2007 FIM MotoGP World Championship Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California July 21, 2007 Provisional Qualifying REsults: 1. Casey Stoner (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:22.292 2. Dani Pedrosa (Honda), Michelin, 1:22.501 3. Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 1:22.590 4. Nicky Hayden (Honda), Michelin, 1:22.624 5. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:22.683 6. Loris Capirossi (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:22.914 7. John Hopkins (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 1:22.933 8. Colin Edwards (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:22.943 9. Shinya Nakano (Honda), Michelin, 1:23.006 10. Marco Melandri (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:23.018 11. Makoto Tamada (Yamaha), Dunlop, 1:23.036 12. Anthony West (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:23.091 13. Randy De Puniet (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:23.113 14. Sylvain Guintoli (Yamaha), Dunlop, 1:23.207 15. Carlos Checa (Honda), Michelin, 1:23.263 16. Roger Hayden (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:23.425 17. Alex Barros (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:23.557 18. Kurtis Roberts (KR-Honda), Michelin, 1:23.662 19. Miguel Duhamel (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:23.923 20. Chaz Davies (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:24.098 More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Two monstrous consecutive laps in the closing stages of the qualifying session for the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix gave Casey Stoner his third pole of the 2007 season. The Australian put in a new pole position record at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca with a 1’22.292 lap, smashing Nicky Hayden’s 2005 watermark by over three tenths of a second on his final attempt. Stoner has now been the fastest in every practice and qualifying session of the last two races, and his performances in the latter now allow him to leapfrog over Valentino Rossi in the BMW M Award for combined qualifying times. Could the 21 year-old finally break the longest run without a win from pole in MotoGP history? The top four riders would all have taken the top spot two years ago with their lap times today, with Dani Pedrosa the closest to Stoner’s time at just over two tenths slower. Last year’s poleman Chris Vermeulen completes the front row onboard the Suzuki GSV-R800, and has the opportunity to finally complete the job that was just a small step too far for him back in 2006. Chasing a hat-trick of victories at Laguna Seca, Nicky Hayden starts from the second row after a much-improved qualifying performance. ‘The Kentucky Kid’ will have a tough job if he is to complete an historic home hat-trick and maintain his 100% record. Having taken a small tumble this morning, suffering contusions to his shoulder and removing the nail of his left little finger, Valentino Rossi dusted himself off to put himself on the second row, alongside former Laguna Seca 250cc winner Loris Capirossi. Anglo-American John Hopkins was seventh quickest, having become embroiled in an on-track discussion with Carlos Checa when attempting to improve his times. Colin Edwards and Shinya Nakano will line up with the second Suzuki rider. The top ten is completed by Marco Melandri, who suffered an early crash which postponed the session until 14.20 local time. The Italian had been expected to challenge for pole after some strong showings in qualifying, but experienced difficulty riding after landing hard on his leg in the incident. The Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix takes place tomorrow at 2pm local time. More, from a press release issued by Team Roberts: KURTIS ROBERTS PUTS NEW BIKE THROUGH ITS PACES Kurtis Roberts, riding in only sixth MotoGP event since returning mid-season, qualified 18th for his home grand prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on a motorcycle that didn’t exist only days earlier. The motorcycle chassis and other critical pieces were brought to Monterey from the team’s headquarters in Banbury, Oxforshire as checked luggage on Wednesday. The construction of the motorcycle went smoothly and Kurtis was able to get straight to work when practice began at the scenic course in the hills of Monterey on Friday morning. With only three hours on the new Honda-powered KR212V prior to qualifying, Kurtis was able to set his best time of the weekend, a lap of 1:23.662 mins. The lap time was only 1.370 seconds off pole position, further proof of the competitiveness of the MotoGP class. Roberts was involved in an incident with his friend Marco Melandri (Gresini Honda) early in the session. Melandri clipped Roberts’ boot exiting turn two and tumbled into the gravel. Though he was transported by ambulance back to the pits, he was mostly unhurt and able to continue. He later returned to the track and qualified 10th. Today’s qualifying session