FIM MotoGP World Championship Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monetrey, California July 22 Qualifying Results: 1. Chris Vermeulen (Suz GSV-R), 1:23.168, Bridgestone 2. Colin Edwards (Yam YZR-M1), 1:23.321, Michelin 3. Kenny Lee Roberts (Hon KR211V), 1:23.420, Michelin 4. Dani Pedrosa (Hon RC211V), 1:23.490, Michelin 5. John Hopkins (Suz GSV-R), 1:23.498, Bridgestone 6. Nicky Hayden (Hon RC211V), 1:23.536, Michelin 7. Casey Stoner (Hon RC211V), 1:23.651, Michelin 8. Shinya Nakano (Kaw ZX-RR), 1:23.656, Bridgestone 9. Marco Melandri (Hon RC211V), 1:23.750, Michelin 10. Valentino Rossi (Yam YZR-M1), 1:24.047, Michelin 11. Carlos Checa (Yam YZR-M1), 1:24.153, Dunlop 12. Toni Elias (Hon RC211V), 1:24.230, Michelin 13. Loris Capirossi (Duc GP06), 1:24.268, Bridgestone 14. Makoto Tamada (Hon RC211V), 1:24.578, Michelin 15. Randy De Puniet (Kaw ZX-RR), 1:24.592, Bridgestone 16. Sete Gibernau (Duc GP06), 1:24.634, Bridgestone 17. Alex Hofmann (Duc GP05), 1:25.420, Dunlop 18. James Ellison (Yam YZR-M1), 1:25.763, Dunlop 19. Jose Luis Cardoso (Duc GP05), 1:26.567, Dunlop More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Vermeulen puts Bridgestone-shod Suzuki on US Pole Laguna Seca, Monterey, USA Saturday 22 July 2006 Chris Vermeulen put his expertise around the Laguna Seca circuit to excellent use in qualifying today to take pole position for this weekend’s US Grand Prix on his Bridgestone-shod Suzuki. Vermeulen dominated the qualifying hour with his final three runs on qualifier Bridgestone tyres separated by just one-tenth-of-a-second. All three laps would have claimed the pole position time, re-emphasising the impressive performance of the young Australian, who twice won at Laguna Seca in Superbikes back in 2004. It was his second pole position of the 2006 season following success in the wet around Turkey and bettered his previous dry qualifying best from Donington when he started from second place on the grid. Vermeulen also becomes the first Bridgestone-shod rider to take the prestigious pole position for the second time this season, in turn bringing Bridgestone’s pole tally for 2006 to five. His team-mate John Hopkins also proved the Suzuki team to be a force this weekend by securing fifth place on the grid just three-tenths from Vermeulen’s supreme pace. Kawasaki’s Shinya Nakano worked hard with the Bridgestone engineers today to find the most suitable tyre specification for his bike. A strong eighth place in qualifying this afternoon puts him in better shape for tomorrow afternoon’s thirty-lap race. Randy de Puniet will start his first ever race around Laguna Seca from fifteenth place. The two Ducati riders Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau will start from 13th and 16th places respectively after a difficult weekend continues for the Italian squad. Bridgestone vows to continue its efforts into tomorrow morning’s twenty-minute warm-up session to ensure each of its three teams and six riders are in the best position possible to take points away from Monterey tomorrow afternoon with tyre consistency a focal point of race preparation. With today’s blazing track temperatures of almost 60 degrees C and beach-worthy heat of nearly 40 C set to persist for the remainder of the weekend, the newly resurfaced Laguna Seca circuit will undoubtedly have a say in the outcome of tomorrow afternoon’s GP. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki US GP Pole Sitter “It is a bit faster than a couple of years ago in Superbike that’s for sure; you know everything rushes up a bit quicker. I really enjoy this track and I had two wins here in 2004 on the Superbike. The Suzuki seems to be working really well and the Bridgestone tyres were working awesome. We have 32 laps tomorrow afternoon and it could still be anyone’s game.” Shinji Aoki – Bridgestone Motorsport – Assistant Manager Motorcycle Race Tire Development “Congratulations must go to Chris and the Suzuki team who have shown a stunning pace here at Laguna Seca. Chris is clearly revelling in his previous success here and truly dominated qualifying this afternoon. He set pole three times over towards the end of the session as each of his qualifying runs was consistently quicker than his nearest challengers. In terms of race pace, the Suzukis completed a long run test today which gave pleasing results. Results showed consistency in race trim and I believe both John and Chris are ready to race. We will however carry out diligent race preparations in warm-up tomorrow morning to be sure. We still have some important work to do with our other two teams Kawasaki and Ducati in order to assist them make their bike-rider-tyre package work more competitively. We also have to take into consideration the extremely hot weather that looks set to continue into tomorrow. Although the track is improving daily since its resurfacing, the hot temperatures will also have an important role to play both in terms of race distance and grip levels. So far so good but there is still a long way until the chequered flag and all to play for.” Bridgestone Qualifying Results Result Rider Motorcycle Best Lap Gap P1 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m23.168s POLE P5 John Hopkins