MotoGP Catalunya: Saturday (updated regularly)

June 13, 2009 by admin
Filed under 2010 Race Calendar

NEWEST AT TOP

Yamaha

Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo kept up his 100% front-row qualifying record for the season with another pole position at his home track this afternoon, his third of 2009. Valentino Rossi made a welcome return to the front row after a three-race absence, qualifying just 0.013 seconds adrift of his team-mate in second place.

After Rossi had ruled the roost in practice yesterday, it was Lorenzo’s turn at the top during this morning’s session while the Italian slipped to third behind Andrea Dovizioso. Temperatures climbed even higher than yesterday throughout the early afternoon and when the Qualifying session began it had reached 38 degrees at Montmeló.

Lorenzo held the top spot for most of the first forty minutes before Rossi sprang into the lead with 20 minutes to go, sparking another entertaining battle which saw the Yamaha pair trading places with Casey Stoner and Dovizioso. For the second race running however it came down to the last couple of laps to decide the final line-up and with four minutes to go Rossi re-took pole. Inside the final sixty seconds however his Mallorcan team-mate edged him off with a stunning lap, cheered on by his home fans. The World Champion’s answering challenge fell just over one hundredth of a second short, leaving Stoner to secure third place a further 0.439 seconds off.

Jorge Lorenzo Position: 1 Time: 1′41.974
“The heat was incredible today and it’s going to be very tough doing so many laps tomorrow without getting too tired! I’m so happy to be here on pole in front of my home fans at this track, which I really love. Tomorrow is going to be a very difficult race for everyone and I am expecting a very good fight with Valentino, who has a very strong pace. It looks like Stoner and Dovizioso will be there too so I hope it’s an exciting race for the fans! I have a good rhythm here and I feel very comfortable on the bike so I am just going to stay focused and think about having a great race.”

Valentino Rossi Position: 2 Time: 1′41.987
“It’s good to be back on the front row after three races off it, so we’re happy about that. Of course I am sorry to miss the pole by such a tiny amount, but anyway we have an excellent pace and I am confident for tomorrow. We’ve been waiting for good weather for five races and now the temperature is maybe a little bit too much, but for sure it’s better than rain for everyone! I think that it will be a hard race tomorrow in this heat and after just a few laps I think the bikes will start to slide a bit, which means that we can expect a great battle and a hard fight! I am happy with the work we’ve done here, I am enjoying riding my bike and the weekend is going well so far. There are one or two small things we can hopefully improve tomorrow, but I am ready to be competitive.”

Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager
“This is a perfect day for our side of the garage. For us to start on pole here, at Jorge’s home track, is brilliant and we couldn’t ask for anything more. Jorge clearly has extra motivation in front of the Spanish fans but he did a great job today throughout both sessions and he has an excellent race pace. His last run was very good and he was able to challenge Valentino and take the pole position.”

Davide Brivio Team Manager
“It’s good to be back on the front row – this was one of our primary targets for this weekend. It was such a close qualifying battle with Jorge and we’ve only missed out by a fraction so we’re not too disappointed. We have a strong race pace and everything looks good for tomorrow. Let’s race!”

Edwards sixth, Toseland ninth in baking hot Barcelona
The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team was left pondering what might have been after a dramatic qualifying session for tomorrow’s Catalunya MotoGP race.

Edwards will start from sixth place on the grid for the fourth time in 2009, despite a crash in the final five minutes when he lost the front-end of his YZR-M1 machine at Turn Four. The American occupied fifth position when he crashed out unhurt, but fortunately he only slipped one place down the rankings. The 35-year-old made big progress today in solving a front-end feel issue that dogged him during practice, but the Texan is still not 100 per cent comfortable with the front setting of his YZR-M1 machine and will work closely with his crew tonight to find further improvements ahead of tomorrow’s 25-lap race.

Toseland easily enjoyed his best qualifying session of the 2009 campaign. The British rider showed the form that carried him to a top six finish in last year’s Montmelo race in a closely contested session, with just 1.8s splitting the top 17 riders at the chequered flag. The 28-year-old clocked a best time of 1.43.233 on his last lap to claim a place on the third row, but he was just 0.094s away from fifth place Toni Elias on a scorching hot afternoon that saw air temperatures nudge an energy-sapping 40 degrees.

Colin Edwards 6th 1.43.168 – 20 laps
“I guess I’m pretty fortunate to have finished on the second row considering I crashed out at the crucial stage of the session. We made some changes overnight to help me get more comfortable with the front-end and while it was better, I’m still not close to the comfort level I need to go as fast as I know I can. I’m still not comfortable in the middle of the corner and I can’t get it to turn or hold a line. Even when I was on the soft tyres towards the end I still didn’t feel like I could push too hard. I’m normally really smooth but I can’t ride like that right now. Luckily I’d done a pretty decent time on my first two softer tyres because on the last one I crashed out. The crash was a bit weird because I lost the front really early while I was still hard braking and leaning over. Normally when I lose the front it’s at the apex when I’m starting to force the front. If I’m being honest, on race tyres I’m not that confident because of the set-up issue with the front. I k now Valentino, Jorge and Casey are all running a good pace and it’s crucial to get a good start and try and tag onto the back of them. I’d love to say I’m going to be on the podium tomorrow, which is what I had aspirations of, but it’s looking difficult. As always though I’ll be giving it my all for Monster Yamaha Tech 3.”

