FIM MotoGP World Championship Le Mans, France May 17, 2008 Qualifying Results: 1. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), Michelin, 1:32.647 2. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:32.774 3. Casey STONER (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:32.994 4. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), Bridgestone, 1:33.157 5. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:33.269 6. Nicky HAYDEN (Honda), Michelin, 1:33.286 7. James TOSELAND (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:33.396 8. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 1:33.440 9. John HOPKINS (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:33.628 10. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda), Michelin, 1:33.689 11. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 1:33.707 12. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda), Michelin, 1:33.723 13. Shinya NAKANO (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:34.077 14. Toni ELIAS (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:34.561 15. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:34.670 16. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:34.747 17. Marco MELANDRI (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:35.081 18. Anthony WEST (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:35.349 More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Stoner takes French front row Round 5: France Qualifying Bugatti Circuit, Le Mans, Saturday 17 May 2008 Casey Stoner has claimed third place for tomorrow’s French Grand Prix at the Bugatti circuit in Le Mans, his second consecutive front row grid position of the season. Stoner will start the race as the highest-placed Bridgestone rider as on-form Dani Pedrosa took pole position ahead of Tech 3 Yamaha’s Colin Edwards. The front row riders were the only men to lap under the 1m33s mark in this afternoon’s qualifying session. Fiat Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi will head the second row having qualified in fourth position while last year’s race winner Chris Vermeulen and Kawasaki rider John Hopkins add two more Bridgestone riders to the front half of the grid in eighth and ninth respectively. Just one second covers the top twelve riders and the top eight riders all lapped quicker than last year’s pole position time around the modified Le Mans track which has seen revisions made to turn eight, slightly extending the lap to 4.185km. Pace on race tyres appears to be equally closely-fought at the front end of the pack with many riders setting a hot pace in the comparatively cool climate in Le Mans this weekend. There remains an ever-present threat of rain ahead of Sunday but Bridgestone has completed a detailed slick tyre evaluation in the four timed sessions so far this weekend with medium and hard compounds tested with all teams. Tyre Talk with Tohru Ubukata – Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development Did the performance of the Bridgestone qualifying tyres meet expectations today? “We are still searching for the elusive first pole position of the season, but I think Casey did a very good performance with the qualifying tyres this afternoon. He said he was a bit too conservative on his final run, but I think his third place is a good achievement nevertheless. We have brought the same construction qualifying tyres as we had in China, but we have adapted the compounds to fit the lower temperatures at Le Mans. The track has been modified since last year and the lap times are quicker as a result. Three riders, including Casey, all lapped in the high 1m32s in qualifying which was much faster than last year. I am a bit disappointed that our tyres could not help more riders break into the top ten, but only one second covers two-thirds of the grid, so it has again been incredibly close here at Le Mans. We still have work to do on our qualifying tyres looking at the continued performance of our rivals.” How would you assess the race tyre pace and performance? “Some of our riders have carried out a medium-length run with their preferred tyre today and we have been able to check the degradation levels. We are happy with the result and can be satisfied with our preparations so far. Most of our teams have a good idea of what specification tyre they will use tomorrow if it remains dry. The new specification tyres that we have brought here this weekend have performed as we hoped and several riders have been competitive in race trim. Especially Casey, Valentino, Chris and John appear to have good potential heading into tomorrow and such pace across four different manufacturers is encouraging. However, there are also a few riders on our rivals’ tyres who have been very strong also, so it promises to be a competitive race.” Bridgestone-shod Riders’ Qualifying Session Results Pos. Rider Team Qualifying Time (pos) Gap to Pole P3 Casey Stoner Ducati Corse 1m32.994s +0.347s P4 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1m33.157s +0.510s P8 Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m33.440s +0.793s P9 John Hopkins Kawasaki Racing Team 1m33.628s +0.981s P11 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m33.707s +1.060s P13 Shinya Nakano San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m34.077s +1.430s P14 Toni Elias Alice Team 1m34.561s +1.914s P15 Alex de Angelis San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m34.670s +2.023s P16 Sylvain Guintoli Alice Team 1m34.747s +2.100s P17 Marco Melandri Ducati Corse 1m35.081s +2.434s P18 Anthony West Kawasaki Racing Team 1m35.349s +2.702s Weather: Dry Air 17°C, Track 33°C (Bridgestone measurement) More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: REPSOL HONDA RIDERS FIRED UP IN FRANCE Repsol French Grand Prix, Le Mans Qualifying, Saturday May 17 2008 Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden put in storming performances during this afternoon’s French qualifying session, Pedrosa taking pole position and Hayden snatching a second-row start. Superb Pedrosa came out on top at the end of a thrilling hour of action, the World Championship leader making crucial chassis adjustments to outpace his closest rival by just over one tenth of a second. As ever, the MotoGP pack is tightly packed with Hayden just six tenths off pole and the fastest 12 riders covered by just 1.076 seconds. Hard-working Hayden and his crew have focused on improving corner-entry performance at this tight and complex track. The American moved up to sixth fastest in qualifying but his crew will make further changes overnight in an effort to improve his pace in race trim. Weather conditions at Le Mans have been very changeable so far this weekend, with this morning’s third practice session getting underway on a damp track and this afternoon’s qualifying outing run in cool and mostly overcast conditions with the occasional sunny spell. There is still a possibility of rain tomorrow. Dani Pedrosa, pole position, 1m 32.647s “I’m very satisfied with today’s result. It’s my first pole position of the season and that’s especially good at this track