Valentino Rossi survived a late crash during qualifying at the Cardion ab Czech Republic Grand Prix to take his fifth pole position of the season, in clear and sunny conditions at the undulating Brno track.
At one of his favourite venues on the calendar Rossi took his Yamaha M1 round the circuit in 1’56.145 on the 21st of his 23 laps after a battle for supremacy with his team-mate and closest World Championship rival Jorge Lorenzo – who trails him by 25 points in the standings and was 0.05s behind the Italian in this session.
Lorenzo has looked good throughout the weekend and will be confident of pushing Rossi hard in Sunday’s race. Perhaps the Spaniard will take heart from Rossi’s late crash as he seeks to keep the pressure on from the other side of the Fiat Yamaha pit-box.
In the absence of Casey Stoner, who is on sick leave for three rounds, Dani Pedrosa could be the biggest threat to Rossi and Lorenzo, with the talented Repsol Honda rider having qualified in third place, just under four tenths down on Rossi.
Toni Elías, meanwhile, reacted well to the news that he will not be riding for the San Carlo Honda Gresini team next year, placing himself at the front of the second row on his RC212V.
With Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) qualifying fifth to seventh respectively the top seven was dominated by Yamaha and Honda.
De Angelis will be joined on the third row by Ducati’s Nicky Hayden and Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi, who survived a scary moment to qualify ninth. There was a crash for temporary factory Ducati stand-in Mika Kallio who placed tenth, whilst Randy de Puniet ran off track at one stage and qualified 13th.
World Champion Marco Simoncelli stepped up his pace to take his third pole of the year in the 250cc class, with the Metis Gilera man holding off a late challenge from the pretender to his crown, Hiroshi Aoyama.
The Italian had already looked set for his third pole of the year in the final stages of the session when Scot Racing’s championship leader Aoyama laid down a time off 2’01.961 to take provisional pole. Nonetheless Simoncelli fought back on his final lap, riding around Alex Debon (Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens) to improve on Aoyama’s best by 0.35s.
Héctor Barberá has been in good form so far this weekend and in great form in recent qualifying sessions but he could not add to his three poles from the last four GPs as he qualified in third place for the Pepe World Team, 0.453s behind Simoncelli and just ahead of Debon – who completed the front row.
The second row will comprise Mike di Meglio (Mapfre Aspar), Roberto Locatelli (Metis Gilera), Mattia Pasini (Team Toth Aprilia) and an off-colour Álvaro Bautista (Mapfre Aspar Team), who was more than a second off Simoncelli’s pace and crashed without consequence with less than four minutes remaining.
Ongetta Team ISPA rider Andrea Iannone sent out a reminder of his talent to the rest of the 125cc grid with pole position the smaller category.
The young Italian rider’s 2’08.171s time on the 12th of his 14th laps was enough to put him at the head of the grid in front of second fastest competitor Nico Terol (Jack & Jones Team) who lapped 0.3s behind him.
The front row of the grid for the tenth 125cc race of the year is completed by German rider Sandro Cortese (Ajo Interwetten) and World Championship leader Julián Simón (Bancaja Aspar), that pair going round with a similar pace to Terol’s.
Simón’s British team-mate Bradley Smith will start in fifth place, having lapped 0.786s down on Iannone, and the Oxfordshire teenager is to be joined by Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing), Aspar colleague Sergio Gadea and Pol Espargaró (Derbi Racing Team) on row two.
A disappointing session for Marc Márquez (Red Bull KTM) saw him qualify down in 20th place having crashed towards the end of QP, whilst the young Spaniard’s team-mate Cameron Beaubier misses Sunday’s race due to the fractured left collarbone which he sustained on Saturday morning.