was run in warm sunshine, with more of the same expected for tomorrow’s race, the 11th round of the MotoGP World Championship. KURTIS ROBERTS – 18th Position, 1:23.662 The bike’s a lot better. It turns a lot better. It finishes the corner off better. Before it would enter like normal, like all of them do, but once you got it over on your side, it just kept pushing out, it just kept going straight. Where now it just turns in. It was a lot better than it has been so far. We’re 1.3 seconds off and you’re 18th, it shows you how tight and how competitive and how good everything has to be to be up there. As far as tires, we were going alright, but with the race tires we got up to 14th or something. Put the qualifiers in and it’s just trying to get from point A to point B as fast as it can and it’s just those couple ticks that are slowing us down right now. Now it’s down to picking race tires and at this moment it is going to be a tough choice. KENNY ROBERTS – TEAM PRINCIPAL That’s a new bike. Showed up Wednesday, put it all together, everything fit, and we’ve been on it ever since. We’re struggling a little bit, but we’re getting closer. This afternoon we went back to closer to where we were yesterday. I think he’s alright with all of that. We’re having trouble deciding which tires are better than the other ones. We struggled this morning with front grip. We’ve sort of got that sorted out. So I think we’ve got a fairly decent race combination. Depends on the racetrack. If the racetrack gets a little more running on it it’ll start coming to us. Now, it’s a bit too far away. More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Front row start for Vermeulen at US Grand Prix Chris Vermeulen put his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R on the front row of the grid at the American Grand Prix for the second successive year, as he qualified in third place today for Sunday’s race. Vermeulen (1’22.590, 34 laps) set his fastest lap halfway through this afternoon’s hour-long qualifying session whilst still on race tyres. It looked as though his time would be good enough for pole as all riders had difficulty in bettering their race-tyre pace with the qualifying tyres. Vermeulen’s time was only beaten right at the end of the session by championship leader Casey Stoner – who secured pole position – and Dani Pedrosa. John Hopkins (1’22.933, 34 laps) will begin tomorrow’s 32-lap race from the front of the third row after he qualified in seventh place. The ever aggressive Anglo-American looked set for a higher position, but a rider travelling much slower than Hopkins on the racing line caused him to lose his momentum and abort his best lap. Hopkins’ never-say-die attitude rose to the front again and he completed another lap on his Bridgestone qualifying tyre the third on a tyre usually designed to complete just one and although he couldn’t quite get the grip he needed to push him to a front row start he still managed to improve on his previous best and move up the grid. Tomorrow’s 32-lap race is round 11of the MotoGP World Championship and the main event gets going at 14.00hrs local time (21.00hrs GMT). Chris Vermeulen: “It’s great to be on the front row of the grid again at Laguna. Like I’ve said before this is a circuit I really enjoy and the fans were great again here today. The team has done a fantastic job here all weekend and the bike and tyres are working really well. Unfortunately in the session I couldn’t come to grips with the qualifying tyre and I did my quickest time on a race tyre. That is not good for qualifying, but good for the race that we have the pace in the tyres. I am really looking forward to the race tomorrow and we will go and give it 100% out there and see what we can do!” John Hopkins: “The whole weekend has gone pretty well and we think we have got a good combination of race tyres for tomorrow. We had a couple of little issues this afternoon, but nothing that we couldn’t overcome. I would have liked to have been higher up the grid but unfortunately I was baulked by another rider and I ended up doing my fastest lap on a three-lap old qualifier, which was feeling pretty loose by then! I’m on the third row so I’ll have to be really focused from the start and hope that we can put on a great race for all the American fans!” Paul Denning Team Manager: “Chris and John have both improved their race pace today and we look in good shape for tomorrow. It was a strange qualifying session in that we didn’t take the normal jump in lap times on the qualifying tyres. Chris’ front row position was set using his choice of race rubber for tomorrow. It would have been nice to have taken a step on the qualifiers, but it can’t be bad that we can perform on race tyres like that! “John was very badly baulked by an experienced rider during a fast lap, but that is history now and he did well to rescue a seventh place start in the final seconds of the session – when both tyres were well past their best! Rizla Suzuki MotoGP is aiming high tomorrow, and we will be