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

HRC Day 2 Report

With just the MotoGP class to be run here in the USA, it was Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) who secured pole from Colin Edwards (Yamaha) and third fastest qualifier Kenny Roberts (Roberts KR211V) in searing heat at this dusty yet undeniably spectacular California track.

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC211V) put in a mature performance to qualify on the second row at his first ever visit to this tough-to-learn track. And conditions were as hard as at any other environment on the 17-race calendar too – a 55-degree track temperature combined with a 40-degree ambient temperature. Punishing in the extreme.

This one hour of timed qualifying saved just about everything for the last few minutes, with Pedrosa, Edwards and Roberts leaving it desperately late to plant themselves among the top grid positions. Vermeulen secured pole with a lap of 1m 23.168 seconds with 15 minutes to go and it was not bettered by anyone – try as they did.

Casey Stoner (LCR Honda RC211V) headed the timesheet in the early stages with a 1m 24.104s lap as most riders worked on achieving an optimum race rubber set-up while short-listing a selection of potential tyres for tomorrow’s race.

This was a start-from-scratch exercise at a track that has been totally resurfaced for this weekend – and although grip has not been lacking, bumps have been introduced by the work done in places where they have not previously been an issue. This was most notable on the exit of the notorious downhill Corkscrew turn.

At the mid-way point of the session, the top 15 riders were covered by just one second. Proof, if any were needed, of the exalted level of competition in this premier series. But it would not stay quite like this for long.

Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) elevated himself to third on the grid with 15 minutes to go and it looked as if there might be more to come from the winner of last year’s race. With ten minutes to go the Kentucky Kid made second place his temporary property with a 1m 23.558s time, but it would not prove fast enough to sustain a front row start for the American.

With five minutes to go Dani hoisted himself to fifth on the grid while Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) languished in 13th place. Dani then looked like he had done enough for second place with just 13 seconds remaining with a 1m 23.490s lap, before Edwards posted a 1m 23.321s time to snatch second. Then it was Roberts’s turn to do his stuff and he stopped the clock at 1m 23.420s for third. Rossi could only make it eventually to tenth fastest for a fourth row start with a best of 1m 24.047s.

Hayden will start from the second row, but his time is only four tenths of a second off Vermeulen’s pole. The top 11 riders are covered by less than a second. These include Stoner in seventh, Marco Melandri (Fortuna Honda RC211V), ninth on the grid, Toni Elias (Fortuna Honda RC211V), 12th on row four, and Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda RC211V), 14th fastest.

Kenny said, “I feel a heck of a lot better on race tyres, because I know we’re all on the same stuff. It’s hard in the qualifying session to know who’s on what at what time and what fuel levels and stuff. As far as race set-up goes, we’ll be alright. And the most important thing is starting from the front row. On the qualifiers I struggled. I just struggled mentally. I was overriding it.”

Dani said, “I think today went OK and my position is quite good, though the conditions were strange this afternoon. We couldn’t really work on choosing a race tyre as usual this afternoon because it was so slippery and there was something strange about the grip – perhaps because it was so hot. The lap times were much slower. Even with the qualifying tyre I couldn’t improve on this morning’s time. However, I think the position is quite good, so let’s see if I can get a great start.”

“I’d have liked to have been on the front row,” said Nicky. “But I just didn’t put one clean lap together and on my last lap I had to pass someone. The bottom line is that I’ve struggled a little bit all weekend and I’m not that comfortable in some parts of the track. I can get one of two quick laps here or there, it’s the consistency I missing at the moment. If we can make a few adjustments overnight we’ll come in here ready.”

Stoner, seventh fastest, said, “Not much to say really. I put in some really good laps on race tyres. But when I put in the qualifying tyres everything changed and I’m not too happy running qualifiers. We tried a few combinations but I was not comfortable, like a lot of riders here. The engine is always good so I have no problems there. We just have to sort out the chassis to cope with the bumps round this place. But we have a pretty good idea of what we need to do.”

Marco Melandri, ninth on the grid, said, “This morning we worked a lot on the suspension and it was quite good and I felt comfortable on the bike. But in the qualifying session I got something in my eyes that made them water and I had problems seeing where I was going. From that moment on everything seemed to go wrong and the settings we used did not feel good at all. We will go back to the set up we had this morning and I am confident that they will work in the race.”

Toni Elias said, “The higher temperatures for qualifying this afternoon changed the condition of the asphalt a lot. I suffered from a lack of traction and was slightly slower on qualifying tyres than I was on race tyres this morning. The pain from my injured shoulder is quite bad and I will start the race with some medicine to dull the pain and see how it goes.”