Suzuki 1m23.498s +0.330s P8 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki 1m23.656s +0.488s P13 Loris Capirossi Ducati 1m24.268s +1.100s P15 Randy de Puniet Kawasaki 1m24.592s +1.424s P16 Sete Gibernau Ducati 1m24.634s +1.466s More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2006 22 JULY 2006 KAWASAKI FEEL THE HEAT AT LAGUNA SECA Kawasaki’s Shinya Nakano will start tomorrow’s US Grand Prix from the third row of the grid, after qualifying his Ninja ZX-RR in eighth place during a qualifying session held in almost tropical conditions at Laguna Seca this afternoon. A combination of the Californian sun and a cloudless sky meant that Nakano faced track temperatures as high as 65 degrees centigrade during this afternoon’s hour-long timed session; a full ten degrees hotter than experienced during testing in Malaysia or this year’s Grand Prix in Qatar. But while the high temperatures made qualifying a test of physical endurance for the riders it also played into Nakano’s hands, as none of the leading group were able to match their lap times on race tyres from this morning’s, cooler, free practice session. This allowed Nakano to close the gap on pole position man, Chris Vermeulen, to less than half-a-second, after changes to the chassis geometry, and a switch to a different profile rear tyre from Bridgestone, improved the overall handling of his Ninja ZX-RR. Despite this improvement, the 28-year-old Japanese rider knows that tomorrow’s race is likely to be an exercise in damage limitation, as he works to defend his eighth position in the current championship standings ahead of the three week summer break. For Randy de Puniet, similar changes to the chassis and suspension settings on his Ninja ZX-RR led to a significant improvement in his lap time during the first part of this afternoon’s timed session, but his unfamiliarity with the Laguna Seca circuit meant that the 25-year-old Frenchman was unable to qualify higher than 15th position, and will therefore start tomorrow’s 32-lap US Grand Prix from the fifth row of the grid. Making his debut at the Laguna Seca circuit this weekend, de Puniet has struggled to get to grips with the infamous Laguna Seca Corkscrew, and the downhill run to the final corner. The Kawasaki pilot intended to improve his line through this critical section by following more experienced riders during qualifying, but was unable to do so after finding himself alone on track for much of the hour-long session. De Puniet will use tomorrow’s 20-minute warm-up period to again focus on this section of the circuit, where he is hopeful of identifying a faster line ahead of tomorrow’s race, in which he has his sights set firmly on a top twelve finish. Shinya Nakano: 8th – 1’23.656 “This afternoon we switched to a different profile rear tyre from Bridgestone, and this definitely made an improvement in how the bike turns into the corners. This was a positive step, and the bike feels a lot better, but we still haven’t found the perfect set-up for this track yet. Also, I think we were helped by the fact that, while we made an improvement, the leading riders were a little bit slower on race tyres this afternoon than they were this morning, probably because of the increase in track temperature. To be honest, I was a little disappointed with qualifying. I expected more, and Chris Vermeulen has certainly shown that the qualifying tyres from Bridgestone were up to the job, so it’s a little disappointing to find myself only on the third row of the grid. For sure, tomorrow’s race will be hard, especially in this heat, but I will be pushing hard to finish as high as possible, in order to safeguard my championship position ahead of the summer break.” Randy de Puniet: 15th – 1’24.592 “It was a hard day today, mainly because of the weather, which was very hot. We found some solutions to our problems with the bike this afternoon, but while it’s a lot better than it was, it’s still far from perfect, and that hasn’t made my job any easier. Neither has the section of track between the Corkscrew and the finish line, where I’m losing a lot of time. I was hoping to follow one of the Americans through this section today, but every time I reached the Corkscrew I found myself on my own. I hope I will get the chance to follow someone through here tomorrow during warm-up, because I need some indication of where to find the fastest line if I am to improve upon my qualifying position in the race. If I can learn the secret to this part of the track, then I think it’s still possible to finish inside the top twelve tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: Saturday Jul 22 2006 Qualifying Practice – Laguna Seca DUCATI MEN STRUGGLE AT BURNING HOT LAGUNA Ducati Team riders Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau endured a difficult qualifying session at burning hot Laguna Seca today. The pair ended the outing 13th and 16th quickest, unable to get the best out of their Bridgestone tyres, although they expect slightly better in tomorrow’s race. Conditions were scorching, with ambient temperatures nudging 40 degrees C and track temperatures hitting 60 degrees C, a MotoGP record. Usually the hottest MotoGP tracks are Sepang in subtropical