James Toseland 9th 1.43.233 – 24 laps
“I can’t believe I’m saying this after the season I’ve had but I’m frustrated with my best qualifying result of the season. To finish under a tenth off fifth and be down in ninth is frustrating though, but at least I’m frustrated to be close to fifth and not fifteenth! At the start of the session I was out on used tyres and with the temperature being so hot it was quite difficult to find grip. But it was good to get information on the extra hard tyre in that heat for the race. On my last run I had a new front and rear, so it was difficult to get a good feeling straightaway with the front. In the last two corners on my last lap I had two big moments on the front and without doubt that cost me fifth place. Going into the last two corners I’d have been fifth, but at least at that pace I feel really comfortable because I can do that time with a couple of issues. MotoGP is now so close that a tenth has cost me four places on the grid. It’s a shame that I’m not on the second row because the way I’m riding and the way the team is working, we deserve to be a bit higher up, but we’ve all done a great job today and I’ve got a good chance in the race tomorrow. It’s my best qualifying of the year, so hopefully I can capitalise on it and give Monster Yamaha Tech 3 a good result.”

Circuit Length: 4727
Lap Record: 1′43.195 (Valentino Rossi, 01/01/2005)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1′41.186 (Casey Stoner, 08/06/2008)
Last Years Winner: Daniel Pedrosa
2009 MotoGP – Catalunya 13/06/2009
Qualifying 1
Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Total Time
1     Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha     ESP     1′41.974
2     Valentino Rossi     Yamaha     ITA     1′41.987
3     Casey Stoner     Ducati     AUS     1′42.426
4     Andrea Dovizioso     Honda     ITA     1′42.594
5     Toni Elias     Honda     ESP     1′43.139
6     Colin Edwards     Yamaha     USA     1′43.168
7     Randy De Puniet     Honda     FRA     1′43.175
8     Daniel Pedrosa     Honda     ESP     1′43.207
9     James Toseland     Yamaha     GBR     1′43.233
10     Mika Kallio     Ducati     FIN     1′43.336
11     Loris Capirossi     Suzuki     ITA     1′43.365
12     Chris Vermeulen     Suzuki     AUS     1′43.411
13     Nicky Hayden     Ducati     USA     1′43.414
14     Alex De Angelis     Honda     SMR     1′43.422
15     Sete Gibernau     Ducati     ESP     1′43.714

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San Carlo Honda Gresini

San Carlo Honda Gresini Team rider Toni Elias will start the Catalunya Grand Prix from the second row of the grid after qualifying in an excellent fifth position today. After two days of hard work in gruelling Spanish summer heat, with ambient temperatures of 38ºC and 52ºC registered on the track surface, Elias made huge strides forward with his race set-up in the afternoon and was able to set an excellent flying lap after fitting a new soft rear tyre in the closing stages.

Alex de Angelis also made progress today, the San Marinese experimenting with different chassis solutions in the search for improved rear grip and lapping just three tenths of a second slower than his Spanish team-mate. However, it was a bittersweet session for De Angelis, with no fewer than eight riders separating him from Elias on the timesheets in an incredibly close finale. As a result, the youngster will start from 14th on the grid but with everything to play for in what promises to be a 25-lap marathon tomorrow.

Toni Elias (5th 1’43.139): “The truth is that we’re really satisfied with today because after a difficult free practice this morning we managed to ‘turn over the tortilla’, as we say here in Spain, and the afternoon was a completely different story. Basically the mechanics have stripped down the bike and rebuilt it again and I want to thank each and every one of them because they have done a fantastic job. The whole team have worked hard yesterday and today and without that we couldn’t have done what we did in qualifying. I still think we have to keep working just as hard because our potential is much higher but after finishing second to last this morning and then qualifying fifth this afternoon… we can’t ask for more than that. The target for tomorrow will be to repeat this position because obviously it is going to be difficult to break the top four in normal circumstances with what we have. If any of them make it easy for us and if we have the chance to make up a position or two, obviously we’ll take it. But the important thing is to keep this hard work up and make sure we are in a position to take advantage where we can.”

