FIM MotoGP World Championship Mugello, Italy May 30, 2009 Qualifying Results (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha), 1:48.987 2. Casey STONER (Ducati), 1:49.008 3. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki), 1:49.121 4. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), 1:49.148 5. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda), 1:49.499 6. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), 1:49.547 7. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda), 1:49.648 8. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), 1:50.073 9. Toni ELIAS (Honda), 1:50.078 10. Yuki TAKAHASHI (Honda), 1:50.305 11. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), 1:50.405 12. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda), 1:50.448 13. Niccolo CANEPA (Ducati), 1:50.528 14. James TOSELAND (Yamaha), 1:50.537 15. Marco MELANDRI (Kawasaki), 1:50.710 16. Nicky HAYDEN (Ducati), 1:50.924 17. Mika KALLIO (Ducati), 1:51.008 More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: LORENZO GRABS LAST-MINUTE MUGELLO POLE AS ROSSI IS EDGED ONTO SECOND ROW Jorge Lorenzo took his second pole and fifth front row of the season after a scintillating qualifying session in Italy this afternoon, which left the top four riders separated by less than two tenths of a second. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi qualified fourth and finds himself off the front row at Mugello for the first time since 1999, when he was still in 250s. After topping the time sheets yesterday Lorenzo played second fiddle to his team-mate for most of this afternoon’s session and it was Rossi who sat at the top of the leader board for most of the hour. The Spaniard was consistently fast around the first three quarters of the track but was losing time in the final section, leaving him a few tenths behind the Italian. With five minutes to go and with all riders on fresh Bridgestone tyres the qualifying session looked to be a four-way battle between the Fiat Yamaha duo, Loris Capirossi and Casey Stoner but it was championship leader Lorenzo who came out on top, with an inch-perfect lap which edged him into pole by two hundredths of a second from Stoner. Rossi has had no less than eleven front row starts at this track and today he looked a sure bet for another as he effortlessly improved his time lap by lap, looking as comfortable as ever in the Italian sunshine. He came out worst in the last-lap showdown however as he lost out to compatriot Capirossi by 0.027 seconds, meaning the world champion will have to start from fourth as he seeks his seventh consecutive win here tomorrow when the lights go out at 1400. Jorge Lorenzo Position: 1 Time: 1’48.987 Laps: 30 “I’m really happy about this because it’s a great pole position and I’m really excited to be starting from the front at Mugello. During the session we had some problems in T4 and we still need to try to improve a bit in that section, but I am fast with both types of tyre and in the end I was able to do one very fast lap. My race pace is good and I think that I have the possibility to fight with Valentino tomorrow; in my mind he is still the favourite here. My target is to get a good start and then try to stay with Valentino and Casey, and then I am sure I can be a part of the race. I am very excited and I hope for a great battle.” Valentino Rossi Position: 4 Time: 1’49.148 Laps: 28 “Sincerely I am quite disappointed to miss out on the first row! Usually I don’t mind so much but here, in Mugello, it’s special so I am sorry for this. It was a great fight today and we had good potential for the pole position but in the end we lost the front row to Loris, who did a great lap. Our setting is good, we have some small details to check but our race pace with the harder tyre is very good so I am not too worried. Of course starting from the second row makes life a little more difficult but we don’t think about this. The weather situation is very important because if it’s like this then we know we are fast but if it changes, which seems possible from the forecast, then it will be a bit more difficult.” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “We couldn’t ask for a better qualifying session than this! Our race setting is pretty good but we still need to improve our time a little in the final sector, which is where we were losing out today. Jorge did brilliantly with the softer tyre on the final run and this is a very important pole position for us. We hope this good weather continues because if it’s like this then it’s going to be a very exciting race.” Davide Brivio Team Manager “As far as race preparation goes that was a good session, because we were always fast. In the hot laps with the soft tyres at the end we just missed out on the front row but this is not the end of the world. Our race set-up is very good and, although starting from fourth makes our job a little harder, we know that Valentino will be in the fight tomorrow. We’re looking forward to a great race.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Rizla Suzuki’s Italian star Loris Capirossi will start his home Grand prix from the front row of the grid after qualifying in third place at hot and sunny Mugello today. Capirossi (1’49.121, 27 laps) had improved all day as he set the fifth fastest time during this morning’s final free practice session and was one of only four riders to record sub 1’50 laps during the early part of the qualifying session – when riders were still using the harder compound of Bridgestone race tyre that they will favour in tomorrow’s race. During the final third of the session Capirossi bettered his times to such a point that he was in pole position with only a few seconds remaining, but he saw that snatched from him right at the end by championship leader Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner. His time was still good enough to give him the final front row position, his second successive at Mugello and the Rizla’s third in succession following Chris Vermeulen’s in 2007. Vermeulen (P11, 1’50.405. 