult to overtake.” Alex Hofmann: #66 – Thirteenth – 1’23.405 “That’s more like it, a very satisfying day although I must admit my aim was to be the fastest Kawasaki rider. Yesterday I struggled but the team did a good job, we spent a lot of time focussing on the problems and analysing the set-up. From this morning the feedback from the front end was much better and I have a good pace. Thirty laps here is not going to be easy for us, but hopefully I can keep all my home fans happy tomorrow.” Olivier Jacque: #19 – Fourteenth – 1’23.715 “I was much happier this afternoon than in morning practice, we went the wrong way on set-up but found the right direction for qualifying. I only had one run on a soft qualifying tyre but I did a lot of laps at a comfortable rhythm on race tyres. You need to be precise and have a relaxed set-up for this track, so I’m feeling positive for the race tomorrow.” Ichiro Yoda: Technical Manager “There was a big temperature difference from morning to afternoon when it was much hotter. This made tyre evaluation a little difficult, but it seems our race tyre options here will be competitive and consistent.” Harald Eckl: Team Manager “The Kawasaki squad is together on the grid, a strong team performance. But overall I was anticipating our bikes could be closer to the front given the layout of this track and the current ZX-RR package. We continue to work hard and improve, but clearly our competitors do the same, so we have to understand that this is a very tough level of racing. This is never an easy track, but Kawasaki has three riders capable of finishing in the top ten tomorrow and that is our goal.” QUALIFYING PRACTICE – FINAL TIMES 1. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda 1’22.785; 2. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Movistar Honda MotoGP +0.104; 3. Alex Barros (BRA) Camel Honda +0.147; 4. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Gauloises Yamaha Team +0.18; 5. Marco Melandri (ITA) Movistar Honda MotoGP +0.266; 6. Max Biaggi (ITA) Repsol Honda +0.269; 7. Colin Edwards (USA) Gauloises Yamaha Team +0.354; 8. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team +0.389; 9. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team Suzuki MotoGP +0.427; 10. John Hopkins (USA) Team Suzuki MotoGP +0.511; 12. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team +0.597; 13. Alex Hofmann (GER) Kawasaki Racing Team +0.620; 14. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team +0.930 More, from a press release issued by Gauloises Yamaha: German Grand Prix Sachsenring, Germany Saturday 30th July 2005 GAULOISES YAMAHA PAIR MAKE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IN SACHSENRING Gauloises Yamaha riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards recovered from a difficult first day at the Sachsenring to improve their positions today, qualifying on the second and third row respectively for tomorrow’s German Grand Prix. Rossi in particular made impressive progress after struggling to the thirteenth fastest time yesterday, mounting a strong challenge this afternoon in an entertaining battle for pole position that was eventually won by Nicky Hayden (Honda). Whilst Sete Gibernau and Alex Barros (both Honda) join Hayden on the front row, Rossi ended the session only 0.188 seconds off the day’s best time and the Italian was satisfied both with the steps taken with the set-up of his YZR-M1 machine and with a fourth-place start on the grid. Edwards also made encouraging progress, although he was unable to find the perfect compromise setting for the track, which places drastically diverse demands on the machine throughout the contrasting fast and slow sections. The American eventually qualified seventh fastest and will head the third row of the grid tomorrow. VALENTINO ROSSI (4th 1’22.973; 29 laps) “I’m much happier today – the team have done a great job to get the bike working well here because it is such a peculiar circuit. Yesterday we lost our direction a little bit but today we made a lot of progress. In the morning we were able to sort out the problems we had on the front end and in the afternoon we made a big step forward on the rear, even with the race tyre. I made a mistake in the final corner on my fast lap that probably cost me a tenth but I am still only 0.188 seconds from the pole. Considering where we were yesterday, I am happy with that. Tomorrow will be a very hard race because there are four or five riders who have the pace to run at the front, but we’ve done a good job today and I think we can be there with them.” COLIN EDWARDS (7th 1’23.139; 31 laps) “We made some progress today but it is still a struggle! This morning I put on a qualifier in the free practice just to test it out and only then was I able to set a fast lap. I’m losing three tenths of a second in the third section, which we just can’t seem to work out. Three tenths is a lot over a whole lap, especially here, but to lose it in one split is hard to swallow. To be honest though, things were so bad yesterday that