FIM MotoGP World Championship Misano, San Marino September 4, 2010 Qualifying Results (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 1:33.948 2. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:34.256 3. Casey STONER, Australia (DUCATI), 1:34.397 4. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), 1:34.470 5. Ben SPIES, USA (YAMAHA), 1:34.472 6. Randy DE PUNIET, France (HONDA), 1:34.751 7. Colin EDWARDS, USA (YAMAHA), 1:34.782 8. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (HONDA), 1:34.826 9. Marco SIMONCELLI, Italy (HONDA), 1:34.934 10. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (HONDA), 1:35.018 11. Loris CAPIROSSI, Italy (SUZUKI), 1:35.096 12. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), 1:35.259 13. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (HONDA), 1:35.286 14. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (DUCATI), 1:35.303 15. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (DUCATI), 1:35.438 16. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:35.629 17. Mika KALLIO, Finland (DUCATI), 1:35.724 More, from a press release issued by Interwetten Honda: 13th position on grid for Aoyama Also the qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix in Misano went as well as it already did when Hiroshi Aoyama returned to racing in Indianapolis and the MotoGP Rookie will start tomorrow’s race from 13th position on the grid. With a gap of 1,338 seconds to the Pole Setter and just about 0,5 seconds to 6th position the improvement was better than expected for the 18 year old Japanese and impressed him as much as the rest of the team. Hiroshi Aoyama, 13 1’35.286: “The qualifying was interesting as we stayed with the old set up and we still were able to improve. Also the lap times improved more than I expected. The gap to the others in front of me got smaller and that is very positive for us. I don’t know how the conditions will be tomorrow, but I hope similar to today and that I can improve in the race. I am looking forward to the race tomorrow.” Daniel M. Epp, Team Manager: “I am very satisfied with the qualifying today. 1,3 seconds to first position and just 0,5 seconds to 6th is regarding Hiro’s physical condition a top result. The whole performance of Hiro helps with our set up work.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Capirossi and Bautista frustrated at the end of Misano qualifying Rizla Suzuki team-mates Loris Capirossi and Álvaro Bautista were both left to think what might have been as they were held-up on their final lap in qualifying at Misano this afternoon. Capirossi (P11, 1’35.096, 30 laps) was on a flying final lap and looked certain to break into at least the second row of the grid, but a slower moving train of riders got in his way and forced the Italian to lose vital tenths-of-a-second. He was disappointed with the position, but realistic enough to know that he has a good set-up and a strong pace ahead of tomorrow’s 28-lap race. Bautista (P16. 1’35.629, 29 laps) was extremely annoyed that he had been baulked on his final fast lap, which would almost certainly have given him a much improved time and seen him move up the grid. He had made huge steps today with his Suzuki GSV-R as he shaved almost two-and-a-half-seconds of his lap-time from yesterday. Bautista was extremely unlucky not to be rewarded with a much better qualifying position after his impressive efforts today. Today’s qualifying was held in very warm conditions as air temperatures got up to 26ºC and the track heated up to 42ºC. Spaniard Dani Pedrosa took his fourth pole position of the season on his factory Honda, with World Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo in second. Tomorrow’s race is the 12th round of the season and will see Capirossi, Bautista and the rest of the field head off for 28 laps of action at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT). Loris Capirossi: “Today has been a good day, but again the position is not what we want or deserve. On my best lap I caught up with a group of three or four riders in the last section and I lost three or four tenths-of-a-second. If that hadn’t have happened I think I could easily have been on the second row. I am really positive for tomorrow’s race because the bike is working very well here at Misano. I need to make a good start and do my best because the setting of the bike is good. We are still losing a bit on the exit of the corners and we need to do something about that – as it makes it difficult to overtake. Our potential is much more than this qualifying position and we will be trying as hard as we can tomorrow to prove it.” Álvaro Bautista: “This morning we improved the bike a lot from yesterday and I was able to get a good pace. In the qualifying it was a bit difficult at the start because I used the hard front tyre and I didn’t get the feel from it under braking. At the end of the session we put in the softer compound and that was much better. Unfortunately on the last lap some riders slowed me up and I couldn’t improve my lap-time which I am sure I would have done. I feel good with the bike here and if I can get a decent start tomorrow I have a strong enough rhythm to be able to battle my way into the top 10.” Stuart Shenton Loris Capirossi’s Crew Chief: “We’re disappointed with the grid position, but it has been a good effort so far this weekend from Loris and the whole team. It would have been nice to be well inside the top 10 for the start of the race, but it was not to be. I think it was getting quite competitive out there at the end of qualifying not just between other riders, but also between team-mates. It looks like Loris has a good race pace and his times are consistently in the 35s, so let’s just see what we can do tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Pole for Pedrosa as he continues to shine in Misano Round 12: San Marino GP Qualifying Misano World Circuit, Saturday 4 September 2010 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Medium, Hard. Rear: Medium, Hard After dominating yesterday’s proceedings, Dani Pedrosa repeated his strong form to seal pole position for tomorrow’s Grand Prix of San Marino. On his final lap of the hour-long session the Repsol Honda rider forged ahead by 0.3seconds, the only rider to dip below the 1m34s mark. The final times belie the closeness of the qualifying session though as at one point in the closing stages, the top four were separated by less than one tenth of a