FIM MotoGP World Championship Mugello, Italy May 31, 2008 Qualifying Results: 1. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), Bridgestone, 1:48.130 2. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), Michelin, 1:48.297 3. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 1:48.313 4. Casey STONER (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:48.375 5. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:48.383 6. Nicky HAYDEN (Honda), Michelin, 1:48.666 7. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:48.905 8. James TOSELAND (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:49.025 9. Shinya NAKANO (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:49.095 10. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:49.145 11. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 1:49.220 12. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda), Michelin, 1:49.246 13. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda), Michelin, 1:49.565 14. John HOPKINS (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:49.601 15. Tadayuki OKADA (Honda), Michelin, 1:49.829 16. Toni ELIAS (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:49.851 17. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:50.275 18. Marco MELANDRI (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:50.465 19. Anthony WEST (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:50.889 More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Capirossi flies to front row start in Mugello Loris Capirossi secured his first front row start of the season as he powered his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R to third place on the grid for tomorrow’s Italian GP. Capirossi (1’48.313, 26 laps) showed his intentions from this morning’s free practice session onwards. He was third quickest in the hour long session – even though a large amount of time was lost to bad weather. The experienced Italian used all his home-track knowledge today to record some very fast and consistent race simulation laps and will be looking to translate that form – and his best starting position since 2006 – into his best result of the season so far tomorrow. Chris Vermeulen (P11, 1’49.220, 26 laps) was also very quick on his Bridgestone race tyres, with lap-times consistently in the top six during the first part of this afternoon’s practice session. Suzuki’s Australian star will start from the middle of the fourth row after his qualifying laps didn’t go quite as planned, he was unable to get a clean lap of the 5.2km Mugello circuit and will need to get a good start tomorrow to make sure he is challenging at the front. Today’s qualifying was held in sunny conditions the first session of the weekend that hasn’t been disrupted by wet weather with air temperatures reaching the mid-twenties and track surface temperature getting up to 39ºC. Pole position was taken by Capirossi’s compatriot Valentino Rossi on his factory Yamaha. Tomorrow’s race is round six of the MotoGP World Championship and the lights change to signal the start of the 23-lap event at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT), when both Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racers will be pushing to the limits for the best results possible. Loris Capirossi: “It is a really good day for me! We have worked really hard right from first thing this morning and the team made a very clever and good job because they changed a lot of settings today – the bike was much better! Also we got a good rhythm with the race tyre and that was important for us as we didn’t get a lot of time to get the set-up right Stuart and the guys have done a great job today! I was a bit lucky on qualifying because I followed Valentino and he made an amazing time and I risked a lot on that lap to keep with him. I am happy to be on the front row and tomorrow is the first time this year we have had a good opportunity to fight for the podium, but I won’t be going out for just that. I will be going for the win!” Chris Vermeulen: “Today was a lot better condition wise, but like everyone else we were a day behind. So with just today to get the set-up right we had a lot of work to do to get the bike to its best possible character and to choose the tyres for the race. With the track being hot today we went with quite hard Bridgestone race tyres and I felt my race-pace was quicker than last year and I was up with the front group without having to push too much. On the qualifiers it’s such a long lap and a difficult circuit that you really need to get a very clean lap for a good time, and unfortunately I didn’t make one or if it seemed like I was going to I got held up by slower riders. We’re only a couple of tenths-of-a-second off being a row further up, but our race pace is strong and a with a good start tomorrow I’m sure we are capable of running in the top-five!” Paul Denning Team Manager: “I am pleased for the whole team that we are back on the front row, and for it to happen for Loris at his home Grand Prix is even more satisfying, especially after all the hard work he has put in since he joined Suzuki. It is a great reward for everyone’s efforts! He has also done some great lap-times on the Bridgestone race tyres and his determination being as high as it is I can’t see the front group getting away from him tomorrow without a massive fight! We are looking forward to his best race so far on a Rizla Suzuki. “Chris’s story is a bit different and we really feel for him because he’s improved his qualifying technique a lot this season and he pushed to the maximum today, but just never managed to string the perfect lap together. His true potential was around sixth position rather than 11th, but the good news is that he has a very quick and consistent race pace and a set-up that he is really pleased with. If he can get a start similar to Le Mans I am sure he will be right up there with the quick boys!” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Rossi takes first Bridgestone pole of season, Capirossi claims front row Round 6: Italy Qualifying Autodromo Internazionale di Mugello, Saturday 31 May 2008 Fiat Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi has secured his and Bridgestone’s first pole position of the 2008 season after an action-packed qualifying session in Mugello this afternoon. Rossi’s time of 1m48.130s represents an eight-tenths-of-a-second improvement over the existing Mugello pole position record, set by Sete Gibernau on Bridgestone tyres back in 2006. It becomes the third consecutive pole position for a Bridgestone-shod rider at Mugello after Gibernau and Casey Stoner, who took pole in the rain-hit qualifying last year. Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi continues his excellent form around Mugello taking his first front row of the season after an excellent run to third place. Casey Stoner was unfortunate to miss out on a third consecutive front row slot of 2008, but he still lines up in a competitive fourth place, having qualified his Ducati just 0.062s from Capirossi’s time and 0.245s from pole. The Honda Gresini duo of Shinya Nakano and Alex de Angelis both took their first top ten grid positions of the season with ninth and tenth positions respectively. Bridgestone’s latest and updated specification qualifying tyres have shown good improvements with most teams. Evaluation of race tyres has continued to be hampered by the inclement weather. After Friday’s wash-out, this morning’s practice was also hit by a rain shower, preventing Bridgestone from concluding its intended slick race tyre preparations. Tyre Talk with Tohru Ubukata – Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development The first Bridgestone pole position of the season and three riders on the front two rows, are you pleased? “I am very pleased with the performance of our qualifying tyres this afternoon. It is a relief to score our first pole of the season after a great lap from Valentino. Loris and Casey were both also able to set competitive qualifying times, just two-tenths from pole, and helped to make it three Bridgestone riders in the top four on tomorrow’s grid. We brought updated construction qualifying tyres here this weekend and I am really satisfied with the results.” How has the rain affected Bridgestone’s race preparations? “The rain from yesterday left a lot of work to do today. In this morning’s free practice, we began our slick tyre comparison work but a rain shower restricted the number of laps that could be achieved and affected our programme yet again. We therefore had to carry over some work into this afternoon’s qualifying session. We focussed mainly on harder specification tyres with the warmer track conditions and the results were pleasing. We saw good grip levels and encouraging initial performance. Unfortunately the backlog of work, and the need to complete qualifying runs, meant that we had no time to assess the durability of the race tyres, so we do not have a clear idea of the performance over the full race distance tomorrow afternoon. Nevertheless, there were some really promising lap times in race trim from Valentino, Casey, Loris and also the Gresini riders which certainly gives us cause for optimism tomorrow.” Bridgestone-shod Riders’ Qualifying Session Results Pos. Rider Team Qualifying Time (pos) Gap to Pole Pole Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1m48.130s Pole Position P3 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m48.313s +0.183s P4 Casey Stoner Ducati Corse 1m48.375s +0.245s P9 Shinya Nakano San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m49.095s +0.965s P10 Alex de Angelis San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m49.145s +1.015s P11 Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m49.220s +1.090s P14 John Hopkins Kawasaki Racing Team 1m49.601s +1.471s P16 Toni Elias Alice Team 1m49.851s +1.721s P17 Sylvain Guintoli Alice Team 1m50.275s +2.145s P18 Marco Melandri Ducati Corse 1m50.465s +2.335s P19 Anthony West Kawasaki Racing Team 1m50.889s +2.759s Weather: Dry Air 21°C, Track 40°C (Bridgestone measurement) More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: ROSSI MAKES IT 50 WITH SENSATIONAL MUGELLO POLE Valentino Rossi brought out the best for his home fans once again in Mugello this afternoon, taking a stunning pole position to ensure he will start tomorrow’s quest for a ninth Mugello victory in the best possible way. The Italian’s 50th career pole has been a long time in coming, his last one having been at Catalunya last season, almost one year ago. It is also his first for Bridgestone and Yamaha’s sixth from seven races this season. Rossi greeted his fans in slightly unusual fashion today as he unveiled his traditional one-off Mugello helmet, which this year carries a picture of his face on top of it. Joking aside however this morning’s practice was another disjointed session with the track drying throughout after yet another rain shower and Rossi finishing sixth. After his crew made some slight, but important modifications to his M1 over lunch it was a different story this afternoon, as Rossi dominated a hot and sunny qualifying session. He was consistently fast on race tyres and then improved with the first three of his four Bridgestone qualifying tyres, bettering the existing pole position lap by more than 0.8 seconds with the third. Rossi’s team-mate Jorge Lorenzo struggled with the lack of dry track time after yesterday’s washout and was unable to find a perfect set-up for his M1, qualifying at the head of the second row in seventh. After two days of poor weather however the sun that finally came out this afternoon looks set to continue through tomorrow, when the 23-lap Italian Grand Prix gets underway at 1400 local time. Valentino Rossi Position: 1st Time: 1’48.130 Laps: 26 “This is a great, great qualifying because it’s been a long wait to be on pole position again, almost one year exactly! Now for sure we will try to win tomorrow. To be honest I was quite worried after practice this morning because we had a few problems with the set-up and I couldn’t find my rhythm, but I want to say thank you to all my team because they made a great job during lunch, we did some important modifications and then this afternoon I had the feeling and the speed that I wanted. We’re now fast on race tyres but we still need to make our final decision about which tyre to use and we will do this when we see the conditions tomorrow. It’s great to make my first pole with Bridgestone and I think 48.1 is a very fast time and it shows how good their qualifying tyres are now. It’s good as well to have two Italians on the front row and now I hope we have a lot of people here tomorrow and that we can make a big party once again! I have to be honest about my helmet, it was Aldo Drudi’s idea this time but I think it’s one of the best ever! It’s not a drawing, it’s a real picture of my face at the braking at the end of the straight here and I think it’s very funny!” David Brivio Team Manager “It’s been a bit of wait to return to the front of the grid but it’s nice to do it for the first time with Bridgestone here in Mugello, it’s extra special for everyone! Congratulations are also due to the Yamaha engineers because this is their sixth pole of the season so it’s clear that they have built a fantastic bike. With the reduced time we’ve had here in the dry our engineers have done a great job to find such a good set-up and to enable Valentino to have such a strong pace, both on race tyres and on qualifiers. We’re in the best position for the race; hopefully it will be dry and we can continue our successful weekend.” More, from another press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: LORENZO TO START HIS CENTENERY RACE FROM HEAD OF THIRD ROW Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo will become the youngest rider ever to pass the 100 Grand Prix milestone tomorrow when he starts the Italian Grand Prix from seventh on the grid. It is the 21-year-old’s lowest qualifying position so far since his MotoGP debut but, with four podiums already under his belt and an impressive passing record in the last two races especially, he will be looking forward to making his way through the field tomorrow to challenge at the front. The hoped-for dry session this morning did not materialise as more rain early on meant the track was still damp for first practice and Lorenzo struggled in the conditions, finishing 14th. This afternoon the sun finally came out and the Mallorcan and his crew worked hard to iron out the issues they were having