29 laps) continued to improve on his lap times and his GSV-R throughout today, and at the end of the qualifying session he was only 1.418 seconds from pole. He used the experience of his team-mate to good effect in the qualifying session as he followed Capirossi around the complicated 5,245m Mugello Circuit to learn some different lines. Vermeulen is confident of the set-up he has for the Suzuki GSV-R tomorrow and is planning on a good performance in the 23-lap race. The lights will change to go for tomorrow’s race at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT) with both Rizla Suzuki riders aiming for the best result possible at this awesome circuit. Loris Capirossi: “It has been a fantastic day today, especially because I was a bit angry yesterday and we had a really good meeting with all the team and decided to change a lot of things on the bike. Stuart is so clever because he made the right modifications to the GSV-R and from first thing this morning it was working well. Our target is to always try and do our best, but this front row is a great feeling for us. The race is tomorrow but this has given a good lift to the whole team and we will now try as hard as possible tomorrow afternoon. I know that Suzuki has been doing a lot of work at the factory and we now hope that the new engine that is coming to Barcelona will help even more. The race will be hard for everybody tomorrow, but I don’t have anything to lose and I will try my best and see what happens!” Chris Vermeulen: “It is not a good qualifying position, but we have definitely taken a step forward today with the bike. All of the mechanics and engineers have done a great job today and they have given me a lot more confidence – especially in the front of the bike. Hopefully we’ll take yet another step forward in the race tomorrow. I want to congratulate and also thank Loris. He helped me out in the session and showed me some lines that his 20 years of experience here have produced and you can definitely see the difference when you follow him – that certainly helped me out towards the end of qualifying. I’m in a reasonable position on the grid and in with a lot of good riders, so if I can get a good start hopefully we can have a decent race tomorrow.” Paul Denning – Team Manager: “Things were really tough yesterday afternoon for both the guys and the team has done very well to turn the bike around and inspire a much higher level of confidence in the GSV-R today. It’s fantastic to be back on the front row, especially with the high level of competition that there is right now. For Loris to get amongst that group is going to help his confidence and self-belief – not just for tomorrow but as a kick-start to the rest of the season. Well done to Loris and well done to his crew for giving him a bike capable of reaching the front row. “Chris has made a decent step forward today and also seems to be coming out of his illness, which whilst he wouldn’t want to use it as any form of an excuse, can’t be an ideal situation. It has been a good job by the whole team today and we are looking forward to the Grand Prix with high hopes tomorrow!” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Penultimate lap gives Lorenzo his second pole on Bridgestone tyres Round 5: Italy Qualifying Autodromo del Mugello, Saturday 30 May 2009 Tyre compounds available: Front: Medium, Hard. Rear: Medium, Hard Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo scored his second pole position in five races since the appointment of Bridgestone as the Official Tyre Supplier after a thrilling last-minute shootout between Fiat Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi, Ducati Team’s Casey Stoner and Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi. All riders set their fastest times using the hard compound front and medium compound rear Bridgestone slicks, with the exception of Scot Racing’s Yuki Takahashi who used a hard compound rear and Pramac Racing’s Niccolo Canepa who used the medium compound front slick tyre. During the hour-long session the championship top three all held provisional pole position. Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi was the fourth rider to do so, the Italian delivering an excellent performance to finish third and secure his first front row start of the season, fittingly at his home grand prix. In the fight to the flag, Rossi recorded his best time three laps from the end. Lorenzo’s and Capirossi’s best times came on their respective penultimate laps, and Stoner’s came on his very last lap. Whereas yesterday Lorenzo was the only rider to lap beneath the 1m50s mark, during qualifying the top seven riders all recorded laps quicker than the circuit’s fastest race lap of 1m50.003s set by Stoner last year. Since Friday’s first free practice, Lorenzo, Rossi and Stoner have filled the top three slots. A strong performance from Monster Yamaha Tech3’s Colin Edwards saw him third for much of qualifying, but it looked like the championship top three would fill the front row of the grid tomorrow until Capirossi’s effort pushed fellow Italian Rossi into fourth. The top four were separated by just 0.16seconds. Hiroshi Yamada – Bridgestone Motorsport Manager Motorcycle Sport Unit “It was a very exciting qualifying