FIM MotoGP World Championship Brno, Czech Republic August 16, 2008 Final Qualifying Results (wet conditions): 1. Casey STONER (Ducati), Bridgestone, 2:11.657 2. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), Bridgestone, 2:12.846 3. John HOPKINS (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 2:12.959 4. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 2:13.002 5. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda), Bridgestone, 2:13.352 6. Anthony WEST (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 2:14.064 7. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda), Michelin, 2:14.535, crash 8. Shinya NAKANO (Honda), Bridgestone, 2:14.718 9. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 2:14.805 10. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Ducati), Bridgestone, 2:14.861 11. Marco MELANDRI (Ducati), Bridgestone, 2:15.880 12. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), Michelin, 2:16.032 13. Toni ELIAS (Ducati), Bridgestone, 2:16.510 14. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda), Michelin, 2:17.632 15. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), Michelin, 2:20.074, crash Not Qualified (out 107%) 16. James TOSELAND (Yamaha), Michelin, 2:23.303, crash 17. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha), Michelin, 2:23.701 More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: FRONT ROW FOR ROSSI AT WET BRNO Fiat Yamaha team rider Valentino Rossi qualified second in Brno today, despite a soaking wet day at the Czech track as the MotoGP rain curse struck once again. Tomorrow will be the Italian’s seventh front-row start of the season and he will once again share it with Casey Stoner, who qualified on pole today. After heavy rain overnight this morning’s practice was run on a damp track, with Rossi finishing the session in fifth. From then on the weather worsened and the best laps of the afternoon qualifying session were done in the first half, before too much standing water gathered on the track and the conditions deteriorated even more. Rossi’s Bridgestone rain tyres worked well and he was able to set some consistent laps early on, good enough to secure him the all-important front row spot. The forecast for tomorrow is mixed but the 29-year-old is confident that he will be in good shape to fight at the front, come rain or shine. Rossi’s team-mate Jorge Lorenzo had a miserable day meanwhile, unable to find any kind of grip in the wet and setting the slowest time of the day. Valentino Rossi Position: 2nd Time: 2’12.846 Laps: 15 “I hope that we are in good shape for tomorrow, if it’s wet or dry. For sure though, like everyone else, I hope it will be dry because the conditions today were really terrible! After twenty minutes this afternoon there was too much water and it was impossible to improve the setting of the bike or the time, so I am glad I was able to do some good laps at the beginning. I think I can be more competitive in the dry, because also we have a few modifications to try, so hopefully it will be dry all day tomorrow to give us the best chance. Let’s keep hoping and see how we go!” Davide Brivio Team Manager “We’re happy because we’ve reached our target of getting on the first row despite the difficult conditions today. Valentino did very well to make the most of the early part of the session and get some good laps in before it got so much worse. We are expecting tomorrow to be drier so we will try to make the most of this front row to get a good start and then hopefully fight for the win.” More, from another press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: DISASTROUS WET QUALIFYING FOR LORENZO LEAVES HIM LAST IN BRNO A soaking wet day at Brno brought about a depressing day’s work for Jorge Lorenzo, the Fiat Yamaha Team rookie finishing the day in last place. It is a far cry from the consecutive pole positions with which the youngster started his year in MotoGP and he is faced with a difficult task tomorrow to make any kind of headway through the field. Lorenzo was unlucky to miss the driest part of the qualifying hour, when he was inside the garage working on modifying his bike in order to try to find more grip. During the last forty minutes conditions deteriorated even more and there was no chance for him to improve his time, unable as he was to find any kind of grip or confidence in his tyres. His time of 2’23.701 left him outside of the 107% qualifying cut-off, but he will be allowed to race tomorrow at the discretion of Race Direction. His team-mate Valentino Rossi meanwhile had a better day and will start tomorrow’s race from second on the grid, behind Casey Stoner. Jorge Lorenzo Position: 17th Time: 2’23.701 Laps: 12 “It’s been a bad day! At the start of the qualifying it was drier and this is when I was in the garage trying to improve the bike with my team; I missed my chance and this is when the others set their fastest laps. I have had days almost as bad as this before, but I have to say that the fault is not all mine. I think that it is evident at the moment that our tyres are not working as they should. I am a professional however and I have to wait and have confidence in Michelin to find the right way forward. For tomorrow it’s going to be important to get a good start and try to get in the top ten. The surface is very good but we don’t have the grip we need, so whatever happens with the weather, it will be very hard.” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “A really bad day for us; the worst qualifying session of the season. We already had some issues with front grip in the dry yesterday and we thought that in the rain we would be able to improve. Unfortunately things went even more wrong today and we couldn’t find any grip for both the front and the rear. We tried all the tyres available and, even with the softest, Jorge didn’t have enough confidence to ride at a decent pace. We had already tried some different settings this morning to try to improve the grip and this afternoon we tried some even bigger modifications, but the bike didn’t react to the changes in the way we hoped because of the low grip level from the tyres. Tomorrow will be a really hard race because we’re starting from last and, even if we can improve our pace in the dry, it’s still going to be very difficult.