disappointed with anything less than a podium” More, from a press release issued by Konica Minolta Honda: Third row of the grid for KONICA MINOLTA Honda at Laguna Seca Shinya Nakano took his KONICA MINOLTA Honda to a third row grid slot during today’s qualifying session for tomorrow’s US MotoGP race. The 29-year-old Japanese rider pushed hard on his qualifying tyres and managed to take the best part of two seconds off his Friday time to get ninth overall, making him the fastest Honda behind the two factory Repsol machines. It was yet another close qualifying session with only one second separating Casey Stoner on pole to Carlos Checa in 15th. Tomorrow Shinya is hoping for a good start so that he can get a solid top-ten result before the MotoGP championship indulges in a three-week summer break. Gianluca Montiron Team Manager KONICA MINOLTA Honda “Shinya put in an impressive last lap but we know that he is able to ride this circuit as he enjoys the layout a lot. To be in front of the other satellite Honda riders is important for us, so today Shinya did a good job. Tomorrow Shinya needs to confirm his speed in the race. The temperature is expected to be higher than now and I think this will be the key point tomorrow. Consistency will be everything tomorrow in the race, so it’s good to start near the front and we hope to make as good a start as at the Sachsenring. After that, we simply need some good luck to get the good result. We want to be fighting with the top group so we shall see what our pace is.” Shinya Nakano Rider, KONICA MINOLTA Honda (66 laps 1′ 23.006″) “I’m happy with ninth as it wasn’t a bad laptime overall. This morning we were changing the settings to find a good solution, but then in the afternoon the conditions were windy and we also saw more sand on circuit. This made it difficult to enter the corners as I wanted, so I lost the front a couple of times but I managed to get a good timed attack lap in, which is what we wanted! I was lucky with the traffic as this circuit is pretty narrow, so if you see someone you have to slow down. I’m hoping for a good start tomorrow to pass a few riders on the first lap.” Giulio Bernardelle Technical Director, KONICA MINOLTA Honda “It is good to see that our situation is so much better today. This morning because of our modifications it was easy for Shinya to push, so he quickly lost 1.1 seconds on a race tyre compared to his previous laptime. Today the wind was critical and this made it not so easy to control the machine, but it was the same for everyone. Today we finalised the choice for Shinya with the race tyre and gearbox and suspension settings. We seemed to find the increased mechanical grip that we were looking for, which helped us a lot. Shinya did very well in the timed attack laps with the softer tyres on, so from ninth we’re hoping for a good start. This is the worst track possibly for the whole year for overtaking as there’s really no main-straight so the start is so important. We’re expecting our race tyre choice to be good for durability during the race.” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: STORMING STONER ON POLE AT LAGUNA,CAPIROSSI GRABS A SECOND-ROW START Ducati Team riders Casey Stoner and Loris Capirossi rode a superb qualifying session at sunny Laguna Seca this afternoon, setting the fastest and sixth fastest times around the rollercoaster Californian racetrack. World Championship leader Stoner continued his amazing form which has seen him lead all four sessions here, his best lap at the end of qualifying more than two tenths ahead of his closest rival. It was a particularly impressive performance from the stunningly quick Australian who ran off the track at turn six during his first run on qualifiers, but superbly maintained his composure to win pole position in the final moments of the session, then better his time once more on his final lap. This is Stoner’s third pole of the year and his second in a row. Capirossi also came on strong this afternoon, moving up to sixth quickest, six tenths off pole, after some rewarding set-up work during the first three sessions. This is the Italian’s best qualifying performance since last month’s Italian Grand Prix. CASEY STONER, pole position, 1m 22.292s “We basically did at least race distance this morning, then we were pretty much using all the old tyres we had to get a better set-up for the last part of the race. We were still doing high 1m 22s on tyres with 32 or 33 laps on them, which isn’t too bad, so I’m feeling pretty confident for tomorrow. On my out lap with my first qualifier I held up Dani [Pedrosa], I looked behind me and there were a bunch of riders waiting to get a tow, I didn’t know who was going fast or slow, so my apologies. Then I made a big mistake going into turn six, I went up too many gears and ran in there with a little bit too much pace, so that run didn’t really go to plan. I came back out with a second qualifying tyre, I wasn’t feeling too confident because I’d had a couple of front tucks on the run before, but we managed to pull it off. The qualifying tyre was pretty good for two laps. I’m really happy.” LORIS CAPIROSSI, sixth fastest, 1m 22.914s “I’m quite satisfied with the second row. I’m still losing some time through the third and fourth splits because my riding style doesn’t really suit the second half of the track. Anyway, I love the circuit and I’ve got a good race pace, so I feel like I should be able to fight for a good result tomorrow. It’s important to be near the front of the grid here because overtaking is difficult. It’s also the kind of track where it’s very easy to make mistakes, so tomorrow I want to start well and get into a good rhythm, so I don’t have too push too hard.