Alex De Angelis (14th 1’43.422): “We’ve taken a big step forward and closed the gap a lot but we were a little unlucky today because for the sake of a few tenths of a second we’re ten places behind where we could have been on the grid! My team-mate was three tenths quicker and he’s fifth so that tells you everything. So on one hand it’s a shame but on the other hand it is a huge source of motivation to know that we’re all so close and it just makes you more determined to keep fighting. Obviously the top four are a step ahead but after that it’s really tight and the battle of the satellite bikes is the one we really want to win. We have to keep working hard and above all think positive. If we believe we can do well then there is no reason why we cannot.”

Fausto Gresini – Team Manager: “After suffering yesterday and even this morning we found the right way forward in the afternoon and all in all today was a big improvement. We’ve been in a long tunnel and today we’ve seen the light at the end of it so hopefully now we can step out into the sunshine! The whole team have worked extremely hard and Toni was able to find a good compromise with his set-up that we hope to improve even further tomorrow morning. With him fifth on the grid tonight we’ll be dreaming of a great race for him in front of his home crowd tomorrow. Alex has also taken a step forward today and he’s much closer to the others. Qualifying could have gone better but the important thing is that we seem to be on the right track with him too and we have some more ideas that we hope will help him put up a great fight in the race. ”

1.Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha 1’ 41” 974
2.Valentino ROSSI ITA Yamaha 1’ 41” 987
3.Casey STONER AUS Ducati 1’ 42” 426
4.Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Honda 1’ 42” 594
5.Toni ELIAS SPA Honda 1’ 43” 139
6.Colin EDWARDS USA Yamaha 1’ 43” 168
7.Randy DE PUNIET FRA Honda 1’ 43” 175
8.Dani PEDROSA SPA HONDA 1’ 43” 207
9.James TOSELAND GBR Yamaha 1’ 43” 233
10.Mika KALLIO FIN Ducati 1’ 43” 336
11.Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Suzuki 1’ 43” 365
12.Chris VERMEULEN AUS 1’ 43” 411
13.Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati 1’ 43” 414
14.Alex DE ANGELIS RSM Honda 1’ 43” 422

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MotoGP

The MotoGP qualifying session for the Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya concluded with home rider Jorge Lorenzo securing his third pole position of 2009 in sweltering heat close to the Mediterranean coast.

The Fiat Yamaha star pleased the crowd in his special edition Barcelona FC livery securing the top slot on the grid with a 1’41.974 time on the 28th of 29 laps, putting him ahead of team-mate Valentino Rossi by just 0.013s.

Having never been off the podium in the premier class at Montmeló, Rossi will be confident of maintaining that remarkable record on Sunday, though he knows that Lorenzo will pose a tough challenge in his first MotoGP raceday at the track.

Completing the front row is Casey Stoner, as MotoGP’s current trio of form riders showed their strengths once again, the Australian Ducati Marlboro representative lapped just under half a second down on Lorenzo.

Andrea Dovizioso is the ‘nearly man’ in the premier class at present and he missed out on the front row by just 0.168s on his Repsol Honda factory RC212V. Nonetheless the Italian will try to fight for the podium having just fallen short at the last two rounds.

In fifth place on the grid at his home track, not traditionally his strongest circuit, Toni Elías (San Carlo Honda Gresini) will aim to improve his poor Barcelona record from the middle of the front row, whilst Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) ended up sixth and might have done better had he not crashed towards the end of the session.

Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) qualified seventh, just In front of home hero Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) who also suffered a crash in the final moments – landing on his injured right hip, but not appearing to sustain any further damage as he walked away from the incident.

250cc
In the 250cc category Pepe World Team rider Héctor Barberá put in a 1’46.899 time on his Aprilia machinery to head the grid – for the first time this season – by 0.150s in front of his fellow countryman and Aprilia rider Álvaro Bautista (Mapfre Aspar Team).

Barberá will try for his second win of the year on Sunday, whilst Bautista will also be trying for win number two of 2009 as he tries to maintain his championship advantage over Marco Simoncelli (Metis Gilera). An early fall failed to put Simoncelli off, and he qualified third.. The front row is completed by Thomas Luthi (Emmi – Caffe Latte).

Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Racing Team) also crashed but qualified on the second row, behind Alex Debon (Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens), and in front of Mattia Pasini (Team Toth Aprilia) and Héctor Faubel (Valencia CF – Honda SAG).

125cc
The sixth 125cc race of the year will start with Spanish rider Julián Simón in pole position, courtesy of his 1’51.448 best effort in qualifying.

Representing the Derbi factory which lies close to the Barcelona track, local youngster Pol Espargaró missed out on pole by just 0.02s at his home venue.

Causing a surprise in third place Jonas Folger (Ongetta Team I.S.P.A.) shot up onto the front row right at the death, where he will be joined by Randy Krummenacher (Degraaf Grand Prix).

A strong second row will feature Sergio Gadea (Bancaja Aspar), Nico Terol (Jack & Jones Team), Bradley Smith (Bancaja Aspar) and Andrea Iannone (Ongetta Team I.S.P.A.).

