Sepang MotoGP: Saturday (updated regularly)

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MotoGP

Valentino Rossi will start the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix in pole position, as he bids to secure the 2009 FIM MotoGP World Championship at Sepang on Sunday.

A best lap of 2’00.518 in qualifying secured the reigning champion pole position for the seventh time this season, with Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa completing the front row.

The Italian broke his own previous pole record at the circuit, which he recorded on a 990cc machine in 2006, by 0.087s - and he lapped 0.569s faster than his Fiat Yamaha team-mate in this session. Rossi knows that by finishing in the top four tomorrow, he is assured of a seventh MotoGP world title and ninth career world crown.

Lorenzo, who crashed on his MotoGP race debut at the track last season, was followed onto the front row of the grid by Pedrosa. The Repsol Honda man had been the fastest in free practice, but was unable to match the blistering pace set by Rossi, finishing a further 0.167s behind Lorenzo.

Casey Stoner, who won the race at Sepang in 2007, will head up the second row after lapping at almost a full second slower than Rossi, while Loris Capirossi secured fifth spot on the grid on his Suzuki GSV-R.

Toni Elías (San Carlo Honda Gresini), Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro), Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda), Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) all came through inside the top ten as well.

250cc
Hiroshi Aoyama also set a new pole position lap record of 2’06.767 in the 250cc class, as the Scot Honda rider continued his fine form this weekend.

Having posted the fastest times in both practice sessions, Aoyama was 0.332s clear of Jules Cluzel (Matteoni Racing), with Mike di Meglio (Mapfre Aspar) and Héctor Barberá (Pepe World Team) completing the front row.

Metis Gilera rider and defending 250cc World Champion Marco Simoncelli qualified in eighth spot, coming in 1.149s off the pace set by his title rival Aoyama. The gap between the two stands at 12 points, with the Japanese poised to snatch the title from the Italian if he were to win and Simoncelli could manage no higher than fifth.

Still in with a slim chance of the title, Álvaro Bautista (Mapfre Aspar Team) will front up the second row on the grid, with Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT SAG) and Héctor Faubel (Honda SAG) both qualifying ahead of Simoncelli.

125cc
Marc Márquez topped qualifying in the 125cc class, taking pole position on the grid for the second time this season, and the second time in his career.

New world champion Julián Simón secured second spot with a final lap which was 0.055s off Márquez’s time, whilst Bradley Smith (Bancaja Aspar) and Sandro Cortese (Ajo Interwetten) completed the front row.

Smith crashed out at the end of the session with a high-side, and after a medical examination it was confirmed he had broken the fifth metatarsal in his right foot. The 19 year-old will be fit for Sunday’s race, however.

Nico Terol (Jack & Jones Team), Esteve Rabat (Blusens Aprilia), Joan Olivé (Derbi Racing Team) and Danny Webb (Degraaf Grand Prix) will comprise the second row.

The Sunday races in the three classes at the Shell Advance Malaysian Grand Prix will take place at 12 midday (125cc), 1.15pm (250cc) and 3pm (MotoGP) local time (GMT + 8).

NB There is no daylight saving time change in Malaysia.

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Pramac Racing

Temperature are getting warmer in Sepang, Malaysia, where MotoGP riders have stepped on track for the sixteenth qualifying session of the season. Air temperature has reached 34° while the asphalt temperature passed fifty degrees. Pramac Racing rider, Mika Kallio and Aleix Espargarò, have sensibly improved their best lap times registered yesterday concluding respectively in twelfth and thirteenth position. Mika remained constantly in the top ten but in the last few minutes couldn’t manage to improve enough losing some positions. His teammate, thanks to the thirteenth fastest lap time, conquered his best MotoGP qualifying position after the sixteenth and fifteenth positions conquered in Indianapolis and Misano. An important sign for the young Catalan rider.

Fabiano Sterlacchini - Pramac Racing Technical Director
“The problem is always the same: in the last minutes of the qualifying session many riders make it to gain those tenths of a second to pass us and Mika is obligated to start in a position that doesn’t suit him. Our race rhythm is good, like in the two previous races, but we have to find a solution to don’t lose so many positions during qualifying. To solve this difficulty will be our objective from here to the beginning of the next season. Aleix has improved a lot compared to yesterday’s lap times. He is a really talented rider who has a lot of good willing and this allows him to improve quickly.”

Mika Kallio - Pramac Racing rider - 12th fastest lap time in 2′02.435
“We are always between the fastest in every session, in every racing weekend, but in the last fifteen minutes of the qualifying session we can’t manage to gain those five tenths of a second that our rivals gain. It is a difficult situation because it’s been almost all season that it happens. Anyway I am not worried for tomorrow’s race because my race rhythm is better than various riders that are in front of me on the starting grid. If we will manage to make a good start like last Sunday in Australia then we can conquer a good result.”

