Assen- QF

Rossi outguns rivals for pole in Dutch qualifying session

Friday, 26 June 2009 motogp.com

Italian to chase win from front, ahead of Pedrosa and Lorenzo.

Valentino Rossi will start his quest for a 100th Grand Prix victory from pole position at the Assen circuit on Saturday afternoon, taking the top spot for the Alice TT Assen with a 1’36.025 lap.

Although it is Rossi’s second pole position of 2009, it is also the first time that he has topped a qualifying session this season. His previous pole came courtesy of combined practice times when the grid-deciding session in Japan was cancelled due to rainfall.

The Fiat Yamaha rider was trailed by Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa, who was less than a tenth of a second slower than the Italian’s hot lap. Pedrosa returns to the front row after two races away.

Jorge Lorenzo continued his 100% record of front line starts with a time three-tenths down on teammate Rossi’s marker, and the Spaniard made a final push for pole in the closing stages of the session. He is now the only rider to have qualified on the front row for every race of the 2009 season to date, having relegated the only other candidate –Casey Stoner- to fourth place.

Although Stoner had crossed the line with enough time to perform another hot lap, the Australian sat up and opted against a further attempt at pole. Problems with grip had plagued the Ducati Marlboro rider throughout the morning and afternoon sessions, and he had another wobble that left him obviously agitated during the outing.

Colin Edwards once again qualified on the second row after leading the session for a small period of time, alongside another veteran in Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi.

The only crash in the session came from Niccolò Canepa, the Pramac Racing rookie escaping uninjured.

1 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1'36.025 293.080

“I’m so happy about the qualifying session. This morning we worked a lot on the bike and this afternoon we put it all together,” said the joint World Championship leader. “I have a good pace with the race tyres as well, and I’m looking at a few places where we can improve tomorrow. “I’m also happy to have taken pole position, because even though it is always great this one is my second of the year. Motegi was a strange case because of the rain in qualifying, so this is a real pole position with a really good lap at the end.”

Not a fan of flag-to-flag races, Rossi is praying for sunshine at the ‘Cathedral of Motorcycle Racing,’ where he believes that he can challenge for a 100th Grand Prix victory.

“I’m in good shape, just like my M1, and I just hope for good weather tomorrow. To have the grandstands full today for practice sessions is something incredible, so we’ll try to put on a good show for the fans tomorrow.”

2 3 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'36.110 296.948 0.085

“I’m pleased with my qualifying position today, especially considering that there was quite a lot of traffic on track in the final few minutes,” said Pedrosa, famed for his speedy starts in the premier class.

“It’s always good to be on the front row, because then you have the best chance to make a clean getaway, so I’m satisfied with second. I was lucky at the end of the session to have Valentino in front and being behind him helped me a lot to set this lap time.”

The former World Championship runner-up missed testing after the Barcelona race, and as such still has to play catch-up with some minor details ahead of the Alice TT Assen itself. However, he is feeling comfortable with both the bike and his rapidly improving physical condition.

“The feeling from the machine is quite good, although we still need to make some adjustments to the set-up to make best use of the Bridgestone tyres for the race, and this is what we’ll be working on in the warm-up tomorrow,” he explained.

“My physical condition on the bike today was again much better than at the last race in Barcelona and this makes a lot of difference because I am able to concentrate fully on riding. I know that the race will be very physically demanding though, so I can take nothing for granted. Still, with some final set-up improvements, I hope I can make a good start and have a strong race tomorrow.” motogp.com

3 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1'36.393 292.445 0.368

“I’m a little disappointed with my last lap. I made some mistakes on a few corners and couldn’t improve my time,” lamented the Fiat Yamaha rider, joint leader of the MotoGP World Championship.

“Anyway, we have good pace and we will be trying to work on T4, where we are losing a few tenths at the moment, for the race. If we can do this then we have a chance of fighting for the podium tomorrow.”

Involved in an intense battle with teammate Valentino Rossi at the last round in Barcelona, on a Yamaha M1 that has been the standout bike at the past few races, Lorenzo believes that anything that can be significantly improved will not be the ride at his disposal. “We won’t work on too much mechanically in the warmup. Maybe it will be myself that needs to improve, not the bike.” motogp.com

4 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1'36.633 292.682 0.608

"Unfortunately a couple of riders got in my way, waiting for a two in a dangerous and fast part of the track," he said, "which obviously cost me time but could have cost me a whole lot more if I had crashed.

"It is a frustrating situation which seems to be happening more and more in MotoGP and it is about time something was done to stop it."

Stoner had been in contention for pole until the last ten minutes of the hour-long session, but was nearly the victim of a massive high-side thanks to a temperamental rear tyre.

"We've been very fast on race tyres and even though we're normally good for a single qualifying lap on a soft tyre we've had a few issues here," he said. "With my second soft tyre I was up out of the seat a couple of times but we changed it and the next one was a lot better.