because it’s very important to have a good grid position here. Today we made some small chassis adjustments, fine-tuning the machine. This afternoon I wasn’t able to get the maximum out of my first two Michelin qualifying tyres, so we made some more changes to the chassis settings and that allowed me to make a big step forward with my third qualifier. I didn’t expect to get pole with my fourth qualifying tyre but I did, so we’re very happy. As far as race pace goes, I’m quite satisfied but there are a lot of strong riders going very fast here and the lap times are all very close, so I hope we can make another step forward for tomorrow. The other question mark is the weather. It’s been very changeable and we still don’t know what to expect for the race.” Nicky Hayden, 6th fastest, 1m 33.286s “It definitely hasn’t been an easy day or an easy weekend. We haven’t really found a direction even though we’ve been trying a lot of things. This afternoon I think we made a bit of progress and got a better feeling as time went on, so I was able to put one down later on and get a respectable grid position. But I really need to come up with something for tomorrow if I don’t want to watch them guys completely disappear in the race. It’s going to be hard. Getting into the corners has been the issue, then when we get the front better we hurt the rear, so it’s been a constant compromise all weekend. We’ve been making a little bit bigger changes than we would usually make during a race weekend but sometimes that has to be done. We’ll definitely try another little something in warm-up. We’ve got a lot of work to do tonight, but these boys aren’t scared of a little hard work.” Kazuhiko Yamano – Team Manager “That was a fantastic session. Dani’s pole lap was amazingly quick and it was great to see Nicky make it onto the second row. I think we’ve seen some excellent teamwork here, so my thanks to everyone, including Michelin who have done a great job for us. Dani has a good race pace, which is particularly impressive because track conditions have changed constantly over the past two days. Nicky has also done really well, coming better step by step since yesterday morning. He has made many chassis changes and I hope he can make some further improvements for tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: FRONT ROW FOR STONER AT LE MANS, TOUGH SESSION FOR MELANDRI Casey Stoner was involved in a three-way battle for pole position at Le Mans this afternoon, with a trio of riders dipping under the 1’33 mark at the legendary French circuit to lock out the front row of the grid. The reigning World Champion has found a good race set-up for his Ducati at this track and today he converted that pace to a qualifying tyre, setting a stunning final lap to make a late challenge for the front spot on the grid. However, the flip side of the coin for the team this weekend has been that Marco Melandri has been unable to pick up from the progress he made at the last round in China and he struggled again today, giving him another uphill task in tomorrow’s race from 17th on the grid. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 3rd fastest: 1’32.994 “First of all I want to say congratulations to Pedrosa for a great lap. Myself and Dani go back a long way and he’s been riding phenomenally well this season so he deserves to be on pole. Having said that, I think I should have been there instead today! Basically I made a mistake towards the end of my best lap and I think it cost me pole position, so I have to accept responsibility for that. The team have done a great job to get the bike working around this circuit on race tyres and we’ve been fast all weekend. Bridgestone have also been working hard on their qualifying tyres and they gave us something really good today so it was a shame we couldn’t translate that into another pole for them. Anyway, from my point of view the qualifying position is not important so long as we’re in touch and a front row start gives us a good chance. The most important thing is that we’re in good shape in race trim and if it stays dry tomorrow then we could be in for a good battle. Pedrosa and Edwards look like they will be on the pace and you always have to expect Valentino to join in too so hopefully the weather stays dry for the fans and we get a good race and a good result.” MARCO MELANDRI – (Ducati Marlboro Team) 17th fastest: 1’35.081 “Unfortunately here at Le Mans we’ve been unable to progress as we’d hoped because the layout of this track highlights the weak points in the set-up of my bike. In China, where the majority of braking is done with the bike upright, we found a satisfactory setting but here, where you have to tip the bike in under braking, I can’t get any feel for the rear and I can’t go fast. I’m having to go in early and that is making the corners longer. Unfortunately I think it’s going to be a tough race for us tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: MotoGP World Championship leader Dani Pedrosa will start tomorrow´s Alice Grand Prix de France from pole position, his tenth in the premier class. The Spaniard performed his customary late charge to take his Repsol Honda to the top marker on the grid, edging out 2007 poleman Colin Edwards with a 1´32.647 lap of the Le Mans circuit. Edwards had looked on course for a repeat of last year´s qualifying performance, laying down his fast time immediately upon changing up to the stickiest Michelin rubber. Whilst last year he sank down the field in the wet, with a defined race setting and confidence on a high he will be hoping for a good performance and a first GP victory tomorrow. The `Texas Tornado´ has been on the front row for four of the five races this season, including pole position in China. He was on a final hot lap for a second consecutive pole when he was baulked by Ducati Marlboro´s Marco Melandri, whose teammate Casey Stoner will join the Tech 3 Yamaha veteran on the front line. Pedrosa, Stoner and Valentino Rossi, who was fourth fastest in the session, were all made to sit up on the newly-configured Garage Vert corner. Such mistakes were few and far between, as they all showed high competitiveness on their respective race and qualifying tyres as part of a top four separated by just half a second. Experiencing further run-offs was fifth placed Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo, who crashed in the morning practice and experienced several off-track excursions whilst looking for a fourth MotoGP pole position. The last such diversion left him having to turn the factory M1 around by himself, standing on his still-tender ankles. Lorenzo still leads the BMW M Award for combined qualifying results on 99 points, trailed by Edwards and Pedrosa. 2006 World Champion Nicky Hayden salvaged a second row start with which to attempt to move his way up amongst the frontrunners, whilst James Toseland heads row three on a new track for the Briton, ahead of Rizla Suzuki´s 2007 Le Mans racewinner Chris Vermeulen and Kawasaki´s John Hopkins will join the Yamaha Tech3 rider. 