FIM MotoGP World Championship Catalunya, Spain June 4 Qualifying Results (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Marco SIMONCELLI, Italy (HONDA), 1:42.413 2. Casey STONER, Australia (HONDA), 1:42.429 3. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:42.728 4. Ben SPIES, USA (YAMAHA), 1:42.742 5. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (HONDA), 1:42.749 6. Cal CRUTCHLOW, Great Britain (YAMAHA), 1:43.202 7. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:43.223 8. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (DUCATI), 1:43.228 9. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:43.447 10. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), 1:43.656 11. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (HONDA), 1:43.734 12. Randy DE PUNIET, France (DUCATI), 1:43.764 13. Loris CAPIROSSI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:44.068 14. Toni ELIAS, Spain (HONDA), 1:44.510 15. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (DUCATI), 1:45.661 16. Colin EDWARDS, USA (YAMAHA), no times recorded More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Third row start for Bautista at his home Grand Prix Álvaro Bautista will start tomorrow’s Catalonian Grand Prix from the third row of the grid after qualifying in ninth place this afternoon. Bautista (1’43.447, 29 laps) again made solid progress today as he prepared his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R for Sunday’s main event. His lap-times improved throughout the qualifying session as he worked with his team to get the best grid position for tomorrow’s race. Bautista’s ninth place equals his starting position from last year; when he went on to record his equal best season finish of fifth in the race. Today’s qualifying was held in very overcast conditions, but the threatening rain clouds stayed away enabling the session to go ahead completely dry. Marco Simoncelli on a Honda took a career-first MotoGP pole position, with fellow Honda rider Casey Stoner second and reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo filling the remaining front row berth. Tomorrow’s 25-lap race is the fifth round of this season and the lights will go out to signal the start at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT), with Bautista aiming to give a competitive performance in front of his fellow countrymen. Álvaro Bautista: “It’s was a good day’s practice because we improved on yesterday’s rhythm and lap-times. I tried a different setting in the shock with the harder tyres this morning, but I didn’t like it too much, so for this afternoon we continued with the same setting as yesterday. I tested the hard front and soft rear tyres, but I didn’t really have a good feeling from the front, especially under hard braking when entering a corner, so I changed to a soft front and was able to get a good feeling and keep my place in the top 10. At the end of the qualifying session we put on a new set of tyres to make a good lap for the best grid position and I did my best lap alone without following other riders. On this track if you follow someone you can get a good time, but I am happy with my time because in each practice I improved by one second. My feeling with the bike is still not 100%, but it is getting much better. I have a lot more confidence now than the first practice and I am getting more aggressive, so I hope to get the same feeling in the race! The third row is a good position and it is the same as last year and tomorrow depending on the weather we will have a good race. I want to say thank-you to my crew because they are working very hard to give me a bike that gives me the confidence I need after my injury. I will try to enjoy tomorrow’s race and hope that they enjoy it too!” Paul Denning Team Manager: “Álvaro has done a good job to pick up the pace today. His self-confidence is starting to come back, and to qualify the bike only a second from pole – with the intensity at the front of the pack as it is – is definitely a reasonable result. The plan was for the season to really start here after his accident and it’s been difficult to know where we are after the injury in Qatar, so it will be a proper test tomorrow to try and translate the third row start in to a decent result.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Simoncelli secures maiden MotoGP pole position in Catalunya Round 5: Catalunya GP Qualifying Catalunya Circuit, Saturday 4 June 2011 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Medium, Hard. Rear (asymmetric): Medium, Hard Marco Simoncelli has shown great pace this season and after qualifying second for the last two races, today he snatched his first premier class pole position from Casey Stoner with just 40 seconds of the session remaining. Stoner has been the pacesetter in every free practice session this weekend and was sitting in provisional pole until Simoncelli put in a scorching penultimate lap using the harder front and softer rear Bridgestone slicks to usurp the Australian by 0.016seconds. Jorge Lorenzo completes tomorrow’s front row, with Ben Spies, Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow making up row two. The times at the front were very close and just 0.03seconds separated the top five. Conditions today remained dry for both