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Stoner takes sixth straight pole and leads Bridgestone top six Round 12: Czech Republic Qualifying Automotodrom Brno Saturday 16 August 2008 Ducati’s Casey Stoner has claimed a sensational sixth consecutive pole position in this afternoon’s wet qualifying session at the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic, taking the top spot by a margin of almost 1.2 seconds. It is the seventh Bridgestone-shod pole this season, the most ever in a single season by riders using Bridgestone tyres, beating the previous best of six which was achieved in 2006 and 2007. Stoner leads an all-Bridgestone front and second row, which features riders from five different teams and manufacturers, with Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi and Kawasaki’s John Hopkins joining him on the front row for tomorrow’s 22-lap race. After missing three races through injury, it is a welcome return for Hopkins, and marks his first front row since China 2007. It is Kawasaki’s first front row result of the year on a successful Saturday for the team which has seen Anthony West take his best qualifying result of the season in sixth place. Ahead of West on the second row is Rizla Suzuki MotoGP’s Chris Vermeulen in fourth and San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Alex De Angelis who has also taken his best grid slot of the year in fifth. His team-mate Shinya Nakano was classified eighth, one of an additional three Bridgestone-shod riders in the top ten, including Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi in ninth and Alice Team’s Sylvain Guintoli in tenth. Tohru Ubukata – Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development What are your thoughts on today’s wet qualifying session? “Naturally, we are very pleased with the qualifying results today and the performance of our wet weather tyres during the course of the day. This top six is our best ever qualifying result and there were some very pleasing individual results with our riders, especially Casey who has taken his sixth pole position in a row after another impressive session. It is a pleasure to see John back on the front row, while Alex, Anthony and Shinya have also taken their best grid positions of the season in a very difficult wet session.” How has the rain affected Bridgestone’s preparations for the race? “We have not had any dry track time today which has not really put us an ideal situation for the race because our priority today was to look at the behaviour of our slick tyres over long runs. We know from yesterday that our slick tyres have good initial performance at this resurfaced track, but will only know in the race how the tyres will be over the complete race distance. Hopefully we will have a fully dry day tomorrow which will also give us the warm-up session to make final adjustments together with our teams.” Bridgestone-shod Riders’ Qualifying Session Results Pos. Rider Team Qualifying Time (pos) Gap to Pole P1 Casey Stoner Ducati Corse 2m11.657s Pole P2 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 2m12.846s +1.189s P3 John Hopkins Kawasaki Racing Team 2m12.959s +1.302s P4 Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2m13.002s +1.345s P5 Alex de Angelis San Carlo Honda Gresini 2m13.352s +1.695s P6 Anthony West Kawasaki Racing Team 2m14.064s +2.407s P8 Shinya Nakano San Carlo Honda Gresini 2m14.718s +3.061s P9 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2m14.805s +3.148s P10 Sylvain Guintoli Alice Team 2m14.861s +3.204s P11 Marco Melandri Ducati Corse 2m15.880s +4.223s P13 Toni Elias Alice Team 2m16.510s +4.853s Weather: Wet Air 12°C, Track 14°C (Bridgestone measurement) More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Chris Vermeulen will start tomorrow’s Czech Republic Grand Prix from the front of the second row after setting the fourth quickest time during a wet qualifying session this afternoon. Vermeulen only managed to complete 10 laps of the newly re-surfaced Brno circuit this afternoon, as conditions deteriorated during the hour and made it very difficult to improve on lap-times. Vermeulen’s time of 2’13.002 was set on his fifth lap during his first run when the rain was quite light. He then spent some time in the pit-box waiting for conditions to improve, and although he went out towards the end of the session he was unable to better his time and narrowly missed out on a front-row start by only 0.043 seconds. Loris Capirossi will start his record equalling 276th Grand Prix on the row behind Vermeulen, as he qualified in ninth position. His best lap of 2’14.805 from his 10 laps was recorded just before he lost control in the treacherous conditions and ran off the track before crashing at slow speed in the gravel. Capirossi is confident of a good race tomorrow and is determined to keep his impressive Brno record going which has only seen him finish a race outside the top-six only once from his 17 previous visits. Today’s qualifying was not only held in very wet conditions, but also in very cool ones, as air temperature was only 11ºC and the track was only slightly warmer at 14. World Champion Casey Stoner will start from pole position, with current championship leader Valentino Rossi and Kawasaki’s John Hopkins filling the other two front row places to give Bridgestone another clean-sweep. The Japanese tyre company also occupied 10 of the top 11 positions today to continue its domination in the wet as it did in the dry yesterday. Tomorrow’s 22-lap race is round 12 of the season and the excitement gets underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT) when both Rizla Suzuki racers will be going all out for glory. Chris Vermeulen: “It was very different today compared to yesterday, which was good really because the forecast is a bit up and down for the race so at least we have had the chance to get some set-up time in both conditions. From this morning’s wet session to this afternoon’s qualifying it was very different because at the start of this afternoon it was much wetter, but there was still a lot of grip out there and I managed to get a few reasonably quick laps in and made quite a good time. I had to come in and make a change which was quite lengthy – and when I went back out the conditions had deteriorated so much that I came straight