"Thankfully I'm starting from fourth on the grid, which I am fine with because I can still challenge at the front from there and with the times we set today there is no reason not to be confident." autosport.com

5 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1'36.760 293.398 0.735

"Overall we have made another step with the setting and I am quite happy about that, but we still need to take a further step tomorrow morning in the warm-up. The whole team is working really hard and they really understand what I need. I am still losing a bit of front feeling, but it's not that bad and I think it is something we can overcome. Second row is not too bad and we will have to see what sort of start we get and try to keep with the front pack. I am quite optimistic for tomorrow because if we make the small step we are looking for we will be right up there challenging!" motogp.com

I've got a busy feeling on race tyres now I'm using the longer wheelbase,” said Edwards of his ne set-up. “It puts a bit more weight on the front and while it's not chatter I don't feel I'm absorbing the bumps as well as I need to be.

“At certain times it feels like I'm skimming over the bumps, but despite that I'm pretty happy with my pace. I did a 37.3 on race tyres and for race pace that's acceptable. I think low 1.37s or high 1.36s will be the pace if it stays dry, and I'm confident I can run those times.

“I'm happy to have equalled my best qualifying of the year, particularly as I feel we can make the bike better. I think we're looking good for tomorrow because the fourth section has [previously] been a bogey section for me and that's where you can gain or lose a lot of time.

“On the Bridgestone's it is unbelievable through that last section. They are just so stable you don't get the handlebars shaking or flapping through the fast sections. Everything just rolls nice and smooth and I think we can get out there and fight at the front tomorrow.” crash.net
6 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 1'36.953 291.734 0.928

"Overall we have made another step with the setting and I am quite happy about that, but we still need to take another step tomorrow morning in the warm-up," said Capirossi.

"The whole team is working really hard and they really understand what I need. I am still losing a bit of front feeling, but it's not that bad and I think it is something we can overcome.

"Second row is not too bad and we will have to see what sort of start we get and try to keep with the front pack. I am quite optimistic for tomorrow because if we make the small step we are looking for we will be right up there challenging."

Capirossi is using Suzuki's upgraded engine this weekend, which Vermeulen hopes to receive from the next event at Laguna Seca if the Assen race goes smoothly.

The Australian has struggled for much of the season but was pleased with today's result and reckoned he could have gone even quicker.

"It was a fairly good qualifying for us and a lot better than the previous two GPs," said Vermeulen. "The team did a great job and made a big step forward with the bike.

"Unfortunately on my last run we were a bit close on time and I thought I'd get in one more lap, sadly I wasn't able to, but I am sure I would have improved my time - and hopefully grid position - because I made a couple of mistakes on my previous lap, which was my fastest, and I'm sure I'd have put them right.

"Seventh place is a bit closer to the front than we have been recently and I'm feeling quite confident and looking forward to a good race tomorrow."

Team boss Paul Denning hopes that the qualifying result will give Suzuki a chance to take plenty of points away from Assen.

"It's been extremely close amongst the fastest riders here at Assen this weekend and we've managed to get closer to the front group in qualifying than we were in free practice," he said.

"I think there are still some sizable improvements we can make tomorrow to increase the confidence of both riders. Whatever happens with the bike - or indeed the weather - when you start in sixth and seventh places it gives you a much better chance to hang on to the back of the leaders in the early laps and see how the race develops." autosport.com

7 7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 1'37.194 292.286 1.169

"It was a fairly good qualifying for us and a lot better than the previous two GPs. The team did a great job and made a big step forward with the bike. We went well on both the compounds of tyres today and the softer one gave quite a bit more grip at the rear so we used that to do the qualifying laps on. We were able to do seven or eight laps on them and they stayed very consistent which shows what a good job Bridgestone are doing. Unfortunately on my last run we were a bit close on time and I thought I'd get in one more lap, sadly I wasn't able to, but I am sure I would have improved my time - and hopefully grid position - because I made a couple of mistakes on my previous lap - which was my fastest - and I'm sure I'd have put them right Seventh place is a bit closer to the front than we have been recently and I'm feeling quite confident and looking forward to a good race tomorrow."
8 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'37.237 290.791 1.212

“I have to say I’m quite disappointed about my qualifying result this afternoon because starting from the third row makes the race more complicated. Although my race pace was pretty good throughout the session, I didn’t manage to make the best of the soft tyre option, so tomorrow I will really have to focus on making a good start and recovering as many positions as possible during the first two or three laps. Apart from my grid position, I’m confident because I further improved my race pace with the hard Bridgestone tyres by two or three tenths compared to this morning’s session. Me and the crew will take a look at the data this evening to make some final decisions on the set-up solutions we tested this afternoon. The weather is looking uncertain again, but we’ve had some good wet/dry races this season so I’m not worried about the bike change if it happens.” motogp.com
9 52 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1'37.323 287.616 1.298

“I'm really happy even though I'm only ninth again on the grid,” said the Briton. “We've spent a lot of time working on the race setting with the new set-up and I'm feeling really confident on race tyres.

“The weight we've put on the rear is really helping the Bridgestone work and its helping keep load on the tyre. We put a bit more weight on the rear again today and we're getting better rear grip. I'm just trying to work the rear tyre a lot more with that extra load on it and that means I can exit the corner a lot better.

