|  | Jorge Lorenzo kept his 2010 front-row record intact in Mugello this afternoon, qualifying in second place for the third race in a row. Dani Pedrosa took pole whilst Casey Stoner will line-up outside Fiat Yamaha rider Lorenzo. Valentino Rossi will miss out on his home race after crashing in practice this morning and suffering a compound fracture of the lower right tibia.
Lorenzo looked effortlessly comfortable today, topping the time sheets in warm-up and for part of this afternoon's session. The 23-year-old and his team had made some small modifications to his M1 and he was able to lap consistently faster than yesterday around the flowing curves of the Tuscan track. In the final stages he looked on course for a first pole of the season but Pedrosa snatched it from him inside the last minute, leaving the Mallorcan 0.177 adrift.
While Lorenzo will be chasing his third win in a row when the lights go out at 2pm tomorrow, Rossi will be recovering from the surgery on his right tibia taking place this afternoon. The reigning World Champion crashed in practice this morning and was taken to the CTO (Centro Traumatologico Ortopedico) in Florence to undergo an operation to fix the break.
Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 2ndTime: 1'48.996Laps: 26
"Firstly I want to say how sad I am for Valentino. I know how bad it is to be injured, especially at your home race, and it looks very painful for him. I hope he recovers quickly because the championship will not be the same without him. Today we made some good steps forward and I am very happy about how my bike is feeling here in Mugello. I have a good race pace, the Bridgestone tyres feel good and I think I can make a fight tomorrow. We have to stay calm, focused and concentrated and hopefully it will be a good race for us here in Italy, at the home track for many of my team."
Wilco Zeelenberg - Team Manager
"We want to say how sorry we are for Valentino; everyone wants to beat him but only on the racetrack and all the riders and our team members are sad that he has so much pain and that he can't race. It was a good session for us, second seems to be 'our' grid position at the moment and I think it's okay, less pressure than being on pole and it keeps Jorge sharp! Now is the time to keep focused and not make mistakes, we have a good race pace and now we will see what tomorrow brings. We didn't think about the weather but it seems it might be an issue, let's hope not."
Edwards and Spies aim for top six at Mugello
The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team is confident Colin Edwards and Ben Spies can mount a strong challenge for the top six in tomorrow's Italian MotoGP race at the spectacular Mugello circuit.
The French team's optimism ahead of the 23-lap encounter soared after an impressive qualifying performance from the Texan duo in warm and sunny conditions this afternoon.
Evaluating a new LeoVince exhaust silencer, Edwards continued his brilliant revival by clocking the fifth best time as he continued to flourish on a more comfortable 2009 setting on his YZR-M1 machine.
A first front row start of the 2010 campaign looked a distinct possibility w ith Edwards holding third place as the session reached a typically exciting climax. In the frantic final few minutes Edwards dropped down to fifth but his best time of 1.49.683 enabled him to easily notch his best qualifying result of the season. He was less than 0.3s away from Casey Stoner in third and the experienced American is confident he will be able to follow up today's eye-catching display with his best race result of 2010 having shown strong form on Bridgestone's race tyres.
Spies was equally impressive as he continued to successfully acclimatise himself with the technically challenging Mugello circuit. Despite his inexperience the 25-year-old was able to save his best form for his last lap, a time of 1.49.861 securing him his best qualifying position of the season in seventh.
Spies was just 0.124s away from a second row start but painstaking work on the race set-up of his YZR-M1 machine has bo osted Spies' confidence of recording his second top six for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team tomorrow. |
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