motogp- Laguna Seca - QF

Crashes for Lorenzo as he takes Laguna pole

Poleman Lorenzo partially dislocated his right shoulder and heavily bruised his right foot in a huge highside on the Yamaha M1, whilst Stoner highsided the Ducati Desmosedici GP9 and was also helped away from trackside, prompting a concerned Rossi to wish all the very best to both afterwards.

Stoner is uninjured, but Lorenzo will not be cleared to race, or ruled out until Sunday

Saturday, 04 July 2009

Jorge Lorenzo crashed twice in qualifying at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix but still ended the session in pole position.

Medical checks will be required for poleman Jorge Lorenzo and his World Championship rival Casey Stoner after a dramatic qualifying session at Laguna Seca, which ended with the Spaniard being stretchered away having set the pole position time - a 1’21.678 hot lap.

Fiat Yamaha’s former 250cc World Champion Lorenzo was unaffected by a lowside crash on the fourth corner with 20 minutes to go, jumping on his second M1 to grab pole for Sunday’s race, before a massive highside crash saw him taken away from trackside and straight to the Laguna medical centre for checks on an apparently injured right leg.

Second fastest qualifier Valentino Rossi stood alone in parc fermé, having lapped 0.167s behind Lorenzo, with third fastest rider Casey Stoner also crashing heavily on turn three in the final minutes. Stoner appeared to be walking unaided, albeit unsteadily, after the session.

The second row for Sunday’s eighth MotoGP contest of 2009 will be an all Honda affair, with factory pair Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso qualifying fourth and fifth respectively, in front of San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Toni Elías – all three less than half a second down on Lorenzo.

MotoGP’s American representatives Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Nicky Hayden (Ducati) will be joined on row three by Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki), who like Hayden has a good record at Laguna.

The top ten qualifiers list was completed by Vermeulen’s veteran teammate Loris Capirossi.

MotoGP Qualifying Practice Classification

Pos.	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Motorcycle	Lap time	Km/h	Gap
1	99	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Fiat Yamaha Team	Yamaha	1'21.678	261.058
2	46	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Fiat Yamaha Team	Yamaha	1'21.845	264.058	0.167
3	27	Casey STONER	AUS	Ducati Team	Ducati	1'21.910	262.901	0.232
4	3	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	1'22.113	260.492	0.435
5	4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	1'22.135	260.554	0.457
6	24	Toni ELIAS	SPA	San Carlo Honda Gresini	Honda	1'22.146	260.303	0.468
7	5	Colin EDWARDS	USA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	1'22.490	262.326	0.812
8	69	Nicky HAYDEN	USA	Ducati Team	Ducati	1'22.540	259.241	0.862
9	7	Chris VERMEULEN	AUS	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	Suzuki	1'22.633	260.303	0.955
10	65	Loris CAPIROSSI	ITA	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	Suzuki	1'22.662	262.326	0.984
11	33	Marco MELANDRI	ITA	Hayate Racing Team	Kawasaki	1'22.842	256.532	1.164
12	15	Alex DE ANGELIS	RSM	San Carlo Honda Gresini	Honda	1'23.004	260.617	1.326
13	59	Sete GIBERNAU	SPA	Grupo Francisco Hernando	Ducati	1'23.106	256.959	1.428
14	14	Randy DE PUNIET	FRA	LCR Honda MotoGP	Honda	1'23.147	254.777	1.469
15	52	James TOSELAND	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	1'23.390	256.837	1.712
16	88	Niccolo CANEPA	ITA	Pramac Racing	Ducati	1'23.912	256.349	2.234
17	41	Gabor TALMACSI	HUN	Scot Racing Team MotoGP	Honda	1'24.528	248.905	2.850