FIM MotoGP World Championship Phillip Island, Australia September 16, 2006 Final Qualifying Results: 1. Nicky HAYDEN (Hon RC211V), 1:29.020, Michelin 2. Shinya NAKANO (Kaw ZX-RR), 1:29.258, Bridgestone 3. Valentino ROSSI (Yam YZR-M1), 1:29.271, Michelin 4. Kenny Lee ROBERTS (Hon KR211V), 1:29.662, Michelin 5. Colin EDWARDS (Yam YZR-M1), 1:29.680, Michelin 6. Carlos CHECA (Yam YZR-M1), 1:29.865, Dunlop 7. Marco MELANDRI (Hon RC211V), 1:29.949, Michelin 8. Casey STONER (Hon RC211V), 1:29.969, Michelin 9. Randy DE PUNIET (Kaw ZX-RR), 1:30.037, Bridgestone 10. Dani PEDROSA (Hon RC211V), 1:30.081, Michelin 11. Makoto TAMADA (Hon RC211V), 1:30.132, Michelin 12. Sete GIBERNAU (Duc GP06), 1:30.237, Bridgestone 13. Loris CAPIROSSI (Duc GP06), 1:30.393, Bridgestone 14. Toni ELIAS (Hon RC211V), 1:30.498, Michelin 15. John HOPKINS (Suz GSV-R), 1:31.143, Bridgestone 16. Chris VERMEULEN (Suz GSV-R), 1:31.288, Bridgestone 17. Alex HOFMANN (Duc GP05), 1:31.676, Dunlop 18. James ELLISON (Yam YZR-M1), 1:31.998, Dunlop 19. Jose Luis CARDOSO (Duc GP05), 1:32.870, Dunlop More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: FRONT ROW FOR NAKANO AT PHILLIP ISLAND Kawasaki’s Shinya Nakano will start tomorrow’s Australian Grand Prix from the front row of the grid, after qualifying his Ninja ZX-RR in second place during this afternoon’s hotly contested timed session at the Phillip Island circuit. Randy de Puniet will start from ninth position, and the third row, as changing conditions meant he was unable to better his fastest lap from yesterday during qualifying this afternoon. Nakano was quick to stake his claim for a front row start, taking pole position on race tyres just ten minutes into qualifying. The 28-year-old Japanese rider relinquished the top spot five minutes later, but remained top five on the timesheet, as his Kawasaki teammate, de Puniet, put in a fast lap to take pole position at the halfway stage. With his first qualifying tyre Nakano was the first rider to dip below 1’30s this afternoon, reclaiming pole position from de Puniet in the process. Nakano improved his lap time again with his second qualifier, but then fast laps in quick succession from Carlos Checa, Nicky Hayden and Kenny Roberts saw the Kawasaki rider pushed back to fourth, and facing a second row start in tomorrow’s race. Nakano started his final qualifying run determined to reclaim a place on the front row. With the qualifying tyres struggling to last even a single lap of the 4.445 km Phillip Island circuit this afternoon, the Kawasaki ace rode as smoothly as possible up to the first split, before riding right on the limit over the remaining two thirds of the lap. It was a tactic that paid dividends, with Nakano taking second place on the grid, but missing out on his first ever MotoGP pole position by the slimmest of margins. De Puniet was quick to take maximum advantage of a switch to qualifiers, taking pole position at the halfway stage in the qualifying session, and only relinquishing it to his Kawasaki teammate, Nakano. The MotoGP rookie then held on to second place, giving Kawasaki a one-two at the top of the timesheet, before being pushed back to ninth position during the closing seconds of the hour-long session. Both Kawasaki riders were happy with the pace and consistency of their lap times on race tyres today, and will start tomorrow’s 27-lap Australian Grand Prix with their sights set firmly on a top five finish. Shinya Nakano: 2nd – 1’29.258 “We worked extremely hard here at Phillip Island during the winter test in February, to provide both Kawasaki and Bridgestone with a lot of information and development data, and today was our payback. From this data, Kawasaki and Bridgestone have improved to the point where Randy and I were able to come here on Friday and be straight on the pace. I think this shows the commitment of everyone involved with the Kawasaki Racing Team. I’m happy with my consistency on race tyres, as this is important for tomorrow, but I’m also pleased to be starting from the front row. I saw from my pit board that I was in fourth place as I started my final qualifying lap, so I pushed as hard as I could to try and reclaim a position on the front row of the grid. I’m not so bothered about missing out on pole; the front row is good enough for tomorrow’s race, in which I think it’s possible for us to finish top five at least.” Randy de Puniet: 9th – 1’30.037 “I’m a little disappointed not to have matched my best lap time from yesterday, as this would have put me closer to the front of the grid for tomorrow’s race. However, I am pleased with the improvements we made to the bike today, and also my times on race tyres. It’s been a good weekend so far, and I hope we can carry the momentum into tomorrow’s race. If I can get a good start, then my only strategy is to try and stay with the leading group of riders for as long as I can. I think it’s possible, if our luck holds in the race, to score our best finish of the season so far tomorrow. That’s what I’ll be aiming for anyway.” Harald Eckl: Team Principal “Shinya did a fantastic qualifying lap today, to finish on the second row, and as the highest placed Bridgestone rider. Both riders have a good race set-up, as they showed with their pace on race tyres early in the session, and this is equally as important as their final qualifying positions. I hope that Shinya and Randy can get a good start tomorrow, because I think they are both capable of finishing top five. I’m certainly looking forward to, what promises to be, an exciting race.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP looking to move forward at Phillip Island Rizla Suzuki MotoGP endured a difficult qualifying session at Phillip Island today that left its riders in 15th and 16th place for tomorrow’s race. Hopkins (P15, 1’31.143) will start from the fifth row of the grid with team-mate Chris Vermeulen (1’31.288) at the head of the row behind. Both riders struggled to get the optimum balance from their Bridgestone shod Rizla Suzuki GSV-Rs and were always chasing the pack on a circuit where hundredths of a second makes all the difference. Neither rider was able to use the ultra sticky Bridgestone qualifying tyres which have been so successful elsewhere this year, and as such they both reverted to race rubber to try and better their times. Today’s qualifying was held in bright sunshine with temperatures reaching 17°C. Current Championship leader Nicky Hayden set the fastest time to take pole position. