2006 Australian Superbike Championship (YMF Loan) - Round Four - Queensland Raceway

Dorna Day 2 Report

The MotoGP paddock was the scene for a minor heatwave today, adding to the pressure cooker atmosphere of the World Championship title chase. To make matters worse for the riders battling for the title, taking pole position today was one of the riders who before this weekend wasn't even being touted as a possible winner.

Australian rookie Chris Vermeulen snatched his second pole of the season at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca under rather different conditions to that under which he took his first. Unlike the rain in Istanbul, today he braved scorching heat approaching 40ºC to put himself at the head of the grid for tomorrow’s Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix.

The Rizla Suzuki rider has won here in the past in other series, and used that experience to clock a 1’23.168 lap for his first dry MotoGP pole, just ahead of home rider Colin Edwards. The Camel Yamaha man was himself hotly pursued by fellow American Kenny Roberts Jr, who had been fastest yesterday in both practice sessions.

The second row will be headed by Laguna Seca newcomer Dani Pedrosa, who has got to grips with the track quickly and qualifies ahead of some of Laguna Seca’s more established racers. He lines up alongside U.S. representatives John Hopkins and Nicky Hayden. The latter was victorious last year and enters the race as World Championship leader, but will have a tough fight on his hands tomorrow as he looks to extend his advantage.

Hayden had actually set the fastest lap of the weekend so far in the morning free practice session with a 1'22.843, two-tenths outside his own pole record from last year.

Despite going off track at the notoriously testing Corkscrew section of the track, Casey Stoner was still within half a second of Vermeulen as he put himself at the head of row three in seventh, alongside Shinya Nakano and Marco Melandri. Valentino Rossi will start tenth, and is desperate for a win at title rival Hayden’s home track, with the chance to close the gap in his quest for a sixth consecutive MotoGP title. The rest of the pack will do well to remember that Rossi won last week's race at Sachsenring from tenth spot on the grid.

Tomorrow’s Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix promises to be yet another classic in a season of vintage MotoGP racing, with the red light set to go out at 2pm local time (GMT-7, CET-9)

1st: Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki):
"I’m a bit faster than I was a few years ago here, I’ve already won here twice in 2004 in Superbikes and this year the Suzuki and Bridgestones seem to be good here. There’s a lot of laps in the race though, and there’s 14 or 15 riders who are all in with a shot tomorrow. I really enjoy this track and hope I can get a good result."

2nd: Colin Edwards (Yamaha):
"I’m looking forward to racing here, I think it’s pretty obvious that the bike is fast through the first three sections and then we just tail off. The team have been working so hard for this race, trying out all sorts of stuff."

3rd: Kenny Roberts Jr. (KR211V):
"I wanted a front row today, but I have to say that it’s a bit disappointing after pace having such a good advantage with the settings yesterday. We couldn’t translate that to today, and we struggled with the soft grip tyres. I ‘m sure that on race tyres we can do a good job."