FIM MotoGP World Championship Valencia, Spain November 5 Qualifying Results (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Casey STONER, Australia (HONDA), 1:31.861 2. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 1:32.875 3. Ben SPIES, USA (YAMAHA), 1:33.057 4. Randy DE PUNIET, France (DUCATI), 1:33.118 5. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:33.443 6. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:33.478 7. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (DUCATI), 1:33.656 8. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (HONDA), 1:33.824 9. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), 1:34.186 10. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (DUCATI), 1:34.265 11. Cal CRUTCHLOW, Great Britain (YAMAHA), 1:34.329 12. Loris CAPIROSSI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:34.671 13. Toni ELIAS, Spain (HONDA), 1:34.680 14. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (HONDA), 1:34.838 15. Katsuyuki NAKASUGA, Japan (YAMAHA), 1:35.999 16. Josh HAYES, USA (YAMAHA), 1:36.042 More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Crutchlow and Hayes ready for season finale Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider Cal Crutchlow will start his quest to win the coveted MotoGP Rookie of the Year title in tomorrow’s GP Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana from 11th position on the grid. The British rider set a best time of 1.34.329s in cool and windy conditions at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit this afternoon to finish less than 0.2s away from claiming a spot on the third row of the grid for tomorrow’s season ending 30-lap race. This afternoon’s qualifying session took place on a dry track, despite spots of rain falling intermittently during the session as threatening grey clouds hung over the 2.489 miles circuit. Crutchlow is looking forward to a strong battle with Karel Abraham in the final race of the 800cc era tomorrow as the fight to be crowned 2011 MotoGP Rookie of the Year goes down to the wire. The Czech Republic rider will start one place higher up on the grid but Crutchlow is confident he can end his first year with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team on a high note by claiming the Rookie of the Year prize for the second successive season for the French-based squad. Josh Hayes, who is replacing injured American Colin Edwards, got his first chance to experience the true potential of the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine today. Both practice sessions yesterday took place in wet conditions, but today the 36-year-old got his first taste of carbon brakes and Bridgestone’s slick tyres with the third practice and qualifying taking place on a dry track. Despite learning about the potential of the YZR-M1 machine while also continuing to gain knowledge of the Ricardo Tormo Circuit, which he only experienced for the first time yesterday, the double American Superbike Champion produced an exceptional display to post a best lap of 1.36.042 and he will start from 16th position. Cal Crutchlow 11th 1.34.329 25 laps: “Today wasn’t the easiest day and I’d have liked to have qualified inside the top 10. Finding a good set-up with the bike has been quite difficult and the weather conditions haven’t made it any easier with such little dry track time. The problems are similar to what I’ve been experiencing in the last few races. It is hard for me to stop and turn the bike but I’m still confident I can have a strong race tomorrow. We’ll analyse the data tonight and see what we can come up with to improve my feeling with the bike. I’m sure it will be a good battle with Karel tomorrow. We have been so close on the timesheets all weekend, so it could be an exciting battle for the Rookie of the Year award. I’d love to win it for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team after Ben Spies won it last year.” Josh Hayes 16th 1.36.256 25 laps: “Having got the chance to ride the Yamaha YZR-M1 machine in the dry, all I can say is it is an incredible machine. The power and acceleration compared to the superbike I race in America is incredible. The carbon brakes are impressive too and the chassis works much differently in these conditions than I expected. It is definitely not easy adapting to this bike and the big thing is that I just need more time to understand it. This afternoon’s session started off on rain tyres, but the track was completel y dry and three times during the session you would ride around and big rain spots would start to hit you. I am not sure how the Bridgestone tyres work with some moisture on the track. And I didn’t want to push too hard and crash because that would cost me precious time I need to understand the bike and learn the track. All in all I am happy with the job I’ve done for the Team but obviously as a racer you always want more and I’d like to be a bit closer to the regular guys. But I’ve had two wet sessions, one dry and one session where conditions were a bit dodgy, so the weather hasn’t helped my preparations much. I’m really looking forward to the race though and it will be great to be part of the last 800cc race.