back in. I’m in fourth place on the grid and really happy with that and it gives me a good opportunity in whatever conditions tomorrow to get away at the front. I hope it is fine and we can have a strong race and fight for another podium.” Loris Capirossi: “The qualifying today was a bit strange because at the start I was doing really well and thought I could get a good position, but I made a mistake and crashed and because of that I missed the best time on the track to go fast, before it got too wet. I stayed in the pit for a long time waiting for it to get better and when I went out at the end I tried a new rear tyre but that didn’t work that well so I couldn’t go any quicker. I am on the third row which is not so bad and now I want to see what we can do in the race, because if it is wet or dry I know we can be competitive!” Paul Denning Team Manager: “The qualifying result today is a bit disappointing, I think we had the capability to have both riders a bit further up the grid we just missed the best of the conditions to improve further. Also, when our guys went out at the end on new development rain tyres the performance wasn’t as good as the normal Bridgestone wets which have worked superbly all day, but of course we have to try all the options! “The good news is that the starting positions are still not so bad and that Loris received no injuries and neither did the Suzuki GSV-R – from his crash. I think everyone wants a dry race tomorrow and if it does our performance yesterday afternoon gives us good hope for a solid result tomorrow and a chance for both riders to push for a podium!” More, from a press release issued by JiR Team Scot Honda: In Brno, Andrea Dovizioso fought to redeem himself against the odds The second day of tests of the Grand Prix Czech Republic started under the unyielding presence of heavy rain which fell throughout the night and persisted until the closing round of qualification. The JiR Team Scot worked intensively in the morning’s free practice seeing Andrea Dovizioso sit comfortably within the top five, returning to the pits in good form. In the afternoon qualifying times were gleaned in the earlier circuits due to the worsening weather conditions making any improvements on lap times nigh on impossible. Andrea Dovizioso, determined to make the best of the situation, will start from the fifth row for what promises to be a testing race here at the Grand Prix Czech Republic. Cirano Mularoni – Team Manager JiR Team Scot “Having worked very well this morning we found ourselves facing an unusual round of qualifications, influenced by the rain which forced us to change our planned approach. Most of the times that have determined the starting positions on the grid were recorded during the first six laps. Tomorrow the weather is expected to change again, with a race that could turn out to be dry and give us the opportunity to redeem today’s less than satisfactory result.” Andrea Dovizioso – Pilot JiR Team Scot MotoGP HONDA RC212V 14 ° time: 2’17 “632 “Today was a day that just worked against us. Because of bad weather we were unable to carry out the test programme during the qualifications, and placing us in a position where we must fight to redeem a result that does not represent our potential. With the rain ever more intense I found it very difficult to find any grip, and too much time was lost to have any chance of catching the riders who recorded the best lap time in the initial laps. Tomorrow will be a tough race. I am determined to get the most out of the tyres at our disposal. We will have to do our best to interpret the weather conditions which are forecast to be changable, with the possibility of a dry race. ” Gianni Berti – Technical Coordinator JiR Team Scot “In the round of free practice in the morning we tried different wet tyre solutions, completing the planned test schedule. In the afternoon qualifications began under a light rain that progressively intensified and did not allow us to improve. The best times were obtained in the first few laps and we stopped early because we felt it to be an unnecessary risk to carry on when there was no possibility of improving.” More, from a press release issued by Team Alice Ducati: RAINY DAY IN BRNO GUINTOLI TENTH, ELIAS THIRTEENTH Day characterized by the rain on the Brno circuit. Alice Team riders, Sylvain Guintoli and Toni Elias, didn’t make it to go further than the tenth and thirteenth position and will have to start respectively from the fourth and fifth row the Grand Prix of Czech Republic number thirty-nine. The weather should be better for tomorrow allowing the white and red duo to confirm the good lap times registered in yesterday’s free practice on dry track. The start of the race is set for 2pm local time. Fabiano Sterlacchini — Alice Team Technical Director Hard day for us. With this weather condition we have encountered other difficulties in other occasions with Toni and also today we couldn’t make it to be fast. In addition we probably made a mistake with the strategy as at the beginning, when the track was lightly dryer, we didn’t make enough laps. We expected a bit more from Sylvain who in this track conditions has always been fast, but also for him today there have been some difficulties. Sylvain Guintoli — Alice Team rider (10th best lap time in 2:14.861 Total laps 16) “Also today we have found some small problem with the bike. At the beginning I didn’t risk too much thinking that the track would have dry out but instead it got even worst and I had to chase for the rest of the qualifying session when the track looked like a river. At the end of the session we have found a good compromise that allowed me to enter the top ten. Toni Elias — Alice Team rider (13th best lap time in 2:16.510 Total laps 17) “We haven’t be so lucky with the track conditions, we thought that it would have got better lap after lap, but the rain has increased complicating our work. We have improved compare to other days with similar atmospheric conditions, but surely not enough. We have done what was possible and tomorrow we will have to start in the best way to overtake as many riders as possible like it happened in the last Grand Prix at Laguna Seca.” More, from a press release issued by Tech 3 Yamaha: Tech 3 Yamaha set sights on top ten in Brno Tech 3 