MotoGP Qualifying Results
- Rossi 1m56.14
- Lorenzo 1m56.29
- Pedrosa 1m56.52
- Elias 1m56.81
- Edwards 1m56.95
- Dovizioso 1m57.10
- De Angelis 1m57.77
- Hayden 1m57.80
- Capirossi 1m57.81
- Kallio 1m57.99
- Vermeulen 1m58.08
- Canepa 1m58.20
- De Puniet 1m58.29
- Toseland 1m58.33
- Melandri 1m58.47
- Fabrizio 1m58.68
- Talmacsi 1m58.74
— Ducati Report
Nicky Hayden continued to make gradual improvements to both machine set-up and overall classification today as he posted the eighth fastest time in qualifying practice for tomorrow’s Czech Republic Grand Prix. The American held on to a third row spot – his second best grid position of the season – despite an intense finale to the session, which saw his stand-in team-mate Mika Kallio secure tenth place for his Ducati Marlboro Team debut despite a late crash while he was pushing for a even faster lap.
NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team) (8th; 1’57.803)
“I was hoping to go faster than that but qualifying has been a weak point for us this year and I always seem to struggle to make a significant improvement when everybody else is pushing for times right at the end. Considering that I’m pleased that I was able to keep improving right to the end and hang on to what is a decent position for us compared to a lot of our qualifying results so far this season. The team have done a good job here. We’ve made some big changes to the geometry here and we’re improving. It isn’t quite showing in the lap time yet but we keep getting faster and if we can take another step forward tomorrow we can have a good race. The top three are going so quick this weekend it’s unbelievable but nonetheless we’ve done a good job so far and we’re looking to make more improvements in the warm-up and in the race.”
MIKA KALLIO (Ducati Marlboro Team) (10th; 1’57.994)
“Up until the crash things were going really well and without it I think we could have qualified at least in seventh place, which we were only two tenths off. I take the blame for the crash but I didn’t really do anything different and the front washed away. We’ve been experimenting with different suspension angles on the two bikes and like yesterday they both have their strengths and weaknesses that we need to look at tonight and make some decisions about. We improved the situation with the rear grip on the left side but it seems we are still struggling to get heat into the tyre so this also needs more work in the warm-up. Anyway, my grid position is not what we hoped for but it’s not bad and I equalled my best lap today on a rear tyre with twenty laps on it, so the signs are promising for the race tomorrow. I’m excited and really looking forward to the race.”
— HRC Report
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) will start tomorrow’s Czech Grand Prix from the front row of the grid after a strong run in this afternoon’s sun-soaked qualifying session at Brno. The Spaniard was third fastest in the outing, for his fifth front-row start this year, just behind Yamaha duo Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo.
Pedrosa may have been faster if he hadn’t found some traffic at the most crucial stage of the session and is convinced he will be able to fight for the win if his crew can fine tune his set-up before morning warm-up. Most of all, Pedrosa is looking for more consistency in his lap times. His RC212V is certainly performing well here, heading the top speed charts at 301.8km/h.
Compatriot Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini) put in a sterling performance to lead the second row, less than three tenths slower than Pedrosa. Elias has shown a steady and marked improvement in recent races, enough to make him confident of a good result here. Yesterday he worked hard on honing his RCV’s electronics set-up for this track, yielding excellent results which allowed him to up his pace today.
British GP winner Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) completes the second row in sixth place, having reduced the gap between himself and the leaders in the qualifying session. Most importantly the Italian has improved his race pace and is sure he can be faster in the race if a few overnight tweaks give him more performance.
Like team-mate Elias, Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) has been steadily building speed in recent outings and the San Marino rider was in excellent form once again today, taking seventh place immediately behind Dovizioso. During the session De Angelis ran into some difficulties with his machine running wide through the corners, but a clever set-up adjustment in the final few minutes of the hour-long outing cured the problem.
Unlucky Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) was 13th fastest, riding in some discomfort after breaking bones in his left ankle last Saturday. The Frenchman was riding a motocross training session when he fell and sustained the injury. He had the damaged bones screwed to allow him to ride here and underwent pain-killing injections before going out to qualify. In the circumstances, 13th place, just 2.1 seconds off pole position, is a brave result.
