FIM MotoGP World Championship Brno, Czech Republic August 25, 2012 Qualifying Results (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:55.799 2. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (YAMAHA), 1:55.995 3. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 1:56.327 4. Ben SPIES, USA (YAMAHA), 1:56.331 5. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (YAMAHA), 1:56.559 6. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:56.735 7. Stefan BRADL, Germany (HONDA), 1:56.827 8. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (HONDA), 1:57.068 9. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (DUCATI), 1:57.773 10. Randy DE PUNIET, France (Aprilia ART), 1:57.844 11. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (Aprilia-ART), 1:58.153 12. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (Kawasaki-BQR/FTR), 1:59.087 13. Toni ELIAS, Spain (DUCATI), 1:59.120 14. Michele PIRRO, Italy (Honda-FTR), 1:59.387 15. Colin EDWARDS, USA (BMW-SUTER), 1:59.863 16. Mattia PASINI, Italy (Aprilia-Speed Master/ART), 1:59.865 17. James ELLISON, UK (Aprilia-PBM/ART), 2:00.316 18. Ivan SILVA, Spain (Kawasaki-BQR/FTR), 2:00.329 19. Danilo PETRUCCI, Italy (Aprilia-IODA), 2:00.854 More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: Front row start for Pedrosa in Czech Republic Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa will start tomorrow’s Grand Prix of the Czech Republic from 3rd position on the grid, his 9th front row start of the season. In this morning’s FP3, Dani was fastest by over seven tenths and felt there were areas he could still improve. However, it was a difficult qualifying session for the Spaniard who had a small crash 10 minutes into the session in turn 12 on a used soft rear tyre, which left him with no other option than to use his second bike. On this bike, Dani was able to maintain a similar pace to the morning session but couldn’t improve as he had much more chatter. The team will work hard tonight to repair the damaged bike in time for warm up tomorrow morning. Casey Stoner, who announced on Thursday he will undergo surgery on his injured ankle in Australia, left Europe from Geneva today with his family as planned. DANI PEDROSA 3rd 1’56.327 “I had a small crash at the beginning of the session and unfortunately we were unable to use that bike anymore and had to switch to the second bike. Normally the bikes are very similar and I don’t know why, but this time the second bike was much more rigid and I had more chatter, especially in the front. We tried to fix it but we weren’t able to so in the end I tried to get my best out of it and finally on the last lap I was able to take a front row spot, which is always important. Anyway the bike is working well, I just hope tomorrow we can use our preferred bike, as this morning it felt very good, and have a good race”. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha MotoGP Team: Lorenzo Smashes Brno Record to Take Pole Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge Lorenzo took pole position today for tomorrow’s Grand Prix of Czech Republic with a stunning pace at the Brno circuit. The Championship leader had struggled to find form in the free practice sessions before reverting to the first ever set up used in the first 1000cc M1 test last year. The change bought immediate results, Lorenzo smashing the Brno lap record with a stunning 1’55.799 time. Team mate Ben Spies was also on top form for the qualifying session. The Texan was often the fastest man through the first two splits and looked a definite to complete a Yamaha front row for tomorrow’s grid until a last lap effort by Dani Pedrosa moved him to fourth on the second row of the grid. Spies wrapped up qualifying just 0.004 seconds from a front row start. Jorge Lorenzo Position : 1st Time: 1’55.799 Laps: 20 “We were struggling so much to find the way to set up the bike this morning, we were very lost. Then we went back to the setting we used the first time we tried the 1000 here in Brno last year and it was great. I really enjoyed riding the bike, sliding more as well with less electronics. I just wanted to stay out on the track and just keep riding and riding to improve the lap time.” Ben Spies Position : 4th Time: 1’56.331 Laps: 23 “Overall that was a pretty good qualifying session, I made a couple of small mistakes on a couple of hot laps which I think could have put us on the front row. The bike and team are working really well and we’ve got a good pace for the race so I’m hoping for a trouble free day tomorrow to see what we can do.” Wilco Zeelenberg Team Manager “A fantastic qualifying, the lap record and pole position is great. We solved some problems for qualifying and gained some grip in the rear which is the main difference from the other three sessions. Hopefully tomorrow it’s going to be a dry race.” Massimo Meregalli Team Director “A fabulous pole position from Jorge, he had a really impressive second part of qualifying. Unfortunately we missed the front row with Ben thanks to a last lap from Dani Pedrosa. Despite this Ben is very consistent and his pace is good. The set up is pretty much done so we are optimistic that tomorrow we will see a good race.” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Cal Crutchlow celebrated his new contract with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team by storming to a career best MotoGP qualifying result at the Brno circuit this afternoon. The 26-year-old agreed a one-year extension to his contract this morning and he instantly repaid the faith shown in him by Tech 3, Yamaha and Monster to finish second quickest behind World Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo. Crutchlow was able to set a fast and consistent pace right from the start of a session that took place in much cooler conditions compared to the hot and humid weather of yesterday’s practice. The British rider had already moved into second place with a lap of 1.56.413 when he made a small mistake and crashed his YZR-M1 machine while trying to cut Lorenzo’s advantage of 0.269s. The spill didn’t knock Crutchlow out of his impressively fast rhythm and he quickly adjusted to a different set-up on his spare YZR-M1 machine to improve his pace by almost 0.5s. His best lap of 1.55.995 was only 0.196s behind Lorenzo and he finished 0.332s ahead of Dani Pedrosa to claim his first front row start since the Catalunya round in early June. Today’s result continued the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team’s outstandin g qualifying record in 2012, with either Crutchlow or starting from the front row in half of the races in 2012. Dovizioso’s challenge for a sixth podium in eight races will commence from fifth position on the grid. Dovizioso too was in contention for a front row start throughout the session and he finished with a best time of 1.56.559. That was less than 0.3s away from securing a third front row start of the season for the Italian, who is currently fourth in the World Championship standings ahead of tomorrow’s 22-lap race. Crutchlow 2nd 1.55.995 19 laps “I am really happy to have scored my best ever qualifying result in MotoGP and the timing couldn’t be better after I signed a new contract with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 earlier today. This was the perfect way to immediately repay the faith shown in me by Tech 3, Yamaha and Monster. Once again today we demonstrated what a competitive package we have and that is one of the big reasons why I committed my future to the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team. Yesterday in practice we did a good job to be in contention for the top three and I was confident that we could be very fast and competitive this afternoon. Unfortunately I made a silly mistake about halfway through the session and crashed. I think I hit the only bump on the whole track but it meant I had to finish the session on my spare bike. The crashed bike had my preferred set-up but I quickly adapted and went back out and improved my times by a good margin. I am second on the grid and close to Jorge so I am lo oking forward to the race tomorrow. It is going to be tough but I am confident we can have a strong result and be fighting for a top five.” Andrea Dovizioso 5th 1.56.559 22 laps “The times we made are really good and I’m really happy with my pace for the race. The difficult point is the same as yesterday, even though the conditions are a lot different. I am close to the limit on the front, especially over the race distance, but I think it will be tricky for everybody. I’d like to improve in this area for the race but I also made a little mistake in calculating when to use the soft tyres. I went out quite early with my last soft tyre so I didn’t have the chance to improve my time right at the end like I normally always do. I had hoped to be closer to Lorenzo but I thi nk we can still be in the fight for the podium again tomorrow. This track is very strong for Yamaha with all four of us in the top five but the key will be the weather. The forecasts are predicting rain so everything could change.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing: TONI ELIAS MISSES THE TOP TEN IN BRNO The starting grid for the Czech Republic Grand Prix was finalized today, during this afternoonÂ’s qualifying session that took place with track and ambient temperatures significantly lower than yesterdayÂ’s scorching temperatures. For the Pramac Racing Team and its rider Toni Elias, it was a difficult qualifying session, due to both a lack of feeling with the Ducati machine and a traction issue, especially at some points of the track. Tomorrow the twenty-minute warm-up should be used at its best to improve his bike and make him able to fight for better positions during the race. Toni Elias – Pramac Racing Team – 13th place in 1Â’59.120 “IÂ’m pretty disappointed with today. I hoped to go much better, but we werenÂ’t able to be consistent or even to improve on yesterdayÂ’s time. We worked hard during todayÂ’s practice sessions, trying different solutions on our Ducati, even if it took quite a lot of time out of our qualifying. Fortunately, in the end, we understood some interesting things, which we hope will help us tomorrow. So IÂ’m still optimistic: we can have a solid race and make up some positions.” Marco Rigamonti – Track Engineer Pramac Racing Team – “We had a lot of things to work on and we lost the opportunity to achieve a good grid position for tomorrowÂ’s race. But probably we found some interesting possibilities to improve the bike, and we are confident for the race.” More, from a press release issued by Cardion AB Motoracing: Abraham’s best qualifying practice of the season brings a third-row start in Brno A second and a half quicker and the one minute