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Bautista on second row for final race of the year Álvaro Bautista produced another strong performance in the tricky conditions of today’s qualifying to take fifth place on the grid for tomorrow’s race. Bautista had to contend with the varying conditions during this afternoon’s hour-long session, which included strong winds, cold temperatures, intermittent rain and broken sunshine He coped well and was one of the busiest riders out on track as he completed 30 laps of the 4,005m Valencian circuit. Bautista improved his times, even as track conditions worsened and finished the session in the middle of the second row to give himself every chance in Sunday’s race, regardless of what the weather might be. The ever-changing conditions made it very difficult for all riders in today’s qualifying, but Casey Stoner again provided a scintillating performance to take his 12th pole position of the season. Tomorrow’s race will see the 2011 season draw to a close with what promises to be an exciting 30-lap race, because with rain forecast at some point during the afternoon it could prove to be a very close and open event. Álvaro Bautista: “Today has again been a good day for us, despite the very difficult conditions. This morning I felt good in the dry session, because today in the cold conditions we had a good feedback from the bike. In qualifying it was very tough, because we had rain before the session and the track was a bit wet in some parts. I pushed hard from the beginning, but it was raining in some parts of the track and it made it even harder because when you see drops of rain on the visor it’s always against logical thinking to push even more. At the end I did some good laps and got a good rhythm despite the strange weather and made my way to fifth on the grid. I’m quite happy with that because this track is not one of the best for Suzuki and we are all looking forward to tomorrow no matter what the conditions are. Yesterday in the wet we did very well and we have a good setting and if it is dry I think we can stay in the battle for the podium positions. We will have to wait and see what tomorrow brings, but we will push to the maximum in any condition because I want to finish the season with a good result and I think it is possible to get it.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “The conditions for this afternoon’s qualifying were really horrible for all the riders. There were strong winds with very low grip and persistent light rain – it certainly meant that all the riders earned their money today! As we have said previously, these sort of conditions have been the worst possible for the GSV-R, but whilst the gap to Casey on pole is very big our level against the other guys looks very good. Congratulations to Álvaro on a great effort to qualify fifth, he’s been very focused all weekend and irrespective of the conditions, we aim to finish the season on a high tomorrow!” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha MotoGP Team: Yamaha Factory rider Ben Spies made it count this afternoon in difficult weather conditions to take third on the grid for tomorrow’s Grand Prix of Valencia. The Texan completed his fastest lap on a used set of tyres having patiently circled waiting for a gap in the changing weather to put in a qualifying time. Katsuyuki Nakasuga faced yet another treacherous day of unpredictable weather as he learnt his way around the twisty Valencia circuit. A fresh rear tyre towards the end of the qualifying session saw him exit the pits in confident mood to set a qualifying time however the drops of rain on the track meant he was unable to improve on 15th position. Ben Spies Position : 3rd Time: 1’33.057 Laps: 22 “Qualifying was really hectic today for all the riders. There was a sprinkling of rain all the way through which makes you very nervous about how much to push. I have to say thank you Yamaha for a great bike. It’s working great here so we just need to pray for some dry time for the race. We’re going to get some rest tonight and try to make sure we end the season on a high tomorrow.” Katsuyuki Nakasuga Position : 15th Time: 1’35.999 Laps: 25 “Today was quite difficult with the different weather conditions. I did feel that I understood the track a little bit better. This afternoon in qualifying we changed to a new tyre and I felt good with it but unfortunately was not able to make a better time as I was unsure how much to push with some rain falling. Tomorrow I will do my best for Yamaha; the experience will also help me in the future as a test rider!” Wilco Zeelenberg Team Manager “It’s been a very challenging weekend for Nakasuga-san to learn a complicated track in difficult weather conditions. Yesterday was pretty wet and this afternoon in qualifying there were spots of rain throughout. There’s been no clear run in one weather condition for him which has added to the complexity of the task. Under the circumstances we’re happy with his progress. It’s going to be a tough race tomorrow but we are all behind him.” Massimo Meregalli Team Director “I think Ben really proved what he could do this afternoon, he didn’t surprise me, I was confident for him. I was a little worried about the weather but he did a great job despite the tricky conditions. To start from the front row considering all the problems we’ve had recently shows he is a tough rider. Unfortunately Nakasuga-san didn’t find the best conditions to learn a new track, Valencia looks simple but it isn’t. He knows what he has to do so I’m sure he’ll deliver the best result possible tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Stoner rounds out season with 12th pole as rain holds off Round 18: Valencia GP Qualifying Valencia, Saturday 5 November 2011 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium. Rear (asymmetric): Medium, Hard Casey Stoner took