FIM MotoGP World Championship Sachsenring, Germany July 16 Qualifying Results (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Casey STONER, Australia (HONDA), 1:21.681 2. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 1:21.933 3. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:21.944 4. Marco SIMONCELLI, Italy (HONDA), 1:21.954 5. Ben SPIES, USA (YAMAHA), 1:22.056 6. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (HONDA), 1:22.157 7. Colin EDWARDS, USA (YAMAHA), 1:22.368 8. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (DUCATI), 1:22.388 9. Randy DE PUNIET, France (DUCATI), 1:22.503 10. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:22.604 11. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), 1:22.676 12. Cal CRUTCHLOW, Great Britain (YAMAHA), 1:22.676 13. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (DUCATI), 1:23.164 14. Toni ELIAS, Spain (HONDA), 1:23.201 15. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (HONDA), 1:23.248 16. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:23.320 17. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (DUCATI), 1:24.707 More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Rizla Suzuki’s Álvaro Bautista showed a strong race pace throughout this afternoon’s qualifying session at Sachsenring to leave him in an optimistic mood for tomorrow’s race. Bautista (P10, 1’22.604) will start from the front of the fourth row after qualifying less than a second from pole position, but it was his consistency throughout the session which gives the whole team a positive outlook for Sunday. Bautista was never outside the top-10 for the whole session and was regularly in the leading pack as he made his final adjustments for tomorrow’s race. He was also the busiest rider on-track as he used the time available to its full extent to complete 36 laps of the 3,671m German circuit. The sun shone all day at Sachsenring and temperatures improved from yesterday’s chilly sessions, enabling Bautista to make a better evaluation of the performance of the Bridgestone race tyres. World Championship leader Casey Stoner took pole position, his sixth of the season. Tomorrow’s 30-lap race signals the halfway point of the season, with Bautista looking to make a good start and battle for his best result of the year so far when the lights go out to signal the beginning of the event at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT). Álvaro Bautista: “I am not happy with the position because I think we should be higher up than that. I started with a hard rear tyre in qualifying and right from the beginning I followed some other riders but couldn’t quite get in a rhythm. After a few laps some riders went to the box, but I stayed out on my own and I started to make a good race pace. With a tyre that had done 20-laps I did a 22.7 so that is a good sign for the race and I feel very positive. When I used my first soft tyre I made a mistake and ran off the track and lost some of the grip from the rubber, so couldn’t really get the lap-time I wanted. With my second soft tyre I had a lot of riders in front of me and I just couldn’t make a good, clean lap – so I am not happy about that. My rhythm is certainly better than the position and I will need to make a good start tomorrow like Mugello because at this track it is very important to have a good first lap as it is difficult to overtake.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “The whole team Álvaro included is disappointed with 10th place on the grid, because it doesn’t reflect our potential for tomorrow. Álvaro’s qualifying lap on new soft tyres was only one-tenth quicker than what he achieved after 20-laps on the hard tyres. His race pace if he can get away with the fast guys looks good enough to challenge for the top-six tomorrow, so we must try to aim for that. The plan for tomorrow has to be to get the Rizla Suzuki off the line as well as Álvaro did in Mugello and push hard for our best dry result of the year so far.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Stoner under lap record to set pole in Germany Round 9: German GP Qualifying Sachsenring Circuit, Saturday 16 July 2011 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Hard, Extra Hard. Rear (asymmetric): Medium, Hard After a very close qualifying session for the German Grand Prix in which the provisional front row was separated by just hundredths of a second for most of the hour of track time, it was Casey Stoner with a final charge who leapt 0.2seconds clear of the field to set his sixth pole position of the season and his 27th on Bridgestone tyres. Stoner was the only man to dip below the existing lap record, set by Dani Pedrosa last year, and did so twice: once on a harder rear tyre and again using a softer rear right at the end of the session. His fastest time came using the harder front slick tyre too, which was used by all riders as the track temperature reached a weekend-high of 46 degrees Celsius. If conditions remain the same, which current forecasts suggest they will, based on today’s rider preferences race tyre choice tomorrow is likely to be the harder front and harder rear options. Behind Stoner just 0.02seconds separates Dani Pedrosa in second, Jorge Lorenzo in third and Marco Simoncelli in fourth. Around