session today, especially the four-way fight for pole. I’d like to congratulate Jorge for his performance, and of course to Loris and the Suzuki team. It is great to see them showing the same form as they did in pre-season tests and be on the front row here. I am also pleased to see Yuki score his first top ten qualifying position in MotoGP.” Tohru Ubukata – Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development “We saw most riders using the medium compound rear Bridgestone in qualifying today, but if the temperature is the same for tomorrow’s race I think we can expect to see most riders opting for hard front and hard rear Bridgestone slicks. All riders now have experience this weekend of the hard compound tyres, and I think they will perform better with a similar track temperature over a race distance. More so in free practice this morning we saw riders using both the hard and medium compound fronts and rears, so we can say the two specifications have a good performance overlap.” Top ten from qualifying (Saturday 13:55 14:55 GMT+2) Pos Rider Team Time Gap 1 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 1m48.987s 2 Casey Stoner Ducati Team 1m49.008s +0.021s 3 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m49.121s +0.134s 4 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1m49.148s +0.161s 5 Randy de Puniet LCR Honda MotoGP 1m49.499s +0.512s 6 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech3 1m49.547s +0.560s 7 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 1m49.648s +0.661s 8 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 1m50.073s +1.086s 9 Toni Elias San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m50.078s +1.091s 10 Yuki Takahashi Scot Racing Team MotoGP 1m50.305s +1.318s Weather: Dry. Ambient 22-23°C; Track 44°C ( Bridgestone measurement) More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: REPSOL HONDA RIDERS BATTLE IT OUT IN MUGELLO QUALIFYING Repsol Honda Team riders Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa qualified in seventh and eighth places for tomorrow’s Italian Grand Prix in a tightly fought qualifying session at Mugello today. In front of his home crowd, Dovizioso was able to improve his pace by over 1.5s from yesterday’s single hour of practice, recording a time of 1m 49.648s, which was well inside the existing race lap record of 1m 50.003s. The front two rows were fiercely contested today and Dovizioso missed out on sixth place and the final spot on row two by just a tenth of a second, setting a time just 0.661s behind today’s pole position man Jorge Lorenzo. With final set-up adjustments planned for tomorrow morning’s warm-up session and boosted by a passionate home crowd, Dovizioso is determined battle at the front in tomorrow’s 23-lap race. Pedrosa put in a fighting performance today as an unfortunate hip injury in morning practice left him in considerable discomfort during this afternoon’s one-hour session and prevented him from riding at full pace. Despite this, the 23-year-old Spaniard, who lies just nine points behind the World Championship points leader, was able to pull out a lap of 1m 50.073s to secure a spot alongside his team-mate on the third row of the grid. The unusual injury wasn’t caused by a fall, but instead it happened as his machine shook vigorously as it recovered from a big rear wheel slide in the left-hand Palagio corner. The unlucky Pedrosa incurred severe stretching in his right hip which pulled the gluteus medius muscle and may have caused a tiny crack in the greater trochanter (thigh) bone where the muscle attaches. It was a very unfortunate incident for a rider who has already produced a remarkable start to 2009 after an injury-hit pre-season. However, Pedrosa has proved his toughness in the face of adversity many times before and is likely to try to make the 2pm start of tomorrow’s race. ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 7th – 1m 49.648s “We have improved our lap time session after session, reducing the gap from the fastest riders and this is a positive move. Yesterday we had a gap of 1.3s, this morning it was one second and this afternoon we got it down to five tenths so I’m happy about that. This morning we made an adjustment to the settings which improved the feeling during corner entry. For the qualifying session we tried another modification but we didn’t get the results we expected, so we’ll need to make some changes to finalise the set-up tomorrow morning in the warm-up. I’m confident we can improve by two or three tenths but it will be difficult to consistently match the pace of the fastest riders. Tomorrow the race will be tough and really I was hoping to start from the second row. Still, I will do my best to get a good start and try not to lose contact with the first group. It’s my home race and the atmosphere here is incredible. The fans are so passionate and so I’ll be going all out to give them something to cheer about tomorrow.” DANI PEDROSA 8th – 1m 50.073 “Considering what happened today, eighth place on the grid is actually quite good because I was in a lot of pain on the bike and for a while it was touch and go whether I’d be able to ride at all. In this morning’s session I had a slide from the rear tyre and the bike went into quite a violent shake. During this, I pulled a muscle in my right hip really hard and maybe caused some more damage – we’ll have to check what the next scans show. But what I can say is that it was very painful and I had to stop riding immediately because the pain stopped my right leg from working properly – it was like a switch. This afternoon I had some painkillers, but it was still very difficult. It’s