the final pole position of the 2011 season today in Valencia, marking his record-equalling 12th start from the top spot in what has been a dominant Championship year for the Australian and the Repsol Honda Team. After yesterday’s two wet sessions, both this morning’s free practice session and hour-long qualifying session this afternoon were dry, although a rain shower at midday threatened this. The tarmac was still greasy by the start of qualifying and many riders made a tentative out-lap on wet tyres, but soon returned to their garages for their dry bikes and slicks. By the end, it was the harder front and softer rear slicks that were favoured, as we have come to expect from qualifying runs. As the session progressed, the track conditions improved slightly although as spots of rain started to fall with 20minutes remaining, it was very difficult to judge the level of grip available. Nevertheless, using a new soft rear tyre right at the end of the session, Stoner beat the existing lap record by a comfortable margin of 0.7seconds. Dani Pedrosa will start his home Grand Prix from second on the grid whilst Ben Spies jumped to third on the grid with his final lap of the session, 0.06seconds ahead of Randy de Puniet who held a provisional front row position for much of the session on his satellite Pramac Ducati machine. Tohru Ubukata General Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department “Today was dry but the track surface was still quite dirty and slippery and it was very tricky for the riders to judge just how much grip was available, especially with the spots of rain affecting sections of the track differently. In the conditions, Casey’s pole lap was very impressive indeed. With the wet sessions yesterday, we have now had running in just about all conditions from wet to dry and everything in-between this weekend which could prove important tomorrow when the weather is forecast to be more changeable. We haven’t had a flag-to-flag race this year, one which starts wet and becomes dry or vice versa, and in such a case a base setup for both the wet and the dry will be very beneficial.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing: DE PUNIET MISSED THE FIRST ROW. FOURTH ROW FOR CAPIREX The starting grid for the Valencia Grand Prix was finalized during this afternoon’s qualifying session. Randy De Puniet’s Ducati finished with the fourth-best time. The French Pramac Racing Team rider stopped the clock with a time of 1:33.118, just a few thousandths from the third position of Ben Spies. Loris Capirossi registered the twelfth-best time (1:34.671) and tomorrow, on the occasion of his last MotoGP race, he will ride with special leathers. Marco Rigamonti – Randy De Puniet Track Engineer “We are very proud about our work. We were fast all weekend, both in the dry and in the wet. For the moment, everything went perfectly, both with the bike and the tires. The race pace is very good, and Randy will have to focus on the start. It’s a shame, we could qualified on the first row, but the important thing is that we were very close. Randy crashed on the last lap because he wanted to take the first row, but that’s okay.” Randy De Puniet Pramac Racing Team Rider 4th best time in 1:33.118 I’m happy to end the season, at times unfortunate, so well. In these days my team worked so well. I found an excellent feeling with the bike and tires. I feel confident in both the wet and the dry. It’s been an up-and-down season, and I want to finish it as well as possible, as a way to thank the team. Loris Capirossi – Pramac Racing Team Rider 12th best time in 1:34.671 “To think that this was my last qualifying session makes me a little sad, but I’m happy with the choice I made. I expected my last round to be different, happier. Instead, I’m very sad, and I have a big empty spot for Marco, who has left us. I’m sorry I wasn’t so fast, but I want to honor him as well as I can tomorrow. It will be my last race, and I still can’t believe it.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: Stoner clinches 12th and final pole of the 2011 season for Repsol Honda Casey Stoner took his 12th pole of the season in the final race of the 2011 World Championship in Valencia, with Dani Pedrosa in second place and Andrea Dovizioso, eighth. This is Casey’s fourth consecutive pole position at the Ricardo Tormo circuit and with it he equals Mick Doohan’s record of 12 pole positions in a single season. With light rain appearing throughout the session, it was difficult for the riders to determine how wet and slippery the circuit was. Casey went to the top of the timing sheets early on in the session with team mate Dani Pedrosa just behind him in second. After the brief rain showers disappeared, lap times once again started to improve and with under ten minutes of the session remaining, Casey on a fresh rear soft tyre recorded his fastest lap of 1’31.861 which remained unbeaten for the remainder of the session with Dani Pedrosa closely behind in second position with a 1’32.875 lap. Unfortunately, on his final lap of the session, Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso suffered an accident in turn four and finished in 8th position. He visited the circuit medical centre and was released without any serious injury, just a dislocated and heavily bruised left thumb. CASEY STONER 1st 1’31.861 “Of course I’m really happy with pole position today, I’m still hungry to win and get pole positions, after all this is why I line up to go racing, winning the Championship is the bonus at the