Yamaha duo Colin Edwards and James Toseland are determined to put in strong performances in tomorrow’s Czech Republic GP in Brno after a difficult rain-soaked qualifying session this afternoon. Edwards will start tomorrow’s 22-lap race from an uncharacteristically lowly 15th position on the grid as he completed 10 laps in a session dominated by torrential rain, with parts of the circuit waterlogged by the end of qualifying. Like Edwards, British rider Toseland worked tirelessly to find grip improvements with his Tech 3 team and Michelin engineers, but he will start one place further back in 16th place on the grid. He walked away unhurt from a crash at the first corner with 25 minutes remaining. Although Toseland’s time of 2.23.303 was outside of the required qualification time, the British rider will start tomorrow’s race, which is the 12th round of the 2008 MotoGP world championship Forecasts are for improved weather tomorrow, with the race expected to take place under cloudy but dry skies. Colin Edwards 15th 2.20.074 10 laps “It was very tough out there, and that’s all I can really say. Starting from where I am it is going to be a very difficult race. But as always I will give it my best shot for Tech 3 and Yamaha. The conditions were really tough out there and to be honest we didn’t expect so much rain that fell in the last part of the session. I started the session on a rear tyre that was probably too hard but we needed to get out and get some information for Michelin. By the time I’d put the softer tyre in the rain was unbelievable. That didn’t help my situation but I’m not sure I could have improved a lot more if the rain was less and it would have been easy to take too many risks and crash. But it was a bit like Germany a few weeks ago when I had a few issues in the wet race. I was just trying to find consistent grip that gave me the confidence to push and I was lacking in that area. If it is dry tomorrow like the forecasts say then hopefully we can get some good information in the warm-up and put up a good fight in the race.” James Toseland 16th 2.23.303 11 laps “It is has been a very difficult day for me and the Tech 3 Yamaha team, but rest assured I’ll wake up tomorrow and I will be going out rain or shine giving it my maximum effort as I always do. I am not going to throw the towel in no matter how difficult it gets. I think it is obvious looking at the lap times where the problems are, but I’m not going to complain about anybody. It is my job to go out there and do the best job on the package I have got right now and that’s what I will do. But if not all of the elements of the package come together then it becomes very difficult. The crash at the first corner there was really nothing I could do. I wasn’t trying to make up big chunks of time because it was impossible in those conditions and I went down for no reason and that is disappointing. We’ll see what happens tomorrow but the rain will have made the track dirty again and that could make it difficult for the slick tyres if the race is dry. I don’t like starting from the back but if I can get a good start, hopefully I can get away with the bunch and have a good race.” More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: RAIN LASHES QUALIFYING SESSION AT BRNO Brno, 16 August 2008: Qualifying for the Czech Repulic Grand Prix was run in wet conditions today with ambience temperature of 12°C and the LCR Honda MotoGP racer Randy De Puniet made solid progress ending the day 7th and will start from the third row for tomorrow’s 22-lap race. After yesterday’s sunny opening day when De Puniet managed fourteenth in the dry because of some front feeling problems, this morning free session was hit by persistent rain and the hour long qualifying session was ridden on a full wet surface with Stoner on the top of the timesheets with a best lap time of 2’11.657. The Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V clocked his fastest lap time of 2’14.535 in the last lap of the session (8th lap) then he decided to come in as the rain became heavier. De Puniet 7th: “This is a good result for me and the Team because we were not very fast in these conditions especially this morning. We made some adjustments to the bike setting and the feeling with the tyres improved a lot in the afternoon but was impossible to do better than this. At the end I lost the second row but I do not feel worried about that. I am the first Michelin rider on the grid in these conditions and this is positive. The weather forecast for tomorrow is for dry conditions so we must use the 20-minute warm up session to find the right front tyre for the race”. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: FRONT ROW FOR COMEBACK KING HOPKINS IN BRNO Kawasaki’s John Hopkins and Anthony West will start tomorrow’s Czech Republic Grand Prix from the front two rows of the grid after defying the treacherous wet conditions in today’s qualifying to finish in third and sixth positions respectively. Hopkins has made an impressive return to the track after a three-race absence to score his first front row start of the season aboard his Ninja ZX-RR. The Anglo-American adopted a specific strategy at the Brno circuit, which allowed him to set the third fastest time in the early part of today’s timed session. Hopkins cleverly decided to use a softer compound Bridgestone wet tyre before conditions worsened around the 5.403km track and set his quickest time on lap six of 10. The 25-year-old MotoGP pilot is confident ahead of tomorrow’s race, regardless of whether it is held in wet or dry conditions, as he believes the significant progress that the Kawasaki engineers have made over recent weeks will put him in a possible podium-challenging position. West finished the day with a huge boost to his confidence, after a final lap surge around the rain-soaked track put him in sixth place overall. The 27-year-old continuously slashed his lap time throughout the hour-long qualifying session, despite conditions deteriorating with heavy rainfall. The Kawasaki pilot was challenged with poor visibility, being held up by another rider and standing water around the circuit on his very final lap on a soft tyre, but the Australian was pleased to set his fastest time of the day to finish on the second row of the grid for tomorrow’s race. A