fifty-eight second barrier broken: encouraging results from Saturday’s qualification for Karel Abraham at the bwin Czech Republic Grand Prix. The Czech rider achieved his best qualification result of this year’s season, and will start his home race in ninth position. Qualification was won in style by Jorge Lorenzo, whose time of 1:55.799 smashed the Masaryk Circuit’s previous record for any motorcycle competition. Karel Abraham was 1.974 seconds slower. Karel Abraham “I think that today went well and everything has helped lift the mood of the team. We’ve achieved what we set out to achieve we’ve come in at under a minute and fifty-eight seconds and there’s still room for improvement. What’s more, we are not too far behind the riders in front of us. I feel a lot more comfortable on the bike. Whereas the changes we made on the bike yesterday made things worse, the opposite was the case today. We’ve made a great step forward. After today I certainly have a lot less to worry about.” Marco Grana, chief mechanic, team Cardion AB Motoracing “I’m satisfied with the results of qualification we cut two seconds from yesterday’s time and 1:57.7 was our target lap time. We still have a problem with sector 2, where we’re losing about 0.8 seconds. This is now our main challenge. If we can overcome it, we’ll be able to go under one minute fifty-seven seconds. With regards to the crash at the end of the session – there’s nothing really to sort out. It happened right in the ‘bad’ sector, when Karel was trying to speed things up. We’ve really sorted out a lot of problems there’s no problem with the tyres, and I’m sure that as long as we get a good start, we’ll be able to remain in the top ten without difficulty and ride the race in the times made during qualifying.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati: Good qualifying session for Valentino Rossi, second row at Brno Under a grey sky, with a constant threat of rain that never materialized during the sessions, Valentino Rossi made the second row, enjoying his best qualifying performance of the season so far. In addition to posting the sixth-best time overall, the Italian has steadily improved his own performance over the course of the weekend, riding consistently and at a good pace in every session. Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 6th (1:56.735) “Since Friday morning, things have gone better here at Brno. We’ve managed to be faster and more competitive than normal and, most importantly, to work on the bike well, improving session by session. This afternoon we managed to do a good ‘time attack,’ so we’re generally pretty pleased. It’s important that we’ll be able to start from the second row in the race because it makes things a little easier. The times in our group are very close, but we’ll have to see what conditions we’ll have tomorrow and what our race pace will be. Anyway, I like the track a lot, and if we can manage to perfect a couple more details with the setup, we can try and have some fun.” More, from a press release issued by Speed Master: MATTIA PASINI SETS THE SIXTEENTH TIME IN THE QUALIFYING PRACTICE AT BRNO The second day of the Brno Grand Prix was held today, under a gloomy sky and with temperatures that were lower than yesterday. In the MotoGP class, Pasini and his crew took advantage of the morning to define the choice for the tyres in view of the race, verifying the durability and the performance on the Czech track. In the afternoon, Mattia tried out some different solutions for the ART machine setting during the beginning of the qualifying session, with the objective to improve his feeling on top of his CRT machine. The Italian ended the practice with the sixteenth time, with which he holds a spot in the sixth row for the starting grid of tomorrow’s race. Mattia Pasini #54 – 16th with 1’59.865 “I’m not really satisfied with the result we got today. There are some parts of this track where we struggle a little and, while we were trying to look for a solution in order to improve in those points, we made some choices that weren’t at our advantage for the corners. Now we’ll see where we still can improve and starting from there we’ll make our final decisions. Tomorrow we’ll focus mostly on consistency and we’ll try our best to move up a few positions during the race.” More, from a press release issued by Avintia Blusens MotoGP Team: Good practice for Yonny convinced to be on the podium tomorrow. Good feeling for Iván Brno, 25 of August 2012. Today has been a day of hard work for the Avintia Blusens MotoGP team both on the technical side and the repairs after Yonny crashed in the free training practices. Both riders looked for the best adjustment for tomorrow´s race as they aim to score and end up on the podium of the CRT´S. Yonny had to complete the whole practice with the spare motorbike as the propulsor on his regular one gave out. Iván managed to get a good setting-up but he lost time waiting for a wheel that eventually never came. Yonny´s twelfth position and third in the CRT´s and Silva´s good pace point out that the Avintia Blusens can achieve a great result in tomorrow´s race. Yonny Hernández (12º, 1’59.087 +3.288): “It´s been a weird G.P. I crashed twice in the first two free training practices which made me lose a bit of self-confidence even if I felt at ease again after I gradually managed to be able to ride normally. My bike gave