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Pramac Racing

An overall satisfying day for the Pramac Racing Team even if Niccolò Canepa didn’t make it to maintain the good level achieved during this morning free practice when he concluded in ninth position. The Italian will have to start from the sixth row his first Grand Prix of Cataluña. Mika Kallio has instead solved the problems encountered during free practices maintaining him self constantly between the fastest ten riders. Close to the end of the session the Finnish rider was in ninth position but in the last lap of the last rider left one track, James Toseland, he lost one position by just one tenth of a second. This remains anyway the best qualifying session of the season for Mika. The sixth Grand Prix of the MotoGP 2009 season will start at 2pm local time.

Fabiano Sterlacchini – Pramac Racing Technical Director
“I would say that the work done in these two days have brought to obtain a really interesting day. Niccolò this morning has done a really good job and we believe he can do the same tomorrow even if it will be more difficult starting from the sixth row. Mika has instead used in the best way possible the qualifying session conquering the tenth position. A pity we have lost the third row with the really last rider on track. Anyway we consider this a positive day for us and we expect a good performance from both of our riders tomorrow in the race.”

Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing rider – 10th in 1′43.336
“Also yesterday, notwithstanding the lap times weren’t the best, I knew the bike was much more competitive on this circuit and so it has been. Not everything was perfect, but we consider our self satisfied on the result obtain today. I thought we have conquered the third row and I was a bit sad when I lost it in the last lap of the last rider on the track for only one tenth of a second. Anyway this is the best qualifying session of the season and we are all really happy about it.”

Niccolò Canepa – Pramac Racing rider – 18th in 1′43.991
“This afternoon the high temperatures have slowed us down. I didn’t have the same grip of the morning and we have to understand why. This morning everything was working fine and we hope to do the same tomorrow during the race. As I said before coming here, I like this track a lot and I am convinced that I can conquer a good result. I will do all possible.”

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Ducati Marlboro

Ducati Marlboro Team rider Casey Stoner will start from the front row of the grid in tomorrow’s Catalunya Grand Prix, with Nicky Hayden starting in thirteenth place despite a late crash that denied him a potential second-row start. The American has made his biggest breakthrough of the season so far on the Desmosedici GP9 in Barcelona, lapping sixth fastest in yesterday’s opening free practice and tenth fastest this morning following an overhaul of his set-up and electronics package.

Stoner also found several positives this afternoon, although he didn’t quite find the ideal set-up within the hour-long session. Nevertheless the Australian is confident his crew can use the data to find an even more competitive combination for tomorrow’s race and he is ideally placed to challenge Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, having qualified just behind the Yamaha pair in third place.

CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 3rd (1’42.426)
“After yesterday we were quite confident that we knew how to close the gap on the guys in front of us and that is what we expected to do this morning but it proved to be a problematic session and everything we did made the set-up worse. The guys worked really hard over lunchtime and during the session this afternoon to change both bikes completely and thankfully we made a big step forward. There is still a bit of a gap to the two riders ahead of us and we know we have work to do, so warm-up will be really important in the morning. Nobody really knows what anybody is capable of in conditions like this because once the tyres start spinning it is going to be difficult for any of us to match the times we’ve been doing today. It is going to be a very interesting race and I think everybody is going to be sliding around a lot but the things we tried with the electronics this afternoon should help us in the later stages of the race. We’ll see what we can do tomorrow but the idea is to dig in and work hard from the warm-up and hopefully we’ll still be fighting at the end.”

NICKY HAYDEN – (Ducati Marlboro Team) 13th (1’43.414)
“Today we weren’t quite able to pick up where we left off yesterday but I went half a second quicker this morning – unfortunately it wasn’t enough to close the gap on the guys in front because they improved too. I shaved another couple of tenths off again this afternoon but on my last run I crashed in turn two and that was pretty much that. The position isn’t great but on the other hand with just a couple more tenths I’d have been a lot further up. I know I’m talking a lot of ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ here and at the end of the day the position is what counts and we’re not high enough up. It’s just a shame that on the lap when I’m sure I would have found those extra couple of tenths the rear stepped out in turn one and when I flicked it over into turn two it put me down pretty good. I smacked my left wrist quite hard but I don’t think it’s a big issue and other than that I seem to be okay so we’re looking forward to trying for more tomorrow. ”

Circuit Record: Daniel Pedrosa (Honda – 2008), 1’42.358 – 166.251 Km/h
Best Pole: Casey Stoner (Ducati – 2008), 1’41.186 – 168.177 Km/h
2009 Pole: Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1’41.974 – 166.877 km/h

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Monster Yamaha Tech3

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team was left pondering what might have been after a dramatic qualifying session for tomorrow’s Catalunya MotoGP race.

