Dorna Day Two Report

In front of an impressive crowd for a chilly Saturday afternoon at Phillip Island, Dani Pedrosa took pole for tomorrow’s GMC Australian Grand Prix with a storming 1’29.201 lap. The Spaniard, with a composure as cold as the temperatures sweeping the scene of the latest MotoGP round, is looking to save some pride by adding to his victory tally in a season that was meant to be his year in the premier class. Outshone by former 250cc rival Casey Stoner in 2007, a further win to add to that taken at Sachsenring would equal the Repsol Honda rider’s record from last year. Today’s pole position is the second in a row for the current third placed rider.

Pedrosa’s cause was helped by the absence of rain in the qualifying session, something that looked inevitable after the frequent showers experienced at Phillip Island over the past two days. The riders can expect the unexpected tomorrow, particularly bearing in mind the strange conditions that made last year’s visit to Australia one of the most exciting races of the season.

On the hunt for victory number six at Phillip Island, and keen to sew up the runner-up spot in the World Championship, Valentino Rossi will join rival Pedrosa on the front row. Modelling a new aboriginal art design on his helmet this weekend, Rossi clocked what had looked like a sure fire pole time late on in the session, but was eventually edged out by his only contender for the second place spot.

Homecoming hero Casey Stoner will complete the first line of attack at his first race since winning the 2007 MotoGP World Championship, chasing a memorable home victory that would see the packed grandstands erupt. The Ducati rider will also have to keep an eye on his qualifying times over the remaining two rounds of the year, having conceded the lead in the BMW M Award for combined performances to Rossi.

The man who still holds the pole position record at Phillip Island, 2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden, will start from the head of row two. The American will be joined by Motegi race winner Loris Capirossi and Kawasaki man Randy de Puniet, who was in contention for pole throughout the session.

One row back, Alex Barros, Shinya Nakano and Sylvain Guintoli make up the third group, with Anthony West completing the top ten as the second highest qualifying home rider.

Jorge Lorenzo took his ninth pole of the year on what could be the eve of his second 250cc title triumph, with a time of 1’32.884. The Spaniard has not gone more than two races without a pole position since the start of the 2006 season, and maintained this form en route to equalling Loris Capirossi’s tally of 23 qualifying top spots in the quarter litre class. The factory Aprilia rider now lies behind only Max Biaggi in the all-time list.

In an otherwise excellent day for Team Toth’s Hector Barbera, the second placing Spaniard suffered a crash in the final minute of the session during which he was sent flying into the gravel. Barbera was able to walk away of his own accord, albeit nursing his wrist.

At the scene of his 2006 125cc title triumph, Alvaro Bautista took a front row spot for the 250cc race. The Aspar rider is joined by one of only two riders who can throw a spanner in the works for Lorenzo; Alex de Angelis.

Marco Simoncelli was knocked off the front row after some late hot laps, starting alongside Hiroshi Aoyama, Andrea Dovizioso and Thomas Luthi. All eyes will be on Dovizioso at the start of tomorrow’s race, as he has to make up positions in order to have any hope of overturning Lorenzo’s title advantage.

The session was red flagged at the midway point due to a huge crash from Roberto Locatelli. In pleasing news, any injuries to the Italian have been ruled out, and Locatelli is set to start the GMC Australian Grand Prix from thirteenth.

As he has done for over half of this season’s 125cc races, Mattia Pasini put himself on pole at Phillip Island onboard the Polaris World Aprilia. The Italian will head the grid for the third time in as many races tomorrow afternoon, off the back of race win number four of a troubled 2007 season. A 1’38.078 lap of the Australian circuit was enough to ensure that, although Pasini will not be taking the 125cc title trophy back to Rimini at the end of the year, he could certainly run a sideline in Tissot watch sales as a sideline during the close season.

Raffaele de Rosa will line up on the front row for the first time in his career after racking up a time just under three hundredths of a second slower than pace setter Pasini, and will be joined by Lukas Pesek and Tomoyoshi Koyama for his maiden start from the front line. Pesek had some late drama when his Derbi machine broke down in the final moments of the session, and had to make a dash through the car park to get to the garage and onto his second bike.

Fifth place qualifier Simone Corsi also experienced some excitement at the end of the session with a low side in the final five minutes. He heads title challenger Hector Faubel, Sergio Gadea and Joan Olive on a Spanish-flavoured second row, with current 125cc World Championship leader Gabor Talmacsi kicking off row three after a nightmare session in which he failed to better his Friday time.

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