with the M1, making some improvement but not enough to allow them to challenge for the top qualifying spots. They will now aim to make the most of tomorrow’s short warm-up session to finalise their choice of Michelin race tyre and make some last-minute adjustments to put them in better shape for the race. Lorenzo’s team-mate Valentino Rossi took an impressive 50th career pole and will be bidding for a seventh straight victory and a ninth in total at his home track when the race gets underway at 1400 local time tomorrow. Jorge Lorenzo Position: 7th Time: 1’48.905 Laps: 24 “Of course I’m not happy with seventh because I always want to be at the front, it’s my worst position so far with Yamaha in MotoGP and I’m especially disappointed because I really like this track and I love the Italian fans, but now we just have to look forward to a good race! I still lack some power in my ankles but honestly I can’t blame my injuries this time, today it was a case of lacking time to find the right dry set-up and of me not riding as well as I might have done. We need to work on the front especially because at the moment we are wheelying too much and we don’t have enough stability in the bumpy areas, but I have confidence in my team and in Yamaha and I know we will be able to improve for tomorrow. Anyway, we know our bike is working well here because Valentino is on pole! Tomorrow morning we will decide on the race tyre, together with Michelin, and then I will try to get a good start and pass as many people as possible.” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “Today was a bit more difficult than we’ve been used to and we have some small problems, specifically with wheelies making the bike a little bit difficult to control and also in the bumpy areas where we need to work on the suspension to make the bike more stable and less nervous. Now our engineers are studying the data and we will find a good solution for tomorrow. Jorge has shown in the last two races how well he can pass people so we’re still looking forward to a great race tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: The man with a perfect record of four-stroke MotoGP victories at Mugello, Valentino Rossi will make his attempt at a seventh consecutive home win in Sunday´s Gran Premio d´Italia Alice from pole position. The five-time MotoGP World Champion was in inspired form as he negotiated his favourite circuit on the calendar, smashing the existing Saturday record by eight tenths of a second with a 1´48.130 lap. For the rider who has seemingly done everything in the premier class, pole position signified a new milestone for the Fiat Yamaha rider. His first of the season and first with Bridgestone tyres, Rossi´s most recent top spot is also his fiftieth in the World Championship and keeps up Yamaha´s dominant pole record thus far in 2008. Rossi recorded his fastest lap with time to spare in the dry afternoon qualifying session, with no rider able to hang with the Italian favourite. Repsol Honda´s Dani Pedrosa came closest to dethroning the `King of Mugello´ with his final attempt, but fell just short with a time less than two-tenths of a second down on that of the current series leader. Loris Capirossi completes the front row for the Sunday showdown, his first time on the frontline since joining Rizla Suzuki. Capirossi is the only rider on the grid besides Rossi to have won at Mugello, and will be gunning for his countryman when the lights go out. 2007 MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner made it four different factories in the top four, heading the second row for home team Ducati Marlboro and lining up alongside Shanghai poleman Colin Edwards. Repsol Honda´s Nicky Hayden completes the second line of attack. The leader of the BMW M Award for combined qualifying results, Jorge Lorenzo nonetheless starts from his lowest grid position since moving up to MotoGP. In seventh place at the top of row three, the Spaniard will have to storm through the field to try and catch Fiat Yamaha teammate Rossi. Heading into the first corner, he may also bash fairings with Tech 3 Yamaha´s James Toseland and San Carlo Honda Gresini´s Shinya Nakano, who join him in the eighth and ninth grid placings, respectively. 250cc After claiming second place on two occasions thus far in 2008, Hector Barbera finally secured an elusive pole position for the 250cc Gran Premio d´Italia Alice. Team Toth Aprilia´s Spanish star recorded an amazing late lap of 1´52.675, to beat nearest rival Alvaro Bautista by nearly eight-tenths of a second. Barbera´s fourth pole of his 250cc tenure came during another dry session for the quarter litre class riders, benefitting from the immediate adaptability of his Aprilia machinery. Chasing his second victory in the class, he will undoubtedly face stiff competition from last year´s race winner Bautista. Local rider Marco Simoncelli once again had a positive qualifying run, seemingly inseparable from Bautista this season. The Metis Gilera rider is on the front row for the second consecutive race, the first line completed by World Championship leader Mika Kallio. Lukas Pesek, Manuel Poggiali, Alex Debon and Thomas Luthi make up the second row consisting of all-Italian manufacturers. Luthi and Poggiali both experienced crashes in the session, a fate that twice befell Polaris World´s Mattia Pasini at the beginning and end of the session. 125cc A final minute shootout for the 125cc pole position was won by Raffaele de Rosa, taking his first ever qualifying top spot at his home circuit. The Italian Onde 2000 KTM rider was involved in a sprint to the line with reigning World Champion Gabor Talmacsi, both riders on hot laps worthy of pole position but De Rosa´s 2´19.259 just shading it. Talmacsi was only 0.165 behind as he looked for his first pole position of the season, but had to settle for a fourth front row and a prime opportunity to take the holeshot in tomorrow´s race instead. The late surge relegated Ajo Motorsport´s World Championship leader Mike di Meglio to third place for the third time this season, the place on the front row showing the Frenchman´s dry riding prowess after two successful wet races in Shanghai and Le Mans. The lack of precipitation on the track also meant that all riders were starting afresh from their Friday runs, with provisional poleman Pol Espargaro demoted to fourth. Sergio Gadea heads the second line of attack, lining up alongside Sandro Cortese, Bradley Smith and title challenger Simone Corsi. In a familiar story for Smith this season, the Polaris World rider found the limits of his machine in the hardest possible way, crashing whilst chasing pole position. The highside left the Le Mans podium finisher with a fractured metatarsal and a wrist injury, although neither should affect his participation in Sunday´s race. More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: STONER TO START FROM FOURTH AT MUGELLO, MELANDRI 18TH Casey Stoner will start tomorrow’s race at Mugello from the second row of the grid after lapping fourth fastest in qualifying practice for the Italian Grand Prix. However, his team-mate Marco Melandri struggled to find a solution to his set-up problems and the Italian faces a tough home race from 18th on the grid. The riders enjoyed their first full hour of completely dry time this afternoon, adverse weather in the other three sessions turning set-up work and tyre choice into a dramatic race against the clock. Stoner found a comfortable setting just minutes before the moment came to fit a soft qualifying tyre and he is confident for tomorrow. Melandri will again experiment with weight distribution in tomorrow’s warm-up session as he aims to find better feeling with the rear. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 4th fastest: 1’48.357 “In the afternoon we tried some new settings at the start of the session but they really weren’t working so we decided to go back to what we’d found in the morning, when the bike felt smooth, and immediately the feeling with the chassis came back. We refined it a little more and just before we put the qualifying tyre in I felt really comfortable with the race set-up. I only got two laps in with that set-up on a race tyre but that was enough to make me feel confident about it and we know the tyre has longevity because it’s the same tyre a lot of other riders have been using and we already put race distance on the same compound and construction. We put the qualifying tyre in and I honestly think I could have put in a strong challenge for pole position but I got held up by some slower riders, even though they were also on qualifiers. I feel frustrated about that but the grid position is still good for the race and I’m determined to bring home a good result for everybody at Ducati in their home race.” MARCO MELANDRI (Ducati Marlboro Team) 18th fastest: 1’50.889 “We’ve had four really tough sessions here and we’ve completely changed the configuration of the bike in each of them without finding the correct solution. We got more and more confused and unfortunately the feeling with the bike just got worse. The feeling with the rear is vague and the tyre doesn’t reach optimum temperature. We’ll have to see tomorrow but we somehow need to get more weight on the rear so that I can get a feel for the tyre on the way into the corner, which is where I’m having most of my problems.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: REPSOL HONDA’S PEDROSA JUST 0.167s OFF POLE Italian Grand Prix, Mugello Qualifying, Saturday May 31 2008 Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa is going well at Mugello, the Spaniard was fastest in this morning’s free practice session and a close second in this afternoon’s qualifying outing, just 0.167 seconds off pole position. Team-mate Nicky Hayden also went well today with sixth best time in qualifying, only half a second off pole. And Italian GP wild card Tadayuki Okada, who is giving Honda’s pneumatic-valve-spring engine its MotoGP debut, qualified a respectable 15th for his first GP in almost eight years. After yesterday’s rain-lashed first day of practice there was further rainfall this morning, so qualifying was the first fully dry session of the weekend. Race tyre selection will thus be a more than usually complicated affair, with Repsol Honda engineers working closely with Michelin technicians to choose the best tyres for tomorrow’s race. Despite the lack of dry-track time the pace was red hot, with pole position eight tenths faster than the previous best Mugello pole, set by a 990cc MotoGP bike in 2006. Tomorrow’s race will be Okada’s second ‘sprint’ event (as opposed to endurance events) since he stopped full-time racing at the end of 2001. The former GP winner’s only other ‘sprint’ race since then was an All-Japan championship race at Tsukuba on May 11, in which he finished tenth. Dani Pedrosa, 2nd fastest, 1m 48.130s “Conditions weren’t so good this morning, the track was dirty after all the rain, so it wasn’t easy to work on set-up. This afternoon the track was completely dry and better, so we were more focused in our work. We still need to improve, so the warm-up session will be very important. We still haven’t decided which tyres to run, and this choice will crucial because the race is long and there are a lot corners that require an aggressive riding style, so we need to look for a good compromise. Starting from the front row is very important here, so I’m happy to be there. Tomorrow it will be a tough race with many competitive riders.” Nicky Hayden, 6th fastest, 1m 48.666s “We’ve basically only had one completely dry session all weekend so we’ve tried out a lot of tyres: rains, intermediates and qualifiers and just a couple of race tyres. So that’s certainly a big issue for tomorrow, we don’t know a lot about what race tyres to run, so we’ll definitely let Michelin help us a little there. We made a bit of progress this afternoon and ended up on the second row. I’m not going to fool myself though, it’s certainly going to be a hard one tomorrow, some guys going really quick. It’d be nice to improve in warm-up, we’ve got some work to do to try and get closer to the front. Then we’ll just try to get a start and go for it.” Tadayuki Okada, 15th fastest, 1m 49.829s “This morning we had an electrical problem which was caused by yesterday’s crash. We couldn’t fix it quickly, so this afternoon was my only chance to ride in the dry. We still have to work on set-up for this track. With more time to improve suspension set-up, traction and gearing I think we could improve top speed by at least 5km/h. Tyre choice is another big issue because I’ve only tested one race tyre, so it will be difficult to choose.” Kazuhiko Yamano – Team Manager “All our riders did a good job today, so my thanks to them and the team. We have had very little dry track time, so today it was very important to make our target the race, so it’s not so bad having Dani and Nicky on the first and second rows. The big question for tomorrow is the weather, we aren’t yet sure if it will be sunshine or rain, but either way we are in good shape. Tady made good progress today despite an electrical problem. This afternoon he went well, our data shows that the top-speed potential of the pneumatic-valve-spring engine is better than the valve-spring engine.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: TESTING TIMES FOR KAWASAKI IN MUGELLO QUALIFYING The Mugello circuit has proven to be a tough challenge during today’s qualifying for Kawasaki’s John Hopkins and Anthony West, who finished with 14th and 19th positions on the grid. Following yesterday’s rain hampered practice sessions, there was a break in the clouds and the weather had somewhat improved for today’s proceedings. Hopkins used the morning session to find a workable setting around the demanding 5.245km Tuscany circuit, finishing provisionally on the third row of the grid. However, the afternoon qualifying stint brought no joy for the 25-year-old Anglo-American, leaving him in a frustrating 14th place. Hopkins knows he has his work cut-out tomorrow, but remains determined to achieve a strong result aboard his Ninja ZX-RR. Despite slashing his lap time on each qualifying run, knocking nearly half a second off his best time in his last outing on super-soft qualifying rubber, West will start tomorrow’s race from 19th position. After making alterations to the set-up of his Kawasaki to reduce the rear-traction issues that has thwarted his progress in previous rounds, the 26-year-old found himself with a lack of feeling from the machine’s front