250cc Alex Debon took his second 250cc pole position of the season with a final push in Le Mans. Whilst rain at the beginning of the second 250cc qualifying session didn´t completely stop the quarter litre riders´ attempts at taking pole position, it did compact their attempts at hot laps until the final five minutes of Saturday afternoon. With little time to find their rhythm, and the track still slightly damp, only Lotus Aprilia´s Alex Debon was able to find the form to take him ahead of Alvaro Bautista by just one thousandth of a second and into pole for tomorrow´s race, with a 1´38.478 lap of Le Mans. The Spanish veteran knocked his fellow countryman off the top spot with the clock down to zero, leaving no time for an Aspar rider comeback. Bautista, Metis Gilera´s Marco Simoncelli and Emmi-Caffe Latte man Thomas Luthi will join Debon on the front row for the Alice Grand Prix de France. Simoncelli added his name to the list of riders running off track at La Chapelle, whilst fifth placed Mattia Pasini took a shortcut along the asphalt escape road. The Polaris World rider was unable to improve upon his time from yesterday, but this was thankfully not a consequence of a heavy morning crash. He is joined by title rival Mika Kallio, Spaniard Julian Simon and former World Champion Manuel Poggiali on the second row. 125cc The front row for the 125cc Alice Grand Prix de France was unaffected by events in the Saturday afternoon qualifying session, with Sergio Gadea confirming his first pole position of 2008. The Mapfre Aspar rider will have a clear track in front of him when the lights go out tomorrow, at the scene of his first World Championship victory last season. His time of 1´43.515 from yesterday was unbeaten by his 125cc rivals, and he himself was nearly a second down on his previous marker. The only member of the front row contingent to improve upon their times was Bradley Smith, although the Polaris World teenager´s time was not quite enough for him to move up into pole. He was just 0.025 slower than Gadea. Stefan Bradl and World Championship leader Simone Corsi complete the first line of attack, ahead of Sandro Cortese, Mike di Meglio, Nico Terol and reigning title holder Gabor Talmacsi. Di Meglio suffered a spectacular tumble late on in the session but will be able to assume his place on the grid tomorrow. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: THIRD ROW FOR HOPKINS AT LE MANS Kawasaki’s John Hopkins will start tomorrow’s French Grand Prix from the third row of the grid, after qualifying his Ninja ZX-RR in ninth place during this afternoon’s hour long timed session. Hopkins used the first half of the qualifying session to identify the best front tyre option on his Ninja ZX-RR, before switching to a rear qualifier with just 23 minutes remaining. The 24-year-old Anglo-American looked set to steal pole with the fastest time through the first three sectors on his first flying lap, but had to settle for provisional sixth place on the grid, after being baulked by Honda’s Alex de Angelis and then suffering a big rear slide through the final sector. The Kawasaki pilot had two more runs on qualifying tyres and, despite having to run a front tyre that didn’t work as effectively in combination with the super-sticky Bridgestone rear, marginally improved on his lap time with his final flying lap. Hopkins goes into tomorrow’s 28-lap race confident that his Ninja ZX-RR is more than a match for his factory rivals in race trim. Anthony West was, once again, left looking for answers after being plagued by the rear traction problems that have so far hampered his first full season as a factory MotoGP rider. As a result, he was only able to make a small improvement to his fastest lap time after switching to qualifying tyres. The Le Mans circuit is not an easy one at which to overtake, which means the Kawasaki pilot faces a tough task tomorrow starting from 18th position, and the back row of the grid. But West is nothing if not a battler, and the 26-year-old Australian heads into tomorrow’s 28-lap contest determined to fight his way through to a points scoring finish. John Hopkins #21 – 9th – 1Â’33.628 “This morning we made considerable progress on a race tyre, and we improved our lap time by three tenths of a second on each run. We didn’t know what the weather was going to do this afternoon, so we finalised our dry race tyre in the first session. In qualifying we worked on finding a better front-end feeling on the Ninja ZX-RR to give me more confidence going into the corners. The first run we had on a qualifying tyre wasn’t so great as I had a bit of a slide, but we found a combination that worked reasonably well and I was able to push quite hard to gain a third row grid position on our final run. Tomorrow we have to get away from the line quickly; the bike is ready to race and I’m looking forward to it whatever the weather.” Anthony West #13 – 18th – 1Â’35.349 “I’m incredibly frustrated that we were unable to continue making progress today. We went out on a race tyre in practice and I felt comfortable with the direction we were going. However, we just couldn’t make a significant improvement on a qualifying tyre, which has put us on the back of the grid. For me this is not good enough, especially as John seems to be able to make the bike work for him. I have to look at maybe changing my riding style to improve our times, try to find the root cause of our problems, and turn my season around. We will not make any changes to the bike overnight, and tomorrow I’ll be going out to race as hard as possible.” Michael Bartholemy Kawasaki Competition Manager “John did a good job today. We are losing ground, and time, out of the turns at the moment, and we are working hard to improve in this area, but John seems to be able to adapt his riding style to compensate. Anthony, on the other hand, is finding it more difficult to adapt. We have made many changes to the bike to try and improve Anthony’s feeling with the rear, but with limited success. Now he must look to himself for at least part of the solution; he needs to adapt his style further to get the best from our Ninja ZX-RR, so that he’s able to run closer to his teammate during both qualifying and the race. Anthony still has my full support, as I’m confident that it is only a matter of a short time before he’s back where he belongs; well inside the top ten.” More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: ROSSI HEADS SECOND ROW AT LE MANS Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi will start tomorrow’s French Grand Prix at the head of the second row, after qualifying fourth in Le Mans this afternoon. Following on from a tricky afternoon yesterday, today was much better from the start for the 29-year-old Italian and he was second fastest in this morning’s free practice session and much happier about his race pace. This afternoon saw more of the same good work from Rossi as he concentrated on refining set-up and finalising his tyre choice with Bridgestone, before using his three qualifying tyres in the later stages of the session. With his last tyre Rossi was confident of making a run for the front row but he could not quite make it and