Thousands of Hungarian fans flocked into the Brno circuit this morning to cheer on Gabor Talmacsi (Scot Honda) in his first MotoGP qualifying session in eastern Europe. The former 125 World Champion ended the day 17th, 2.6 seconds off Rossi’s pole time, working hard with his crew to find more grip to cure an understeer problem.
Current 250 World Championship leader Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Honda) qualified a brilliant second fastest in the 250 class, even though the Japanese thought he had done enough to secure pole position. Aoyama had been fastest with a minute to go, before reigning 250 World Champion Marco Simoncelli (Gilera) bettered him by just three tenths. Nonetheless, Aoyama, who has already won three races this year, believes he can aim for another big points haul tomorrow, especially if his crew can make improvements overnight.
Young team-mate Raffaele De Rosa (Scot Honda) also impressed, claiming ninth spot on the grid, missing out on a second row start by just 0.020 seconds. De Rosa worked hard throughout practice and qualifying to improve grip and corner-entry performance.
Hector Faubel (Valencia CF-Honda SAG) is looking forward to showing his real pace in tomorrow’s race after his attempts to get a better grid position were foiled by slower riders in the final moments of qualifying. The Spaniard’s team-mate Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda
PTT-SAG) found a good pace after making adjustments to his engine set-up this afternoon, ending qualifying immediately behind team-mate Faubel. The Thai rider is confident he can run a good pace tomorrow.
Team-mates Shoya Tomizawa (Team CIP Honda) and Valentin Debise (Team CIP Honda) are both Brno first-timers; this extra-wide track always taking a while to learn. Tomizawa crashed this morning, losing half the session, but still managed to qualify 16th fastest. Debise was 20th despite having some difficulties with chatter. Bastien Chesaux (Racing Team Germany Honda) was 21st. The youngster was faster in this morning’s session and is now working on a set-up that will allow him to find more speed in the afternoon heat.
HONDA MotoGP RIDER LAP TIMES AND QUOTES
Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 3rd – 1m 56.528s.
“I’m happy enough with today because we’re on the front row and that’s the most important thing to achieve in qualifying. I think I could have gone even quicker at the end of the session, but on my final run lap I had a lot of traffic and I had to do two slow laps until I found a clear track. Still, I think we had some more potential to go faster so this is positive. For tomorrow we still have to improve the set-up and achieve a little more consistency in our lap times so that I can run at the front. I like this circuit and I’ve had some good results here previously, so I hope I can make a quick start and fight for the win tomorrow.”
Toni Elias, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 4th – 1m 56.817s.
“We’ve been strong in every session, always among the top six and to have qualified fourth, we can’t ask for much more. We worked hard to solve the problems we had yesterday and now the objective is to get a good start and try and follow the lead group. It is going to be difficult because the top three are all fast riders on top material but you never know what can happen in racing. The important thing from our point of view is that we’re close. We have been to two tracks recently in Donington and Sachsenring that I don’t like but I love it here and it shows. Hopefully it will show in the race tomorrow too!”
Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda: 6th – 1m 57.108s.
“During the qualifying session we improved the race pace and reduced the gap to the leaders by about four tenths, so this is a positive move. We were further away than that yesterday and this morning so we’re going in the right direction. We still need to go quicker if we want to fight for the lead in the race tomorrow so me and the engineers will be working on a few set-up areas that will, hopefully, give us an extra edge and allow us to compete at the front. In terms of the tyre choice we’ll be going for the hard compound Bridgestones. There’s only a small difference between the compounds but the hard tyre is the choice – no question. We’ll aim to get the most of the warm-up session and give it everything in the race.”
Alex De Angelis, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 7th – 1m 57.775s.
“I’m really pleased because we had some problems during the session getting the bike to hold its line through the corners – it kept wanting to run wide – but we found a solution in the final few minutes without having to dramatically alter the general balance of the bike. I felt I could go faster and that proved to be the case and now I think we have even more room for improvement before tomorrow. I think at any racetrack a position inside the top eight or even ten is a good result for us and that is the target for tomorrow, although the most important thing is to bring it home in the points.”