American Colin Edwards looked on course to equal his best grid position of the year when he held fifth place until a late crash, while James Toseland ended the session in a season best ninth, but less than one tenth off a brilliant top five.
Edwards will start from sixth place on the grid for the fourth time in 2009, despite a crash in the final five minutes when he lost the front-end of his YZR-M1 machine at Turn Four.

The American occupied fifth position when he crashed out unhurt, but fortunately he only slipped one place down the rankings.

The 35-year-old made big progress today in solving a front-end feel issue that dogged him during practice, but the Texan is still not 100 per cent comfortable with the front setting of his YZR-M1 machine and will work closely with his crew tonight to find further improvements ahead of tomorrow’s 25-lap race.
Toseland easily enjoyed his best qualifying session of the 2009 campaign. The British rider showed the form that carried him to a top six finish in last year’s Montmelo race in a closely contested session, with just 1.8s splitting the top 17 riders at the chequered flag.

The 28-year-old clocked a best time of 1.43.233 on his last lap to claim a place on the third row, but he was just 0.094s away from fifth place Toni Elias on a scorching hot afternoon that saw air temperatures nudge an energy-sapping 40 degrees.

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Repsol Honda

Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso will start tomorrow’s Grand Prix of Catalunya from fourth on the grid after an impressive day’s riding at the Montmelo circuit near Barcelona. The Italian made his intent clear at the start of the day, recording the second fastest time of the morning session and clocking an improvement of 1.1s over his best lap from yesterday. As the air temperature soared to a wilting 38 degrees and track temperature hit 52 degrees in the afternoon, Dovizioso recorded a lap of 1m 42.594s in qualifying – which put him within just 0.168s of a front row start and gives him a good chance in tomorrow’s race.

His team-mate and crowd favourite Dani Pedrosa was also immediately on the pace today, dismissing the doubts over his fitness by quickly going to the top of the timesheets in the morning practice – a position he held for the first half of the hour-long session before slipping to fourth. Pedrosa received a pain-killing injection prior to riding this morning, but chose not to have a second injection before qualifying, and this made his performance this afternoon all the more remarkable. In spite of a slow speed fall when he ran off the track in the crucial final moments of the session, Pedrosa qualified in eight place, giving him the opportunity of getting away with the leaders if he pulls off one of his trademark fast starts.

With similar baking temperatures expected for tomorrow, round six of the MotoGP World Championship looks set to be a test of endurance as well as speed. The 25-lap Grand Prix of Catalunya will start at 14.00.

ANDREA DOVIZIOSO – 4th 1m 42.594s
“I’m very happy with this 4th position, even though of course my target was to be on the first row. I like this racetrack – you do a lot of sliding the bike and I really enjoy this kind of riding. We made progress with the machine this morning, then we made a modification to the setting this afternoon that didn’t have the results we expected, so tomorrow we will go back to this morning’s set up. Today it was very hot and conditions were very demanding for the tyres – all the riders seemed to have less grip at the rear. Still, I’m quite satisfied. We have improved our race pace and tomorrow I will fight hard for the podium. We were fast today and I think we can get closer to the frontrunners’ race pace in the low 1m 43s, although consistency is still their advantage.”

DANI PEDROSA – 8th 1m 43.207s
“I’m reasonably satisfied with my pace today, especially considering how things felt yesterday. We’ve qualified for the race and, although I’d have preferred to be on the front two rows, this position is OK. In fact, I think I could have been a row further forward had I not had the crash in the last few minutes of qualifying – that’s the period when the best times are usually set. I went into the corner a little bit too fast and wide and had to run straight on. Then I saw the air fence and decided it was best to get off the bike. This morning I had an injection for the pain which worked quite well so I didn’t have another one for the afternoon, though it was becoming more uncomfortable by then. Tomorrow I’ll have another injection and we’ll try to take the best result possible in the race. It’s going to be extra hard work because of the heat, but there are a lot of my fans out there so I’ll be riding my hardest for them.”

KAZUHIKO YAMANO – REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER
“Both riders did a good job today in very hot and demanding conditions. Andrea has made consistent progress this weekend and with further final modifications to his machine set-up he could be very competitive in the race. Dani’s performance was very encouraging and, considering his condition, it’s very impressive. Tomorrow looks like being hot again but I know both Andrea and Dani have huge determination to do well tomorrow – as does the whole team.”

