Stoner tops qualifying at Aragon

Jorge Lorenzo took another front row this afternoon at Aragon, the remarkably consistent Spaniard putting his Fiat Yamaha machine onto the second spot on the grid to continue his record of a top-three qualification at each round this season. His team-mate Valentino Rossi had a more difficult day and will start from seventh tomorrow, at the head of the third row.

After a wet day yesterday the rain stayed away and there were even some occasional bright spells at the Spanish circuit, giving the riders some much needed dry track time. Lorenzo was consistently fast throughout the session and was pleased with how he was adapting his riding style to suit the track, which led to better grip and more confidence today. In the closing minutes he was up on the pole position time on several occasions before just missing out each time in the final split, but his final best lap was only three tenths off pole-sitter Casey Stoner and the championship leader is hopeful of being in the mix for tomorrow’s race.

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Rossi was disappointed to find himself unable to run closer to the front today, finishing this morning’s session down in 11th and only making a little headway this afternoon as he struggled to find a competitive package for the track. The 31-year-old was confident he could do a good enough lap with the softer tyre at the end of the session to put him on the second row but a small mistake lost him time and he could only qualify seventh. He and his crew will work hard tonight to try to find a way to improve their pace and the reigning World Champion will use tomorrow’s warm-up to make some last minutes adjustments before the race.

Both riders are paying their respects to Shoya Tomizawa at this race; Lorenzo by wearing a replica of the Japanese rider’s helmet and Rossi with a specially created sticker on his own helmet.

Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 2nd Time: 1’49.251 Laps: 21
“I’m riding well and I am happy about how I have improved my riding style in every practice to better suit this new track. I also understand the track better on every lap so this helps me to be faster. We are losing some time on the straight at the end of the lap so we have to be very strong in all the other parts to try to make up for it. We can’t do anything about this so it’s important that I know how to ride the rest of the track perfectly. I think tomorrow could be quite an exciting race for us and for the fans and for sure it will be a hard fight for me, but I will do my best as usual to get on the podium.”

Valentino Rossi – Position: 7th Time: 1’50.017 Laps: 20
“This morning was a bit of a disaster! This afternoon things were a bit better but we are still not that fast. Unfortunately, with the softer Bridgestone tyre at the end for my fast lap I made a small mistake and lost half a second, otherwise I think I could have been fourth. Now we have to start from the third row and the start of the race will be very important because I have to try to improve my position and stay with the leaders. We have some ideas and we will use the warm-up to try to find a way to improve our pace. It will be a hard and long race but we will do our best.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager
“Second position is good as we know it’s going to be a very tough race tomorrow. We found a good direction this afternoon; everyone else has improved as well but Jorge felt better this morning than yesterday and improved by over one second. To fight with Dani and Casey tomorrow will be a fun challenge because they look strong and have a good pace, but we will be careful and of course our target is always the podium.”

Jeremy Burgess – Crew Chief
“We’re struggling a bit here and we didn’t improve our pace today as much as we were hoping to. Starting from the third row isn’t ideal but we will look at the data tonight, come up with some ideas and use the warm-up tomorrow to check a few things and try to make sure we’ve got a bit more up our sleeves for the race.”

Spies shines at spectacular Motorland Aragon

Ben Spies set himself up perfectly for a strong showing in tomorrow’s Motorland Aragon MotoGP race after another masterful qualifying performance at the spectacular new Spanish venue this afternoon.

Spies will start from the second row of the grid for the seventh time in the last eight races after a dazzling lap of 1.49.565 saw him end a shortened 45-minute qualifying session in fifth position.

Having quickly mastered the technical and challenging 5.078km track in two practice sessions yesterday, Spies was able to significantly improve the set-up of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 in sunny but cool conditions this afternoon.

Temperatures nudged close to 20 degrees and Spies concentrated on making his YZR-M1 machine turn better in the long corners of the Motorland Aragon circuit, which has drawn universal praise from the MotoGP field for its challenging layout.

He finished only 0.059s behind compatriot Nicky Hayden in fourth place and just over 0.2s away from registering his third front row start in the last four races.

Colin Edwards will start his 100th MotoGP race for Yamaha from 11th position on the grid, the experienced American missing out on the top ten by just 0.117s.

Edwards initially attempted to qualify using the hard compound Bridgestone rear tyre, a decision that unfortunately didn’t pay off as he’d anticipated. But he still had time to use his final soft tyre option to set a best time of 1.50.440 with a determined charge on his final lap.