had to settle for fourth, though he remains confident of being able to play a key part in tomorrow’s 28-lap race. His team-mate Jorge Lorenzo was unfortunate to crash again in practice this morning but escaped any further injury to his damaged ankles and was able to qualify in fifth, next to Rossi. Dani Pedrosa took pole and Tech 3 Yamaha rider Colin Edwards added to Yamaha’s impressive 2008 front-row tally by qualifying second, which means that the four Yamaha riders have now filled ten out of the 15 front-row grid spots between them this season. Valentino Rossi Position: 4th Time: 1’33.157 Laps: 28 “Today everything seemed to go very well and I was quite confident; I thought that with the last qualifying tyre I could do 1’32.9 or even 8 and be on the front row, but at the end we had a small problem and couldn’t manage this. Of course the first row is always better but with the race tyres we are in good shape, with a strong rhythm and a great set-up. Tomorrow I will look to make a good start, try to get to the front immediately and then try to stay there with the other fast riders. As I said, our race pace is fine but there are four or five other riders with a similar fast pace so it’s going to be a very interesting race tomorrow! My target is to be on the podium so now we’re hoping for another dry day and then we will do our very best to be there.” David Brivio Team Manager “We improved a lot today in comparison to yesterday, now we have a good pace for the race tomorrow and we’re going much better all round. We were able to be quite competitive in the qualifying and fourth place is not so bad, so it seems that Valentino is in good shape now for the race. We will have to wait and see now for tomorrow but it’s been a positive day and now we will just have to make a few final checks tomorrow morning during warm-up to make sure everything is perfect. We’ve been waiting for the rain now since Friday so let’s just hope that it can hold off for one more day!” More, from another press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: LORENZO FIFTH ON GRID AFTER ANOTHER NAILBITING DAY IN LE MANS It was another nervous day for the Fiat Yamaha Team today as they watched their injured rider Jorge Lorenzo battling through the pain barrier in Le Mans. Despite his injuries however he was able to qualify fifth, in the middle of the second row, for tomorrow’s French Grand Prix. The 21-year-old rookie gave his team another scary moment this morning when he crashed out during first practice and was carried off by stretcher. A quick check up at the circuit clinic however revealed that he had luckily done no further damage to his two fractured ankles and he was able to take part in this afternoon’s qualifying session. There were a few more nervous moments for his team when he twice ran off track, but despite his difficulties he was able to use all of his Michelin qualifying tyres and fifth on the grid is an excellent result in the circumstances. Lorenzo’s team-mate Rossi qualified one place ahead of him and Dani Pedrosa, Tech 3 Yamaha rider Colin Edwards and Casey Stoner make up the front row. Tomorrow’s 28-lap race gets underway at 1400 CET and with the expected rain having held off so far, the riders will be hoping the trend continues for one more day to give them a dry race. Jorge Lorenzo Position: 5th Time: 1’33.269 Laps: 28 “This is a very difficult time and I have a lot of pain in all of my body, but I want to keep going and I think fifth place is a very good position for me today. Of course I know it’s a risk for me, but this sport always has some danger and I don’t think about this. Today was hard and my crash this morning didn’t help, but I didn’t make anything worse and I was able to ride this afternoon and to try hard with my qualifying tyres. We need to improve the bike more for this track, especially the electronics and the chassis, but I know that we can be better tomorrow and I am sure that my physical condition will be better as well. Neither our bike nor my mental or physical condition is perfect here and my rhythm is not as good as at the other races, but of course I still want to try to be in front and this is why I have made some mistakes today. It’s not the end of the world however, I’ve been in worse situations in the past and I won’t panic. Tomorrow is another day and, although today I was lacking some confidence, I know I will feel better in myself tomorrow and that I will be able to try to take some points.” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “All things considered, today’s result is not too bad! After two crashes this weekend in Jorge’s condition, the second row is very good and this will hopefully help him to get a good start tomorrow. Jorge was lucky not to escape further injury but he is very determined and he is not losing focus. Unfortunately, with the problem this morning, we lost some time to work on the set-up and we weren’t able to refine the setting as much as we might have done; we still need to improve the stability in the rear under hard braking and also the electronic setting, but we have all the information that we need to do this now so we will hope to be in better shape tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Promising race pace and third row start for Vermeulen at Le Mans Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racer Chris Vermeulen equalled his best qualifying position of the season so far, achieving eighth place at Le Mans in France. Vermeulen (1’33.440, 28 laps) will start from middle of the third row for tomorrow’s 28-lap race, giving him a great chance of getting away with the lead group and making an attack on the podium positions. The Australian’s race pace during this morning’s final practice session and the early part of this afternoon’s qualifying was consistently up with the front runners and Vermeulen is confident that he will be able to run with them tomorrow. Loris Capirossi (P11, 1’33.707, 28 laps) will start immediately behind his team-mate from the middle of the fourth row. The experienced Italian made big changes to his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R this afternoon and was pleased with the feeling he found from his machine. Capirossi would probably have been further up the grid but was obstructed on his final qualifying lap by two other riders. He is confident that he will improve in the race tomorrow and will be looking for a higher placed finish than the grid position he earned today. Today’s qualifying was again held in dry but overcast conditions with track temperatures reaching 37ºC. Championship leader Dani Pedrosa on his factory Honda will start from pole position for tomorrow’s race that gets underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT). Chris Vermeulen: “As a whole the weekend has gone very well and I am happy with the progress we have made, but I’m a bit disappointed with the qualifying position as it has been our worst session of the weekend. The bike and tyres are both working well and I am pleased with the way I am riding around Le Mans. We have a good race pace and set-up, and we did quite a few laps on the Bridgestone race tyres and are happy with the choice of rubber for tomorrow for both consistency and durability. I honestly think we are in good stead to fight for a podium and I will be trying my best to achieve that that’s certainly my goal!” Loris Capirossi: “The whole weekend hasn’t been very easy, but I really want to say a big thank-you to all my team because we decided to modify the whole bike for this afternoon, and it worked because my feeling was much better. We improved the rhythm and now I think we are not in too bad a position for the race. I lost out on my last qualifying lap which was my quickest so far because of two riders having a chat on the track, and I missed out on my best lap. For tomorrow I think we can improve further and if we get a good start I think I can stay with the top guys.