Qualifying Results
1     Jorge Lorenzo     1m 41.974     SPA     YAMAHA     Fiat Yamaha Team
2     Valentino Rossi     1m 41.987     ITA     YAMAHA     Fiat Yamaha Team
3     Casey Stoner     1m 42.426     AUS     DUCATI     Ducati Marlboro Team
4     Andrea Dovizioso     1m 42.594     ITA     HONDA     Repsol Honda Team
5     Toni Elias     1m 43.139     SPA     HONDA     San Carlo Honda Gresini
6     Colin Edwards     1m 43.168     USA     YAMAHA     Tech 3 Yamaha
7     Randy De Puniet     1m 43.175     FRA     HONDA     LCR Honda MotoGP
8     Dani Pedrosa     1m 43.207     SPA     HONDA     Repsol Honda Team
9     James Toseland     1m 43.233     GBR     YAMAHA     Tech 3 Yamaha
10     Mika Kallio     1m 43.336     FIN     DUCATI     Pramac Racing
11     Loris Capirossi     1m 43.365     ITA     SUZUKI     Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
12     Chris Vermeulen     1m 43.411     AUS     SUZUKI     Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
13     Nicky Hayden     1m 43.414     USA     DUCATI     Ducati Marlboro Team
14     Alex De Angelis     1m 43.422     SMR     HONDA     San Carlo Honda Gresini
15     Sete Gibernau     1m 43.714     SPA     DUCATI     Grupo Francisco Hernando
16     Yuki Takahashi     1m 43.777     JAP     HONDA     Scot Racing Team MotoGP
17     Marco Melandri     1m 43.792     ITA     KAWASAKI     Hayate Racing Team
18     Niccolo Canepa     1m 43.991     ITA     DUCATI     Pramac Racing
19     Gabor Talmacsi     1m 45.833     HUN     HONDA     Scot Racing Team MotoGP

Circuit information
First race     1992 (Modified 1995)
GPs held     17
Laps     25
Race distance     118.175km / 73.425miles
Track length     4.727km / 2.937miles
Track width     12m
Longest straight     1.047km / 0.651miles
Corners     13 (8 right, 5 left)
Pole position     Left

Circuits de Catalunya S.L.
Mas “La Moreneta”
P.O. Box 27
08160 Montmeló

Barcelona
Spain

T: (34)-93-5719700
F: (34)- 93-5722772

Circuit records
Pole position     1m41.186s (168.177Km/h) Casey Stoner (Ducati, 2008)
Race lap     1m42.358s (166.251Km/h) Dani Pedrosa (Honda, 2008)
Race time     43m02.175s (164.756km/h) Dani Pedrosa (Honda, 2008)
MotoGP Wins     5 (Valentino Rossi 2001-02, 2004-06)
2008 Winner     Dani Pedrosa (Honda)

Event timetable – times shown are local times (GMT +1 hour)

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LCR Honda

Montmeló, 13 June: the LCR Honda MotoGP Team rider Randy De Puniet got the third row for tomorrows 25-lap race at the hot Montmeló circuit which hosts the sixth round of the season. The Frenchman riding the Honda RC212V nr. 14 made 27 laps in total in this afternoon qualifying session clocking his quickest time of 1’43.175 on lap 17 and missed the second row start by less than 0.007s.

The 60-minute qualifying session was held in very hot conditions as air temperature rose up to 38°C (52°C on the asphalt) making the day harder for tyres and riders. Thanks to the right set up of his Honda machinery De Puniet was again a strong performer in this morning second free session gaining the 5th place on race trim at the 4.727 km track.

The Spaniard rider Lorenzo on Yamaha topped the timesheets today with a 1’41.974 lap time followed by Rossi and Stoner on Ducati.

De Puniet –7 th – 1’43.175
“I am a bit disappointed because we have been expecting the second row. I had the potential to get it but found some slower riders in the last laps loosing some tenths as my ideal time is half second faster than this. However we are really pleased with our race set up and our race lap times. A second row start could make my life easier but I feel confident for tomorrow’s race. I must take a good start overtaking a couple of riders in the first lap to catch the front group”.

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Rizla Suzuki

Rizla Suzuki racers Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen will start tomorrow’s Catalunya Grand Prix side-by-side on the fourth row of the grid following a sweltering qualifying session at Montmelo today.

The two Suzuki riders posted almost identical lap-times during this afternoon’s qualifying session – Capirossi getting the better of Vermeulen by only 0.046 seconds – to give them 11th and 12th places respectively on the grid. Both riders know that a good start is critical in tomorrow’s race if they want to battle at the front and are confident that there is more to come from both them and their machines.

Capirossi (1′43.365, 23 laps) looked good on the harder compound tyres – which will almost certainly be the choice for tomorrow’s race – at the start of the session and recorded race-pace times in the top-six He will certainly be aiming to make up for lost ground in this afternoon’s qualifying during the early part of tomorrow’s 25-lap race.

Vermeulen (1′43.411, 27 laps) was one of the busiest men on the track today with only one other rider completing more laps of the 4,727m Montmelo circuit, and he was frustrated at not being able to push harder on his final run as front grip became a restriction.

Today’s qualifying was held in very warm conditions as the track temperatures soared to a season high of 56ºC – a welcome and amazing comparison to some of the cold and wet conditions that MotoGP has endured this season. Local hero Jorge Lorenzo on his Factory Yamaha will start from pole position.

Tomorrow’s race is round six on the MotoGP calendar and the action gets underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT).