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Stoner and Vermeulen on the front row at Laguna Seca Round 11 USA – Qualifying Laguna Seca Circuit, California, USA Saturday 21 July 2007 Casey Stoner laid claim to his third pole position of the season at the Laguna Seca raceway in California this afternoon in an action-packed qualifying session which was delayed after a crash involving Honda Gresini rider Marco Melandri. The Italian thankfully avoided serious injury and was able to rejoin the session to take an eventual tenth position on the grid having been one of the most consistently competitive riders around Laguna Seca all weekend. Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen, pole setter in the Dutch TT last month, once again demonstrated his expertise around the tricky 3.610km Laguna Seca track by taking an impressive third place for his third front row grid slot of the year so far. Vermeulen’s best time was even more remarkable given it was set on Bridgestone race rubber rather than the softer qualifying tyres. Ducati’s Loris Capirossi will start the demanding 32-lap US Grand Prix from sixth on the grid, ahead of Suzuki’s John Hopkins who will line up in seventh place, setting his best time on the third lap of his final qualifying run. Only 1.8 seconds separated the entire 20-man line-up masking some performances lower down the order with wildcard rider Roger Lee Hayden for Kawasaki, and replacement riders Miguel Duhamel and Chaz Davies for Honda Gresini and Pramac d’Antin respectively all performing solidly on their debut with Bridgestone qualifiers. Tyre Talk with Junichi Kawajiri Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development How would you assess the performance of Bridgestone tyres today? “We have been particularly pleased with the competitive pace shown by our range of race tyres throughout the day. The qualifying tyres did not result in such an increase in lap time and most of our riders were able to extract just a few tenths of a second extra. Chris Vermeulen was able to qualify in third place with a time set on race tyres, quite an amazing achievement in such a tightly fought field. Anthony West also set his best time on race tyres just 0.8s from the pole time. Casey’s final run consisted of two laps on a qualifying tyre and both times were good enough for pole by a comfortable margin. We were also pleased to see Marco quickly back on the bike after his accident early on in the session. He has been one of the quickest men all weekend and has shown the Honda Gresini-Bridgestone package to be very competitive here.” How confident is Bridgestone with the performance and durability of the race tyres? “The consistency and durability of the race tyres has been good in the conditions we have faced today. We conducted some longer runs with our riders this morning and were able to verify the performance in race trim. Similarly, the pace of the race tyres this afternoon was quite strong. We have been able to fix the direction for our teams ahead of tomorrow’s race, but we will carry out some final preparations in the morning warm-up session.” Riding Perspective Casey Stoner Ducati Corse Pole Position “We basically did at least race distance this morning, and then we were pretty much using all the old tyres we had to get a better set-up for the last part of the race. We were still doing high 1m22s on tyres with 32 or 33 laps on them, which isn’t too bad, so I am feeling pretty confident for tomorrow. In qualifying, I made a mistake on my first lap and I wasn’t feeling too confident because I had a couple of front tucks on the run before, but we managed to pull it off. The qualifying tyre was good for two laps and I’m really happy with the result.” Bridgestone Qualifying Practice Session Results Pos Rider Team Best Lap Time Gap P1 Casey Stoner Ducati 1m22.292s Fastest P3 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m22.590s +0.298s P6 Loris Capirossi Ducati 1m22.914s +0.622s P7 John Hopkins Suzuki 1m22.933s +0.641s P10 Marco Melandri Honda Gresini 1m23.066s +0.726s P12 Anthony West Kawasaki 1m23.091s +0.799s P13 Randy de Puniet Kawasaki 1m23.113s +0.821s P16 Roger Lee Hayden Kawasaki 1m23.425s +1.133s P17 Alex Barros Pramac d’Antin 1m23.557s +1.265s P19 Miguel Duhamel Honda Gresini 1m23.923s +1.631s P20 Chaz Davies Pramac d’Antin 1m24.098s +1.806s Weather: Dry track – Air 25°C, Track 43°C, Humidity 49% (taken from official MotoGP timesheet) More, from a press release issued by Gresini Racing Honda: BRAVE MELANDRI BATTLES TO TENTH QUALIFYING – USGP Marco Melandri fought bravely through the final half of this afternoon’s qualifying practice to secure tenth spot on the starting grid for the USGP after suffering a heavy crash at the start of the session. With just nine laps under his belt the Gresini Honda rider was negotiating turn four when he found Kurtis Roberts coasting on the racing line. Melandri was unable to avoid contact with the American, who was travelling at a very slow speed in the middle of the track. Marco jumped off his bike at high speed before colliding with the air fences but the fall still left him with a twisted left ankle and multiple contusions. After a quick check in the medical centre, where the staff confirmed there were no broken bones, Marco returned straight to the pit box and fought through the pain to get back on track and qualify on the fourth row of the grid for tomorrow’s race. MARCO MELANDRI (10th, 1’23″018): “I’m gutted this has happned because I had a good feeling with the bike and a front row start was within our capability. I was fourth fastest when I ran into Kurtis, who was going unusually slow. Despite the pain I wanted to get back on track. It was tough to get through the left-handers and change gear, especially uphill. Tomorrow will be tough. Now I just want to focus on recovering as well as I can with the help of the Clinica Mobile”. MIGUEL DUHAMEL (19th, 1’23″923) : “We’re working hard and for me this is like a continual test. We’re improving every time we go out. At the end of the session I tried a qualifying tyre for the first time and improved my time a lot so now my target is to have a consistent race. I’m really enjoying the whole experience.” More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: SECOND AND THIRD ROWS FOR FIAT YAMAHA AFTER EVENTFUL DAY IN LAGUNA Valentino Rossi recovered from an unlucky fall in this morning’s free practice session to qualify in fifth position today, putting his Fiat Yamaha Team M1 onto the middle of the second row for tomorrow’s US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. Team-mate and home favourite Colin Edwards meanwhile struggled with set-up problems and was unable to replicate his front-row performance of last year, qualifying eighth. Rossi’s crash this morning occurred at the exit of turn six, when he touched an area of unlevel asphalt where the edge of the track meets the kerb. He was sent skidding off his M1 and was lucky to escape with only a cut to the little finger of his left hand and some bruising to his right hand. The Italian sat out the remainder of the session while he received treatment on both hands but was fortunately able to get back out to contest this afternoon’s qualifying. The afternoon session was red-flagged after just a few minutes when Marco Melandri crashed, and it was another twenty minutes before pit-lane re-opened and qualifying recommenced. Rossi and Edwards spent the time making final adjustments and decisions about tyres and set-up ahead of tomorrow’s 32 lap race, before making their bids for grid positions with qualifying tyres in the last 15 minutes. Rossi briefly held a front-row position in third but was edged into fifth when first Nicky Hayden and then Casey Stoner went above him, Stoner taking pole in a time of 1’22 292. Edwards made improvements to his pace during the session but could not quite get close enough to the front runners and his best lap 0.651 seconds shy of pole. Tomorrow’s race gets underway at 1400 West Coast time, 2300 CET. Valentino Rossi Position: 5th Time: 1’22.683 Laps: 34 “My crash this morning was very unfortunate, because there’s a very small section of the track where the new asphalt is at a different level to the kerb, and I lost the rear when I touched this. I paid a high price for a very small mistake! In fact I was very lucky because it’s a bad place to crash, going 180km/h with the throttle open in third. I slid a long way on the track so when I came onto the gravel I was already going quite slowly, but it was a shock because I didn’t expect it. I hurt the little finger of my left hand a little and also had some pain in the right hand, but after some treatment and ice I was okay to ride this afternoon. After this, the second row is not so bad and all the riders in front are fast, with a good pace, so I should be able to push hard from the start. I am expecting a very competitive race tomorrow but we have a good rhythm and I am quite confident that we can fight at the front. I want to say a big thank you to all my guys because they did an amazing job to rebuild the bike in just two hours.” Colin Edwards Position: 8th Time: 1’22.943 Laps: 30 “I’m disappointed with today because we’ve got some fairly serious issues to deal with, especially with the front tyre, and so far we haven’t been able to find a way around the problem. We’ve turned