Aleix Espargarò - Pramac Racing rider - 13th fastest lap time in 2′02.859
“We didn’t make any big modifications on the bike today, for the moment I prefer to get to know the bike and adjust my riding style on it. We didn’t find any big complications; the bike is fast and reacts well to my indications. Maybe I miss some confidence with the front part of the bike but nothing that worries me too much. The things that worries me a bit is the climatic conditions: I am drinking a lot of water and I hope it will help me to be at the best during tomorrow’s long race.”

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Bridgestone

Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Hard, Extra Hard. Rear: Medium, Hard

Using the softer compound front and rear Bridgestone slicks, Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi set a blistering pace to secure pole position for tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix and set a new outright pole position record at the Sepang circuit. Rossi and third-placed Dani Pedrosa both used the softer front tyre to set their best lap whilst second-placed Jorge Lorenzo, Casey Stoner in fourth and Loris Capirossi in fifth all favoured the harder front, indicating that both available compounds are working well at Sepang. The softer option rear was generally the faster choice during the session, although Stoner’s fastest lap came on the harder rear slick tyre. The pace set by the rest of the field on Bridgestone’s slicks was equally hot, with the top eight riders all under the existing circuit lap record. With the high track temperature, which peaked at 57 degrees Celsius, even the softer of the available slick tyre options showed it has sufficient durability and grip. The pace has been fast all day as even in the morning’s practice session the top five riders lapped under the existing Sepang lap record.

Tohru Ubukata – Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department:
“I didn’t expect such fast times here today! I am very happy with the performance of our slick tyres because they enabled Valentino to beat the outright pole position record which he set in 2006 on qualifying tyres, and both compound options have shown very good performance and consistency despite the high track temperature. The condition of the track today is very good and the tarmac is maturing each year, and of course the pace of bike development by the teams is very high, and these are the reasons why the times are so fast. “We saw some riders setting their best times on the softer slick tyre options and some doing so using the harder options and this demonstrates that both specifications are working well here and that their operating ranges are sufficiently wide that they are overlapping. In this instance tyre choice comes down to riding style and machine setup, so I think we will continue to see mixed tyre compound choices tomorrow which should make for an interesting comparison between warm-up performance and durability and make it another exciting race.”

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Rizla Suzuki

Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi will start from the second row of the grid for tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix after qualifying in fifth place today.

Capirossi (2′01.716, 23 laps) made further changes to his Suzuki GSV-R in this morning’s final practice session to get the feeling he wanted around the 5,548m Malaysian track. He started this afternoon’s qualifying in determined mood and was never out of the top six for the whole hour. His fifth place on the grid is his best qualifying since Mugello in May and gives the experienced Italian a good chance of going for his 100th podium during tomorrow’s race.

Chris Vermeulen (P14, 2′03.032, 23 laps) will have a much tougher job than his team-mate in tomorrow’s 21-lap race after only managing to qualify on the fifth row. He just couldn’t find the feel or grip he wanted to make a serious challenge higher up the grid. Vermeulen will need to use all his racing ability and get a good start in tomorrow’s race if he is to make a competitive challenge in his penultimate race for Rizla Suzuki.

Today’s conditions were slightly warmer than yesterday as the air rose a couple of degrees to 34ºC, but the track stayed at 52ºC. Valentino Rossi took pole position as he goes in search of the result tomorrow that would give him the world championship title.

The Malaysian Grand Prix is the 16th and penultimate round on this season’s calendar, with tomorrow’s main event getting underway at 15.00hrs local time (07.00hrs GMT).

Loris Capirossi:
“We struggled a lot up until this afternoon’s qualifying practice, because we were always trying to find the best solution for setting-up the bike. We changed the front a little bit for this afternoon and immediately on the first run I knew the bike was really working well. I am quite happy with my lap-time, because it was hot this afternoon and the bike worked well. My rhythm is good around here and I think that tomorrow we have the chance to start well and make a really good race. I am happy and I want to say well done and a big thanks to all my crew, because they have done a great job today.”

Chris Vermeulen:
“It was a difficult and disappointing session out there this afternoon. We haven’t really improved on the bike from yesterday and it was hard work today. Most of the guys went a lot quicker on the softer tyres, but for me it was almost impossible to use it because I just couldn’t get the grip I wanted, so I carried on using the harder tyre - which we will use in the race - and that was a lot better. We know what pace we can run on in the race and we know our speed and potential lap-times, but unfortunately we’re starting from a long way back and it’s going to be tough.”

Paul Denning - Team Manager:
“It is amazing how things can change in just a few short days; the mood in the camp is now obviously a fair bit lighter than it was last Sunday evening! Loris did so well to come back from the situation last weekend and to push his - and the bike’s - limits to the full today. Middle of the second row and ‘best-of-the-rest’ status puts Loris in a great position to go with the front guys tomorrow and try to secure our best result of the season tomorrow afternoon.