out right after the qualifying practice started and I had to complete the session with the spare motorbike. Even if the regular bike was the one with the right settings and adjustments I quickly realised I was able to get by with the spare bike. I finished third in the CRT´s and I think it´s good. I will start on the same row as the championship leaders and I am very happy to be in this position. Tomorrow I´ll try my best to score again and be in the top three. I´d like to thank the team for their effort as they fixed my regular bike and worked hard on the spare bike so I could feel at ease with it.” Iván Silva (18º, 2’00.329 +4.530): “I think we have a good pace as we are starting next to Edwards and Pasini ad we will be in for a good position. We managed to set a very well-balanced motorbike I hope to do a good race with. In the qualifying practice I was looking for a wheel that would have enabled me to take a bigger step ahead instead of improving tenth by tenth. Time was a bit tight but I thought it would be worth trying to have a reference. Eventually it proved to be impossible but I think it was a positive session. I hope I´ll score tomorrow which is the most important thing for the team and lto eave Brno with a good feeling.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Lorenzo lays down new pole position record at Brno Round 12: Czech Republic Grand Prix Qualifying Practice Brno, Saturday 24 August 2012 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium, Extra-hard. Rear: Medium, Hard (Asymmetric) Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Soft (Main), Hard (Alternative) Weather: FP3 – Dry. Ambient 20-21°C; Track 23-24°C (Bridgestone measurement) QP – Dry. Ambient 23-23°C; Track 27-28°C (Bridgestone measurement) Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo will start in first place on the grid at Brno tomorrow after setting a time of 1’55.799 to smash the existing pole position lap record as he chases a second MotoGP™ victory at the Czech Republic circuit. Lorenzo surpassed the existing lap record of 1’56.145 earlier in qualifying before going even faster in the final ten minutes of the session to qualify 0.196 seconds ahead of Monster Tech3 Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow who will start on the front row for the second time this season, while Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa was third quickest in qualifying with a best lap time of 1’56.327. Randy de Puniet set a best lap time of 1’57.844 on the Power Electronics Aspar ART machine to be the top CRT entry in qualifying in tenth position on the grid. Brno experienced heavy rain overnight washing away most of the rubber laid down on the circuit yesterday, leaving track conditions only slightly better than yesterday. Cloud cover persisted for FP3 and Qualifying keeping track temperatures approximately 15°C cooler than the corresponding sessions yesterday and with less rear grip on offer than expected today, most riders on the grid selected the softer rear slicks in combination with the harder front. With cool temperatures also expected for tomorrow’s race, race simulations were undertaken on the softer rear / harder front slick and this is expected to be the most popular tyre combination should tomorrow’s race be run in dry conditions. The MotoGP™ riders will have one final chance to hone their race set-up in tomorrow morning’s Warm Up session at 0940 local time (GMT +2) with the race getting underway at 1400. Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department “The overnight rain and cool temperatures meant track conditions were only marginally better than yesterday, though both sessions were dry allowing teams to find a good set-up for the time attack towards the end of qualifying. The cooler temperatures resulted in riders sticking to the softer rear slick as this option provides better warm-up performance and also more edge grip which is important as the grip level of the circuit is still not at its optimum. Even cooler temperatures are forecast for tomorrow and many teams performed race simulations on the combination of the softer rear and harder front slicks in anticipation of tomorrow’s weather, so I expect most riders to select this combination for the race. “ More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: BRADL TO START FROM THE SEVENTH PLACE IN TOMORROW’S CZECH GP Brno, 25th August: with track and ambient temperatures significantly lower than yesterday’s scorching temperatures the MotoGP contingent hit the Czech circuit for the second day of practices with LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl in third row on the grid with the seventh lap time (1’56.827). With some small improvements to some areas he struggled with today the German is confident he can put up an even stronger challenge in tomorrow’s 22-lap race on the track he experienced the podiums in lower classes. Stefan: “Well… It was a difficult qualifying because we made a lot of changes from the morning session to the afternoon and we were expecting more improvements but unfortunately the adjustments did not work properly. We are still struggling with front-end feeling in corners entry. We tried to fix the chattering problems during the qualifying and at the end I could find a better feeling but we are still missing something. The bike potential is bigger than this and I must be sharper