Makoto Tamada said, “Basically we are running the same set-up as we did at Donington and the Sachsenring with the 16.5 inch tyres. I did not get the best out of my qualifying tyres but we have a good race set up, I think I was about seventh on race set-up at one point. We’ve been working on the suspension to get the bike to work over the bumpy track and we have a few little things to do in the warm-up. I was very fast in the first two sections today and although my knee is still giving me a lot of pain I’ll be OK for the race.”

Honda GP rider quotes: Final qualifying US GP Laguna Seca July 22, 2006.

MotoGP:
Kenny Roberts Jnr, KR Honda: 3rd. “I feel a heck of a lot better on race tires, because I know we’re all on the same stuff. It’s hard in the qualifying session to know who’s on what at what time and what fuel levels and stuff. As far as race set-up goes, we’ll be alright. And the most important thing is starting from the front row. On the qualifiers I struggled. I just struggled mentally. I was overriding it. I think we all struggled. I think maybe we didn’t have the right combination for qualifying tires. I said yesterday I’d be happy with the front row; I would have been happier with the front row if I would have been in the groove easier and crossed the line and gone, ‘OK, I made a tiny mistake here and there, not like out of control.’ Colin (Edwards) felt the same. Just the nature with today with the weather and the circuit.”

Team owner Kenny Roberts: “I thought he’d get pole, but we have struggled with qualifiers all year. It’s nothing really new for us. You get a short window to try it. It’s just one of those things that we’ve got to keep working at. Race pace, we’re right there, better than everybody in our opinion. but when you start throwing qualifiers and bending it over to touch the ground and gassing it, we’re still not there yet. We’re still on the front row. But we were on the front row in Barcelona, so now we’re getting greedy. We want to be the first one on the front row. But it’s real important here right now. I think the passing’s going to be really pretty tough.”

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 4th. "I think today went ok and my position is quite good, though the conditions were strange this afternoon. We couldn't really work on choosing a race tyre as usual this afternoon because it was so slippery and there was something strange about the grip - perhaps because it was so hot. The lap times were much slower. Even with the qualifying tyre I couldn't improve on this morning's time. However, I think the position is quite good, so let's see if I can get a great start because until this afternoon everything was quite good. In free practice one, two and three everything was just about perfect."

Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 6th."I'd have liked to have been on the front row for sure and my split times were quite good this afternoon. My ideal time had me in second place, but I just didn't put one clean lap together and on my last lap I had to pass someone. The bottom line is that I've struggled a little bit all weekend and I'm not that comfortable in some parts of the track. I can get one of two quick laps here or there, it's the consistency I missing at the moment. But tomorrow's when it counts and I'm excited about the race. If we can make a few adjustments overnight we'll come in here ready and I'll be looking to get an awesome start and just give it all I've got. It's going to be a tough one no doubt, but I feel like I'm a stronger rider than last year so I'm looking forward to it."

Casey Stoner, LCR Honda: 7th. “Not much to say really. I put in some really good laps on race tyres. But when I put in the qualifying tyres everything changed and I’m not to happy running qualifiers. We tried a few combinations but I was not comfortable them, like a lot of riders here. The engine is always good so I have no problems there. We just have to sort out the chassis to cope with the bumps round this place is but we have a pretty good idea of what we need to do. There is so much chatter round here that I have had to tape up my hands to try and stop them from blistering up!”

Marco Melandri, Fortuna Honda: 9th.”This morning we worked a lot on the suspension set up of the bike and it was quite good and I felt comfortable on the bike. But in the qualifying session I got something in my eyes that made them water and I had problems seeing where I was going. From that moment on everything seemed to go wrong and the settings we used did not feel good at all. We will go back to the set up we had this morning and I am confident that they will work in the race.”

Toni Elias, Fortuna Honda: 12th. “The higher temperatures for qualifying this afternoon changed the condition of the asphalt a lot. I suffered from a lack of traction and was slightly slower on qualifying tyres than I was on race tyres this morning. The pain from my injured shoulder is quite strong and I will start the race with some medicine to dull the pain and see how it goes.”

Makoto Tamada, Konica Minolta Honda: 14th. “Basically we are running the same bike set up as we did at Donington Park and the Sachsenring with the 16.5 inch tyres. I did not get the best out of my qualifying tyres but we have a good race set up, I think I was about seventh on race set up at one point. We have a good have been working on is the suspension to get the bike to work over the bumpy track and we have a few little things to do in the warm. I was very fast in the first two sections today. My knee is still giving me a lot of pain but I will be OK for the race.”