Sete Gibernau (Team Movistar Honda RC211V) sped to his third pole position of the season here at sun-kissed Brno with Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) alongside him as second fastest qualifier. Loris Capirossi (Ducati) qualified third fastest to complete the front row.

Gibernau confessed to feeling revitalised after the summer break and the Spaniard showed just how much he needed a holiday with a dominant performance on his return to action here at this majestic and undulating 5.403km circuit.

Hayden was another rider who enjoyed his break back in the USA this month and he has shown he now has the measure of qualifying with a second fastest time just five one hundredths slower than Gibernau’s 1m 57.504s pole marker.

The hour-long final session began with ambient temperature at 26 degrees and the track at 41 degrees, and at the halfway point Gibernau was fastest with Capirossi second quickest and Hayden always in touch in third.

Once the essential work to achieve a workable race distance set-up on part-worn tyres was out of the way it was time for qualifying rubber and flying laps. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), who eventually qualified fourth fastest, was the first rider to knock Gibernau off the top spot, but his reign only lasted three minutes before Hayden powered his RC211V to provisional pole with ten minutes to go.

Gibernau then responded to his rival’s effort with another pole lap that resulted in huge efforts from the front-runner to better the Spanish star’s lap. Hayden then topped Gibernau’s time by six hundredths of a second with two minutes left on the clock.

Gibernau allowed the American the briefest hold on the front of the grid before putting in another fastest lap to snatch pole straight back and although Rossi was still circulating with a qualifying tyre on – he had no answer to Gibernau or Hayden’s domination of the session.

Row two of the grid lines up with Rossi fourth fastest, Marco Melandri (Team Movistar Honda RC211V) in fifth and Carlos Checa (Ducati) sixth. Alex Barros (Camel Honda RC211V) heads row three.

Pole man Sete said, “It will be a hard race tomorrow, there are a lot of places to pass and there is still a long way to go to the chequered flag tomorrow. Nicky is fast here, the Ducatis are fast, but luckily we have a good race pace and our tyres are working very well here.”

Second fastest Nicky said, “That feels real good. I’m so happy for the team. It all feels so much better today than yesterday. We made a few small adjustments, nothing major – but it all helped. Things feel much more comfortable today and I’m really looking forward to the race. My last Michelin tyre felt so good. You can really let it all hang out with a qualifier on.”

Marco in fifth said, “Today we continued preparing for the race with a few small changes to the bike to improve my feeling at the rear end. I’m happy with fifth place because my objective was to get on either the front or the second row. It was a bit of a shame because on my final lap with qualifying tyres I made a few mistakes, which meant that I couldn’t improve on my grid position. Tomorrow I will have to get a good start and stay in the front group. I know it will be a long and hard race because there are so many places to overtake and it won’t be decided until the final lap.”

Alex in seventh said, “With so many tests and changes to the bike the rhythm isn’t perfect yet – but it’s not too bad at all. We’re lapping in the 1’59.5s or 1’59.7s, so perhaps we need to cut a couple of tenths off that to be up with Sete and Valentino. Generally I’m happy though with the work we have done, and I think that in tomorrow’s warm up we can improve yet further. Compared to Friday, Michelin brought us some different tyres, which are working well. Tomorrow will be a very tough race, there’s lots of riders close together performance-wise, but I feel ready for it.”

Max Biaggi (Repsol Honda RC211V) qualified tenth. He said, “This is a bad situation. Things are not right and I’m very frustrated. As usual I’m trying 100% at a circuit I know so well and we have this result. I just have to keep positive and fight like I always do in the race tomorrow and look forward to Monday when we test here and I hope to find an answer to the problems we have at the moment – chatter.”

Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda RC211V) qualified 12th and said, “I can’t consider myself satisfied with the results obtained today, but this is the maximum I could have done in these conditions. Today, in both the morning and the afternoon sessions, I have ridden many laps trying to find the best rear tyre to use during the race, but without finding a solution. The situation is better compared to yesterday, but it’s just not enough.”

Troy Bayliss (Camel Honda RC211V) was disappointed with his 13th place qualifying performance and said, “I’m thirteenth, but that aside, things haven’t gone too badly this weekend. We’ve improved in every session and even this afternoon everything was going right until the last five minutes when I couldn’t get in my final lap with the soft tyres. It’s a little annoying, but it’s something you can understand, I’m happy with the work we’ve done on the bike and I’m confident about the race tomorrow.”

