Sete Gibernau (Team Movistar Honda RC211V) made his rivals sit up and take notice of his determination here in Catalunya with his second pole position of the season. His lap of 1m 42.337 seconds could not be bettered by second-placed Marco Melandri (Team Movistar Honda RC211V) or reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) who qualified third fastest.

With both track and ambient temperatures higher than yesterday at 32 and 27 degrees, data acquired and set-up achieved in yesterday’s sessions was of reduced value as riders worked to replicate race distance performance and put in flying laps on qualifiers in this one hour timed session.

At the halfway stage it was Colin Edwards (Yamaha) who topped the timesheet with his team-mate Rossi second fastest, but Melandri and Gibernau were well-placed as third and fourth fastest riders with Max Biaggi (Repsol Honda RC211V) and Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) fifth and sixth at this stage.

Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda RC211V) was the first rider to put in a hot lap when he elevated himself to fifth fastest with 25 minutes to go. The Japanese ace is returning to form after a lay-off due to an injured wrist.

With 18 minutes to go Melandri showed his speed by snatching pole while Rossi moved ahead of his team-mate to second fastest. But minutes later Gibernau put in his quick lap to obliterate his own 2004 pole time of 1m
42.596 seconds by 0.259 seconds.

With a full 13 minutes left it was now the turn of his rivals to better the Spaniard’s time. Hayden briefly moved onto the front row as second fastest with 11 minutes to go and Loris Capirossi (Ducati) was holding third fastest spot on the front row at this stage too.

With five minutes left on the clock Gibernau and Melandri had established their dominance as first and second fastest with Hayden in third making it an all-Honda front row until Rossi squeezed his best time in with just two minutes left.

Max and Nicky secured fourth and fifth on the grid for vital start advantage from the second row while Alex Barros (Camel Honda RC211V) qualified ninth on row three with Tamada tenth fastest and Troy Bayliss (Camel Honda RC211V) a disappointing 15th.

Sete said, “We’ve done a good job today, especially in the morning. Our pace was very good. But we can’t get carried away because the race will be very tough especially if the temperature is the same as today. With the higher temperatures this afternoon there was much less grip. We need a good look at the data to make sure we make the right choices for tomorrow.”

For Marco it was another strong performance. He said, “Today was very positive, we found the right way to go yesterday and continued to improve today. The heat made the bike slide a lot but I got good grip from my Michelin qualifiers and we made some good times on race rubber too. I’m happy with second place.”

Max said, “That was a very important day. We were working hard trying to choose the settings for the bike and we used up all our time on this. I missed out on the front row but the important thing is to get a good start.
It seems the worst is over for us.”

Nicky was disappointed not to be on the front row, and said, “The front row would have been nice. As usual I’ll need a good start and I’ll need to be on my ‘A’ game throughout the race. I was up front all through the session although I hoped for a little bit more from my qualifying tyres. I got a good clear run but couldn’t improve my lap time.”

Alex Barros said, “My objective today was to do better than the last race in terms of qualifying, although I’m not happy with the third row. I made a slight error, maybe two, going a bit deep into a couple of corners, and paid for it. I’m gutted, because the second row was there for the taking. This morning we managed to get the forks working well enough and I even rode faster than this afternoon. The bike is pretty much set up and we just need to clear up any doubts over tyre choice for the race.”

Makoto said, “I expected more. When I was entering the turns the tyres didn’t give me enough confidence to push to the limit and this made me lose some precious time. But for tomorrow we’ve found the right tyres, which should allow us to be competitive if the temperature remains the same. Now I want to concentrate on tomorrow’s race, where the start will be crucial for me.”

Troy Bayliss was upset with 15th. “Obviously I’m not too happy with how the qualifying session went,” said the Aussie There’s only one this year and the final minutes are more crucial than ever. Just in that vital last stretch of the session I was unable to improve on this morning, when with race tyres I went quicker. It’s a tough starting position for me, and my race will be decided by my start – so I’ll give everything to claw some positions back.”

