Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden qualified on the first and second rows of the grid respectively for tomorrow’s Dutch TT, setting the third and fifth fastest times of a busy and incident-packed day for both riders.
Stoner, who was second fastest in a positive final free practice this morning, encountered a small issue in the final minutes of qualifying. The Australian had already banked one fast qualifying lap when he heard a loud noise from his GP10 and decided to return to the garage, where his engineers were able to later confirm that it was merely an inconsequential misfire from the engine.
Nicky Hayden had a tough morning session, a technical problem with his second bike being followed immediately by a crash on a flying lap. However, in qualifying he was just half a second shy of the pace set by polesetter Jorge Lorenzo and one of only five riders able to lap under the 1’35 mark.
CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 3rd (1’34.803)
“The last set-up we threw in the bike seemed to make quite an improvement. This morning we were pretty happy with it but this afternoon we never really reached where we wanted to. We had a small problem with the clutch – we had some air in the hydraulics and it wasn’t working properly so I had to use the full pump of the clutch just to shift back through the gears. A thing I think we can fix anyway. I got one qualifying lap in and went to start my second but the bike sounded like it backfired and so I decided to call it quits – it was better to be safe than sorry and to start the race tomorrow fresh. We’ll have to wait and see what happens in the race but if we will be able to make some more little steps in the tomorrow’s warm-up we may be not too far off.”
NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team) 5th (1’34.999)
“We can’t be too disappointed with fifth place and a second row start after the session we had today. This morning I had an engine problem in one bike and when I switched to the other one I crashed it. I wasn’t hurt at all but the bike needed to be rebuilt. The whole team did an incredible job in just a couple of hours – even Casey’s guys gave us a hand. They didn’t even have time for lunch but when I came into the garage for qualifying there were two bikes there waiting for me. I couldn’t get my feeling immediately and the start of the session was tough, but when we got the final tyre in I got my head down under that screen and gave it everything I had. I went from the 1’36s to a 1’34.9 in just one lap but we have more work to do before the race tomorrow.”
Best Pole: Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha – 2010), 1’34.515 – 173.001 Km/h