if you’d have told me I’d be seventh fastest today and starting from the front of the third row, I wouldn’t have been too upset. We know exactly where the problem is and the team are doing everything they can to fix it. We’ve just got to work extremely hard in the warm-up tomorrow to try to come up with a solution.” DAVIDE BRIVIO GAULOISES YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR “The team has reacted well to the problems we had yesterday and both riders have been able to improve their times. Actually, Valentino put in a few good laps at a decent pace and a second row start is not a problem for him. I am confident he will be there to fight in the race as usual. Colin has a more difficult job starting from the third row, but hopefully he can make some improvements in the morning and stick with the front group in the race. We’ll see what happens in the race tomorrow but so far I am very happy with the team and their reaction to a tough situation yesterday. Hopefully we can go on holiday in a good mood!” FRONT ROW: Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team, 1’22.785 Sete Gibernau (SPA) Movistar Honda MotoGP, 1’22.889 Alex Barros (BRA) Camel Honda, 1’22.932 SECOND ROW: VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Gauloises Yamaha Team, 1’22.973 Marco Melandri (ITA) Movistar Honda MotoGP, 1’23.051 Max Biaggi (ITA) Repsol Honda Team, 1’23.054 THIRD ROW: COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Gauloises Yamaha Team, 1’23.139 Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1’23.174 Kenny Roberts (USA) Team Suzuki MotoGP, 1’23.212 More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki MotoGP: Team SUZUKI MotoGP on the pace as Hopkins battles through the pain barrier Team SUZUKI MotoGP racers Kenny Roberts Jr and John Hopkins both qualified for tomorrow’s Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland within touching distance of pole position, following this afternoon’s exciting session at Sachsenring in Germany. Hopkins (P10, 1’23.296) performed bravely to fight off the injuries that he suffered during yesterday’s high-speed crash and for a long period of the qualifying practice he was in second place just behind team-mate Roberts Jr. Hopkins will now have further treatment this evening to help in his fight for fitness for tomorrow’s race. Roberts Jr (P9, 1’23.212) continued his good form and topped the qualifying leader-board for over half of the hour-long session. His fastest time was only 0.427 seconds behind pole-setter Nicky Hayden. Today’s practice sessions were held in much cooler conditions than yesterday with temperatures only reaching 24 degrees. Sunday’s race will begin at the earlier time of 12.30CET, with the chance of thunderstorms still very likely. Kenny Roberts Jr: “I think we’re ok as far as race grip goes. We would still like some things to happen with the bike that would help us with the lap-time on race tyres and race set-up. Qualifying times don’t mean that much to me as they haven’t done all year. As far as where we are on the grid, I think that in a dry race we have to make the bike a bit more competitive to achieve what we want to achieve and that is to run up at the front with the top group, and to be able to slide the bike around and still have a competitive lap-time.” Dean Miller Team Physio: “John’s injuries have made it a bit difficult for him to step-up and do exactly what he would want to do if he was healthy. He took the job out there today very seriously and did what he had to do. We will continue to work on things and give him some pain relief and get him ready to race.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “A truly heroic effort by John. He is struggling to get on and off the bike and there are definitely some strength issues with him riding. He’s passed his medical but his list of injuries include a broken bone in his foot, sprained ligaments in his hand, cartilage damage in his ribs and severe bruising all over. Maybe riding the bike at that speed for one lap is possible but 30 laps is a different matter entirely we will have to wait and see how he is tomorrow. A night’s rest should be a big benefit but sometimes in these situations it can make things worse. Let’s hope for the positive and that he is able to ride well and safely tomorrow. If he can score some points it will be a richly deserved reward. “It was great to see Kenny setting the pace for the majority of the session. Indeed with only a few minutes to go the GSV-R’s were one and two. The position changed a bit towards the end and Kenny tried to respond but his last two runs didn’t go as smoothly as his earlier ones and he wasn’t able to improve on his lap-time. Nonetheless to be only 0.4 seconds off pole – and with rapidly improving options for race tyres from Bridgestone – indicates that whilst in the dry we will probably not be where we would like to be, the direction in terms of ultimately getting better results seems to be well underway.” Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland Qualifying Practice Classification: 1. Nicky Hayden (Honda) 1’22.785: 2 Sete Gibernau (Honda) +0.104: 3. Alex Barros (Honda) +0.147: 4. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +0.188: 5. Marco Melandri (Honda) +0.266: 6. Max Biaggi (Honda) +0.269: 7. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +0.354: 8. Loris Capirossi (Ducati) +0.389: 9. KENNY ROBERTS JR (TEAM SUZUKI MOTOGP) +0.427: 10. JOHN HOPKINS (TEAM SUZUKI MOTOGP) +0.511: More, from a press release issued by Camel Honda: ALEX ON FRONT ROW AT SACHSENRING It’s not easy to find that extra effort needed to shine at a track where today fourteen riders were within a second of each other, with gaps between them of thousandths of a second, not even tenths. However Alex Barros put himself amongst the top riders in the official qualifying for the German GP and with the third fastest time will start from the front row in the 10th round of the series, which will take place at 12:30 local time at the Sachsenring circuit. The race promises to be hard-fought and a real battle and it is important to choose a tyre to suit the complex and technical nature of the tight German track. The bikes spend a lot of time leant over in the corners and is tough on tyres. The riders need a good feeling with the front end of the bike and that is considered the ideal formula to win here. Alex Barros knows only too well that in searching for the limit he has been to ground three times in two days, however without any physical damage. Bayliss finished the session with the 16th fastest time, but he was unable to show all his potential with the race settings, with which he has a good pace going. Sito Pons Camel Honda “Alex crashed twice yesterday and was first, today he crashed once more and he is on the front row,”¦ obviously crashing hasn’t made him go any slower! Joking aside, we need to find out why he has slid out, and improve the settings on the front to give him more confidence in it. In any case, he has been quick throughout the two days and he has a good rhythm going, so we hope that tomorrow he can find the right road to victory, although without a doubt it is going to be a tough race. As for Troy, I really don’t know what happened, but today he wasn’t as comfortable as yesterday and he wasn’t able to make the most of the qualifying tyres this afternoon. He will start from towards the back, but he has good pace on race tyres, and up to now he has shown he always seems able to get a good start.” Alex Barros Camel Honda 1’22.932 3rd fastest “I’m quite happy, I feel good at this track and I think I’ve got quite a good pace in the low 1’24s; and if that is the pace of tomorrow’s race, as I believe it will be, I think we can go well. Today’s crash during qualifying was a little strange, I lost control of the front for no real reason but besides that I’m completely satisfied with how the bike is behaving and I’m confident for the race.” Troy Bayliss Camel Honda 1’23.916 16th fastest “It is honestly hard for me to find the words to describe this qualifying session, because having been in the top seven in the other practices, eighth at the worst, I seriously hoped for more than the sixth row. Instead I had a slight problem with the front brake, I had a different sensation there today, but I can’t honestly blame it on that. Unfortunately during the whole session I couldn’t regain the feeling I had enjoyed before. With the qualifying tyres I only took just over a tenth off my best time with race tyres, a ridiculous improvement. Now I’m disappointed, but I will continue to believe and will give it my best shot.” More, from a press release issued by Telefonica Movistar Honda: FIRST AND SECOND ROW FOR THE MOVISTAR RIDERS AT SACHSENRING Gibernau disappointed to lose best time in final seconds but confident over race distance as Melandri moves up to fifth GERMAN GP -MOTOGP OFFICIAL QUALIFYING Sete Gibernau will start from the front row of the grid tomorrow between Nicky Hayden and Alex Barros as he goes in search of his first victory of the season. Second fastest in each of the practice sessions this weekend, Sete tackled this afternoon’s qualifying practice in confident mood and set the pace for much of the session, knocking 1 second off his lap times. The Movistar rider moved onto pole position just 20 minutes from the end as he stopped the clock at 1’22.889 with his 20th lap, although he was unable to find the limit on qualifying tyres in the final ten minutes of the session. Sete was disappointed not to end the day on pole but he is confident his luck will change before the holidays begin. Marco Melandri suffered a little more than expected to set the bike up to his liking at the peculiar Sachsenring circuit, where a few tenths can be paid for dearly. However, his progress today saw him! make up ten places on the grid, qualifying fifth fastest after only managing the fifteenth fastest time in free practice. SETE GIBERNAU (2nd, 1’22″889): “We prepared well for the final session, as we had for the three beforehand, but I can’t deny a