Dorna Day Two Report

For the third consecutive MotoGP qualifying session, Dani Pedrosa took pole position onboard the 800cc Repsol Honda in a last-gasp move up through the pack. The Spaniard, looking for a happy ending to his season with the mathematical chance of taking second place in the World Championship, clocked a 2’01.877 lap of the resurfaced Sepang circuit after the rest of the front row riders had all finished their hot laps.

Pedrosa’s fortunes are looking up, especially when combined with the struggles experienced by rival Valentino Rossi over the past two days. Rossi, who holds a 29-point advantage in the race for second place, could only qualify ninth for the Polini Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix, and will need to remain close to Pedrosa in order to confirm his position in the classification.

The times dividing the front row were customarily close, with less than a tenth of a second between Pedrosa, 2007 World Champion Casey Stoner and third place qualifier Marco Melandri. Stoner now regains the lead in the BMW M Award for the fastest combined qualifying times over the course of the season from Rossi, and has a comfortable margin of nearly half a second over the Italian in the battle for a brand new sports car.

Randy de Puniet, quickest round the track yesterday, heads the second row despite suffering an early crash in the qualifying session. The Kawasaki man lines up with fellow ‘Team Green’ member Anthony West in a new personal best for the Australian. West was in a strong position for a front row start with just a minute left of the session, but some late flying laps saw him demoted to a nonetheless impressive fifth ahead of 2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden.

Chris Vermeulen and Toni Elias will begin their push for the top spots from just behind, heading Rossi on the third row.

Although all eyes are likely to be on 250cc World Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo and outside title contender Andrea Dovizioso tomorrow, Hiroshi Aoyama reminded fans of the quarter litre class of just why he was tipped for glory this season by grabbing pole in Sepang. The Japanese rider came out of nowhere to steal the top spot from KTM team-mate Mika Kallio, putting in a 2’07.429 lap just three thousandths of a second quicker than the Finn on an excellent day for the team.

Kallio had looked sturdy at the head of the timesheets, comfortable at the track where he has finished second three times in the 125cc class. The rookie has already taken his maiden win in the 250cc class, and looks set to be more than a match for the other three established racewinners on the front row.

Two of said trio are the only duo with a chance of becoming 2007 World Champion. Lorenzo won the last round at Australia in style by routing his rivals, and any finish ahead of Dovisiozo tomorrow would see him retain his crown before both move up to MotoGP next year. The odds are stacked heavily in his favour, with Dovizioso needing to rely on the Spaniard finishing lower than eleventh even in the event that he wins the race to keep the title chase alive.

The second row will be led off by Alvaro Bautista on the 2008-version Aprilia with the speed to put him in the battle for the win tomorrow, and the Aspar rider will be flanked by Thomas Luthi, Hector Barbera and Julian Simon.

Ninth placed Alex de Angelis had a disappointing day, triggered by his early collision with Jules Cluzel and the Aprilia of Alex Baldolini.

125cc World Championship contender Hector Faubel took his second pole position of the season in the afternoon qualifying session at Sepang, and will line up alongside team-mate and title rival Gabor Talmacsi on the front row for the crucial race in Malaysia.

Faubel faced a nervous wait over the course of the day, having finished outside the 107% qualifying cut-off yesterday afternoon. The Spaniard would have been relieved when the expected rain did not materialise, and immediately put in a fast lap to confirm his presence on the grid for tomorrow’s race. A 2’12.327 lap late on was enough to confirm pole position for the 24 year-old.

Talmacsi was unable to take the top spot for a race which he could finish as 125cc World Champion, just over a tenth of a second behind Faubel. A win for the Hungarian, combined with a DNF for his fellow Aspar rider, would see Talmacsi take the title before Faubel’s home race at Valencia.

Alongside a duo well accustomed to life on the front row, two riders new to the top four will be gunning for the holeshot in Malaysia. Sandro Cortese and Pol Espargaro will have a clean run in front of them for the first time in their careers, completing the top four.

Row two consists of Simone Corsi, Tomoyoshi Koyama, Phillip Island race winner Lukas Pesek and Joan Olive, second in Australia.

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