second as they all opted for the softer rear tyre for their hot laps. Completing the front row are Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo, who continues his record of a top-three start for every grand prix this season, and Ducati Team’s Casey Stoner who recovered well from a crash early on and who for a time topped the timesheets. Valentino Rossi, Ben Spies and Randy de Puniet make up the second row. Every rider set their fastest times on the harder option front slick tyre and the softer option rear, favoured for its additional level of grip, apart from Nicky Hayden who used a softer front tyre at the end of the session. Conditions again were fine and dry, and a little warmer than yesterday which contributed in part to the laptimes being faster, however rain is forecast for the race. Tohru Ubukata Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department “The times have got faster in every session and in qualifying the top five riders all lapped faster than the existing lap record so clearly I am pleased with overall performance. Dani’s time was particularly impressive as he was 0.4seconds faster than last year’s pole time which is encouraging for a good race tomorrow. The harder front slick is looking preferable for the race, but both rear tyre specs have proved their performance and consistency over race distance so tomorrow’s rear race tyre choice will come down to rider preference and machine setup.” Top ten from qualifying (Saturday 13:55 14:55 GMT+2) Pos Rider Team Fastest lap Gap Compounds Front, Rear 1 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 1m33.948s Hard, Medium 2 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 1m34.256s +0.308s Hard, Medium 3 Casey Stoner Ducati Team 1m34.397s +0.449s Hard, Medium 4 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1m34.470s +0.522s Hard, Medium 5 Ben Spies Monster Yamaha Tech3 1m34.472s +0.524s Hard, Medium 6 Randy de Puniet LCR Honda MotoGP 1m34.751s +0.803s Hard, Medium 7 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech3 1m34.782s +0.834s Hard, Medium 8 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 1m34.826s +0.878s Hard, Medium 9 Marco Simoncelli San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m34.934s +0.986s Hard, Medium 10 Marco Melandri San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m35.018s +1.070s Hard, Medium Weather: Dry. Ambient 27-28°C; Track 40°C ( Bridgestone measurement) More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: FRONT ROW FOR LORENZO BUT ROSSI JUST MISSES OUT AT MISANO Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo once again parked his M1 on the front row of the grid at Misano this afternoon, keeping his 100% record for qualifying this season. His team-mate Valentino Rossi missed out by just seven hundredths of a second and will start his home race from fourth. After struggling yesterday Lorenzo had significant improvements to make to his setting but it was clear from this morning’s practice that he was back on form when he finished on top of the standings. A close-fought qualifying session saw the Mallorcan take the lead with eight minutes to go but in the closing minutes Dani Pedrosa took the top spot and Lorenzo was relegated to second. The championship leader is confident that he has the race pace to run at the front tomorrow and he will be looking to make it onto the podium once again. Rossi has won here for the last two years and as usual thousands of his passionate yellow-clad fans were packed in to watch their local favourite in action this afternoon. He, too looked in fine fettle this afternoon and was consistently in the top four, moving to third with ten minutes to go. In the closing stages he seemed to have a shot at pole position but he was slowed by traffic and unable to capitalise on his softer Bridgestone tyre, just missing out as Casey Stoner held on to third. Rossi and his crew still need to make a final decision about their race tyre but are confident that they can put up a fight for home honours in tomorrow’s 2pm race. Jorge Lorenzo Position: 2nd Time: 1’34.256 Laps: 30 “We have improved in every practice here and after the troubles of yesterday I’m happy about this session. I have a good pace now and I’m feeling confident about a good race. Unfortunately we couldn’t profit as much as we might have with the softer tyre at the end of the session and our bike isn’t the fastest here, but we have good corner speed so I hope we will be able to stay with the leaders. I am feeling excited and motivated for tomorrow’s race.” Valentino Rossi Position: 4th Time: 1’34.470 Laps: 31 “The front row would have been good for the race of tomorrow but I just missed out today. I think I had the potential today but unfortunately with the last tyre I found some traffic at the end. The rear tyre is going to be very important for tomorrow’s race and we still have a decision to make; at the moment we are thinking more of the hard one but we need to wait and see the weather. I am feeling better here than in Indy because it’s much cooler; I am still suffering a bit with my shoulder in the hard right braking zones but it’s not too bad. Anyway it’s fantastic to be here in Italy with all of these fans and I’m excited about tomorrow. The helmet is a joke about my timekeeping – we have put a big clock on the top of it with a different helmet showing the right time for each session so I make sure that I arrive on time!” Wilco Zeelenberg Team Manager “We’re very pleased with this result today. Second place is only one better than yesterday but in terms of bike feeling and behaviour it’s a huge jump for us. Dani did a great lap, we were consistent but Jorge couldn’t use the soft tyre like he wanted to so we couldn’t get any closer to him. But tomorrow is 28 laps not just one and we feel that we are in form for another strong challenge.” Davide Brivio Team Manager “We are very close to the first row and it was a possibility for us today. Unfortunately Valentino found some traffic, as usual many riders tried to get in his draft and he couldn’t use the full potential of the softer tyre, but fourth is not so bad. We worked really well in practice but we still need to make the final choice for our race tyre because at the moment both tyres are a possibility for the race. We need to analyse the data closely and choose our final package.