Jorge Lorenzo (Fortuna Honda RS250RW) rode to his third pole position of the season so far to pip Dani Pedrosa (Team Movistar Honda RS250RW) to pole by a mere three thousandths of a second in a hard fought qualifying battle. Lorenzo said. “I am convinced that I will do well tomorrow. We will race hard and see what happens because it is the race that matters, not qualifying. However, I feel proud and happy to get my third pole of the year. It could be tomorrow I get my first victory but I could also not end up winning a race all season. We will see. If I keep being up there, first or second, that first victory will come at some point. I hope it’s a good race for the crowd tomorrow although I think it will be disputed by a big group of riders.”

But Pedrosa as second fastest qualifier has secured his ninth front row start of the season, and try as Lorenzo might, Pedrosa’s Spanish rival has still not triumphed over the pre-eminent Iberian 250 rider yet in a race.

Andrea Dovizioso (Scot Racing Team Honda RS250RW) qualified on the front row for the fifth time this season as fourth fastest, with Casey Stoner (Aprilia) third quickest qualifier. The Australian lies second in the overall points standings with his new-found improved consistency this season.

Dani said, “It’s gone quite well today; I’m happy with the whole weekend so far. We continued to improve the bike and cleared up a few doubts that we had yesterday so the configuration is now good. The tyres are also chosen provided the conditions stay like this and it doesn’t rain. I know it will be a group race and everything could be decided at the end so we’ll have to be ready.”

Hiroshi Aoyama (Team Movistar Honda RS250RW) qualified in eighth with his team-mate Yuki Takahashi (Scot Racing Team Honda RS250RW) ninth fastest. Hector Barbera (Fortuna Honda RS250RW) will start from row three in 12th.

Aoyama said, “I finally managed to improve my time from yesterday in the last few minutes but I lost some places on the grid so I can't be completely satisfied. But the important thing is the race and I know that I can do better than eighth place on the grid suggests. This afternoon I felt good and I’m confident I can run with the front group from the start. We’ll have to confirm the setting in the warm-up and just go for it.”

Thomas Luthi (Elit Grand Prix Honda RS125R) was the man to beat in 125cc final qualifying – and no one could manage to topple the young Swiss star from pole here. Luthi’s time of 2m 08.638s was too much for Mattia Pasini (Aprilia) who is second fastest, 0.032 seconds adrift of Luthi.

Mika Kallio (KTM) who is currently second to Luthi in the overall points standings qualified third fastest with Marco Simoncelli (Aprilia) completing the front row in fourth. Sandro Cortese (Klefer Bos Castrol Honda RS125R) showed well here qualifying sixth while Tomoyoshi Koyama (Ajo Motorsport Honda RS125R) is in the top ten as ninth fastest qualifier.

“That session was great,” said Luthi. “In the first part of the session I tried to get the first part of the track right. Then I didn’t think I could go any faster, but found that I could. I ended up better on the second part of the track and got good speed on the hill up to the start/finish straight.”

Koyama said, “This is my second time at Brno and I’m three seconds faster than I was before so I’m happy with my time. This morning I had some chatter but the team has now fixed that, so I’m comfortable. But the engine was not so fast this afternoon as it was this morning though, so we’ll look at that.”

MotoGP:
Sete Gibernau, Movistar Honda, 1st: "We're ready to tackle a race that will be very tough, as it always is here at Brno. The races are very long at this circuit and it is very difficult to escape. They tend to be in a group and there are so many places to overtake so you have to be prepared for constant changes in the order. The race will demand a lot of concentration and every rider from the first to the tenth will count because the lap times are so close. We've got a good pace but the hardest part is still to come. We will have to be ready to fight until the final corner. We've done a good job and now we just need to finish that off by choosing the right tyre with Michelin".

Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda Team, 2nd: “That feels real good. I’m so happy for the team. It all feels so much better today than yesterday. We made a few small adjustments; nothing major – but it all helped - feels much more comfortable today and I’m really looking forward to the race. The bike feels really loose around here race. My lap timer quit working halfway through the session and I was really hoping to get into the 57’s. My last Michelin tyre felt so good. You just kinda’ let it hang out a bit with a qualifier on – no risk – no reward. I’ll take that.”

Marco Melandri, Movistar Honda, 5th: "Today we continued preparing for the race with a few small changes to the bike to improve my feeling on the rear end. I'm happy with fifth place because my objective was to get on either the front or the second row. It was a bit of a shame because on my final lap with qualifying tyres I made a few mistakes, which meant that I couldn't improve on my grid position. Tomorrow I will have to get a good start and stay in the front group. I know it will be a long and hard race because there are so many places to overtake and it won't be decided until the final lap."

