HRC

A merciless Spanish sun beat down on the MotoGP qualifiers here in Barcelona – but it was Sete Gibernau (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V) who beat his rivals to pole in this afternoon’s final session. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) was second fastest with Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) hitting form to line up in third on the front row.

Track temperatures were up at 45 degrees and grip was at an absolute premium, especially as the conditions seemed to change during every session. Riders who thought they might have found a working set-up in the morning free training sessions, both today and on Friday, found themselves struggling afresh in the afternoon heat.

Jeremy McWilliams (Aprilia) was the first rider to improve his time from Friday 30 minutes into the hour and he jumped from 21st on the grid to 18th. But the others who were striving to find a workable race set-up left it late in the knowledge that the race pace would be much slower than the flying laps put in today – there are no World Championship points on offer for qualifying.

But with ten minutes to go in the session the action started. With a race expected to be more than gruelling, a high grid position remains a valuable commodity and it was Marco Melandri (Yamaha) who first seized the chance to put himself in contention for a front row start when he put a 1m 43.601s lap together to go third.

Gibernau improved his time to 1m 42.832s from his 1m 42.934s from yesterday and the Spaniard topped the qualifying chart on both days – he is plainly in command here. But title rival Rossi is not too far away, a mere 0.363 seconds adrift, and with Hayden only 0.165 seconds behind Rossi, Sete knows his advantage is slim.

Row two comprises Max Biaggi (Camel Honda RC211V) in fourth, Marco Melandri in fifth and Alex Barros (Repsol Honda RC211V) sixth. Only 0.084 seconds covers these three riders although the trio is just under a second shy of Gibernau’s time.

“I’ve got to be happy with pole,” said Gibernau. “But I’m not convinced I’ve got the race set-up exactly how I’d like it yet. We tried a few things this afternoon but with no major improvements. I should be able to run a good pace tomorrow though and I’d love to get another home win after my victory at Jerez earlier this season.”

Hayden is happier than he’s been for a while. “Last year qualifying was something I really needed to work on,” said the American. “I worked hard at it all winter, just learning to get my head together for one really quick lap and it seems to be paying off. I’ve just got to back that up with a good race now. My overall pace isn’t quite what it should be so I’m going to have to get away clean and stick with the front guys.”

Max reckons he’ll be on the pace tomorrow. “I’m a bit disappointed,” he said. “I lost my chance to get on the front row because I chose the wrong front tyre when it was time to put the fast laps in. I can’t change what happened so I’ll just concentrate on racing tomorrow. I have a good race pace and I know I’ll be up front fighting.”

Alex Barros is finding better form. “There’s some light at the end of the tunnel now,” said the Brazilian. “The front end has much more feel but the rear is still spinning a lot. We’re one step further than we were this morning and tomorrow morning will be important for final adjustments. I’m glad to be on the second row.”

Makoto Tamada (Camel Honda RC211V) riding on Bridgestone tyres starts from row three in ninth. “When it was time to push I couldn’t quite get enough speed and I had to ride through quite a bit of chatter. Because of the high temperatures it was hard for everyone and the race tomorrow will be vital for capturing more data to help development.”

Colin Edwards (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V) is still trying to find his way to the front of the grid. “This morning felt good,” said the Texan. “And then this afternoon everything changed, but tomorrow I think we’ll go back to today’s free training settings. I’m confident of getting a good result tomorrow.”

As temperatures soared the 250 riders set about their task of final qualifying with largely improved set-ups – but reduced grip. Not all managed to improve their Friday times, but the top nine riders did and it’s Randy de Puniet (Aprilia) on pole with Danny Pedrosa (Telefonica Movistar Junior Team RS250RW) second, Sebastian Porto (Aprilia) third and Alex de Angelis (Aprilia) completes the front row.

“It’s hot out there,” said Pedrosa. “It’s going to be a hard race in the heat and the tyres will be a big factor. It’s going to be a case of who can control their bikes best in the closing stages of the race and I’m happy to be on the front row so I don’t need to work my tyres too hard early on as long as I get away cleanly. We’ll see tomorrow.”

Tony Elias (Fortuna Honda RS250RW) qualified fifth and starts from the second row. “My best time today was faster than yesterday,” he said. “We’ve got some positive ideas for the morning but we’ll have to wait and see how good they are. Tyre and suspension set-up are vital – and so is a good start.”

