| QUALIFYING 1 REPORT | 02/05/2009 | | Lorenzo flying high in front of home fans after fifth MotoGP pole | | |  | Man-of-the-moment Jorge Lorenzo put in a blistering qualifying display at his home race in Jerez this afternoon to take his fifth pole with Yamaha in MotoGP. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi meanwhile qualified fourth on a blustery afternoon in Andalucia.
It was Lorenzo's second consecutive pole at this track, having taken the top grid spot this time last year before finishing the race third. After last weekend's win in Motegi the Mallorcan was disappointed to run into a few difficulties yesterday but all that was reversed today with a few set-up changes and the youngster hit form in style, setting a string of fastest laps this afternoon and looking happily in tune with his Yamaha M1 and Bridgestone tyres. The only rider to get close to him was fellow countryman Dani Pedrosa, who qualified second to set up a mouth-watering Spanish showdown for the partisan 120,000-strong crowd in tomorrow's race.
Rossi looked the man to beat yesterday but was unable to replicate a similar pace today, struggling to find the same feeling in the windy conditions. The reigning World Champion put in his best lap at the end of the session but was unable to knock Casey Stoner off the outside of the front row and will have to settle for starting at the head of the second tomorrow, directly behind his team-mate.
Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 1Time: 1'38.933Laps: 21
"It's amazing to have the pole position here again, in my home country. Riding at this track is extra special for a Spanish rider and I felt a great motivation today. Yesterday we had some problems and I was a bit worried but we have worked well in the team and today we managed to resolve everything so that I could ride my Yamaha just how I wanted to. I felt very comfortable and I hope that this will be the same for the race. We're starting in the best possible position; I know it will be hard tomorrow because everyone is close but I feel confident that we can fight to be on the podium again, as at the last two races. I hope it's a bit less windy tomorrow though!" |
|  | Valentino Rossi - Position: 4Time: 1'39.642Laps: 21
"I'm a bit unhappy because we had a few problems and it actually hasn't been such a good day, it was also very windy which made it more difficult! Yesterday we were very fast from the start and we hoped to keep going like this today but we have lost some feeling and now I can't ride and push how I want to. At the moment I am not happy with the setting for the race and we need to work hard to understand the situation and try to improve it because we must be stronger tomorrow. Now we will make a long meeting and try to find some solution to try for the warm-up tomorrow."
Daniele Romagnoli - Team Manager - 99
"We couldn't ask for more than this as far as a qualifying performance goes! The team did a great job to fix yesterday's problems and give Jorge a bike that enabled him to have a good pace for race conditions and also allowed him to be very, very fast for his flying laps this afternoon. It's going to be a close race tomorrow because the top riders are all fast but we are confident that we can make it a good one for us."
Davide Brivio - Team Manager - 46
"Missing out on the first row means that tomorrow's race will be a bit more difficult in the early stages. Our race pace and rhythm are not so bad but we still need to make some adjustments because our potential is a lot better than this. We have to make Valentino more comfortable so that he can ride how he wants to, so now our engineers will study the data and look to come up with something to improve the setting."
Edwards secures seventh, Toseland 14th in hot Jerez
Colin Edwards rode his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine to a brilliant seventh place in today's Spanish MotoGP qualifying session at a sun-drenched Jerez circuit. A thrilling 45-minute session run in sunny but breezy conditions saw American Edwards post a best time of 1.39.926 in the final minute to claim a place on the third row of the grid for tomorrow's 27-lap race.
The 35-year-old encountered some small front-end grip issues this afternoon but was only 0.5s away from a front row start in an exciting session, the top seven riders split by less than a second. Edwards is confident he can be a strong contender in tomorrow's race having set a consistently fast pace throughout practice on his YZR-M1 machine.
British rider James Toseland had a frustrating afternoon, a best lap of 1.40.670 leaving the 28-year-old in 14th on the grid for the first European race of 2009. Toseland is still searching for a comfortable set-up on his Yamaha YZR-M1 machine. He's confident he can run a much faster pace in the race with his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew working tirelessly to improve his feeling.
Tomorrow's race will carry extra importance for the Tech 3 Team, with Monster Energy President Mark Hall making a special visit to the Spanish MotoGP race, which is traditionally one of the showpiece events on the calendar. |
|  | Colin Edwards 7th 1.39.926 - 20 laps
"I was really happy with the bike this morning. I was able to run a fast and consistent pace that only the top three were able to better. But we changed a couple of things on the bike for qualifying and it was the wrong direction unfortunately. Those changes probably cost me a place on the second row. I kept tucking the front and that has never happened before on Bridgestone. I've not had the front move on me once since I first tried Bridgestone back in November. The front tyre is magic but for some reason I wasn't comfortable this afternoon. We'll just revert back to the set-up we had this morning for the race because I had no issues at all really. I'm still confident for the race. It is going to be hot and tyre endurance will be crucial as always. I did nine laps on the hard compound and it was spinning but it always does that. It's just how you manage it from that point and I think the setting we had this morning and yesterday will be fine. I'm determined to put on a good show for Mark Hall from Monster Energy and my guys at Tech 3 who have been working hard to give me a good bike as always." |
| James Toseland 14th 1.40.670 - 19 laps
"It has been a frustrating day. We have been working a lot on the bike and when we cure one problem we create another. That session was almost like a test than a qualifying session and it is frustrating because I feel like I can definitely run the pace around the top six. I'm just trying to find a compromise between good braking stability and acceleration exiting corners. We seem to improve in one area but then sacrifice something in another area. My pace wasn't too bad on the hard compound race tyre, so if I can get a good start and get away with the pack in front I'm sure I can have a good race and be in there fighting. We'll definitely be working hard tonight to improve for the race. I'll be giving it my all as always and hope to show Mark Hall how strong the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team is." |
| | 2009 MotoGP Spain - Jerez de la Frontera 02/05/2009 | | Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time | | 1 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | ESP | 1'38.933 | | 2 | Daniel Pedrosa | Honda | ESP | 1'38.984 | | 3 | Casey Stoner | Ducati | AUS | 1'39.415 | | 4 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | ITA | 1'39.642 | | 5 | Randy De Puniet | Honda | FRA | 1'39.809 | | 6 | Loris Capirossi | Suzuki | ITA | 1'39.862 | | 7 | Colin Edwards | Yamaha | USA | 1'39.926 | | 8 | Andrea Dovizioso | Honda | ITA | 1'39.966 | | 9 | Toni Elias | Honda | ESP | 1'40.112 | | 10 | Chris Vermeulen | Suzuki | AUS | 1'40.185 | | 11 | Marco Melandri | Kawasaki | ITA | 1'40.381 | | 12 | Sete Gibernau | Ducati | ESP | 1'40.440 | | 13 | Yuki Takahashi | Honda | JPN | 1'40.599 | | 14 | James Toseland | Yamaha | GBR | 1'40.670 | | 15 | Alex De Angelis | Honda | SMR | 1'40.795 |
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