slightly bitter taste in my mouth over the result. We’ve had a few unexpected problems with the front end that meant I was unable to finish the job off with the qualifying tyre. I would have liked to set pole but we have to have confidence in the good race pace we found today and use the warm up to have a look at what happened in the final few minutes before going out and giving everything in the race.” MARCO MELANDRI (5th, 1’23″051): “For the first time this season we had to make a lot of changes to the setting of the bike this morning, heading in a completely new direction, and I had a little difficulty getting used to the new configuration. The f! eeling improved in qualifying this afternoon but I think I still have a lot of room for improvement. Qualifying on the second row of the grid has been a big relief and together with the team I will try and refine a few details tomorrow in the warm up. The race will be very demanding and it will be important to get a good start here because it is so difficult to overtake.” LAP TIMES 1. Nicky Hayden (USA/Honda) 1’22″785 2. Sete Gibernau (Esp/Honda) + 0″104 3. Alex Barros (Bra/Honda) + 0″147 4. Valentino Rossi (Ita/Yamaha) + 0″188 5. Marco Melandri (Ita/Honda) + 0″266 More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: Alice German Grand Prix, Sachsenring Qualifying, Saturday July 30 2005 DUCATI MARLBORO RIDERS IN FIGHT FOR QUALIFYING PLACES Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Carlos Checa will line up eighth and 11th respectively on the grid for Sunday’s 30-lap Sachsenring MotoGP race, after an incredibly close qualifying session saw the top fourteen riders lap within one second of pole position. In the timed session Carlos suffered a massive highside crash the exit of the fastest corner of the circuit, curtailing his plans to improve his grid position still further. Such was the speed of the crash that Checa and his machine slid all the way to the bottom of the long drop at the rear section of the circuit. He was largely uninjured in the fall, despite his high impact speed and a long slide on the tarmac. Nicky Hayden took pole on his Honda, with Sete Gibernau and Alex Barros also on the front row. “I think we must be positive because with race tyre Carlos was setting 1’23 laps and he also made good tests for tyre durability and endurance,” said Ducati MotoGP Project Manager Livio Suppo. “Loris is also very satisfied with the new tyres, so we must be happy for the big improvements made in dry track conditions. Normally we would expect better in terms of our qualifying positions but Carlos had a big crash and we are lucky that he is not injured, as he fell in the worst possible place to crash. Loris made a very good job. He is only three tenths from the leader – yet he is on the third row! This track is unbelievable, but we are positive about tomorrow.” CAPIROSSI READY TO RACE Capirossi was deprived of one last chance to improve his grid position in qualifying but knows that his race set-up is in good shape for the 30-lap race. “I have made more or less 15 laps on race tyres and we are in not bad condition,” stated Capirossi. “With the first qualifying tyres I was fast but on the second set I had some problems with traffic and I was not able to improve my grid position. I am confident about the race because things are looking better here than most recent races. There will be many riders packed together in the early part and 30 laps is a lot around here. I hope it will not rain, as it will be more fun for everyone in the dry. Even if it rains I am still confident because our Bridgestone rain tyres are very good in these conditions. The start will be very important as it is vital to get to the front of the race early when so many riders have set such similar times.” CHECA CONFIDENT OF RACE SET-UP DESPITE FALL Checa’s high-speed crash conspired to put him on the fourth row of the grid for his 150th GP start in the premier class, thanks to an 11th place finish on the time sheets. On race tyres, Checa knows that he has shown himself to be one of the fastest riders. “I have a little bit of pain in my back but I should be OK. Sometimes you lose traction in that downhill area on qualifying tyres but suddenly the rear just came round and I could not control it, although I tried very hard to. I am lucky to be OK, and for the race I think we have a good pace. It’s a shame we have to start so far back on the grid but I will try as hard as possible to follow that top group. The race is quite long and we have good race pace, so we will see if we can use it early enough to make up a lot of places.” More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing: German Grand Prix at The Sachsenring Saturday July 30, 2005 ON-FORM NICKY NOTCHES SECOND POLE OF SEASON Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) powered his Honda to pole position here at the Sachsenring and signalled a new found confidence in his growing stature as a rider. Honda machines monopolised the front row with Sete Gibernau (Team Movistar Honda