Ben Spies – Position: 5th Time: 1’49.565 Laps: 20
“I’m pretty happy to be on the second row again and I managed to put in some decent laps on the race tyre that bodes well for tomorrow. I can still improve the bike and make it steer better in the longer corners because in the tight and twisty sections we’ve got it working pretty well. I’m in that top six battle where I need to be and I’m satisfied with that because I’m still in that fight for the top three in the championship. The start will be crucial because we’re lacking a little bit of speed on the straight, so I need to get off the line good to try and go with those guys at the front. This track has got a lot of passing opportunities so it should be fun and a pretty good race for the fans to watch. I’m just trying to stay in that top six for the rest of the season but it is good that I’m consistently able to qualify and race with the fastest riders in MotoGP .”

Colin Edwards – Position 11th Time: 1’50.440 Laps: 19
“I started the session on the hard tyre and then switched to the softer compound to try and get my grid position but I had a bit of spinning and couldn’t really get the best out of it. At that point I thought it would be better to try and qualify with the hard tyre because it was a bit more stable and I’d been able to run a better lap time. So for the last run I had a new hard and a new soft tyre to choose from and I went for the hard. All weekend I’d gone faster on the hard tyre but the last one I couldn’t get the same feeling. I came back in with only four minutes to go and put the last soft tyre in knowing I’d only get one lap in. I scrubbed the tyre off as good as I could on the out lap and got my head down but I made a couple of really small mistakes that cost me a couple of places on the grid. Tomorrow is my 100th race for Yamaha and as always I’ll be giving it the best effort I can.”

—  Ducati Report

Ducati Marlboro Team rider Casey Stoner will start the inaugural Grand Prix of Aragon from the front of the grid tomorrow after taking an historic first pole position at the Motorland circuit this afternoon. Nicky Hayden is also aiming to force his way into the record books as part of a two-pronged assault on the podium after qualifying fourth, meaning he will line up directly behind his team-mate on the grid.

Slightly modified weight distribution seemed to give Stoner extra speed today, with the Australian reporting improved rear grip and solid handling through the constant direction changes around this circuit. Hayden, meanwhile, benefitted from the switch to a different aerodynamics package – featuring a larger front fairing – that proved crucial today, with this circuit featuring the longest straight on the MotoGP calendar.

CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 1st (1’48.942)
“We’ve been trying different things for the last few weekends to try and get the bike more competitive without making really big progress but it looks like we might have found something here. We’ve changed the weight distribution a little bit and it has given me more grip and confidence. Maybe it’s just the fact the bike suits this place but either way we’ve got to be happy to be back on pole for the first time since Qatar. I also like riding at new circuits – when you haven’t already done a million laps around a place it’s always refreshing. We have to wait and see how the race pans out and see if I can run with these guys because we’ve had a few false dawns already this season so we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves but we feel good in race trim and I’m looking forward to it.”

NICKY HAYDEN – (Ducati Marlboro Team) 4th (1’49.506)
“Overall it’s been a positive day. We have had two dry sessions and I had fun – we constantly made the bike a little bit faster and even though it would have been nice to be on the front row, we’re only a tenth off, the team is doing a great job and we have to be satisfied. For Casey and I to be in the top four shows that the bike is working really well around here. On the Ducati simulator the best lap I had was a 1’49.1 and the pole time was a 1’48.9 so that’s impressive, somebody back in Bologna is doing their homework! They’re doing a great job and tomorrow it’s my turn to try and bring something home for the team.”

—  HRC

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) will launch his bid for his first MotoGP hat-trick from the front row of the grid at Aragon tomorrow. The Spaniard – winner of the last two races at Indianapolis and Misano – ended qualifying session a close third fastest after leading much of the session.

Second fastest after free practice, Pedrosa was in confident mood for the first-ever MotoGP qualifying session at Aragon, the only wholly new Grand Prix circuit on this year’s calendar. Like the vast majority of riders, Pedrosa is enjoying the new venue, which is set out across the hillside a few kilometres from the town of Alcaniz in the province of Aragon in Spain’s north east.

The circuit layout is mostly medium speed and flowing, with a meandering middle section across a hillside, with plenty of blind corner entries and off-camber curves. The topography flattens out somewhat in the final section, which is mostly made up of the long back straight and the start/finish straight.

Aragon isn’t all that’s new this weekend – the practice and qualifying programme is also different. Following rider requests the schedule has been changed from three one hour sessions to four 45 minute sessions because this gives teams more time to implement adjustments between sessions. If deemed a success, the new format could become the standard at all races.

Pedrosa is using the impressive power and rider-friendly handling of his RC212V to great effect here. On his final lap of the afternoon he looked like he might outrun pole position man Casey Stoner (Ducati). After the first two sectors he was two tenths ahead, but then he ran off the track and that was the end of that attack lap. Nevertheless he is happy with his race pace and is sure to feature up front tomorrow, along with fellow front-row starters Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha).

Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V) produced another excellent performance, securing a second-row start for the second successive race.
And the Frenchman has more than that to be happy about – this is the first time since he broke a leg during July’s German GP that he has close enough to full fitness to really enjoy riding again.

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V) was fast throughout the sessions, but lacked that extra bit of speed during the all-important final stages of qualifying that would have claimed a better position on the grid. The Italian was eighth fastest which puts him on the third row, which will make this another challenging race.  Dovizioso is aiming to adjust his machine for the pre-race warm up to improve mid-corner speed and fine tune the handling.

Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) rode a great last lap to promote himself to the third row of the grid, the hard-riding Italian rookie’s fastest lap leaving him only just over a tenth of a second shy of a second row start.  Nonetheless, Simoncelli is confident he can be fast enough tomorrow to go for a top-six result.  Team-mate Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) had a more disappointing session, taking 14th place.

Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP RC212V) had a difficult two days of practice and qualifying, struggling to find that last bit of speed required to put him in the midst of the MotoGP pack. He qualified 15th and will need an excellent start if he’s to get away with a good group.

The contest for pole position in the Honda-powered Moto2 class was as hectic as ever, with the fastest three ending the session separated by just 0.046 seconds.

Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team, Suter) had the upper hand for much of the 45 minutes, but with ten minutes to go he was bettered by Alex De Angelis (JIR Moto2, Motobi). Redding still had more to give, however, and with five minutes remaining he sneaked ahead of his San Marino rival, by just five thousandths of a second. Finally it was Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up, Speed Up) who took pole, the Italian’s last lap putting him four hundredths ahead of Redding.

World Championship leader Toni Elias (Gresini Racing Moto2, Moriwaki) had a more difficult qualifying outing. He slid off at the first turn with 15 minutes to go while lying seventh fastest, and although he managed to continue, his hopes of getting a place on the front two rows were over. Winner of the last four Moto2 races, the Spaniard completed today in 12th spot.

Julian Simon (Mapfre Aspar Team, Suter) was the last man on the front row, less than two tenths slower than De Angelis. Row two is Simone Corsi (JIR Moto2, Motobi), Claudio Corti (Forward Racing, Suter), Gabor Talmacsi (Fimmco Speed Up, Speed Up) and newcomer Moto2 Michele Pirro (Gresini Racing Moto2, Moriwaki).

Elias, like most riders here, is wearing a tribute to Shoya Tomizawa, the Japanese Moto2 rider who died following a crash at Misano two weeks ago. Elias’ helmet bears the number 48, Tomizawa’s riding number, which has been permanently retired from the Moto2 class.

Marcel Schrötter (Interwetten Honda 125 Team) would have done better than 19th in the 125 qualifying if he hadn’t ran off the track during his fastest lap. Pole position went to World Championship leader Marc Marquez (Derbi).

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda RC212V: 3rd, 1m 49.343s “I’m happy to be on the front row as this was our main target for this afternoon’s session. I just made a little mistake and ran wide on my last fast lap when I was going well and was 0.2s ahead, so I think pole position could have been possible, but the front row is the important thing. So now we must just stay focused and get a good start because the first corner is quite near to the start line which means it will be important to get a clean run into there. It’s a new track where we haven’t raced before so the main question is how the tyres will work over a full race distance. Our performance over the last few races has been great and I want to try as hard as possible for the victory here. Everyone has come into this weekend with a blank sheet of paper so maybe it could be one of the most open races of the season.”

Randy de Puniet, LCR Honda RC212V: 6th, 1m 49.952s “After yesterday’s engine-braking issues, the guys worked in the right way to improve the bike and this second row makes me very confident for tomorrow’s race. We just lacked some rear grip in this morning’s session but we made another step forward in the afternoon. I am finally enjoying riding my bike after the bad injury I suffered in Germany. The last month has been very tough for me but now I feel in good shape again and more consistent on this track compared to Misano. I am not at 100% yet and I know that this race will be close but I feel more comfortable now and it seems I do not need to push hard to be fast and this is very positive.”

Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda RC212V: 8th, 1m 50.046s “Our race pace is reasonable, but to be honest I’m not very happy with the session, and starting from the third row is not where we wanted to be. It’s difficult because we’re lacking some speed and we haven’t narrowed it down to one particular problem. So we need to look at the data and try to analyse what changes we can make for the warm-up tomorrow. We need to improve our speed in the centre of the corners and also the fluidity of the handling. For the race our pace is not so bad but starting from the third row is a handicap – especially because the first corner is very slow and so you cannot easily recover positions there. Still, we’ve proved previously that we can have a good race from this position and that’s what we’ll try to do again.”