Malaysia and Losail on the Arabian peninsular, where track temperatures reach the low-to-mid 50s C. Capirossi and Gibernau have both struggled to find a set-up that would allow them to exploit the performance of their Bridgestone front slicks. Thus when they fitted rear qualifying tyres this afternoon they didn’t have enough front grip to improve their lap times for a better grid position. LORIS CAPIROSSI, 13th fastest, 1m 24.268s “This afternoon we made some big changes but they didn’t help, the tyres didn’t work and I lost some front feeling. I couldn’t get the bike turned but when I pushed harder the front would tuck. We did make a step forward this morning and had hoped to make another step this afternoon but it didn’t happen, so we will return to our earlier settings. It is a difficult situation – I was slower with qualifiers than with race tyres. I can only hope that we can find some more front feeling because in these conditions I will have to ride a defensive race. We are not here to make up the numbers, we want to win but at the moment we don’t have what’s required.” SETE GIBERNAU, 16th fastest, 1m 24.634s “We can only improve from here. I did the same times with race tyres as I did with qualifiers but we’re not happy with our race pace anyhow, even though it’s not as bad as the qualifying standings make it look. The problem is that we can’t solve our front-end problems. Also, I’m not great physically, so it’s going to be an uphill race and we will just have to take it step by step. But I believe 100 percent in the team and in Bridgestone. Congratulations to Chris (Vermeulen) and to Bridgestone for their pole position which proves that the tyres aren’t so bad.” Temperatures: Ambient: 38 degrees C. Track: 60 degrees C More, from a press release issued by Camel Yamaha: EDWARDS BOOKS FRONT-ROW START IN LAGUNA Camel Yamaha rider Colin Edwards will start his home Grand Prix from the front row of the grid tomorrow, just missing out on pole position in a thrilling climax to this afternoon’s qualifying practice. Held in sweltering conditions registering 38ºC, the decisive grid session saw Edwards put in his best lap in the final few seconds the Texan dipping underneath the benchmark set moments earlier by eventual pole-setter Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) in each of the first three sections before conceding decisive tenths in the final series of turns after the Corkscrew. With the Laguna Seca circuit clearly suffering from the extreme conditions and offering less grip than it had done in the cooler morning free practice, several riders struggled to improve their lap times in the afternoon – even on a qualifying tyre. Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi was one of the unlucky few, the Italian’s best effort briefly looking good enough for a spot on the second row of the grid before a late flurry saw him shuffled back two rows to tenth place the same position from which he launched a successful charge to victory in Germany seven days ago. COLIN EDWARDS (2nd; 1’23.321, 28 laps) “It was seriously hot out there! I’m really happy with my starting position, it means a lot to me to be able to start from the front for my home race. We might still try some changes in the morning warm-up, just to refine the setting a bit. Our race pace is great until the corkscrew, but after that things aren’t so good. The second half of the lap really doesn’t feel great, although maybe it’s not as bad as it feels. It’s just so bumpy and it’s hard to ride in a good rhythm. Anyway, we’re starting at the front and I’m going to give it all I’ve got. I’ve got a special livery tomorrow on my bike to celebrate being back here in America and as a bit of a thank you to Yamaha US for all the work they’ve done to help improve the safety of the track. It’s a stars and stripes theme so let’s hope it’s lucky for me!” VALENTINO ROSSI (10th; 1’24.047, 26 laps) “This year the practices have been so hard from me and every time we have to do a lot of work to get to a level so we can fight in the race. This morning we tried some new things and the bike was better, and faster, but I am quite worried because it’s so hard to overtake here, even harder than Sachsenring. There are only a few places – after turn one in the first braking, turn five, and the last corner. Maybe the corkscrew, but I think this is an American secret – Colin passed me here last year but it’s hard for me to understand how! Anyway from the telemetry I can see we’re faster through this section than last year so maybe it’s okay this time. I need to find the lines with the fewest bumps in order to understand where I can pass people. It’s very hard in this heat and 33 laps will be very difficult. I know Hayden is fast, of course I want to finish in front of him, but as long as I am close to him with not too many points between us, this is the most important thing. We have some new things to try in the morning and we have to hope that we can make a big improvement on Sunday to the setting, like in Sachsenring.” DAVIDE BRIVIO CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR “Colin did a great job today, we’re really happy for him. He’s got a great motivation, being here in front of his