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will have a warm-up session tomorrow morning to try and find some solutions for tomorrow’s 27-lap race and give both Hopkins and Vermeulen the opportunity to challenge for all-important Championship points. John Hopkins: “What can I say? We certainly have a lot of work to do! This is no way what we expected and far from being the best qualifying position we’ve had. We are all pretty disappointed really. This is a race where you need to be up in front from the beginning, so we need to concentrate on a really good start tomorrow. We will look to make some drastic improvements overnight and in tomorrow’s warm-up. We are all working hard to improve the situation, but you can be assured we will come out fighting tomorrow!” Chris Vermeulen: “Not our best qualifying session. I’ve had my worst two positions of the year in the last two races both 16th. But I did come up to 11th in the last race in Sepang and I’m feeling a lot healthier this weekend so hopefully we can do even better. We couldn’t use a qualifying tyre today, even the race tyres are not working well around here for me. It’s been hard work but we have made the bike better, we will try more things in the warm-up and hopefully we can make it better again.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “It’s not exactly what we planned for! The guys have worked really hard today to improve the bike, and those improvements have helped in our consistency. Our ultimate speed is not quite enough but it has got better so all credit to the team. John said this morning that being in the tow of faster riders makes a huge difference round here and that qualifying would be very important towards getting a decent result. “Bridgestone’s race tyres here have been the class of the field, and the Kawasakis seemed to be able to use the qualifier to good effect also. But unfortunately for us and by the look of it Ducati the compound choice on the qualifying tyre left us unable to complete a lap. Therefore both riders went out at the end on race tyres and did their best to better their times, but it was always going to be a difficult task to make a big step. Let’s see what tomorrow brings hopefully it will rain!” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Nakano Qualifies Second for Australian Grand Prix Qualifying Phillip Island Saturday 16 September 2006 Bridgestone-shod Kawasaki rider Shinya Nakano put in a sensational qualifying lap late in this afternoon’s grid-determining session to take second place for tomorrow’s Australian GP at Phillip Island. The result marks Nakano’s fourth front row start of the season after a third place grid slot at the season opener in Jerez and second places in Le Mans and Assen, the latter of which he followed up with a second-placed podium finish. Nakano’s team-mate Randy de Puniet continues to enjoy a competitive Australian GP weekend. He will start the 27-lap race from ninth on the grid and is aiming to secure his best finish of the season. Ducati riders Sete Gibernau and Loris Capirossi will line up 12th and 13th tomorrow afternoon but both have shown strong pace in race trim and have been among the fastest on their Bridgestone race tyres throughout this weekend. Suzuki’s John Hopkins and Chris Vermeulen will also be looking to make headway in Sunday’s GP after qualifying in 15th and 16th. Shinji Aoki Bridgestone Motorsport – Assistant Manager Motorcycle Race Tire Development “Firstly, we take great pleasure from seeing the Kawasaki team take second place on the grid following an impressive lap from Shinya Nakano in difficult conditions this afternoon. It is quite evident that our qualifying tyres lacked the necessary performance around this tough track, which hampered the qualifying efforts of each of our three teams today. We do not yet know the precise details of why our tyres were not as competitive but upon initial inspection, it would seem that we were unable to find the correct balance between qualifying tyre grip and life, which in turn prevented riders from maintaining the tyre grip over the entire qualifying lap. The Kawasaki team and Shinya found a good solution to this issue during the session to prolong the tyres’ competitiveness over the full lap by backing off in the early stages of the lap to conserve the performance for the crucial final sector and last corner. Phillip Island is a notoriously tricky and technical track, placing a particular stress on the left-hand side of the tyre and, although our qualifying performance was disappointing, we have demonstrated that our race tyres are strong, durable and competitive. Low grid positions will make for a tough race for Suzuki and Ducati but there is still cause for optimism ahead of tomorrow’s race with some strong free practice performances. With Shinya and Randy 2nd and 9th, Kawasaki’s excellent performance in spite of this afternoon’s difficulties will well place them to be strong challengers in the race. In the meantime, we will continue to look into today’s situation and work with our teams to make gains tomorrow afternoon.” Shinya Nakano Kawasaki Racing Team 2nd on Grid “We worked extremely hard here at Phillip Island during the winter test in February to provide both Kawasaki and Bridgestone with a lot of information and development data, and today was our payback. From this data, Kawasaki and Bridgestone have improved to the point where Randy and I were able to come here on Friday and be straight on the pace. I think this shows the commitment of everyone involved with the Kawasaki Racing Team. I’m happy with my consistency on race