very hard to make a prediction for the race – I will try, but at the moment I don’t know for how long I can continue my pace – we’ll see.” KAZUHIKO YAMANO – REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER “Both riders fought hard today, though things obviously didn’t go exactly according to plan for Dani. Andrea has made significant step-by-step progress throughout the sessions and has closed the gap on the front runners. His machine settings have improved with the adjustments the team made today and his crew will work on finalising things in the warm-up. Dani’s situation is very unlucky, especially because he was approaching full strength. We’ll have to see how he is tomorrow and cross our fingers that he’s in a condition to be able to race. It’s been a tricky day but we’ll focus on getting the best results possible tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Super sixth for Edwards in scorching hot Mugello Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards was in sparkling form during qualifying for the Italian MotoGP to secure a place on the second row of the grid for tomorrow’s eagerly anticipated Mugello race. The Texan made a blistering start to the session, immediately fighting his way into the top three as Yamaha dominated the early stages with Jorge Lorenzo and home hero Valentino Rossi also in early contention for pole position. Working on front-end geometry settings to improve the agility of his YZR-M1 machine for the fast changes of direction at the spectacular Mugello circuit, Edwards clocked his best time of 1.49.547 with 13 minutes remaining. That put him third quickest, but in an enthralling final ten minutes of a session run in sunny conditions, the 35-year-old slipped down to the second row for tomorrow’s 23-lap race, ending just 0.4s off the front row. British rider James Toseland had to settle for 14th place on the grid with a best time of 1.50.537, though he is confident he has the pace on race tyres to mount an assault on the top eight tomorrow. Toseland found it difficult to find a comfortable rear shock setting to help the 28-year-old take full advantage of the extra grip from the soft rear Bridgestone tyre. He set his best time on his last flying lap and he was only 0.5s away from a place on the third row and 0.2s outside of the top ten. Colin Edwards 6th 1.49.547 23 laps “I never plan on going out and following anybody but right at the start of the session Valentino (Rossi) was right in front of me and he had no problem with me following. So taking into account he’s the Mugello expert I got in behind him to see if I could learn something and I picked up a couple of tricks. In a couple of places like the chicanes he hits the apex later at the first part to get a better drive out of the second part. I was more sweeping through them without getting a really good drive, so that helped me a bit. I was out on an old front tyre and a new rear and my race times were pretty consistent and I’m sure I can run 1.49s in the race. For me the harder rear tyre, which we’ll have to use because of the high track temperature, has just as much grip as the softer one, which shows what a great job Bridgestone has done. I had a couple of small issues with front-end movement, which we improved and that’s a big bonus. We changed the geometry to help with the front stability and it helped make the bike much more agile. And that’s crucial here with the fast changes of direction. You really need to flow round here without having to muscle the bike around because that gets pretty tough for 23 laps. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow and putting on a good show for my guys at Tech 3 who have been awesome again.” James Toseland 14th 1.50.537- 24 laps “I’m pretty frustrated because I feel I should be much higher up the grid. As I know from other races earlier this season, while I can run the lap times from around sixth to tenth place, the times in this class are so close that it can be hard to fight your way through in the race. So being on the fifth row makes it incredibly difficult. We were playing around with the suspension settings all weekend and been going in the right direction, but when I upped my pace on the softer compound tyre the rear shock setting wasn’t quite right. When the rear tyre was loaded as I opened the throttle it just had a harsh feeling with little movement, so we weren’t finding as much grip from the tyre as we could do. We made some changes in the session without making any big progress and right at the end on my last soft tyre we found something a bit better. But it was too late unfortunately and if we had found that direction a bit earlier it would have given me more time to build up my pace on the softer tyre. I’m frustrated because I feel I can be strong at this track, but I’ll work hard with my guys tonight to try and find a better setting. I’m still confident that I can do good times in the race and gain a few places for a good result and as always I’ll never give up.” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: STONER JUST 0.021 SECONDS OFF HOME POLE POSITION FOR DUCATI Ducati Marlboro Team rider Casey Stoner came within touching distance of a home pole position for the factory at the Mugello circuit this afternoon, missing out by just 0.021 seconds as he qualified in second place for tomorrow’s Italian Grand Prix. The Australian provided an early treat for the Ducatisti who are packed into the stand at the Correntaio corner here by mounting a late charge for top spot on his final lap, only to fall a fraction short of the benchmark set by Jorge Lorenzo. Ever the perfectionist, however, Stoner was not entirely satisfied with the day’s events after his electrifying pace in this morning’s final free practice session was halted by a crash, which also set back his work in the afternoon. Nicky Hayden made vast improvements from the morning to the afternoon session, knocking well over a second off his best lap time. However, with his rivals also stepping up the pace the American lost a position on his free practice classification and qualified in 16th position for tomorrow’s 23-lap race. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 2nd (1’49.008) “We had a great free practice session this morning despite the crash and I was very comfortable with the bike, so I was optimistic about this afternoon. Unfortunately as we picked up the pace in the afternoon we found some problems with the front and I couldn’t make the bike turn as I wanted it to. You spend a lot of time on the edge of the tyre through the long corners at this circuit and that is where we’re losing time. We’ll see if we can change a couple of things and improve the bike before the warm-up tomorrow. Second place on the grid is obviously a great position but I know we could have done a lot better so I can’t help but feel frustrated. It also makes me look forward to tomorrow even more because I can’t wait to get back out on track!” NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team) 16th (1’50.924) “I know we’re in the same position on the time sheets, worse in fact, but actually the feeling with the bike got better as the session went on this afternoon and the lap time improved quite a lot from the morning. My pace through T1 is acceptable but I’m the slowest guy out there through T3 so that’s what we’ll be focusing on tonight I think. We still have a big gap to make up and we need to make a major step if want to be competitive but anything can happen at this track. We’ve got many Engineers here from Bologna so hopefully they can help me out a bit.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Fans at Mugello were treated to a great battle in qualifying on Saturday afternoon, with Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo upstaging his teammate Valentino Rossi at the World Champion’s home track – the Spaniard taking pole and the Italian left off the front row. In brilliant sunshine at the Gran Premio d’Italia Alice four riders fought for pole right at the death. Lorenzo eventually emerged on top, courtesy of a 1’48.987 time on the 29th of his 30 laps, beating Casey Stoner by a tight margin (0.021s). Ducati star Stoner had looked strong in both practice sessions, save for a crash in the morning run, but remains unconvinced about his chances of victory. With a front row start, however, he seems more than capable of challenging for the win on Sunday. Just behind Stoner on the grid will be his former team-mate Loris Capirossi, who surged to provisional pole in the final minutes on his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R before ultimately ending up third. Rossi, therefore, sits in the unfamiliar territory of the second row at a circuit where he has won the last seven MotoGP races, but he will nonetheless expect to be pushing for all 25 points when the lights go out. This is his first non-front row start at Mugello in MotoGP. An excellent showing from speedy qualifier Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) saw him on the second line as the top Honda representative, whilst Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Colin Edwards finished just behind him by a 0.048s margin. Repsol Honda’s factory Honda pairing of Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa make up an uncharacteristic third row. An off-colour Pedrosa spent much of the session towards the bottom of the timesheet and he will need one of his trademark strong starts in Sunday’s race in order to get amongst the front-runners and stay in touch in the title race. Toni Elías (San Carlo Honda Gresini) took a tumble when on a fast lap at the end of the run and found himself in ninth place, with fellow Honda rider Yuki Takahashi (Scot Racing) completing the top ten. 250cc World Champion Marco Simoncelli had to settle for second place in the 250cc qualifying session, as he was unable to prevent title rival Álvaro Bautista from taking pole. Spanish competitor Bautista secured his third pole position start of 2009 with a 1’52.804 time on his penultimate lap, which put him just 0.014s ahead of Metis Gilera rider Simoncelli – with whom he is likely to battle for supremacy in Sunday’s race. Bautista and Simoncelli’s fellow championship protagonists Héctor Barberá (Pepe World Team) and Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Racing Team) will also commence the fifth 250cc contest of the season on the front row. Behind them on the grid will be fierce rivals Alex Debon (Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens) and Thomas Luthi (Emmi – Caffe Latte) who clashed in Le Mans two weeks ago, whilst the second row will also feature Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT SAG) and Mattia Pasini (Team Toth Aprilia). 