home fans, and this has given him the extra push to get on the front row. We still have some problems to solve, especially with Valentino. He now has to do another hard job, like last week and it’s going to be a very difficult race for him. Anyway, we still have the warm-up so let’s see what improvements we can make there. When Colin starts from the front he usually stays there, so let’s hope that he can do this tomorrow, and that Valentino can fight his way forward like he usually does.” More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Information: KENNY ON FRONT ROW, RAPID DANI FOURTH FASTEST With just the MotoGP class to be run here in the USA, it was Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) who secured pole from Colin Edwards (Yamaha) and third fastest qualifier Kenny Roberts (Roberts KR211V) in searing heat at this dusty yet undeniably spectacular California track. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC211V) put in a mature performance to qualify on the second row at his first ever visit to this tough-to-learn track. And conditions were as hard as at any other environment on the 17-race calendar too a 55-degree track temperature combined with a 40-degree ambient temperature. Punishing in the extreme. This one hour of timed qualifying saved just about everything for the last few minutes, with Pedrosa, Edwards and Roberts leaving it desperately late to plant themselves among the top grid positions. Vermeulen secured pole with a lap of 1m 23.168 seconds with 15 minutes to go and it was not bettered by anyone try as they did. Casey Stoner (LCR Honda RC211V) headed the timesheet in the early stages with a 1m 24.104s lap as most riders worked on achieving an optimum race rubber set-up while short-listing a selection of potential tyres for tomorrow’s race. This was a start-from-scratch exercise at a track that has been totally resurfaced for this weekend and although grip has not been lacking, bumps have been introduced by the work done in places where they have not previously been an issue. This was most notable on the exit of the notorious downhill Corkscrew turn. At the mid-way point of the session, the top 15 riders were covered by just one second. Proof, if any were needed, of the exalted level of competition in this premier series. But it would not stay quite like this for long. Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) elevated himself to third on the grid with 15 minutes to go and it looked as if there might be more to come from the winner of last year’s race. With ten minutes to go the Kentucky Kid made second place his temporary property with a 1m 23.558s time, but it would not prove fast enough to sustain a front row start for the American. With five minutes to go Dani hoisted himself to fifth on the grid while Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) languished in 13th place. Dani then looked like he had done enough for second place with just 13 seconds remaining with a 1m 23.490s lap, before Edwards posted a 1m 23.321s time to snatch second. Then it was Roberts’s turn to do his stuff and he stopped the clock at 1m 23.420s for third. Rossi could only make it eventually to tenth fastest for a fourth row start with a best of 1m 24.047s. Hayden will start from the second row, but his time is only four tenths of a second off Vermeulen’s pole. The top 11 riders are covered by less than a second. These include Stoner in seventh, Marco Melandri (Fortuna Honda RC211V), ninth on the grid, Toni Elias (Fortuna Honda RC211V), 12th on row four, and Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda RC211V), 14th fastest. Kenny said, “I feel a heck of a lot better on race tyres, because I know we’re all on the same stuff. It’s hard in the qualifying session to know who’s on what at what time and what fuel levels and stuff. As far as race set-up goes, we’ll be alright. And the most important thing is starting from the front row. On the qualifiers I struggled. I just struggled mentally. I was overriding it.” Dani said, “I think today went OK and my position is quite good, though the conditions were strange this afternoon. We couldn’t really work on choosing a race tyre as usual this afternoon because it was so slippery and there was something strange about the grip perhaps because it was so hot. The lap times were much slower. Even with the qualifying tyre I couldn’t improve on this morning’s time. However, I think the position is quite good, so let’s see if I can get a great start.” “I’d have liked to have been on the front row,” said Nicky. “But I just didn’t put one clean lap together and on my last lap I had to pass someone. The bottom line is that I’ve struggled a little bit all weekend and I’m not that comfortable in some parts of the track. I can get one of two quick laps here or there, it’s the consistency I missing at the moment. If we can make a few adjustments overnight we’ll come in here ready.” Stoner, seventh fastest, said, “Not much to say really. I put in some really good laps on race tyres. But when I put in the qualifying tyres everything changed and I’m not too happy running qualifiers. We tried a few combinations but I was not comfortable, like a lot of riders here. The