everything upside-down but so far it hasn’t worked. It wasn’t much better with the qualifying tyre, the bike felt really nervous and basically spent the whole lap holding on instead of pushing. We’re going to have a long meeting now and come up with some bright ideas for tomorrow!” Davide Brivio Fiat Yamaha Team Director “The good news is that Valentino was able to ride this afternoon after what really quite a big crash this morning. Fifth position in the circumstances is very good, even if we know that it’s going to be a very hard race tomorrow. He needs to make a good start and put some work in to stay in touch, as usual, but he has a good pace. We have some more work to do with Colin, as he has struggled a bit today. We will work hard now to find a better way to put everything together for him in order to make him more comfortable tomorrow. The new surface might affect the tyres tomorrow and it’s a long race so we will try hard to make sure we make the right decisions and that we’re in the best possible shape with both riders.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac d’Antin Ducati: VERY DIFFICULT QUALIFYING SESSION FOR ALEX BARROS AT RED BULL GRAND PRIX IN LAGUNA SECA After yesterday’s disastrous incident, where Alex Hofmann was the victim of a collision with another rider that resulted in a bad accident, the Pramac d’Antin Team readied itself to contest the qualifying session for the race that will take place tomorrow. Hofmann was confirmed to miss at least the next five weeks, recovering from hand surgery, and so the Italo-Spanish Team chose to support young Briton, Chaz Davies, who will substitute in Hofmann’s place. Much of the Team’s hopes and focus will be on the Brazilian, Alex Barros, who is currently in the top ten in the World Championship classification and who is looking for important championship points tomorrow. Unfortunately for Barros, he was still hurting from the Sachsenring crash, and with his damaged throttle and brake hand, was unable to set a good qualifying lap. The surprise of the session was Chaz Davies, who’s pleasant demeanor and calm and cool manner made working together a pleasure. Using a qualifying tire for the first time, Chaz almost set a good laptime, but a small mistake in the last section of the track prevented him from acheiving a higher grid position. Alex Barros (1:23.557 – 35 laps): Even today wasn’t a good day for me, and I’m very disappointed about this. Even if my hand wasn’t painful, the bike didn’t give me any help. I wasn’t able to find a good bike set-up that would make me able to ride with confidence. For this reason I had a lot of difficulties, especially in the turns where I couldn’t be fast as I wanted. I think that the main problem was coming from the front which was shaking so much. I couldn’t possibly control the bike well. I’m worried for tomorrow, because even though I know during the race anything can happen, it’s still very penalizing to start from the last row on grid. Chaz Davies (1:24.098 – 27 laps): I’m very happy, because I couldn’t have imagined a week-end like this. My feeling with the bike is a lot better than yesterday because I succeeded in understanding how to drive the Ducati Desmosedici quite well. Today was my first time with qualifying tires and I had a really good sensation; Bridgestone tires work very well. For tomorrow I’m not sure what will happen, but for sure I will rest this evening to be at my best for the race and to try and be constant with the race pace. I know that it will be a very difficult race because I don’t have the right athletic training to ride this kind of bike, but I will give my best. More, from a press release issued by Honda: PEDROSA AND HAYDEN IN HUNT FOR ANOTHER U.S. WIN MotoGP never looks less than spectacular here at Laguna Seca and under azure skies the final hour of qualifying showed just why. Casey Stoner (Ducati) upped his game twice in the final moments of this session to start from the front row. Alongside him as second fastest man is Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) and Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) the third quickest contender. And with Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V) finishing up as the fourth fastest qualifier to head row two of the grid. This starting line-up has all the hallmarks of an intense race to come tomorrow. With Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) fifth on the grid and Stoner’s team-mate Loris Capirossi in sixth on row two, there are so many proven and potential race-winners set to fire it off the line. This final hour of fighting for grid dominance began in 25-degree heat with the track at 43-degrees and Marco Melandri (Gresini Honda RC212V) showed an early intent to be one of the pace-setters. The Italian was the fastest man on track with four minutes gone, but then he tangled with Kurtis Roberts (Roberts KR212V) and crashed heavily when he ran wide onto the dirt. There was a 20 minute hiatus while the session was stopped to allow