Loris Capirossi:
“It has been pretty hard today. We tried a different setting this morning and although we improved a little bit it wasn’t enough to put us in a good position for tomorrow. My impression is that our race pace is better than our qualifying and it was difficult for us to go much quicker on the softer tyres than we did on the harder compound. We will have to see what happens tomorrow, but the bike is working quite well and we have a good rhythm. The race tyre is working well so we are optimistic, but we are starting a little bit back so this will make it hard. We know we can do well off the line and have a good race.”

Chris Vermeulen:
“It has been really difficult today with the hot track temperatures and the limited amount of hard front tyres that we have. We did all of qualifying on the same front tyre and I did 27-laps so it was not ideal to try to do a faster lap on it at the end. We struggled a bit with grip and that’s what we are going to have to concentrate on tomorrow to get a good life out of the tyres. The guys did a good job on the bike, we made a big step forward with the chassis and I feel a lot more comfortable on it than I did yesterday.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“The fourth row is not where we want to be and the qualifying result is disappointing. We’ve been working hard to get a better balance into the bike and give both guys more confidence – particularly in the fast corners in the final sector – and whilst the situation improved that is still our biggest restriction, and is something we will focus on in the warm-up tomorrow. I think our race-pace is better than the qualifying positions indicate and Loris made the same lap-times on the hard tyres at the start of the qualifying session as he did on the softer ones at the end. Both the guys will need to be super aggressive from the start to enable them to fight for top-six place – which is our target tomorrow.”

Gran Premio Cinzano de Catalunya Qualifying Classification:
1. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1′41.974: 2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +0.013: 3. Casy Stoner (Ducati) +0.452: 4. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) +0.620: 5. Toni Elias (Honda) +1.165: 11. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.391: 12. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.437:

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Bridgestone

Tyre compounds available: Front: Medium, Hard. Rear: Hard, Extra Hard (asymmetric)
With a track temperature of 56 degrees Celsius, the hard compound front and the hard compound asymmetric rear Bridgestone slick tyres were the fastest combination for the hour-long qualifying session for the Catalunya Grand Prix.

The conditions were even hotter than for yesterday’s free practice session, meaning that most riders started on Bridgestone’s more durable harder compound slicks (the hard front and extra hard rear slicks) to get a feeling for race setup, but the fastest times came at the end of the session when all riders changed the rear to a hard compound slick, the softer option this weekend. Catalunya is always a tough circuit for tyres, which is why Bridgestone brought such hard compound asymmetric rear tyres, but the track temperature this weekend is making it even more demanding.

The long right-handers and hard braking points exert huge loads on the Bridgestone slicks so rider style and preservation of tyres during the 25 lap race could play a significant part in determining tomorrow’s result. Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo secured his third pole position on Bridgestone tyres on his penultimate lap after a session-long battle with teammate Valentino Rossi. The Italian also used the hard compound front and hard compound asymmetric rear Bridgestone slicks to finish just 0.013 seconds adrift. Ducati Team’s Casey Stoner lines up in third position to start tomorrow’s race, making it the third race of the season that the championship top three all start from the front row of the grid.

Tohru Ubukata – Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development
“I am happy with the consistency of our tyres today even in these very, very hot conditions. Jorge did a long run at the start of qualifying and we can see that his 18 laps were all very fast and consistent.

“Normally air flow over the tyres cools the rubber, especially on the straights, so with the high ambient temperature here the cooling effect is less. The high temperature of the tarmac also transfers to the tyres, in addition to the temperature generated by cornering forces, so the result is a residually higher tyre temperature over the course of the lap.

“If a team can prepare their bike with a good balance, and the rider can use their tyres gently, then this will give them a good race result tomorrow.”

Top ten from qualifying (Saturday 13:55 – 14:55 GMT+2)
Pos Rider Team Time Gap
1 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 1m41.974s
2 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1m41.987s +0.013s
3 Casey Stoner Ducati Team 1m42.426s +0.452s
4 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 1m42.594s +0.620s
5 Toni Elias San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m43.139s +1.165s
6 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech3 1m43.168s +1.194s
7 Randy de Puniet LCR Honda MotoGP 1m43.175s +1.201s
8 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 1m43.207s +1.233s
9 James Toseland Monster Yamaha Tech3 1m43.233s +1.259s
10 Mika Kallio Pramac Racing 1m43.336s +1.362s
Weather: Dry. Ambient 32-33°C; Track 56°C (Bridgestone measurement)
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DeGraaf Team

The Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya has been good so far for Randy Krummenacher. The good feeling Krummenacher had before the start of the weekend has given him a superb 4th position at the front row. Danny Webb is in a lot of pain but manages to have a good lap and will start tomorrow from the third row at an 11th spot.