end of the season, but I still try my best in every session and every race. I took some less risks yesterday in the wet as I didn’t feel we were making any progress in the conditions. Today was also difficult, there was a little rain in all the sessions, this morning there were some wet patches on the track and it was hard to know where to push, then the same this afternoon with some rain on the track, you’re never 100% sure how far you can push. We felt comfortable though and the feeling in the bike was pretty good, with a similar set up to the test we had here last year and we put in a good lap. Now we’ll have to see what the weather does tomorrow and take it from there, but we remain confident”. DANI PEDROSA 2nd 1’32.875 “It was tricky out there because we had a little rain by the middle of the session, we were lucky because the track stayed dry and we were able to do one more practice on slick tyres. Casey was very fast and consistent. I’m happy with second position on the grid, it’s a good place to start, but I’m not totally satisfied with the set up of the bike yet, we need to improve the front tonight with the mechanics. I want to have a good race tomorrow, it’s the last one and in front on my fans, so I’ll do my best to finish the season in the best way”. ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 8th 1’33.824 “It was a strange session, complicated by the wind and the difficult track conditions. Towards the end of the session the conditions improved and I was 4th and not pushing because I didn’t want to take too many risks, but then when the other riders began to improve their lap times I saw that I needed to push. Unfortunately at turn four I lost the front and crashed. It was my mistake as the tyre was cold and turn four is the first right turn. Thankfully I haven’t broken anything, I dislocated my thumb and have heavy bruising, it is quite painful but I will have some treatment to reduce the pain. I didn’t have the perfect qualifying for the race. We are fighting for third position in the championship and starting from the third row is not ideal, but I will rest tonight and tomorrow start over and super determined. The weather is uncertain but we will be prepared for every condition” More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: Valencia, 05 November: last 2011 qualifying session was held today at Ricardo Tormo circuit under cloudy skies and, on a damp surface, the premier class World Champion Casey Stoner put his RCV on pole again with a best lap time of 1’31.861. LCR Honda racer Toni Elias found the 60-minute qualifying session a bit stressful as the track was not fully wet but the Spaniard improved a lot his RCV package ahead tomorrow’s 30-lap ultimate race. At 10.10am local Toni and his colleagues from all three categories of the World Championship will depart from Pit Lane as a group, and will complete a lap of the track in honour of Marco Simoncelli. Elias 13th (1’34.680): “This morning was tough but we have improved a lot in the afternoon session. These mixed conditions with damp surface are not my favourite but this morning we made some adjustments on the weight balance and I felt more confident. So I kept on working on that bike even in the afternoon. The riders up in the front are too fast but I think I can take another good start and make my race in the top ten. This is going to be my last race aboard this bike with this Team so I want to make the most of this Sunday”. More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: SECOND AND THIRD ROWS FOR ROSSI AND HAYDEN AT VALENCIA The MotoGP riders didn’t have to face truly wet conditions during qualifying for the Valencia Grand Prix, as they did in both of the previous day’s sessions, but the track was nonetheless cold and slippery, and very difficult to master. Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden posted the sixth- and seventh-best times, respectively, and they’ll start tomorrow’s race from the second and third rows of the grid. Weather forecasts for the race are still uncertain, but both riders were fast in the wet on the first day, and they also have decent setups for the dry. Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 6th (1:33.478) “Today was decent. This afternoon’s session was complicated because the conditions were mixed, making grip tricky, but in the end, I was able to do some good laps and improve my time, which isn’t bad. I’m on the second row, and apart from Stoner, we’re not so far from the others. I’m quite fast in T2 and T3, which are twisty, but I lose a lot in T1 and T4, where I have a hard time braking like I should, and where the bike tends to wheelie too much on acceleration. Honestly, T1 has always been difficult for me, through all the years that I’ve raced here. We’ll see for tomorrow, especially concerning the weather. For now, the forecasts say it will rain, and if that’s the case we could be competitive, but I think we could even do okay in the dry.” Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 7th (1:33.656) “With the conditions, it wasn’t easy for anybody to reach down and do a fast lap. The track was a bit damp at first, plus it was very windy and spitting rain. I did the first lap on rain tyres, but I came straight back in, and the team was ready with the dry bike. Despite the conditions, it was important to push right away, because we didn’t know if heavier rain was going to come. The target was the second row, which we achieved at the last couple of races, but although we stayed in the top five for the first 20 minutes, we didn’t go fast enough in the end. For tomorrow, we need to try to get more confidence in the front, to be able to attack the corners. It will be tough for the last race, like all of them, but we’ll try to get a good, solid result.