tyres, as this is important for tomorrow, but I’m also pleased to be starting from the front row. I think it is possible for us to finish at least in the top five.” Bridgestone Qualifying Results and Grid Formation Pos Rider Bike Best Lap Gap P2 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki 1m29.258s +0.238s P9 Randy de Puniet Kawasaki 1m30.037s +1.017s P12 Sete Gibernau Ducati 1m30.237s +1.217s P13 Loris Capirossi Ducati 1m30.393s +1.373s P15 John Hopkins Suzuki 1m31.143s +2.123s P16 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m31.288s +2.268s Weather: Dry – Air 17°C, Track 25°C, Humidity 25% More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: DUCATI MARLBORO MEN READY TO FIGHT BACK Ducati Marlboro Team riders Sete Gibernau and Loris Capirossi look towards tomorrow’s Australian GP with mixed feelings. The pair ran an impressive race pace at Phillip Island today but struggled to turn that into competitive qualifying laps, ending this afternoon’s qualifying session in 12th and 13th positions. Nevertheless both men are ready to fight back in tomorrow’s race at this high-speed venue. Gibernau and Capirossi were happy with their speed on race tyres, which they also used for their best qualifying laps because their qualifying tyres didn’t prove as well suited to the Desmosedici here as they were to the Kawasaki, which qualified second. Tomorrow’s race will thus be a real challenge for the Spaniard and the Italian who start from the fourth and fifth rows of the grid. SETE GIBERNAU, 12th fastest, 1m 30.237s “The qualifying tyres didn’t work the way we had expected them to work here so I had to do my fastest laps with race tyres. My 1m 30.2s best, that was with my race tyre. We’ve done some long race runs at a pretty good pace but we will be starting from way back on the grid, so it’s going to be a very hard race for us. The lap times are very close at this track so it’s not easy to get past here. Right now, we’ve just got to keep our heads down and know that it’s going to be an uphill race. We’ve been running the new-profile Bridgestone as well as the tyre we normally use but we’ve yet to confirm which we will use in the race. Morning warm-up will be decisive for us.” LORIS CAPIROSSI, 13th fastest, 1m 30.393s “I had a problem with my number one bike [a gearbox gremlin stretched the final drive chain], so I had to come in and wait while my second bike was prepared for a qualifying run. That lost me some time and I only did one lap with a qualifier which didn’t work the way we wanted it to work. It’s a pity because we are okay with our race set-up but we know that starting from the fifth row will make the race difficult. Anyway, I am positive because I know we have a chance to do well tomorrow. There are plenty of riders who were faster than me today but how long can they maintain that pace in the race?” Afternoon session temperatures: Ambient: 17 degrees. Track: 25 degrees More, from a press release issued by Camel Yamaha: CAMEL YAMAHA PAIR CHARGE UP THE TIME SHEETS IN QUALIFYING Valentino Rossi will start from the front row of the grid in third place with his Camel Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards just two spots behind him in fifth when the Australian Grand Prix gets underway tomorrow, thanks to a much improved performance on the second day of action at Phillip Island. After initially struggling to find an adequate set-up for their YZR-M1 machines in yesterday’s opening free practice sessions due to the cool spring temperatures, both riders worked effectively with their pit crews to find better grip for the rear tyre – improving their best lap times by almost two seconds and securing prime starting positions for tomorrow’s crucial round in the process. For Rossi the target is a sixth victory of the season as he looks to pull even closer to series leader Nicky Hayden (Honda). After an excellent run of recent form the Italian lies just 26 points short of the American and tomorrow promises to be another mouth-watering duel between the pair, with Hayden starting from pole position thanks to a record lap this afternoon. Edwards is also targeting his best finish of the season in front of a bumper Phillip Island crowd including many of his Australian family members and friends. VALENTINO ROSSI (3rd 1’29.271; 28 laps) “The team did a really good job today because we had some difficulties setting the bike up yesterday, but today it worked really well and I was able to qualify on the front row, which is very important at this circuit. Because of the temperatures here we are finding it hard to get heat into the rear tyre and we struggled a bit again today, which is why I had to leave it so late before trying for the fast time on the qualifying tyre. We still have some work to do in this aspect on the race setting but with the qualifying tyre the grip was there and I was able to go third fastest, even though I ran off the track on my out lap and then my bike did a small wheelie in the last corner on my flying lap. Anyway I am happy and want to say a big thank you to my team and to Michelin for the excellent progress we made today. I’m surprised that Capirossi and Gibernau are so far back because they have got a very strong race pace so I suppose me and Nicky will be pushing hard from the start to try and escape.” COLIN EDWARDS (5th 1’29.680; 29 laps) “I don’t think I’ve ever gone from one extreme to the other to this extent in my whole career! From being totally miserable yesterday I’m now really happy and content with our set-up and today’s work. It’s a good feeling! We’ve actually made a big move with the setting, back towards what we had at China and Le Mans and it seems to be working. The thing is we had a different chassis back then and we were suffering with chatter at the time so we never went back to that but the guys worked overtime and came up with a concoction that worked. I’ve really got to thank my team; we’ve changed almost everything possible since yesterday, from electronics to suspension and, bar the engine and the chassis, it’s