the 3.6km Sachsenring circuit, the top twelve riders are within one second, suggesting a close race. Tomorrow’s 30-lap race gets underway at 1400hrs local time. Hirohide Hamashima Assistant to Director, Motorsport Tyre Development Division “In general the temperature has been much higher today and the track condition has been better so we have not seen the front grip issues experienced yesterday morning. In fact, during qualifying every rider favoured our harder front option because of its increased stability and wear resistance given the track temperature. I am pleased to see that Casey could set a time under the lap record using both the harder and softer rear slicks, both of which are softer this year compared to last season here, as this shows that both are working well and the performance of our revised rear tyre selection is good. Casey also completed nearly race distance on the harder slicks and durability and consistency were good as he was still able to lap fast at the end with no complaints at the start of the run. The forecast is that it will be hotter tomorrow, so managing the tyre temperature especially for the rear will be very important during the race.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing: THIRD ROW FOR DE PUNIET, FIFTH ROW FOR GUINTOLI The starting grid for the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring was determined in this afternoon’s qualifying session. Randy De Puniet registered the ninth-best time (1:22.503), just behind Nicky Hayden, the only Ducati rider to finish the session ahead of the Frenchman, who will start from the fifth row tomorrow. Sylvain Guintoli, who prior to this morning had only ridden Capirossi’s Desmosedici here in yesterday’s afternoon session, ended qualifying in eighteenth place with a time of 1:24.707. Marco Rigamonti – Randy De Puniet Track Engineer “Today went rather well. This morning Randy was complaining about the rear, so this afternoon we tried two different solutions. One was pretty effective, and we’ll use it again tomorrow. If the temperature is similar to today’s, I think we’ll start with the hard tyres, which give our rider more consistency and stability. In the Warm-Up, we’ll do a little experiment with the front and see what happens, but we’re more likely to not change much on the bike’s setup, considering the good results we’ve had these two days.” Randy De Puniet Pramac Racing Rider 9th best time in 1:22.503 “I’m pretty pleased with the work carried out over these two days, and as I said yesterday, it’s been a long time since I last left the garage happy. At the moment, everything is going according to our plans. I’m able to go fast with both the hard and soft tyres. We’ll try some things tomorrow morning, specifically with the front. I’m pleased with my ninth place, which a good start going into the race.” Sylvain Guintoli – Pilota Pramac Racing Team 17th best time in 1:24.707 “We’re a little far from the other riders, but anyway my feeling with the bike has improved compared to this morning. My tyres were ruined when I came back to the garage, and that could present a problem for the race. I did my best, and tomorrow I’ll have to try to have a good race.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha MotoGP Team: Reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo fought hard today to secure himself third place in qualifying and a front row start for tomorrow’s Grand Prix of Germany. The Yamaha Factory Racing rider was the fastest man on track in the morning’s final free practice, setting an impressive 1’22.112 to top the time sheets. The afternoon qualifying heat saw him again quick onto the pace, again fastest man on track mid way through the session. Unfortunately he was not able to take any great advantage from the softer tyre compounds available and had dropped out of the top four until the last moments. As the final minutes ticked down he broke under the 1’22 mark to beat Marco Simoncelli for the final spot on the front row by just 0.010 seconds. Ben Spies was on much better form than yesterday, a good night’s sleep had shaken off most of his head cold and the Texan was keen to attack the track. The crew made some major set up changes midway through both the morning practice and afternoon qualifying to help deliver an optimum bike package for the twisty Sachsenring circuit. Clear improvements were evident, Spies climbing from seventh in the morning with a 1’22.772 to fifth on the grid in qualifying with 1’22.056, just 0.375 from pole. Jorge Lorenzo Position : 3rd Time: 1’21.944 Laps: 33 “It’s been a strong weekend so far. I’ve never felt great on this track but this weekend I’m riding fast and feeling comfortable. It was a pity at the end of qualifying that the soft tyre didn’t improve anything so much. In the end I couldn’t make pole position but I think third position on the front row is a good place to start tomorrow for the race; I got it by just 0.010! Casey is very strong but I hope to be ready to fight for the victory with him. I think the fans will see a great race as there are a lot of riders who can fight for the win.” Ben Spies Position : 5th Time: 1’22.056 Laps: 31 “Today was definitely better. I’m still not 100% but I’m feeling a lot more clear headed on the bike. We were able