end. West is extremely dissatisfied as yesterday’s outing on slick tyres looked promising for the Australian. Overnight he will work with his crew to find a solution to these issues, particularly for the off-camber, downhill sections of the circuit. Both Kawasaki riders will be aiming to further improve their set-up during morning warm-up ahead of tomorrow’s 23-lap race. John Hopkins #21: 14th 1’49.601 “Today has felt like an uphill struggle for us. We had a few problems transitioning to a dry set-up in this morning’s practice session, after the two wet sessions yesterday. But we persisted on refining the set-up, as well as working closely with Bridgestone to find a suitable tyre combination for the race. In qualifying it just didn’t come together for us, which has left us with a less than ideal grid position. It’s going to be incredibly important to get a good start in the race if I’m to claw back some points tomorrow.” Anthony West #13: 19th 1’50.889 “Yesterday felt good in the dry and to end up at the back of the grid after today’s qualifying is very frustrating. We have been trying many different ideas to improve the rear-traction of the machine, as I have been struggling to get out of the corners at previous rounds. This track is particularly tricky, especially the downhill, off-camber sections, but today we found ourselves with no front-end feeling and I just couldn’t push the bike into the turns. I did manage to improve my lap time on each qualifying run, and our race set-up isn’t so far off, I just hope we can gain a solid result tomorrow.” Naoya Kaneko Kawasaki Technical Manager “Today has been difficult for both riders. We have been working with Anthony to reduce the rear-traction issues he’s encountered, but this has now compromised the front-end feeling of the machine. He has been gaining confidence on the bike throughout the sessions, but it just isn’t enough at the moment to be further up the field. With John, today has been a challenge to find a good dry set-up and we need to work overnight to improve the situation for the race tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Rossi makes it 50 with sensational Mugello Pole Valentino Rossi brought out the best for his home fans once again in Mugello this afternoon, taking a stunning pole position to ensure he will start tomorrow’s quest for a ninth Mugello victory in the best possible way. The Italian’s 50th career pole has been a long time in coming, his last one having been at Catalunya last season, almost one year ago. It is also his first for Bridgestone and Yamaha’s fifth from six races this season. Rossi greeted his fans in slightly unusual fashion today as he unveiled his traditional one-off Mugello helmet, which this year carries a picture of his face on top of it. Joking aside however this morning’s practice was another disjointed session with the track drying throughout after yet another rain shower and Rossi finishing sixth. After his crew made some slight, but important modifications to his M1 over lunch it was a different story this afternoon, as Rossi dominated a hot and sunny qualifying session. He was consistently fast on race tyres and then improved with the first three of his four Bridgestone qualifying tyres, bettering the existing pole position lap by more than 0.8 seconds with the third. Rossi’s team-mate Jorge Lorenzo struggled with the lack of dry track time after yesterday’s washout and was unable to find a perfect set-up for his M1, qualifying at the head of the second row in seventh. After two days of poor weather however the sun that finally came out this afternoon looks set to continue through tomorrow, when the 23-lap Italian Grand Prix gets underway at 1400 local time. Valentino Rossi 1st 1’48.130; “This is a great, great qualifying because it’s been a long wait to be on pole position again, almost one year exactly! Now for sure we will try to win tomorrow. To be honest I was quite worried after practice this morning because we had a few problems with the set-up and I couldn’t find my rhythm, but I want to say thank you to all my team because they made a great job during lunch, we did some important modifications and then this afternoon I had the feeling and the speed that I wanted. We’re now fast on race tyres but we still need to make our final decision about which tyre to use and we will do this when we see the conditions tomorrow. It’s great to make my first pole with Bridgestone and I think 48.1 is a very fast time and it shows how good their qualifying tyres are now. It’s good as well to have two Italians on the front row and now I hope we have a lot of people here tomorrow and that we can make a big party once again! I have to be honest about my helmet, it was Aldo Drudi’s idea this time but I think it’s one of the best ever! It’s not a drawing, it’s a real picture of my face at the braking at the end of the straight here and I think it’s very funny!” Davide Brivio Team Manager; “It’s been a bit of wait to return to the front of the grid but it’s nice to do it for the first time with Bridgestone here in Mugello, it’s extra special for everyone! Congratulations are also due to the Yamaha engineers because this is their sixth pole of the season so it’s clear that they have built a fantastic bike. With the reduced time we’ve had here in the dry our engineers have done a great job to find such a good set-up and to enable Valentino to have such a strong pace, both on race tyres and on qualifiers. We’re in the best position for the race; hopefully it will be dry and we can continue our successful weekend.” Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo will become the youngest rider ever to pass the 100 Grand Prix milestone tomorrow when he starts the Italian Grand Prix from seventh on the grid. It is the 21-year-old’s lowest qualifying position so far since his MotoGP debut but, with four podiums already under his belt and an impressive passing record in the last two races especially, he will be looking forward to making his way through the field tomorrow to challenge at the front. The hoped-for dry session this morning did not materialise as more rain early on meant the track was still damp for first practice and Lorenzo struggled in the conditions, finishing 14th. This afternoon the sun finally came out and the Mallorcan and his crew worked hard to iron out the issues they were having with the M1, making some improvement but not enough to allow them to challenge for the top qualifying spots. They will now aim to make the most of tomorrow’s short warm-up session to finalise their choice of Michelin race tyre and make some last-minute adjustments to put them in better shape for the race. Jorge Lorenzo 7th 1’48.905; “Of course I’m not happy with seventh because I always want to be at the front, it’s my worst position so far with Yamaha in MotoGP and I’m especially disappointed because I really like this track and I love the Italian fans, but now we just have to look forward to a good race! I still lack some power in my ankles but honestly I can’t blame my injuries this time, today it was a case of lacking time to find the right dry set-up and of me not riding as well as I might have done. We need to work on the front especially because at the moment we are wheelying too much and we don’t