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “The result today isn’t what we were looking for in terms of positions, but as ever the pace has been really hot and the competition is immense. Chris has got to a high level on race tyres, and he has been consistently amongst the first four or five. If he can get away well from the third row, and be in the front group in the early laps, the team has every confidence that he has the bike, the tyres and the ability to challenge for the podium. “For Loris we are still looking for a little more speed from the whole package, he improved significantly and dropped into the 34s this afternoon, but we still need to find a bit more and allow him to run with the front group. His qualifying position was compromised by two riders having a discussion in the middle of the racetrack, but this happens and Loris has seen enough of this over the years not to be too worried about it!” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Edwards close to pole at his team’s home GP Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi will start tomorrow’s French Grand Prix at the head of the second row, after qualifying fourth in Le Mans this afternoon. Following on from a tricky afternoon yesterday, today was much better from the start for the 29-year-old Italian and he was second fastest in this morning’s free practice session and much happier about his race pace. This afternoon saw more of the same good work from Rossi as he concentrated on refining set-up and finalising his tyre choice with Bridgestone, before using his three qualifying tyres in the later stages of the session. With his last tyre Rossi was confident of making a run for the front row but he could not quite make it and had to settle for fourth, though he remains confident of being able to play a key part in tomorrow’s 28-lap race. His team-mate Jorge Lorenzo was unfortunate to crash again in practice this morning but escaped any further injury to his damaged ankles and was able to qualify in fifth, next to Rossi. Dani Pedrosa took pole and Tech 3 Yamaha rider Colin Edwards added to Yamaha’s impressive 2008 front-row tally by qualifying second, which means that the four Yamaha riders have now filled ten out of the 15 front-row grid spots between them this season. Valentino Rossi 4th 1’33.157 “Today everything seemed to go very well and I was quite confident; I thought that with the last qualifying tyre I could do 1’32.9 or even 8 and be on the front row, but at the end we had a small problem and couldn’t manage this. Of course the first row is always better but with the race tyres we are in good shape, with a strong rhythm and a great set-up. Tomorrow I will look to make a good start, try to get to the front immediately and then try to stay there with the other fast riders. As I said, our race pace is fine but there are four or five other riders with a similar fast pace so it’s going to be a very interesting race tomorrow! My target is to be on the podium so now we’re hoping for another dry day and then we will do our very best to be there.” Davide Brivio – Team Manager “We improved a lot today in comparison to yesterday, now we have a good pace for the race tomorrow and we’re going much better all round. We were able to be quite competitive in the qualifying and fourth place is not so bad, so it seems that Valentino is in good shape now for the race. We will have to wait and see now for tomorrow but it’s been a positive day and now we will just have to make a few final checks tomorrow morning during warm-up to make sure everything is perfect. We’ve been waiting for the rain now since Friday so let’s just hope that it can hold off for one more day!” It was another nervous day for the team of Lorenzo as they watched their injured rider battling through the pain barrier in Le Mans. Despite his injuries however he was able to qualify fifth, in the middle of the second row, for tomorrow’s French Grand Prix. The 21-year-old rookie gave his team another scary moment this morning when he crashed out during first practice and was carried off by stretcher. A quick check up at the circuit clinic however revealed that he had luckily done no further damage to his two fractured ankles and he was able to take part in this afternoon’s qualifying session. There were a few more nervous moments for his team when he twice ran off track, but despite his difficulties he was able to use all of his Michelin qualifying tyres and fifth on the grid is an excellent result in the circumstances. Jorge Lorenzo 5th 1’33.269 “This is a very difficult time and I have a lot of pain in all of my body, but I want to keep going and I think fifth place is a very good position for me today. Of course I know it’s a risk for me, but this sport always has some danger and I don’t think about this. Today was hard and my crash this morning didn’t help, but I didn’t make anything worse and I was able to ride this afternoon and to try hard with my qualifying tyres. We need to improve the bike more for this track, especially the electronics and the chassis, but I know that we can be better tomorrow and I am sure that my physical condition will be better as well. Neither our bike nor my mental or physical condition is perfect here and my rhythm is not as good as at the other races, but of course I still want to try to be in front and this is why I have made some mistakes today. It’s not the end of the world however, I’ve been in worse situations in the past and I won’t panic. Tomorrow is another day and, although today I was lacking some confidence, I know I will feel better in myself tomorrow and that I will be able to try to take some points.” Danielle Romagnoli – Team manager “All things considered, today’s result is not too bad! After two crashes this weekend in Jorge’s condition, the second row is very good and this will hopefully help him to get a good start tomorrow. Jorge was lucky not to escape further injury but he is very determined and he is not losing focus. Unfortunately, with the problem this morning, we lost some time to work on the set-up and we weren’t able to refine the setting as much as we might have done; we still need to improve the stability in the rear under hard braking and also the electronic setting, but we have all the information