to make the bike a bit better and I was able to ride better today to get into the top five. I made a mistake on my last lap, totally my fault, two corners to go I lost the rear, then saved it but then lost the front as well which cost me a tenth. It might have made us a little closer to the front but we’re still in the middle of the second row so we can put a good race together tomorrow.” Wilco Zeelenberg Team Manager “We’re very happy with a front row position, that’s very important on this track, especially the first part which is very tight so we need a good start. The race pace is very good with the hard tyres, the soft one didn’t bring out so much so we don’t have to bother with that as I think we will all be using the same tyres tomorrow.” Massimo Meregalli Team Director “It was a good qualifying session; the gap to the front is almost nothing. I think we solved most of the problems we had this afternoon with Ben, he is quite satisfied so I think tomorrow he can do a really good race. Jorge had a really good pace and I think tomorrow he can fight for the win.” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Edwards battles to super seventh in Sachsenring Colin Edwards called on all his experience and skill to qualify his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team machine in seventh place on the grid for tomorrow’s 30-lap German MotoGP race at the Sachsenring. Despite not being in peak physical condition after being struck down by a severe sore throat overnight, the American finished only 0.211s away from a second row start at a sun-drenched Sachsenring. After yesterday’s practice sessions were run in cool and windy conditions, today’s weather was ideal with air temperatures hitting a pleasant 25 degrees this afternoon, allowing Edwards to focus on making major improvements to the set-up of his YZR-M1 machine. Edwards, who was uninjured in a small front-end crash at the first corner in this morning’s final free practice session, made significant progress with increasing front-end confidence around the tight and twisty Sachsenring circuit. And his hard work was rewarded with a brilliant final lap of 1.22.368 to finish top non-factory rider in a closely contested session that saw the top 12 riders divided by less than one second. British team-mate Cal Crutchlow looked like joining Edwards inside the top 10. He improved his front-end feeling to break into the 1.22 bracket for the first time this weekend with just under 20 minutes remaining. The 25-year-old had climbed into seventh place with a lap of 1.22.676, but as he pushed hard in the closing stages to secure yet another top 10 qualifying result, he crashed heavily at the fast Turn 8 left-hander. Crutchlow was able to walkaway unhurt from the high-speed accident but he fell to 12th on the timesheets, finishing just over 0.2s away from eighth placed Nicky Hayden. Colin Edwards 1.22.368 30 laps: “Honestly, I have no idea where I pulled that last lap from. I didn’t feel like I had a low 1.22 lap in me at all today but I just tried to push as hard as I could and stay as smooth as I could on that final lap and to get seventh is a great result for me and my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3. Today hasn’t been easy because I woke up this morning with a really bad sore throat. It feels like I’m chewing gravel but I’ve lost my voice and can hardly talk, so communication with the crew wasn’t that easy. But we’ve got such a great understanding that even though they could barely hear what I was saying, my team gave me a good bike for the end of the session. I’ve never got on with this track and today we’ve made so many changes to the bike that we’re a million miles away from our normal setting. I’d say we haven’t done big changes like this to the bike in about a year. I haven’t been able to get the bike turned but we kept plugging away and found something this afternoon that was better. This track is so tight and twisty you need a good turning bike, so I’m confident we can have a strong race.” Cal Crutchlow 1.22.676 0 26 laps: “I am not too happy with today because we had a big crash at the end of the session. I thought we made a good improvement in the qualifying session and we made it into the 22s with an old race tyre and I was happy. I came in to put a new soft tyre on and with the extra grip we just pushed the front too much. We don’t really know why at the moment, but we will have a look at the data to see if we can make some improvement for the race. It is the same issue that I have been complainin g about at the last two or three races, so we have to start considering making some drastic changes. We will keep working and the aim will be to get in the top 10 for tomorrow and I am determined to bring the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team a good result.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: A best lap of 1’21.681 in qualifying on Saturday secured Casey Stoner pole position for Sunday’s eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland at the Sachsenring circuit, with Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo following the Australian onto the front row. Repsol Honda rider Stoner secured his sixth pole of the 2011 season as he put in a best lap 0.252s ahead of team-mate and two-time premier class winner at the Sachsenring circuit, Dani Pedrosa. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) led the session at the 40 minute mark, to finally post his best lap of 1’21.933 to take the final front row spot by the end of the hour. Perfect conditions at the German circuit allowed the MotoGP class riders to post their best times of the weekend, with Stoner the first rider to break 1’22″ with 16 minutes remaining, followed by Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) then Pedrosa, and finally Lorenzo, who was the final rider to post a time inside the 1’21s. Simoncelli’s time of 1’21.954 put him in fourth place and this is only the third time this season the Italian has not qualified on the front row. Joining 24 year-old Simoncelli on row two is Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing), who finished eighth last year in Germany, with a time of 1’22.056. The American was followed by Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda), who is still looking for his first podium at Sachsenring, his best finish thus far at the circuit a fifth. Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) heads up the third row after posting his best lap of 1’22.368. Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team), who finished seventh in 2010, joins Edwards after timing in eighth quickest, while Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing) completes row three with a best time of 1’22.503 and Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) completes the top ten riders. Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar) will start from eleventh, ahead of Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), whose challenging first weekend at Sachsenring included crashing out of ninth place in the final minutes of the session, to finally end up 12th on the grid. Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) finished the session down in 16th, with Loris Capirossi’s substitute on the Pramac Racing team, Sylvain Guintoli, in 17th. Moto2 Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol rider Marc Márquez clinched the third pole position of his Moto2 career ahead of Sunday’s race at the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, chased by Stefan Bradl and Aleix Espargaró. Championship leader Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) held provisional pole in the first minutes of the qualifying session, but was moved to second when Espargaró (Pons HP 40) took the lead. Espargaró then dominated the session until Márquez stole provisional pole in the last three minutes, then improved his time to cement the position with a lap time of 1’24.733. Meanwhile the German rider, who finished ninth in his home Moto2 race last year, improved his time in the last seconds to post a 1’24.862, just 0.038s quicker than Espargaró, moving the Spaniard into third spot on the grid. With the top 25 riders all within one second of each other, the battles for the second and third row positions was stiff, with Italian rider Michele Pirro (Gresini Racing Moto2) landing the leading spot on the second row. Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar) took fifth in a superb return to competition, with Alex de Angelis (JiR Moto2) completing the second row. Third row is comprised of Belgian Xavier Simeon (Tech 3 B) and Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing), with Bradley Smith (Tech 3 Racing) taking the final spot before a fall at the end of the session. Yonny Hernández (Blusens-STX), Max Neukirchner (MZ Racing) and Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2) make up the fourth row, while Yuki Takahashi (Gresini Racing), who was fastest in the morning session, crashed in the qualifying session but was able to re-enter and qualify 13th. 125cc GP Maverick Viñales will head the 125 grid after securing his third pole position of the season, with Héctor Faubel and Luis Salom joining the 16 year old on the front row. Viñales entered the qualifying session all guns blazing, jumping to the top of the pile ahead of Faubel, who had topped the times at the start. Faubel responded to the youngster’s challenge to regain the lead at the halfway point and appeared capable of taking the pole until a high speed run off on his fast lap had him running through the gravel at the end of QP, handing the top spot to the Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing Team rider who set a time of 1’27.477. Faubel’s best lap of 1’27.808 set before his run off was enough to secure him the second spot on the grid, with Luis Salom (RW Racing GP) 0.057s behind him in third. Nicolas Terol (Bankia Aspar), who was fastest in the previous three practice sessions though has never had a podium at the Sachsenring circuit, posted the fourth fastest time with a 1’27.992. Sergio Gadea (Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing Team) began the session with rear suspension problems, but he emerged later in the session to post a time that put him on the second row for the start of the race. Last year’s sixth place finisher Johann Zarco (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo) took the last spot on the second row with a best lap of 1’28.178. Efrén Vázquez (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo), heads the third row, joined by Alberto Moncayo (Team Andalucía Banca Cívica) and German rider Jonas Folger (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport). Danny Kent (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport), Miguel Oliveira (Team Andalucía Banca Cívica) and Adrián Martín (Bankia Aspar) make up the fourth row. German rider Sandro Cortese (Intact Racing Team Germany), who had run in the top ten all weekend crashed at the end of qualifying session, his earlier set best lap time leaving him in 15th position, just ahead of Danny Webb (Mahindra Racing) in 16th. More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: Repsol Honda 1-2 in Germany Qualifying Repsol Honda riders Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa will start the Grand Prix of Germany from first and second on the grid with team mate Andrea Dovizioso in sixth. Casey has been playing catch up since his accident yesterday in FP1 and tested several configurations on both his RC212V’s before finding a set up he was comfortable with. Once he found it, the Australian recorded some impressive lap times and was the first rider to drop below 1’22 and on a hard used tyre. His pole position lap of 1’21.682 was two tenths faster than Dani Pedrosa’s Circuit Record Lap set in 2010. Dani took advantage of the Sachsenring circuit with its many left hand corners, which are easier on his shoulder than circuits dominated with right hand corners. The Repsol Honda rider who returned to racing in Mugello two weeks ago, after missing the three previous races, will be hoping he can put his injury fatigue to one side and score a strong result at a circuit he’s always enjoyed. Andrea is confident with his race pace and has found a set up he is happy with for the thirty lap race tomorrow. He will start from sixth and is a mere two tenths from Dani Pedrosa, which shows how close the riders are here with only a second separating the top twelve. CASEY STONER 1st 1’21.681 “After the crash on Friday my confidence was dented a little and we struggled to get enough data, so we’ve been playing catch up all day today. This morning we made a few small steps forward but not really enough, the guys in front of us were just consistently that little bit faster and we were finding it hard to match their pace. We completed a lot of laps on one tyre this morning, in fact over race distance on a tyre I did one of my fastest laps on so this was certainly positive. Then this afternoon we kept trying different directions on both bikes and every step we made on each bike, we took big steps forward so we’re pretty happy with the set up we have now. The lap times are very close here so it will be a tough race and hard to take any real advantage. However, I’m very happy and positive we can still slightly improve tomorrow morning so thanks to all my team for a great job”. DANI PEDROSA 2nd 1’21.933 “It’s great to be on the front row again, to be honest I didn’t expect it. But we’ve done a good job and it’s important to start in front here because the first corner is very tight and it’s better to avoid being immersed in the group at the start. For the race, we still need to improve the bike a little, so we will work on that with the mechanics this evening. It would be nice to have a little more traction. I think we will need to pay attention to Yamaha at the end of the race because the riding is smoother and they can save the tyres better. As for my condition, right now the races are physically hard for me, but it’s also true that with more left hand corners in this circuit I don’t suffer as in Mugello and I can concentrate on my riding. More than pain, I feel weak from lack of training, but we will give our maximum hoping to get a good result”. ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 6th 1’22.157 “I’m confident for tomorrow as we have good pace but it will be a hard race as there are five or six of us very close to each other. Starting from the second row it will be important to have a good start and keep a constant rhythm without stressing the tyres too much as they get very hot here. In the first laps the right side of the tyre is difficult to get temperature into whilst the left side is stressed a lot so managing the tyres will be a crucial point for the race. We will work on the set up to fine tune the settings and I’m positive to fight for a good result tomorrow”. More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: ELIAS TAKES A STEP FORWARD AT GERMAN GP QUALIFYING Sachsenring, 16 July: second sunny day of practices for the MotoGP riders at the technical and tight German track which host the ninth round of the calendar. The 60-minute qualifying session saw Stoner obtaining his sixth pole aboard the RCV ahead of Pedrosa and Lorenzo but this afternoon practice was a positive outing even for LCR Honda MotoGP racer Toni Elias who set the 14th lap time on q-tyres (1’23.201). After yesterday’s awful crashes the Spaniard was eager to increase his pace at the twisty track so he tried to adjust the front feeling and the handling of his machinery ahead the qualifying session. Elias completed 30 laps feeling more comfortable and will try to do some small adjustments during the warm up to improve the setting ahead