Randy de Puniet, LCR Honda: 13th – 1m 58.298s.
“Well… it’s extremely tough for me but I am satisfied about my performance. I am still walking on crutches but when I come out on the track I absolutely want to do the best despite my condition. The team is doing an excellent job to adjust the bike as I can’t give them any specific set-up information. My foot is getting better but it aches so much! We are really pleased about our pace and every day is a step closer to making a full recover. I won’t be easy to maintain my best rhythm for 22 laps but we have the potential to score some points.”
Gabor Talmacsi, Scot Honda: 17th – 1m 58.749s.
“I expected something more. The point is that we are experiencing the same lack of grip we had in the previous race. I feel I can go faster, but when I open the throttle the bike goes wide and off the best line, where there is less grip. There are are eight riders within seven tenths of each other, so there’s not much of a gap between me and the guys in tenth and 11th. We must find a solution to improve our set-up. My crew will analyze the data; then we will test something different tomorrow morning, in the warm-up.”
— Suzuki Report
Loris Capirossi will start tomorrow’s Czech Republic Grand Prix from the third row of the grid after qualifying in ninth place following a difficult session at Brno today.
Capirossi (1’57.811, 21 laps) suffered a combination of difficulties during this afternoon’s session that hampered his quest for higher place start in tomorrow’s race. Capirossi will be working with his crew this evening as the team try to find a solution to enable the Italian to battle for a competitive result on Sunday.
Chris Vermeulen (P11, 1’58.087, 26 laps) will start on the row behind his team-mate in tomorrow’s 22-lap race. He was one of the busiest riders on track this afternoon as he completed 26 laps of the 5.403m Brno circuit. Vermeulen made big improvements throughout the hour-long session and was pleased with his work at the end, although he was also sure there is more to come.
Today’s qualifying was held in warm and sunny conditions with track temperatures reaching 42ºC. World Championship leader Valentino Rossi set the fastest time and will start from pole position on his factory Yamaha. The race gets underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT).
Loris Capirossi:
“Today has been a bit strange for us because this morning we tried to sort out a good engine delivery and setting, and we found a good combination. We started this afternoon with the same bike but we had an electronic problem on the first couple of times I went out. We tried to fix it and on the third run it seemed ok, but when I put in a softer tyre to try to get a better lap-time the bike just didn’t work right and I had a lot of vibration. I went into the pits to try and get a better time on the second bike, but it was too late and I missed out on a higher position. Our target was for a minimum second row start and we had the potential for that, but we lost something in the afternoon. We need to find out what happened because it is not easy to understand. The new engine is certainly better and I thank Suzuki for that. Our target for tomorrow is really high, if we can find out what caused the problems today!”
Chris Vermeulen:
“Today was a lot better – especially in qualifying. We have struggled with rear grip here this weekend and the engineers made some big changes this afternoon. One of the directions we took was very good and it got some weight on to the rear and gave me a lot more grip. It was the most comfortable I’ve been on the bike for the last three or four races, so that was a really good job by everyone to sort that out. Today we have gone the fastest we have ever done on race tyres at Brno, so that is also a good sign. The race will still be tough from the third row, but we’re going to try something else in warm-up tomorrow morning in the same direction and see if we can help the bike a bit more.”
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“I think Loris has done well to be as positive as possible about the qualifying session, because to be quite truthful it was a bit of a disaster and we had some problems. It was impossible for Loris to get near his – or the bike’s – potential. He did a 57.3 lap-time this morning on 20-lap tyres, so to only do 57.8 in qualifying mode shows we clearly had problems. He was capable of a second row start today and that’s where we should have been. The good news is that he is pumped for tomorrow and if he can get away well from the third row there is still the chance of a good result.
“Chris took a step in confidence during qualifying and was a lot happier with the GSV-R than he has been all weekend; he’s also starting to flow around the track a lot better. At the end though, it’s not where he wants to be on the grid, but I think Chris is now in a better frame of mind for the race and he will be going for it tomorrow.”