Things were tough for Roberto Rolfo (Fortuna Honda RS250RW) but he managed a second row start too from eighth. “Today we found a better chassis set-up,” he said. “But not enough to stay in front. My pace is much more constant which gives me confidence. Tomorrow we’ll try some suspension settings to get more drive which is vital here.”

Jorge Lorenzo (Aprilia) is on pole in the 125cc class after the field failed to better the time the Spanish man set yesterday. His lap of 1m 50.497s remains a full 0.7 seconds better than anyone else’s efforts. Hector Barbera (Aprilia) qualified second fastest, Casey Stoner (KTM) third and Pablo Nieto (Aprilia) completes the front row as fourth fastest rider.

World Championship points leader Andrea Dovizioso (Team Scot Honda RS125R) squeezed onto the second row of the grid in eighth place with a 1m 51.465s time after lying second overnight. He did not better that time today and will start tomorrow’s race with Mirko Giansanti, Roberto Locatelli and the on-form Lukas Pesek (Ajo Motorsports Honda RS125R) ahead of him.

This is Pesek’s best qualifying performance so far and the Czech rider knows he’s in for a hard fought contest tomorrow. The top eight riders are covered by a mere 0.9 seconds but they will be hard pressed to catch Lorenzo if he can match the speed he showed today over 22 laps tomorrow.

“I’m not that happy,” said Pesek. “I was so close to a front row start. The bike is good, the engine is fast with really good acceleration, and that will be vital for slipstreaming. The tyres will probably start to slide after about eight laps and we’ll have to wait and see what happens.”

“Not bad,” said Dovizioso. “Considering Lorenzo and me touched on my fast lap and I lost momentum – not bad at all. Eighth on the grid is not a problem. The engine is good and we’ve taken a little weight off the front end in the set-up. Tyres are the only real concern.”

Julian Simon (Angaia Racing Honda RS125R) qualified 11th and will start from the third row of the grid. “Everything’s good,” he said. “The bike, the suspension, tyres, no problems. But I just don’t seem to be doing so well myself. I’m normally really good here but we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

MotoGP:
Sete Gibernau, Telefonica MoviStar Honda: 1st: “We did a good job again this morning and even though we did another great time on qualifying tyres this afternoon, I am not as happy as I would like. We tried a few things that I didn’t like but hopefully with the data we gathered this morning we can get the feeling back and be completely prepared for the race, which will be very tough. After winning at Jerez I’m sure I don’t have to say how much I would like to do it again, so close to my home”.

Nicky Haydon, Repsol Honda Team, 3rd: “I’ve got to be happy with the front row. Last year, qualification was something I really needed to work on. I worked on it a lot over winter – just getting my head down for a lap and I guess it seems to be paying off. I’ve just got to back it up tomorrow in the race. My overall pace is not what it should be. I’m just going to have to make a good start and stick with the guys up front. Last weekend it was unfortunate to crash out from a front row start but I least I crashed out going for it and fighting. Just looking forward to a good race tomorrow and learning from the experience.”

Sito Pons – Camel Honda (Team Principal): “Max has shown a consistency that could help him to fight for victory in this race. Today’s lap time analysis from the official practice session shows that Max is both fast and constant. We didn’t even have the opportunity to use the second qualifying tyre, so Max will be on the second row, but that shouldn’t pose a problem. I’m calm, and confident about the race.”

Max Biaggi, Camel Honda (Michelin Tyres) – 4th: “I’m a bit disappointed to have lost yesterday’s front row slot, just because of an unexpected issue. A new front tyre we tried had an unexpected chattering problem. Nevertheless I’m ready for tomorrow’s race and above all I think I’ve got a good race pace. It’s bound to be a tough race, because with this heat and the long corners here the tyres will be put to a hard test, and their grip capabilities could decrease considerably, and very quickly.”

Alex Barros, Repsol Honda Team, 5th “What a session! We seemed to change everything on the machine. We had to do something to see some light at the end of the tunnel. At the end the bike felt much better. The front end has much more feel but the rear is still spinning a lot. We’re one step better than we were this morning but we didn’t have a good time to test the set-up over a distance. Tomorrow morning will be important for the final adjustments. I’m happy in the end for the final results and that we managed to get one good lap and secure a second row start because at one stage very near the end we were not in a good position!”