RC211V) qualifying second fastest and Alex Barros (Camel Honda RC211V) third. Even six minutes into the hour-long qualifying session the young American (24 today) topped the timesheet and always looked comfortable on the swooping tarmac of this roller-coaster 3.671km track. He’s clearly gained confidence after his win from pole position at Laguna Seca and is determined to elevate himself from his current position of seventh overall in the World Championship. The Sachsenring is composed of 10 left-hand turns and only three right-handers which favours Hayden and his dirt-track derived riding style where he feels comfortable hanging the rear-end of his machine out on left-handers. But his first pole at a European track is significant in that it marks his mastery of a track that was entirely alien to him just two years ago. The track was dry today after searing heat yesterday followed by a bout of torrential rain in the evening. With an ambient temperature of 24 degrees and with the track at 36 degrees after the unprecedented 52 degree track temperature of yesterday, conditions were hugely changed today. Kenny Roberts (Suzuki) looked good early on in the session and he and his team-mate John Hopkins were first and second fastest with 20 minutes of the session gone. But Gibernau soon knocked the Suzuki’s off the top in the final 20 minutes with a 1m 22.889s lap. Reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) had been struggling to get his machine on the pace here yesterday and although he found some extra speed, it was not enough to secure a vital front row start. He was second fastest with 12 minutes left, but was then relegated to third fastest before having to settle for row two by the end. The tight turn one here is a problem on the first lap and all riders acknowledge that a front row start is almost essential to avoid having to work too hard at overtaking at a track where opportunities are few and have to be taken whenever they present themselves. Sete ran into front-end problems towards the end of the session and did not have the opportunity to make the most of his qualifying tyres. But the Spaniard is only 0.104 seconds off Hayden’s 1m 22.785s pole time. However, the top ten riders are separated by a mere 0.511 seconds and the racing is bound to be tight and ferocious tomorrow. Carlos Checa (Ducati) had climbed up the order from outside the top ten to third fastest at the halfway point, but then crashed heavily with 14 minutes left, high-siding his machine on the super-fast downhill section into the penultimate turn. The durable Spanish rider was unhurt while his first choice machine sustained heavy damage. Marco Melandri (Team Movistar Honda RC211V) found it hard going here. The Italian ace was outside the top ten until the final three minutes when he hoisted himself to fifth fastest ahead of Max Biaggi (Repsol Honda RC211V) who still can’t get the best from his factory RCV. Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda RC211V) is still not back to his best and could only manage a fifth row start from 15th, while Troy Bayliss (Camel Honda RC211V) was another rider who found it hard work here. The Aussie qualified 16th. “This is my way of celebrating,” said Nicky, who is 24-years-old today. “But tomorrow’s the big one. My Laguna Seca pole was cool but everyone was saying ‘it’s because he knows the track and likes it’. But now this pole is at a track that everyone else knows real well and so this is good.” Sete said, “We hope to turn this year around, be fast and have a good race. We ran into some front-end problems right at the end of the session and so that’s a bit of a worry for tomorrow and something that we’ll have a close look at tonight.” Barros, who fell at turn one in the final 10 minutes without injury, was happy enough with the front row. “I feel confident here,” said the experienced Brazilian who will start his 251st Grand Prix tomorrow. “The bike is working well and despite crashing yesterday and today, we’ve got to be looking at getting a good result tomorrow.” Melandri said, “For the first time this season we had to make a lot of changes to the settings of the bike, heading in a completely new direction, and I had difficulty getting used to the configuration. The feeling improved this afternoon but I think I still have a lot of room for improvement. Qualifying on the second row is a big relief.” Max, who has now gone 18 races without a win, said, “I have to be happy with the second row but even that hasn’t happened much this season and that tells its own story. The bike feels worse than last year here and I’m not comfortable. But the team has worked very hard this weekend and we have made some progress, but not enough. The problem we’ve had all season is still there and at the moment we can’t seem to find a cure.” Tamada said, “I’m disappointed about today. But tomorrow I will react aggressively. This afternoon the bike responded completely differently to yesterday and this morning. Conditions changed making things complicated. Today the