engine is always good so I have no problems there. We just have to sort out the chassis to cope with the bumps round this place. But we have a pretty good idea of what we need to do.” Marco Melandri, ninth on the grid, said, “This morning we worked a lot on the suspension and it was quite good and I felt comfortable on the bike. But in the qualifying session I got something in my eyes that made them water and I had problems seeing where I was going. From that moment on everything seemed to go wrong and the settings we used did not feel good at all. We will go back to the set up we had this morning and I am confident that they will work in the race.” Toni Elias said, “The higher temperatures for qualifying this afternoon changed the condition of the asphalt a lot. I suffered from a lack of traction and was slightly slower on qualifying tyres than I was on race tyres this morning. The pain from my injured shoulder is quite bad and I will start the race with some medicine to dull the pain and see how it goes.” Makoto Tamada said, “Basically we are running the same set-up as we did at Donington and the Sachsenring with the 16.5 inch tyres. I did not get the best out of my qualifying tyres but we have a good race set up, I think I was about seventh on race set-up at one point. We’ve been working on the suspension to get the bike to work over the bumpy track and we have a few little things to do in the warm-up. I was very fast in the first two sections today and although my knee is still giving me a lot of pain I’ll be OK for the race.” Honda GP rider quotes: Final qualifying US GP Laguna Seca July 22, 2006. MotoGP: Kenny Roberts Jnr, KR Honda: 3rd. “I feel a heck of a lot better on race tires, because I know we’re all on the same stuff. It’s hard in the qualifying session to know who’s on what at what time and what fuel levels and stuff. As far as race set-up goes, we’ll be alright. And the most important thing is starting from the front row. On the qualifiers I struggled. I just struggled mentally. I was overriding it. I think we all struggled. I think maybe we didn’t have the right combination for qualifying tires. I said yesterday I’d be happy with the front row; I would have been happier with the front row if I would have been in the groove easier and crossed the line and gone, ‘OK, I made a tiny mistake here and there, not like out of control.’ Colin (Edwards) felt the same. Just the nature with today with the weather and the circuit.” Team owner Kenny Roberts: “I thought he’d get pole, but we have struggled with qualifiers all year. It’s nothing really new for us. You get a short window to try it. It’s just one of those things that we’ve got to keep working at. Race pace, we’re right there, better than everybody in our opinion. but when you start throwing qualifiers and bending it over to touch the ground and gassing it, we’re still not there yet. We’re still on the front row. But we were on the front row in Barcelona, so now we’re getting greedy. We want to be the first one on the front row. But it’s real important here right now. I think the passing’s going to be really pretty tough.” Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 4th. “I think today went ok and my position is quite good, though the conditions were strange this afternoon. We couldn’t really work on choosing a race tyre as usual this afternoon because it was so slippery and there was something strange about the grip – perhaps because it was so hot. The lap times were much slower. Even with the qualifying tyre I couldn’t improve on this morning’s time. However, I think the position is quite good, so let’s see if I can get a great start because until this afternoon everything was quite good. In free practice one, two and three everything was just about perfect.” Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 6th.”I’d have liked to have been on the front row for sure and my split times were quite good this afternoon. My ideal time had me in second place, but I just didn’t put one clean lap together and on my last lap I had to pass someone. The bottom line is that I’ve struggled a little bit all weekend and I’m not that comfortable in some parts of the track. I can get one of two quick laps here or there, it’s the consistency I missing at the moment. But tomorrow’s when it counts and I’m excited about the race. If we can make a few adjustments overnight we’ll come in here ready and I’ll be looking to get an awesome start and just give it all I’ve got. It’s going to be a tough one no doubt, but I feel like I’m a stronger rider than last year so I’m looking forward to it.” Casey Stoner, LCR Honda: 7th. “Not much to say really. I put in some really good laps on race tyres. But when I put in the qualifying tyres everything changed and I’m not to happy running qualifiers. We tried a few combinations but I was not comfortable them, like a lot of riders here. The engine is always good so I have no problems there. We just have to sort out the chassis to cope with the bumps round this place is but we have a pretty good idea of what we need to do. There is so much chatter round here that I have had to tape up my hands to try and stop them from blistering up!” Marco Melandri, Fortuna