— Yamaha Report
Valentino Rossi became the first rider since the advent of the one-tyre rule to dip under an existing pole position record in the Czech Republic today, taking his third consecutive pole position despite sliding off into the gravel trap with just a few minutes remaining. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo qualified second, continuing his 100% front-row qualifying record for the season.
Lorenzo had ruled the standings in both previous sessions and it looked like being the same story again this afternoon, as the Mallorcan went straight to the top and then continued to improve his time around the undulating Brno circuit. Sitting just four thousandths of a second off Rossi’s 2006 pole position record, Lorenzo looked likely to be the one to smash it but it was the World Champion who did so with a brilliant lap with eight minutes left on the clock, shaving 0.046 seconds off the time he set on the way to second place three years ago, back in the days of 990ccc engines.
The drama wasn’t over however as Rossi, pushing hard with two minutes remaining, lost the front in the second sector and slid into the gravel, luckily emerging unscathed. Lorenzo made a last minute assault on the Italian’s time but was caught in traffic and the 22-year-old had to be content with second position. The pair are joined on the front row by Dani Pedrosa, with Tech 3 Yamaha rider Colin Edwards putting in another strong performance to qualify in sixth.
Today sees the launch of the Fiat Yamaha Team’s official new fan website, www.FiatYamahaTeam.it, where followers of the team can keep up to date with team news, view the latest photos, enter competitions, follow a live blog and learn more about the team and riders.
Valentino Rossi – Position: 1stTime: 1’56.145Laps: 23
“Pole position is great, but the most important thing is that I’m okay after the crash. I have a bit of pain in my right thumb but that’s all, so I think I’ve been quite lucky. I’ll get it checked out at the Clinica Mobile later but I don’t think it’s anything bad. This weekend only one of the front tyres is working well for us, which means we only have four for the weekend, so we’re putting quite a lot of stress on just a few tyres. I arrived to brake very deep and just lost the front, it was unlucky. Anyway, we did a great job in the session and being on pole again is important. We have a good race pace and I think it’s possible to be competitive tomorrow.”
Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 2ndTime: 1’56.195Laps: 26
“This morning we tried the softer Bridgestone tyre but I didn’t feel so good on it. This afternoon we gave it another chance but again it didn’t seem to work so well, so we decided to just concentrate on the harder tyre. I had a very strong pace and like yesterday I felt very comfortable on the bike, but I couldn’t quite get the pole position today. Being on the front row is always important though and we’ve reached this target; we know that we’re very fast. Everyone is excited and motivated as usual and we’re confident that we have the race set-up to allow us to challenge tomorrow.”
Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“We’re in pole but Valentino’s crash was unfortunate, on a lap that might have been even faster! The most important thing is that he is okay, which is a big relief for us all. By the end of the session we’d found a good setting and it looks like tomorrow could be another big battle, let’s hope we’re a part of it! Lorenzo and Pedrosa are very motivated and look very strong so let’s see what happens.”
Daniele Romagnoli – Team Manager
“It’s very good to start from the front row again and we’re happy about this. Unfortunately today we didn’t improve our lap time on the soft tyres and so we decided to do the last minute ‘time-attack’ on race tyres, then Jorge also encountered some traffic on his final lap. Anyway we are positive for the race because our pace today was pretty fast, we’re just looking at one or two small areas which we think we can improve for the race.”
Edwards battles to second row, Toseland 14th in Brno
Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider Colin Edwards produced a gritty qualifying performance this afternoon to equal his best grid position of the season at a hot and sunny Brno.
Despite being less than 100 per cent fit after he needed treatment for a swollen neck gland, the Texan secured his eighth top six grid position of the season in preparation for round 11 of the 2009 MotoGP world championship tomorrow. Edwards clocked a best time of 1.56.964 on his last lap, the 35-year-old finishing less than 0.5s from claiming his first front row start of the season. Working closely with his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew, front-end changes to improve turning on his YZR-M1 machine have bolstered Edwards’ hopes of claiming a maiden top six finish in the Czech Republic MotoGP.