hardly the same bike today. They’ve put in the hours and it’s clearly worked so I really am seriously grateful to them. I’m really happy with my race tyre and the set-up we used through the session and then the qualifier I used was like superglue! It’s no secret that we were struggling in the tyre area too yesterday so I want to say thanks to Michelin, they’ve pulled something out overnight and it’s looking good. I can’t wait for tomorrow; it feels good to be starting at the right end of the grid for my favourite race of the year! DAVIDE BRIVIO CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR “It’s been a very good day for us. Firstly we’re all really pleased to see Colin back near the top again and feeling so much better with the bike. Then with Valentino we achieved our main target of starting on the front row and this is very important for tomorrow’s race. I think it’s going to be a very interesting race tomorrow! The race pace of both Valentino and Colin is very good and I think it’s going to be a great fight, as it always is at Phillip Island, with a lot of overtaking. I hope that we will be in that fight with both our riders!” More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Honda: FORTUNA HONDA RIDERS IMPROVE PACE AND CONFIDENCE The Australian Grand Prix, which gets underway at 3 o’clock local time tomorrow, promises to be a demanding race for the Fortuna Honda riders. Marco Melandri and Toni Elias worked well on the set-up of their bikes today, improve their race setting and general feeling. Unfortunately the Gresini pair were unable to make the most of the qualifying tyre and tomorrow Marco will start from seventh place whilst Toni has to battle through from the fifth row. Nevertheless Marco Melandri remains confident about his chances for the race and sure that he can repeat his performance from last season, when he started from the third row but fought with the lead group and only just missed out on the podium. His Spanish team-mate Toni Elias is also confident of making a good start and making up plenty of positions to challenge for a good result. MARCO MELANDRI (7th, 1’29″949): “Today we worked a lot on the weight balance of the bike and the feeling on the front in particular has improved. We still need to work with the suspension to try and get a bit more confidence in the fast corners and get a bit more traction in the corners that are most important to a good lap time. I set a decent pace but unfortunately I lost a few vital tenths on a qualifying tyre and tomorrow I’ll be on the third row. We’ve still got a few modifications to try in the warm-up. I’m still confident I can fight for the podium because this is a track where you always fight to the end. Last year that was the case – I started from eighth and fought for the podium, finishing fourth.” TONI ELIAS (14th, 1’30″498): “The feeling with the bike setting has improved a lot and compared to yesterday we have taken a big step forward. I set quite a good pace but I wasn’t able to build on the good work we did on a race tyre by making the most of the qualifying rubber. Hopefully I can make a good start in the race as I did in Malaysia. I’m confident – I like the track a lot – but I hoped to be higher up on the grid”. More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Hayden back to best with pole in Australia GMC Australian Grand Prix – Saturday 16th September motogp As a number of riders chip away at his championship lead, Nicky Hayden this week emphasised his desire to “stop the bleeding” with a good result in Australia. The ‘Kentucky Kid’ came out fighting in today’s qualifying session at Phillip Island and took his first pole position of the season, and first since this race last season, giving him the early advantage for tomorrow’s GMC Australian Grand Prix. Hayden leads the MotoGP World Championship by 22 points from team-mate Dani Pedrosa, with reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi only a further four points behind and in form after a recent victory in Malaysia. Having finished outside the podium places in the last two races the Repsol Honda rider knew that a front-row start was crucial to his hopes of extending his lead further, and with a lap set just two minutes from the end of the session, Hayden put himself in the prime spot to achieve his third victory of the year. The fastest of a tightly-packed top three, Hayden clocked a best time of 1’29.020 to put him ahead of a storming Shinya Nakano on the Kawasaki and title rival Rossi. The Italian could perhaps have been even further up the timesheets if he hadn’t have gone off track moments before his hot lap, but added to the wheelie he pulled as he entered the home straight, the Yamaha rider was forced to settle for the outside of row one. Late bursts from Kenny Roberts Jr. and Colin Edwards made it three Americans in the top five, who head up row two ahead of one of the weekend’s most impressive performers, Carlos Checa on the Tech3 Yamaha. Marco Melandri, discreet during the practice sessions, took seventh in front of local rider Casey Stoner. The first eight were all within a second of each other as they looked for higher grid positions for tomorrow’s race. Randy de Puniet dropped down the standings after riding fastest in yesterday’s practice sessions, and will start from ninth ahead of Spanish rider Dani Pedrosa, who is still suffering from the knee injury he sustained in Malaysia. 250cc Jorge Lorenzo maintains his stronghold on the 250cc visit to Australian soil, as he looks to extend his lead in the World Championship over Andrea Dovizioso. The Spaniard took his ninth pole position of the season today ahead of Alex de Angelis, who recovered from a crash in the morning. Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli will start from an impressive third on the grid tomorrow on board his private Aprilia, with title-hopeful Dovizioso rounding out the front row. Marco Simoncelli, Hiroshi Aoyama, Hector Barber and Jakub Smrz complete row two. 125cc Mika Kallio continued his dominant practice form at Phillip Island to take his fourth pole position of 2006 today. Red Bull KTM’s Finnish rider was also involved in a crash on his final lap, when he collided with Fabrizio Lai, however both were fortunately unhurt. Alvaro Bautista, who only needs to finish ahead of Kallio this weekend to clinch his first 125cc world title, was unable to meet the 1’36.625 challenge laid down by his rival, and had to settle for second on tomorrow’s grid. Lukas Pesek and reigning champion Thomas Luthi complete the front row of the grid. Row two will be headed by Joan Olive, ahead of Mattia Pasini, Raffaele de Rosa and Hector Faubel, with Fabrizio Lai and Julian Simon completing the top ten. Tomorrow’s races will take place an hour later than usual, with MotoGP set to start at 3pm local time (5am GMT), 250cc at 1.15pm, and 125cc at 12.00pm. More, from a press release issued by Honda: HAYDEN STEALS POLE, ROBERTS HEADS SECOND ROW This crucial timed session of MotoGP qualifying provided all the action usually associated with this raw, coastal track. In sunny 17-degree temperature with the track at a manageable 25-degrees, this final hour got underway with Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki) heading the timesheets. But it ended with last year’s pole-setter Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) on top again here with another Kawasaki rider Shinya Nakano lining up next to him and with Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) completing the front row. Kenny Roberts (Roberts KR211V) just missed out on what would have been his fourth front row start of the season. At the halfway point of the session it was Ducati man Sete Gibernau who led the way with a lap of 1m 30.471 seconds. This was before de Puniet upped the pace with an early qualifying tyre fitted to record a 1m 30.581 second time. The front row grid order at this stage was de Puniet, Gibernau, Nakano. With twenty minutes to go Carlos Checa (Yamaha) rode into the reckoning and onto the provisional front row knocking Nakano back to fourth. Hayden and his team-mate Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC211V), still recovering from his Sepang injuries, were nowhere (10th and 15th) with twenty minutes to go. Events intensified as the clock ticked down, and with 18 minutes remaining Nakano made another bid for pole with a 1m 29.827s lap. Aussie hope Casey Stoner (LCR Honda RC211V) elevated himself to the front row too with a 1m 30.446s lap. Then with 11 minutes remaining Rossi, who had been sitting seventh slotted into fourth, while Hayden scorched to second fastest. Dani then made it to eighth quickest, but it was clear that the rookie sensation was still suffering from his cut right knee and broken left toe sustained in Malaysia. He would eventually qualify tenth for a fourth row start. With five minutes left on the clock, Checa grabbed second place from Nicky and it was left to the Kentucky Kid to respond. He did it the best way he could, shattering his own 2005 pole time of 1m 29.337s by 0.317 seconds with the fastest ever lap of this daunting 4.448km Phillip Island track at 1m 29.020s. Rossi was on the grass trying to respond to this time but he got in one final tour of the circuit before the clock ran down to steal second on the grid before Nakano again reclaimed that spot for himself with a 1m 29.258s time. The front row line-up is Hayden, Nakano, Rossi. Row two reads Roberts, Colin Edwards (Yamaha), Checa, and row three, Marco Melandri (Fortuna Honda RC211V), Stoner, de Puniet. Dani starts from tenth with Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda RC211V) alongside him as 11th fastest qualifier, while Toni Elias (Fortuna Honda RC211V) qualified 14th. This is Nicky’s first pole of 2006 and it couldn’t have come at a better time. He said, “It’s really nice to be on pole and to get a good lap in. That Michelin qualifier worked so good and my bike felt awesome for that one lap. On race pace I’m struggling a bit and I just cannot find any traction. We’ve changed everything on the bike to try and get some grip and not just spin the tyre. Nonetheless it feels good to get a good lap in we’ve still got some work to do if we want to do 27 of them tomorrow.” Dani, 10th fastest, said, “Today we worked on set-up and my feeling on the bike was not quite as good as I’d have liked. We are tenth on the grid and that is not fantastic but it’s much better than 15th, which is where I was for a lot of the weekend. I was able to ride quite hard on the qualifying tyre, but I’m losing a lot of time on every lap in the first sector so I will have to improve that for the race. Tomorrow is another day so I’m not sure of my potential yet. I don’t know yet if I’ll have painkillers I prefer not to but it may be necessary.” Kenny, heading row two in fourth, said, “I really didn’t think I had a lap in me like that, to get so close to the front row. We’ve been struggling for rear grip, and we made a few changes since this morning. On my second qualifier I thought I could follow Nicky (Hayden), but he wanted to follow me. I surprised myself. I had a really steady lap, pretty smooth. I think I could have gone quicker if I had somebody to gauge off. But it’s only qualifying, and anywhere in the top three rows for me would have been good. Fourth is a bonus.” “I set a decent pace,” said seventh fastest Marco. “But unfortunately I lost a few vital tenths on a qualifying tyre and tomorrow I’ll be on the third row. We’ve still got a few modifications to try in the warm-up and I’m still confident I can fight for the podium because this is a track where you always fight to the end. Last year that was the case I started from eighth and fought for the podium, finishing fourth.” Casey, eighth fastest, said, “I think it is going to be a close race up front. Hopefully I can get a good start, although there is not a big run to turn one. I like the Island track but there is not a lot of passing room, you have be aggressive on the first lap and then be patient as the race unfolds. I usually suck in qualifying so