have enough stability in the bumpy areas, but I have confidence in my team and in Yamaha and I know we will be able to improve for tomorrow. Anyway, we know our bike is working well here because Valentino is on pole! Tomorrow morning we will decide on the race tyre, together with Michelin, and then I will try to get a good start and pass as many people as possible.” Daniele Romagnoli Team manager; “Today was a bit more difficult than we’ve been used to and we have some small problems, specifically with wheelies making the bike a little bit difficult to control and also in the bumpy areas where we need to work on the suspension to make the bike more stable and less nervous. Now our engineers are studying the data and we will find a good solution for tomorrow. Jorge has shown in the last two races how well he can pass people so we’re still looking forward to a great race tomorrow.” Colin Edwards came within a whisker of handing the Tech 3 Yamaha team a fifth front row start in six races for tomorrow’s Italian MotoGP race in Mugello. Edwards ended today’s qualifying session in fifth place, but was only 0.070s off extending his remarkable front row starting record in 2008 with another impressive display on Michelin’s qualifying tyres. Edwards seemed certain to be on the front row when he claimed third with only five seconds left on the clock in what was the first full dry session of a weather-hit weekend. Loris Capirossi and Casey Stoner though denied Edwards after he’d posted a 1.48.383. Edwards, who had led the way earlier after using his first Michelin qualifying tyre, is confident he can challenge for a second successive podium in tomorrow’s race, despite minimal time to find a good dry set-up due to the inclement weather conditions that dominated free practice. James Toseland once again belied his lack of track experience to clock the eighth best time, just one place behind early title contender Jorge Lorenzo. Robbed of crucial dry track time to fine tune his YZR-M1 set-up, while also learning the challenging Mugello circuit, Toseland finished just 0.895s off pole position. Colin Edwards 5th 1’48.383; “Missing the front row like that is a bit of a shame but I’ve got to be happy. It would have been nice to get on the front row but I still feel like I can be up with the guys tomorrow. I put my first qualifier in early just in case it rained and I did a 48.7 and told my team ‘we can do a 47.’ You are talking about finding another seven tenths but I’d made a few little mistakes. I thought we could do it but just missed out at the end. Hats off to my team and Yamaha because I’m feeling good as far as race set-up goes and I think we have got the right tyre from Michelin. Tyres are going to be more critical than ever and I think we’ve got to be a bit cautious in the beginning. We’ll have to stay with the guys but I don’t think we can go too crazy with the tyres. We’ve got to do 23 laps and none of us have had chance to endurance test tyres so that just adds to the intrigue. Michelin have been doing a great job so I’m confident. I have never in my entire life been this happy at this track though. To have confidence is one thing, but then to come to a track that you have never done any good on and do well, that just amplifies the confidence feeling. You realise the tyres and the bike are working like a dream because every year I’ve been to this track I’ve had chatter, and now I don’t have chatter and the bike works unbelievably. Hopefully I can get away with the guys tomorrow because with that slipstream on the straight you can hang in there. I feel really happy with my gearing off the last corner and that is the most important corner on the whole track, because if you lose that slipstream its tough to get back in the group unless they start holding each other up.” James Toseland 8th 1’49.025; “To finish less than a second off pole when you consider all the time we have lost due to the weather is a great result for me.I’m relieved to be honest because when it started dry this morning, the dry set-up we had was quite a long way off. It was really hard to ride with that setting and we have changed the bike a lot and gone to a set-up close to what Colin is running. The bike feels a bit more stable now. I think for a tighter track the set-up I had wasn’t going to be too bad. But on a fast and flowing track like this it was a little bit nervous so we just changed the front a bit. Now we haven’t got a bad set-up, but I have only had 10 laps on a decent set-up. With the set-up and lack of knowledge of the track, to be a less than a second is not bad. Fair play to my team because we did a lot of work and fortunately for me the new set-up is a good direction to go in. This afternoon I only really had 30 minutes to work on the race set-up because you spend 30 minutes on the qualifiers. I made some mistakes because on all these new tracks, with the qualifiers you need to be so precise and I haven’t quite mastered exactly where you need to be on the track with them. I’m still not getting the best out of the qualifiers. It is such a long lap and I kept coming out of a couple of corners going slightly wide and then you can forget about the lap time because a small mistake costs you corner speed at the next turn. I just suffer a bit of a lack of track knowledge but the bike and the tyres are working great. I just need to get a good start because the slipstream here can really help you get a good result.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: PEDROSA POWERS TO YET ANOTHER FRONT ROW START Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) continued his impressive qualifying record so far in 2008 with his fourth front row start of the season here at Mugello. He’s just 0.167 seconds behind Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) who took pole with Loris Capirossi (Suzuki) completing the front row as third fastest qualifier. In dry conditions after yesterday’s deluge, riders headed out on track for this hour-long session of final qualifying and both Rossi and Dani immediately posted times at the top of the chart in the high 1m 50s range and then a 1m 50.003s lap from the Repsol Honda man. Riders had a lot of possible dry condition rubber otpions to get through after the rain yesterday. And finding a race tyre combination for tomorrow’s sixth round of the MotoGP series was where their initial efforts were directed. Just before the halfway point Capirossi showed his intent at his home Grand Prix by recording a 1m 49.476s lap to snatch provisional pole. But moments later Colin Edwards (Yamaha) shattered not only Capirossi’s time but the outright lap record set in 2006 on the 990cc machines with a 1m 48.785s lap. At this stage Dani lay fourth overall and Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) was lying fifth fastest. As the second half-hour began the order was Edwards, Rossi, Capirossi on the front row and Pedrosa, de Angelis and Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) on row two. Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V) held ninth at this point. As the sky clouded over some riders were minded to fit sticky qualifying rubber early on to try and secure an early fast lap time in case rain fell. The track stayed dry while James Toseland (Yamaha) elevated himself to a short-lived provisional second place. With 15 minutes remaining on the clock Dani hoisted himself to third before Rossi went pole with a 1m 48.130s lap, the canny Capirossi tucking in behind the Yamaha man to steal past the line with a time good enough for second on the grid. As the final seconds ticked down riders struggled to get out on track in time to get one final qualifying lap in and it was Dani who made the most of his final tour of Mugello’s 5.245kms with a 1m 48.297s lap good enough for second on the grid. Reigning World Champion Casey Stoner (Ducati) snatched fourth as the session ended. Nicky ended the day sixth, just over half a second off the pole time, while San Carlo Gresini riders De Angelis and Shinya Nakano (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) made good their promises of improved qualifying here in Tuscany with a ninth for Nakano and tenth for De Angelis, the pair’s best qualifying result so far this season. Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V) managed 12th for a fourth row start while Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Scot Honda RC212V) will get off the line tomorrow from 13th on row five. Tady Okada (Repsol Honda RC212V) riding the latest pneumatic-valved version of the 800cc machine qualified 15th for tomorrow’s 23-lap race. The weather forecast for which remains uncertain. Dani said: “Conditions weren’t so good this morning, the track was dirty after all the rain, so it wasn’t easy to work on set-up. This afternoon the track was completely dry and better, so we were more focused in our work. We still need to improve, so the warm-up session will be very important. We still haven’t decided which tyres to run, and this choice will crucial because the race is long and there are a lot corners that require an aggressive riding style, so we need to look for a good compromise. Starting from the front row is very important here, so I’m happy to be there.” Nicky, sixth fastest, said: “We’ve basically only had one completely dry session all weekend so we’ve tried out a lot of tyres: rains, intermediates and qualifiers and just a couple of race tyres. So that’s certainly a big issue for tomorrow, we don’t know a lot about what race tyres to run, so we’ll definitely let Michelin help us a little there. We made a bit of progress this afternoon and ended up on the second row. I’m not going to fool myself though, it’s certainly going to be a hard one tomorrow, some guys are going really quick. It’d be nice to improve in warm-up, we’ve got some work to do to try and get closer to the front.” Nakano, ninth on the grid, said: “I’m satisfied with the way it’s gone today not so much for the result itself but because of the progress it shows we are making on qualifying tyres. It was very important for us to improve in this area because we have suffered a lot during the opening few rounds. Today, though, I felt a notable improvement with rear grip and that’s positive also for the future. According to the weather forecast it’s going to be even hotter tomorrow so it will be important to judge the race conditions well.” His team-mate De Angelis, 10th fastest, said: “Today went really well tenth place is our best grid position since the start of the season although we know there is still plenty of work to do on the qualifying tyre. Aside from that I was really pleased with the 1m 50.6s lap I did on race tyres, completely on my own and without a slipstream. That bodes well for the race tomorrow.” De Puniet qualified 12th and said: “I knew it wouldn’t have been easy to find the right set-up in the dry with two practice sessions only. We tried different tyres and settings but I am not happy. I could’ve been faster in the last part of the qualifying session but Lorenzo came out in front of me and l lost my last fast lap. Anyway we must work on the set-up in tomorrow’s warm-up session to improve rear grip.” Dovi, 13th quickest qualifier, said: “Valentino has a pace for the race which I think nobody else can match. We are not perfectly set up for the race yet, and when I think of the two different configurations for both race and qualifying I can say that our pace for the race is going to be a little far from the leaders. We will work hard in the warm-up tomorrow, but I’m not so sure we can totally change our current situation. What I’m looking for in general is better stability from the bike and I will have to do the maximum tomorrow in front of my fans as many of them are here and I want to put on a good show for each and every one of them.” Okada, 15th on the grid, said: “This morning we had an electrical problem caused by yesterday’s crash. We couldn’t fix it quickly, so this afternoon was my only chance to ride in the dry. We still have to work on set-up for this track. With more time to improve suspension set-up, traction and gearing I think we could improve top speed by at least 5km/h. Tyre choice is another big issue because I’ve only tested one race tyre, so it will be difficult to choose.” 250cc Hector Barbera took the fourth pole of his 250cc career here with a last gasp 1m 52.675s lap to head Aprilia rival Alvaro Bautista by eight tenths of a second. Marco Simoncelli (Gilera) was third fastest man while series points leader Mika Kallio (KTM) completes the front row. Yuki Takahashi (JiR Scot Honda RS250RW) qualified 11th and said: “In the first part of practice I didn’t look for a fast lap but for the best chassis settings and after that we chose the tyres for the race and I feel good with my final choice of tyres. At the end of practice I came out for the fast final laps but I waited for some fast riders to follow their line, but I found myself in a group and it was difficult to go fast. We fought instead of making a fast lap a pity as could have made a good grid position. But if I analyse the lap time I hope tomorrow we can ride a beautiful race!” Ratthapark Wilairot (Stop And Go Racing RS250RW) qualified 17th and said: “I arrived here with a very painful back problem that restricted my movement and it affected me yesterday. But today I went out and I felt much better. The bike was very good in qualifying after I changed the front tyre for a slightly softer one. The bike now holds a line much better and gave me a lot more confidence in the front-end. I will definitely be able to run faster in the race than I did today, maybe by half a second.” 