Honda: 9th.”This morning we worked a lot on the suspension set up of the bike and it was quite good and I felt comfortable on the bike. But in the qualifying session I got something in my eyes that made them water and I had problems seeing where I was going. From that moment on everything seemed to go wrong and the settings we used did not feel good at all. We will go back to the set up we had this morning and I am confident that they will work in the race.” Toni Elias, Fortuna Honda: 12th. “The higher temperatures for qualifying this afternoon changed the condition of the asphalt a lot. I suffered from a lack of traction and was slightly slower on qualifying tyres than I was on race tyres this morning. The pain from my injured shoulder is quite strong and I will start the race with some medicine to dull the pain and see how it goes.” Makoto Tamada, Konica Minolta Honda: 14th. “Basically we are running the same bike set up as we did at Donington Park and the Sachsenring with the 16.5 inch tyres. I did not get the best out of my qualifying tyres but we have a good race set up, I think I was about seventh on race set up at one point. We have a good have been working on is the suspension to get the bike to work over the bumpy track and we have a few little things to do in the warm. I was very fast in the first two sections today. My knee is still giving me a lot of pain but I will be OK for the race.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Vermeulen scorches to pole at Laguna Seca Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix – Saturday 22nd July 2006 The MotoGP paddock was the scene for a minor heatwave today, adding to the pressure cooker atmosphere of the World Championship title chase. To make matters worse for the riders battling for the title, taking pole position today was one of the riders who before this weekend wasn’t even being touted as a possible winner. Australian rookie Chris Vermeulen snatched his second pole of the season at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca under rather different conditions to that under which he took his first. Unlike the rain in Istanbul, today he braved scorching heat approaching 40ºC to put himself at the head of the grid for tomorrow’s Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix. The Rizla Suzuki rider has won here in the past in other series, and used that experience to clock a 1’23.168 lap for his first dry MotoGP pole, just ahead of home rider Colin Edwards. The Camel Yamaha man was himself hotly pursued by fellow American Kenny Roberts Jr, who had been fastest yesterday in both practice sessions. The second row will be headed by Laguna Seca newcomer Dani Pedrosa, who has got to grips with the track quickly and qualifies ahead of some of Laguna Seca’s more established racers. He lines up alongside U.S. representatives John Hopkins and Nicky Hayden. The latter was victorious last year and enters the race as World Championship leader, but will have a tough fight on his hands tomorrow as he looks to extend his advantage. Hayden had actually set the fastest lap of the weekend so far in the morning free practice session with a 1’22.843, two-tenths outside his own pole record from last year. Despite going off track at the notoriously testing Corkscrew section of the track, Casey Stoner was still within half a second of Vermeulen as he put himself at the head of row three in seventh, alongside Shinya Nakano and Marco Melandri. Valentino Rossi will start tenth, and is desperate for a win at title rival Hayden’s home track, with the chance to close the gap in his quest for a sixth consecutive MotoGP title. The rest of the pack will do well to remember that Rossi won last week’s race at Sachsenring from tenth spot on the grid. Tomorrow’s Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix promises to be yet another classic in a season of vintage MotoGP racing, with the red light set to go out at 2pm local time (GMT-7, CET-9) 1st: Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki): “I’m a bit faster than I was a few years ago here, I’ve already won here twice in 2004 in Superbikes and this year the Suzuki and Bridgestones seem to be good here. There’s a lot of laps in the race though, and there’s 14 or 15 riders who are all in with a shot tomorrow. I really enjoy this track and hope I can get a good result.” 2nd: Colin Edwards (Yamaha): “I’m looking forward to racing here, I think it’s pretty obvious that the bike is fast through the first three sections and then we just tail off. The team have been working so hard for this race, trying out all sorts of stuff.” 3rd: Kenny Roberts Jr. (KR211V): “I wanted a front row today, but I have to say that it’s a bit disappointing after pace having such a good advantage with the settings yesterday. We couldn’t translate that to today, and we struggled with the soft grip tyres. I ‘m sure that on race tyres we can do a good job.