track temperature was 15 degrees lower than yesterday and tomorrow we’ll have to use our 20 minutes warm-up to find a set-up which will help me in the race.” “It’s hard to describe this session,” said Bayliss. “I was always in the top seven in free training and I wanted a lot better than the sixth row of the grid. I had a small problem with the front brake but that’s not the main issue. The front-end felt different throughout the session, but I just need to believe I can do it in the race tomorrow.” In the 250cc class Alex de Angelis (Aprilia) stole pole from Dani Pedrosa (Team Movistar Honda RS250RW) with a lap of 1m 24.618s in the closing minutes of the session. Dani had established a new record pole time of 1m24.714s before the Italian robbed the World Championship leader of what would have been his fifth pole of the season so far. The front row comprises de Angelis, Dani, Jorge Lorenzo (Fortuna Honda RS250RW), who secures his seventh front row start of the season, and Sebastian Porto (Aprilia). Hiroshi Aoyama (Team Movistar Honda RS250RW) heads the second row as fifth fastest qualifier. Yuki Takahashi (Scot Racing Team Honda RS250RW) put in his best qualifying performance of rookie season so far with sixth on the grid, Hector Barbera (Fortuna Honda RS250RW) heads row three as ninth fastest while Andrea Dovizioso (Scot Racing Team Honda RS250RW), trying to recapture his early season form, qualified tenth. “I’m happy because we improved from yesterday,” said Dani. “We still have to see if there’s going to be any more rain tomorrow, but my set-up is good. It’s a long race tomorrow and I don’t want to say too much right now. We’ll just see what we can do tomorrow.” Lorenzo said,” We had some problems with the front suspension this morning and we seem to have cured that so I’m happy about that. The bike’s going well and I’ll just have to make sure I get a good start after working hard to get on the front row.” Mika Kallio (KTM) snatched pole in the 125cc class with a lap time of 1m27.695 seconds in the last moments of the final half-hour of qualifying. Marco Simoncelli (Aprilia) was second fastest qualifier with Thomas Luthi (Elit Grand Prix Honda RS125R) third fastest and current series points leader Mattia Pasini (Aprilia) completing the front row. This is Kallio’s sixth pole of the season, but Luthi’s fifth front row start of the year puts him in a position to be among the leaders into turn one in tomorrow’s race. This tight turn is usually heavily congested at the start and a good grid slot is vital here. Luthi headed the timesheet at the halfway stage of the session and always looked likely to be among the front-runners here. Aleix Espargaro (Seedorf Racing Honda RS125R), who is 16 today, briefly held second fastest time until the regular fast men began to monopolise the front row. Tomoyoshi Koyama (Ajo Motorsport Honda RS125R) qualified sixth, his best effort so far, while Espargaro had to be content with row three in the end as 11th fastest qualifier. Fabrizio Lai (Kopron Racing World Honda RS125RW) qualified 13th. “My last lap was my fastest,” said Luthi. “But I maybe could have done better. I got tangles up with a slower rider at turn three and that cost me time. The track is bumpy and it seems to get worse each year. The chassis is maybe not quite perfect but the engine is really strong. The race should be really good fun tomorrow with maybe up to ten riders in the leading group.” HONDA TEAM QUOTES: MotoGP: Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda Team: 1st: “That’s not a bad way to celebrate your birthday but tomorrow’s when it all counts. If we can put it all together in the race we’ll really earn some cake! It feels really good to get pole here. Laguna was cool as it was my first pole and of course it was at home but I’m sure there were people around who said that I only got pole because I knew the place so well. It’s good to come here and go fastest against a whole bunch of guys who know this place a whole lot better than I do. The bike feels pretty good for the race. My boys have done a real good job. I’m definitely going to try and stay up front all day. We’ll just go for it and see what happens.” Sete Gibernau, Movistar Honda MotoGP: 2nd: “We prepared well for the final session, as we had for the three beforehand, but I can’t deny a slightly bitter taste in my mouth over the result. We’ve had a few unexpected problems with the front end that meant I was unable to finish the job off with the qualifying tyre. I would have liked to set pole but we have to have confidence in the good race pace we found today and use the warm up to have a look at what happened in the final few minutes before going out and giving everything in the race.” Alex Barros, Camel Honda: 3rd: “I’m quite happy, I feel good at this track and I think I’ve got quite a good pace in the low 1’24s; and if that is the pace of tomorrow’s race, as I believe it will be, I think we can go well. Today’s crash during qualifying was a little strange, I lost control of the front for no real