Gianluca Montiron, Camel Honda: (Makoto Tamada Team Manager) : “Obviously we’re not in shape to do an attacking style race tomorrow, but it will be very important to pick up data and information to help with the development. Whatever happens we’ll do our level best, and even though Makoto couldn’t follow up his marvelous performance in yesterday’s sessions, I’m sure that he will put in a big effort tomorrow to help development move forward.”

Makoto Tamada, Camel Honda (Bridgestone Tyres) – 9th: “When the time came to make our attack and get the most out of a lap and reconfirm my provisional front row position, I just wasn’t able to push the bike to the limit because there were some big vibrations and it was difficult to ride. I think this was something to do with the higher track temperatures too, which were at around 58º. So I didn’t improve, and I’ve ended up with the 9th fastest time. I don’t have a great rhythm for this race but I have a clearer idea about the tyres’ performance levels. It won’t be easy, but I’m going to give my all.”

Colin Edwards, Telefonica MoviStar Honda: 11th “We found a good compromise with the set-up this morning which allowed me to set the fourth fastest time, solving some of the chattering problems. In the official session we tried a few other solutions and we didn’t make progress, so we will go back to this morning’s setting for the race. I am still hopeful because I showed this morning that I can be up there”.

Fausto Gresini: (team manager): “Another fantastic day for our team. Sete was at the front the whole way through and, as well as working on his set-up for the race, at the end he was able to improve his time from yesterday. I think we are ready for another very tough race. Colin, meanwhile, managed to improve his time by eight tenths but it still wasn’t enough. Hopefully we can find something in the morning warm-up than can help him go faster in the race”.

250cc:
Dani Pedrosa: 2nd: “The truth is that I am very happy with how everything is going we are improving the set-up with each session and I think we have everything ready for tomorrow. It will be a tough race and I’m sure it won’t be a head to head between De Puniet and myself. I am still gathering experience, especially in terms of tyre choice. I rely on my team for that because they have been in this situation on countless occasions”.

Toni Elias, Fortuna Honda, 5th: “Much better today I was faster but we didn’t improve the settings of the machine and I have to find 8/10ths. We have worked a lot in the last races but it’s slow progress but we are getting there, we have to keep this line. Tomorrow it will be difficult, we have to get the tyre suspension combination right for the high temperatures.”

Roberto Rolfo, Fortuna Honda, 8th: “Today’s settings was a lot better than yesterday but not enough to stay I front but my pace was much more constant and this gives me confidence. Tomorrow I have to make some changes to the settings on the rear end because I cannot give full gas off the fast corners and that’s very important here. Tomorrow’s high temperatures will make tyre choice very important.”

Hirosi Aoyama, Telefonica MoviStar Honda Jnr: 13th: “I am disappointed that I couldn’t improve my time from yesterday. We have been trying to improve my feeling with the bike and when we put on a tyre to set a good time it was too late and I only got one lap in. I was hoping to start further up the grid so I will just have to concentrate on making a good start tomorrow”.

Alberto Puig: (team manager): "The sessions went really well, Dani has a good rhythm for the race and we will see what sort of shape he’s in tomorrow. Hiro has improved a little and I hope that he can get away in the race and follow the lead group. Tyre choice will be very important for tomorrow’s race.”

Alex Debon, Wurth Honda BQR, 16th: “I’m quite happy now after we fixed the electrical problem we had yesterday and our difficulties with the suspension and a slow engine this morning. When I went for a fast time in the qualifying session with fresh tyres I had a big front wheel slide I had to save with my knee, so I had to back it off. Still I’m confident for the race. The start will be very important tomorrow, this is not the place to get away from the grid slowly.”

Jakub Smrz, Molenaar Honda, 18th: “The whole day was not so good for us. Each time I went out of the pit I failed o find someone to run with. It wasn’t until three laps from the finish that I hooked up with Anthony West that I ran my best time. The fifth row isn’t so bad when you look at the times of the riders ahead of me. My bike is almost perfect, just a small problem with the rear shock to sort out and we will be OK. I just need to make sure I get a good start and I will have a good race. We don’t have a lot of tyres to choose from so I know what to run in the race.”

125cc:
Lukas Pesek, Ajo Motorsport Honda, 5th: “Not so happy I was so close to my first front row start. The bike is really good, my engine is really fast, I have good acceleration too so I could use slipstream easily. The problem for me will be the performance of the tyres. If I use the combination I had on today I might be sliding after about eight laps. We will have to wait and see what the weather is for the race before deciding what to use.