“I've also got more stability going into the corner but on the softer tyres there was so much traffic that I got held up a bit otherwise I might have gained another couple of places. I had to roll off when I came across Toni Elias and that was a big shame because I'd just done my best first split of the whole session.

“Fingers crossed it will be dry tomorrow because I feel I'm getting close to where I need to be.

“After Catalunya I've done about 15 practice starts this weekend because it is crucial that I get away to give myself a chance of a top six. I'm trying a slightly different clutch just to be a bit smoother because as I release the clutch it has been a bit aggressive in the first few races. But I'm desperate to give Yamaha and my guys at Tech 3 a good result after all the help they've been giving me this weekend,” Toseland concluded. crash.net
10 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 1'37.473 294.358 1.448

“After this morning's crash we decided to go for a longer run to confirm our race set up. Basically we have an acceptable lap time on race tyre but I struggled with rear grip on the edge. We do not have too much time to work on that and so we moved to soft tyres, but we could not really improve our lap time. The bike slid to much and I did not want to take any risk. We expected a better grid position after yesterday’s performance but it’s not the end of the world; I am hoping to get a top eight finish”.
11 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1'37.637 288.230 1.612

“It's a shame that Capirossi and Talmacsi got in my way through the last couple of corners of my last lap because I know I could have gone much faster,” said the San Marinese. “I'm sure Loris didn't do it on purpose but he is very experienced and it was a big mistake for him to make.

“I'm not angry but obviously very frustrated because I'm sure I would have moved ahead of de Puniet on the grid and maybe even Toseland, which would have meant an extra row and that would have been really important to me.

“The good thing is that I did a 1min 38.0sec on a race tyre and that is encouraging for tomorrow, even though I think it's going to rain,” he added.

Team-mate Toni Elias had only himself to blame for 15th on the grid.

“To be honest everything worked better today but in the end I screwed it up,” admitted the Spaniard. “I have to hold my hands up and say that I made the wrong decision and it is my fault we're down in 15th place, which is not good enough, so I want to apologise to the team.

“Basically I spent the last few laps looking for a tow but by the time I got one and tried to push for a good grid position, the tyre temperature had dropped too low. It was the last lap and it didn't work out like I thought it would. We can't do anything about it now - the only option is to get a good start and pull back as many positions as I can.”

“Everybody has to take responsibility, myself included, to make sure that our riders start to move up the order and start performing at a level that reflects the true potential of this team structure and the machinery available to us,” stated team manager Fausto Gresini. crash.net
12 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing Ducati 1'37.749 294.518 1.724

"I was expecting to enter the top ten today, but unluckily it didn't go this way and I am a bit disappointed. I thought I would have been able to be at least half a second faster. I have encountered some complications with the front part of the bike that didn't allow me to push more. Tomorrow we will have to modify the balance of the bike, making it higher in the front during the warm up to understand if the bike will be more easy to ride. Anyway it seems the weather forecast for tomorrow will be completely different compared to today and this would change the situation to everyone." motogp.com
13 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1'37.759 295.404 1.734

“Unfortunately qualifying is not our strong point at the moment but we made some improvements with the bike in free practice this morning. We changed the transmission, which helped a bit, and made a few more tweaks that made the general feeling of the bike a bit better but for the afternoon we tried some stuff that didn’t work so well. We had to go back to what we had this morning and I was only able to go a little bit faster, which is why the qualifying position isn’t great. The cooler track today made it hard to get heat into the left-hand side of the tyre. You don’t get good balance with the single compound tyres around here, for me at least, the right side is really good but it’s hard to get heat into the left. We’ll see what the weather brings, obviously we could do with it being nice and hot, line up and see what we got!” motogp.com
14 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki 1'37.948 287.386 1.923
15 24 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1'38.136 294.358 2.111

“To be honest everything worked better today but in the end I screwed it up. I have to hold my hands up and say that I made the wrong decision and it is my fault we're down in 15th place, which is not good enough, so I want to apologise to the team”, he said. “Basically I spent the last few laps looking for a tow but by the time I got one and tried to push for a good grid position, the tyre temperature had dropped too low. It was the last lap and it didn't work out like I thought it would. We can't do anything about it now – the only option is to get a good start and pull back as many positions as I can.” moto-live.com
16 59 Sete GIBERNAU SPA Grupo Francisco Hernando Ducati 1'38.453 290.322 2.428
17 88 Niccolo CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing Ducati 1'38.605 287.157 2.580

"Unluckily I slipped in the most important part of the qualifying session and with the second bike with only a few minutes left it hasn't be easy to improve my performance. I tried, but we will have to start from seventeenth position. The situation compared to yesterday has improved a lot and we will have to try to make another step forward tomorrow during the race to gain some more positions." motogp.com
18 72 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN Scot Racing Team MotoGP Honda 1'38.619 291.655 2.594
19 41 Gabor TALMACSI HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP Honda 1'39.407 282.944 3.382