massive 12 seconds separated the entire MotoGP field with Bridgestone-shod machines dominating proceedings. As a result, both Kawasaki riders are looking forward to tomorrow’s 22-lap race come rain or shine. John Hopkins #21 – 3rd – 2Â’12.959 “I am very happy with that. We played it exactly right and took a gamble at the beginning of the session, which meant we could put in a decent lap time before it began to rain harder. I made a little mistake on my fastest lap, but I didn’t want to push my knee too hard; today is only a small percentage of the weekend, so we took it easy in the latter part of the session. I am pleased for myself, but also for Kawasaki, as huge improvements have been made on the bike since I last rode it at Assen. The Bridgestone tyres are working really well too at this circuit and I feel confident for tomorrow whatever the conditions. Our aim is for a top five finish as I want to be realistic about what we can achieve, but we’ve definitely put ourselves in a great position for the race.” Anthony West #13 – 6th – 2Â’14.064 “I really didn’t expect to improve my time on our last lap, so the final result has been a real confidence boost. The conditions worsened throughout the session and there was a lot of standing water around the circuit, so the bike was aquaplaning in a lot of places. I was struggling to see and I got held up on my final lap on a soft tyre, but we still managed to move up a further three places. We’ve made a lot of improvements to the set-up of the machine, and although I’m not really sure how this will fair in the dry, starting from sixth means we’re in a strong position for the race.” Michael Bartholemy Kawasaki Competition Manager “John’s return to racing this weekend in Brno has certainly been an impressive one. Despite missing the last three races he was immediately on the pace here in Brno and I’m confident his strong comeback from injury will continue with a good result in tomorrow’s race, whatever the conditions. Anthony also did a great job in qualifying, and I hope his sixth position in today’s treacherous conditions will go some way to boosting his confidence. We know he has the natural talent to compete at this level, and I think he proved that to himself today. Based on their performance today, and with the improvements Kawasaki have made to the Ninja ZX-RR since Laguna, I am confident of strong performances from both of our riders in tomorrow’s race.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna: Suffering Stoner sends the doctor away for Brno pole Cardion ab Grand Prix Ceske republiky – Saturday August 16th Report Day 2 Stoner takes sixth consecutive pole position Despite feeling less than 100% with a fever, there was no stopping Casey Stoner from taking a sixth successive pole position for the Cardion ab Grand Prix Ceske republiky, as the Australian imposed his will on his rivals in a wet qualifying session. Stoner recorded a fastest time of 2´11.657 in the soaking session, giving him the longest pole streak since fellow countryman Mick Doohan´s twelve-in-a-row from 1997. In doing so, he relegated MotoGP´s self-styled `Doctor´ -World Championship leader Valentino Rossi- down to second on the grid. Rossi was suffering his own ailment on Saturday, with an ear and sinus infection posing him problems. Even with their respective medical woes, both Stoner and Rossi can be expected to battle against each other once more in Brno when the red light goes out on Sunday. The front row will be completed by last year´s runner-up at Brno, Kawasaki´s John Hopkins, as the Anglo-American lines up for his first MotoGP race since the June visit to Donington Park. A first front row for `Team Green´ marked an ideal return for Hopkins, who will be out for a maiden podium to salvage something from his 2008 campaign. Out to stop him is former teammate Chris Vermeulen, the Rizla Suzuki rider who heads the second row. Vermeulen has been on the rostrum at the last two races, and conditions were favourable for the wet weather specialist to classify himself ahead of Alex de Angelis and Anthony West the remaining duo on the second line as both had their best qualifying sessions of the year. Randy De Puniet ran off track after recording his fastest time of the qualifying period, and elected against another attempt at bettering his marker. His LCR Honda bike fell in the gravel as it came to the end of its trajectory, with some minor repairs made as the Frenchman returned to the garage. De Puniet was the highest placing Michelin rider in seventh, and the only non-Bridgestone representative in the top ten. San Carlo Honda Gresini´s Shinya Nakano was getting used to the factory spec RC212V that he will race for the first time, a task made more difficult by the drenched track. He starts from row three, a line concluded by Loris Capirossi, who ran off in the early going. Crashing at the midway point of the session was Tech 3 Yamaha´s James Toseland, who avoided lowsiding his M1 but was unable to avoid a tumble. 250cc World Championship leader Marco Simoncelli took his second consecutive pole at Brno in a wet qualifying shootout, leaving the polemen in all three categories as the same as those who started from their respective top spots in Germany (the last time MotoGP, 250cc and 125cc riders were together at an event) The Italian had the last word with a 2´17.306 lap of Brno, the quickest of all the quarter-litre riders. Simoncelli had a late run-off that left him tangled up with his Metis Gilera machine, but continued unfazed for his hot lap the next time around. It had looked as if provisional poleman Hector Barbera would confirm one of the first two places on the grid, as he exchanged the advantage in the session with Simoncelli. However, a late dash from Alex Debon left the experienced Spaniard ahead of Team Toth Aprilia´s Barbera on the front row, with Mattia Pasini rounding off the line. Thomas Luthi and Julian Simon put further bikes between series leader Simoncelli and title challenger Mika Kallio, as they added their name to the second row completed by JiR Team Scot´s Yuki Takahashi. Home rider Lukas Pesek features on the third line. Fifteen minutes of dry track time in the Friday afternoon qualifying session proved decisive for reigning 125cc World Champion Gabor Talmacsi, whose marker