Dani Pedrosa (Team Movistar Honda RS250RW) starts the 250cc race from pole for the third time this season and the rapidly improving Jorge Lorenzo (Fortuna Honda RS250RW) lines up alongside him as second fastest qualifier.
Aprilia riders Sebastian Porto and Randy de Puniet are third and fourth.

Andrea Dovizioso (Scot Racing Team Honda RS250RW) crashed heavily in the morning free training session and did not ride this afternoon after sustaining heavy bruising to his right shoulder and rib area.

He will make a decision on whether or not to race after the morning warm-up session tomorrow. But if he does elect to ride his best lap time of 1m 47.495 seconds was still good enough to give the young Italian a start from ninth on the grid.

More encouragingly Hiroshi Aoyama (Team Movistar Honda RS250RW) qualified fifth fastest, equalling his best grid position on the season, while Hector Barbera (Fortuna Honda RS250RW) netted his fifth second row start of the year in seventh.

Dani said, “After yesterday where we struggled a bit, it was a great effort from the team to get this pole here at the home race. But now we have to make sure we get a good start because it will be another tough race here tomorrow.”

Jorge said, “We did four sessions here and I was fastest in three of them. This is very positive. In the last session I didn’t have quite enough front grip and that’s why I missed out on pole. Tomorrow I’ll just do my best and also try to enjoy it.”

Dovi said, “Tomorrow I’ll do the warm-up, but I won’t be playing the hero. I know I have to try and get some points – but I have to be in good enough shape to be able to take those points if I ride.”

The 125cc qualifying session belonged to Mika Kallio (KTM), who grabbed his fourth pole of the season with a 1m 51.451 second lap. Mattia Pasini qualified second fastest with Marco Simoncelli third and Lorenzo Zanetti completing the front row in fourth (all Aprilia).

Current World Championship points leader Thomas Luthi (Elit Grand Prix Honda RS125R) could not get on terms with the front-runners here and he will start tomorrow’s race from row three as tenth fastest qualifier.

The man who found form here was Japanese star Toshihisa Kuzuhara (Angaia Racing Honda RS125R) who rode his best qualifying session yet this season to snatch a second row start from fifth on the grid.

Fabrizio Lai (Kopron Racing World Honda RS125RW) qualified eighth fastest to edge onto the second row while Tomoyoshi Koyama (Ajo Motorsport Honda
RS125R) who rode to a strong fifth place at Mugello last week starts from row three in 12th.

Kuzuhara said, “I made my best lap when I followed Kallio. Then when I went for another quick lap to try and better my time I crashed. The bike will be fine for tomorrow and so will I, so I look forward to the race.”

Luthi said, “I’m a little confused. I used the same tyre as this morning but had a lot of chatter from it. The engine wasn’t quite as good as it was in the morning either. The team will sort the engine out for me, but the chatter is more of a concern.”

Sete Gibernau, Movistar Honda: 1st:: “We’ve done a good job today, especially in the morning – the pace was very good. But we can’t get carried away at this stage because the race will be very tough tomorrow if the temperatures stay like they were during qualifying today. We haven’t tested too much in warm conditions and with a few extra degrees on the track this afternoon the grip levels were much lower and the performance of the bike was very different. We have to take a good look at the data and prepare ourselves as well as possible for the race.”

Marco Melandri, Movistar Honda: 2nd: “Today was a very positive day. Yesterday we found the right path to work along and we continued to make improvements today. The track conditions changed a lot from the morning to the afternoon and the heat made the bike slide around quite a lot. Michelin helped us to find more grip on the qualifying tyre and we also set a good time on race tyres. I made a small mistake in turn one on my fast lap but I’m very happy with this second place.”

Max Biaggi, Repsol Honda Team: 4th: “It’s been a very important testing day. We’ve been working to choose the bike for the race and we used all the time we had. For a few thousandths of a second we missed the first row, but it’s ok anyway. The important thing now is to make a good start. The team is working always better day by day. The worst is gone.”

Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda Team: 5th: “As we’ve been quick all weekend it would have been nice to get onto that front row but it wasn’t to be. We’ll, as usual, have to make a good start and stay with the boys and I’ll have to bring my A-game tomorrow. This weekend has been good so far. We’ve been up front in all the sessions and I was actually hoping to get a little more from my qualifier. No excuses, I got a good clear run but just didn’t make the lap time. It’ll be a hot pace tomorrow. Everyone is going really quick here – that’s what makes it fun.”

Alex Barros, Camel Honda: 9th: “My objective today was to do better than the last race in terms of qualifying, and that was the case, although I’m not happy with the third row, I could go better. I made a slight error, maybe two, going a bit deep into a couple of corners, and I paid for it; I’m gutted, because the second row was there for the taking for us. This morning we managed to get the forks working well enough and I even rode faster than this afternoon. The bike is pretty much set-up and we just need to clear up any doubts over tyre choice for the race. We will have a meeting with Michelin this evening and in tomorrow morning’s warm-up we will check this area.”

Makoto Tamada, Konica Minolta Honda Team: 10th: “I expected more, but I found some complications with the qualifying tyres probably also because this is only my third qualifying session of the season. When I was entering the turns the tyres didn’t give me the right confidence to push my bike to the limit and this made me lose some precious time. But for tomorrow we found the right tyres which should allowed us to be competitive if the temperature will remain the same of these firsts two days. In addition during this weekend we have tried many different setting solutions and we consider our self satisfied on the work done. This set up we have found will allow us to be perform well also in the next GPs. But now I want to mainly concentrate on tomorrow’s race, where the star will be fundamental for me.”

Troy Bayliss, Camel Honda: 15th: “Obviously I’m not too happy with how the qualifying session went. There’s only one this year and the final minutes are more crucial than ever. Just in that vital last stretch of the session I was unable to improve on this morning, when with race tyres I went quicker. It’s a tough starting position for me then, and my race will be decided by my start - so I’ll give everything to claw some positions back.” ”

250cc:
Dani Pedrosa, MoviStar Honda: 1st: “We’ve improved quite a lot from yesterday to today and that has been reflected in both my feeling with the bike and my lap times, although it will be a very long and hot race so we’ll have to see how the tyres behave. Having said that, I think we’re pretty clear about which tyre we’re going to use. We had problems yesterday and we spent a lot of time today making changes to the bike so I didn’t have much time to go for a fast lap at the end of the session. We managed it though and my hope now is to get a good start in the race and fight for the best possible result.”

Jorge Lorenzo, Fortuna Honda: 2nd: “We have done four session in practice and I was on pole for three of them so that is very positive. In the last one I didn’t have too much front tyre and that’s why I missed pole. Tomorrow, as always, I will do my best and try to enjoy the race. And at the same time the spectators. I believe it will be a very tough race.”

Hiroshi Aoyama, MoviStar Honda: 5th: “My feeling on the bike has improved a lot with respect to Mugello. I think we had a good day of qualifying today and I hope to be fighting for the podium tomorrow. For that to happen I have to be very concentrated at the start and over the opening few laps because I lost touch with the lead group at Mugello and it was difficult to make up ground. I can’t afford for the same thing to happen again.”

Hector Barbera, Fortuna Honda: 7th: “I didn’t have the day I wished for. I had a problem with the front end and didn’t have too much confidence in the fast corners. I hope to take profit from the warm up tomorrow, not only the bike but I also have to work really hard to find the best settings. It’s good for me to have Jorge (Lorenzo) in front because I have a very good reference.”

Andrea Dovizioso, Scot Honda: 9th: “Tomorrow I would like to do the warm up but I won’t act the hero and only tomorrow, in the morning, I will decide what I do. Conquering some points is important but I have to be able to do it. Now I’m going to undergo treatment to easy the pain.