British rider James Toseland is confident he can challenge for a top ten position in tomorrow’s 22-lap race. He will start from the fifth row of the grid having missed out on a top ten grid position by less than 0.4s. Toseland clocked a best time of 1.58.331 and the 28-year-old will focus on improving rear grip on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine as he looks for a fourth top ten finish in five races.
Colin Edwards 5th 1.56.954 – 23 laps
“I’m pretty happy considering how I felt today. The last couple of days, one of the glands in my neck was pretty badly swollen up, so I was given some medicine to help it. But the doctor told me to make sure I had a full stomach when I took it. But this morning I only had a bowl of cereal and then I took the medicine. And after that I felt awful. After practice this morning I was white as a sheet and not feeling great at all. My stomach and head were feeling pretty rough and I just felt way short of my best for the rest of the day. So considering that I’m happy to have qualified fifth. I’d say Dani Pedrosa’s time was reachable in third but it would have taken a great lap to do that, and I’m not sure I had it in me physically today. I’ve been going great all weekend and my team have done a phenomenal job. We put some more weight on the front that has really helped get the bike to turn and that’s crucial at this track. I’ve never had a top six at this track but hopefully I’ll change that tomorrow and hopefully I’ll be feeling better.”
James Toseland 14th 1.58.331- 22 laps
“Obviously I’m not happy to be down in 14th and being that far back is going to make it a tough race. I’m frustrated because we changed the bike for the last soft tyre and I didn’t have the rear grip I needed to push for a better time. I had a lot of wheelspin with the final soft tyre so I couldn’t really push and I’ve given myself a hard job for the race. We’ll try and make the bike more balanced for the race tomorrow because at the moment I don’t have enough rear grip. I’ve qualified outside of the top ten a couple of times before this season and been able to fight my back into the top ten during the race. So I’m hoping to be able to do the same tomorrow.”
— Bridgestone Report
Front – Hard, Extra hard. Rear – Medium, Hard
Using the harder front and the softer rear Bridgestone slicks to set his fastest lap, Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi claimed his fifth pole position of the season and his third consecutively from the last three races.
This season there are no qualifying tyres, and so the field set their qualifying times on Bridgestone’s race tyres. Rossi’s pole time was quicker than the fastest pole time at the Brno circuit, set by the Italian in 2006 when the field were using super-sticky qualifying tyres designed to last just a few laps, indicating the improvements in Bridgestone’s tyre technology and the circuit’s resurfaced tarmac alike.
As the temperature was hotter than yesterday, the extra hard compound front Bridgestone slicks were the favoured choice for their increased durability in the heat and on Brno’s abrasive tarmac.
The softer rear option was the favoured choice for qualifying, although Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo demonstrated that the hard rear tyre performed equally well and thus, with its improved durability, it is likely to be the favoured choice for the race.
Having topped the timesheets for most of the session, Lorenzo missed out on pole by just 0.05seconds and will start tomorrow’s race from second. The Spaniard has started every race this season, his first in MotoGP on Bridgestone tyres, from the front row.
Also using the harder rear Bridgestone slick on his fastest lap, Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa was third fastest to complete tomorrow’s front row and secure his fifth top-three start of the season.
Tohru Ubukata – Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development
“The lap-time difference between the two slick tyre compounds was not so significant today because the track temperature was at a point at which both options performed equally well – not too hot for the softer tyres and sufficiently warm for the harder spec. Valentino was fastest using a harder front and softer rear, whereas Jorge and Dani were second and third using a harder rear so this shows that the two compounds have a degree of crossover. “Based on this, tomorrow we can expect that the harder compound option will be the best choice for the race for both front and rear as the performance between softer and harder is very similar but the harder spec will give better durability over the race distance.”