reason but besides that I’m completely satisfied with how the bike is behaving and I’m confident for the race.” Max Biaggi, Repsol Honda Team: 4th: “I have to be happy in a way to get on the second row of the grid even that hasn’t happened much this season and I guess that tells it’s own story. The bike feels worse here than last year and I’m not comfortable. The team have worked very hard this weekend and we have made some progress but not enough. Basically the problem we have had all season is still there and at the moment we seem to have no cure. We will have a hard race tomorrow as many riders have a fast pace. We will see!” Marco Melandri, Movistar Honda MotoGP: 5th: “For the first time this season we had to make a lot of changes to the setting of the bike this morning, heading in a completely new direction, and I had a little difficulty getting used to the new configuration. The feeling improved in qualifying this afternoon but I think I still have a lot of room for improvement. Qualifying on the second row of the grid has been a big relief and together with the team I will try and refine a few details tomorrow in the warm up. The race will be very demanding and it will be important to get a good start here because it is so difficult to overtake.” Makoto Tamada, Konica Minolta Honda: 15th: “I’m disappointed about today’s performance but tomorrow I will react on the track with the right aggressiveness. This afternoon the bike responded completely different compare to yesterday and this morning. The circuit conditions have changed giving me some complications to find the right setting. In fact, today the temperature of the track was about 15 degrees lower than yesterday; we have passed from almost 50 degrees to just a bit more than 30. Tomorrow morning we’ll have to use in the best way possible the 20 minutes warm up to try to find a good set up which would allow me to climb various positions during the race and conquer an honourable result.” Troy Bayliss, Camel Honda: 16th: “It is honestly hard for me to find the words to describe this qualifying session, because having been in the top seven in the other practices, eighth at the worst, I seriously hoped for more than the sixth row. Instead I had a slight problem with the front brake, I had a different sensation there today, but I can’t honestly blame it on that. Unfortunately during the whole session I couldn’t regain the feeling I had enjoyed before. With the qualifying tyres I only took just over a tenth off my best time with race tyres, a ridiculous improvement. Now I’m disappointed, but I will continue to believe and will give it my best shot.” 250cc: Dani Pedrosa, MoviStar Honda: 2nd: “Today we’ve improved the set-up of the bike and the race pace. This step forward gives me confidence that we can perform to our best tomorrow although we will have to pay attention to a lot of riders because there is a big group within only a few tenths. The bike configuration is good so I’m completely confident about my chances. Now the only unknown is the weather. It would be a shame if it rains because we haven’t had chance to rid in the wet here but we’ll just have to be prepared for anything”. Jorge Lorenzo, Fortuna Honda: 3rd: “I am happy because compared with this morning I got a lot more confidence with the front end in the afternoon and that allowed me to go much faster. It will almost be an endurance race, where physical condition could prove to be a major advantage when it comes to winning the race. Hopefully that plays in our favour.” Hiroshi Aoyama, MoviStar Honda: 5th: “The front row escaped me by very little but the important thing is the race. The weekend hasn’t gone badly and now it’s time to follow that up. I feel good on the bike and I still think we can improve it a little more in the warm up. I’m very motivated and I want to fight for the podium. Normally I get good starts so I hope to get involved with the lead group from the start and hang on until the end”. Yuki Takahashi, Scot Honda: 6th: “I like this track! I’ve found the set up I need and now I’m also fast in T3 and T4. If it doesn’t rain and I get a good start I can race with the front group. The choice of tyres will be fundamental and it will depend on the weather conditions.” Hector Barbera, Fortuna Honda: 9th: “We’ve improved my lap time from yesterday by almost a second although that is still not enough. I’m only five tenths off fifth place, which is highly motivating. Little by little we are finding our way and getting some consistency together. It will be a difficult race. I’m really keen to ride at the front again and demonstrating my ability. We’re all going to find it difficult after 29 laps but I have worked hard on my physical condition recently which has allowed me to enjoy the races much more.” Andrea Dovizioso, Scot Honda: 10th: “We have big setting problems and I don’t like this track at all. Yesterday the front end was sliding badly and I could not get a good lap time because of that. My problem now is that we don’t have much time in the