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: PEDROSA TAKES MISANO POLE, DOVIZIOSO ON THIRD ROW Dani Pedrosa put his Repsol Honda RC212V on pole position for the San Marino Grand Prix in a commanding display at the Misano circuit today. The 24-year-old Spaniard was in total control for the whole session and, despite the best efforts of his rivals to steal pole in the last few minutes of qualifying, Pedrosa unleashed a final lap which put him 0.308s clear of his nearest challenger, Jorge Lorenzo. With the next ten riders behind him covered by only one second, Pedrosa’s margin for pole position is all the more impressive and bodes well for his chances in tomorrow’s race. This was Pedrosa’s fourth pole position of 2010 and his second in three races, having last qualified at the front of the grid two races ago at the Czech Republic Grand Prix at Brno. It is his 17th pole in MotoGP, and the 35th of his Grand Prix career. When the lights go out tomorrow, Pedrosa will be going for his first ever back-to-back MotoGP victories follo wing his win last weekend in Indianapolis. On the other side of the Repsol Honda garage, Pedrosa’s team-mate Andrea Dovizioso had a less fruitful qualifying session and will start his home Grand Prix from the middle of the third row. After finishing in a promising second place behind Pedrosa in yesterday’s practice, the 24-year-old Italian struggled to find a good front-end feeling today and, although he improved his pace in every session, Dovizioso’s time of 1m 34.826s this afternoon put him in eighth place. It wasn’t the grid slot Dovizioso wanted but he and he crew will put their heads together to analyse the set-up options available and target improvements in the 20-minute warm-up session. Round 12 of the MotoGP World Championship starts tomorrow at 14.00 local time (GMT +2 hours). DANI PEDROSA Pole Position 1m 33.948s “I’m happy to be on pole position because we were strong throughout practice and things have gone according to plan so far this weekend. We are doing a very good job at the moment, improving at every round and now we have the chance to have another good race. I’ve never won two MotoGP races in a row and this is a good challenge for me – I really want to go for it. Today went well especially because this was a very tight qualifying session and, as I said yesterday, it was crucial to be on the first row of the grid to have the best chance of getting through the first corners cleanly, because they are very tight. It’s a quite a tricky circuit and tomorrow it will be important not to make any mistakes – particularly on the brakes – in order to keep a high pace for the whole race distance. I think it will be very difficult to make a gap, but we’ll wait and see what t he strategy is for the race. Hopefully we can get through the first corners cleanly, and then we will simply need to push very hard to win. We have a good opportunity.” ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 8th 1m 34.826s +0.878s “We made a big change to the set-up of the bike in terms of weight distribution to get a better feeling with the front end, but it didn’t work for us. I was struggling a lot with the front and at the end of the session I almost crashed – like in Brno. It is very difficult to improve your lap time when you don’t have the confidence with the front. Now we have to decide whether to keep going in this set-up direction with something more radical or go back to what we had before. I’m disappointed to have qualified this far back for my home race, so we have some work to do tonight to find a setting that can improve things for warm-up and in the race. We’ve made it quite tough for ourselves, but we’ll aim to get a good start and make up as many positions as possible early on.” TOSHIYUKI YAMAJI – REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER “Dani has been very fast so far at Misano and this pole position today reflects the pace he has shown all weekend. The sessions have gone smoothly for him and he is riding very well at the moment after his win in Indianapolis. There’s no way we will relax yet, but from this position he has a good chance in tomorrow’s race. Andrea has had some issues with front-end grip and we will be working to make improvements for him in the warm-up. We know he can be strong in the race and, although he is disappointed today, he can still have a strong home Grand Prix if he makes a good start.” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Spies close to front row, Edwards seventh in Misano Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider Ben Spies produced another inspired qualifying performance in Misano today, the American just missing out on a third successive front row start by the narrowest of margins. The Texan was able to capitalise on numerous set-up tweaks made from practice to finish just 0.075s from the front row in a closely contested qualifying session that saw less than one second cover the top nine riders. Spies was once again leading non-factory team rider in fifth position, his quickest lap of 1.34.472 just 0.002s behind reigning world champion and Misano crowd favourite Valentino Rossi. Spies made big progress in his quest to find a more comfortable front-end setting with his YZR-M1 machine this afternoon and the 26-year-old is confident he can mount a strong challenge for his third podium finish of the season in tomorrow’s race. Colin Edwards further boosted his confidence that he can claim a first top six finish of the 2010 campaign after storming to seventh place on the grid. Edwards’ growing confidence in a front-end setting he first used in Brno last month was evident again after he finished fourth overall in free practice. Edwards missed claiming a place on the second row of the grid for only the second time in 12 races by just 0.031s, his best time of 1.34.782 leaving him to start from the front of the third row. The 36-year-old plans to make more overnight front-end tweaks ahead of the 28-lap race as he looks to strengthen his bid for a top ten world championship position. Ben Spies 5th 1.34.472 32 laps “We made some changes to the bike overnight that didn’t really help this morning and then made more changes before qualifying and they made a big improvement. Everything went smooth and it was a good qualifying session. The first goal is to be on the second row at least and I’ve done that, but I think I should have had another front row. I got caught up with Capirossi and that was a little annoying. I wasn’t too upset at the time because I didn’t think it would be a front