125cc Bancaja Aspar rider Bradley Smith set a new 125cc Mugello pole record earlier in the afternoon, his 1’58.134 hot lap beating Lukas Pesek’s record from 2006 by a 0.068s margin. Smith therefore heads the 125cc grid for the first time this season, having taken pole on three occasions last year. The Oxfordshire teenager is joined on the front row by three riders he knows very well, namely his compatriot Scott Redding (Blusens Aprilia) in second place and teammates Julián Simón and Sergio Gadea in third and fourth respectively. Another Spanish competitor, Marc Márquez (Red Bull KTM), heads the second row, in front of home rider Andrea Iannone (Ongetta Team I.S.P.A.), Frenchman Johann Zarco (WTR San Marino Team) and the KTM rider’s countryman Pol Espargaró (Derbi Racing Team). More, from a press release issued by Playboy LCR Honda: DE PUNIET SHINES AT MUGELLO QUALIFYING Mugello, 30 May: LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet rode his Honda RC212V to 5th place today in the qualifying session at the 5.245 km Mugello circuit in readiness for the tomorrow’s 23-lap race that gets underway at 14:00 local time. Today’s both premier class sessions were dry with ambient temperature of 25°C while the asphalt rose up to 42°. After this morning’s 10th position in the free practice, De Puniet was in sparkling form and clocked his best lap time of 1’49.499 (on lap 25 of 26) less than six tenths off the quickest lap of the day gaining the second row for the second time this year. The 28-year-old made good progress on race set-up showing his potential around the Italian track where he already experienced the podium in 250cc class. Today’s poleman Lorenzo set the quickest lap time of 1’48.987 followed by Stoner and Capirossi. De Puniet 5th 1’49.499 De Puniet 5th: “I am very happy and this qualifying is almost perfect. This morning we have been working a lot in suspensions and geometry set up. Honestly we did not achieve all what we are expecting. Basically all we have tested was not a real improvement but at the end it helped us to understand which way to go. We still have some issues about the rear grip and will try to fix some adjustments in tomorrow’s warm up. Our pace is acceptable and I made my life easier thanks to the second row for tomorrow’s start. If we take a good start following the front riders for some laps we could get a positive result here”. More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing Team: Fifth and sixth row for the Pramac Racing riders in the Grand Prix of Italy Pramac Racing rider, Niccolò Canepa e Mika Kallio, didn’t make it to obtain the expected results at the Mugello circuit during the qualifying practice valid for the Italian Grand Prix. The Italian rider has concluded in thirteenth position after spending most of the time in the top ten during qualifying and he will have to start in fifth row. Niccolò has maintained a good rhythm and this bring a lot of trust inside the garage. In the last eight minutes Niccolò couldn’t step on track as he finished the tyres at his disposal. His teammate on the contrary had more difficulties today and didn’t manage to find the right balance of his bike to adapt at the best his Ducati. Mika will have to start from the sixth row the Italian Grand Prix tomorrow May 31st at 2pm local time. Fabiano Sterlacchini – Pramac Racing Technical Director “We were expecting more today. We have found various solutions that helped us, but nothing that made us climb the classification. Mika doesn’t have the same feeling as in the previous races. Niccolò knows well the tracks and this probably gives him more trust to push to the maximum. As I always said he has a great talent and he will demonstrate it really soon.” Niccolò Canepa – Pramac Racing rider – 13th best lap time in 1’50.528 “We got closer to the fastest riders, even if I am sure I could have done better today. In my fastest lap I was slowed down by another rider otherwise I could have easily enter the top ten. But the most important thing is the rhythm I maintained all afternoon: if I make it to keep the same level tomorrow in the race we can have a lot of fun.” Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing rider – 17th best lap time in 1’51.008 “Nothing has changed compared to yesterday, we have improved many things without finding a valid solution. It has been really hard for me, the bike doesn’t follow the lines I want and this makes every turn really difficult. It is a really hard weekend for us, maybe the most complicated of the season so far.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: DE PUNIET TOP HONDA ON SECOND ROW AT MUGELLO Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) was Honda’s top performer in this afternoon’s thrilling Italian GP qualifying session, the Frenchman putting his non-factory RC212V on the second row of the grid. The session was topped by World Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) who grabbed pole position in the final moments. Weather conditions were just about perfect with ambient temperature at 25 degrees and track temperature at 42 degrees. Lap times were tantalisingly close, the fastest seven riders separated by just 0.661 seconds. De Puniet was delighted with his fifth-place performance which matches his starting position the recent Spanish GP, which he turned into an excellent four-place finish. Mugello is one of MotoGP’s greatest challenges, a magnificent rollercoaster of a racetrack which only reveals its secrets to the most talented, intelligent riders. De Puniet certainly found the track’s secrets today, his fastest lap just 0.512 seconds off pole. Although he already has a good race pace here, de Puniet will try further minor adjustments during morning warm-up in a bid to give him even more rear grip for the race. Repsol Honda duo Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa will start tomorrow’s Italian GP, fifth race of this year’s 17 rounds, from the third row of the grid. Dovizioso, readying himself for his first home race as a factory MotoGP rider, was seventh fastest, less than seven tenths of a second off pole position after making machine adjustments to improve corner-entry performance. Pedrosa had a horribly unlucky day, sustaining a nasty injury this morning without even crashing. The Spaniard survived a big slide exiting the Scarperia chicane but the whiplash effect gave him an agonising right hip injury, pulling the gluteus medius muscle and causing a suspected crack at the top of the femur. Despite this injury, the brave former 125 and 250 World Champion intends to race here. Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini) was the only faller during the qualifying session, the Spaniard sliding off at the Poggio Secco right-hander while chasing reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) at the start of what promised to be a very hot lap. Elias’ best fastest lap rewarded him with ninth best time, just five thousandths of a second behind Pedrosa and equalling his best grid slot of the year. Team-mate Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) had a challenging qualifying session for his team’s home race, ending up in 12th spot. Today was a great day for class rookie Yuki Takahashi (Scot Honda) who scored his first top ten MotoGP qualifying result after making crucial adjustments to the rear end of his RC212V. Qualifying well at Mugello proves that Takahashi is really getting to grips with his four-stroke 800. The 250 GP winner’s previous best MotoGP grid performance was 13th position at the Japanese and Spanish GPs. Although Pedrosa didn’t figure in the thick of the qualifying action today he yesterday became the fastest rider in MotoGP history, his RC212V clocking a remarkable 349.3km/h (217mph) on Mugello’s long start-finish straight. A strong tail wind made conditions perfect for high top speeds. The figure was recorded on official MotoGP timing equipment but still has to be finally verified. Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Honda) rode a brilliant 250 qualifying session, securing himself a slot on the front row for what is expected to be a very close-fought race. Just 0.246 seconds covered the four riders on the front row, with series leader Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia) in pole position and World Championship contender Aoyama looking good in fourth spot. Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT-SAG) did brilliantly to go seventh quickest for a second-row start following an incident in this morning’s session which aggravated the left ankle injury he sustained during the Spanish GP. The Thai ace has made only minor adjustments to his RS250RW during the weekend and is feeling confident about tomorrow’s race. Raffaele De Rosa (Scot Honda) survived a spectacular moment towards the end of qualifying when he was high-sided from his RS250RW. De Rosa made the save of the century, gamely hanging on to the handlebars like a rodeo rider and skiing alongside the machine at high speed before finally remounting without even stopping! After he returned to the pits he announced that he didn’t want to crash because he knew he could go faster! De Rosa may have amazed trackside fans and TV viewers with his antics, but the incident spoiled the session for Hector Faubel (Valencia CF-Honda SAG) who had been right behind De Rosa and on his fastest lap when the Italian lost control. Faubel had to take avoiding action and thus spoiled what should have been his fastest lap. Now 13th on the grid, he knows he must make a lightning start if he’s to feature well in the race. GP rookie Shoya Tomizawa (Team CIP Honda) is enjoying his first weekend at one of GP racing’s greatest racetracks, learning more about this tricky circuit with every outing. This afternoon the teenager improved to qualify in 16th position. HONDA MotoGP RIDER QUOTES Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda), 5th fastest at 1m 49.499s, said: “I am very happy and this qualifying result is almost perfect. This morning we worked a lot on suspension and geometry set-up. Honestly, we did not achieve all that we are hoped; what we tried was not a real improvement but in the end it helped us to understand which way to go. We still have some issues with rear grip, so we will try some further adjustments in tomorrow’s warm-up. Our race pace is acceptable and I made my life easier by achieving a second-row start. If we make a good start and can follow the leading riders for some laps we could get a positive result here.” Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda), 7th fastest at 1m 49.648s, said: “We have improved our lap time session after session, reducing the gap from the fastest riders and this is a positive move. Yesterday we had a gap of 1.3s, this morning it was one second and this afternoon we got it down to five tenths so I’m happy about that. This morning we made an adjustment to the settings which improved the feeling during corner entry. For the qualifying session we tried another modification but we didn’t get the results we expected, so we’ll need to make some changes to finalise the set-up tomorrow morning in the warm-up. I’m confident we can improve by two or three tenths but it will be difficult to consistently match the pace of the fastest riders. Tomorrow the race will be tough and really I was hoping to start from the second row. Still, I will do my best to get a good start and try not to lose contact with the first group. It’s my home race and the atmosphere here is incredible. The fans are so passionate and so I’ll be going all out to give them something to cheer about tomorrow.” Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), 8th fastest at 1m 50.073s, said: “Considering what happened today, eighth place on the grid is actually quite good because I was in a lot of pain on the bike and for a while it was touch and go whether I’d be able to ride at all. In this morning’s session I had a slide from the rear tyre and the bike went into quite a violent shake. During this, I pulled a muscle in my right hip really hard and maybe caused some more damage we’ll have to check what the next scans show. But what I can say is that it was very painful and I had to stop riding immediately because the pain stopped my right leg from working properly it was like a switch. This afternoon I had some painkillers, but it was still very difficult. It’s very hard to make a prediction for the race I will try, but at the moment I don’t know for how long I can continue my pace we’ll see.” Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini), 9th fastest at 1m 50.078s, said: “Overall I’m happy because we’ve improved the bike a lot here, we’re moving in the right direction and my pace is good. I’m also pleased because I rode my best lap alone in qualifying, whereas this morning I set my best time following Lorenzo. The crash was a shame because I was following Valentino and through the first split we were 0.00 seconds down on pole. I felt like it was going to be a great lap! The problem is that when you know things are improving and you feel good, you can get a little excited! That’s what happened to me and I was too aggressive with the bike, which caused the crash. Anyway, the good thing is that despite the crash my next best time was still good enough for ninth on the grid and if I can get a good start tomorrow I think we can have a great race. I’ll be aggressive in the race too but not too much!” Yuki Takahashi (Scot Honda), 10th fastest at 1m 50.305s, said: “We made a very good job of working on the chassis set-up, working with the rear end of the machine, adjusting swing-arm pivot point, springs and so on. This is a very flowing track, so I always expected that it would be good for us. Tomorrow a good start will be crucial, then I will do my best to get my best MotoGP result so far.” Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini), 12th fastest at 1m 50.448s, said: “I don’t think we could have gone much faster than that but the gap to the riders just ahead of me is quite small so it’s a shame we couldn’t just manage a little more so we could gain some positions. Anyway, we’ve got a good chance for tomorrow because my pace on race tyres is good good enough for a top-ten finish, which would be really important to us. The races are always tough here because of the heat and the physical nature of the track, but also because the riders push to the limit from the first lap to the last. There really is no respite and it looks like it’s going to be a close one tomorrow. As always I’m ready to fight and do my best but the important thing is to finish the race with a good result for the team in their home Grand Prix.” HONDA 250cc RIDER QUOTES Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Honda), 4th fastest at 1m 53.050s, said: “This is the home race for my team, so this is an extra motivation for all of us. The feeling with the bike has been good since the beginning of practice yesterday afternoon, so we have not had to make any big adjustments. My pace is good so I am confident that I can fight for position at the front of the race, though of course I cannot predict what tomorrow will bring.” Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT-SAG), 7th fastest at 1m 53.811s, said: “Towards the end of this morning’s free practice session I almost crashed; I saved it but my left ankle got tangled with the footpeg, so now I have a lot of pain in the ankle once again. At the start of the qualifying session I really felt the pain but it got better and finally I was able to get a second row start. I’m happy, it’s a good result, especially since I’ve improved a lot since last year here. The bike is good we have only made very small adjustments, just carburation and different tyres so I am confident I can have a good race tomorrow.” Raffaele De Rosa (Scot Honda), 9th fastest at 1m 53.941s, said: “When I lost control this afternoon I didn’t want to crash because my feeling with the bike and with the circuit I love Mugello was so good that I wanted to give myself another chance to try to improve my lap times! My ideal time with all my best section times added together says that I could be fifth on the grid. Anyway, I’m satisfied with today and looking forward to the race.” Hector Faubel (Valencia CF-Honda SAG), 13th fastest at 1m 54.351, said: “During the early stages of the qualifying session we made a few minor adjustments to the suspension settings, and finally we were in a position to go for a good lap time to put us close to the front of the grid. I was on my best lap of the day when De Rosa lost control in front of me and I had to go very wide to avoid him. That lost me a lot of time and ruined my best lap, which is a bit annoying. I am 13th on the grid as a result of that, so I will need to make a very strong start tomorrow.” Shoya Tomizawa (Team CIP Honda), 16th fastest at 1m 54.992s, said: “This afternoon’s qualifying was very, very interesting for me. Everyone making their time attack, so I can how the other riders ride this circuit which is very, very complicated. This afternoon I was able to follow some of the other guys, so maybe now my circuit knowledge is 60 per cent. The bike is good, maybe we make some small changes tomorrow, but only very small adjustments to the suspension.” Bastien Chesaux (Racing Team Germany Honda), 24th fastest at 1m 59.617s, said: “Qualifying hasn’t been easy here, so we must keep working tomorrow morning and see if I can improve my lap times. The main thing is to keep learning.