set in said session was unable to be bettered on a wet Saturday in Brno. The Hungarian´s time of 2´09.870 had come on damp asphalt, but conditions had deteriorated significantly enough in today´s timed run for the Hungarian to confirm his second consecutive pole position. Despite not performing a single lap of the Czech Republic circuit this afternoon, Nico Terol was able to hold onto second on the grid. Jack&Jones WRB´s Spanish sensation was fastest in the morning practice session, and opted out of risking a crash by settling for a fourth career front row start. The only two other riders to sit out the session were the DeGraaf Grand Prix duo of Danny Webb and Stevie Bonsey. Andrea Iannone made only the shortest of runs during the drenched second qualifying period, and his fastest time was over 1m20s slower than his Friday marker. He will start from third on the grid, his first front row of the year. Bradley Smith holds onto the remaining first line spot for his second race at the Czech Republic (he was injured for the 2006 visit) chasing a maiden Grand Prix victory after a series of near-misses. Stiff competition will come in the form of World Championship leader Mike di Meglio, Sandro Cortese, Pol Espargaro and Simone Corsi, the riders taking off from the second row. More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: PEDROSA ON ROW FOUR AT RAIN-LASHED BRNO The Czech Grand Prix, Brno Qualifying, Saturday August 16 2008 Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa will commence the second part of the 2008 MotoGP season in tomorrow’s Czech Grand Prix from the fourth row of the grid. The Spaniard was 12th quickest in this afternoon’s qualifying session, run on a rain-soaked racetrack. This morning’s practice session was also run in the wet, though the rain was heavier this afternoon and intensified as the session went on, the track waterlogged in several places by the time the chequered flag came out. Like most riders, Pedrosa rode his fastest lap in the earlier stages when there was less surface water. Pedrosa, still suffering from the broken left wrist and index finger he sustained at last month’s German GP, was cautious in the treacherous conditions, determined not to risk a fall that might exacerbate his injuries. His team-mate Nicky Hayden is missing this race due to a foot injury sustained during an X Games Supermoto event in Los Angeles two weeks ago. Despite today’s conditions, the forecast for tomorrow is much better warm and overcast, with only a small chance of further rain. Dani Pedrosa, 12th fastest, 2m 16.032s “I wore a heavier strapping on my left hand today, for better support, but anyway the cold weather gave me more pain. The track was very wet this afternoon. I tried to improve my lap time, even though the rain got heavier, but I couldn’t improve, so I will start the race from the fourth row. Of course, I’m not happy about starting from there, because it won’t help us in the race. If the race is run in the dry I hope we will have a dry warm-up so that we can work on our suspension set-up and tyre choice. If it is dry in the morning we will work hard to make improvements so we can have the best-possible race.” Kazuhiko Yamano – Team Manager “Dani rode very sensibly today, the big thing is that he didn’t fall. It is always easy to fall in the rain, so he was riding a little more conservatively than usual because he didn’t want to risk further damage to his left hand and wrist. We made some small improvements to the machine today but it was a shame that we didn’t get any dry track time. We expect better tomorrow. For the race, we have already adjusted the machine to get him more front-end confidence from the front tyre.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: DE ANGELIS BEST HONDA QUALIFIER, DOGGED DANI 12th Casey Stoner (Ducati) qualified on pole for the sixth successive time here at a rain-lashed Brno with his main title rival Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) alongside him as second fastest man and a resurgent John Hopkins (Kawasaki) completing the front row. Fastest Honda man here Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) qualified in fifth spot for a second row start, his best effort of the season so far. And with Dani’s team-mate Hayden missing through injury De Angelis will be depended on to show strongly in the race. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V), still recovering from injuries sustained in his crash at the German Grand Prix, managed a resolute 12th place for a fourth row start. Ordinarily this would be a massive handicap but such has been Dani’s lightning form off the lights that he still has the capability to spring a surprise from deep on the grid. His hand injury is still a concern and the Spanish title contender was anxious not to worsen the fractured left wrist and index finger by falling in the vile conditions that prevailed for the decisive hour of MotoGP qualifying. It rained for the free practice session this morning and then again this afternoon, getting heavier as the session progressed, for the timed hour. Most riders, with the notable exception of Anthony West (Kawasaki), put in their best times early in the session. It was West who deprived Randy De Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V) of a second row start when he fired in his best lap of 2m 14.064s in the ebbing seconds of the stint to snatch sixth. And with his team-mate Hopkins on the front row this a timely revival for the green team. De Puniet fell trying to better his time with 40 minutes of the session to go and he wasn’t the only faller in the treacherous conditions, Suzuki man Loris Capirossi went down early on and Yamaha rider James Toseland tumbled with 25 minutes left. This was something of a lacklustre session, with nothing of the recent last gasp duels for supremacy in the dying seconds of the hour. The conditions saw to that, many riders sat forlornly in their pit garages as conditions worsened, knowing any efforts to improve times would be futile with so much standing water on track. With ten minutes of the session remaining, the time when the qualifying tyre battle is usually at its height, the grid order was just as it had been at the halfway point of the hour. It was only the determined West that provided any light