I’m pretty happy with today the set-up worked really well on both race and qualifying tyres.” Tamada in 11th, said, “Probably, the different track conditions today are the reason why this morning, I immediately suffered a grip problem in corners and a lack of traction. We tried different tyre solutions, and worked on rear suspension and electronics without solving the problem. This hampers me in the long high speed corners in the second and fourth track sectors.” Elias, 14th quickest, said, “The feeling with the bike setting has improved a lot and compared to yesterday we took a big step forward. I set quite a good pace but I wasn’t able to build on the good work we did on a race tyre by making the most of the qualifying rubber. Hopefully I can make a good start in the race as I did in Malaysia. I’m confident I like the track a lot but I hoped to be higher up on the grid.” In the 250cc class series leader Jorge Lorenzo (Aprilia) grabbed his eighth pole of the season here with a lap of 1m 32.717 seconds ahead of fellow Aprilia riders Alex de Angelis and Sylvain Guintoli. Andrea Dovizioso (Humangest Racing Honda RS250RW) secured his eighth front row start of the season as fourth fastest qualifier. The next Honda man on the grid is Yuki Takahashi (Humangest Racing Honda RS250RW) who qualified ninth for a third row start. The Japanese star is riding here for the first time and is 1.769 seconds away from the pole time. Shuhei Aoyama (Repsol Honda RS250RW) qualified 11th, but he is two seconds shy of the poleman’s pace. Ayoyma it a seagull during the final session but escaped with nothing more than a bruised arm. Martin Cardenas (Repsol Honda RS250RW), injured in a Sepang crash last weekend, sat out this final qualifying session and will not race on Sunday. Dovi said, “It hasn’t been easy finding the right balance on the bike, but in the afternoon we went in the right direction and this made me feel more confident. We made a clear improvement compared to yesterday but we have to complete the job during the warm-up; the important thing, though, is to have eventually found a good solution. The gap from Lorenzo is big, but it doesn’t worry me too much as it be smaller in race configuration.” “Things have definitely improved since yesterday,” said Takahashi. “We’ve found a good set-up and now I’m faster entering the curves. It’ll be a very difficult race because I can’t control the bike perfectly on the brakes. But I feel more confident on the bike and tomorrow we’re going to do few small adjustments during the warm-up to be more competitive still.” Mika Kallio (KTM) set the pace in the 125cc class to record a 1m 36.625 second lap for his ninth front row start of the season. This is also his third pole of the year. Runaway series leader Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia) qualified second fastest, with Lukas Pesek (Derbi) third and defending World Champion Thomas Luthi (Elit Grand Prix Honda RS125R) on the front row for the first time this season as fourth fastest man. Fabrizio Lai (Seedorf Racing Honda RS125R) qualified in ninth place with a 1m 37.415 second lap, while Gabor Talmacsi (Humangest Honda RS125R) qualified 11th, just under one second shy of the pole time. Luthi said, “I think I’ll run a good race here tomorrow, the basics are all in place. The bike is really good but we’ve not made many changes to it from Malaysia. In some races this year I have had a poor qualifying session and performed well I the race but today I’m on the front row so I should be in a good position for the race. If you ask me what’s different from last week I can’t tell you only that I’m on the front row and last week I was on the fourth row!” Talmacsi said, “We made small adjustments today but they didn’t turn out as effective as we thought. We still have to work on the set-up of the bike, especially with the front suspension as I struggle entering the curves and turn four is the most difficult for me. But we’re not far away and on the last lap I was sure I was doing well.” Honda GP rider quotes: Race Australian GP Phillip Island September 17, 2006. MotoGP: Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 1st.”It’s really nice to be on pole and to get a good lap in. That Michelin qualifier worked so good and my bike felt awesome for that one lap. I was able to open the throttle as hard as I liked and it was really fun though it doesn’t count for anything other than a really good grid position. I knew before the start of my lap that my timing wasn’t good and I wasn’t going to get use my last qualifier so I knew I had to get in a good lap. On race pace I’m struggling a bit and I just cannot find any traction. We’ve changed everything on the bike to try and get some grip and not just spin the tyre. Nonetheless it feels good to get a good lap in – we’ve still got some work to do if we want to do 27 of them tomorrow.” Kenny Roberts Jnr, KR Honda: 4th: “I really didn’t think I had a lap in me like that, to get so close to the front row. We’ve been struggling for rear grip, and we made a few changes since this morning. On my second qualifier I thought I could follow Nicky (Hayden) … but he wanted to follow me. I surprised myself. I had a really steady lap, pretty smooth. I think I could have gone quicker if I had somebody to gauge off. But it’s only qualifying, and anywhere in the top three rows for me would have been good. Fourth is a bonus. We tried a slightly steeper steering head this afternoon, and that seemed to pick us up some time and a better feeling. It’s similar to what Barcelona was, though you wouldn’t think of the two tracks together. We’ll try that in the second bike tomorrow, and a shock setting that we tried to begin with that seemed to give us a little bit better grip. Qualifying is kind of insignificant, because (Loris) Capirossi and Sete (Gibernau) are way down, but they’re ultra fast on race tyres. It’s going to be a weird race.” Kenny Roberts Senior team owner: “The secret is to follow Nicky, and not let Nicky follow us. It’s nice around here to get a bit of a