“Chris has to be disappointed with the result, he’s better than that and as Loris has shown today - in these conditions and on this track - so is the bike. Over one second to your team-mate is a big gap and I hope that Chris comes out tomorrow with some fire in his eyes to show us what he can really do!”

Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix Qualifying Practice Classification:

1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2′00.518: 2. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) +0.569: 3. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) +0.736: 4. Casey Stoner (Ducati) +0.937: 5. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.198: 14. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +2.514:

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Repsol Honda

Temperatures soared at Sepang today and in the wilting 34-degree heat, Dani Pedrosa put his Repsol Honda RC212V on the front row of the grid for the ninth time this season, securing third place in qualifying for tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix. The 24-year-old was quickest in the morning’s free practice session and looked on course to fight for a third successive pole position at this circuit in the afternoon shoot-out. Pedrosa’s laptime of 2m 01.254, set on Bridgestone’s softer option tyres, was well inside the lap record he set in last year’s race and, although a combination of traffic and small mistakes cost him the chance to top the timesheets today, he was happy to be on the front row and is confident about his chances the 21-lap race.

For Andrea Dovizioso, the increased track temperature this afternoon did not work in his favour and the Italian will be dependent on an excellent start from 11th on the grid if he’s to repeat his podium finish from last year’s race. This morning’s free practice session went well for the Italian former 125cc World Champion and he finished in fifth place with a gap of just 0.649s to the fastest rider - Pedrosa. In the afternoon however, he wasn’t able to extract the maximum from the softer option Bridgestones and couldn’t match his lap from the morning - a time which would have put him eight on the grid. So the Repsol Honda rider will be focused on getting a quick start from the middle of the fourth row when the race starts at 15.00hrs local time tomorrow. (GMT + 8 hours)

DANI PEDROSA – 3rd – 2m 01.254s
“I’m happy to be on the front row again because, as always, this gives you a clear getaway when the start lights go out. I think we’ve got a good machine setting for the race tomorrow and we just need to adjust it a little bit during the warm up. At the end of the qualifying session I didn’t make a very good job of it with the last soft Bridgestone tyre so my laptime doesn’t reflect our full potential this afternoon. First I made a couple of mistakes and then I had some traffic which caused me to lose a little bit of the concentration you need to go at maximum pace at this moment. Anyway, I’m happy to be on the front row again. It will be a very tough race, very demanding for sure, but we always look for the win and we will give all we have to make it happen. I’m very motivated for this race.”

ANDREA DOVIZIOSO – 11th – 2m 02.362s
“In this morning’s practice we were in fifth place and my pace in race trim is not too bad so, even though I’ll be starting from the fourth row, I’m still hopeful for tomorrow’s race. Of course I’m disappointed to be in 11th because this is a track I really like, so a good start tomorrow is going to be essential. The track conditions gave less grip this afternoon compared to this morning and I wasn’t able to improve my laptime with the soft tyres - in fact I was faster this morning. My rhythm with the race tyre is OK, but starting from the fourth row could spoil the race. We’ve worked on traction control settings again today and this will be useful for when the tyres go off in the race - but it doesn’t help to achieve an outright fast lap on for qualifying. It’s not the qualifying result we wanted and tomorrow is going to be tough, but we’ll focus on getting off the line quickly and see what we can do in the race.”

KAZUHIKO YAMANO - REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER
“For Dani, a front row start was the main objective for today, and he has achieved that in spite of not having a totally smooth qualifying session. I think he could have been closer to the front or even taken pole position if he’d had a clear run in the final moments, but he’s looking strong for tomorrow and he should be able to get a good result. Andrea was looking good too this morning but it wasn’t plain sailing in the afternoon and naturally he’s frustrated to be on the fourth row. He has much more potential for the race though and, with some work during warm-up, I think he can move forward.”

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Monster Yamaha Tech3

Colin Edwards and James Toseland are confident they can produce strong performances in the Malaysian MotoGP race after a tough qualifying session in baking hot conditions at the Sepang circuit this afternoon.

American Edwards will start the penultimate race of the season from ninth on the grid, the 35-year-old clocking a best lap of the long and technical 5.548km circuit in 2.02.195 to miss out on a seventh consecutive second row start by less than 0.3s.

Working hard with his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew to improve the corner entry performance with his YZR-M1 machine, Edwards remains optimistic that he can fight for a top five result in tomorrow’s 21-lap race.

Toseland experienced another difficult day, the British rider working tirelessly to try and improve edge grip on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine as track temperatures hit 51 degrees – five degrees hotter than yesterday’s practice.

Despite his best efforts, the 28-year-old couldn’t find a comfortable setting in the extreme heat and humidity, and he finished in 16th place with a quickest time of 2.03.528 set on his final lap of the session.