row lap, but looking back I was on my best lap and I’m pretty sure I would be sitting on the outside of the front row. But I’m a lot happier and more confident with the bike than I was this morning and I know we can make some more changes to make us stronger for the race. We can make the bike easier to ride towards the end of the race and I’m looking forward to it. My confidence is really high after the last couple of races and there’s no reason why I can’t be challenging for a top position again tomorrow.” Colin Edwards 7th 1.34.783 – 29 laps “I’ve felt good on the bike all weekend and that showed with fourth position overall in practice. I really felt I had the speed to get on the second row, but de Puniet just got sixth from me by less than a tenth. But I’m happy with the way things have been going this weekend. As the temperature came up today it felt like I was pushing the front a bit but I know we can make a minor adjustment to fix that and my race pace has been pretty strong all weekend. I doubt I can do mid-34s the whole race but I think a top six is definitely within my grasp. After what happened last year I just want to make it through the first corner and at lea st get the chance to put up a fight. But there’s no reason why the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team shouldn’t have a double top six finish tomorrow and that would be a great result.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing Team: DISAPPOINTING QUALIFYING FOR THE PRAMAC RACING TEAM IN MISANO Bad day for the Pramac Racing Team. The riders, Aleix Espargar and Mika Kallio, have in fact completed the qualifying session valid for the starting grid of the Grand Prix of San Marino and Riviera di Rimini, respectively, in the fifteenth and seventeenth position. The Spaniard had finished this morning free practice in fourteenth position complaining grip problems, but still having a good lap pace. Mika Kallio was able to improve by almost two seconds his fastest time recorded during yesterday’s morning free practice, but this was not enough to climb the ranking, so he will start the race from the sixth row. Unfortunately the track conditions did not allow Pramac Racing Team riders to obtain a better lap time than the one achieved this afternoon. Both will have to considerably improve their position tomorrow to get a positive result in the race that will begin at 14 local time. Fabiano Sterlacchini – Pramac Racing Technical Director “Unfortunately we have not fully resolved the problems we had yesterday during the first free practice. Both riders have significantly reduced their lap time but they were not able to get the final speed lap necessary to allow them to climb the rankings. During qualifying we were able to identify a couple of changes that we will try during tomorrow warm up. Qualifying session have been difficult for several riders who usually occupy important positions, while many others usually in the rear, are now occupying positions in front of us. Tomorrow we will start the race from the back, but I’m sure that they will both work hard to recover important positions.” Aleix Espargar – Pramac Racing Team – the 15th best time in 1’35 .438 “I feel very good and I still like this track very much, unfortunately I have not been able to use in the best way the wake of other riders as many of my colleagues have done, that did not allow me to make a good lap time. However I have a great confidence in tomorrow’s race where, thanks to changes that the Team will make on my bike, I will try to recover good positions right away. I want to get a good result on this track which is one of my favorites.” Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing Team – the 17th best time in 1’35 .724 “Although I have reduced my yesterday’s best lap time by almost two seconds, I did not get a good position on the starting grid. Starting in last position is not the best for me, but I hope to gain some positions from the start so that I can be able to retake positions after positions since the first laps. With my Team we have identified some changes to make on my bike to make it more powerful in all sectors of the track. I will try to give my best tomorrow to conquer a significant position in the race. ” More, from a press release issued by Honda: San Marino Grand Prix, Misano MotoGP and Moto2 qualifying September 4 2010 Weather: warm and sunny Track temperature: 42 degrees Ambient Temperature: 26 degrees BRILLIANT PEDROSA ADDS MISANO POLE TO INDY WIN Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) kept the momentum rolling at Misano today, adding a brilliant San Marino Grand Prix pole position to the dominant race win he took at Indianapolis last Sunday. The Spaniard got the better of a thrilling end-of-session battle with World Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha), Casey Stoner (Ducati), reigning MotoGP king Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) and Ben Spies (Yamaha). At the end of the hour the top five were separated by just 0.524 seconds, Pedrosa’s final lap moving him ahead of Lorenzo by a solid three tenths of a second. The performance completes an impressive two days of practice and qualifying for the Repsol Honda Team, which made a brilliant start to the weekend, running one and two in yesterday’s opening practice session with Pedrosa leading the way ahead of Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V). Currently second in the 2010 World Championship, Pedrosa is making superb use of recent improvements to the RC212V. His aim tomorrow is a fast, clean getaway (the first esses here are a notorious black spot for lap one accidents) and then a mistake-free race which will hopefully lead to his first back-to-back victories in MotoGP. Pedrosa is still a lot of points behind series leader Lorenzo, but every success will bring him closer to his compatriot. Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V) produced a heroic performance in scoring a second-row start in only his third MotoGP event since he broke a leg at July’s German GP. The Frenchman who made his comeback at last month’s Czech GP, a miraculous four weeks after the accident posted sixth quickest time in qualifying, just two tenths behind Spies. De Puniet and his crew worked carefully on machine balance to give him a great bike for this tricky Italian circuit, which is one of his favourites. Dovizioso was hoping for better than a third-row start for his home race. The 24-year-old local made some big changes to his RCV’s weight distribution with the aim of improving front-end feel, but as can often be the case with set-up changes, the adjustment made things worse instead of better. Dovizioso will sit down with his engineers this evening to decide the best way forward for tomorrow’s warm-up and race. He will be very focused on making the fastest possible start without getting into trouble in the first few corners. Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) is even more local than Dovizioso he hails from Cattolica, just a few kilometres from the track so the fast-improving MotoGP rookie is happy to be starting from the third row in ninth place, after taking a wrong turn and then a right turn on his settings. This is the former 250 World Champion’s seventh top-nine qualifying performance from the last eight races. Team-mate Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) scored his first top-ten qualifying slot in four races by going tenth fastest, just 0.084 seconds behind Simoncelli. The Italian started the session well and was looking good for a better starting position, but then struggled after going the wrong way with front fork settings. Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP RC212V) was an impressive 13th quickest in his second Grand Prix since breaking a vertebra at June’s British GP. The Japanese ace, who returned to action at Indianapolis, is wearing a special back brace to support and protect his back while he is riding. Toni Elias (Gresini Racing Moto2, Moriwaki) shrugged off the effects of illness to take the Moto2 pole position at Misano this afternoon. Despite feeling far from his best, the Spaniard was able to outpace Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team, Suter) by 0.44 seconds. Surprisingly, this is Elias’ first pole since he started from the very front of the grid for the first-ever Moto2 race at Losail in March. This is the home race for Elias’ Gresini squad, so the Spaniard is wearing the San Carlo colours worn full-time by Fausto Gresini’s MotoGP riders. Elias will be chasing a fifth consecutive win tomorrow to extend his 67 point lead over Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up, Speed Up). Perhaps the former 125, 250 and MotoGP winner had something of a head start this weekend, because he tested here during the summer break, unaware that he was breaking Moto2 regulations. He was punished for the misdemeanour by missing first practice for last month’s Brno GP. Redding’s second place on the grid gives him his second Moto2 front-row start in as many weekends and tomorrow he will be looking for his second podium in as many weekends. The young Briton who at Indy became the youngest-ever podium finisher in the intermediate class at 17 years and 237 days knows that he will have a big fight on his hands but he is more than ready for some close-fought action. The last two men on the front row in the Honda-powered series are Julian Simon (Mapfre Aspar Team, Suter) and Jules Cluzel (Forward Racing, Suter). Simon has been one of the more consistent performers in this action-packed class, with four podium results so far, though the reigning 125 World Champion has yet to score a win. Cluzel on the other hand has scored a win at Silverstone but has scored only one other podium so far. Mugello and Assen Moto2 winner Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up, Speed Up) qualified fifth, despite struggling with two small breaks in his left wrist, sustained in Indianapolis qualifying. The injury didn’t stop the Italian from finishing fourth at Indy despite starting from the seventh row of the grid, so he is sure to feature in tomorrow’s race. Honda RS125 rider Marcel Schrötter (Interwetten Honda 125 Team) was 18th fastest in today’s 125 qualifying outing after a fall in the early stages of the session. This morning the 17-year-old German had been 14th in free practice. Pole position went to Briton Bradley Smith (Aprilia) HONDA MotoGP RIDER QUOTES Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda RC212V: pole position, 1m 33.948s “I’m happy to be on pole position because we were strong throughout practice and things have gone according to plan so far this weekend. We are doing a very good job at the moment, improving at every round and now we have the chance to have another good race. I’ve never won two MotoGP races in a row and this is a good challenge for me I really want to go for it. Today went well especially because this was a very tight qualifying session and, as I said yesterday, it was crucial to be on the first row of the grid to have the best chance of getting through the first corners cleanly, because they are very tight. It’s a quite a tricky circuit and tomorrow it will be important not to make any mistakes particularly on the brakes in order to keep a high pace for the whole race distance. I think it will be very difficult to make a gap, but we’ll wait and see what the strategy is for the race. Hopefully we can get through the first corners cleanly, and then we will simply need to push very hard to win. We have a good opportunity.” Randy de Puniet, LCR Honda RC212V: 6th, 1m 34.751s “It is good to be back up there with the guys! After the bad weekend in Indy, I knew that I could bounce back here in Misano because I like this track very much and my leg is getting better day by day. This morning we struggled with the front end in the entry of some corners but we reduced the problem quite a lot. Honestly we are not at 100% yet but I am delighted with this performance. Hopefully if we can take a good start tomorrow we will be able to fight for another positive result.” Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda RC212V: 8th, 1m 34.826s “We made a big change to the set-up of the bike in terms of weight distribution to get a better feeling with the front end, but it didn’t work for us. I was struggling a lot with the front and at the end of the session I almost crashed like in Brno. It is very difficult to improve your lap time when you don’t have the confidence with the front. Now we have to decide whether to keep going in this set-up direction with something more radical or go back to what we had before. I’m disappointed to have qualified this far back for my home race, so we have some work to do tonight to find a setting that can improve things for warm-up and in the race. We’ve made it quite tough for ourselves, but we’ll aim to get a good start and make up as many positions as possible early on.” Marco Simoncelli, San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V: 9th, 1m 34.934s “We were having problems yesterday and they continued for the first 20 minutes of qualifying this afternoon. Then we went back to an old set-up because we had made some changes to the bike to suit Indianapolis. It was a step backwards in one way, but with a few modifications we were able to set a good lap time. I am fairly happy right now because up until this morning we were not in good shape but now we have seen the light.” Marco Melandri, San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V: 10th, 1m 35.018s “That was actually a positive session. Unfortunately we made some changes to the forks and that had a negative effect, which meant I couldn’t improve my lap time. However, my pace is pretty good and the target for tomorrow is to get a good start and set a strong pace. I am in better shape than in recent weeks and I hope I can have a decent race tomorrow.” Hiroshi Aoyama, Interwetten Honda MotoGP RC212V: 13th, 1m 35.286s “The qualifying was interesting because we stayed with the old set-up and we were still able to improve. Also the lap times improved more than I expected. Also, the gap to the others in front of me got smaller and that is very positive for us. I don’t know how the conditions will be tomorrow, but I hope they will be similar to today and that I can improve in the race. I am looking forward to the race.” MOTO2 RIDER QUOTES Toni Elias, Gresini Racing Moto2, Moriwaki: pole position, 1m 38.991s “I’m very happy to be on pole because my physical condition is still quite bad. After my illness in Indy I came home and have taking a course of antibiotics, but yesterday my blood pressure was quite low and I didn’t feel good. Anyway, I tried my best in every session. Today I feel better and I hope to feel better still tomorrow. I have to say a big thanks to the team because they gave me the chance in qualifying. This morning I couldn’t get below a 1m 40s lap, but this afternoon I could do 39s. It will be a hard race and I want to win for my team which is based very close to this track.” Scott Redding, Marc VDS Racing Team, Suter: 2nd, 1m 39.035s “The race is going to be really hard. I was pushing hard today, I had a good feeling with the bike and a good rhythm. The traffic can be a problem in Moto2 but it wasn’t so bad today at the end of qualifying because I used my head. To end this race on the top of the podium will be very difficult because I expect a big fight with Elias and Simon, and we may be battling with Cluzel too. We’ll see what happens.” Julian Simon, Mapfre Aspar Team, Suter: 3rd, 1m 39.280s “This morning I had a good feeling and I was able to run a fast pace, but I found things more difficult this afternoon with the hard rear tyre because it was difficult to get good feel from the tyre. It got better at the end, although there was a lot of traffic, so I wasn’t able to ride a perfect lap. But we are on the front row and that was always the objective. I expect a battle with Elias tomorrow we will try to get a good start and then have a good race.” Jules Cluzel, Forward Racing, Suter: 4th, 1m 39.413s “I’m happy to be on the front row because it’s been quite a difficult weekend so far. In the end we were able to make a good lap, but we still need to improve the feeling so that we can have a strong pace in the race. I hope we can make the bike better for tomorrow so I can battle with Elias and the rest.” HONDA 125 RIDER QUOTES Marcel Schrötter, Interwetten Honda 125 Team: 18th, 1m 46.309s “The qualifying was really bad. In the second lap I crashed. I wanted to push from the beginning this time and that was maybe the reason why I crashed. I didn’t want to go for it in the last laps only this time and I felt comfortable on the bike, but the rear slid away from me. A crash always costs us time and we had to continue riding with some problems because we didn’t have time to fix the bike. I hope tomorrow I can continue more like in the second practice this morning.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Dani Pedrosa’s impressive form continued on Saturday at Misano as the Repsol Honda rider took his fourth pole position of the season for tomorrow’s Gran Premio Aperol di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini. A blistering final lap of the hour-long MotoGP qualifying session saw the Spaniard duck under the 1’34″ barrier the only rider to do so with a best time of 1’33.948 cementing his place at the top of the timesheet. After having taken victory just six days ago in Indianapolis, Pedrosa is doing everything he can to claw back Jorge Lorenzo’s 68-point advantage in the championship and a win tomorrow would undoubtedly put a little bit more pressure on his compatriot. With ten minutes of the session remaining Lorenzo had actually taken the lead, but the Fiat Yamaha rider eventually ended up 0.308s off Pedrosa after his rival pushed back in front. Lorenzo maintains his record of having started every race this season from the front row. Completing the front row was Ducati rider Casey Stoner after the Australian capped off an eventful session with the third quickest time. Stoner had taken the lead 20 minutes into the session but crashed immediately after at turn four, remounting his Desmosedici GP10 following some rapid front-end work from his crew. He improved his time to finish up just under half a second off Pedrosa with a best time of 1’34.397. Valentino Rossi will head up the second row in his home race after the reigning World Champion set the fourth fastest time of the hour on his Fiat Yamaha M1 machine, whilst Ben Spies will be the highest satellite rider on the grid after placing his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine in fifth spot. A commendable effort from the recovering Randy de Puniet saw the LCR Honda rider secure sixth place. Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and San Carlo Honda Gresini pair Marco Simoncelli and Marco Melandri completed the top ten in the hour. The only crash of the session other than Stoner happened just ten minutes in when rookie Héctor Barberá (Páginas Amarillas Aspar) fell at turn four, and he eventually qualified in 12th on his Ducati. Moto2 Toni Elías secured his second pole position of the 2010 season his first since the opening round in Qatar on Saturday, as he primed himself for an attempt at a sixth win of the season this weekend at Misano. The Spaniard’s best time of 1’38.991 was enough to beat young Brit Scott Redding to pole by 0.044s in the Gresini Moto2 team’s home GP. Redding took his second successive front row position for the Marc VDS Racing Team having finished on the podium from third in Indianapolis, with Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar) third at just over two-tenths behind. Jules Cluzel of the Forward Racing team will complete the front file of the grid for tomorrow’s race. Andrea Iannone’s session was cut short by a mechanical problem but the Fimmco Speed Up rider still managed to hold onto fifth position at 0.435s off Elías’ time, and he will head up a second row that also includes JiR Moto2 duo Simone Corsi and home rider Alex de Angelis along with Shoya Tomizawa (Technomag-CIP). Mattia Pasini qualified in ninth as he continued his impressive weekend as a wild card for the Italtrans STR team, with Gabor Talmacsi (Fimmco Speed Up) completing the top ten. There were crashes in the session for Dominique Aegerter (Technomag-CIP) who qualified in 12th, Michael Ranseder (Vector Kiefer Racing) in 22nd and Raffaele de Rosa (Tech 3 Racing) in 28th all three avoided any lasting injuries as a result of their falls. 125cc Bradley Smith will start the 125cc race from pole position on Sunday, after setting a hot lap of 1’43.329 on his final lap of the session. That delivered the Bancaja Aspar rider his second pole of the 2010 season, as he continues his quest for a first win of the campaign. Smith beat Championship leader Marc Márquez (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport) who had led until the dying moments of the session to top spot on the timesheet by 0.158s, with the Brit’s team-mate Nico Terol, who was second in last year’s race, third. Pol Espargaró (Tuenti Racing) will complete a strong front row as he was the final rider to get within half a second of Smith’s time. Row two of the 125cc grid will be comprised of Tomoyoshi Koyama (Racing Team Germany), Sandro Cortese (Avant Mitsubishi Ajo), Efrén Vázquez (Tuenti Racing) and Esteve Rabat (Blusens-STX), whilst Danny Webb (Andalucia Cajasol) and Johann Zarco (WTR San Marino Team) completed the top ten. There were crashes during the session for Marcel Schrötter (Interwetten Honda 125), Randy Krummenacher (Stipa-Molenaar Racing) and wild card Alessandro Tonucci (Junior GP). More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: DE PUNIET SECOND FASTEST HRC RIDER AT MISANO GP QUALIFYING Misano, 4 September: LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet rode his Honda RC212V no. 14 to 6thplace today (1’34.751) in a hot qualifying session at the 4.226 km Misano circuit in readiness for tomorrow’s 28-lap race that will get underway at 14:00 local time. Today’s both premier class sessions were held in warm and sunny conditions with air temperatures of 26°C and track temperatures in the high 40s with Dani Pedrosa on the top of the timesheet. After yesterday’s 12th place, De Puniet worked with his crew to find the right machine balance for the Italian track and thanks to the adjustments the Frenchman made solid progress placing his bike on the second row after the gruelling Indianapolis week end. The San Marino and Riviera di Rimini GP 60-minute qualifying session saw de Puniet in strong form again after the injury of the left leg six weeks ago. De Puniet 6th 1’34.751 De Puniet: “It is good to be back up there with the guys! After the bad week end in Indy I knew that I could bounce back here in Misano because I like this track very much and my leg is getting better day by day. This morning we struggled with the front end in the entry of some corners but we reduced the problem quite a lot. Honestly we are not at 100% yet but I am delighted with this performance. Hopefully if we could take a good start tomorrow we will be able to fight for another positive result. I want to forget the crash, the fracture and the bad luck… “. More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: STONER ON FRONT ROW FOR DUCATI’S HOME RACE, TOUGH DAY FOR HAYDEN Casey Stoner will start from the front row of the grid in the San Marino Grand Prix after qualifying third fastest at Misano, the Ducati home circuit. Stoner felt comfortable on his GP10 since the beginning of the session ad set immediately a fast lap which was his best for long even if he suffered a front end crash at the midway stage. He then was able to improve it again with the bike he felt les comfortable with and to secure his front row start for the tomorrow race. Nicky Hayden, after a positive second free practice session in the morning, encountered several little problems in the qualifying session and faces an uphill battle from fourteenth on the grid. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 3rd (1’34.397) “We definitely found something for the bike today. This morning we went back to the old fork and immediately we knocked a second off the lap time and then we worked even better this afternoon. We tried something different in bike one, which I didn’t feel comfortable with, but bike two in general felt better and I immediately made a fast lap. When I wanted to try to improve my lap time a little bit I was trying to carry a bit more corner speed and lost the front in a small corner. Anyway, I’m not worried – we just have to improve the front feeling, especially with the number one bike because I had a better feeling with the second one today even though I crashed it. In general the bike is working a lot better here than it was at faster tracks so we are more comfortable for the race tomorrow and we will see what we can do. We don’t know how the weather is going to be but we are looking for a podium.” NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team) 14th (1’35.303) “Qualifying didn’t go well from the start – we had a few problems we couldn’t fix and the lap time didn’t just come this afternoon. This morning we gained a second from yesterday and reduced the gap to the front quite a lot and I was quite confident for the afternoon. Unfortunately from the beginning it wasn’t good, we had a couple of problems here and there. But regardless the bike is much better than fourteenth – Casey is on front row. I apologize to the team because the bike was better than me and at Ducati’s home race it’s terrible to start so far back and I take responsibility for that. I was on the front row a week ago and even here in some parts of the track I’m really okay, like in the second section I’m third fastest but then I lose a lot. Starting at the back is never good but the race is long so we’ll give it our best shot.” More, from a press release issued by Indianapolis Motor Speedway: MotoGP PREVIEW: GRAND PRIX OF SAN MARINO EVENT: Grand Prix of San Marino WHERE: Misano World Circuit, Misano, Italy. Circuit is 2.626 miles (4.226 km), with 16 turns. Race is 28 laps. WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 5. It is the 12th of 18 events this season. 