tow, because it breaks the wind. I was quite impressed by Kenny’s lap, on his own. I’m still not super-confident in race trim, though this race-track should favour us a little more than the last one. We need to start doing better in the races before I’ll have much confidence.” Marco Melandri, Fortuna Honda: 7th.: “Today we worked a lot on the weight balance of the bike and the feeling on the front in particular has improved. We still need to work with the suspension to try and get a bit more confidence in the fast corners and get a bit more traction in the corners that are most important to a good lap time. I set a decent pace but unfortunately I lost a few vital tenths on a qualifying tyre and tomorrow I’ll be on the third row. We’ve still got a few modifications to try in the warm-up. I’m still confident I can fight for the podium because this is a track where you always fight to the end. Last year that was the case – I started from eighth and fought for the podium, finishing fourth.” Casey Stoner, LCR Honda: 8th: “I think it is going to be a bloody close race up front. Hopefully I can get a good start, although there is not a big run to turn one. I like the Island track but there is not a lot of passing room, you have be aggressive on the first lap and then be patient as the race unfolds. I usually suck in qualifying so I’m pretty happy with today — the set-up worked really well on both race and qualifying tyres. Michelin gave us some different tyres today and I did my fastest race lap on one those this morning, but some others did not work and confused us. Melandri held me up on one lap in qualifying but we got some good set-up information from that, so everything is looking OK for the race.” Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 10th: “Today we worked on set-up and my feeling on the bike was not quite as good as I’d have liked. We are tenth on the grid and that is not fantastic but it’s much better than 15th which is where I have been for a lot of the weekend. I was able to ride quite hard on the qualifying tyre, but I’m losing a lot of time on every lap in the first sector so I will have to improve that for the race. The bike set-up is not bad, although we still have to decide on the right Michelin race tyre. Tomorrow is another day so I’m not sure of my potential yet. I don’t know yet if I’ll have painkillers – I prefer not to but it may be necessary.” Makoto Tamada, Konica Minolta Honda: 11th: “Probably, the different track conditions today are the reason why this morning, I immediately suffered a grip problem in corners and a lack of traction. We tried different tyre solutions, and worked on rear suspension and electronics without solving the problem. This hampers me in the long high speed corners in the second and fourth track sectors.” Toni Elias, Fortuna Honda: 14th: “The feeling with the bike setting has improved a lot and compared to yesterday we have taken a big step forward. I set quite a good pace but I wasn’t able to build on the good work we did on a race tyre by making the most of the qualifying rubber. Hopefully I can make a good start in the race as I did in Malaysia. I’m confident – I like the track a lot – but I hoped to be higher up on the grid”. 250cc: Andrea Dovizioso, Humangest Honda: 4th.: “It hasn’t been easy to find the right balance of the bike, but in the afternoon we went on the right direction and this made me feel more confident in riding. We made a clear improvement compared to yesterday but we have to complete the job during the warm up; the important thing, though, is to have eventually found a good solution. The gap from Lorenzo is big, but it doesn’t worry me too much as it become smaller in the race configuration”. Yuki Takahashi, Humangest Honda: 9th.”Things have definitely improved since yesterday; we have found a good set-up of the bike and now I am able to be faster in the entrance of the curves. It will be a very difficult race because I can’t control perfectly the bike in the hard brakes. But, I feel more confident on the bike and tomorrow we are going to do few small adjustments during the warm up in order to be more competitive”. Shuhei Aoyama, Repsol Honda: 11th.”I had a big fright today. I was riding all the way down the main straight and just when I was going to enter the first corner a big bird crashed against my arm. I don’t know how fast I was riding at that moment, but it must have been very fast because it was at the end of the main straight. I felt a strong blow and it hurt a lot. I even thought that something was broken, but my hand seemed to be working well, so I decided to go into the garage because I had a lot of pain. I just took some minutes to rest; I needed to relax a bit from the fright and then went back on the track. Everything seems to be OK now, but I don’t know how it will look like tomorrow.” Arturo Tizon, Wurth Honda BQR: 16th. “This morning I had a crash when Baldolini crashed in front of me and I hit his bike, then somebody hit me. It was the first lap. so we didn’t get any work done on the bike. I feel good now but we didn’t find a good compromise on the chassis and suspension settings. The engine is so so but we will concentrate on the chassis. If we get a good balance and the suspension works well I know the engine will run a constant pace, maybe not the fastest but it will be good.” Fabrizio Perren, Stop and Go Racing: 17th. “This is my first time at Phillip Island and I’m OK out there. I set my times without taking risks. The team not to take risks after my stupid crash at Sepang last week, I damaged the bike a lot and we don’t have that many parts with us and we still have to go to Japan. The engine is perfect just look at the speed trap times. I am comfortable with the chassis and suspension but we have some small things to try in warm up. I know he tyres I will race with, Dunlop have been good to us and I know wehave to earn better tyres and I’m happy with that.” Aleix Espargaro, Wurth Honda BQR: 18th. “Before qualifying I had an injection for the pain in my injured hand