Colin Edwards 9th 2.02.195 – 23 laps
“With the feeling I had with the bike, that was about as fast as I could go today. Being honest though I struggled a little bit today and I’m obviously doing something consistently wrong. I’m losing the same amount of time in the same sections over and over again, but when we change t he bike we improve in one area and sacrifice feel in another. I can’t get the bike turned in at all and I’ve always thought I’ve been good at that. But at this track I’m struggling with it, particularly in the third section where I’m losing a bit of time. Those guys in front of me are not lapping much faster than me and the start is going to be crucial. I’ve just got to get by as many of them as I can early on and try and make a break like I did in Phillip Island. At least I’m in front of (Andrea) Dovizioso on the grid, so hopefully I can take some more points out of him tomorrow and have a really good crack at fifth in the championship in Valencia.”

James Toseland 16th 2.03.528 – 22 laps
“It has been a really tough weekend and qualifying down in 16th is well below my expectations. This has always been a tough track for me and I wasn’t expecting an easy weekend, but I w asn’t expecting it to be as tough as this. I’m struggling to get grip on the edge of the rear tyre to give me the confidence to push harder. We’ve tried a lot of different options to try and improve the setting but it doesn’t seem to matter what we change, I don’t have enough grip on the rear. It is a problem mid-corner and also when I first open the throttle. Tomorrow is going to be tough with the heat, but we might just have to gamble with a setting for the race and see what happens. Being so far back on the grid means it will be difficult, but I never give up and I’ll be giving it my all for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team again tomorrow.”

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Fiat Yamaha

Valentino Rossi smashed the pole record at Sepang this afternoon to take his sixth pole position of the season ahead of tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix, the Italian’s first championship ‘match point.’ Jorge Lorenzo recovered from a difficult session to put in some good laps at the end and qualify second, making it the 12th time this year that the Fiat Yamaha Pair have shared the front row.

Temperatures during qualifying reached a sweltering 34 degrees at the tropical track but nothing hampered Rossi today and the 30-year-old was flying throughout, as he continued to work closely with his Yamaha and Bridgestone engineers in order to maximise tyre performance ahead of tomorrow’s 21-lap race. The championship leader topped the timesheets early on, making way for Casey Stoner during the middle part of the hour but taking the lead again with 25-minutes to go and never looking in danger of being beaten. He continued to improve his time before a stunning last flying lap saw him beat his own pole position record, which has stood since 2006. Rossi can clinch his ninth World Championship title tomorrow simply by finishing fourth or better, regardless of where his team-mate finishes.

Lorenzo had looked in brilliant form yesterday but the youngster struggled more today, failing to make another step with his setting and losing some ground to his rivals. He could only manage fourth this morning and spent much of this afternoon’s session uncharacteristically out of the top four. With the softer Bridgestone tyres at the end he was able to set some decent hot laps and his final effort, 0.569 off Rossi, was good enough for second, but he and his team will be working hard overnight and in tomorrow’s warm-up in order to improve their race pace.

Valentino Rossi, Position: 1 Time: 2′00.518 Laps: 21
“I am so happy about that final lap! I couldn’t believe it when I saw it on my dashboard, I thought it was possible to go faster but not by that much! My team and I have worked very well here and we’ve had a good strategy with Bridgestone, which left us with plenty of time at the end to try for the pole. It’s very important to be on the front row here so we have done our job well, plus I am confident about our setting and our race pace. We’re in good shape. It’s incredibly hot and tomorrow will be hard for everyone, as it always is here, but we have a good advantage and I am really looking forward to the battle. Let’s see where we are at this time tomorrow!”

Jorge Lorenzo, Position: 2nd Time: 2′01.087 Laps: 23
“Today hasn’t been my best day and I have found things quite hard. The conditions are basically the same as yesterday so I can’t blame them, but we just don’t have the same levels of grip and confidence that we had before and it’s hard to understand why. We didn’t make the step we expected and we are lacking pace compared to our rivals. Now we all need to study the data and work out what we can do for the warm-up tomorrow. I am happy that we were able to be back on the front row as this will be important, now we will just try our best to be in better shape for the race.”

Davide Brivio, Team Manager
“What a lap! We broke the best lap record with an incredible time from Valentino, who really wanted that pole position today. The team have worked very well during practice so far and the result is that we’re starting tomorrow’s race in the best place. We’re in good shape and we’re excited, let’s hope tomorrow can be a good day for us!”

Daniele Romagnoli, Team Manager
“At the end Jorge was able to do some very quick laps and make the front row, which is key for tomorrow. Unfortunately we still need to find an improvement to our rear grip levels for the race, because at the moment we are not in perfect shape. The team have worked a lot to try to fix the problem but we still have more to do. Tonight we will have a good look at the data and try to find a way to give ourselves a better chance, then we will use the warm-up to try a few things.”