2009 RACE WINNER: Valentino Rossi, by 2.416 seconds over Jorge Lorenzo 2009 POLE WINNER: Rossi, 1 minute, 34.338 seconds U.S. TV: MotoGP race, 8-9 a.m. (ET), Sunday, Sept. 5, SPEED (live). Moto2: Noon-1 p.m. (ET), Sunday, Sept. 5, SPEED. 125cc: Noon-1 p.m. (ET), Tuesday, Sept. 7, SPEED (delayed). THE AMERICANS: U.S. riders Nicky Hayden (Owensboro, Ky., Ducati Team), Ben Spies (Longview, Texas, Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Colin Edwards (Houston, Monster Yamaha Tech 3) will compete in the MotoGP race. Spies is sixth in the MotoGP World Championship standings, with Hayden seventh and Edwards 11th. Kenny Noyes (Borrego Springs, Calif., Jack&Jones by Antonio Banderas) will compete in the Moto2 race. Noyes is 21st in the Moto2 World Championship standings. “¢Ben Spies (after qualifying fifth): “We made some changes to the bike overnight that didn’t really help this morning and then made more changes before qualifying, and they made a big improvement. Everything went smooth, and it was a good qualifying session. The first goal is to be on the second row at least and I’ve done that, but I think I should have had another front row. I got caught up with (Loris) Capirossi, and that was a little annoying. I wasn’t too upset at the time because I didn’t think it would be a front-row lap, but looking back I was on my best lap, and I’m pretty sure I would be sitting on the outside of the front row. But I’m a lot happier and more confident with the bike than I was this morning and I know we can make some more changes to make us stronger for the race. My confidence is really high after the last couple of races and there’s no reason why I can’t be challenging for a top position again tomorrow.” “¢Colin Edwards (after qualifying seventh): “I’ve felt good on the bike all weekend, and that showed with fourth position overall in practice. I really felt I had the speed to get on the second row, but (Randy) de Puniet just got sixth from me by less than a tenth. But I’m happy with the way things have been going this weekend. As the temperature came up today, it felt like I was pushing the front a bit, but I know we can make a minor adjustment to fix that, and my race pace has been pretty strong all weekend. I doubt I can do mid-34s the whole race, but I think a top-six is definitely within my grasp. After what happened last year, I just want to make it through the first corner and at least get the chance to put up a fight. But there’s no reason why the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team shouldn’t have a double top-six finish tomorrow, and that would be a great result.” “¢Nicky Hayden (after qualifying 14th): “Qualifying didn’t go well from the start. We had a few problems we couldn’t fix, and the lap time didn’t just come this afternoon. This morning we gained a second from yesterday and reduced the gap to the front quite a lot, and I was quite confident for the afternoon. Unfortunately from the beginning, it wasn’t good. We had a couple of problems here and there. But regardless the bike is much better than 14th (teammate) Casey (Stoner) is on front row. I apologize to the team because the bike was better than me, and at Ducati’s home race it’s terrible to start so far back, and I take responsibility for that. Starting at the back is never good, but the race is long, so we’ll give it our best shot.” THEY SAID IT: “The helmet is a joke about my timekeeping. We have put a big clock on the top of it with a different helmet showing the right time for each session so I make sure that I arrive on time!” Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi, about his new helmet paint scheme for this event FAST FACTS: Dorna officials will conduct a moment of silence on the grid before racing begins Sunday, Sept. 5 in memory of Peter Lenz, the 13-year-old USGPRU rider who lost his life in a racing accident Aug. 29 at the Red Bull Indianapolis GP at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway “¦ Red Bull Indianapolis GP winner Dani Pedrosa will attempt to win consecutive MotoGP events for the first time in his premier-class career, which started in 2006 “¦ American Ben Spies’ second-place finish Aug. 29 at the Red Bull Indianapolis GP was the best result this season by a rookie and by a non-factory rider. It also was the best finish by an American rider since Colin Edwards finished second last season in the Grand Prix of Great Britain “¦ Italian veteran Loris Capirossi will make his 200th premier-class start at this event. Only Alex Barros has more career starts, with 245 “¦ Capirossi is one of only two riders to win on a 500cc, 990cc and 800cc bike in the premier class, joining Valentino Rossi “¦ Rossi has won nine MotoGP races in his native Italy, seven at Mugello and two at Misano “¦ Moto2 rider Scott Redding, 17, became the youngest podium finisher in a world-championship intermediate class by finishing third Aug. 29 at the Red Bull Indianapolis GP “¦ Spanish riders have won the last 11 races across all three World Championship classes MotoGP, Moto2 and 125cc. It’s the longest win streak by a nation in the 62-year history of the World Championship “¦ MotoGP rookie Hector Barbera will remain on the Aspar Team Ducati next season, the team announced. *** 2011 tickets: Ticket orders for the 2011 Red Bull Indianapolis GP, Aug. 26-28, can be placed now at www.imstix.com. Race Day general admission tickets cost $40, with Friday general admission $10 and Saturday general admission $20. A three-day general admission ticket is $60. A Friday-Saturday general admission ticket is $20 if purchased before Sept. 13, 2010, $25 afterward. Children ages 12 and under will be admitted free any of the three days of the event when accompanied by an adult with a general admission ticket. Race Day reserved seat prices will start at $70. Visit www.imstix.com for more information on tickets, parking and camping for the 2011 Red Bull Indianapolis GP.