MotoGP sessions but after rain yesterday and overnight, track conditions have not been ideal. Simoncelli’s lap was less than 0.1seconds from the existing lap record, but the temperature is lower than in previous years and circuit grip is quite low. Consequently, almost all riders favoured the harder front tyre for its better stability under braking and the softer rear tyre, which this year in Catalunya is the medium compound asymmetric slick, for its added rear grip. Race tyre choice tomorrow is likely to be more varied however as all options have been used to good effect this weekend. The circuit generally seems to be more slippery this year, with a few possible contributing factors. The intermittent rain yesterday and overnight has not helped in cleaning the track, each time making it dirtier. The track temperature is 18 degrees Celsius lower than last year, and also the tarmac itself is not in the best condition. Hirohide Hamashima Assistant to Director, Motorsport Tyre Development Division “Firstly I must congratulate Marco and the San Carlo Honda Gresini team for their performance today, and after proving his speed this season it is good to see him achieve his first pole. It was quite a tricky session for the riders as I can say now after two sessions of running without interruption from rain that the grip level this weekend seems quite low. Still the times at the front are fast and close to the lap record, but the track is not in perfect condition. “I am pleased that both front tyre compounds are working well as shown by the fact that after yesterday’s practices almost all riders chose one of each option in their final front tyre allocation, whereas normally we see that most riders have a clear favourite from Friday. The softer rear tyre was the preferred option in these conditions today, and I am very satisfied that we revised our tyre compound selection before this race to bring this medium compound rear as last year we didn’t have this tyre here in Catalunya.” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Top six for Crutchlow, successful surgery for Edwards Cal Crutchlow will start tomorrow’s Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya from sixth position on the grid after the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider produced another outstanding qualifying performance this afternoon. The 2009 World Supersport champion was a serious contender for the top six throughout today’s session, run in warmer conditions than expected as temperatures peaked at 25 degrees. Crutchlow spent the majority of the session working to improve the side grip performance with his Bridgestone rear tyre options, the British rider soaring into fourth place on the timesheets when he posted a lap of 1.43.501 with just over 15 minutes left on the clock. As the pace hotted up in the final few minutes, Crutchlow slipped down the rankings to sixth position. He kept his cool though and showed how quickly he’s mastered the technical Montmelo circuit by producing a stunning final lap of 1.43.202 to claim his second successive start from the second row of the grid. He finished just over 0.4s away from reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo, who qualified his factory Yamaha YZR-M1 machine in third spot on the front row for tomorrow’s 25-lap race. Colin Edwards has already commenced his recovery from the broken right collarbone he suffered in a crash during the second free practice yesterday afternoon. The popular American underwent a successful operation on the damaged collarbone at the USP Institut Universitari Dexeus of Barcelona this morming. The procedure was carried out by specialist surgeons Dr Xavier Mir, Head of the Hand Surgery Unit of the Orthopaedics Department of the USP Institut Un iversitari Dexeus, and Dr Victor Marlet. A plate and seven screws was inserted to stabilise the injury. Edwards will remain under observation in hospital for the next 24 to 48 hours, but the 37-year-old is already in good spirits and planning a return to his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team at the earliest opportunity. The collarbone injury ends the Texan’s proud record of starting 141 consecutive races since his MotoGP debut back in 2003. Cal Crutchlow 6th 1.43.202 22 laps: “I’m happy enough to be on the second row of the grid again because this is another track I’ve come to with zero experience and I’ve shown my raw speed and proved a few people wrong. Ben (Spies) was fifth here last year and I was trying to get that one place higher up to equal it, but I can’t be disappointed with sixth on the grid. All cred it to the Team because they have done a fantastic job again. We’ve still got some work to do to improve the side grip but I’m confident we can make the set-up better for the race. As soon as I open the throttle I’m struggling for grip, so if we can improve in that area we should be on course for a strong result. As I get faster and faster I have to keep changing my riding style but I think I can have an interesting race if I can get away from the start. It’s a long run down to the first corner here so I need a good start to avoid getting bunched up at the beginning. It’s a shame Colin is not here because I can learn lot from him on the data that helps me out a lot, particularly