Yuki Takahashi, Scot Team Honda: 12th: “ I have improved my time and my position on the grid but I can lap with this rhythm only for few time because I still have some chassis problems. I won’t be competitive tomorrow if we don’t find a solution to this problem. I also have a heavy pain in the back due to yesterday crash and it will be an obstacle to the race.

Jakub Smrz, Molenaar Honda: 13th: “Not really happy this weekend I have not had enough time on the bike. We had big troubles because of I bent a triple clamp in my crash at Mugello and I couldn’t get the bike to steer. But we fitted a standard clamp and its OK. I’m pretty much on the limit but my best lap time came when I was pushing just a little I was surprised to see my time.”

Alex Debon, Wurth Honda BQR: 18th: “Today was not good and I think that my position on the grid is not good at all. The problem we had with the front end yesterday has been fixed but we had some small problems with the set up in the qualifying session that we have to work on in the warm up tomorrow.”

Radomil Rous, Wurth Honda BQR: 26th: “I cracked my scaphoid in the crash but I decided to try and ride in qualifying but it was too painful so I am going to hospital for treatment tonight. I will not be able to race tomorrow.”

125cc:
Toshihisa Kuzuhara, Angaia Racing Honda: 5th: “I made my best lap following Kallio but then I decided to go for one more fast lap and the front end tucked under and I crashed. Obviously the bike settings are very good now and we have no problems, also my body is in good shape now. My team are very happy with my lap time. Tomorrow in the race I can do even better.”

Fabrizio Lai, Kopron Racing World Honda: 8th: “The bike is better today than yesterday. The engine is not so fast and we will have to work on that when we get back to Italy next week. We have to find some more power.”

Thomas Luthi, Elit Honda: 10th: “I’m a little confused after that session. I put the same tyres in as I had in practice this morning and I have some front end chatter that I can’t understand. My engine was not quite as fast as this morning so I couldn’t push for a fast time when I had to. Still the team will work out the engine no problem but the chatter is my difficulty.”

Tomoyoshi Koyama, Ajo Motorsport Honda: 12th: “My engine was not so good in qualifying as it was in the morning practice session. I also have some rear end chatter. The team are confident about the engine for the race and the chatter I can live with if I have to.”

Alvaro Bautista, Seedorf RC3 Tiempo Holidays Honda: 16th: “The session went really well. This morning we improved the bike settings from yesterday and I felt very comfortable on the bike. The front-end problem we have experienced this season is much less now and I am confident going into the corners. My number one engine was a little down on power so I had to use the second bike to set my time but it was difficult with the second bike in so much traffic.

Alexis Masbou, Ajo Motorsport Honda: 20th: “I’m much happier today. I had a suspension problem yesterday when the throttle is neutral the front end starts to hop, very strange. I used a hard tyre for qualifying and did 16 laps on it the last lap was the fastest. Engine acceleration is very good and top speed is OK but could be a little better. We will see where we are in the warm up tomorrow.”

Aleix Espargaro, Seedorf RC3 Tiempo Holidays Honda: 24th: “Not so bad but I had hoped for better today. The only problem I had was with the rear tyre in the fast corners off the throttle the bike is moving around. I put in a new tyre for my fast lap but I’m 24th I expected a better grid position.
But tomorrow I’m sure I will be better.”

Raymond Schouten, Molenaar Honda: 26th.: ”Yesterday was very good the bike was fats and the set up as also good. We started off the same in the qualifying session with new tyres but when I came in to put on another new set I had some rally bad rear end chatter. I hope it’s just the tyre but a lot of riders have the same problem so it’s more than a tyre problem.

Sandro Cortese, Kiefer Boss Castrol Honda: 31st: “In the last 15 minutes of qualifying I had some problems with the front end trying to turn in too quickly. I also had a front brake problem the lever was coming back to the handlebar so I was braking much to early. The engine is not so bad and I have a good feeling for the race. My brake problem we can fix but I don’t know about the front end!”