tomorrow’s 30-lap race. Elias: “I feel quite satisfied because this is our best qualification this year so far. Of course we are not totally happy because we have got the potential to improve and to qualify in the top ten but this is a good step forward. It seems we have a clear idea about the race tyres and probably we could develop this base set up in the future to increase my pace. I am hoping to lap in the 1.22 range and my crew is doing a very good job to fine tune the bike. I always take good starts and will try hard to do the same tomorrow even if the distance between the straight and the first corner is very short. I aim to be in the top ten after the first turn”. More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: THIRD ROW AND GOOD PACE FOR HAYDEN, DIFFICULT QUALIFYING FOR ROSSI The qualifying session for the German Grand Prix went very differently for Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi. The American posted the eighth-best time, four tenths from the first row, after lapping all weekend at a pace that was very close to that of the top riders. The Italian wasn’t able to find a setup that gave him a good feeling, and tomorrow he’ll face an uphill race, starting from the sixteenth spot on the grid. Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 8th (1:22.388) “I had hoped to be on the second row here, because I’ve been in the top six all weekend until this afternoon, and we know qualifying is so important at this track. Yesterday I had better grip when the track was cooler in the morning, and it was the same thing again today. When the track temperature comes up in the afternoon, I begin pushing the front. I’m not really happy with my lap time or my position. This morning I did 1:22.5 on a used soft tyre from yesterday, and I only managed a little better in qualifying. The team has done a good job because they found me some extra rear grip, which is so important around here, but then we just can’t find that front grip that we really need. There’s no doubt that it will be tough, but we’ll try to do something tomorrow when it counts.” Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 16th (1:23.320) “Today we obviously had some big problems, or rather we haven’t managed to find a good compromise between the improved traction and acceleration that we’ve achieved with this bike, and front-end confidence, which is still missing. I’m not able to load the front and make it work like I can with the GP12 engine in the same chassis, which is why we’ve been so slow and are so far back. Naturally, we’re very disappointed, but we really can’t say that we haven’t tested because here we had four sessions with normal weather, and we tried many things. We’re thinking about a solution for the coming races in order to resume the positive improving trend that we were on until Barcelona.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: STONER WINS ALL-HONDA BATTLE FOR POLE POSITION World Championship leader Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda RC212V) won a crucial battle for pole position at the Sachsenring today in preparation for tomorrow’s German Grand Prix. The Australian fought for pole with fellow Honda riders Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) and Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V), who ended the session second and fourth fastest. Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V) qualified sixth. Achieving a good qualifying performance is always vital in MotoGP, but more so at the Sachsenring than at most tracks, because the venue’s tight and tortuous layout makes overtaking more difficult than ever. Stoner’s sixth pole of the 2011 season came after a busy last quarter of an hour during which he overhauled early pacesetter Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) and then resisted determined attacks from Simoncelli and Pedrosa. With 15 minutes remaining Stoner led Lorenzo by 0.245s, then two minutes later Simoncelli moved into second, closing the gap to just 0.035s, then another two minutes Pedrosa came within 0.014s of the Australian. Stoner responded to the threat in fine style, building his advantage to 0.125 seconds and then during his final run doubling that to 0.252s. As always at the Sachsenring which features MotoGP’s second shortest lap time after Laguna Seca the grid is very closely packed, with just 0.263s seconds separating the front row and 0.995s covering the fastest dozen riders. Stoner’s pole was a great achievement considering his difficult start to the weekend. The 25-year-old crashed at high speed on his second lap yesterday morning, due to lack of heat in the right side of his front tyre. This is one of the most asymmetric circuits of the year, dominated by left-handers, including a long sequence of seven lefts from turns four to ten, so it’s tricky for riders to get enough temperature into the right side of the tyres. Stoner and several others Pedrosa, Toni Elias (LCR Honda MotoGP RC212V) and Valentino Rossi (Ducati) all fell at the turn 11 right-hander during FP1. Although he bruised a bone in his left forearm and dented his confidence, Stoner bounced back from the crash to end this morning’s session a close fourth fastest, less than three tenths behind fastest man Lorenzo. This