that we need to do this now so we will hope to be in better shape tomorrow.” Colin Edwards was in superb form again today as he came close to handing the Tech 3 Yamaha team a home pole position for the French GP in Le Mans. The American will start tomorrow’s 28-lap race from second on the grid after he was denied a second successive pole position at the historic Bugatti circuit by current MotoGP world championship leader Dani Pedrosa. Edwards had produced another masterful display of riding on Michelin’s dominant qualifying tyres to lead the field by 0.7s with 20 minutes remaining. Bidding for a fourth career pole and his second of 2008, Edwards increased his advantage with just 11 minutes remaining when he clocked a lap of 1.32.774. That time smashed his 2007 Le Mans pole position time by close to a second, but trying to respond to Pedrosa’s time on his last qualifier, Edwards encountered a problem attempting to pass Marco Melandri and had to settle for second. Edwards though is confident he is capable of mounting a podium challenge tomorrow after posting fast and consistent times on race tyres all weekend. He was quickest at the end of the three free practice sessions. A new tactic helped British rider James Toseland claim seventh on the grid as he opted to run four Michelin qualifying tyres for the first time. He clocked a best time of 1.33.396, with the extra qualifier helping him gradually build up speed on the soft rubber. Toseland looked on course for his third second row start in five races when Nicky Hayden dropped him out of the top six by just 0.110s in the closing stages. Colin Edwards 2nd 1’32.774 “I’ve got to admit that I thought I’d done enough for pole position today. I’ll even admit that the time I did with my first tyre I thought might be good enough. I thought I’m just going to kick back with a coffee but the boys starting knocking down the times and when I did my second lap of 32.7, I thought ‘that is going to be close to pole.’ I was out on my last tyre and I was hammering it but still felt pretty comfortable like I had more in reserve. Then I came out of the bottom hairpin and Marco was in front of me, but he was a good fifteen bike lengths clear. He stayed way over to the left and I thought ‘okay, he’ll look back and see me.’ But he didn’t look back and unfortunately it cost me a bit of time, which is a little frustrating. I almost ran into the back of him and I had to stand the bike up and run over the inside of the kerb. Maybe if I had just kept the throttle wide open I’d have still got a fast time. It could have been pole position because I’d matched Dani through the first two splits and the strongest section for Yamaha has always been T4. With our chassis and the way the bike handles the bike works like a dream in the last section, so I was confident that I’d have made up some time in that last part. I was certainly going to give it a go. I’m still happy to be on the front row, but pole would have been nice for the Tech 3 team in their home race. The bike is working awesome and Michelin has done a great job. For Tech 3 and Michelin this is a massively important race, and I’ll be giving it everything tomorrow. On race tyres we have been fast and consistent all weekend and I’m feeling good.” James Toseland 7th 1’33.396 “I did pretty good times in every section but never managed to put them together on the same lap unfortunately. Without that track knowledge and a couple of small mistakes you are on the third row. The speed of these guys and their experience is unbelievable and it is tough to beat them when everything is perfect. Nicky just beat me to the second row and I’d have been really pleased with that because it is vital to be on he first two rows to get away with that leading bunch. Being on the third row is quite a big disadvantage so I need a really good start. I ran four qualifiers today because on a track I don’t know it is almost like having to learn the circuit again with the extra grip. It just helps me build up speed gradually instead of having to take your brain out and go for a time. There is so much pressure to get a good grid position you can’t afford to make a mistake and having a fourth is like a banker really. I’ve been improving all weekend, but I just need to start on a Tuesday or a Wednesday and I’d be okay! We have definitely found a direction with the set-up. I’m hoping it will be dry tomorrow morning because we need to try something else but I got into the 34s on race tyres this afternoon and I need to shave off about half-a-second really. But we got rear traction massively better than yesterday. At least now I can drive off the corners better because in China I couldn’t drive of the corners very well and that’s why I was getting passed on the exit. Colin has been brilliant all weekend and it’s been great for the Tech 3 team at their home race. Hopefully I can get in amongst the action tomorrow and give my guys a good result.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: DANI ROMPS TO POLE AND ASSERTS AUTHORITY He was fastest yesterday and today Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) established his dominance here at Le Mans with a 1m 32.647s lap to make pole his own with Colin Edwards (Yamaha) second fastest and reigning World Champion Casey Stoner (Ducati) mustering third quickest time. With changeable weather a huge factor here this weekend, conditions at least stayed consistent for the hour of final MotoGP qualifying. The track gradually warmed throughout the session and as grip factors improved it was Dani who was in a position to make the most of them. Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Scot Honda RC212V) made the early running with Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V) third fastest before Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha), who had crashed heavily yesterday, recorded a 1m 34.198s lap to head the leader-board. But as Dani notched up a 1m 34.061s pole lap looking smooth and very purposeful on his RC212V it was clear he had the measure of the track and his rivals would have to find something very special to better the Spanish star around the 4.185km of this circuit. Just before the halfway point Dani did the job no one else seemed capable of when he bested his own time to put a 1m 33.911s lap on the timesheets and spur his rivals into upping their pace as clouds gathered and rain threatened. Sure enough, with the extra incentive of a damp track to drive them on, Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) commandeered pole with a 1m 33.859s lap with Lorenzo edging up to second on the provisional grid squeezing Dani into third. Randy de Puniet held fourth with Dovi now ninth overall. Dani replied with a 1m 33.857s time cutting underneath Vermeulen by a mere two thousandths of a second. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) then alerted the grid to his presence with a 1m 33.767s lap. But it was Edwards who would soon show what was possible here. The Texan rider cut 1m 33.065s lap, fully 0.6 seconds faster than the 2007 pole time as the field, almost without exception, pitted to fit sticky qualifying rubber and make the most of the grip on offer. With just three riders still circulating Edwards emerged for a lap and then shot bellow the 1m 33s barrier to a 1m 32.774s time. Stoner came back strongly to go second fastest with Vermeulen relegated to third, those three riders covered by 0.7 seconds. Edwards looked invulnerable as Dani clawed back to second on the grid. His team-mate Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V) was struggling in 12th spot. With two minutes left on the clock Stoner nudged Dani back to second and Nicky made the most of qualifying rubber to carve up to sixth fastest and a row two berth. Dovi was till holding ninth at this late stage. Dani was not finished though. After some final chassis adjustments he headed out on track and his 1m 32.647s time stunned Edwards and the rest of the pole contenders. With one minute left of the hour-long session to go no one could knock Dani off the top grid slot. This is Dani’s first pole of the season so far and it couldn’t come at a better time with the European rounds coming thick and fast over the coming weeks. But the top 12 riders are covered by just over one second here a measure of how hard Pedrosa had to work for this pole, his tenth so far in MotoGP. However consistent Dani has been this season unsettled weather may prove critical tomorrow. He said: “I’m very satisfied with today’s result and it’s very important to have a good grid position here. This afternoon I wasn’t able to get the maximum out of my first two Michelin qualifying tyres, so we made some changes to the chassis settings and that allowed me to make a big step forward with my third qualifier. I didn’t expect to get pole with my fourth qualifying tyre but I did, so we’re very happy. As far as race pace goes, the lap times are all very close, so I hope we can make another step forward tomorrow. The other question is the weather. It’s been very changeable and we still don’t know what to expect for the race.” His team-mate Nicky, 6th on row, two said: “It definitely hasn’t been an easy day or an easy weekend. We haven’t really found a direction even though we’ve been trying a lot of things. I really need to come up with something for tomorrow if I don’t want to watch them guys completely disappear in the race. It’s going to be hard. Getting into the corners has been the issue. Then when we get the front better we hurt the rear, so it’s been a constant compromise all weekend. We’ve been making bigger changes than we would usually make during a race weekend but sometimes that has to be done.” Dovizioso qualified tenth and said: “In race configuration we’ve found some good tyre options for both front and rear and tomorrow after the warm-up we’ll be able to make the right choice according to the weather forecast. The choice will be between looking for good handling and very good stability two characteristics that normally don’t go very well together! We’re not yet getting the performance we want in qualifying and the result of this is that on race day I have to be very aggressive to get to the leaders.” De Puniet managed 12th on row four and said: “This morning was not so bad as we improved the bike on race set-up and I lapped consistently. We started the afternoon session on qualifiers because of the incoming bad weather but my feeling was not good enough at the beginning. Then the feeling was much better but I’m a bit disappointed about the fourth row. Anyway I feel confident for tomorrow’s race because we can ride with a good rhythm.” Shinya Nakano (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) qualified 13th and said: “Today was an extremely difficult qualifying session but having said that my lap times were improving up until the end of free practice this morning. In the afternoon I wasn’t able to go as fast as I would have liked on a qualifying tyre even though I was pushing as hard as I could. Starting from the fifth row won’t be easy but here the weather is always unpredictable and could have an effect on the outcome of the race.” His team-mate Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) qualified 15th. He said: “Again, today we haven’t managed to secure a place on the grid that’s a true reflection of our potential. It’s clear we have to improve something before tomorrow’s race we’ve tried a couple of different settings on the two bikes. On top of that, when I was on my best lap with a qualifying tyre the seat unit came loose and gave me some problems with balance. We have to stay strong and work hard to get through this difficult period.” 250cc Alex Debon edged ahead of Alvaro Bautista (both Aprilia) in the rain-hit 250cc session with Marco Simoncelli (Gilera) third fastest and Thomas Luthi (Aprilia) completing the front row. Honda man Yuki Takahashi (JiR Scot Honda RS250RW), who fell yesterday, qualified 12th. Just over 1.2 seconds off the pole time, Takahashi said: “After yesterday’s practice we were waiting for the bad weather but in fact the sun was shining and we were ready to get out on track and have a good session then just before the session started the rain began so we decided not to go out straight away. Because of this lost time we couldn’t complete the whole work programme scheduled for today. I think I can stay with the leaders even if I will have to push very hard to get up with them.” Ratthapark Wilairot (Stop And Go Racing RS250RW) qualified 16th and said: “I’m not so happy with my qualifying session. I had only one real opportunity to improve my time and that was following Aoyama. But on the last lap, when my section times were faster we ran into Espargaro, who moved from one side of the track to the other just as we caught him. That was my best lap ruined. Still the bike is very good and I am confident I can run faster in the race.” 125cc Sergio Gadea made pole here today with a 1m 43.515s lap from yesterday with British rider Bradley Smith second fastest man, Stefan Bradl third quickest and Simone Corsi completing the front row (all Aprilia). Louis Rossi (FFM Racing Honda RS125R) was out-qualified by his temporary team-mate, wild card rider Cyril Carillo, who made 32nd place on the grid with Rossi lining up alongside his French compatriot in 34th spot, both on row eight of the grid. Carillo, who had to rely on his time from yesterday when he suffered an engine seizure in today’s session, said: “Today I had to improve because I felt comfortable and knew I had a lot of margin. I was very confident when I left the pits, but a small stone made it into the engine causing it to seize and I crashed. I believe coping with disappointment is part of the job of being a rider!” Rossi, now approaching full fitness after his early season leg injury, said: “Today for the first time I really enjoyed myself. I let go and relaxed, and in the end it paid off. My times have improved by a second compared to yesterday, whereas most of the riders did not improve on their times between the two qualifying sessions.” Honda rider quotes. MotoGP: Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: Pole position 1m 32.647s. “I’m very satisfied with today’s result. It’s my first pole position of the season and that’s especially good at this track because it’s very important to have a good grid position here. Today we made some small chassis adjustments, fine-tuning the machine. This afternoon I wasn’t able to get the maximum out of my first two Michelin qualifying tyres, so we made some more changes to the chassis settings and that allowed me to make a big step forward with my third qualifier. I didn’t expect to get pole with my fourth qualifying tyre but I did, so we’re very happy. As far as race pace goes, I’m quite satisfied but there are a lot of strong riders going very fast here and the lap times are all very close, so I hope we can make another step forward for tomorrow. The other question mark is the weather. It’s been very changeable and we still don’t know what to expect for the race.” Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 6th 1m 33.286s. “It definitely hasn’t been an easy day or an easy weekend. We haven’t really found a direction even though we’ve been trying a lot of things. This afternoon I think we made a bit of progress and got a better feeling as time went on, so I was able to put one down later on and get a respectable grid position. But I really need to come up with something for tomorrow if I don’t want to watch them guys completely disappear in the race. It’s going to be hard. Getting into the corners has been the issue, then when we get the front better we hurt the rear, so it’s been a constant compromise all weekend. We’ve been making a little bit bigger changes than we would usually make during a race weekend but sometimes that has to be done. We’ll definitely try another little something in warm-up. We’ve got a lot of work to do tonight, but these boys aren’t scared of a little hard work.” Andrea Dovizioso, JiR Scot Honda: 10th 1m 33.689s. “Obviously we were looking for a better qualifying result. First of all I particularly like this racetrack and in race configuration we have found some good options of tyres for both front and rear and tomorrow after the warm-up we will be in the condition to make the right choice according to the weather forecast and therefore the strategy that we will adopt. The choice will be in between looking for good handling and very good stability two characteristics that normally don’t go very well together! We have gratefully received from Honda some new parts and this helps us to go forward. We are not yet getting the performance we want in qualifying and the result of this is that on race day I have to be very aggressive to join the leaders of the race. I hope tomorrow I will be competitive and up near the front of the race.” Randy De Puniet, LCR Honda: 12th 1m 33.723s. “This morning was not so bad as we improved a lot the bike on race set-up and I lapped consistently fast. We started the afternoon session on qualifiers because of the incoming bad weather but my feeling was not good enough at the beginning. I was not enough aggressive. Then the feeling was much better but I am a bit disappointed for the fourth row. Anyway I feel confident for tomorrow’s race because my bike package is pretty good and we can ride with a good rhythm for the whole race”. Shinya Nakano, San Carlo Gresini Honda: 13th 1m 34.077s. “Today was an extremely difficult qualifying session but having said that my lap times were improving right up until the end of free practice this morning. In the afternoon I wasn’t able to go as fast as I would have liked on a qualifying tyre even though I was pushing as hard as I could. We obviously have to improve in certain areas, particularly in the set-up of the bike on qualifying tyres and getting the best out of the engine. Starting from the fifth row won’t be easy but here the weather is always unpredictable and could have an effect on the outcome of the race. I’m still confident for tomorrow and I’ll fight hard to the end.” Alex De Angelis, San Carlo Gresini Honda: 15th 1m 34.670s. “Again, today we haven’t managed to secure a place on the grid that is a true reflection of our potential. It is clear that we have to improve something before tomorrow’s race we’ve tried a couple of different settings on the two bikes so we have to take a look at the data and work out a configuration that is competitive and most adapted to this track. On top of that, when I was on my best lap with a qualifying tyre the seat unit came loose and gave me some problems with balance. In any case we have to stay strong and work hard to get through this difficult period.” 250cc: Yukio Takahashi, JiR Scot Honda: 12th 1m 39.446s. “After yesterday’s practice we were waiting for the bad weather but in fact the sun was shining and we were ready to get out on track and have a good session then just before the session started the rain began so we decided not to go out straight away. Because of this lost time we couldn’t complete the whole work programme scheduled for today. I’m very satisfied on how we were able to prepare my Honda and the excellent work done on the bike is giving us good results. Tomorrow morning we will make some fine-tuning adjustments to the bike during warm-up. I do think I can stay with the leaders even if I will have to push very hard to get up with them.” Ratthapark Wilairot, Thai Honda PTT SAG: 16th -1m 39.924s. “I’m not so happy with my qualifying session I wasted too much time following a slower rider. I had on one real opportunity to improve my time, that was following Aoyama. But on the last lap, when my section times were faster we ran into Espargaro who moved from one side of the track to the other just as we caught him. That was my best lap ruined. Still the bike is very good and I am confident that I can run faster in the race if I get a good start. The only question mark is the weather. Wet or dry is no real problem for me.” 125cc: Cyril Carrillo, FFM Honda: 32nd – 1m 47.185s. “I am so disappointed ! I wasn’t able to finish the qualifying sessions. Yesterday I fell just after putting on a new tyre midway through the session. Today I had to improve because I felt comfortable and knew I had a lot of margin. I was very confident when I left the pits, but a small stone made it into the engine causing it to seize up and I crashed again. I believe coping with disappointment is also part of the job of being a rider!” Louis Rossi, FFM Honda: 34th 1m 47.330s. “At last ! I feel something has clicked! I’ve been working very hard since the start of the season, and have been very concentrated in trying to improve, but I felt it wasn’t paying off as much as I hoped. Today for the first time I really enjoyed myself. I let go and relaxed, and in the end it paid off. My times have improved by a second compared to yesterday, whereas most of the riders did not improve on their times between the two qualifying sessions. I could have brought my time down even more in the last laps but I made a few trajectory errors. Tomorrow in the race I must make a good start and be aggressive from the start of the race to the finish. Fortunately I don¹t feel any particular pressure at riding in my National Grand Prix.”