medical staff to attend to the stricken Melandri, but it soon became clear that although he might have picked up a leg injury he was mercifully relatively unscathed after his off. As the session resumed with 44 minutes left to run, the order was Stoner, Pedrosa, Capirossi, Melandri, Colin Edwards (Yamaha) and Vermeulen. With 39 minutes remaining Rossi hoisted himself to third in the order (only 0.2 seconds off Stoner’s provisional pole time). But then Vermeulen put in a time of 1m 22.906s on what looked to be race tyres. He then posted a time of 1m 22.590s to beat Nicky Hayden’s 2005 lap record. But Nikcy would beat his own record too en route to fourth on the grid. Marco Melandri was back out despite his crash, but with 22 minutes left, it was approaching the time for qualifiers as race set-up and tyre decisions were finalized. With 14 minutes left on the clock, Nicky put in a 1m 22.883s time to grab second. Then the general frenzy for last ditch laps on qualifying tyres unleashed itself. Stoner ran off track, Dani grabbed provisional pole with a 1m 22.501s time to head Vermeulen and Hayden until Rossi moved up to third by bettering Nicky’s time. With just one minute left on the dial Dani looked like he might be the fastest man on track until Stoner pulled off a 1m 22.361s time followed by a lap of 1m 22.292s to steal pole. The first 15 riders on the grid are covered by less than a second and spectacularly involving as the racing invariably is here, this also promises to be one of the more critical races in terms of the momentum of the World Championship before the summer break. Second fastest man Dani said: Today we improved the set-up a lot, which was the most important target of the day. I’m also happy to be starting from the front row of the grid again because that’s always an advantage and gives you a chance of getting in front in the first few laps. The race set-up we’ve found is not bad and we’ve got a good idea on the race tyres too so we’ll just be making a few minor adjustments according to what we’ve learned today. My qualifying laps weren’t bad, but I hit some traffic on the first one which cost me time the second qualifying lap was a little better.” Nicky, heading row two, as fourth fastest qualifier, said: “In the morning we made quite a lot of progress and put in some decent lap times. Thanks to Pete and the boys because they did an awesome job to improve things this morning. When the conditions change in the afternoon it seems to go away from me though and I’m a little way off with the race set-up. I really wanted to get a little higher in qualifying today and I think we had the bike and the tyres to do it I just didn’t get the most out of the package. I’m a little worried about the race because I seem to be struggling in the afternoons.” Shinya Nakano (Konica Minolta Honda RC212V) in ninth said: “I’m happy with ninth as it wasn’t a bad lap-time overall. This morning we were changing the settings to find a good solution, but then in the afternoon the conditions were windy and we also saw more sand on circuit. This made it difficult to enter the corners as I wanted, so I lost the front a couple of times but I managed to get a good timed attack lap in, which is what we wanted! I was lucky with the traffic as this circuit is pretty narrow, so if you see someone you have to slow down. I’m hoping for a good start tomorrow to pass a few riders on the first lap.” The gutsy Melandri, with a badly bruised and swollen left ankle, ended up tenth on the grid and said: “I’m gutted this has happened because I had a good feeling with the bike and a front row start was within our capability. I was fourth fastest when I ran into Kurtis, who was going unusually slow. Despite the pain I wanted to get back on track. It was tough to get through the left-handers and change gear, especially uphill. Tomorrow will be tough. Now I just want to focus on recovering as well as I can with the help of the Clinica Mobile.” Carlos Checa (LCR Honda RC212V), who qualified 15th, despite an incident with John Hopkins (Suzuki), said: “Everything was going OK until I tried a soft qualifying tyre this afternoon and could not improve. On race tyres I felt quite comfortable in the morning session, we made good progress, and I think if I can maintain lap times of 1m 23s then I can have a good result in the race. At the end of the session I was disappointed in the reaction of John Hopkins when I slowed after seeing yellow flags being displayed. John was on a fast lap but there were no blue flags and I got off the throttle to observe the yellow flag.” Kurtis Roberts, 18th on the grid, said: “The bike’s a lot better. It turns a lot better. It finishes the corner off better. Before it would enter like normal, like all of them do, but once you got it over on your side, it just kept pushing out, it just kept going straight. Where now it just turns in. It was a lot better than it has been so far. We’re 1.3 seconds off and 18th, it shows you how tight and how competitive and how good everything has