Simone Corsi, Kopron Scot Honda, 6th: “I’m quite pleased with 16th because the times are very close. I have to change the gearbox ratios to find a little more acceleration off the corners. The rear end is sliding more than I like but we have some solutions. Tomorrow’s temperature will decide which tyres we run. Whatever happened I will need a good start if I want to have a good result, everyone is so close.”

Andrea Dovizioso, Kopron Scot Honda, 8th: “Not so bad considering that on my fast lap Lorenzo and I touched and I lost momentum. Starting from 8th will not be a problem for the race. The engine is good, together with Showa we found solutions to the front-end problem we had and also changed the balance of the bike a little, moving the weight off the front end a little. Tyres are my only concern. I prefer the wide rear tyre but I don’t think the compound we tried will run the distance. But we will wait for the warm up before a decision, temperature will decide the issue.”

Julian Simon, Angaia Honda, 11th: “Everything is good with the bike, engine, chassis, suspension. We just have to wait to see what the weather does before we choose our tyres for he race. My problem is that I cannot find a good feeling for the circuit, even if I’m running good times.”

Dario Giuseppetti, Elit Honda, 23rd: “In today’s session we changed many things from yesterday. In the first qualifying session I had a lot of problems holding my line in the corners but we have found a good way today, we are almost ready. The team know exactly what we need to do so I am confident we will be ready to race after the warm up.”

Suzuki

Team Suzuki MotoGP rider John Hopkins will start tomorrow’s Catalunyan GP from the third row of the grid, after scorching to eight position in a torrid final qualifying session, run in brilliant sunshine at the 4.727km Montmelo circuit outside Barcelona.

But team-mate Kenny Roberts was out of luck, and qualified 16th in spite of being the first rider to cut his lap time compared with yesterday. In the crucial final laps, with the Suzuki GSV-R fitted with grippy qualifying tyres, the 2000 World Champion was twice slowed by other riders, missing his chance of improving his position.

Third Suzuki rider, wild card entry Gregorio Lavilla, set 21st fastest time, testing new chassis ideas and hardware rather than going for qualifying position, in line with his role as official factory test and development rider.

Hopkins, making his return to racing after missing the last round recuperating from a broken left thumb, was troubled yesterday and today by the injury, but was confident he will be able to race tomorrow in spite of the pain.

Tomorrow’s Italian GP is the fifth of 16 rounds this year, and the second in a punishing series of six races in eight weeks, as the European season gets into full swing.

JOHN HOPKINS: Eighth Position, 1:43.693 - "My thumb is giving me a lot of pain. We have a lot of tyres that break loose, then grip, so you get a tank-slapper. It’s caused tons and tons of stress on the thumb. When we do have grip, the bike’s excellent. We have a really good package right now. But Bridgestone brought reinforced tyres at very short notice, and the grip isn’t there, so basically we’re not as competitive as we would like. For qualifying, we’re excellent – the qualifying tyres are great here, and the bike’s working great. All in all it was a painful but good day. But I just don’t know what to expect for tomorrow."

KENNY ROBERTS Jr: 16th Position, 1:44.175 - "This morning we ran through some tyres looking for a race tire. From the choice we have here, I think we succeeded. The difference between my modified motor and the one John’s using is that it doesn’t have the same acceleration and top speed at the moment, so it’s going to be quite hard for me in the race. But we knew that this wasn’t going to be a motor for one lap time. Hopefully over race distance it’ll prove itself to be more effective. We’ll be able to see that tomorrow. Other than that, in my last two runs on qualifying tyres I didn’t get a clear lap, so that got scrubbed. But if this motor is going to work the way we expect, we should be able to come better at the end than in the beginning."

GREGORIO LAVILLA: 21st Position, 1:46.142 - "I have only one bike, and we are testing a different rear suspension solution. It has some advantages and means the bike doesn’t wheelie so much, but overall it’s not as good as the standard chassis at the moment. It’s difficult into the corner and in the middle. I’m working to try to change that."

GARRY TAYLOR – Team Manager - "Today’s temperature obviously affected everyone, but until the other qualifying tyres came out at the end of the session, Kenny and John on our Bridgestones were about the only riders who managed to improve their times. John did a great job to qualify eighth, but if his thumb is causing him trouble we will obviously need to get that looked at. Kenny was unlucky in his qualifying runs at the end of the session. He was on his hot lap when he nearly tangled with Valentino Rossi, running slowly after he’d finished his fast one. Our hearts go out to Gregorio, in his home GP. His possibilities are limited, because he is testing new parts. As a result, I don’t think he will be able to show his true colours to his home fans, and we know he can go a lot faster than that."