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: Weather: Cold and drizzly Temperature: Ambient 17 degrees C / Track 16 degrees C STONER AND PEDROSA SCORE ANOTHER REPSOL HONDA ONE-TWO Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda RC212V) scored a brilliant pole position in tricky, drizzly conditions at Valencia this afternoon. It was the recently crowned World Champion’s 12th pole of the year, which equals the record established by Mick Doohan (Repsol Honda NSR500). Stoner’s team-mate Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) was second quickest to give the Repsol Honda team yet another one-two on the grid. Conditions were cold, damp and grey, fitting the sombre mood of the MotoGP paddock following the tragic loss of Italian Marco Simoncelli at the Malaysian Grand Prix on October 23. Simoncelli is in everyone’s minds here and indeed the event seems more like a memorial to the much-loved former 250 World Champion than a normal Grand Prix. There are tributes throughout the paddock and pit lane, with riders carrying his number 58 on their bikes, leathers and helmets. Three-time World Champion Loris Capirossi (Ducati) who retires from the sport after tomorrow’s season-ending race has replaced his usual number 65 with Simoncelli’s 58 as a way of honouring his fallen compatriot. Following tomorrow morning’s warm-up sessions all three classes will congregate together to ride a lap on their MotoGP, Moto2 and 125 machines led by former 500 World Champion Kevin Schwantz who will ride Simoncelli’s San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V. Schwantz was a childhood hero of Simoncelli’s and in recent years the pair had become great friends. Despite the mournful mood, Stoner put on another bravura qualifying performance around this short, tight racetrack. Undeterred by the intermittent drizzle that fell throughout the qualifying session, the Australian was in glorious form, painting long black lines through turn 13, the fast, curving penultimate corner. Stoner didn’t even join the session until it was already ten minutes old his mechanics had been adjusting his motorcycle to suit the conditions and yet within five minutes he was already the fastest man on the track. He kept increasing his pace to end the hour 1.014s ahead of local hero Pedrosa. The Spaniard maintained a fast and consistent pace during the session, which saw several riders falling due to the treacherous conditions. Tomorrow’s weather forecast suggests the race may also be run in the rain, but Pedrosa worked hard during the two wet and one dry free practice sessions to ensure that he is ready whatever the weather brings. He is joined on the front row by Ben Spies (Yamaha) who missed the previous two races through injury. Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V) was doing everything he could to get to the front during his last qualifying session on a Honda he will ride a Yamaha in 2012 but his efforts were thwarted during the final moments when he lost the front at turn four and took a heavy tumble. The Italian had been as high as fourth fastest, but ended the day in eighth position and will start tomorrow’s race from the third row of the grid. Toni Elias (LCR Honda MotoGP RC212V) and Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) will start their last race of 2011 from the fifth row of the grid. The Spaniard struggled in this morning’s session but made some useful improvements to his machine for qualifying and is hoping to have a good last race with LCR tomorrow. Aoyama meanwhile struggled to get a good feeling in the cool, unfriendly conditions. Chatter was the main concern and his crew will work to try and find a solution before tomorrow’s warm-up session. Michele Pirro (Gresini Racing Moto2-Moriwaki) topped the rain-hit Moto2 qualifying session to score his first pole position in the class. The session had got underway on a dry track, but the rain soon came, effectively terminating the battle for the final Moto2 pole of the year. Pirro and team-mate Yuki Takahashi (Gresini Racing Moto2-Moriwaki) put on a remarkable performance in tricky conditions to secure a one-two for their grieving squad. Their strategy was simple with the threat of more rain on the horizon they bolted out of the pits and went as quickly as possible as soon as possible. Pirro’s pole lap was only his fourth lap and he pulled in after another lap as the rain hit home. Takahashi also set his fastest lap on his fourth time around, ending up just nine thousandths of a second behind his team-mate. This is his sixth front-row start of the year. Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing Team-Suter) was delighted to be in the top three for the first time this year, in fact for the first time since his days in the 250 class. But no one was happier than Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing-Kalex), who was proclaimed 2011 Moto2 World Champion after his only title rival Marc Marquez (Team Catalunya Caixa Repsol-Suter) announced his withdrawal from the event before this morning’s final free practice session. Marquez, who had led the points chase at the Japanese GP, but lost it again in Australia, is unable to ride here due to injuries sustained during an FP1 crash in Malaysia, where marshals had failed to flag a wet section of track. Marquez has suffered double vision since the accident and is still having vision problems, so he could not attempt to ride here. Bradl enjoyed a low-key celebration in his pit at the end of qualifying, which he completed in fourth position. No doubt the young German will be aiming to finish his season with a win tomorrow, to underline his strength in the Honda-powered series. Bradl will be joined on the front row by Phillip Island winner Alex De Angelis (JIR Moto2-Motobi) and Sepang Moto2 winner Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2-Suter). The Valencia Moto2 third row includes Dominique Aegerter (Technomag-CIP-Suter), Xavier Simeon (Tech 3 B-Tech 3) and Mike Di Meglio (Tech 3 Racing-Tech 3). MotoGP rider quotes Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda: pole position 1m 31.861s “Of course I’m really happy with pole position today. I’m still hungry to win and get pole positions, after all this is why I line up to go racing. Winning the Championship is the bonus at the end of the season, but I still try my best in every session and every race. I took less risks yesterday in the wet as I didn’t feel we were making any progress in the conditions. Today was also difficult, there was a little rain in all the sessions, this morning there were some wet patches on the track and it was hard to know where to push, then the same this afternoon with some rain on the track, you’re never 100% sure how far you can push. We felt comfortable though and the feeling in the bike was pretty good, with a similar setup to the test we had here last year and we put in a good lap. Now we’ll have to see what the weather does tomorrow and take it from there, but we remain confident.” Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda RC212V: 2nd 1m 32.875s “It was tricky out there because we had a little rain by the middle of the session, we were lucky because the track stayed dry and we were able to do one more practice on slick tyres. Casey was very fast and consistent. I’m happy with second position on the grid, it’s a good place to start, but I’m not totally satisfied with the setup of the bike yet. We need to improve the front tonight with the mechanics. I want to have a good race tomorrow, it’s the last one and in front on my fans, so I’ll do my best to finish the season in the best way.” Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda: 8th 1m 33.824s “It was a strange session, complicated by the wind and the difficult track conditions. Towards the end of the session the conditions improved and I was fourth and not pushing because I didn’t want to take too many risks, but then when the other riders began to improve their lap times I saw that I needed to push. Unfortunately at turn four I lost the front and crashed. It was my mistake as the tyre was cold and turn four is the first right turn. Thankfully I haven’t broken anything, I dislocated my thumb and have heavy bruising, it is quite painful but I will have some treatment to reduce the pain. I didn’t have the perfect qualifying for the race. We are fighting for third position in the championship and starting from the third row is not ideal, but I will rest tonight and tomorrow start over and super-determined. The weather is uncertain but we will be prepared for every condition.” Toni Elias, LCR Honda MotoGP: 13th 1m 34.680s “This morning was tough but we have improved a lot in the afternoon session. These mixed conditions with damp surface are not my favourite, but this morning we made some adjustments on the weight balance and I felt more confident. So I kept on working on that bike even in the afternoon. The riders up in the front are too fast but I think I can take another good start and make my race in the top ten. This is going to be my last race aboard this bike with this Team so I want to make the most of this Sunday.” Hiroshi Aoyama, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 14th 1m 34.838s “Qualifying today did not go well, we had a chatter problem and I couldn’t get confident with the bike or push it as I wanted. I hope to find a solution tomorrow to improve the situation and recover positions Moto2 rider quotes Michele Pirro, Gresini Racing Moto2, Moriwaki: pole position 1m 37.067s “I’m very happy to get my first pole position in Moto2. The conditions were not easy, it was very tricky out there with rain here and there. I think maybe Marco [Simoncelli] was pushing me and the bike. I’d like to dedicate this pole position to Marco and his family. Thanks very much to my team because I know this is a very hard weekend for everyone in the team. Tomorrow I will push very hard to do my best for the team a good result here would be so important.” Yuki Takahashi, Gresini Racing Moto2, Moriwaki: 2nd 1m 37.076s “The conditions were very difficult in qualifying. We went out and tried to go as fast as possible as soon as possible because we knew that rain could come, and we were right. I’m very surprised to see that me and Michele are first and second. I think maybe Marco [Simoncelli] gave us some power today. The team is working very well, so my thanks to them.” Mika Kallio, Marc VDS Racing Team, Suter: 3rd 1m 37.477s “It’s been a long time since I have been up here on the front row, so it’s great to be back, a good feeling. The bike was more or less okay in the dry and the wet sessions, so I think we should be okay in the race. We can be really happy with this front row. Tomorrow I will do the best I can get a good start and then go from there.”