to be to be up there. As far as tyres are, we got up to 14th or something with race tyres. Put the qualifiers in and it’s just trying to get from point A to point B as fast as it can and it’s just those couple ticks that are slowing us down right now.” Kenny Roberts Team Principle. “That’s a new bike. Showed up Wednesday, put it all together, everything fit, and we’ve been on it ever since. We’re struggling a little bit, but we’re getting closer. This afternoon we went back to closer to where we were yesterday. I think he’s alright with all of that. We’re having trouble deciding which tires are better than the other ones. We struggled this morning with front grip. We’ve sort of got that sorted out. So I think we’ve got a fairly decent race combination. Depends on the racetrack. If the racetrack gets a little more running on it it’ll start coming to us. Now, it’s a bit too far away.” Miguel Duhamel, standing in for the injured Toni Elias (Gresini Honda RC212V), said: “We’re working hard and for me this is like a continual test. We’re improving every time we go out. At the end of the session I tried a qualifying tyre for the first time and improved my time a lot so now my target is to have a consistent race. I’m really enjoying the whole experience. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: TOUGH DAY AT LAGUNA FOR THE NINJAS Anthony West’s Ninja ZX-RR will be the best placed Kawasaki on the grid for tomorrow’s U.S. Grand Prix, after the 26-year-old Australian qualified 12th fastest during this afternoon’s timed session at Laguna Seca. West’s regular Kawasaki team mate, Randy de Puniet, will start from one row further back on the grid after qualifying his Ninja ZX-RR in 13th place. And, after winning this afternoon’s AMA Supersport race in impressive style, Kawasaki wild card rider, Roger Lee Hayden, will start his debut MotoGP race tomorrow from 16th position on the grid. During this morning’s free practice session it was Hayden who lead the Kawasaki trio home, finishing 11th fastest overall, with de Puniet and West filling the next two places on the timesheet. Hayden may well have continued his form from the morning free practice session to end the day as the top Kawasaki rider, but the American was baulked during qualifying on his last flying lap, by an on track dispute involving Honda’s Carlos Checa and Suzuki’s John Hopkins. For all three Kawasaki riders, a deterioration in the track conditions ahead of this afternoon’s timed session meant that they all struggled to improve their times after switching to super-sticky qualifying rubber. Despite the difficult conditions, West did a great job of perfecting his lines around a circuit he has never raced at before, eventually finishing just 0.799s down on polesitter, Casey Stoner. De Puniet made a late recovery after a difficult session, clocking his fastest time on his penultimate lap, a minuscule 0.022 seconds behind his Australian team mate, West. The 26-year-old Frenchman has already improved on his 15th place qualifying position of last year and is confident he can beat his 2006 race placement of 12th in tomorrow’s gruelling 32-lapper. The mountainous, arid landscape of Laguna provides ample entertainment to fans and a not insignificant challenge to riders! With some harsh turns and huge inclines, there’s plenty to keep the premier class racers busy and spectators on the edges of their seats. After warm up tomorrow morning, Kawasaki anticipates a spectacular event with plenty of support for their team evident amongst the fans at the track. Anthony West #13 – 12th – Best Lap 1Â’23.091 “Being the fastest Kawasaki is the good thing about today but I just didn’t feel right in that session. The wind was picking up, and the there was a lot of dust blowing across the track, which seemed to make it harder to do better times. The qualifying tyres weren’t really helping me but I was able to push a little bit harder on the last lap and do a decent time, although I’m not really 100% happy with it. Still, at least I haven’t gone backwards, so I feel quite positive about the race.” Randy De Puniet #14 – 13th – Best Lap 1Â’23.113 “It’s been a difficult day and this is my worst qualifying position all year. I think we can improve some elements of the bike ready for tomorrow and I hope that, if we do change one or two things just a little, then I can do ok in the race. I didn’t feel much improvement with the qualifying tyres and I think this has been the same for all of us today.” Roger Hayden #95 – 16th – Best Lap 1Â’23.425 “It went pretty well. The beginning of the session was definitely a lot better: I had a good rhythm, put in some strong laps and felt really positive. On the first qualifier, I made a mistake, hit neutral and ran pretty wide. On the second, I just didn’t give it enough gas, then came up against a couple of riders arguing with each other about something, which held me up. Overall, it’s been an OK day and, although I didn’t go any faster on the qualifiers, I think I can go well in the race tomorrow.”