in the gloom. Shinya Nakano (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) qualified eighth for a second row getaway while Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Scot Honda RC212V) will be disappointed with his 14th place start after his front row performance recently in Germany. Conditions are likely to be better tomorrow with overcast skies yet no rain forecast. De Angelis, fifth fastest, said: “I’m satisfied with this result I’ve been waiting for a while for a wet qualifying session so that I could get a better starting position. We worked really well today we were fast from free practice this morning and in the afternoon, with a few modifications to the bike, we made further improvements. That gave me confidence and I was able to show that even on a really wet track I can be very fast too. I’m also confident about the race because we’ve found the right feeling with the front. In any case it will be important to get a good start, to make sure I don’t lose any positions and to have a good race.” Dani, who starts from 12th, said: “I wore a heavier strapping on my left hand today, for better support, but anyway the cold weather gave me more pain. I will start the race from the fourth row. Of course, I’m not happy about starting from there, because it won’t help us in the race. If the race is run in the dry I hope we will have a dry warm-up so that we can work on our suspension set-up and tyre choice. If it is dry in the morning we will work hard to make improvements so we can have the best possible race.” De Puniet, seventh on the grid, said: “This is a good result for me and the Team because we were not very fast in these conditions especially this morning. We made some adjustments to the bike settings and the feeling with the tyres improved a lot in the afternoon but was impossible to do better than this. At the end I lost the second row but I do not feel worried about that. I am the first Michelin rider on the grid in these conditions and this is positive.” Nakano, eighth quickest, said: “Riding a new bike in conditions like today without enough time to test it properly isn’t easy, but I was satisfied with the lap times we managed in the first session, when the track wasn’t as slippery. Third row on the grid isn’t bad but tomorrow it will be important to get a good start and to ride to the best of my ability. My objective is to have a good first race on this bike, improve on our best result so far this season and at the same time provide Honda and my team with lots of useful data.” Dovi, down in 14th, said: “Today was a day that just worked against us. Because of bad weather we were unable to carry out the test programme, placing us in a position where we must fight. With the rain ever more intense I found it very difficult to find any grip, and too much time was lost to have any chance of catching the riders who recorded the best lap time in the initial laps. Tomorrow will be a tough race. I am determined to get the most out of the tyres.” 250cc Series points leader Marco Simoncelli (Gilera) took his second consecutive pole in wet conditions ahead of front row qualifiers Alex Debon, Hector Barbera and Mattia Pasini (all Aprilia). Second fastest Debon was 0.766 seconds shy of Simoncelli’s 2m 10.723s lap. Yuki Takahashi (JiR Scot Honda RS250RW) qualified eighth and Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT SAG RS250RW) managed 20th place on the grid. Takahashi is 3.221 seconds adrift of the pole time, Wilairot just over seven seconds short. Takahashi said: “During the morning free practice I compared two different swingarms so we could determine which to use in the afternoon. In wet conditions we achieved a good overall balance but if the race were to be on a dry track we’ll have to work quick in the warm-up with this set-up because we have no data to refer to. The new asphalt has a lot of grip but can let go very suddenly, so I wanted to ride as many laps as possible to find the limit.” Wilairot said: “I’m regaining my confidence a little bit on the bike, but it’s still not enough, because the race is tomorrow, and if it rains it will be very difficult for me. I hope to have a dry race to be able to gain some places and fight for a decent result.” 125cc With heavy rain throughout the session no rider improved on his time from yesterday’s first qualifying session and so the order was Gabor Talmacsi on pole with a 2m 09.870s lap followed by Nicolas Terol second fastest, with Andrea Iannone third and Bradley Smith completing the front row (all Aprilia). Series points leader Mike Di Meglio (Derbi) qualified fifth fastest and heads row two while Honda rookie Louis Rossi (FFM Racing Honda RS125R) managed a best time of 2m 16.321s to qualify 37th. Rossi said: “The conditions are very difficult for my first time on this track. The Brno circuit is wide and very technical with a relentless series of bends. You need to have a good rhythm. Yesterday when it was dry I found it difficult to steer the bike. I was looking forward to today to improve on my times and get a better position on the grid, but it was raining this morning and in the afternoon the track was drying before it started to rain again.” Honda rider quotes. GP CZ Race quotes August 17, 2008. MotoGP: Alex De Angelis, San Carlo Gresini Honda: 5th – 2m 13.352s. “I’m satisfied with this result I’ve been waiting for a while for a wet qualifying session so that I could get a better starting position. We worked really well today we were fast from free practice this morning and in the afternoon, with a few modifications to the bike, we made further improvements. That gave me confidence and I was able to show that even on a really wet track I can be very fast too. I’m also confident about the race because we’ve found the right feeling with the front. In any case it will be important to get a good start, to make sure I don’t lose any positions and to have a good race. Randy De Puniet, LCR Honda: 7th 2m 14.535s. “This is a good result for me and the Team because we were not very fast in these conditions especially this morning. We made some adjustments to the bike setting and the feeling with the tyres improved a lot in the afternoon but was impossible to do better than this. At the end I lost the second row but I do not feel worried about that. I am the first Michelin rider on the grid in these conditions and this is positive. The weather forecast for tomorrow is for dry conditions so we must use the 20-minute warm up session to find the right front tyre for the race”. Shinya Nakano, San Carlo Gresini Honda: 8th 2m 14.718s. “Riding a new bike in conditions like today without enough time to test it properly isn’t easy, but I was satisfied with the lap times we managed in the first session, when the track wasn’t as slippery. Third row on the grid isn’t bad but tomorrow it will be important to get a good start and to ride to the best of my ability. My objective is to have a good first race on this bike, improve on our best result so far this season and at the same time provide Honda and my team with lots of useful data.” Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 12th 2m 16.032s. “I wore a heavier strapping on my left hand today, for better support, but anyway the cold weather gave me more pain. The track was very wet this afternoon. I tried to improve my lap time, even though the rain got heavier, but I couldn’t improve, so I will start the race from the fourth row. Of course, I’m not happy about starting from there, because it won’t help us in the race. If the race is run in the dry I hope we will have a dry warm-up so that we can work on our suspension set-up and tyre choice. If it is dry in the morning we will work hard to make improvements so we can have the best-possible race.” Andrea Dovizioso, JiR Scot Honda: 14th 2m 17.632s. “Today was a day that just worked against us. Because of bad weather we were unable to carry out the test programme during the qualifications, and placing us in a position where we must fight to redeem a result that does not represent our potential. With the rain ever more intense I found it very difficult to find any grip, and too much time was lost to have any chance of catching the riders who recorded the best lap time in the initial laps. Tomorrow will be a tough race. I am determined to get the most out of the tyres at our disposal. We will have to do our best to interpret the weather conditions which are forecast to be changeable, with the possibility of a dry race. ” Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: Will not start race due to injuries sustained at X Games Supermoto event in Los Angeles on August 1. 250cc: Yukio Takahashi, JiR Scot Honda: 8th 2m 13.944s. “During the morning free practice I compared the two different swingarms so we could determine which to use for qualifications in the afternoon. In wet conditions we achieved a good overall balance but if the race were to be on a dry track we will have to work quick in the warm-up with this setup because we have no data to refer to. The new asphalt has a lot of grip but can let go very suddenly, so I wanted to ride as many laps as possible to find the limit. I am satisfied with the second row and I think we could have a good race. ” Ratthapark Wilairot, Thai Honda PTT SAG: 20th 2m 18.009s. “I’m regaining a little bit my confidence on the bike, but it is still not enough, because the race is tomorrow, and if rains will be very difficult to me. I hope to have a dry race to be able to gain some places and fight for a decent result”. 125cc: Louis Rossi, FFM Honda: 37th 2m16.321s. “The conditions are very difficult for my first time on this track. The Brno circuit is wide and very technical with a relentless series of bends. You need to have a good rhythm. Yesterday when it was dry I found it difficult to steer the bike. I was looking forward to today to improve on my times and get a better position on the grid, but it was raining this morning and in the afternoon the track was drying before it started to rain again. Despite this I managed the tenth time of the session, even if it doesn¹t mean a lot as nobody took any risk or improved in such difficult conditions. I really hope it will be dry for tomorrow¹s warm up so we can do more work before the race, because I am still as motivated and confident.” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: SIXTH STRAIGHT POLE FOR STONER, PROGRESS FOR MELANDRI As predicted by the weather forecasts, qualifying for the Czech Republic Grand Prix took place in wet conditions today, with light morning rain intensifying throughout the day. Despite the difficult conditions Casey Stoner took his sixth consecutive pole position – a new record since the introduction of the four-stroke MotoGP era. Marco Melandri enjoyed his best qualifying session of the season as he set the eleventh fastest time, which he set when the track conditions were at their worst – with vast quantities of standing water. The Italian will start tomorrow’s race from the fourth row of the grid. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) Pole position “We went out at the start and tried to basically put a good few laps together because we still didn’t really know what weather was going to do. It looked like it might clear up but it actually did the opposite. I still wasn’t totally happy with the set-up so I came in to make some changes but when we went back out there was two or three inches of standing water in some places and the bike was aquaplaning everywhere. We knew that as long as the rain kept coming as it did then nobody was going to be able to go much quicker because the track conditions were so difficult. Once again we have worked well together as a team, Bridgestone have given us some excellent rain tyres and we’re on pole, so that is very satisfying. The points are not dished out until tomorrow and anything can happen, especially in the wet, so we’ll just stay focused, stay relaxed, and hope the weather stays dry!” MARCO MELANDRI (Ducati Marlboro Team) 11th – 2’15. 880 “I know this is my best qualifying result of the season but I was hoping for better given that in the wet this morning we did such a good job. Unfortunately in the afternoon I didn’t have such a good feeling over the first few laps with the power delivery and then the conditions deteriorated. I stayed out on track and got quite a long run together, trying to improve and we made up some positions. We’ll see – tomorrow should be dry but I’m still expecting a difficult race because we didn’t get chance to improve the front-end setting today, which is what we’d planned.”