During the free practice in the morning Randy Krummenacher wasn’t happy with his 13th position in this session. The front fork setting wasn’t yet perfect it was moving too much coming into the corner. Danny Webb had problems to break proper in this session because of the pain in his right hand. One time Webb was off track because of this and ended the session at the 20th position.

During the qualification session Randy Krummenacher was directly on the pace and standing nearly the whole session in the top 6. With 15 minutes left on the clock the Swiss rider came in to get a new tire. Krummenacher took his time and watch the screen and was waiting for the right moment. With this tactic Krummenacher was able to grab the provisional second position. In the last 5 minutes Krummenacher was even faster but finished on a superb 4th position on the front row for the first time in his career.

It was difficult for Danny Webb to ride a fast lap in this session. With the pain in his right hand, despite the pain killers, Webb had a very fast lap with just 5 minutes on the clock and stood on the 9th position. In the last minute the riders Jonas Folger and Stefan Bradl past Webb and the British rider will start tomorrow from a 11th position at the third row.

Randy Krummenacher (4th, 1:51,804):
“This is really fantastic! This is one of my favourite tracks and I had already a good feeling when I left home to go to Barcelona. The free practice on Friday was already good but today is super! For tomorrow I hop to have a good start and then I’m able to battle in the leading group. I will try to repeat my result from 2007 tomorrow!”

Danny Webb (11e, 1:52,548):
“It was a tough day today. The pain from my little finger affects also the use of my right hand. Despite the pain killers it is hard to brake. I saw during the session P19 on my pit board and that wasn’t the position I want to start the race tomorrow. I focussed on one fast lap and tried not to think about the pain and I manage to grab the third row. I’m very happy with this result and I hope to finish the race in to the points. It’s going to be a long race for me Sunday!”

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KTM

Red Bull KTM Moto Sport’s 16-year-old factory rider Marc Marquez saw his chances dampened for a front row grid position ahead of the 125 cc GP of Catalunya when he crashed 15 minutes into the single qualifying session for his home GP.
Marc, who now starts in the third row on Sunday, slid off the track on the approach to turn 10 on the famous Spanish circuit that has hosting top motorcycle racing since 1992. He rejoined qualifying about two thirds of the way through the 40 minute session and finished twelfth, just 1.668 seconds off the winning pace of countryman Julian Simon. Despite the crash the young Spanish factory rider is still upbeat for tomorrow’s race.

Marc Marquez:
“In the morning we found a good set-up but it was not perfect so in the afternoon we tried to change it a bit. Then I tried to push quite hard the first time I was out so we could see if there had been improvements. I was feeling good on the bike but then I crashed and I don’t really know why. Because of this, we lost some time and we weren’t able to try out all the ideas we had for the set up. We’ll try to make some more changes in tomorrow’s warm-up and I am sure it will be good for the race. I feel confident about the race because I have been good in all the practices so far.”

Also onboard for the Red Bull KTM Moto Sport factory team were Cameron Beaubier of the USA and Sturla Fagerhaug of Norway. Beaubier, also 16, rejoins the team after an injury pause when he sustained a small wrist fracture at the Le Mans, France circuit when he crashed in wet and rainy conditions. He finished in place 22 in the qualifying and expressed some disappointment. Cameron is confident for an improvement in tomorrow’s race.

Cameron Beaubier:
“I wasn’t good in qualifying. I couldn’t put a good lap together, I made many mistakes in sections of the circuit, I couldn’t hold the line and I got caught up in traffic. But I am aware of where I made the mistakes and it will be okay for tomorrow. My bike is running well, except in the last two corners where there was a little bit of chattering. I didn’t have any problems with my hand and if I get everything right it should be good for the race. I’m looking forward to some interesting fights. I am positive that I can learn from my mistakes and I’ll be able to improve on my times quite a bit.

Fagerhaug was granted his second wild card ride for the factory team. He is currently contesting the Red Bull Rookies Cup and he finished twenty eighth in qualifying.

Sturla Fagerhaug:
I am going okay. Although my position was not very good I’m learning with every lap. I improved on my times and I feel better on the bike and with working with my new team. I hope to learn some more in the warm-up and of course I’ll do my best in the race. My aim is to improve my lap times and position and to learn as much as possible.

Riders had to contend with an air temperature of 37 degrees Celsius with the track temperature into the 50 degrees.

Results Qualifying 125 cc
1. Julian Simon, Spain, Aprilia, 1:51.448
2. Pol Espargaro, Spain, Derbi, 1:51.468
3. Jonas Folger, Germany, Aprilia, 1:51.787
4. Randy Krummenacher, Switzerland, Aprilia 1:51.804 230
5. Sergio Gadea, Spain, Aprilia, 1:51.824 230
Other KTM
12. Marc Marquez, Spain, KTM 1:152.661
22. Cameron Beaubier, USA, KTM, 1:54.687
28. Sturla Fagerhaug, Norway, KTM 1:54.847