Ducati

Ducati Marlboro Team riders Troy Bayliss and Loris Capirossi were 10th and 15th quickest in this afternoon's torrid final qualifying session at Catalunya. As track temperature soared to 45 degrees, Capirossi fell during the early stages, forcing him to use his number-two Desmosedici for the remainder of the session. Bayliss had a better session, running a good pace on race tyres, leaving him confident for tomorrow's race, round five of the 16-event MotoGP World Championship.

"We are improving our pace on race tyres but we still miss something with qualifiers," explained Ducati Marlboro Team director Livio Suppo. "It was a difficult afternoon for Loris because he crashed right at the beginning of the session, damaging his number-one bike. He has both his bikes set up the same but riders can always feel a little difference between their machines, so the crash totally affected his final qualifying session. Troy had a pretty good pace on race tyres and he did a good job with his qualifier but the pace is so fast at the moment."

Ducati Marlboro Team rider Troy Bayliss' final qualifying run put him within a fraction of the top six for a second-row start, but then he got shuttled backwards by several riders who bettered his time, leaving him tenth on the grid. Nonetheless Bayliss is feeling pretty good about his race pace in these sweltering conditions.

"That's the fastest I've ever been around here, so I'm happy," said the Aussie. "The bike feels okay on race tyres. We've nothing to change for the race, well, maybe we'll try a few little things because I'm pushing the front in a few places. I want more grip, but then I guess everyone does. If the weather stays like this it's going to be a long, hard, hot race."

Loris Capirossi crashed his number-one Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici at the Campsa right-hander after just five minutes of this afternoon's session. The bike was substantially damaged in the tumble, forcing him to return to the pits and complete the rest of the outing on his number-two bike.

"I started the session using a used front tyre and a new rear, I think that's why I lost the front," explained the Italian. "So I got going on my other bike, which I have hardly used at all this weekend, and tried to regain some confidence in the front. We had some electrical problems. I managed to improve my previous times once I had fitted qualifying tyres but I didn't have the necessary feeling to go any faster. Anyway, I was happy with my pace in this morning's session, when I did a lot of laps on race tyres. Now we wait to see what tomorrow brings."

Kawasaki

Fuchs Kawasaki riders Shinya Nakano and Alex Hofmann will share the fifth row of the grid, starting from 13th and 14th positions respectively, for tomorrow's Catalunya Grand Prix.

As track temperatures soared to 45 degrees, both riders spent most of today's track time concentrating on race set-up, for what will be a tough and hot 25 laps of the 4.7km Catalunya Circuit.

Both Ninja ZX-RR riders struck misfortune in the final minutes of qualifying. Nakano lost out on the opportunity to improve on his eighth fastest time from Friday when delayed by a minor rear brake pad problem.

Hofmann went 0.5s faster today, but moved only one place forward on the grid with a slowing rider again costing him valuable time. This reflects the fierce competitiveness of MotoGP, with the top 15 riders on the grid separated by just 1.5 seconds.

Tyre options are limited for Bridgestone riders this weekend, with minimal supplies of a modified rear construction tyre, designed to counter the problems that surfaced at Mugello last weekend.

Race tyre choice has thus been simplified and there was only one obvious option, which both riders used today to maximise race set-up. Kawasaki engineers have used chassis and suspension adjustments to gain more edge grip and balance with the available tyre choice.

Significant progress was made today and both riders are comfortable with their set-up for tomorrow's race.

Shinya Nakano: 13th (1'43.948) - "The rear brake problem meant I ran out of time for a final fast lap, so really I only had one chance on qualifying tyres. Even so, everyone is very close on times and my laps were almost the same as yesterday. In the morning we found a good setting for the race and our race tyre appears to be working okay in these conditions, even though we have limited choice. I'm feeling much better now, and I'm ready for the race."

Alex Hofmann: 14th (1'44.126) - "My focus today was on getting good race performance, and I think we have done that considering what we can do with the tyre options. Again today I wasn't so lucky with my final flying lap on qualifiers, with a slow rider causing me problems and then missing out on a slipstream. A good tow can mean maybe 0.4s a lap here, but I'm happy overall. The one race tyre choice we have is working for both Shinya and I, and we are just trying to get the best out of it. It will be tough tomorrow but, as always, I'm hoping for points."