afternoon he worked carefully with his crew, going in different directions with the settings on his two RCVs, and made some big steps forward that make him quietly confident for the race, round nine of the 18-race World Championship. Pedrosa’s run to second fastest was doubly impressive, considering that this is only his second event since returning from a complicated collarbone injury which forced him to miss the Catalan, British and Dutch rounds. The former 125 and 250 World Champion was surprised at being so competitive, considering that he is in pain and not yet back to full strength. However, the fact that the Sachsenring is a very left-handed circuit is offering some respite to his right collarbone. Although happy with his bike, the Spaniard will spend this evening consulting with his technicians in an effort to improve traction for the race. Simoncelli continued his impressive run of qualifying performances, the Italian battling for a seventh consecutive front-row start, but in the final seconds of the session he was demoted to the second row by Lorenzo. Simoncelli lost a front row start by a sliver just 0.010s. The reason was a slight loss in confidence after he became the latest turn 11 victim in this morning’s session, losing the front in cooler conditions because the tyre wasn’t up to full temperature. Dovizioso had been fifth at the end of free practice, slipping one place to sixth in qualifying, albeit less than half a second off pole. Currently on a rich run of form with four podium finishes from the last five races Dovizioso is confident of another strong challenge here, after further improving his RCV’s engine-braking set-up during post-Mugello tests. Like the others, he knows that tyre management on the left side of the tyres which take a real pounding here will be a crucial factor during tomorrow’s race. Yesterday morning Elias had two crashes the first at tun 11, the second at turn One but the reigning Moto2 World Champion refused to let those tumbles slow his progress. Today he worked on getting more feel and easier handling from the front end of his RCV and succeeded. The result was 14th fastest, equalling his best qualifying result of the year so far. Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) is still struggling from the issues he sustained in a crash at Mugello, so the best he could do today was 15th fastest. Marc Marquez (Team Catalunya Caixa Repsol-Suter) may be a Moto2 rookie who had never ridden this track with a Moto2 bike before yesterday, but that didn’t stop the dazzling teenager from grabbing pole position in this afternoon’s qualifying session. Local favourite and World Championship leader Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing-Kalex) was out front halfway through the 45-minute session, but in the final minutes he had Aleix Espargaro (Pons HP40-Pons Kalex) and then Marquez better his time, demoting him to third place. A final charge by Bradl moved him back into second place, ahead of Espargaro and just 0.129s behind Marquez. Lap times were thrillingly close, with 1.073s separating the fastest 26 riders. This was Marquez’s third pole position in the Honda-powered series and his fourth consecutive front-row performance. After winning the last two races at Assen and Mugello, this is just what he needed to put further pressure on Bradl, who currently holds a 52 point lead over Marquez. Last time out at Mugello, Marquez beat Bradl in a superb end-of-race showdown and this year’s Moto2 title battle would appear to be down to these two young stars. Bradl, of course, has the extra motivation but also the extra pressure of racing at home in front of an expectant crowd. Already the winner of four races this season, the young German will be out to stop Marquez from scoring a hat-trick of wins, while at the same making absolutely sure that he doesn’t make any mistakes that might damage his impressive championship lead. Like everything in racing, it’s a compromise never too much, never too little to get the best result. Espargaro may have lost pole, but at the end of the session he still held third for his second front-row start in Moto2. The young Spaniard held onto third place, just 0.185s in front of Michele Pirro (Gresini Racing Moto2-Moriwaki) whose fourth place is his best qualifying slot so far. The second row is completed by Julian Simon (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2-Suter) making a heroic return from the broken leg he sustained at last month’s Catalan GP and sixth-fastest Alex De Angelis (JIR Moto2-Motobi). Tomorrow’s race is the mid-point in the 2011 MotoGP World Championship and precedes next week’s US GP at Laguna Seca, where only the MotoGP class will compete. MotoGP rider quotes Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda: pole position 1m 21.681s “After the crash on Friday my confidence was dented a little and we struggled to get enough data, so we’ve been playing catch up all day today. This morning we made a few small steps forward, but not really enough, the guys in front of us were just consistently that little bit faster and we were finding it hard to match their pace. We completed a lot of laps on one tyre this morning, in fact over race distance on a tyre I did one of my fastest laps on so this was certainly positive. Then this afternoon we kept trying different directions on both bikes and every step we made on each bike, we took big steps forward so we’re pretty happy with the set-up we have now. The lap times are very close here so it will be a tough race and hard to take any real advantage. However, I’m very happy and positive we can still slightly improve tomorrow morning so thanks to all my team for a great job.” Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V): 2nd 1m 21.933s “It’s great to be on the front row again, to be honest I didn’t expect it. But we’ve done a good job and it’s important to start in front here because the first corner is very tight and it’s better to avoid being immersed in the group at the start. For the race, we still need to improve the bike a little, so we will work on that with the mechanics this evening. It would be nice to have a little more traction. I think we will need to pay attention to Yamaha at the end of the race because the riding is smoother and they can save the tyres better. As for my condition, right now the races are physically hard for me, but it’s also true that with more left-hand corners in this circuit I don’t suffer as in Mugello and I can concentrate on my riding. More than pain, I feel weak from lack of training, but we will give our maximum hoping to get a good result.” Marco Simoncelli, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 4th 1m 21.954s “I am little bit disappointed today because we managed to solve our problems this morning, but then took a step backwards in the afternoon. In any case I am confident because our race pace is up there with the top three and I think I can have a good race. The main problem today was that I lost my confidence with the front so I was struggling under braking and in the corners.” Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda: 6th 1m 22.157s “I’m confident for tomorrow as we have good pace, but it will be a hard race as there are five or six of us very close to each other. Starting from the second row it will be important to have a good start and keep a constant rhythm without stressing the tyres too much as they get very hot here. In the first laps the right side of the tyre is difficult to get temperature into whilst the left side is stressed a lot, so managing the tyres will be a crucial point for the race. We will work on the set-up to fine tune the settings and I’m positive to fight for a good result tomorrow.” Toni Elias, LCR Honda MotoGP: 14th 1m 23.201s “I feel quite satisfied because this is our best qualification this year so far. Of course we are not totally happy because we have got the potential to improve and to qualify in the top ten, but this is a good step forward. It seems we have a clear idea about the race tyres and probably we could develop this base set-up in the future to increase my pace. I am hoping to lap at 1m 22s and my crew is doing a very good job to fine tune the bike. I always take good starts and will try hard to do the same tomorrow even if the distance between the straight and the first corner is very short. I aim to be in the top ten after the first turn.” Hiroshi Aoyama, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 15th 1m 23.248s “We tried to improve the set-up of the bike, but we didn’t make any major progress, especially in the final stages of qualifying. Tomorrow we will try and find some solutions that will give us more pace in the race and allow us to make up some positions. Obviously I am still struggling from the Assen injuries so with this being a long race here at Sachsenring I hope it’s not too painful.” Moto2 rider quotes Marc Marquez, Team Catalunya Caixa Repsol-Suter: pole position 1m 24.733s “This is a difficult race because we are in Bradl’s home country and he is very strong here. From yesterday morning we improved step by step, even though things were so hard at first. We had some problems, but I think I am starting to understand this category, so it’s easier to find the good way. Now we have a good pace and we are on pole which is important because it is so difficult to pass at this track. So I’m happy for that and I’m happy with the bike. Tomorrow I will be happy if I can finish on the podium.” Stefan Bradl, Viessmann Kiefer Racing-Kalex: 2nd 1m 24.862s “My first target for today was the front row because it’s important for the race and we have achieved that goal. I’m not 100 per cent happy because we need to make some improvements to the front suspension settings. I’m having some problems when I push really hard the front doesn’t do what I want it to do. But I think we are pretty well prepared for tomorrow. It will be a very long and very hard race.” Aleix Espargaro, Pons HP40-Pons Kalex: 3rd 1m 24.900s “It’s been a very difficult two days of practice because at this track all the riders are very close on lap times and also it’s very difficult to find any clear space to do a fast lap, because there are so many riders out there. Because of this we changed our strategy, fitting our softer tyres in the middle of the session when more riders are in the pits. At one time we were fastest and we finally we are third. I’m happy because the front row at this track is extra important. Now we will see how the race goes, lap by lap.”