Marco Simoncelli, San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V: 9th, 1m 50.088s “I am pretty happy because I think we were quite strong today but to be completely honest I was hoping to be on the second row and we only missed it by just over a tenth. Anyway, things are going quite well and we’ll see if we can use the information from today to make more improvements for the race. I spent most of the session riding alone and I haven’t got much of a reference from the other riders as to where I can improve. Maybe that will change in the race and I am confident I can finally finish in the top six.”

Marco Melandri, San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V: 14th, 1m 50.580s “It has been a very disappointing session. We tried changing the geometry on one of the bikes to improve it but as usual whenever we try to change something and push harder the situation is worse. We still have problems with the front on the soft tyre and we are not improving. Once again I have to start from the fifth row and all we can do is wait and see what kind of race it is tomorrow although I’m not expecting a great result.”

Hiroshi Aoyama, Interwetten Honda MotoGP RC212V: 15th, 1m 50.836s “Of course I am not satisfied with this position, but we improved regarding this morning and I hope we can continue in this direction. I also hope it will stay dry tomorrow as I prefer the layout of the track in the dry. I hope I will have a good start and can catch the group in front as I was not able to do that in the last race.”

—  Suzuki Report

Rizla Suzuki’s Álvaro Bautista made steady progress during today’s final practice and qualifying sessions at Aragon in Spain to earn himself a fourth row start for tomorrow’s race.

Bautista (P12, 1’50.523, 21 laps) improved throughout the two sessions before posting his fastest lap of the day right at the very end of qualifying. He was hampered in this morning’s practice by a crash, but was able to walk away and return to the pits completely uninjured. Bautista’s race pace throughout the day was very consistent and the improvements he has made in his riding and to the bike’s settings look like giving him a competitive edge in Sunday’s race.

Today’s qualifying was held in warm and sunny conditions with track temperatures finally heating up to a respectable 26ºC after yesterday’s heavy rain. Casey Stoner took pole position on his Ducati, with World Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa filling the remaining front row places.

Tomorrow’s 23-lap race will be the first MotoGP that the Motorland Aragon circuit has staged and the lights will change to go for that historic moment at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT).

Álvaro Bautista: “Today I have improved my lap time and I’m quite happy with the progress we have made. I crashed this morning and lost some time, but fortunately there wasn’t any physical problem for me. I tried two different gearboxes in this morning’s session and we chose the best one and concentrated on riding with that one this afternoon. With the race tyre this afternoon my rhythm was not too bad and when I put on the softer compound rear tyre at the end of the qualifying session I was able to improve my times. The grid position is not that good, but we are very close to the guys in front. If I get a good start tomorrow I feel confident that I can fight to be in the top six. The positive thing about my qualifying time is that I did it on my own and didn’t follow another rider – like some of the others guys out there did. I want to have a good race here tomorrow because it is another home event and I have a lot of fans here to support me, so it is important I put on a good show for them.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager: “Álvaro’s made big steps forward today, but despite that he is far from happy with 12th on the grid, especially when just over half-of-a-second off his time would have seen him on the second row. His race pace is very consistent and the bike is very stable on the brakes, so he is hoping to make some aggressive passes tomorrow in the early laps and fight back towards the front group as quickly as he can.”

—  Bridgestone Report

Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Medium, Extra Hard. Rear: Soft, Medium
Ducati Team’s Casey Stoner took his first pole position since the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix at Aragon today with an effort on his penultimate lap that took him 0.3seconds clear of the field and the only man to lap below the 1m49s mark. Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo continues his perfect front-row record with second fastest, a fraction of a second ahead of compatriot and closest championship rival Dani Pedrosa.

Every rider except Hiroshi Aoyama used the softer option rear tyre for their fastest laps, but front tyre choice was mixed. Stoner used the harder option front, as did Pedrosa and fourth-placed Nicky Hayden, but Lorenzo, Ben Spies and Valentino Rossi all used the softer option.

Conditions for qualifying, reduced to 45 minutes as a result of the reinstatement of the Friday morning practice session, were fine and dry and the track was the cleanest it has been all weekend. As a result, Stoner’s pole time was 1.7seconds faster than the best time set yesterday.

Tohru Ubukata – Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department “Track conditions today were better than yesterday but the surface was still dirty and slippery so I didn’t expect Casey’s 1minute 48second lap which was very fast. Today riders were able to evaluate both available tyre specs ahead of tomorrow’s race, and from today’s results it looks like front race choice will be mixed with both working well.

“For the rear tyres, the harder option will be preferable from a degradation point of view because this circuit has some uphill corners where the riders are accelerating hard and this demands a lot in terms of traction, and because the track surface is still dusty which increases wear appearance. The key point for tomorrow’s race will be managing tyre performance over race distance in these conditions.”