Harald Eckl: Team Manager - "Shinya didn't have a good run at the end session of the session, so that was unfortunate. I'm expecting both our riders can be in the points and Shinya is capable of a top ten finish here. Both the riders need to make better starts than the past couple of races; this is important. On the tyre front we are satisfied, even though we understand that we are missing a little performance, although in the circumstances this is acceptable."

Yamaha

A late charge in today’s MotoGP final qualifying session from Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi (1’42.959) secured his position on the front row for tomorrow’s Catalunya Grand Prix. He will start from second position, flanked by Honda riders Sete Gibernau (1’42.596) and Nicky Hayden (1’43.124) – the exact same trio who made up the front row for last week’s Italian Grand Prix. Meanwhile Max Biaggi (Honda, 1’43.563) and Marco Melandri (Fortuna Gauloises Tech 3, 1’43.601) lead the second row. Local hero Carlos Checa (Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha, 1’43.860) will start from the fourth row of the grid after a difficult qualifying session, failing to improve on his time from yesterday.

After 45 minutes of the session, played out in the same phenomenal heat as yesterday, Rossi and Checa were sitting in provisional qualifying positions of fourth and sixth respectively. With eight minutes to go, Melandri put in a hot lap to take him into third place, pushing Rossi and Checa down the rankings. Gibernau had already improved on his time from yesterday when Rossi set a flying lap to move up into second place. In the last moments Hayden joined Gibernau and Rossi on the front row, only for Gibernau to improve once more – setting a final pole position time of 1’42.596, just under four tenths of a second faster than Rossi.

Marco’s best lap time is just over a second slower than the pole time of Gibernau and with track temperatures at 45 degrees today (hotter than yesterday), the Italian knows the race lap times will be considerably slower than any of the qualifying flying laps put in today at the head of the field. As a result he’s confident he’ll be competitive at race pace, especially as his right arm seems to be troubling him less than expected.

Norick couldn’t find the grip he needed to elevate himself up the grid from his provisional 16th, set yesterday and he’s now 18th after failing to better his time today. But as he proved at Mugello last weekend – when it comes to fighting for positions in a race he could prove to be a wildcard.

Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha), second – 1’42.959 “I’m happy to be on the first row; it’s very important to start from the front. It made a big difference today with the qualifying tyres, the lap times and the level of my performance was better. Starting from the front row will obviously make the start easier. Tomorrow could be difficult, however, because if the weather is like this the bike will start to slide after not many laps. The team, Yamaha and Michelin have made a great job today for us to recover from our disadvantage. We have some new tyres and we still have a bit of other work to do, but I’m looking forward to it.”

Carlos Checa (Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha), 12th – 1’43.860 “Not such a good day today. I couldn’t get the same feeling as yesterday. I had little front traction, I was oversteering and I couldn’t get a good speed. We will try to analyse, now, why I can’t go as fast as I wanted and try to improve my feeling. It’s going to be a difficult start from 12th but we are where we are and we will try our best as always.”

Davide Brivio, Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha team director “Valentino is on the front row, which is very important for tomorrow. I think there are probably three or four guys who can fight for the win during the race. It’s going to be hard but we are in good shape. Carlos couldn’t qualify properly so he will start from the fourth row, again. He will have to put his head down and push very hard to come back to the front. I hope that he has a different result from Mugello. Anyway, it’s time for the race now so let’s wait and see what happens.”

Marco Melandri (Fortuna Gauloises Tech3), fifth – 1’43.601 “It’s very difficult out there. The track keeps changing in terms of grip in every session. The second row is not a bad place to be for the race but I’m not sure we’ve quite got the ideal settings yet. Front-end grip is more of a problem than rear grip so far, but the race rhythm will be slow tomorrow and tyre wear heavy. But it’s the same for everybody.”

Norick Abe (Fortuna Gauloises Tech3), 18th – 1’44.988 “There’s less grip than yesterday and even though we tried a softer rear spring it didn’t help. We’ll have a long meeting tomorrow to see what we can do. The heat is not a problem for me physically, but it’s affecting the grip levels for everyone.”