— Red Bull Rookies
Florian Marino won a sensational 10 man battle to the line to claim his first Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup victory. The 16 year old Frenchman fought off Briton Danny Kent and Italian Alejandro Pardo, both 15, with the first 10 all crossing the line within 2.3 seconds.
17 year old Norwegian Sturla Fagerhaug finished 5th and now has a 3 point advantage over arch rival Jakub Kornfeil, the 16 year old Czech who was 8th. With the final race tomorrow at the end of the Cardion AB Grand Prix of the Czech Republic at Brno, the Cup battle is still open to the top 4 in the points table as Hiura finished 6th and is now 19 points behind Fagerhaug and Kent has 22 to make up from his 4th position in the table.
Marino could even tie on points with Fagerhaug as there are 25 points for the race win but would loose the Cup on number of race wins. All he cares about now is his first win and was happy to talk about the way his plan worked so perfectly. “With about three laps to go I was sixth and I thought about where I could pass people and where they could pass me. So I was happy not to be leading and planned to pass everyone on the downhill half of the track. I did it; but breaking into that last right hander at the bottom I was so so late on the brakes, I thought, ‘I’m going to crash, ‘I’m going to crash.’ but I didn’t, I was in front, then on the gas and back up the hill to the finish.”
He gives full credit to Rider Coach Gustl Auinger for his first Rookies win after finishing 4th 3 times. “After Donington my head was not good and I said to Gustl, ‘what do I have to do to win?’ He told me that I have to think like a winner and concentrate on that and not the other riders behind. So I fixed on that this weekend.”
Kent also enjoyed his ride to second and just wished the finish-line was in a different place. “I was closing on him and if the line had been a bit further down the track I could have won it. Never mind, I’ll try again tomorrow. It was a great race though. Early on I had a look back and saw that we were about 10 guys. I thought then that if we had a big crash and the race got red flagged I needed to be in the front so any time someone passed me I just passed them straight back.”
Such a sensational race produced many great tales including the incredible ride to 3rd put in by Alejandro Pardo. He gave himself a lot of work to do. “I made a terrible start, the KTM is so different to my own bike and I just can’t seem to get used to it. After the first few laps I saw that the lead group was 2 or 3 seconds ahead but I soon realised that the gap wasn’t getting bigger and I just said to myself, ‘you can do it’. I just tried the maximum and caught them. I never thought that I would be able to get on the podium but when I caught the group I just passed everyone where I could and made it, incredible.”
His brilliant effort pushed Jake Gagne into 4th, a shame for the 15 year old Californian who had led the race for a good share of the distance even though he is new to the circuit. He looked like he might win it but in the end was unlucky. “I didn’t know it was the last lap. I looked at the lap counter and saw it was 6 laps to go, those 6 laps just went past quicker than I expected. On that last lap Marino came past then Danny surprised me as he went through and I got off line. That spoilt my drive up the hill a bit and that is how Pardo got by.”
Going onto that last lap it was Cup leader Fagerhaug who was in front of Marino, Gagne and Kent but it was never going to be a boring last lap as Fagerhaug explained. “Going into the first corner on the last lap Jake and Danny passed me and I tried to go back around Danny but couldn’t and lost their slipstream going away up the hill. The guys behind had my slipstream and another three of them went past. I knew that I was still ahead of Jakub on that last lap and though I wanted to win I was thinking a bit about the championship and didn’t want to make a mistake.”
Coming to the end of his third Cup season the Norwegian had put in a great performance even though he was not that quick off the line. “From the start I just concentrated on getting into a good rhythm and I was happy with the way that went. I was leading for a lot of the race but slipstreaming is so important here and the other guys just seemed to be able to come past on the straight and it wasn’t possible to break away.”
The impossibility of establishing any kind of lasting advantage was even more frustrating for his Cup rival Kornfeil. “The start was good but after that I wasn’t so happy with the race. We were in a big group and I just couldn’t break through to the front. In the first half of the race I had quite a lot of rear wheel slides so I couldn’t push but then it started to get better. Tomorrow I’ve just got to push harder, be stronger, it has got to come from me.”