125cc The half-hour of final 125cc qualifying was the property of Italian rider Raffaele de Rosa (KTM) who sped to a lap of 1m 58.302s to take his first ever pole position. The Neapolitan man starts ahead of reigning World Champion Gabor Talmacsi who was second fastest, with series points leader Mike Di Meglio third quickest (both Aprilia) and Pol Espargaro (Derbi) completing the front row. Rookie Louis Rossi (FFM Racing Honda RS125R) qualified 37th for a tenth row start with a 2m 03.414s lap, while British rider Bradley Smith suffered a heavy high-side fall while two turns away from what looked like a pole position lap. Rossi said: “I had a good day’s riding in the rain yesterday, but today the conditions were different and although I felt at ease this morning on the drying track, that wasn’t the case this afternoon for the qualifying practice in the dry. We have problems finding the correct settings and I am not able to make up for it with my riding. Still, I don’t feel discouraged because at Le Mans we were badly placed on the grid but still had a good race.” Honda rider quotes qualifying GP Italy May 31, 2008. MotoGP: Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 2nd 1m 48.297s “Conditions weren’t so good this morning, the track was dirty after all the rain, so it wasn’t easy to work on set-up. This afternoon the track was completely dry and better, so we were more focused in our work. We still need to improve, so the warm-up session will be very important. We still haven’t decided which tyres to run, and this choice will crucial because the race is long and there are a lot corners that require an aggressive riding style, so we need to look for a good compromise. Starting from the front row is very important here, so I’m happy to be there. Tomorrow it will be a tough race with many competitive riders.” Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 6th 1m 48.905s. “We’ve basically only had one completely dry session all weekend so we’ve tried out a lot of tyres: rains, intermediates and qualifiers and just a couple of race tyres. So that’s certainly a big issue for tomorrow, we don’t know a lot about what race tyres to run, so we’ll definitely let Michelin help us a little there. We made a bit of progress this afternoon and ended up on the second row. I’m not going to fool myself though, it’s certainly going to be a hard one tomorrow, some guys going really quick. It’d be nice to improve in warm-up, we’ve got some work to do to try and get closer to the front. Then we’ll just try to get a start and go for it.” Shinya Nakano, San Carlo Gresini Honda: 9th 1m 49.095s. “I am satisfied with the way it’s gone today, not so much for the result itself but because of the progress it shows we are making on qualifying tyres. It was very important for us to improve in this area because we have suffered a lot during the opening few rounds. Today, though, I felt a notable improvement with rear grip and that’s positive also for the future. According to the weather forecast it’s going to be even hotter tomorrow so it will be important to judge the race conditions well. In any case I’m confident because other than the crash yesterday it’s been a positive weekend so far.” Alex De Angelis, San Carlo Gresini Honda: 10th 1m 49.145s. “Today went really well tenth place is our best grid position since the start of the season although we know there is still plenty of work to do on the qualifying tyre. Aside from that I was really pleased with the 1ap I did on race tyres, completely on my own and without a slipstream. That bodes well for the race tomorrow. In the warm-up we’ll try to refine a few small details and try out a couple of things we haven’t had chance to look at already because of the limited dry time during practice.” Randy De Puniet, LCR Honda: 12th – 1m 49.246s. “I knew that it would not have been easy to find the right set-up on dry with two practice sessions only and we still have to adjust some points especially in the rear of the bike. We tried different tyres and settings but I am not very happy. I could be faster in the last part of the qualifying session but Lorenzo came out in front of me and l lost my last fast lap. I could shave some tenths and start from the third row. Anyway we must work on the bike set-up in tomorrow’s warm up session to improve the rear grip”. Andrea Dovizioso, JiR Scot Honda: 13th 1m 565s. “What I know looking at the qualifying times is that Valentino has been incredible! He not only broke the lap record, but clearly has a pace for the race which I think nobody else can match. We are not perfectly set up for the race yet, and when I think of the two different configurations for both race and qualifying I can say that our pace for the race is going to be a little far from the leaders. For this we will need to find solutions in the technical meeting we will have later. We will work hard in the warm-up tomorrow, but I’m not so sure we can totally change our current situation. In qualifying, I’m still struggling to use at the maximum the front tyre, as I cannot maintain the same lines I do with a race tyre. I also have to change my braking and corner entry points and obviously I also have to alter my corner speed. What I’m looking for in general is better stability from the bike and I will have to do the maximum tomorrow in front of my fans as many of them are here and I want to put on a good show for each and every one of them.” Tadayuki Okada, 15th – 1m 49.829s. “This morning we had an electrical problem which was caused by yesterday’s crash. We couldn’t fix it quickly, so this afternoon was my only chance to ride in the dry. We still have to work on set-up for this track. With more time to improve suspension set-up, traction and gearing I think we could improve top speed by at least 5km/h. Tyre choice is another big issue because I’ve only tested one race tyre, so it will be difficult to choose.” 250cc: Yukio Takahashi, JiR Scot Honda: 11th 1m 54.546s. “I am happy today as I’m still ready for this race. I am fully motivated to get a good result for the team and myself. Despite starting from the third row of the grid, the bike has developed well this weekend and I have to make a good start so I don’t lose contact with the leading group of riders. The first part of practice I didn’t look for the fast lap but for the best setting of the chassis and after that we chose the tyres for the race and I feel good with my final choice of tyres. At the end of practice I came out for the fast final laps but I waited for some fast riders to follow their line and use their slipstream to get a fast lap, but I found myself in a group and it was difficult to go fast, instead we fought but didn’t make a fast lap and so I didn’t make such a good lap time. I’m sad as I was in the condition to make a good grid position but if I analyse the lap time I hope tomorrow we can make a beautiful race!” Ratthapark Wilairot, Thai Honda PTT SAG: 17th. 1m 55.549s. “I arrived here with a very painful back problem that restricted my movement a little and it affected me yesterday. But today the Clinica Mobile staff gave me a pain killer before I went out and I felt much better and could ride much easier than yesterday. The bike was very good in qualifying after I changed the front tyre for a slightly softer one. The bike holds the line much better and gave me a lot more confidence in the front end. I will definitely be able to run faster in the race than I did today, maybe by half-a-second.” 125cc: Louis Rossi, FFM Honda: 37th 2m 03.414s. “I had a good day¹s riding in the rain yesterday and we were happy. But today the conditions were different and although I felt at ease this morning on the drying track during the second session of free practice, that wasn¹t the case this afternoon for the qualifying practice on a dry track. We have problems finding the correct settings and I am not able to make up for it by my riding. The front of my Honda moves quite a bit and causes me problems and twice during the last session I missed bends and went straight off. Still, I don¹t feel discouraged because at Le Mans we were badly placed on the grid but nonetheless had a good race.”