Hervé Poncharal, Fortuna Gauloises Tech3 team director “A good day. We had a choice to make between two race tyres and we’ve reached a decision on that now. We’re ready to race and with heat like this tomorrow the race will be tough for everyone. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of grip out there. But if the grip’s not there – it’s not there for anyone. The lap times are around a second and a half quicker than last year and the more power you have the more grip you need.

“Marco’s arm is less of a problem than we thought it might be because Doctor Costa and his team have done a lot of work to improve it, so he should be okay for the race distance. It’s a shame to see Norick so far down the grid after his work on Friday when he looked in good shape. We thought he might do well here and if he does he’ll need another performance like Mugello last week.”

Proton Team KR

Proton Team KR riders Kurtis Roberts and Nobuatsu Aoki battled blazing heat and niggling problems today, with Kurtis improving his best time of yesterday, but Aoki failing frustratingly, by less than two hundredths of a second.

Both had been quicker in the morning's free training session, although most other riders were slower then and faster in the afternoon. Morning times do not count towards grid positions for tomorrow's race, but were encouraging nonetheless, proving overall progress with the latest version of the machine.

Today's session was even hotter than yesterday, with ambient temperature at 31 degrees, and the track measured at a searing 45 degrees. But it was other problems that slowed the Proton KR pair; with Kurtis in and out of the pits, unable to build up to the same rhythm he had in the morning, and Aoki suffering power loss problems with both of his machines.

At the same time, the team was gaining valuable experience in extreme conditions with the latest long-stroke version of the England-built V5 motor, still at a very early stage of development after a pre-season redesign. The KR V5 made its racing debut just over one year ago.

Today's qualifying at the 4.727km circuit outside Barcelona was led by points leader Sete Gibernau (Honda), taking his third pole position in succession.

KURTIS ROBERTS - "I was half-a-second quicker this morning, but the heat wasn't my problem ... because pretty well everyone else went faster. I did improve on yesterday, but we don't really have a race set-up. We haven't found a tyre yet that will do the times for more than a few laps, so I'm feeling pretty frustrated. We get these qualifying sessions, and weird things pop up that weren't there in the morning, so I was in and out of the pits without getting a decent run at it. I had to ride round problems, and the engine developed a bit of a misfire. I just couldn't get it going out there."

NOBUATSU AOKI - "Both of my bikes were not running well today, from the end of the morning session. I don't know why. My team changed the ECU units, but that didn't seem to help. Now my mechanics will fit a new engine for tomorrow, and that should be better. I did manage to find a race tyre and get the chassis settings good, so I hope it will all be better tomorrow."

KENNY ROBERTS - TEAM PRINCIPAL - "We're solving one problem at a time. We haven't run the new engine before in this sort of heat. We managed to solve the oil temperature problems we had yesterday, but the engines didn't run well this afternoon. We're solving one problem at a time."

John Hopkins

Suzuki’s John Hopkins earned his best starting position in over a year by qualifying eighth for Sunday’s Catalunya Motorcycle Grand Prix. Hopkins rode his factory Suzuki GSV-R around the 4.7-kilometer Catalunya circuit in a time of one minute, 43.693 seconds, which was good enough for eighth on the starting grid for the 25-lap final.

It marks the highest qualifying position for Hopkins since qualifying seventh at Jerez, Spain, last season.

“I set the time today in spite of being in a lot of pain,” Hopkins explained. “I re-injured my thumb when the bike got into a tank-slapper yesterday. The new race tires Bridgestone brought are reinforced, but they are so hard that I was sliding the bike about 70 percent of the time yesterday and it caught up with me.”

Hopkins was happy and somewhat surprised with his qualifying results considering how swollen his broken thumb was on Saturday.

“The thumb was so bad that I came in halfway through the session and sat down awhile with it iced,” Hopkins continued. “I went back out and turned a 43.8 on the first qualifier and then a 43.6 on the next one so we have a really competitive set up on the bike right now.”

Even though Hopkins is encouraged by his qualifying, he’s far from confident about Sunday’s race - round five of the 16-race world championship.

“It’s really frustrating because we finally have a bike that’s competitive and now we have issues with our tires,” he said. “We’re probably not going to be all that ready for action in tomorrow’s race because of my thumb and because the new tire we have is simply not going to competitive. The tires that work well won’t last the race.”

Hopkins concluded with typical optimism, “Bridgestone has a lot or resources and I’m sure they’re going to figure this out and get us a good tire that will be competitive in the upcoming rounds. I’ll go out tomorrow and do the best I can.”