Alex Barros , Camel Honda. 7th: “We have worked so hard on the set-up; up to the last minute before having to switch to the qualifying tyres to set a lap time. Suspension, settings, geometry, electronics, everything, much more than usual to try and get the best set-up. With so many tests and changes to the bike the rhythm isn’t perfect yet, but it’s not too bad at all. We’re lapping in the 1’59.5s or 1’59.7s, so perhaps we need to cut a couple of tenths off that to be up with Sete and Valentino. Generally I’m happy though with the work we have done, and I think that in tomorrow’s warm up we can improve yet further. Compared to Friday, Michelin brought us some different tyres which are working well. Tomorrow will be a very tough race, there’s lots of riders close together performance-wise, but I feel ready for it.”

Max Biaggi, Repsol Honda Team, 12th: “This is again a very bad situation. Things are not right and I’m very frustrated. As usual I try 100% at a circuit I know so well and we have this result. I just have to keep positive and fight like I always do in the race tomorrow and look forward to Monday when we test here and I hope to find an answer to the problems we have at the moment – the problem of chatter and that the machine is not working in the way I want into the turns and out of them. We lose too much time. It will be a hard race for sure.”

Makoto Tamada, Konica Minolta Honda: 12th:“I can’t consider my self satisfied of the results obtained today, but this is the maximum I could have done in these conditions. Today, in both the morning and the afternoon sessions, I have ridden many laps trying to find the best solution of rear tyre to use during the race, but without finding an appropriate solution. The situation has lightly got better compare to yesterday, but it’s just not enough. We have obtained, however, much useful information for tomorrow race setting of the bike. If I will make it to have a good start, I’m trustful to be able to remain with the group of the fastest riders.”

Troy Bayliss , Camel Honda, 13th: “I’m thirteenth, but that aside, things haven’t gone too badly this weekend. We have improved in every session and even this afternoon everything was going right until the last five minutes when I couldn’t get in my final lap with the soft tyres on due a minor part breaking. It’s a little annoying, but it’s something you can understand, I’m happy with the work we have done on the bike and I’m confident about the race tomorrow.”

250cc:
Jorge Lorenzo, Fortuna Honda: 1st. “I am convinced that I will do well tomorrow. We will race hard and see what happens because it is the race that matters, not qualifying. However, I feel proud and happy to get my third pole of the year. I feel very comfortable on the bike and I am very happy with my team and also life in general. It’s obvious that if I’m happy I’m capable of going faster than if I’m not happy. It could be tomorrow I get my first victory in two and a half years but I could also not end up winning a race all season. We will see. If I keep being up there, first or second, that first victory will come at some point. I hope it’s a good race for the crowd tomorrow although I think it will be disputed by a big group of riders.”

Dani Pedrosa, Telefonica Movistar Honda, 2nd: “It’s gone quite well today; I’m happy with the whole weekend so far. We continued to improve the bike and cleared up a few doubts that we had yesterday so the configuration is now good. The tyres are also chosen provided the conditions stay like this and it doesn’t rain. I hope to get a good start. I know it will be a group race and everything could be decided at the end so we’ll have to be ready.”

Andrea Dovizioso, Team Scot Honda 4th: “I’m happy for the first row even if I have preferred to recover some tenths in the last lap. But I found some traffic. For the race it would be very important to have the tyre in good condition in the final laps of the race. I’m confident for tomorrow and the bike is ok, certainly I can do a good race”.

Hiroshi Aoyama, Telefonica Movistar Honda: 8th: “I finally managed to improve my time from yesterday in the last few minutes but I lost some places on the grid so I can’t be completely satisfied. But I have it clear that the important thing is the race and I know that I can do better than eighth place on the grid suggests. This afternoon I felt good and I’m confident I can run with the front group from the start. We’ll have to confirm the setting in the warm up and just go for it.”

Yuki Takahashi, Team Scot, 9th: “I’ve tried to learn well the best line, I conquered the time alone and I’m sure I could have improved more the time follow the slipstream of another rider. The engine and the cyclistic are ok. Yesterday we have chosen the tyre and today we have worked on the bike balancing. We have also worked on suspension with good results… ”.

Hector Barbera, Fortuna Honda: 12th: “The fall this morning disrupted my preparations for the race. This afternoon the injury was hurting a lot and prevented me from concentrating completely. We were trying lots of things with our set-up but were only able to complete three laps this morning. We must use the warm-up tomorrow to try and finish our work. We will see how the injury reacts during the race and, what happens with it tonight.”