warm up to improve and find the set up we need for the race.” Dirk Heidolf, Kiefer Castrol Honda: 18th: “Not so happy with my qualifying. The bike is very good, engine and suspension are working really good. But I left it too late to go for fast times when I tried over the last few laps I got caught up with slower riders, on my best lap I caught Jakub (Smrz) but he was going a little slower than me so I couldn’t get a better time. I’m not really pleased because I wanted to be in the top 15 on the grid for my home GP.” Jakub Smrz, Molenaar Honda: 19th: “Qualifying was not so good today, even if I did improve my time. Yesterday the bike was pretty good but we made some changes to the front end which turned out not so good causing me a lot of rear wheel slides, three or four of them really big ones, I felt like I was power sliding the bike. We will go back to what we know works for the warm up. One thing for sure. Alex Debon, Wurth Honda BQR: 21st: “Today was a bad one for us. My engine was not fast I am way down on top speed. Ii have been trying a new swinging arm but it doesn’t have the same flex factor of the original and this caused me some rear end problems. We will revert to the original swinging arm tonight and I hope we can improve the engine for the warm up. Whatever happens I will need a good start if I am to get points in the race.” Radomil Rous, Wurth Honda BQR: 25th: “This is my first time at the Sachsenring, it’s a very technical and I have found it difficult so far. In the morning a small bolt on the valve mechanism broke and I lost power so I wasted too much time. Still we have to be positive and look forward to the race. If I get a good start I will have a good race.” 125cc: Thomas Luthi, Elit Honda: 3rd: “My last lap was my fastest but it could have been better but I met a slower rider at T3 and he cost me a little time The track is also bumpy, it gets worse every year. This caused us a few problems with the suspension. We fixed most of the problems but it’s still not perfect. The engine is strong so I expect a good race. I think we will have a lot of fun in the race, there could be ten of us in the leading group.” Tomoyoshi Koyama, Ajo Motorsport Honda: 6th: “My engine is really fast and I’m happy with that. The only real problem I is with front end chatter but we have improved that in the last session. When I started setting fast times my third gear was too short for the track but that we can change for the arm up.” Aleix Espargaro, Seedorf RC3 Tiempo Holidays Honda: 11th: “I’m happy. This morning I had a very good practice finishing in fifth position. We had to do some tests with the tyres and I finishe satisfied with them, feeling very comfortable. I think that my time of 1m 28.736s is a good time. At the end of the session I have not been able to improve on that. But I think I have a good pace for the race, something really important for tomorrow.” Fabrizio Lai, Kopron Racing World Honda: 13th: “For the qualifying session I had just one time-tyre, allocated by Dunlop, but we have used it too early. I’ve obtained a good time but in the last laps but all the other riders improved their time, unfortunately I’ve finished the tyre and I couldn’t improve my time.” . Sandro Cortese, Kiefer Boss Castrol Honda: 15th: “I’m happy with qualifying the engine is very good but we had suspension problems. The front end was chattering and the rear moving around. The team have fixed the front end but I still had a couple of small rear end slides. I need a good start and if I get one I will have a good race.” Toshihisa Kuzuhara, Angaia Racing Honda: 16th: “I like the circuit very much my only slight problem is at T2 and T3 where I find it difficult to hold my line. We had some suspension problems on the bumps but the bike is working well now. Tomorrow it will be necessary to get a good start and ride well for he first two or three laps.” Alvaro Bautista, Seedorf RC3 Tiempo Holidays Honda: 19th: “I have improved from yesterday. It seems that the bike is going a little bit better, but we still have some things to do to ride really fast. I have middle to low 1m 29s. Lets see if tomorrow we can use the warm up to find solutions that give us more chance in the race.” Mike Di Meglio, Kopron Racing World Honda: 20th: “I have used the time-tyre too early, too. I have also problems in T3 corners that I have to learn better. This year Fabrizio (Lai) and I have always made good starts. If tomorrow we start well, we can make a good race because the bikes are OK.” Alexis Masbou, Ajo Motorsport Honda: 24th: “Yesterday we had a lot of problems with the suspension front and rear but the team worked hard for me and the bike has improved. I feel a lot better today. I’m not really disappointed with the time just my position on the grid.” Raymond Schouten, Molenaar Honda: 31st: “I am happy with my time but not my place on the grid. My time of 1m 30.2s isn’t too because I made a couple of small mistakes on my fast lap. My problem is the tyres, they are only working well for about eight laps.”