Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner once again put his stamp of authority on the qualifying proceedings for the San Marino round of the MotoGP World Championship by setting a new outright lap record at the Misano Adriatico circuit for pole position, but the outcome of tomorrow’s races are far from clear, with second-placed Jorge Lorenzo and final front row rider Dani Pedrosa within two-tenths of a second of Stoner’s time. Lorenzo’s Yamaha teammate Ben Spies kept himself in contention by heading the second row in fourth spot, although he admitted that he was on the limit to get that placing and needs some work to ensure a good finish in the 23-lap race. Monster Tech 3 Yamaha’s Colin Edwards was once again the top non-factory rider in seventh spot, while the Ducati team’s struggles continue, with Valentino Rossi only managing 11th place and Nicky Hayden a lowly 15th spot.
Casey Stoner set a new outright...
Casey Stoner set a new outright lap record on his way to pole position in qualifying for the Misano MotoGP event.
“Everything’s gone pretty well for us again this weekend,” admitted Stoner. “We’ve had to make some setup changes and try to get the bike working a little better, especially the two option rear tires seem to make the bike work a little different so we have to set up for each of those tires. But so far the team’s done a good job, our only problem was when we went with the second soft tire for qualifying, because we had an older front, it just sorta kept pushing, and I wasn’t planning on risking anything this afternoon, we already had a good lap time, we knew we’d be on the front row but whether we were going to be on pole or not was a question mark. Luckily with that time we kept pole, we just have to wait for tomorrow because I think it’s going to be a lot of hard work and a very hot race. In Laguna and Brno I wasn’t the one on the pace, I was the one trying to catch but race day still ended up good for us, so tonight we need to do a little bit more work, get a little more grip from the rear and get the bike turning through turns 1, 2, and 3 a little better, but I think it’s going to be tough race with Jorge and Dani tomorrow.”
Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo took...
Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo took second spot in Misano qualifying, a little over a tenth of a second behind Stoner.
“(Stoner’s) 33.1 is a really fast lap time,” said Lorenzo, “the level of Casey and Dani is so high and they are always going so quick consistently. But I think we’ve found something here that gives me much more confidence to brake hard and keep a good line. And the problem with the front tire (graining) is gone. You know, at least we are close, we have a good pace, and my feeling on the bike is not so bad, so I’m going to try to win tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be tough race because it’s so not. In a few laps you will get tired. But anyway, if we can make 33.8 or 33.9, it’s going to be a good pace to at least be with them.
Dani Pedrosa put his Repsol...
Dani Pedrosa put his Repsol Honda on the final spot on the front row, making the top three riders within two-tenths of a second.
“The front row is very important,” said Pedrosa, “because the first section the track is tight so it’s very important to be up front and do a good start. We need to focus on race distance. I think the key point here will be consistency as well as fast lap times because Lorenzo and Stoner they are going very quick, and so for sure it’s going to be a tight race, so it’s important to be consistent on the lap time and to be there in the end. Both hard and soft tire options are working quite similar, and that’s not been the case in the past races where it was quite clear which one to choose. I’m sure it’s going to be tough physically because it’s very warm, and we’ll try our best to stay to the end and on a good pace. We have to finalize a little bit on the setting, it’s still not quite like I want. We have to do some adjustments and maybe tomorrow we can have a better performance in the race.”
Ben Spies qualified fourth,...
Ben Spies qualified fourth, but he admitted that he was on the limit to get there.
Spies had to work hard to qualify fourth, and knows there’s some work ahead if he’s to stay with the leaders. “Honestly it was lot tougher than expected,” said Spies. “I wasn’t really happy about [qualifying]. We’re trying a lot of stuff with the bike and I don’t feel that bad riding-wise, we just don’t have the right setting. I’m just not comfortable in a few spots on the track; some spots are really good, some are really bad, but we really had to ride way, way too hard, way over the limit to be where we are today. I’m glad we got it done, glad we got it on the second row, but I’m not happy about how many risks we had to take to get there. The bike’s there, we can see that Jorge’s going fast, we just gotta get my setting comfortable, we got a night to work on it. The (problem is the) front end in a few sectors, the first sector we’re almost fastest or in the top three, we just keep losing it throughout the lap, and as the track gets faster and faster, the bike’s not so good, it’s only good in the slow stuff. We’ve just got to work on that balance, and right now we don’t have it. We did a really good job of saving qualifying and getting on the second row, but I wasn’t really comfortable doing it.”
Colin Edwards was once again...
Colin Edwards was once again the top non-factory rider in seventh spot on his Monster Tech 3 Yamaha.
When it was pointed out that he was once again the top non-factory rider, Colin Edwards laughed, “The story of my life here at Tech 3.” Nonetheless, he was relatively pleased with qualifying. “It worked good, we changed the bike yesterday. It felt like going through the left-handers the front end was pushing. We played a little with the front geometry, got the front wheel more in front of me and more comfortable. Went out there this morning and it felt good, we ran some decent times. We just needed to back that up and go faster if we could and we did. Hat’s off to the team, we found the setup again. Race distance is going to be hard. What we did to the bike is make it harder, to actually handle. Today we went out there and started on the hard tire, and the hard tire’s so rigid on the rear that I was just riding real tense. Once we came in and put the soft tires on, it took a few laps just to realize, ‘hey, breathe, relax, calm down,’ and the lap times came. Just need to focus on that tomorrow, start the race, don’t get too tensed up, just relax and ride it like we know.”
Valentino Rossi was only able...
Valentino Rossi was only able to get his Ducati up to 11th spot in qualifying, as the team's struggles continue at Misano.
Valentino Rossi’s struggles continued at Misano, with the Italian only able to qualify 11th in front of his home crowd. “Very difficult qualifying,” remarked Rossi in a bit of an understatement. “The position is quite bad, but I was also a little bit unlucky because my good lap, I take (encountered) one slow rider that make me lose half a second. If not I can start a little bit in front, possible on the third row, that was our target. We have to try tomorrow to put everything together to make a better pace and to stay with the guys in front and try to gain some position. We know it will be very hard, and we are very sad in front of the home crowd but we have to try. (The weather report) says maybe rain, so it’s maybe a bit better for us because we’re more fast then.”
Ducati's Nicky Hayden had...
Ducati's Nicky Hayden had an even tougher time than teammate Rossi, only qualifying a lowly 15th at Misano.
Nicky Hayden had an even tougher time and was only able to qualify in 15th spot. “This morning wasn’t bad to start with,” said Hayden. “I had used tires from yesterday and was able to find a rhythm and do some decent laps. As has been the case lately though, things got worse in the afternoon. I was pushing the front, and I had a lot of front chatter, even with the soft tires. It’s tough for Ducati here at their home, with the team trying hard and all the fans wanting to see us do something. I’ve got to believe the bike is better than 15th, so I’ve got to do a better job myself. It’s not the day we hoped for, and we’ll try to do better in the race tomorrow.”
MotoGP Misano qualifying results:
1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Honda 1:33.138
2. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Yamaha 1:33.258
3. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 1:33.318
4. Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha 1:33.947
5. Marco Simoncelli (ITA) Honda 1:33.990
6. Andrea Dovisioso (ITA) Honda 1:34.026
7. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 1:34.054
8. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Suzuki 1:34.360
9. Hector Barbera (SPA) Ducati 1:34.592
10. Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN) Honda 1:34.637
11. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Ducati 1:34.676
12. Karel Abraham (CZE) Ducati 1:34.727
13. Cal Crutchlow (GBR) Yamaha 1:34.791
14. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Ducati 1:34.870
15. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati 1:34.955
16. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati 135.502
17. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda 1:36.167