with lines. I heard he sent the Team a text saying he wanted to see me ‘kick some ass’, so hopefully I can do that for him tomorrow.” Herve Poncharal Team Manager: “Colin had his operation thi s morning in Barcelona and I am pleased to report that it was a routine procedure and everything went very well. Although he was in quite a lot of pain yesterday, the only positive is that the injury was a clean break without any complications, so we are confident the recovery will be a quick process and we will see Colin back on track very soon. We are still obviously very sorry for what happened to Colin but he is already back to being the Colin we know and love, laughing and joking with staff at the hospital, so we hope to see him back in the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 family very soon. Cal though is certainly doing his best to put the smile back on our faces. His performances on tracks he’s never seen before have been remarkable, and today he showed again he is a top level MotoGP rider. He looks more like a seasoned campaigner than a rookie and to qualify in the top six again against this competition is a fantastic achievement. We are looking forward to the race with a lot of confidence now and hopefully he can do Colin and the Team proud.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: The Repsol Honda Team, ready for an intense battle in Catalunya With the second fastest time in today’s qualifying practice, Casey Stoner will start the Grand Prix of Catalunya on the front row for the fourth consecutive year. Team mate Andrea Dovizioso, fifth today in qualifying will start from the second row as he did in 2010 and 2009. The Repsol Honda Team again fought hard for pole position in a very intense qualifying practice held under the best weather conditions so far this weekend. Stoner dominated the session until the last minute, when Marco Simoncelli, replaced the Australian rider on top of the sheets by just 0.016 seconds. Nevertheless, Casey is confident with his race pace and ability to fight for another good result tomorrow. Also confident after his performance is team mate Andrea Dovizioso, the Italian rider has improved his lap time by another second from yesterday and narrowly missed the front row by just 0.021 seconds, fighting for the pole position on his very last lap but unfortunately made a mistake on the second sector of the circuit. Casey has visited the podium in Catalunya for the past 4 years, with one win in 2007 and three consecutive third positions from 2008 to 2010. After his podium in France three weeks ago, Andrea will also be looking for a top three finish. CASEY STONER 2nd 1’42.429 “I’m disappointed with qualifying, we had good pace and should have been able to go a lot faster on new tyres. In my first run of the session the bike wasn’t working so well, the tyres weren’t warming up as expected with that set up and I had a lot less grip on the soft tyre, which we couldn’t understand why. We tried changing inner pressure but it made it worse and we weren’t able to do anything with the last tyre which I’m very frustrated with because I almost did the same laptime with the soft and the hard tyre. Front row is obviously where we want to be but I’m annoyed as we spent the whole session working on the tyres and not improving the bike set up. For tomorrow we’re confident with our race pace on hard tyres if the weather stays dry, it’s just upsetting to have a qualifying session like this”. ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 5th 1’42.749 “Montmelo is a special track, you slide a lot and it’s good fun to ride with a MotoGP bike. This morning we worked on the set up and weight balance to improve the grip and this afternoon I had a better feeling. I’m happy with the race pace, we lapped consistently and together with Stoner, who made an impressive lap time, I think myself, Sic and Lorenzo will all be in the fight. The first row was possible but in my last lap I went wide at Turn 5, so I lost the opportunity. But to start from the second row is also fine as I feel strong and I have the pace to fight in the race. Tomorrow we will have a good race, hard fought and I look forward to it”. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha MotoGP Team: Lorenzo Claims Front Row Start for His Home Race at Catalunya Yamaha Factory Racing riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies managed to escape the threat of rain today and enjoy a third free practice and subsequent qualifying session under dry and sunny conditions. Lorenzo will start the Grand Prix of Catalunya tomorrow from the front row in third position on the grid, his team mate Spies taking fourth for a second row start. Both riders made big steps forward from yesterday with the improved weather; the reigning World Champion Lorenzo finding over a second from day one to wrap up qualifying 0.315 seconds from pole. The improvement from Spies was even more impressive, the Texan finding nearly two seconds today and running as high as second place during qualifying. A front row start was looking possible until a concerted effort by his Mallorcan team mate relegated him to the second row at the end of the heat, just 0.014 seconds behind Lorenzo. Jorge Lorenzo Position : 3rd Time: 1’42.728 Laps: 25 “It has