and while riding I could manage to overcome thinking about pain. Because I crashed twice I unfortunately lost one and a half sessions on track and I lost a little confidence while on the bike, I don’t have a good feeling but that is only natural. I am very happy with the engine its much better than at the last few races. I’m not sure about the chassis because of the lost time an also I cannot brake as hard as I need to because of my injured hand. Tomorrow I have to ride a thinking race, be intelligent and take no risks. It will be a very difficult race for me.” Arnaud Vincent, Molenaar Honda: 20th. “In every practice I have had a problem with he engine, every time I change gear the engines feels as if it will stop. I don’t know if it’s the electronics maybe something to do with the quick shifter. The chassis, suspension and tyres are very good and if we can find the problem with the engine I will have a good race because I really like this track.” Martin Cardenas, Repsol Honda: Martin Cardenas will not race due to a recurrence of a problem with a collarbone injury. 125cc: Thomas Luthi, Elit Honda: 4th. “I think I will run a good race here tomorrow, the basics are all in place. The bike is really good but we have not made many changes to it from Malaysia In some races this year I have had a poor qualifying session and performed well I the race but today I’m on the front row so I should be in a good position for the race. If you ask me what is different from last week I cant tell you only that I’m on the front ow and last week on the fourth row! I am not perfect but comfortable but I like this track a lot and will have a good race. I was behind Bautista in qualifying but made a small mistake off the last corner and he got away from me a little and I could not stay with him.” Fabrizio Lai, Seedorf Racing World: 9th. “During my final lap I was involved in a crash with Kallio: he fell down in front of me and I almost collided whit him”¦ and I lost the lap. Luckily I didn’t crash out. I’m confident for tomorrow race: my Honda, with cool weather, has a good performance and I hope to make a good start and ride with the leaders till the end of the race. In these conditions I could make good race. For the next races we have to find a solution to cool the engine”¦ for now hurrah for the cool Australian spring”. Gabor Talmacsi, Humangest Honda: 11th. “We have made small adjustments today but they didn’t turn out so effective as we thought. We still have to work on the set-up of the bike as I am fast only in the streamline of other riders. Especially with the front suspension as I struggle in entering the curves and turn 4 is the most difficult for me. But we are not far and in the last lap I was sure I was doing well”. Bradley Smith, Repsol Honda: 17th. “The second day didn’t go as well as the first day. Not only because of the result but also because of the lap times and how I felt. The first session was pretty difficult and we had a lot to test. I never really got the lap times that I should have which meant we were quite far back. In the second session I wasn’t able to find my pace but as soon as we put on the new rear tyres I felt good and was setting some good times in traffic. I left it a bit late and I got to the last lap and tried that extra bit more. We got the fastest lap sector in T1 but as I came round the corner into Honda Hairpin I just tried to outbrake someone and went straight on so it’s a shame because I know that we could have been a lot further up. But the good thing is that we don’t have to change nothing with the bike tomorrow. Hopefully we can get a good start and keep with the people. The lap times are so close so I think it’s going to be groups so I’ll try to go with them and do my best. My arm is OK. When I’m riding it’s not a problem it’s rather afterwards. Maybe the vibrations but we’ve been icing it so it’s not really a problem.” Sandro Cortese, Elit Honda: 18th. “I am very happy with my position on the grid after I missed most of practice and qualifying yesterday because of my crash. But I feel fine today no after effects. At the beginning of qualifying I was behind Tom (Luthi) but he eased away from me and I eventually had to set my best lap alone so I am pleased with my time. The bike is very fast and I have good acceleration. The bike steers well and I’m happy with the suspension settings. I ill go into the race in really confident frame of mind.” Tito Rabat, Wurth Honda BQR: 20th. “The bike is very good, very fast and it accelerates off he corners. Chassis and suspension are almost perfect and I like this track. The only problem I have was with riders waiting around the track to catch the slipstream of fast riders. On two or three occasions one of these riders pulled out in front of me and I almost crashed. It is very dangerous. I couldn’t find a fast rider but I didn’t do that I just had to set my time alone.” Michele Conti, Seedorf Racing World:25th “Tomorrow I will start from a better position in comparison with the past races. I hope to make a good start and get the contact with a fast group. Today I’ve practiced many starts. My Honda has only some clutch problems tha tmy technicians are now solving. I like this track and the bike has good a performance in these weather conditions”¦ I’m confident for the first time this year!”. Joey Litjens, Molenaar Honda: 26th. “It was much too busy out there to find a clear track and run with another rider to go for a really fast lap. Pity because I really like this track and my bike is really good, fast and it accelerates good. The chassis set up is quite good and we just have little things to do to the suspension in the warm up. I feel really good here and I hope to have a good race.” Michele Pirro, Humangest Honda: 36th. “I am a bit disappointed. I struggled riding here and I don’t have the right feeling with the Honda machine. This is a great chance for me butI’m not able to take full advantage of it. I hope to find some better solution during tomorrow’s warm up, but it is going to be a tough race for me”.