Jakub Smrz, Molenaar Honda: 14th: “I am happy with that session. I could have been a little faster but on my last lap Dovozioso passed me going into the chicane but he held me up a little on the exit. The bike is good and we have had no major issues here. The engine is very strong so I am looking forward to a good ‘Home’ GP tomorrow. I need a good result here.”

Radomil Rous, Wurth Honda BQR: 18th: “I am quite happy with the bike and my lap time. We started with our usual base setting and we have not had to change much, just small adjustments we just have to find a little more to get to the limit. I’m not so nervous on the bike as at Sachsenring, I’m satisfied.”

Alex Debon, Wurth Honda BQR: 19th: “Qualifying was good for me until the last lap when Dovizioso passed me going into the chicane but was slow off the corner and that cost me a few tenths of a second. I am two seconds a lap faster than last year. This is my home race and I am determined to get a good result here and the same from the last aces of the yea.”

Dirk Heidolf, Kiefer Castrol Honda: 20th: “This morning was quite good I was 14th, which is not so bad I think. But the rear suspension was too soft, the front a little bit the same. The team made it a bit better to ride in the qualifying session. This afternoon the bike was good the engine very good. I was in 5th at one point but could not find a fast group to run with and I could not improve my time. I feel good and if I get a good start and run as fast as I did today I will be in the points.”

125cc:
Thomas Luthi, Elit Honda: 1st: “That qualifying session was great! In the first part of the session I went out first to try and find a basis for the first section of the track. I thought I had got it right and came in to get fresh tyres and went out again. I didn’t think I could go faster but I set a faster time riding alone so this is good. I am good on the section coming back to the start and finish. If you get the chicane right you have good speed for the uphill. I have to thank the team for giving me such a good bike it has given me great confidence for the race.”

Sandro Cortese, Kiefer Boss Castrol Honda: 6th: “I am really happy with my time and position on the grid. The bike has been good all week so far the engine is very strong. The only problem I have had is with the front suspension going into the first corner the front wheel was hopping over the bumps but it’s OK now. I like riding here at Brno even if it is not my favourite track.”

Fabrizio Lai, Kopron Racing World Honda: 7th: : “The bike has still improved compared with yesterday’s performance, and the engine has much power. I could have got the first row but, during the best lap, I have made two mistakes, never made before. I used the wrong gear two times: in the first S overcoming Bautista and in the last S. However the bike is ok and tomorrow I want ride for the podium”.

Tomoyoshi Koyama, Ajo Motorsport Honda: 9th: “This is my second time at Brno and I am more than three-seconds faster than last year so I am happy with my time This morning I had some chatter front and rear wheels but the team have fixed that for me and I was comfortable on the bike in the qualifying session. Now I have some engine problem I cannot understand. This morning it was very fast but this afternoon the engine felt very rich it was very slow on the uphill section of the track. I heard some other riders complaining about slow engines so maybe it is not a big problem to find a solution.”

Alexis Masbou, Ajo Motorsport Honda: 11th.: “The motorcycle is very good now, engine, suspension are working good. The only problem I have is with the gearbox where I am having to make compromises for a couple of sections. But I like the circuit because it’s very technical. I hope for a good race tomorrow.”

Mike Di Meglio, Kopron Racing World Honda: 17th: “Today we used a different cyclistic setting but it didn’t work: I had some rear adherence problems and so I couldn’t follow the right line. But the bike has a very good engine power. Tomorrow I have to start fast, I don’t want to have to recover too many positions like in Sachsenring… it is easy to make mistakes in that conditions”.

Alvaro Bautista, Seedorf RC3 Tiempo Holidays Honda: 21st.: “I have improved a little bit my yesterday´s time, almost a second, and we have also been able to solve some of our problems. Tomorrow we will have to take advantage of the warm up to continue with the set up. I will start from a back position, although there are less time differences as it can seem. It would be very important to do a good start to try to be as close as possible to the top, and then see what happens, because everything is different during the races”.

Aleix Espargaro, Seedorf RC3 Tiempo Holidays Honda: 23rd: “I am not so happy with my performance today. This morning I was much faster than in qualifying. I tried an H tyre but it was no good after 10-laps so this afternoon I switched to the D tyre which felt better, I felt very comfortable. But this afternoon I had an engine problem, it just would not pull at all it was very slow. We have tried to find the problem but we didn’t find it yet. Maybe in the arm up we will have a solution.”