in the entry of the corners because there are many downhill breaking areas”. More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Qualifying for the MotoGP™ classes took place under frequently ominous skies at the bwin Grand Prix ÄŒeské republiky in Brno today with Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo on record-breaking pace in the premier-class taking pole position for tomorrow’s race ahead of Cal Crutchlow and Dani Pedrosa. Lorenzo’s time in the high 1.55s only narrowly beat Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Crutchlow into second on the grid, despite the Brit crashing half way through the session. For Crutchlow, who re-signed with the squad for another year today, this is his best MotoGP qualifying result to date. Completing the front row is Repsol Honda Team’s pace man from yesterday, Dani Pedrosa, whose session got off to a bad start after dropping his bike in the early stages. He then went out on his second bike, yet stated that this had far more chatter issues than the one he crashed. Row two is headed by Lorenzo’s teammate Ben Spies in fourth, after the Texan looked to be riding near his best form once again. In fifth, Tech 3’s Andrea Dovizioso was not able to beat his teammate’s time, and also had to park his bike up on the side of the track at the end with a technical issue. Ducati Team’s Valentino Rossi lines up in sixth place, recording his best qualifying result since joining the Italian outfit last year. Row three sees LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl in seventh place on the grid, with the German no doubt looking to improve in tomorrow’s race. Eighth place went to San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Álvaro Bautista, who will be disappointed at being beaten by the rookie on the other satellite Honda. Completing the third row in ninth is Cardion AB Racing’s local rider Karel Abraham, who will have delighted his home fans, despite dropping his bike in the gravel at the end. In tenth, Power Electronics Aspar’s Randy de Puniet, who also crashed in the session, managed to finish as top CRT. The only other rider to suffer an accident was San Carlo’s Michele Pirro, who like the others, walked away unscathed. Moto2™ In an eventful Moto2™ qualifying session for the bwin Grand Prix ÄŒeské republiky it was Pons 40 HP Tuenti’s Pol Espargaró who stormed to pole position in front of Tom Lüthi and Scott Redding. In a session that was frantic from the off it was Espargaró who recorded his fourth pole position this season with a record time of 2.01’953 ahead of Interwetten-Paddock’s Lüthi, who had looked stronger at the start. Marc VDS Racing Team’s Scott Redding was only fractionally slower than the Swiss rider, yet still managed to secure a front row start. Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol’s Marc Márquez will be disappointed with his qualifying session, having missed out on the front row for only the second time this season. The championship leader did well to stay on his bike, as he had a moment towards the end as he pushed for a better lap. Lining up next to him in fifth is Came IodaRacing Project’s Simone Corsi, marginally ousting his compatriot Andrea Iannone on the Speed Master bike. Iannone recovered from a heavy crash early in the session, which saw the red flags come out briefly to clean the track of oil patches. He was able to re-join the latter stages of qualifying. Italtrans Racing Team’s Takaaki Nakagami put in a good showing in seventh to head the third row, pushing Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2’s Nico Terol into eighth. Technomag-CIP’s Dominique Aegerter and JiR Moto2’s Johann Zarco complete the top ten. As well as Iannone’s heavy crash, QMMF Racing Team’s Elena Rosell suffered her second fall of the day, while Federal Oil Gresini Moto2’s Gino Rea also had a spill into the gravel. NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Alex de Angelis had an enormous “tank-slapper”, which violently threw him off the bike in the latter stages of qualifying. He also walked away unscathed. Arguiñano Racing Team’s Ricky Cardús and Kiefer Racing’s Max Neukirchner did not take part in qualifying as they are ruled out of the weekend due to injuries sustained in previous sessions. Cardús has a dislocation of the right acromioclavicular joint (shoulder) and Neukirchner a fractured third metacarpus in his right hand. Moto3™ In a Moto3™ qualifying session for the bwin Grand Prix ÄŒeské republiky in Brno that was threatened by rain throughout it was Blusens Avintia’s Maverick Viñales who went fastest to take pole position ahead of Sandro Cortese and Zulfahmi Khairuddin. Viñales’ lap of 2.08’075 was just enough to secure the Spanish youngster his fifth pole position of the season. Red Bull KTM Ajo’s championship leader Cortese had looked like he was on pole-pace in his final hot lap, yet dropped off in the last sector of the track to miss out by just over three hundredths. AirAsia-SIC-Ajo’s Khairuddin will be incredibly pleased with his performance, with the Malaysian starting from the front row for only the second time in his career. San Carlo Gresini Moto3’s Niccolò Antonelli was another rider that had a good session, as he heads up the second row in fourth, ahead of Indianapolis race winner, RW Racing GP’s Luis Salom. Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3’s Héctor Faubel put his bike in sixth, after finding some extra pace in the afternoon. Redox-Ongetta-Centro Seta’s Jakub Kornfeil was pushing hard in front of his local support, and was rewarded with first slot on the third row. Lining up next to him is Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Alex Rins and Cortese’s teammate Danny Kent. Faubel’s teammate Jonas Folger completes the top ten. As the Moto3™ grid tried to get some hot laps in early on with dark clouds threatening from the start, there was a big crash early on between Ambrogio Next Racing’s Giulian Pedone and Salom’s teammate Brad Binder. Both fortunately walked away, albeit rather gingerly. Pedone’s teammate Alex Márquez crashed twice during the session, the second time with Andalucia JHK T-Shirt Laglisse’s Alberto Moncayo. Both riders were unhurt. More, from a press release issued by Power Electronics Aspar Team: DE PUNIET BOUNCES BACK TO QUALIFY AS TOP CRT POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar rider recovers from early qualifying crash to lead his team-mate Espargaró in battle for CRT glory Just when it looked like the weekend was predestined to go the way of Dani Pedrosa there was a dramatic twist to the script today as the challenge of Jorge Lorenzo finally emerged to take pole position in qualifying practice. The Spanish pair line-up either side of Cal Crutchlow on tomorrow’s front row but barring rainy conditions it is hard to see past the championship’s leading two riders for the race win. POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar rider Randy De Puniet made life difficult for himself after just ten minutes of this afternoon’s grid shootout, running straight into the gravel under braking and suffering a crash that thankfully left him and his bike without major injuries. The Frenchman bounced back to clock a 1’57.844 on his twelfth lap, enough to secure a visit to parc fermé as the fastest CRT qualifier by a single position from his team-mate Aleix Espargaró. The Spaniard was once again his most competitive rival and with a second advantage over the rest of the CRT bikes on the grid it looks to be a straight battle for honours between the pair tomorrow. 10th Randy De Puniet 1.57.844 (15 laps): “Qualifying was a bit of a tense affair for me because I crashed on only my second run. I made a mistake trying to brake too late and went straight into the gravel. It wasn’t a big one but I was a little dizzy when I got up. I went back to the garage and decided to wait for the guys to fix the bike. They did a great job and barely fifteen minutes later I was back on track. It was time to put the soft tyres on and I struggled a little to get on the pace at first because I was still a bit dazed. I came back in for another tyre and that time I was able to set a good lap. In the end I was tenth fastest and the top CRT so I want to thank the team for the job they have done. This is a great result but we have to back it up tomorrow.” 11th Aleix Espargaró 1.58.153 (20 laps): “Today has been very positive. I am happy because we have improved a lot from day one after suffering some major rear grip issues. We also had some chatter this morning but we have improved in both aspects and I’m pleased with the way we are responding to problems as they arise. We have put together a good pace, like my team-mate, and it looks like between us we have a bit of an advantage over the rest of the CRT riders so it could be a battle between Randy and myself if everything goes to plan. He is very fast over one lap but we’ll see what happens over race distance. I am going to try everything to win and I hope it’s a dry race but I won’t be too bothered if it rains.” More, from a press release issued by NGM Mobile Forward Racing: Chattering affects Edwards´s qualifying results at Brno Despite the storm last night and the consequent change of conditions of the track in Brno, Colin Edwards improves this weekend´s personal best at Brno and make it to the fifth row for the 12th race of the season in the MotoGP championship. Four seconds away from Jorge Lorenzo´s pole record, the NGM Mobile Forward Racing rider was able to complete a lap under 2 minutes and will try to get closer to the three CRTs that he has infront of him. The warm up´s focus will be to eliminate the chatter problems that he has encountered during free practices and qualifying sessions. Colin Edwards 15th (1´59.863) “This morning the track conditions were a lot cooler and when we went out this morning we had chatter on top of chatter and could not push what so ever. We went back to the setting from Qatar and went faster right away. This weekend we just had so much trouble with traction control this weekend; I don’t know when its working, when its going to start working. I have no idea how much I can push; if I push too much I’ve got chatter, if I get on the throttle too early it flicks me out of the seat. We need to maybe pull out something in the warm up tomorrow. Being 2 seconds away from the best CRT and we need to close that gap.” Sergio Verbena Crew Chief “After last night’s rain the track conditions have changed and have complicated things for us: today we had many chattering problems and this has compromised our performance. In the end we managed to leave some CRTs behind us but to be with the top CRTs we still need to be 1,5 seconds faster and eliminate the chatter problem for tomorrow’s race.”