been a tough session today. In the morning it was good but in the afternoon we struggled a little bit. I pushed as hard as I could for pole but it was not possible. The race will also be tough because we are still quite far from the front but not as far as yesterday. If we can take one or two tenths we can fight for something, but I think a win would be a miracle.” Ben Spies Position : 4th Time: 1’42.742 Laps: 27 “It was a good session although we were missing a little bit of time out there. Looking at the ideal split times it would have put us on the front row. We’re in a good position in fourth all the way to the left of the grid so hopefully we can have a good start and have a good first couple of corners. The bike is working really well and we’ve been top five for most of the weekend. The weather’s looking like it might be ok for tomorrow now so I’m looking forward to the race. It’s been a while since we’ve been consistently quick so hopefully we can make the bike better, we’re going to try some set up changes in the morning and I’m feeling a lot happier on the bike.” Wilco Zeelenberg Team Manager “Not the best qualifying we’ve had so far. This morning it went well and we made some adjustments after that. This afternoon they didn’t really work out, Jorge was missing some front end feeling so was pushing hard, we need to solve that for tomorrow. Anyway we are happy to be on the front row because that’s important but it’s more important now to solve our front end problem.” Massimo Meregalli Team Director “I’m satisfied with the results, Ben is feeling a lot more comfortable and has a better feeling on the bike, he rode very well in all the sessions and is clearly enjoying riding the bike. It’s very important to start the race from a good position which he has in fourth on the grid. The crew is working really well and Ben is happy with the behaviour of the bike; he is being smooth, fast and consistent which is a good signal for tomorrow. We completed a long run with good pace so now we have to decide which tyre to use tomorrow, other than that we are pretty much set. Jorge is starting from the front row which is very important for his race here at his home track. He will for sure fight for the best result possible.” More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: ELIAS DISAPPOINTED WITH HIS HOME GP QUALIYING Montmeló, 4 June: LCR Honda MotoGP rider Toni Elias qualified 14th (1’44.510) in a tough qualifying 60-minute session at Montmeló circuit in readiness for tomorrow’s 25-lap Catalunya GP that gets underway at 14:00 local time. The Spaniard spent the majority of a closely contested qualifying session at his home race track concentrating on improving LCR RCV traction control. After yesterdays opening day, Elias made several set-up changes testing the 2011 updated chassis but he wasn’t able to build a useful result in the afternoon session. LCR crew is working on machine adjustments to give the Moto2 reigning World Champion more confidence in the undulating and fast curves of the Catalan circuit ahead tomorrow’s fifth round. Elias: “This morning we fit the new 2011 chassis which was a little improvement for me on front feeling and rear traction out of the corners but it was not the solution of our issues. We are still working all together to increase our pace but I can not feel the bike: I miss braking stability and grip on the maximum angle. This is a difficult situation for everybody in the Team because we have got the potential to finish in the top ten. Want to thank all my fans here because they are so warm and I was very surprised” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: SEVENTH AND EIGHTH FOR VALENTINO ROSSI AND NICKY HAYDEN IN CATALUNYA QUALIFYING Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden set the seventh- and eighth-best times, respectively, in qualifying for the Catalan Grand Prix, and both riders will start from the third row of the grid tomorrow. The sessions took place in nice weather conditions, which allowed the two Ducati Marlboro Team riders to work well along with their respective crews, and to improve the setup of the GP11. In qualifying, both Rossi and Hayden used new engines with the latest technical updates from the racing department. Valentino Rossi (Ducati Marlboro Team) 7th, 1:43.223 “This afternoon went a little better, although I can’t be happy with the third row. Crutchlow took the second row from us in the end, but it was my fault because if had ridden better on my final lap, I could have cut a couple of tenths from my time, which would have put me in sixth. Anyway, we improved the bike’s settings. The three free-practice sessions were very difficult, and I even had a fall this morning, but fortunately I didn’t hurt myself. We found the key to the problem in qualifying though, and we made some setup changes that helped us to get a little closer to the front””not close enough of course, but our pace with hard tyres isn’t bad. We also decided to use the updated engine, which I prefer, as the bike is more controllable on acceleration.” Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro Team) 8th, 1:43.228 “I know eighth isn’t great, but it’s my best qualifying session of the year. At least we’re starting a little closer to the front, which is a good sign. The second row was right there in front of us””a real possibility today. No excuses, though; I had clear laps but just couldn’t quite get down to the time I needed. It’s obviously not a perfect situation for the race, but I would say we’re a little bit closer than we have been. I’m looking forward to tomorrow. It’s going to be tough, but hopefully I can get a good start and get in there and mix it up.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: SIMONCELLI GRABS FIRST POLE POSITION, STONER A CLOSE SECOND Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) underlined his ever-growing speed by scoring his first MotoGP pole position at Catalunya today in preparation for tomorrow’s Catalan Grand Prix. The former 250 World Champion went quickest in the final few minutes, taking over from Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda RC212V) who had led the session from the start. The final place on the front row was taken by reigning World Champion and current points leader Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha). Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V) secured a second-row start with fifth fastest time. The factory Repsol-backed team’s third rider Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) is absent this weekend. The Spaniard is still recovering from the collarbone fracture he sustained when he came out worst from a clash with Simoncelli during last month’s French Grand Prix. This afternoon Simoncelli responded in the best way possible following that incident, by riding a perfect lap of the challenging Catalunya circuit. The Italian came on strong at the very end of the session after struggling to fine-tune the set-up of his RCV during the early stages. After demoting Stoner to second, he still had time for one more lap and was even faster until he got to Turn 12 where he had a big slide, which he saved with his right knee. Stoner led free practice which included yesterday’s two rain-affected sessions and was considerably faster than everyone during the first half of qualifying. After 30 minutes he was six tenths ahead of his closest rival, but when it was time to fit the softer-option Bridgestone he couldn’t find any extra speed. A lack of edge grip was the issue on the softer rubber, but the Australian knows he has a very competitive race pace. Dovizioso was also in the hunt for a front-row start. The Italian ran strongly in the early stages and with 12 minutes to go he moved into second place behind Stoner. He was confident of retaining that position until he ran wide at Turn Five during his last lap, ending the session just 0.007 seconds shy of fourth-fastest Ben Spies (Yamaha). Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) was 11th quickest, the Japanese one of many to complain that the track is lacking its usual grip. The former 250 World Champion also struggled to keep the front end down exiting the turns which lost him crucial time. He hopes to find a solution to his difficulties in morning warm-up. Toni Elias (LCR Honda MotoGP RC212V) qualified 14th for his home Grand Prix, using a 2011 RCV chassis modified to suit his particular riding technique. Although the chassis is a step in the right direction, Elias was disappointed not to have achieved a better position on the grid for his home race. Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing-Kalex) continued his remarkable run in Moto2, scoring his fifth pole position from as many races. The World Championship leader came out on top of a typically close-fought qualifying session, which had the quickest 19 riders separated by just 1.1s. Bradl’s fifth pole of 2011 certainly didn’t come easily. After the first three practice sessions he was only 11th fastest. Diligent work by his crew honed machine set-up until the young German was able to push to his maximum this afternoon. At one point he ran into the gravel trap at Turn Ten, but he kept his cool to increase his advantage over second-fastest Aleix Espargaro (Pons HP40-Pons Kalex) to 0.114s. Local star Espargaro was delighted to score his first Moto2 front row, a performance which he hopes to turn into his first Moto2 podium tomorrow. Final man on row one was last year’s Catalunya Moto2 winner Yuki Takahashi (Gresini Racing Moto2-Moriwaki), the Japanese qualifying inside the top three for the third time so far this year. The second row of the Moto2 grid comprises Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2-Suter), Le Mans winner Marc Marquez (Team Catalunya Caixa Repsol-Suter) and Bradley Smith (Tech 3 Racing-Tech 3). As always, the session was packed with incident. Smith was one of several fallers, the Briton going down at high speed at the final turn. Luckily, his mid-session pace had been fast enough to secure a place on row two, though he may have been able to challenge for pole if he hadn’t missed the final stages of the outing. Jerez winner Andrea Iannone (Speed Master-Suter) fell on only his second lap. The Italian lost control at Turn Nine and had several goes at saving it until finally he was pitched over the handlebars. By the time his battered machine had been returned to the pits and repaired he had less than ten minutes track time to get the best-possible grid position. In just four laps Iannone found enough speed