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Vermeulen flies to pole in Californian heat Chris Vermeulen powered his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R to pole-position for tomorrow’s Red Bull US Grand Prix at a scorching Laguna Seca today. Vermeulen (1’23.168) looked impressive throughout this afternoon’s qualifying. He went to the top of the leader board after only six minutes of the hour-long session, and although his time was bettered by other riders the rookie Australian went quickly back to the top and never gave up first place. This is Vermeulen’s second pole position of the season following his fantastic wet performance in Turkey. John Hopkins will start tomorrow’s 32-lap race just behind his team-mate from the second row of the grid. Hopkins (P5 1’23.498) looked likely to join Vermeulen on the front row and missed out on that by only a tenth of a second. Hopkins worked hard to find the best set-up for race-day and is confident that he has what is needed. Today’s qualifying was held in very hot conditions with air temperatures reaching 40°C and track temperatures an incredible 65°C. With similar conditions forecast for tomorrow’s race beginning at 14.00hrs local time (21.00hrs GMT), it is certain be a battle of attrition for riders, tyres and machines alike. Chris Vermeulen: “For a qualifying session it couldn’t have gone better. We’re in pole position! I did three fast laps at almost identical times and nobody else was close for a while. It got a bit nearer at the end and perhaps a bit too close for comfort. My whole team, Bridgestone, Ohlins and everybody else has been working really really hard. All credit to all my guys as I just had to ride the bike. The track conditions were difficult this afternoon because it was so hot and that made it slippery. The track was actually starting to tear up in places and you could see the bitumen coming away from the concrete underneath. Tomorrow will be hard with this heat over 32-laps, we have a good set-up and think we have the tyres for the job – we hope it is all going to work for us.” John Hopkins: “Basically we were just finding the best set-up that we could today. Everything has just got better and we have taken a big step forward today. We have qualified on the first two rows which is where you need to be here, I would have liked to have been on the front with Chris and congratulations to him for his pole. We will hope to get a good start and be right there because our race pace is looking good. We have a couple of things to try in warm-up and if they don’t work then we have a good set-up anyway. But whatever, come tomorrow afternoon we are going to be ready!” Paul Denning Team Manager: “This is Rizla Suzuki’s third pole of the year and Chris’ second. This was backed up by a huge effort by John to secure a second row start in the dying seconds. A lot has been said about Suzuki’s progress this year and the fact we are discussing our third pole justifies that. Chris was simply awesome this afternoon! There was clearly a lot less grip on the track with unbelievably high temperatures, but both on race tyres and qualifiers he simply squeezed more out of it than everybody else out there. Tom and Chris’ crew also did a fantastic job today and the work they put in helped Chris further. “As far as the race is concerned, in these temperatures the biggest concern for us will be the same for us as all riders and that will be maintaining grip and keeping a level of consistency to the end of the race. I think we have tried everything we can this weekend, so has Bridgestone, and we are pretty much where we’re at and looking forward to getting the best possible result, whatever that might be!” More, from a press release issued by Gresini Racing/Fortuna Honda; FORTUNA HONDA RIDERS READY FOR AMERICAN CHALLENGE FORTUNA HONDA riders Marco Melandri and Toni Elías completed their second day of practice for the USGP today in scorching conditions, the thermometers peaking at 37º C as the riders worked hard on the setting of their machines ahead of tomorrow’s race. Marco, who has lapped consistently throughout the weekend, focused mainly on the suspension of his Honda RC211V, trying out some different Michelin tyre compounds in the afternoon despite the soaring track temperatures of 47ºC, which evidently complicated the task. Despite that the Italian clocked a lap of 1’23.750, good enough for ninth place on the grid. His team-mate Toni Elias, meanwhile, continued with his own programme and despite improving his time from yesterday by 0.2 seconds he will start tomorrow from twelfth place. The Spanish youngster is still suffering from pain in his left shoulder and will need an injection before taking part in what promises to be one of the season’s toughest races MARCO MELANDRI (9th, 1’23″750, 27 laps): “I wasn’t expecting it to be so hot. The track conditions have changed a lot and if that continues tomorrow it will be a tough race. It’s been difficult to make a tyre choice we have focused on suspension and improved in the areas we wanted. During the afternoon session I had something stuck in my eye, so that made things even more difficult, but despite that I think we have found a good base to work from” TONI ELIAS (12th, 1’24″230, 25 laps): “It was a tough day because the heat changed the conditions of the track. My feeling with the bike is improving even though I still have a lot of pain in my left shoulder. It will be a tough race tomorrow and I have no choice but to take an injection.”