to go 22nd fastest, 1.2s off pole. Tomorrow’s Catalan Grand Prix is the fifth round of this year’s 18-event MotoGP World Championship. Immediately after racing finishes the paddock heads north and across the English Channel for next weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone. MotoGP rider quotes Marco Simoncelli, San Carlo Honda Gresini: pole position 1m, 42.413s “It went well and I am much happier now than I have been for the past two weeks leading up to the Grand Prix. I was strong even though we had a few problems at the start of the session when I couldn’t push as hard as I would have liked. By the end we had solved the problems and I was able to ride really fast, although I never thought I would be able to set pole because Casey had been so fast in every session. I took a bit of a risk on the last lap trying to go faster and managed to save it, so finally my long legs have been good for something! Tomorrow won’t be easy because both Casey and Jorge have a fast race pace but I will try to stay with them. My first target is to finish the race, the second is to finish on the podium and you can guess the third!” Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda: 2nd 1m, 42.429s “I’m disappointed with qualifying, we had good pace and should have been able to go a lot faster on new tyres. In my first run of the session the bike wasn’t working so well, the tyres weren’t warming up as expected with that set-up and I had a lot less grip on the soft tyre, which we couldn’t understand why. We tried changing tyre pressure but it made it worse and we weren’t able to do anything with the last tyre which I’m very frustrated with because I almost did the same lap time with the soft and the hard tyre. Front row is obviously where we want to be but I’m annoyed as we spent the whole session working on the tyres and not improving the bike set-up. For tomorrow we’re confident with our race pace on hard tyres if the weather stays dry, it’s just upsetting to have a qualifying session like this.” Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda: 5th 1m, 42.749s “Montmelo [Catalunya] is a special track, you slide a lot and it’s a good fun to ride with a MotoGP bike. This morning we worked on the set-up and weight balance to improve the grip and this afternoon I had a better feeling. I’m happy with the race pace, we lapped consistently and together with Stoner, who made an impressive lap time. I think myself, Sic [Simoncelli] and Lorenzo will all be in the fight. The first row was possible but in my last lap I went wide at Turn Five, so I lost the opportunity. But to start from the second row is also fine as I feel strong and I have the pace to fight in the race. Tomorrow we will have a good race, hard fought and I look forward to it.” Hiroshi Aoyama, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 11th 1m, 43.734s “It was a difficult session because I didn’t have good feeling with the bike due to the lack of grip on the track and also because the bike was ‘wheelying’ a lot. I managed to close the gap to the front guys but it wasn’t enough to make sure of a good grid position. We will try and find something in the warm-up that gives me more confidence with the bike and hopefully have a good race.” Toni Elias, LCR Honda MotoGP: 14th 1m, 44.510 “This morning we fitted the new 2011 chassis which made a little improvement for me on front feeling and rear traction out of the corners, but it was not the solution of our issues. We are still working all together to increase our pace but I cannot feel the bike: I miss braking stability and grip on the maximum angle. This is a difficult situation for everybody in the team because we have got the potential to finish in the top ten.” Moto2 rider quotes Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing-Kalex): pole position 1m, 46.753s “The time gap is very close so we can expect many riders fighting at the front tomorrow, so I will have to be clever. Yesterday and this morning we had a strange problem in the corner exits which we had never had before. We improved this step by step in qualifying and I was able to use the tyres quite well. I made a good lap but for sure I was at the maximum. My goal is to win, of course, but there will be a lot of riders, so I will just try to finish in the best position.” Aleix Espargaro (Pons HP40-Pons Kalex): 2nd 1m, 46.867s “We battled for pole position until the last moment today, but Bradl won the battle again. We have done a good job all weekend here. We were already very strong at Le Mans and we are even a little stronger here. The team improved the bike for qualifying, so now I feel very competitive. We will see what happens tomorrow I expect a big group fighting for the front positions. I will try and make my first podium in front of my home fans.” Yuki Takahashi (Gresini Racing Moto2-Moriwaki): 3rd 1m, 46.978s “Moto2 qualifying is always so close and so tough, so I am very happy to make a second-row start for the third time this year. The team has worked very hard for this result today because in free practice we were in ninth position. The bike is quite good now and I am ready for the race. I know the race will be very hard with many riders fighting for position. Of course I will do my best and battle for the podium.”